Band History
The band, named after the song Some Velvet Morning by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, was formed as a result of a chance meeting between Rob Flanagan (formerly part of an early lineup for the 22-20s) and Desmond Lambert in Denmark Street – London’s historic equivalent of Tin Pan Alley. The pair agreed to meet for a jam in Harrow, where coincidentally they both lived at the time. Lambert brought in his brother Gavin on bass, whilst Flanagan later asked a recent acquaintance, Yann McCullough to join on keyboards. The band’s debut appearance took place at The Rock Garden, London in 2001, followed by a series of shows at the famous The Cavern Club, Cavern Club in Liverpool, a city where Flanagan had previously resided as a student at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. During this time, Yann McCullough worked as a runner aBand Members
* Desmond Lambert - vocals, Guitars, Keyboards (2001 to present) * Rob Flanagan – drums (2001 to present) * Gavin Lambert – bass guitar, vocals (2001 to present) ''Previous Members:'' * Yann McCullough – keyboards (2001–2003)Discography
Albums
* ''Silence Will Kill You'' (2007) * ''Allies'' (2012) *''Musical Chairs'' (2016) *''Rough Seas'' (2021)''Silence Will Kill You''
Released: 9 October 2007. Label: Rhythmbank Entertainment. Track listing: # "Losing My Mind" (3.48) # "Propaganda" (2:57) * # "The Nightshift" (4:22) # "Pretty Girl" (3:02) # "Stolen Love Song" (2:59) * # "Stone Cold" (4:14) # "One Day You'll Love The Things You Hate" (4:09) # "Godless" (3:27) # "Settle Down" (3:29) # "Let The Good Times Come My Way" (3:43) *** # "The Madness Of Crowds" (3:33) ** ''All songs written by Desmond Lambert, Rob Flanagan & Gavin Lambert.'' ''Produced by Rik Simpson & Some Velvet Morning except * Produced by Desmond Lambert ** Produced by Mike Pelanconi & Some Velvet Morning. *** Produced by Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi, Mike Pelanconi, Rik Simpson & Some Velvet Morning.''Album Background
Some Velvet Morning were signed in 2005 to Rhythmbank Entertainment, founded by music manager Vicki Wickham and Nona Hendryx, formerly of Labelle. The sessions for the band’s first recordings took place at Mayfair Studios in Hampstead with producer Rik Simpson. The band recorded their first single, "Losing My Mind" and "Godless", which was later remixed for the album, ‘Silence Will Kill You’. The band moved studios to The Fish Factory in Willesden. Working again with Rik Simpson, the band recorded 5 further titles: “One Day You’ll Love The Things You Hate’, “Pretty Girl”, “The Nightshift”, “Let The Good Times Come My Way” and “Stone Cold” with Simpson augmenting the band on synths. Producer Mike Pelanconi (aka Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi, Prince Fatty) was also engaged to work on three tracks “Stolen Love Song”, “The Madness Of Crowds” and the unreleased “Fuel Crisis”, the latter of which was the band’s regular stage opener in this era. Pelanconi was also involved in the remix of “Godless” with Desmond Lambert from the band. Lambert took over production duties for the album’s remaining numbers – the singles “Settle Down” and “Propaganda”, as well as another unreleased recording – “Shine Some Light”. “Silence Will Kill You” was nominated for Radio X (United Kingdom), Radio X’s album of the year in 2007. The band recorded three of the album tracks live for the BBC Radio 2 on the Janice Long show (“Losing My Mind”, “One Day You'll Love The Things You Hate” and “Propaganda”). The singles “Losing My Mind” and “Propaganda” were staples of UK independent radio in 2007 and 2008 respectively with substantial support from Radio X (United Kingdom), Radio X. To support the album, Some Velvet Morning toured the East Coast of America in the autumn of 2007, performing on Fox 5’s “Fearless Music” TV show (“Losing My Mind” was broadcast although other titles were taped). The album’s title was taken from a song called “Silence Will Kill You” which was performed live and proposed as the band’s follow up single to “Losing My Mind”, but was not recorded. The artwork was designed by the band with New York artist Charlene Lanzal, who also designed the artwork for the band’s “Pretty Girl” single. The artwork was inspired by a Russian propaganda poster from the second World War that the band had seen on a visit to a Moscow art gallery.''Allies''
Released: 30 April 2012. Label: My Major Company. Track listing: # "How To Start A Revolution" (3:06) # "Beautiful Dress" (3:34) # "Resistance" (3:07) # "National Valentine" (4:01) # "Hollywood" (3:37) # "Allies" (3:59) # "Times Like These" (3:53) #"Unterbrechen" (0:52) # "Don't Think" (3:30) # "Control" (3:33) # "NY City Cell" (4:20) # "Allies" (Reprise) (2:35) # "The River" (4:49) ''All songs written by Desmond Lambert, Rob Flanagan & Gavin Lambert. Produced by Desmond Lambert.''Album Background
‘Allies’ is Some Velvet Morning’s second album, released in 2012. The project began life as crowdfunding venture with Anglo-French label My Major Company, run in the UK by Jimmy Mikaoui and Paul-René Albertini, Paul Rene Albertini. My Major Company’s initial target was to raise £100,000 to make and promote an album via fan investment. Some Velvet Morning’s manager at the time, James Wilkinson, worked extensively with the band and the label to raise the target amount, which was achieved in just six weeks due to a groundswell of enthusiasm from the band’s fans and users of the My Major Company platform. Recording again at The Fish Factory studio, the band spent the summer of 2011 working on the tracks for the album, which focused on a live 80s feel, similar to that of U2’s War (U2 album), War album. Several of the tracks had been recorded as masters prior to the involvement of My Major Company, issued by the band as promotional only releases – a four track eponymous EP featuring “Resistance”, “National Valentine” and “Hollywood”, with “Peace” which would later be re-worked as a single. “How To Start A Revolution” had been recorded and issued as a promotional release several times, with the final master being mixed by the band and Blue May. A demo version of the track found its way on to the trailer for Matthew Vaughn, Matthew Vaughan’s Kick-Ass (film), "Kick-Ass" trailer in 2010. The track remains one of the band’s most popular placed tracks (most notably for Renault Mégane, Renault Megane’s pan European “Experience” campaign in 2016 and is often the show closer for the band’s live shows. The band reunited with Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi, Mike Pelanconi for one track, ‘Don't Think’, which was recorded at the producer’s private studio in Brighton. The track was issued with “Beautiful Dress” as a limited-edition gatefold vinyl single on 31 October 2011. A video for the single was filmed in Thailand with a female boxing theme, preceding the band’s live appearance at the “Heavyweight Rock The Ring” festival. The band toured Europe extensively in 2012 and 2013 promoting the album, most notably headlining the Massilia Rock festival twice in Marseille. The single “How To Start A Revolution” was heavily supported French radio, especially Ouï FM, Oui FM, resulting in a live session where Desmond Lambert performed the single, together with a cover of U2’s New Year's Day (U2 song), "New Year’s Day". The video for “How To Start A Revolution” was filmed at Victoria Baths, a disused swimming pool in Manchester at the time. The final video mixed live performances from the band together with clips from Kick-Ass (film), "Kick-Ass". The album title was inspired by fan support via the My Major Company platform, where fans (latterly nicknamed “Allies”) were encouraged to give feedback on the material and recording process.''Musical Chairs''
Released: 31 December 2016. Label: Rodega Music. Track listing: # "Damocles" (4.00) # "No Walls" (3:53) # "Musical Chairs" (4:25) # "Mailer" (2:35) # "The Disappeared" (3:01) # "Hurricane" (3:27) # "Satellite" (3:16) # "Everyday Holiday" (3:51) # "Escape" (3:35) # "Someday, Someplace" (2:58) # "Noah's Ark" (4:26) # "Peace" (2:28) All songs written by Desmond Lambert, Rob Flanagan & Gavin Lambert. Produced by Desmond Lambert.Album Background
“Musical Chairs” is a 2016 compilation of singles issued that year by Some Velvet Morning. It is now considered to be the band’s third album. Beginning recording in late 2015, Some Velvet Morning set themselves a target to write, record and release a new track every month for one year, to be issued digitally and occasionally with an accompanying music video. The first three singles, issued between Jan and Mar 2016 were compiled on a limited edition CD EP also called ‘Musical Chairs’, featuring similar artwork to the album. The EP featured the tracks “Damocles”, “No Walls” (later used in an autumn/winter campaign for Pull&Bear, Pull & Bear) and “Musical Chairs”, together with an acoustic track “Mailer” – a tribute to American novelist Norman Mailer. Each single featured unique artwork with a blueprints theme, designed by the band, Constantin Lipatov and occasionally Colin Rozee, who also filmed performances of the band for the first three singles. The use of “The Disappeared” in the The Grand Tour, Grand Tour (with "Losing My Mind" from the band's first album) and an Asian commercial for David Beckham’s Haig Club Whisky, prompted the release of this track as a fourth single in April 2016. Several songs from the album (“Damocles”, “No Walls”, “Musical Chairs” and “Satellite”), along with others by the band, provided the soundtrack for the 2020 UK film ‘Kat and the Band, Kat and The Band’, featuring Ella Hunt and Dougie Poynter from McFly. Poynter, along with other actors, lip-synched to the songs as a fictional band, 'Dollar Days', in the movie.''Rough Seas''
Released: 12 March 2021. Label: Rodega Music. Track listing: # "Ghosts" (3:14) # "Rough Seas" (4:08) * + # "Magic Places" (3:34) # "Butterfly" (4:23) * + # "Good To See You" (3:07) # "Love Begins" (4:31) # "Hypnotising" (3:33) ** + # "Berlin" (3:10) # "Fragile" (3:12) # "After Goodbye" (4:33) + All songs written by Desmond Lambert, Rob Flanagan & Gavin Lambert. Produced by Desmond Lambert. Executive Producers: Rik Simpson & Some Velvet Morning. Mastering by Emily Lazar & Chris Allgood at The Lodge (Mastering), The Lodge, New York. Additional Musicians: Paul Jones (singer), Paul Jones (Harmonica) * Kele Le Roc (Backing Vocals) ** Chris Stopa +Album Background
Whilst on holiday in Westport, County Mayo, Westport, Eire, an unintentional lockdown residency for Desmond & Gavin Lambert led to the completion of Some Velvet Morning’s fourth album, ‘Rough Seas’. Whilst most of the songs on the band’s new album had been started in London with third band member and drummer Rob Flanagan, there was still work to be done. The Lambert brothers were able to hire the local Clew Bay Recording Studio and have their instruments shipped over from the UK to complete overdubs on the unfinished masters. They were supported and assisted remotely by Rob Flanagan, 500 miles away in London. Upon returning to London for final sessions at the Fish Factory in London, the band reunited with Coldplay producer Rik Simpson, who worked with the band on their debut album, 'Silence Will Kill You'. Simpson is credited for executive production and additional mixing roles on the album. Final mastering was provided by Grammy award-winning engineers Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at The Lodge (Mastering), The Lodge in New York. "Good To See You" from the album became a fixture of UK sports TV over the summer of 2021, shortly after the release of the album. The song’s reunion theme inspired media usage as crowds returned to sports stadiums, with placements on the BBC’s coverage of the UEFA Euro 2020, UEFA Euros 2020 and Sky Sports. The song was also to be placed in an Asian commercial for Volkswagen in August 2021. Two additional songs from the album, “Ghosts” and “Rough Seas”, feature in a UK independent film 'Love Without Walls' starring Niall McNamee and Shana Swash. Several musicians augment the band on the album with guest appearances. These include Manfred Mann/The Blues Band, Blues Band front man Paul Jones (singer), Paul Jones on harmonica for the title track and “Butterfly”. Kele Le Roc and Sandie Shaw provide vocals on “Hypnotising” and “After Goodbye” respectively.References
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