Ugly Rumours (band) on:
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Ugly Rumours was the name of a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band founded in part by future
UK prime minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, while studying law at
St John's College, Oxford during the early 1970s; he sang and played
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
. The band's name came from the cover of the
Grateful Dead's album ''
From the Mars Hotel''.
'He even wanted to rehearse'
by Mark Ellen, ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', 27 April 2003, Retrieved 21 October 2010.
Other members of the band were Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen (born 16 September 1953) is a British magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster who lives in West London.
Early life
Ellen was born in Fleet, Hampshire, England. Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly played bass alo ...
, who later went on to present BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
TV's ''
The Old Grey Whistle Test
''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...
'' music show and become the founding editor of British music magazine
Q and Adam Sharples, currently Director General, Employment Group at the
Department for Work and Pensions
, type = Department
, seal =
, logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg
, logo_width = 166px
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom
, headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...
.
On 19 January 2006,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
broadcast a
docudrama entitled ''Tony Blair: Rock Star'', which stated that the band's first gig was at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
, during which the drum kit fell apart, and that the band played a total of six gigs before disbanding. It was also mentioned that Blair passed his audition for the band primarily because he was the only auditionee who knew all the words to the song he was asked to sing, "
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
of the
Rolling Stones, whom he imitated during his performances.
The
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars.
The Coalition has c ...
released a single in February 2007 credited to Ugly Rumours, with the band fronted by a lookalike claiming to be
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
. The single, a cover version of
Edwin Starr
Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one ...
's hit "
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
", had a notable video. It reached number 6 in the UK midweek charts on 28 February, and charted at number 21 on 4 March.
References
External links
Interview with Mark Ellen: bassist ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Spoof review of The Ugly Rumours BBC Oxford
BBC Oxford is the name given to the sub-opt out region serving Oxford and the surrounding areas. Its services include:
*BBC Oxford News, the local news service called BBC Oxford on screen
* BBC Radio Oxford, the local radio station occasionally bra ...
, 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugly Rumours
English rock music groups
Culture of the University of Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Tony Blair
History of the University of Oxford
Musical groups from Oxford