Trashcan Sinatras are a Scottish band that were formed in Irvine,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1986. The band's music makes frequent use of pop

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

and wordplay.

History

Formation

The band members met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The original band members included Frank Reader (bass), Davy Hughes (guitar and vocals), George McDaid (guitar) and Paul Forde (drums). By late 1986/early 1987, the line-up had changed to include Paul Livingston (guitar), John Douglas (guitar) and Stephen Douglas (drums), along with Frank Reader moving to vocals and Davy Hughes to bass. While the band has included other members for short periods of time over the years, this is the line-up that would record the bulk of the Trashcan Sinatras' music to date.

''Cake'' era

The band was spotted by Simon Dine in 1987 and quickly signed to

Go! Discs Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...

. Using their signing advance, the band purchased a recording studio in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, naming it Shabby Road. Work began on their debut album, which was eventually released in 1990. ''Cake'' featured the band's largest worldwide

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, " Obscurity Knocks" as well as a couple of other alternative music hits (" Only Tongue Can Tell" and "Circling the Circumference"). The band were often compared to

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

and the success of ''Cake'' in the United States, where it spent three months in the ''Billboard'' 200, led to extensive touring in both the UK and North America in support of the album.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate,

''I've Seen Everything'' era

The follow-up record, ''

I've Seen Everything ''I've Seen Everything'' is the second studio album by Scottish band The Trash Can Sinatras, released by Go! Discs in 1993. The album reached No. 50 on the UK Albums Chart. Background The album was recorded at the band's own 24-track studio, Shab ...

'' was released in 1993. The song "

Hayfever Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...

" made an appearance on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

animated series, ''

Beavis and Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, an ...

''. The band released two singles ("Hayfever" and "I've Seen Everything") and toured the UK, North America and Japan in support of the album.

''A Happy Pocket'' era

The band's third album '' A Happy Pocket'' followed in 1996. AHP was released in the UK and Japan, but was unavailable in the U.S. after the band's American distributor declined to release the record. The band released four singles from AHP ("The Main Attraction", "Twisted and Bent", "How Can I Apply...?" and " To Sir, With Love", a cover of the 1967

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

#1 hit). The Trashcans did not tour in North America, only the UK and Japan. Their record label, Go! Discs, had made a successful short film for the band Portishead and greenlit the production of ''Spooktime'', a film of stories based on characters from The Trashcans' lyrics. The 15-minute film was to be shown in cinemas before screenings of Terry Gilliam's

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film '' La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in ...

. After their record company Go! Discs was acquired by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

in 1996, the band was dropped from the label, and subsequently forced to sell their Shabby Road recording studio and declare bankruptcy. The Trashcans kept a low profile in the following years, not playing any concerts until early 1999 (in Japan and Ireland). The Japanese concerts occurred at the same time the band was recording a new single, "Snow" (a cover of the

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and vari ...

song), which was released by Sony Japan in December 1999.

''Weightlifting'' era

In March 2000, the band set up camp in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, Connecticut to record their fourth album. Between March and June, the band recorded around a dozen songs and played a handful of shows in the northeastern United States, their first shows in America since 1993. After returning to Scotland, the band decided to scrap the album as too dark and sombre (a reflection of their struggles over the previous few years), also feeling that the song writing was not really finished. The band only performed four concerts in the UK in 2001, instead focusing on writing additional songs and recording

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

for their fourth album. In March 2002, recording began at Riverside Studios 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 popu ...

. The band recorded a dozen songs on and off over the course of a year. In 2003, the band started to raise its profile by playing concerts and festivals in Scotland. They hired New York City based record producer and musician

Andy Chase Andy Chase is record producer and label owner. He formed the band Ivy with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Dominique Durand, now his wife. Chase owns Unfiltered Records and co-owned Stratosphere Sound studio with Schlesinger and James ...

(of the band

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

) to mix the new album tracks, which was completed by the end of the year. With a new album ready for release, the Trashcans stepped up their activity in 2004. The band played in Spain and London, before heading to the United States in March. They appeared on the

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, ...

radio show with Nic Harcourt in March, the day of their sold out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles California (their first appearance on the west coast of the U.S. in 11 years). From there, the band headed off to

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas for five appearances at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

music festival. The Trashcans garnered quite a bit of press (''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' staffers named the Trashcans one of the top 10 acts at SXSW) and record label attention, which led to a licensing deal with New York-based

spinART Records SpinART Records was a New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black, and Michael Penn. The label was started by Joel Morowitz and Jeff Price in 1991. SpinART filed for ban ...

. The Trashcan Sinatras finally released their fourth album in August 2004. ''

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

'' was warmly received by critics and the band completed a 25 date U.S. and Canada tour in September and October 2004. They had follow up U.S. tours in December 2004 and in April and May 2005, while also extensively touring Scotland, England, Ireland, Japan and Australia during 2004–2006. The ''

'' album included the song "All the Dark Horses", which was featured prominently in the first episode of the

ABC Family Channel ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

''.

''In the Music'' era

The band's fifth studio album, ''In the Music'', was recorded with producer

between November 2007 and February 2008, at Stratosphere Sound in New York and in

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the ...

. In July 2008,

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Th ...

recorded backing vocals for the song "Should I Pray?" A single, "Oranges and Apples", was released as a download-only single on 13 October 2008. The song was inspired by

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

, one of the founding members of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

. The single was released in connection with The City Wakes, a festival in tribute to Syd Barrett that took place in Cambridge and London in October 2008. The album was released (with bonus track "Astronomy") in Japan on 22 April 2009 (on

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

), in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2009 (on Lo-Five Records) and 27 April 2010 in North America (also on Lo-Five Records, with digital distribution by Ingrooves and physical distribution by

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Francisco-based Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until INgrooves acquire ...

). The North American release includes eight live bonus tracks, which are live acoustic recordings taken from the band's November 2009 UK tour. Lo-Five also released a limited, numbered deluxe edition of the album in July 2009, which featured two additional bonus tracks ("I Can't Stand Tomorrow" and "I Just Don't Know How") and an in-depth booklet of liner notes, photos and a listing of everyone who pre-ordered the release. The album received strong reviews from print and online media, with ''

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 ...

'' describing it as "Gentle, grown-up popcraft that reveals more with each listen," and the BBC calling it " . . . tender, affecting music which impresses with increasing listens." The band supported the 2009 album release with nearly 40 concerts and promotional appearances in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom between July and November 2009, and with a follow-up tour of Japan in March 2010. On the follow-up Japanese tour, the band was supported by Japanese act Sunny Day Service, with whom they also recorded and released English-language and Japanese-language versions of the single "Town Foxes/yume iro no machide". The band also completed an 11 date USA promotional tour in June 2010. A live acoustic album ''Brel'' (recorded in Glasgow in 2009), a follow up to the band's 2005's acoustic live ''Fez'' (recorded in New York City). ''Brel'' was released on 9 November 2010. This was set to be followed by the release of ''Earlies...'' a 4 album box set marking the 20th anniversary of the release of ''Cake'', comprising the 3 Go!Discs albums and ''Weightlifting'', digitally remastered with additional tracks and packaging including mementos reflecting the band's distinguished career. However, to date ''Earlies...'' has not been released.

''Wild Pendulum'' era

In October 2014 the band announced through social media that it would begin recording its sixth album in the coming months and offered fans the opportunity to pre-order it through PledgeMusic, with a series of "exclusives" offering unique content, merchandise and updates throughout the recording process. On 21 October 2015, the first track, "Best Days On Earth," was released to the band's PledgeMusic supporters in a project update on the site. In the same update, the band confirmed that the new album would be titled "Wild Pendulum." In an August 2015 project update, the band announced that the new album would be released in January 2016. A second track, "Ain't That Something," was later released to PledgeMusic supporters, and the album's release was pushed back. On a 1 March 2016 project update, the band announced that a digital download of the complete album would be made available to supporters on 22 April 2016, with the album's release on physical CDs and vinyl to follow.

Other activity

In 1996, the band contributed a cover version of

' "I Know It's Over" to the tribute compilation '' The Smiths Is Dead''. In 1998, the band recorded a song "Duty Free" under the pseudonym The Cat Protection League. The song was included on a compilation of local Kilmarnock/Irvine-area artists as part of a university music class project. John Douglas wrote "Wild Mountainside", which was recorded by

Eddi Reader Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as frontwoman of Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards. In 2003, she showcased the w ...

for her 2003 album ''Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns''. This song was later recorded by the Trashcans and released as an EP in 2005. John Douglas wrote two songs, "Should I Pray?" and "Prisons", which appear on Eddi Reader's 2007 album ''Peacetime''. The Trashcans have also recorded these songs for ''In the Music''. In 2013, Douglas and Reader were married, shortly after which he was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease,

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and ...

, which necessitated surgery and a lengthy convalescence. In 2006, Francis Reader sang a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

Got To Get You into My Life "Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, first released in 1966 on their album ''Revolver''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is a homage to the Motown Sound, wit ...

", which was featured in an advertisement campaign for the U.S. telecommunications company

Qwest Communications Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

. The band collaborated with writer

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

on the song "Half an Apple", for the album ''

Ballads of the Book ''Ballads of the Book'' is a collaborative studio album, released on 5 March 2007, on Chemikal Underground. The project was curated by Idlewild lead vocalist Roddy Woomble, and features collaborations between Scottish musicians and Scottish w ...

'', released in March 2007. Reader also contributed vocals in 2007 to

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

' album '' The Unfairground''. 30 May 2010 for the start of their 2010 tour The Trashcan Sinatras played in Mike Chandler's Portland OR living room. This was billed as an experimental show and gained much media attention with stories in ''USA Today'', ''Wired Magazine''s blog ''The Underwire'' FOX News and ''The Oregonian''. Tickets sold out in less than 36 hours, purchased by 50 fans who traveled from all over the west coast. The band played for three hours and over 30 songs with several songs seldom heard live over the past 20 years. In 2010 the Trashcan Sinatras recorded a version of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

song "Hello, Goodbye" for use in a promotional video campaign by

Narita Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...

in Japan. The video is expected to run in the airport, on board aircraft, and on Japanese media for at least one year. In 2018 and 2019, the band completed three-piece acoustic tours of North America. The 2018 tour featured songs from ''Cake'' and ''I’ve Seen Everything''. The 2019 tour featured songs from ''A Happy Pocket'' and ''Weightlifting''.

Members

*Stephen Douglas (drums, vocals) *Francis Reader (vocals, acoustic guitar) *Paul Livingston (lead guitar) *John Douglas (rhythm guitar, vocals) *Stevie Mulhearn (keyboards) – 1998–2000, 2006–present *Frank DiVanna (bass) 2009–present

Session/touring members

*Roddy Hart (keyboards, acoustic guitar) – 2003–2005 *Jody Stoddart (guitar) – 2007 *Grant Wilson (bass) – 1998–2000, 2002–2003, 2006–2008

Former members

*Davy Hughes (bass) – 1986, 1992–1996, 2001–2005 *George McDaid (bass) – 1986, 1989–1991. Now an English teacher in his local authority.

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

Other releases

* ''Senses Working Overtime'' (1992) * ''Zebra of the Family'' (demos/alternate takes/unreleased songs) (2003) * ''Fez'' (live – unplugged) (2005) * ''Midnight at the Troubadour'' (DVD) (2006) * ''Brel'' (2011)

References

External links

Trashcan Sinatras official site

with The Trashcan Sinatras
Trashcan Sinatras collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive
Streaming MP3/Video
of the 12/9/04 live set on

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 ...

Guitar International; Interview with John Douglas and Paul Livingston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trash Can Sinatras, The Musical groups established in 1986 Scottish indie rock groups Scottish alternative rock groups British indie pop groups 1986 establishments in Scotland SpinART Records artists