Speedway were a Scottish

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group, who were formed in 2001, by Glaswegians Jill Jackson (lead vocals) and

Jim Duguid Jim Duguid is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for co-writing the Alex Clare song " Too Close". Biography A native of Glasgow, Duguid cut his teeth playing drums in a number of bands which centred around the vibrant 90's Glasgow mus ...

(drums). The band acquired three more members in that year, with bass guitarist Tom Swann from Droitwich plus guitarist Dan Sells, now lead singer of

The Feeling ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(the latter of whom was later replaced by Chris Leonard), and signed with

Innocent Records Innocent Records was a pop record label created to cater to for EMI's Virgin Records more pop oriented acts. Following the success of the Spice Girls, Virgin Records decided to delve into the pop market. In doing so they poached Hugh Goldsmi ...

in 2002. Also recruited as a guitarist was Carlos Garcia of The Crave. The band supported then labelmates

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

on their UK tour in early 2003, played a number of university gigs, and played to over 25,000 people in September 2003 at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

in Hull as part of a charity event made by the local radio station,

Viking FM Viking FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. As of September 2022, the s ...

. A recent mashup by

The Freelance Hellraiser Roy Kerr, aka the Freelance Hellraiser, is one of the creators of the UK bootleg ( mashup) scene. Career Under the Freelance Hellraiser name, Kerr gained fame with a mashup in 2001 called "A Stroke of Genius", which combined an instrumental edit ...

of the

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

hit "

Genie in a Bottle "Genie in a Bottle" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera from her self-titled debut studio album (1999). It was written by Pam Sheyne, Steve Kipner and David Frank, and produced by Kipner and Frank. The song was released on May 11, 1 ...

" and "

Hard to Explain "Hard to Explain" is a song by American Rock music, rock band the Strokes. It was released as the lead single from their debut studio album, ''Is This It'' (2001), June 25, 2001. It peaked at number 10 in Ireland and number 16 in the United King ...

" by

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

had been a popular online and radio hit, but was refused commercial release by the record label. Seizing on this Speedway covered the Aguilera song to sound as close to the mashup as possible, and as a result it became their first single as a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, with another song, "Save Yourself" and reached No. 10 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Their second single, "Can't Turn Back" reached No. 12 in February 2004. Their third single, "In & Out", hit No. 33 in June, and their album, '' Save Yourself'' was released just after "Can't Turn Back" came out. It did not fare well in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Speedway thus left Innocent Records after their first UK

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

, and later split up, later reforming briefly to support

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

on his ten date UK tour later that year. Jackson later toured the material for an acoustic solo album in support of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee artist, Kevin Montgomery, formed a duo with the Irish singer-songwriter Gianna Cassidy called Jackson and Cassidy, and released her first solo album in 2006. Jackson is currently working with her own band, members include Alan Frew (guitar) Carl Taylor (drums) and Lorna Thomas (bass). Duguid was until recently drumming and writing for the Scottish singer-songwriter

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, ''Sunny ...

(who supported Speedway at some of their later gigs in 2004) and can be seen in the

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

to Nutini's singles.

Discography

Albums

*'' Save Yourself'' (2003) - UK No. 42

Singles

Genie in a Bottle/Save Yourself "Genie in a Bottle" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera from her self-titled debut studio album (1999). It was written by Pam Sheyne, Steve Kipner and David Frank, and produced by Kipner and Frank. The song was released on May 11, 1 ...

" – UK No. 10 *"Can't Turn Back" – UK No. 12 *"In and Out" – UK No. 31 *"Around Back"

Band members

Final line up

* Jill Jackson – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar * Dan Sells – Lead Guitar * Tom Swann – Bass Guitar * Jim Duguid – Drums

Other members

* Chris Leonard – Lead Guitar * Tom Lamb – Hi-hat * Carlos Garcia – Guitar * Noel Nugent – Bass Guitar

References

{{Authority control British soft rock music groups Scottish pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Innocent Records artists