Hello (band)
Encyclopedia
Hello is a Bell Records label
, teen appeal glam rock
band
, based in England
.
of Ultravox
), Keith Marshall and Vic Faulkner. For about a year, they backed singer Caroline Hall, before renaming themselves as Hello in 1971.
Their biggest success came in the UK
and Germany
in the mid 1970s. Their Top 10 hits
in the UK Singles Chart
were "Tell Him" (a cover
of The Exciters
1963 hit) and "New York Groove
", the latter of which was written
by Argent
band member Russ Ballard
. "New York Groove" was later covered
to provide a solo
Billboard Hot 100
chart
hit in the U.S.
, for the rock
guitarist
Ace Frehley
of the band Kiss
.
They were recruited to Australia
n comedian
Barry Humphries
' Side by Side movie
, appearing alongside Mud
, The Rubettes
, and Stephanie de Sykes
; the Side by Side soundtrack
features reprises of "Game's Up" and "Bend Me Shape Me," alongside hit offerings from Fox
, Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
, Billy Ocean
, and Gary Glitter
. Their debut album, Keeps Us Off the Streets, was released, wrapped in a mock denim
cover and the band's next single, Ballard's "Star Studded Sham", brought them another German Top 20 hit, on the heels of a sell-out tour with Smokie
.
However by 1979, with no recording contract
, the band split up, with former guitarist Keith Marshall releasing a solo effort, "Only Crying", in 1981. It found a place in record chart
s worldwide.
On 22 October 1999, Bob Bradbury appeared on the Identity Parade on the BBC Television
programme, Never Mind the Buzzcocks
. According to the band's official website
, in 2002 their original lead singer and rhythm guitar
ist Bradbury, reformed the band with him as the sole remaining founding member.
Current live band:
Record 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,...
, teen appeal glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
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...
, based in England
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...
.
Career
The core of Hello was founded in about 1969, originally being called The Age. The band was started by Bob Bradbury, previously of The Flashback Berries, with Jeff Allen (brother of Chris Allen, alias Chris CrossChris Cross
Chris Cross is the bass guitarist in the band Ultravox.-Early years:Cross went to Belmont Secondary Modern School, William Forster Comprehensive...
of Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
), Keith Marshall and Vic Faulkner. For about a year, they backed singer Caroline Hall, before renaming themselves as Hello in 1971.
Their biggest success came 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...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the mid 1970s. Their Top 10 hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
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 ...
were "Tell Him" (a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Exciters
The Exciters
The Exciters were an American pop music group of the 1960s. They were originally a girl group, although a male member was added later. The group consisted of lead singer Brenda Reid, her husband Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lillian Walker....
1963 hit) and "New York Groove
New York Groove
"New York Groove" is a song written by Russ Ballard and first recorded by Hello in 1975 and later by Ace Frehley in 1978.-Hello:The British glam rock band Hello first recorded the song in 1975, for their debut album, Keeps Us Off The Streets...
", the latter of which was written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Argent
Argent (band)
Argent are an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of The Zombies.-Career:The first three demos from Argent, recorded in the autumn of 1968 featured Mac MacLeod on bass guitar though he was not meant to become a member of the group.Original members of the band were...
band member Russ Ballard
Russ Ballard
Russell Glyn Ballard is an English singer, songwriter and musician.-Career:Ballard was initially a guitarist with Buster Meikle & The Day Breakers in 1961, together with Roy Ballard, Russ's older brother on piano and Bob Henrit on drums...
. "New York Groove" was later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
to provide a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
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...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hit in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, for the 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...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
of the band Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
.
They were recruited to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
' Side by Side movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, appearing alongside Mud
Mud (band)
Mud were an English glam rock band, formed in February 1968, best remembered for their single "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974...
, The Rubettes
The Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
, and Stephanie de Sykes
Stephanie de Sykes
Stephanie de Sykes is a British singer, and was once a girlfriend of Angus Deayton.-Biography:She attended Brays Grove School in Harlow, Essex; she returned to the school for a final reunion in June 2008 as guest of honour. She had a hit in 1974 with the Simon May penned "Born With a Smile on My...
; the Side by Side soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
features reprises of "Game's Up" and "Bend Me Shape Me," alongside hit offerings from Fox
Fox (band)
Fox was a British-based pop band popular in the mid 1970s. Led by American songwriter and record producer Kenny Young, the band was perhaps best known for its charismatic Australian lead singer Susan Traynor, who performed under the name Noosha Fox....
, Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes were a disco group of the 1970s headed by Sir Monti Rock III .-Career:...
, Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...
, and Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
. Their debut album, Keeps Us Off the Streets, was released, wrapped in a mock denim
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
cover and the band's next single, Ballard's "Star Studded Sham", brought them another German Top 20 hit, on the heels of a sell-out tour with Smokie
Smokie (band)
Smokie is an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire who found success in Europe in the 1970s.-Early years:Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar School in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw...
.
However by 1979, with no recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
, the band split up, with former guitarist Keith Marshall releasing a solo effort, "Only Crying", in 1981. It found a place in record chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s worldwide.
On 22 October 1999, Bob Bradbury appeared on the Identity Parade on the BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
programme, Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
. According to the band's official website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, in 2002 their original lead singer and rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist Bradbury, reformed the band with him as the sole remaining founding member.
Singles
- "You Move Me" (1972)
- "C'mon"
- "Another School Day" (1973)
- "Tell Him" (1974) - UKUK Singles ChartThe 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 ...
#6 - "Game's Up"
- "Bend Me Shape Me"
- "New York GrooveNew York Groove"New York Groove" is a song written by Russ Ballard and first recorded by Hello in 1975 and later by Ace Frehley in 1978.-Hello:The British glam rock band Hello first recorded the song in 1975, for their debut album, Keeps Us Off The Streets...
" (1975) - UK #9 - "Star Studded Sham"
- "Teenage Revolution"
- "Love Stealer" (1976)
- "Seven Rainy Days"
- "Let it Rock"
- "Shine on Silver Light"
- "Good old USA" (1977)
- "Heart Get Ready for Love" / "Voodoo Eyes"
- "Slow Motion" (1978)
- "Feel this Thing" (1979)
Albums
- Keeps Us Off The StreetsKeeps Us Off The StreetsKeeps Us Off The Streets is the debut album by British glam rock band Hello, released in 1975.-Personnel:*Keith Marshall - guitar, vocals*Bob Bradbury - guitar, vocals*Vic Faulkner - bass*Jeff Allen - drums...
- (1975) - Hello Again - (1978)
- New York Groove - (1999)
- The Glam Singles Collection - (2001)
Band personnel
Original band:- Bob Bradbury (born Robert Bradbury, 14 January 1956, Tottenham) - lead vocalist / guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Keith Marshall (born 5 June 1956, HampsteadHampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, northwest LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) - guitarist / vocalist - Vic Faulkner (born Victor Faulkner, 27 February 1956, Hampstead) - bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
- Jeff Allen - drummerDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
- not to be confused with this drummer, Jeff AllenJeff AllenJeff Allen is an English rock and blues session drummer. Allen is best known for his work with East of Eden, Babe Ruth, Snowy White, Bonnie Tyler, Mick Taylor and Van Morrison....
Current live band:
- Bob Bradbury - lead vocalist / rhythm guitarist
- Simon Ellis - guitarist / vocalist
- Corrie Shiells - bassist / vocalist
- Alex Budge - drummer