Uropa Lula were a British pop group, consisting of David Lloyd (vocals and guitar), Allan Dias (bass guitar), Pete Fromm (keyboards),

Andrew Edge Andrew Edge (born David Andrew Edge) is a musician from Leeds, England. He moved to London in the late 1970s, and joined the Thompson Twins. After one year Edge left the group and joined Uropa Lula, who released three singles (on Arista Records) ...

(drums/percussion), Chester Kamen (guitar), and Carol Isaacs (keyboards). The group were managed by Hilde Swendgaard. The group signed a recording contract with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

in 1982.

History

In 1980, Lloyd formed Uropa Lula with Hilde Swendgaard (manager) and Kevin Smith (drums), making two short films, "Here in the Sun" and "At Night Time" with Video Active. They were joined by Colin Prior (bass) and Peter Fromm (keyboards) in 1981 and began performing live in London, opening for

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

, Alternative TV and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

. American bass player Allan Dias replaced Prior in August of the same year. In September, the band recorded three songs, "Here's a Medal", "Timber Fall" I and "My Black Hour" for the Nicky Horne Capital Radio show. Leeds-born drummer

joined the group later that year. Uropa Lula signed to

in May 1982 and spent the rest of that year recording album tracks and their first two singles, "Our Love Has Just Begun" and "Fell Upon a Jewel" at Trident Studios,

The Manor Studio The Manor Studio (a.k.a. The Manor) was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. Overview The Manor and its outbuildings are Listed building#England and ...

, Townhouse Studios and RAK Studios. To tie in with the release of the first single, the band recorded a live session for the David Jensen show on

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

for the BBC. The session was produced by Dale Griffin, the English drummer and founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople and featured two songs, "Here's a Medal" and "Timber Fall I". A month later, Uropa Lula returned to London's Capital Radio to record their second live session for the Nicky Horne show playing two songs, "I Am My Older Brother" and "Leather and Metal (Winter's Here)". In the fall of 1982, guitarist Chester Kamen and keyboard player Carol Isaacs joined the group in time for tours of the UK and US in 1983. The group's opening US show was at the

Ritz Ritz or The Ritz may refer to: Facilities and structures Hotels * The Ritz Hotel, London, a hotel in London, England * Hôtel Ritz Paris, a hotel in Paris, France * Hotel Ritz (Madrid), a hotel in Madrid, Spain * Hotel Ritz (Lisbon), a hotel in ...

in New York (1 February 1982). This was followed by dates at the

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Die ...

(7 February 1982), the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., the New Jersey City Gardens and a show at the Brooklyn Zoo (26 February 1982) where they shared the bill with

Holly and the Italians Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...

. Upon their return to the UK, on 2 June 1982 the group played at the Camden Palace (now called Koko) and opened for Big Country at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool (19 June 1982) and John Cale at The Venue, Victoria, London (5 July 1982). With some irony, the band had by this point changed their name to Viva Lula and as part of the promotion of their third single, "Dad Sings the Blues"; they toured the UK with Big Country in June 1983. Lloyd disbanded the group in October 1983 and embarked on a solo career, albeit continuing to work with Uropa Lula members Kamen, Dias and Smith throughout the 1980s.

Discography

Singles

Arista Records released three singles by the group: *"Our Love Has Just Begun" b/w "I've Suddenly Remembered Something" (ARIST476, 1982) as Uropa Lula - also featured on ''Hardest Hits Volume 1'' (SPG001), released by SPG Music Productions in 1991 *"Fell Upon a Jewel" b/w "She Appears to Vanish" (ARIST498, 1983) as Uropa Lula *"Dad Sings the Blues" b/w "Surely There Must Be Some Mistake" (ARIST 540, July 1983) as Viva Lula

References

External links

Uropa Lula official site
{{Authority control English pop music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Arista Records artists