It's Immaterial are an English

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, formed in 1980. They are best known for their 1986

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

" Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)", which reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.

Career

It's Immaterial were formed by three former members of

Yachts A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

– Mancunian John Campbell (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Martin Dempsey (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), and Henry Priestman ( keyboards) – in addition to Paul Barlow (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). By 1984, the band had been reduced to a duo – Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead, on guitar and keyboards, who joined in 1982.Strong, Martin C.:''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', 1999, Canongate, On 11 November 1981, around the time of the release of the band’s third single, It's Immaterial recorded the first of four sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. The track listing was "A Gigantic Raft (In the Philippines)", "Imitate the Worm", "White Man's Hut", and "Rake". "A Gigantic Raft" was featured on the soundtrack of

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...

's 2004 ''

The Manchurian Candidate ''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a communist conspiracy. T ...

''. In April 1985, the band recorded their fourth and final John Peel session, with the tracks: "Rope", "Hang On Sleepy Town", "Space" and "Festival Time". In the same month, the band's ''Fish Waltz'' EP reached number 30 on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

. Less than a year later the band had a hit single with " Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)". This song was their biggest hit and has since featured widely on

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

s and on 1980s-based

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s. Another minor hit followed, "Ed's Funky Diner (Friday Night, Saturday Morning)", with accompanying video, before the release of the band's debut album, '' Life's Hard and Then You Die'', in September 1986. In 1990, they released their second album ''

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

''. As before, the music was of a subdued, understated nature, with wry wit in the manner of an indie

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

. The album was a commercial flop, despite receiving positive reviews in the music press. The album was produced by

Calum Malcolm Calum Malcolm is a Scottish record producer, sound engineer and keyboardist, who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Career From 1974, he has worked with bands and musicians such as The Blue Nile, Capercaillie, Clannad, Emily Barker, Fish, The ...

, best known for his work with Glasgow band the Blue Nile. In the same year as ''Song'', former It's Immaterial keyboard player Henry Priestman had a UK number one album '' The Christians'' with the band of the same name. In 1993, the band started to work on a new album which remained uncompleted for many years. Since 2010 some unreleased songs from the album have appeared on different internet music channels: "Just North of Here", "New Moon", "Is It Alright (Between Us)", "House for Sale" and "How Can I Tell You". A deluxe edition of their album ''Life's Hard and Then You Die'' was released on 1 July 2016. The double-CD issue contains the original album remastered plus bonus tracks of single versions, B-sides, remixes and one of the group's John Peel sessions. On 23 September 2016, the group launched the campaign to produce and release their "lost and found" album ''House for Sale'' via Pledge Music. The pledge target was reached, although an initial tentative release date of spring 2017 was later postponed to early 2018. The album was finally released on 18 September 2020, through Burning Shed Distribution.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

References

External links

* – provided to YouTube by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Its Immaterial English indie pop groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups from Liverpool Musical groups established in 1980 Situation Two artists Virgin Records artists