Transister was a British-American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band formed in late 1995 in

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. Despite only having released one album to moderate sales, their work has been featured on a number of film soundtracks. The band was fronted by Keely Hawkes, the sister of English musician

Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English pop singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which to ...

and daughter of Len 'Chip' Hawkes, member of English beat group

the Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departure ...

History

Transister's formation was the culmination of various collaborations between songwriter Eric Pressly, former Danny Wilson frontman Gary Clark, and vocalist Keely Hawkes. Hawkes first made use of Pressly's songwriting on her 1993 solo debut for

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, while Pressly and Clark first worked together in the band King L, releasing album ''Great Day for Gravity'' in 1995. The three were encouraged by the results of their early songwriting attempts, and decided to release a six-song EP on their own record label. Transister began to attract major label attention after

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

DJ Christopher Douridas played a few of the self-recorded tracks on ''

Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, ...

'' in early 1996. Interscope Records released Transister's self-titled debut in the US in 1997; UK and international distribution was handled by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

. Tracks from the album were featured on a number of film soundtracks, including '' Nightwatch'' (1997), '' Wild Things'' (1998), '' Jawbreaker'' (1999), ''

Never Been Kissed ''Never Been Kissed'' is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Leelee Sobieski, Jeremy Jordan, Molly Shannon, Garry Marshall, John C. Reilly ...

'' (1999), '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000) and ''

Cheaters Cheater or Cheaters may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Cheaters'' (1930 film), an Australian silent film * ''Cheaters'' (1934 film), an American film directed by Phil Rosent * ''The Cheaters'' (1945 film), directed by Joseph Ka ...

'' (2000). Although members of the band have since gone on to other projects, Hawkes and Pressly maintained a relationship and were married on January 8, 2005. Their song "Look Who's Perfect Now" entered 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 ...

, where it peaked at No. 56 in March 1998. "Look Who's Perfect Now" also charted in Australia, where it peaked at No. 76 in June 1998. A second single, "Dizzy Moon" peaked at No. 90 in the UK in July 1998.

Discography

Album

*''Transister'' (Interscope, 1997 / Virgin Records, 1998)

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California Musical trios Interscope Records artists Virgin Records artists