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Belisha (band)
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, from various parts of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. They underwent various member changes during their history as Belisha, with the constant being founder members Dan Raynham III
Dan Raynham III
Dan Raynham III is the frontman and song writer for UK multi genre music group Kings Cross. He has a number of other commercial interests including CEO of Kings Cross Productions Ltd. He is a fitness instructor to celebrities and the creator of 60 Second Fit training system. He has modelled for...
, Pete Vicary and Pete Too.
History
The first Belisha line-up originated from 2006. The band began to pick up a significant live following, and sold out shows at the Highbury Corner Garage venue in London. The band entered into discussions with various record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s in mid 2006. They chose to sign a one single deal with a new independent label, Transcend Records
Transcend records
Transcend Records is an independent record label based in the United Kingdom. The company is owned and run by Rob Ferguson, previously the manager of Bros and other acts....
. Late 2006 saw headline festival performances, and sold out provincial shows, with an expanded stage set that included clowns on stage, custard pie fights, and the use of fire effects.
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
to record the as yet untitled debut album. In March 2007 Belisha became the first band to play a live session on the newly-launched radio station Phoenix FM
Phoenix FM
Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England. It was formed in 1996 and has broadcast twelve 28-day restricted service licence broadcasts on FM. The station's presenters include local snooker hero Steve Davis, Boxer Rebellion drummer Piers Hewitt,...
in Essex. An appearance at the Bitter End in Romford saw the band share billing with the Towers of London
Towers of London
Towers of London are a Punk Rock n Roll band, fromLondon, England, who formed in 2004. Their music mixes elements of rock and heavy metal music with 1977 style British punk...
.
The band chose the song "Who's A Clever Boy" for release in August 2007, and signed a distribution deal with Cargo. The song picked up playlisting with Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. The single was used as a backing track to an interview by Jonathan Ross, on his BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
chat show with boxer Ricky Hatton
Ricky Hatton
Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....
. The BBC's internal database shows the song "Who's a Clever Boy?" played out on over 40 BBC TV and radio shows in 2007.
The band were described as 'Britain's hottest band' in the Rav Singh gossip column in the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
.
In May 2007 the band appeared at the international music industry festival 'The Great Escape' in Brighton, where the set attracted the attention of the MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
music team, who booked the band for a 'heroes' show in London, and made them worldwide featured artist on the MySpace portal
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
A sold out show at the Carling Academy in London brought controversy, as Raynham loosed a 30 foot flamethrower over the audience's heads. The band were banned from all academy venues in the UK. Other festival shows include a main stage appearance at the Isle Of Skye festival, where the band shared the main stage with Kasabian. Late 2007 saw the band head out on its first headline tour, which included a sold out performance at Glasgow Cathouse and Nambucca, London.
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in November 2007 was tabled, but rejected by the band's management as 'unsuitable' as quoted in Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
.
2008 saw the band diversify into unusual areas, with Raynham modelling on How to Look Good Naked
How to Look Good Naked
How to Look Good Naked is a television program, first aired on British Channel 4 in 2006, in which fashion stylist Gok Wan encourages women and men who are insecure with their bodies to strip nude for the camera...
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, and has undertaken photo
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
shots for Vogue (France)
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
. Late 2008 saw the band's first album completed. The album demonstrated how the band was heading into a musical phase, reliant in part, on orchestral arrangements. At this time they disbanded. Before changing their name to Kings Cross, the act underwent another line-up change. Raynham, Vicary and Too remained. Palmer and Hawl leave. Josh Gadenne took over on drums, with Will Chapman joining some time later on Bass.
In early 2009 Kings Cross announced the release of their first single "Story Of Our Lives". Their debut album is scheduled to be released in early 2010. Andrew Proctor is confirmed as the full time bass player in September 2009. The Bafta award winning composer Barrington Pheloung
Barrington Pheloung
Barrington Somers Pheloung is an Australian composer, now living in England. He is one of the most prolific television and film composers in the UK, known for his wide range of compositional genres....
is involved in production work and the composer Andrew Keeling
Andrew Keeling
Andrew Keeling is a classical composer. Since the late 1980s he has written music for the likes of Opus 20 , Het Trio , The Hilliard Ensemble , The Apollo Saxophone Quartet , the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra , Evelyn Glennie , The...
scored the band's work for orchestra. Judy Dyble
Judy Dyble
Judith Aileen Dyble, better known as Judy Dyble , is an award winning British singer/songwriter most notable for being one of the vocalists with, and founder members of, Fairport Convention and Trader Horne; in between these she was very briefly with Giles, Giles and Fripp, which evolved into...
founder member of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, added additional vocals on their second single, "Every Sentimental Moment", released in November 2009. On the day of release it is the 'featured' single on the HMV homepage.
In March 2010, a new permanent member Ellie Kiff joins on dual lead vocals. Kings Cross played the 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
in London in May 2010.
On 16 October 2010, Kings Cross successfully climbed Ben Nevis, with all instruments, PA system and power generator and played what has become the highest gig ever performed on British soil to an audience of over 200 people.
This was in aid of The J's Hospice, and also the start of the Kings Cross Extreme World Tour concept.
Two demo tracks from album 2 were previewed on BBC East's Sue Marchant radio show. The album is rumoured to tie in with the Kings Cross Extreme World Tour TV show.
The next part of the Extreme World Tour tour sees the band travelling to Oymyakon
Oymyakon
Oymyakon is a village in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometres northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway.-Geography:...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. It is rumoured the TV show is being produced by Zodiak Media Group and a big brand soft drink.
In October 2011 a new member Lara-Jayne Ellice joins the group playing harp, and providing backing vocals. It is rumoured that the new line up will debut In London 2012. It is rumoured that this is a part of a networking event for prospective talent agencies and labels.
In October 2011 Dan Raynham III
Dan Raynham III
Dan Raynham III is the frontman and song writer for UK multi genre music group Kings Cross. He has a number of other commercial interests including CEO of Kings Cross Productions Ltd. He is a fitness instructor to celebrities and the creator of 60 Second Fit training system. He has modelled for...
has created a pilot for The Extreme World Tour. He has diversified into creating further TV content as well as voice-over and acting. He has started working on music composition for TV, film and video games with Pete Vicary.
Singles
{|class=wikitable|-
! A-side !! B-side
! Artist
! Label !! Catalogue no.
! Released !! Region
! Chart/notes
|-
| "Who's A Clever Boy" || "Colonel Cut Hands"
| Belisha
| Transcend || TR177CD
| August 2007 || UK || #2 UK Rock, #17 UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
|-
| "Story Of Our Lives" || " Edit"
| Kings Cross
| Fixit || FXTR114
| June 2009 || UK || #43 UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|-
| "Every Sentimental Moment" || "Lone"
| Kings Cross
| Fixit || FXTRV111
| 2 November 2009 || UK || #8 UK Indie Chart. 500 numbered vinyl (with Judy Dyble)
|-
Albums
{|class=wikitable|-
! Title
! Artist
! Label !! Catalogue no.
! Released !! Region !! Notes
|-
| The Hounded
| Belisha
| FSR || FIL 001
| 2001 || UK ||
|-
| People of the Dark
| Belisha
| FSR || MoreFIL5
| 2003 || UK ||10,000 copies given away free
|-
| Eyetunes
| Kings Cross
| FiXiT || FXTRCD112
| 8 March 2010 || UK || CD, MP3
|}
Current line-up
- Dan Raynham IIIDan Raynham IIIDan Raynham III is the frontman and song writer for UK multi genre music group Kings Cross. He has a number of other commercial interests including CEO of Kings Cross Productions Ltd. He is a fitness instructor to celebrities and the creator of 60 Second Fit training system. He has modelled for...
- vocals - Pete 'Futureboy' Vicary - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Pete Too - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, samplesSampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
and backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Josh Gadenne - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Andrew Proctor - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Ellie Kiff - vocals
- Lara-Jayne Ellice HarpistHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...