Toshack Highway is the musical group formed by the lead singer and guitarist from

Swervedriver Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable f ...

Adam Franklin Adam Franklin (born 7 October 1968) is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter who is the front-man of the alternative rock band Swervedriver (1989–99, 2007–present) as well as the main creative force behind Toshack Highway (1999–2006 ...

. The band name derives from merging the surnames of two

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

football players from the 1970s,

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...

and

Steve Heighway Stephen Derek Heighway (born 25 November 1947) is an Irish former footballer who was part of the hugely successful Liverpool team of the 1970s. Following his eleven-year spell at the club, he has been regarded by some as one of the greatest Li ...

History

The first full length debut, ''Toshack Highway'' and released by Catapult Records in the U.S. and

Flower Shop Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related sup ...

in Europe in 2000, showcased a full band sound of electric keyboards and bubbly

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

s played through guitar effects pedals over acoustic and

electric guitars An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

. Half the record was

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, but punctuated by spaceman samples and

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

spoken vocals – the other half featured Franklin’s laconic vocal drawl on more conventional

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

pop workouts and the album was dubbed 'Spacefolk' by one reviewer. The second release was an EP of four-track recordings titled ''Everyday, Rock'n'Roll Is Saving My Life'' released by Space Baby in 2001, much more a back to basics affair with Franklin on his own playing simple melodic pop songs accompanied by electric and acoustic guitars, shakers,

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

vocals and the

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

of the

tape machine An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

. Release three was a split CD album with Canadians Sianspheric on their Hamilton, ON label

Sonic Unyon Sonic Unyon Recording Company is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Their former retail store was located on Wilson Street near James Street North. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psioni ...

entitled ''Magnetic Morning''. Reunited with the drummer and producer of the first eponymous release, this five-song release contains elements of folk, country,

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

and in "The Streets That Spin Off" came close to an old

theme: ‘songs about cars that rock’. A fourth download only EP called ''Birdsong EP'' was released in April 2006 by the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

label,

Shifty Disco Shifty Disco was a British independent record label based in Oxford, England. The record label was started by local enthusiasts in January 1997 and their early releases were often featured by John Peel on his BBC Radio 1 show. Shifty Disco has r ...

Members

(vocals, guitars, songs, instrumentals, keyboards, shakers, kitchen sinks) *Locksley Taylor (bass, guitar, keyboards, leafs) *Charlie Francis (production, bass, keyboards, fine cuisine) *Jeff Townsin (drums, big hair) *

Will Foster Will Foster is an English musician who is known as the former keyboardist for the English rock band The Tears. Previously, he played with UK art rock band Delicatessen before forming Lodger - alongside Delicatessen singer Neil Carlill, Superg ...

(piano, a drink or two) *Ron Lowder (drums, southern drawl) *Mike Taylor (piano, sideburns) *Andrew Lindsay (bass, rye & coke) *Matt Durrant (drums, falling off drums)

Discography

References

External links

Official websiteMy Space's Band Web Page
{{Authority control British electronic musicians