Hipsway are a Scottish pop/ new wave

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

History and description

The band was formed in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1984 by ex- Altered Images guitarist

Johnny McElhone John Francis McElhone (born 21 April 1963 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter. He has played with three bands who have enjoyed a top-20 presence in the UK Singles Chart; the new wave bands Altered Images and Hipsway, ...

on bass, and featuring Grahame Skinner (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

), Pim Jones (

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 ...

) and Harry Travers ( drums).

Skinner Skinner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Skinner (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with that surname * Skinner (profession), a person who makes a living by working with animal skins or driving mules *Skinner, a rin ...

and Travers had been members of the band Kites with Paul McGrath and Ian McGreevy before Hipsway formed. Their music was characterized by Skinner's deep

and Jones' rhythmic guitar style. They were quickly signed up by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

and by 1985 had released their first, eponymously titled album. The album was a moderate success on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

; while the single " The Honeythief", made number 17 on 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 ...

, and also reached the top 20 on the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Another song from the album, "Tinder", became well known in Scotland as the soundtrack to a McEwan's Lager commercial. However the band failed to build on its success; McElhone founded

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and by the time the second album ''Scratch the Surface'' was recorded, Travers had also left (to be replaced by Stephen Ferrera). Released in 1989, the album was not as critically or commercially successful as its predecessor, and the band split up shortly afterwards. Skinner and Jones subsequently went on to found the band Witness, releasing the album ''House Called Love'' (A&M), before Skinner joined former members of Glasgow peers Love and Money in the band, Cowboy Mouth. Pim Jones later formed Big Yoga Muffin with Ange Dolittle, formerly of Eat, releasing one album, ''Wherever You Go, There You Are'' (2000, The Echo Label). In 2011, Grahame Skinner formed the band Skinner with Douglas MacIntyre (Love & Money, Cowboy Mouth and Sugartown), Gordon Wilson (Love & Money and Cowboy Mouth) and Andy Alston ( Del Amitri). In November 2016, Hipsway reformed, playing at Summerhall, Edinburgh then two dates at Glasgow O2 ABC, in support of the 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of their first album. As a result of the positive reception to the re-issue and the 2016 shows, the band played a limited number of gigs in 2017 and 2018, including sell-out shows at the reopened Glasgow Kelvingrove Bandstand and the Barrowlands Ballroom. Hipsway's first album for almost 30 years, ''Smoke & Dreams'', was released in late 2018. Post-reformation touring/recording band members have included Jim McDermott (drums), Gary Houston (bass), Stevie Christie (keyboards), Andy May (keyboards), Andy Gillespie (keyboards), David Robertson (percussion) and Louise Murphy (vocals).

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups from Glasgow Scottish new wave musical groups Scottish pop music groups