Kissing the Pink
Encyclopedia
Kissing the Pink are a British
dance
/synth pop group from London
, England
. Members included Nick Whitecross, John Hall, George Stewart, Josephine Wells, Pete Barnett, Sylvia Griffin, Steve Cusack, and Simon Aldridge.
was "Don't Hide in the Shadows", made with Martin Hannett
, but it was not until they dropped their first manager
(celebrated in their song
"Michael"), and signed with Magnet Records
that they began to get any airplay. They recorded
their first album
in AIR Studios with producer
Colin Thurston
.
Kissing the Pink had wanted Brian Eno
to produce the album but Magnet thought Thurston would make a more commercial impact. After a series of near-misses the single "Last Film" reached the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart
. Their album, Naked, reached #54 in the UK Albums Chart
.
Their first Billboard Hot 100
entry was "Maybe This Day," which hit #87 in 1983. In 1985, following the departure by some of the members they shortened their name to KTP and began having hits
on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart
. The most successful was "Certain Things Are Likely
", which spent three weeks at #1 in 1987. That song also became their second Hot 100 entry when it peaked at #97 later that year. From the same album "One Step" was the biggest selling single in Italy
that year.
Kissing the Pink's last album, Sugarland, was a blend of psychedelia and dance pop. Since then, the band have made an album with Ecologist called Hot Filth which took the mixing of psychedelia with jazz and other musical forms further still.
Whitecross, Hall and Stewart collaborated on many dance records in the early '90's and made it to the top of the dance charts in 1994 with the artist Mike (Twangling (Three Fingers in a Box) on Pukka Records). They made an album in 2003 with jazz
saxophonist
Candy Dulfer
called Right In My Soul. They also worked with Gareth Gates
on his Pictures of the Other Side
album.
Whitecross has written a considerable amount of material for pop artists like Shea Seger
.
The band wrote and feature on four tracks on the X-Press 2
album Makeshift Feelgood
, alongside Tim DeLaughter
, Kurt Wagner
and Rob Harvey from The Music.
Since March 2009, the band have been writing and recording new material at their London studio.
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...
dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
/synth pop group from London
London
London 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...
, 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...
. Members included Nick Whitecross, John Hall, George Stewart, Josephine Wells, Pete Barnett, Sylvia Griffin, Steve Cusack, and Simon Aldridge.
Career
Their first singleSingle (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...
was "Don't Hide in the Shadows", made with Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett , sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was a record producer and an original partner in Factory Records with Tony Wilson...
, but it was not until they dropped their first manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
(celebrated in their song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
"Michael"), and signed with Magnet Records
Magnet Records
Magnet Records was a record label started in 1973 by Michael Levy and acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1988 for an estimated £10m.Artists on the label included Alvin Stardust, Matchbox, Adrian Baker, Silver Convention, Guys 'n' Dolls, Darts, Kissing the Pink, Bad Manners, David D'Or, Blue Zoo...
that they began to get any airplay. They recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
their first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
in AIR Studios with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Colin Thurston
Colin Thurston
Colin Thurston was a British recording engineer and producer.Born in Singapore, Thurston played in bands in London before he "bluffed his way" into audio engineering...
.
Kissing the Pink had wanted Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
to produce the album but Magnet thought Thurston would make a more commercial impact. After a series of near-misses the single "Last Film" reached the Top 20 of 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 ...
. Their album, Naked, reached #54 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...
.
Their first 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...
entry was "Maybe This Day," which hit #87 in 1983. In 1985, following the departure by some of the members they shortened their name to KTP and began having 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...
on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play 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....
. The most successful was "Certain Things Are Likely
Certain Things Are Likely
"Certain Things Are Likely" is a 1987 single by British synthpop group Kissing the Pink. The single was the most successful of three dance chart entries, hitting number one for three weeks...
", which spent three weeks at #1 in 1987. That song also became their second Hot 100 entry when it peaked at #97 later that year. From the same album "One Step" was the biggest selling single in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
that year.
Kissing the Pink's last album, Sugarland, was a blend of psychedelia and dance pop. Since then, the band have made an album with Ecologist called Hot Filth which took the mixing of psychedelia with jazz and other musical forms further still.
Whitecross, Hall and Stewart collaborated on many dance records in the early '90's and made it to the top of the dance charts in 1994 with the artist Mike (Twangling (Three Fingers in a Box) on Pukka Records). They made an album in 2003 with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Candy Dulfer
Candy Dulfer
Candy Dulfer is a Dutch smooth jazz alto saxophonist who began playing at the age of six. She founded her band, Funky Stuff, when she was fourteen years old. Her debut album Saxuality received a Grammy Award nomination. Dulfer has released nine studio albums, two live albums, and one compilation...
called Right In My Soul. They also worked with Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Gareth Paul Gates , is an English singer-songwriter. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly...
on his Pictures of the Other Side
Pictures of the Other Side
Pictures of the Other Side is the third and final studio album released by British singer-songwriter Gareth Gates. The album was released nearly four years after his second album, Go Your Own Way. Two singles were released from the album: "Changes" and "Angel on My Shoulder". The album peaked at...
album.
Whitecross has written a considerable amount of material for pop artists like Shea Seger
Shea Seger
Shea Seger is an American singer-songwriter born in Fort Worth, Texas. Her sound has been likened to a combination of Janis Joplin, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos. Seger describes her music as "mutt dog.....
.
The band wrote and feature on four tracks on the X-Press 2
X-Press 2
X-Press 2 is an English electronic and dance music duo. The members are DJ Diesel and DJ Rocky . Ashley Beedle left to pursue solo projects in 2009.-History:...
album Makeshift Feelgood
Makeshift Feelgood
Makeshift Feelgood is the 2006 album from X-Press 2. It features Tim DeLaughter from The Polyphonic Spree, Kurt Wagner from Lambchop, Anthony Roman from Radio 4, 1980s band Kissing the Pink, and, on the first single "Kill 100", Rob Harvey from britrockers The Music...
, alongside Tim DeLaughter
Tim DeLaughter
Tim DeLaughter , is a singer and songwriter. He has gained attention as a very energetic and engaging frontman for both Tripping Daisy and his current band, The Polyphonic Spree....
, Kurt Wagner
Lambchop (band)
Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is a band from Nashville, Tennessee. Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre...
and Rob Harvey from The Music.
Since March 2009, the band have been writing and recording new material at their London studio.
Partial discography
- Naked (1983)
- What Noise? (1984)
- Certain Things Are Likely (1986)
- Sugarland (1993)
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart