The Europeans were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

new wave group formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. They released three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. In 1989, their former keyboard player and co-lead vocalist

Steve Hogarth Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth, 14 May 1956 in Kendal, Westmorland) also known as "h", is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since 1989 he has been the lead singer of the British rock band Marillion, for which ...

joined Marillion as lead vocalist. The Europeans should not be confused with the similarly named Europeans, a Bristol band that were active 1977-1979.

Line-up

- keyboards, programming, lead vocals *Colin Woore - guitars *Ferg Harper - bass, lead vocals *

Geoff Dugmore Geoff Dugmore (born 12 April 1960) is a Scottish drummer, musical director and producer. He was a member of the bands The Europeans, and Wildlife. Career Educated at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, Dugmore started his musical care ...

- drums

History

In 1980, a Scottish band called Motion Pictures (consisting of Harper, Woore, Dugmore) moved to London and advertised for a keyboard player.

, who had recently moved to London from

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, was chosen. The band rehearsed in

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

, changing their name to The Europeans in early 1981. Their first appearance on record was as the backing band on

John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography 1970s and 1980s Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...

's ''All Balls and No Willy'' in 1982. They signed to

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

in 1982. Three singles were released before the first album ''

Vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...

'': "The Animal Song", "A.E.I.O.U." and "Recognition". All lead vocals were handled by Harper, except "Kingdom Come" which was sung by Hogarth.

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known for h ...

and

Toni Childs Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957) is an American-Australian singer-songwriter. She is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" (a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit in the United States in 1988), "I've Got to Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 19 ...

were among the backing vocalists. Another single, "American People" was released, and the band toured extensively. The second album, ''Live'' was released in February 1984. The LP reached No. 100 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 ...

. Later in 1984, the Hogarth-penned "Listen" was released as a single. A free promo single, "Acid Rain", was released to promote their second studio album (the third overall), ''Recurring Dreams'', which became available in October 1984. Hogarth sang lead vocals on five of the eight tracks. When the Managing Director of A&M left the company a day after the release of the album, promotion took a nosedive. Hogarth and Woore left, forming How We Live in 1985 and signing to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. In August 2005, ''Recurring Dreams'' was re-released on CD by Marillion's label Racket Records. The re-issue features

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

not included in the original 1984 vinyl release."Recurring Dreams, Europeans", Racket Records Online Shop , accessed 2013-09-08.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1983) * ''Recurring Dreams'' (1984)

Live albums

* ''Live'' (1984) - UK No. 100

Singles

* "The Animal Song" (1982) - AUS #96 * "AEIOU" (1983) * "Recognition" (1983) * "American People" (1983) * "Typical" (live) (1984) * "Listen" (1984)

EPs

* ''Recognition'' (1983)

Compilation appearances

*''The Snoopies Album'' (1981) - various artists compilation

References

Bibliography

Anne-Aurore Inquimber
''Marillion. L'ère Hogarth''
Camion Blanc (France), 2014, 222 p.

External links

*The Rainbow Room - Europeans and How We Live Pages. http://www.theeuropeans.co.uk (accessed 8 September 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Europeans, The (band English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups from London A&M Records artists