Del Amitri
Encyclopedia
Del Amitri were a Scottish pop
-rock
guitar band, formed in Glasgow
, Scotland
in 1983. The band grew out of Justin Currie
's Jordanhill College School band and came together after teenager Currie placed an advertisement in the window of a music store asking for people who could play to contact him. The band was formed with the original line-up of Currie (bass and vocals), Iain Harvie
(lead guitar), Bryan Tolland (guitar) and Paul Tyagi (drums). Currie and Harvie are the only members of the band to remain present throughout its history – they are also the main songwriters of the group.
Despite having had several Top 10 albums in the UK
, the group has never managed a Top 10 single
in the UK Singles Chart
, although they did achieve one Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100
in the US
.
The liner notes of one album state: "...if you ask us what the name means - expect violence", strongly suggesting that the band have long since tired of this question.
Speculation about the name's origins have included the Greek
for "from the womb", and a handbag brandname. At the very end of the band's 1996 tour diary video release, titled Let's Go Home, Currie supposedly reads an entry from the "Wonders" section of Volume 5 in Arthur Mee
's The Children's Encyclopædia which, he says, refers to a false god from Greek mythology called Delametri, largest of all false gods, 458 feet (139.6 m) tall and made entirely of gold. It was built on sand, and collapsed, killing the entire population of Tarros, the town that built it. He ends the reading saying, "There you have it: false gods built on stupidity."
When asked about the origin of the band's name again in a 2010 interview, Currie stated: "It was invented to be meaningless. Just a corruption of the Greek name “Dimitri,” basically. In Wikipedia and various books, it says “Del Amitri, which is Greek for ‘of the womb’” -- [but] it’s not Greek for “of the womb” in any Greek dialect. But that’s become almost a fact even though it’s not a fact."
's show on BBC Radio 1
, the band broke through in 1984 when they were signed by Chrysalis Records
, who released their eponymous début album in 1985. The band also appeared on the front cover of influential weekly music magazine Melody Maker
and supported The Smiths
on tour, but despite this exposure neither the album nor its singles were a success.
The band was dropped by Chrysalis but continued to work and play together, touring the US in 1986 on a tour that was financed partly by themselves and partly by their small but enthusiastic fan base. The time they spent working on new material proved worthwhile, as they were eventually signed up again in 1987, this time by A&M Records
. However, that same year they underwent their first change of personnel as Tolland was asked by the others to leave the band and was replaced by Mick Slaven
.
During the recording of the new album, which eventually came to be released as Waking Hours
in 1989, the band's line-up was further augmented by the arrival of keyboard player Andy Alston, who outside of Currie and Harvie has proven to be the longest-serving member of the band's line-up. Slaven, on the other hand, proved to be one of the shortest-serving members, as he left the band before the album had even been released. His place was taken by David Cummings, whose photograph appeared on the record sleeve
. Tyagi also bowed during the recording of the record, the drums on the album being played by The Commotions
' Steven Irvine and on the subsequent tour his place was taken by Brian McDermott.
Despite these fluctuations in their line-up, Waking Hours proved to be Del Amitri's breakthrough, reaching No.6 in the UK Albums Chart
and also providing them with their biggest ever single chart hit at home when the song "Nothing Ever Happens
", rose to No 11 in the corresponding singles listing. They also gained some mainstream exposure abroad for the first time, as Waking Hours was a success in several territories with the single "Kiss This Thing Goodbye" flirting with the lower reaches of the US Billboard Hot 100
's Top 40. In between Waking Hours and their next album, the band released the single "Spit In the Rain" which, although it did not chart in the US, reached No. 21 in the UK.
, which was released in 1992 and became the band's biggest ever chart success, reaching No. 2 in the UK, being held off top spot only by The Best of Lionel Richie
. The single "Always the Last to Know" was another Top 20 UK hit, peaking at No. 13, and again provided them with an entry into Top 40 in the US. Their increasing success in that country led to an appearance on the popular David Letterman
show there, and their tours across the world saw them playing to increasingly larger and more loyal audiences.
The popularity in the US saw them being invited to play at the Woodstock '94
anniversary festival, although they were forced to do so without McDermott who had decided to leave the band, necessitating their first line-up change since the beginning of the decade. At Woodstock they played with Ashley Soan
on drums, but he was not hired until the band had finished recording their fourth album which featured Chris Sharrock on drums who had previously played with The Icicle Works, The Las and World Party
.
The resulting album, Twisted
, was released in 1995 and peaked at No. 3 in the UK. From the resulting tour onwards, Soan joined the band as a permanent member, in time to see the single "Roll to Me
", only a moderate hit in the UK where it reached No. 22, reach the Top 10 in the US charts, a noteworthy achievement during an era when British acts were finding success in the US difficult. There was less good news however when Cummings decided, at the conclusion of their American tour, to leave the group, wanting to move more into scriptwriting where he subsequently enjoyed success as a member of the team behind popular BBC
sketch show The Fast Show
. Cummings had attended the University of East Anglia
with Fast Show mainstays Paul Whitehouse
and Charlie Higson
in the early 1980s, and in 1995 Del Amitri had appeared in a Fast Show sketch.
Cummings was replaced by Jon McLoughlin, who toured with the band and played on their next album, Some Other Sucker's Parade
(1997), which was another Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching No. 6. The band found it harder to consolidate on their previous successes in the US, however, and lost out on more airplay at home when their record company took the decision to withdraw the album's planned third single Medicine in September 1997, putting out an entirely false press story that the lyrics could be interpreted as a critique of the then recently deceased Diana, Princess of Wales
. Following the recording of the album, both McLoughlin and Soan had left the band, causing yet further disruption, and they were replaced on tour and on subsequent recordings by Kris Dollimore (guitars) and Mark Price
(drums). McLoughlin died in March 2005, aged 42, due to complications arising from diabetes
.
It was to be five years before Del Amitri released another album, although they were busy in 1998, recording the official anthem for the Scottish
World Cup squad, "Don't Come Home Too Soon" which, at No. 15 in the charts, gave them their third biggest UK hit and their last Top 20 entry to date. They also released their best of album, Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri
, which was a No. 5 success in the UK Albums Chart and was accompanied by a new track, "Cry to Be Found", which reached No. 40.
The best of album had been released by Mercury
, who took over the band's contract after A&M had gone out of business. It was Mercury who released what is to date the band's final album, Can You Do Me Good?
, in the spring of 2002, which the band backed up with a successful UK tour. Despite their time away from the public eye, both album and single reached the Top 40, sales were not as high as Mercury had wanted and later in the year the group were dropped from the label.
have been strenuously denied on the band's official website. However, the tone of the denial is very much in keeping with the humorous spirit of the whole Uncle Devil Show project, and even non-fans will be able to recognize the songs and voice of Currie on their first album, A Terrible Beauty
, which was released in 2004 and contained six songs sung by one Jason Barr whose voice is strangely redolent of Currie's.
In March 2005, Currie announced on their US website that he was finishing up his solo album and was also 'more than halfway through' a record he had been writing together with Harvie for the last eighteen months. At the end of August of the same year Currie added that his solo album was now finished. In April 2007, Currie announced that he had signed with RYKODisc to release his solo album What is Love For.
In May 2007, Canadian
country group Doc Walker
had a number five hit single on the Canadian
Country Music
chart with the Currie penned "Driving With The Brakes On".
Australian country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers
has also covered "Driving With The Brakes On". The song appears on her CD single for "Pony".
(* Numbers denote UK album charts peak position)
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
guitar band, formed in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1983. The band grew out of Justin Currie
Justin Currie
Justin Robert Currie is a Scottish singer and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the band Del Amitri and, along with Iain Harvie, is one of only two members of the group to be present throughout its entire existence.-Del Amitri:Justin Currie established the band Del Amitri while...
's Jordanhill College School band and came together after teenager Currie placed an advertisement in the window of a music store asking for people who could play to contact him. The band was formed with the original line-up of Currie (bass and vocals), Iain Harvie
Iain Harvie
Iain Wallace Harvie is the guitarist with the Scottish rock band called Del Amitri. Along with lead singer and bassist Justin Currie, Harvie is one of only two members to be present throughout Del Amitri's history from its 1982 inception...
(lead guitar), Bryan Tolland (guitar) and Paul Tyagi (drums). Currie and Harvie are the only members of the band to remain present throughout its history – they are also the main songwriters of the group.
Despite having had several Top 10 albums in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the group has never managed a Top 10 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in the 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 ...
, although they did achieve one Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Name
There have been many suggestions as to what the band's name really means. The band has repeatedly stated a story corroborated on their official website that Del Amitri "Started at school in 1980, originally called Del Amitri Rialzo in order to confuse the public (name was invented for its meaninglessness; all other stories are fabrications) in west Glasgow, Scotland."The liner notes of one album state: "...if you ask us what the name means - expect violence", strongly suggesting that the band have long since tired of this question.
Speculation about the name's origins have included the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
for "from the womb", and a handbag brandname. At the very end of the band's 1996 tour diary video release, titled Let's Go Home, Currie supposedly reads an entry from the "Wonders" section of Volume 5 in Arthur Mee
Arthur Mee
Arthur Henry Mee was a British writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for The Harmsworth Self-Educator, The Children's Encyclopaedia, The Children's Newspaper, and The King's England...
's The Children's Encyclopædia which, he says, refers to a false god from Greek mythology called Delametri, largest of all false gods, 458 feet (139.6 m) tall and made entirely of gold. It was built on sand, and collapsed, killing the entire population of Tarros, the town that built it. He ends the reading saying, "There you have it: false gods built on stupidity."
When asked about the origin of the band's name again in a 2010 interview, Currie stated: "It was invented to be meaningless. Just a corruption of the Greek name “Dimitri,” basically. In Wikipedia and various books, it says “Del Amitri, which is Greek for ‘of the womb’” -- [but] it’s not Greek for “of the womb” in any Greek dialect. But that’s become almost a fact even though it’s not a fact."
Early years and breakthrough
After becoming popular on the local music scene in Glasgow and having demo material played on popular DJ John PeelJohn Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's show on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, the band broke through in 1984 when they were signed by Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
, who released their eponymous début album in 1985. The band also appeared on the front cover of influential weekly music magazine Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and supported The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
on tour, but despite this exposure neither the album nor its singles were a success.
The band was dropped by Chrysalis but continued to work and play together, touring the US in 1986 on a tour that was financed partly by themselves and partly by their small but enthusiastic fan base. The time they spent working on new material proved worthwhile, as they were eventually signed up again in 1987, this time by A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
. However, that same year they underwent their first change of personnel as Tolland was asked by the others to leave the band and was replaced by Mick Slaven
Mick Slaven
Michael Slaven is a session guitarist and record producer from Glasgow, Scotland.A former gardener at the University of Glasgow, Slaven became the guitarist for Bourgie Bourgie in the 1980s, and was briefly a member of Del Amitri...
.
During the recording of the new album, which eventually came to be released as Waking Hours
Waking Hours
Waking Hours is the second studio album by Del Amitri, released in July 1989. It reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart and featured one of the band's most famous songs, "Nothing Ever Happens", which reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart...
in 1989, the band's line-up was further augmented by the arrival of keyboard player Andy Alston, who outside of Currie and Harvie has proven to be the longest-serving member of the band's line-up. Slaven, on the other hand, proved to be one of the shortest-serving members, as he left the band before the album had even been released. His place was taken by David Cummings, whose photograph appeared on the record sleeve
Record sleeve
A record sleeve is the outer covering of a vinyl recording. The sleeve is technically the paper covering that is closest in contact to the surface of the recording, as in "dust sleeve", "liner" and "album liner". The term has come to be synonymous with "record jacket" and "album jacket", which is...
. Tyagi also bowed during the recording of the record, the drums on the album being played by The Commotions
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK...
' Steven Irvine and on the subsequent tour his place was taken by Brian McDermott.
Despite these fluctuations in their line-up, Waking Hours proved to be Del Amitri's breakthrough, reaching No.6 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
and also providing them with their biggest ever single chart hit at home when the song "Nothing Ever Happens
Nothing Ever Happens
"Nothing Ever Happens" is a song by the Scottish rock band Del Amitri. Released as a single between late 1989 and early 1990, it reached #11 in the UK charts , and was a top-10 hit in Ireland, peaking at #4...
", rose to No 11 in the corresponding singles listing. They also gained some mainstream exposure abroad for the first time, as Waking Hours was a success in several territories with the single "Kiss This Thing Goodbye" flirting with the lower reaches of the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
's Top 40. In between Waking Hours and their next album, the band released the single "Spit In the Rain" which, although it did not chart in the US, reached No. 21 in the UK.
1990s
The Currie / Harvie / Alston / Cummings / McDermott line-up proved to be a stable and successful one for the group, as they stayed together for the recording of the follow-up album Change EverythingChange Everything
Change Everything is the third studio album by Del Amitri, released on 9 June 1992. It reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart – the band's biggest hit LP – and was nominated by Q Magazine as one of the top 50 albums of 1992...
, which was released in 1992 and became the band's biggest ever chart success, reaching No. 2 in the UK, being held off top spot only by The Best of Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
. The single "Always the Last to Know" was another Top 20 UK hit, peaking at No. 13, and again provided them with an entry into Top 40 in the US. Their increasing success in that country led to an appearance on the popular David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
show there, and their tours across the world saw them playing to increasingly larger and more loyal audiences.
The popularity in the US saw them being invited to play at the Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94, often called the "commercial Woodstock" or "Mudstock", was a music festival organized to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival of 1969...
anniversary festival, although they were forced to do so without McDermott who had decided to leave the band, necessitating their first line-up change since the beginning of the decade. At Woodstock they played with Ashley Soan
Ash Soan
Ashley "Ash" Soan is a British drummer. His influences include Steve Ferrone, Jim Keltner, James Gadson, Phil Rudd, Art Blakey and Jeff Porcaro.-Career:...
on drums, but he was not hired until the band had finished recording their fourth album which featured Chris Sharrock on drums who had previously played with The Icicle Works, The Las and World Party
World Party
World Party is a British pop/alternative rock band, which is essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger. He started the band in 1986 in London after leaving The Waterboys.-Career:...
.
The resulting album, Twisted
Twisted (Del Amitri album)
Twisted is the fourth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 28 February 1995. It reached number three in the UK Albums Chart and was nominated by Q Magazine for best album of 1995....
, was released in 1995 and peaked at No. 3 in the UK. From the resulting tour onwards, Soan joined the band as a permanent member, in time to see the single "Roll to Me
Roll to Me
"Roll to Me" is a 1995 single from Del Amitri, included on their album "Twisted". "Roll to Me" became their most popular song in the US, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was less successful in their native UK, peaking at No. 22, lower than previous singles, "Here and Now" and...
", only a moderate hit in the UK where it reached No. 22, reach the Top 10 in the US charts, a noteworthy achievement during an era when British acts were finding success in the US difficult. There was less good news however when Cummings decided, at the conclusion of their American tour, to leave the group, wanting to move more into scriptwriting where he subsequently enjoyed success as a member of the team behind popular BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sketch show The Fast Show
The Fast Show
The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
. Cummings had attended the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
with Fast Show mainstays Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
and Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...
in the early 1980s, and in 1995 Del Amitri had appeared in a Fast Show sketch.
Cummings was replaced by Jon McLoughlin, who toured with the band and played on their next album, Some Other Sucker's Parade
Some Other Sucker's Parade
Some Other Sucker's Parade is the fifth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 24 June 1997. It reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart.- History :The album's recording was characterised by changes in personnel...
(1997), which was another Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching No. 6. The band found it harder to consolidate on their previous successes in the US, however, and lost out on more airplay at home when their record company took the decision to withdraw the album's planned third single Medicine in September 1997, putting out an entirely false press story that the lyrics could be interpreted as a critique of the then recently deceased Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. Following the recording of the album, both McLoughlin and Soan had left the band, causing yet further disruption, and they were replaced on tour and on subsequent recordings by Kris Dollimore (guitars) and Mark Price
Mark Price (musician)
Mark Gerard Price is an English drummer, who is known for being the first full time drummer for All About Eve and being the percussionist of Del Amitri between 1997 and 2002...
(drums). McLoughlin died in March 2005, aged 42, due to complications arising from diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
.
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
World Cup squad, "Don't Come Home Too Soon" which, at No. 15 in the charts, gave them their third biggest UK hit and their last Top 20 entry to date. They also released their best of album, Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri
Hatful of Rain (album)
Hatful of Rain is the fifth album by Del Amitri, released in September, 1998. It is a compilation of their greatest hits.- Trivia :The single "Don't Come Home Too Soon" was the Official Team Scotland Song for World Cup '98.-Track listing:...
, which was a No. 5 success in the UK Albums Chart and was accompanied by a new track, "Cry to Be Found", which reached No. 40.
The best of album had been released by Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, who took over the band's contract after A&M had gone out of business. It was Mercury who released what is to date the band's final album, Can You Do Me Good?
Can You Do Me Good?
Can You Do Me Good? is the sixth and latest studio album by Del Amitri. Though the band's current status is uncertain, it is widely thought to be their last, since its sales seem to have contributed to their being dropped from Mercury Records in 2002....
, in the spring of 2002, which the band backed up with a successful UK tour. Despite their time away from the public eye, both album and single reached the Top 40, sales were not as high as Mercury had wanted and later in the year the group were dropped from the label.
Current work
The current status of the band is something of a mystery. Although there had been no official word of them splitting up, it is believed that Dollimore and Price have left the band. Rumours that the remaining members are working with or under the name of The Uncle Devil ShowThe Uncle Devil Show
The Uncle Devil Show are a pop-rock guitar band formed as a side-project for three Scottish musicians, who use pseudonyms as their aliases. The band members are:*"Langton Herring" – singer-songwriter Kevin McDermott...
have been strenuously denied on the band's official website. However, the tone of the denial is very much in keeping with the humorous spirit of the whole Uncle Devil Show project, and even non-fans will be able to recognize the songs and voice of Currie on their first album, A Terrible Beauty
A Terrible Beauty (album)
A Terrible Beauty is the first, and so far only, release from UK band The Uncle Devil Show. It was released on P3 Music in 2004.-Track listing:# "Leonardo's Bicycle"# "Gilbert O'Sullivan"# "Tambourine"# "Bimbo in the Limo"# "Plus Ca Change"...
, which was released in 2004 and contained six songs sung by one Jason Barr whose voice is strangely redolent of Currie's.
In March 2005, Currie announced on their US website that he was finishing up his solo album and was also 'more than halfway through' a record he had been writing together with Harvie for the last eighteen months. At the end of August of the same year Currie added that his solo album was now finished. In April 2007, Currie announced that he had signed with RYKODisc to release his solo album What is Love For.
In May 2007, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
country group Doc Walker
Doc Walker
Doc Walker is a country music group from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. They have won Canadian Country Music Awards and had radio hits with the songs "I Am Ready" and "The Show is Free" from the 2003 album Everyone Aboard. In 2001 they released the album Curve...
had a number five hit single on the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Country Music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
chart with the Currie penned "Driving With The Brakes On".
Australian country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of steel guitar player Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.-Solo success:...
has also covered "Driving With The Brakes On". The song appears on her CD single for "Pony".
Discography
Studio albums:- Del AmitriDel Amitri (album)Del Amitri is the eponymous debut album by the Scottish rock band Del Amitri, released in 1985 by Chrysalis Records. A CD reissue in 2003 included 4 bonus tracks.-Track listing:...
(1985) - Waking HoursWaking HoursWaking Hours is the second studio album by Del Amitri, released in July 1989. It reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart and featured one of the band's most famous songs, "Nothing Ever Happens", which reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart...
(1989) - #6* - Change EverythingChange EverythingChange Everything is the third studio album by Del Amitri, released on 9 June 1992. It reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart – the band's biggest hit LP – and was nominated by Q Magazine as one of the top 50 albums of 1992...
(1992) - #2 - TwistedTwisted (Del Amitri album)Twisted is the fourth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 28 February 1995. It reached number three in the UK Albums Chart and was nominated by Q Magazine for best album of 1995....
(1995) - #3 - Some Other Sucker's ParadeSome Other Sucker's ParadeSome Other Sucker's Parade is the fifth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 24 June 1997. It reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart.- History :The album's recording was characterised by changes in personnel...
(1997) - #6 - Can You Do Me Good?Can You Do Me Good?Can You Do Me Good? is the sixth and latest studio album by Del Amitri. Though the band's current status is uncertain, it is widely thought to be their last, since its sales seem to have contributed to their being dropped from Mercury Records in 2002....
(2002) - #13
(* Numbers denote UK album charts peak position)