Cornershop are a British

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band best known for their single "

Brimful of Asha "Brimful of Asha" is a song by British alternative rock band Cornershop from their third album, ''When I Was Born for the 7th Time'' (1997). The recording originally reached number 60 on the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a remixed version by N ...

", originally released in 1997 and, in a remixed version, topping the UK chart in 1998. The band was formed in 1991 by

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

-born Tjinder Singh (singer, songwriter, and guitar), his brother Avtar Singh (bass guitar, vocals), David Chambers (drums) and Ben Ayres (guitar, keyboards, and tamboura), the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single (the ''Fast Jaspal EP'') in 1991.Buckley, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'',

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

, , p.229-230 The band name originated from a stereotype referring to

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...

s often owning corner shops. Their music is a

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

, alternative and electronic dance music.

History

Formation and early years: 1991–1996

Tjinder Singh formed the General Havoc whilst a student at

Lancashire Polytechnic , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

in Preston, in 1987. He relocated to Leicester, where his brother and sister lived, and formed Cornershop in 1991 along with his brother Avtar, and Chambers and Ayres, while working as a barman at Leicester's Magazine pub, also a popular local music venue. The band played their first gig at Leicester's ''O'Jays'' venue. In the early 1990s, when singer Morrissey was being vilified by the UK music press after accusations of racism, the band were invited to comment and the ''Melody Maker'' ran a story featuring the band burning a picture of the singer outside the offices of

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 ...

.Beaujon, Andrew (1996)
Cornershop: Bhangra Punk!
, ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'', February 1996, p. 20. Their debut release, the ''In The Days of Ford Cortina EP'', was pressed on "curry-coloured vinyl"Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, , p.99-100 and contained a blend of Indian-tinged noise pop. The sound mellowed somewhat with the release of debut album ''

Hold On It Hurts ''Hold On It Hurts'' is the 1994 debut album by Cornershop. It failed to reach commercial success, but went some way in helping the band find its niche in the following years. Track listing All lyrics written by Tjinder Singh; all music comp ...

'' in 1994, described by ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' as "a politically charged popfest, ten tracks of noisy delights that meld incisive social commentary with a firm hold on British post-punk."McCaleb, Ian & Reno, Brad
Cornershop
, ''

'' The album impressed David Byrne sufficiently for him to sign the band to his

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label. Although David Chambers left the band in 1994, replaced by Nick Simms, the band re-emerged in 1995 with the "6 a.m. Jullandar Shere" single and the album '' Woman's Gotta Have It'', also touring the United States including some dates on the Lollapalooza tour. The band also toured Europe with Beck,

Stereolab Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repeti ...

and Oasis.

Mainstream success: 1997–2001

The band released their critically acclaimed album ''

When I Was Born for the 7th Time ''When I Was Born for the 7th Time'' is the third studio album by the British indie rock band Cornershop, released on 8 September 1997 by Wiiija. The album received high acclaim from music critics and features the international hit single "Brimfu ...

'' in September 1997. The album featured collaborations with

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, Paula Frazer,

Justin Warfield Justin Evan Warfield (born April 20, 1973) is an American musician and hip hop MC. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of the darkwave duo She Wants Revenge, which formed in 2004. In 1993, he released a hip-hop album titled '' My ...

and a

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

- and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

-approved cover of " Norwegian Wood" recorded in the

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 ...

. The album was produced by Tjinder Singh and Dan the Automator. Rolling Stone called it one of the essential recordings of the 1990s. The album was ranked No. 1 on Spin's list of 'Top 20 Albums of the Year' (1998) The track "Brimful of Asha" topped the legendary Festive 50 rundown of John Peel's tracks of the year in 1997.

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

(a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) loved the track and remixed the song, which became hugely popular and captured the attention of the world. The song was a tribute to the prolific Indian playback singer,

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

, and Tjinder's musical influences such as

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name ''Trojan'' comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck ...

and vinyl culture in general. In 2000 Ayres and Singh released a disco inspired album ''Disco and the Halfway to Discontent'' as part of their side-project, Clinton. This album inspired the launch of the London-based clubnight called Buttoned Down Disco, which took its name from the third track on the album.

Further success: 2002–2010

Their next official Cornershop release was the 2002 album, '' Handcream for a Generation'', which featured

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

on guitar. According to their official website, Cornershop have been making a film about London's independent music industry since 2003. In 2004 the band released the track 'Topknot' featuring the vocals of Bubbley Kaur on Rough Trade Records. In February 2006, some four years after their last album, they released another single "Wop the Groove" featuring guest vocals from

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...

backing singer

Rowetta Rowetta Idah (born 5 January 1966, in Manchester), also known as Rowetta or Rowetta Satchell, is a British singer. She is best known for her work with the Happy Mondays, recording and touring with the band from 1990 and recently reforming with th ...

. In 2008, their song "Candyman" was featured in the Nike advertisement for the LeBron James VI shoe, called the Six "Chalk" commercial. Cornershop released an album '' Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast'' in July 2009, preceded by the single "The Roll-Off Characteristics (Of History in the Making)" in May on their own record label called Ample Play.

Recent years: 2011–present

In 2011, Cornershop were awarded a prize for Commitment to Scene in the

UK Asian Music Awards The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast by B4U Music since 2008. Awards winners were dec ...

. An album ''

Cornershop and the Double 'O' Groove Of ''Cornershop and the Double 'O' Groove Of...'' is a 2011 studio album by the British band Cornershop. It follows their 2009 album ''Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast''. The album had been six years in the making and is a collaboration album with B ...

'', a collaboration with Punjabi folk singer Bubbley Kaur, was released in March 2011 to critical acclaim in the UK. The band also set up the Singhles Club Club, a subscription service featuring a series of musically diverse collaborations and exclusive digital artwork. The band's eighth album '' Urban Turban'' was released on 14 May 2012 and the ninth album '' Hold On It's Easy'' was released on 2 February 2015. In July 2015 they released a single "Pinpoint" with Welsh singer Angharad Van Rijswijk aka Accü In 2017 they gave an instrumental track called 'Demon is a Monster' to the anti-Brexit podcast '

Remainiacs ''Oh God, What Now?'' formally known as ''Remainiacs,'' is a British hour-long weekly political podcast about Brexit, speaking from the pro-Remain point of view. It was started on 26 May 2017 as ''Remainiacs'' after the European Union membershi ...

' to use as a theme tune. The track was then released digitally. Cornershop were fiercely anti-Brexit. In March 2020, they released a new album, '' England Is a Garden'' to generally positive reviews. The first official video from the album accompanying the track 'St Marie under Canon' was released in February 2020.

Band members

;Current members * Tjinder Singh – vocals, guitars, bass, dholki (1991–present) * Ben Ayres – guitars, tamboura, keyboards, tambourine, vocals (1991–present) * Nick Simms – drums, vocals (1995–present) * Peter Bengry – percussion (1995–present) * Adam Blake – sitar, guitars (2009–present) * Pete Downing – guitars (2009–present) * James Milne – bass ;Former members * Avtar Singh – bass, guitars, vocals (1991–1995) * David Chambers – drums (1991–1995) * Anthony "Saffs" Saffery – sitar, guitars, keyboards (1994–2002) * Wallis Healey – guitars (1994–1995) * Pete Hall – percussion (1995)

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles and EPs

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom English alternative rock groups Alternative dance musical groups English indie rock groups Britpop groups Rough Trade Records artists Musical groups from Leicester