Lloyd Cole
Encyclopedia
Lloyd Cole is an English
singer and songwriter
, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.
, Derbyshire
. He grew up in nearby Chapel en le Frith and went to New Mills Grammar School
and later attended Runshaw College in Leyland Lancashire. After failing in law at University College London
, he later attended (but did not graduate from) the University of Glasgow
, where he studied philosophy and English
and met the other members of The Commotions.
, contained literary and pop culture references to such figures as Norman Mailer
, Grace Kelly
, Eva Marie Saint
, Simone de Beauvoir
, Truman Capote
, and Joan Didion
. The group produced two more albums, Easy Pieces and Mainstream
, before disbanding in 1989, when Cole relocated to New York
to record with various artists, including Fred Maher
, Robert Quine
and Matthew Sweet
.
This solo setting produced two acclaimed albums, Lloyd Cole in 1990 and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe. The latter was recorded in two parts: one side continued the New York rock mastered on his first solo album, while the other side featured a session orchestra, much in the style of Burt Bacharach
or Scott Walker
. Although some reviewers have claimed Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (the title being a quotation from the American minimalist
writer Raymond Carver
) to be a creative peak, it produced significantly fewer record sales. While he remained with Polydor as his record label, the US distribution contract with Capitol Records
ended. (US rights were immediately picked up by Rykodisc
).
Cole continued redefining his sound with Bad Vibes (1993), a collaboration with producer/remix
er Adam Peters, using a harder and psychedelia-inspired sound. Love Story (1995) established stripped-down, largely acoustic sound landscapes with the help of Stephen Street
(famous for his work with Blur
and The Smiths
) and former Commotions Neil Clark
and Blair Cowan
; the album produced a minor hit, affording Cole a mid-90s appearance on Top of the Pops
, with the song "Like Lovers Do". However, following a massive purge of the artist roster that came with Universal Music's takeover of Polygram
and Cole's disappointment with the label, his contract was terminated despite at least two full-length recordings being locked in its vaults (later released in 2002 by One Little Indian).
In 2000, after being a solo artist for more than a decade (and a couple of years without a contract), Cole teamed with a younger generation of New York musicians under the name The Negatives. The group consisted of Jill Sobule
, Dave Derby
of the Dambuilders
, Mike Kotch and Rafa Maciejak, who recorded an eponymous CD, released mainly in France
. He has since released solo albums on smaller independent labels
. Sanctuary Records
, the company responsible for the revival of Morrissey
, released Music in a Foreign Language (2003) in the UK
. Recorded largely by Cole himself (including tracks recorded directly onto a Mac
), the songs had a stark, folk
-inspired singer-songwriter
style. One Little Indian, home of Björk
, released Music in a Foreign Language in the U.S.; they also collected a number of outtake
s (recorded from 1996 to 2000) on 2002's Etc. and released an instrumental ambient
electronica
album, Plastic Wood, the same year.
In 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions reformed to perform a one-off, sellout tour in the UK and Ireland
which generated some media interest, mostly in UK broadsheets. The reformation was never intended to be permanent and Cole released another solo album in 2006, Antidepressant, using his usual home recording outfit by playing all the instruments himself with friends like Sobule, Derby and the guitar work of former Commotion Neil Clark on some tracks. The lyrics focus on the reality of a young American middle-class parent: leaving New York for a life in the suburb
s, worrying about the stock market crash, fantasies
of escaping marriage, or being "no longer young, no longer driven to distraction, not even by Scarlett Johansson
." The follow-up, "Broken Record" released in September 2010, marked a departure from his solo recordings as it was performed by a band of longstanding friends and working partners including Fred Maher
, Joan Wasser
, Rainy Orteca, Dave Derby
and Blair Cowan
- as well as two musicians, Matt Cullen (guitar; banjo) and Mark Schwaber (guitar; mandolin), with whom Cole tours, billed as 'Lloyd Cole Small Ensemble'. The recording of the album was entirely financed by advance purchases by his fans, and later distributed by Tapete Records - who also oversaw and negotiated the rights to re-release a boxed set with his complete collection of b-sides and alternative takes and previously unreleased material under the title Cleaning Out the Ashtrays.
or stand-up comedy
. Performances recorded in April 2008 at Whelan's in Dublin and in 2003 in Bremen
(also broadcast by Radio Bremen
) were used for two live albums called the Folksinger series. In 2010, he formed a small ensemble consisting of New England musicians, Mark Schwaber and Matt Cullen and, in October and November of that year, completed an extensive tour of Europe. Further tours of New Zealand and Australia and Europe followed in 2011. Later, in June of that year, http://www.lloydcole.com/weblog/index.php?p=3907&c=1 a tour of North America and Canada was planned.
wife, Elizabeth Lewis, in December 1989. They live in Northampton, Massachusetts
with their sons William and Frank.
er, Cole is known for playing concerts in towns suspiciously close to famous golf courses. He shares a passion for this sport with Alice Cooper
, who is said to have introduced the song "Only Women Bleed" by claiming "not even Lloyd Cole has written a song about menstruation
" when playing live (which he in fact has). Cole's 5.3 handicap tied 11th place on Golf Digest
s top 100 list of musicians (tied with Cooper and Dan Tyminski
). His occasional dab into golf journalism, an article about playing the famous golf courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt while being on tour, was awarded with the Best Feature of the Year Award by the Australian Golf Writers Association. He has also starred in a commercial for a local golf supply store located near his home.
: "Children of the Revolution", "The Slider", "Mystic Lady", and "Romany Soup". Cole has also covered "I'm Not Willing" by Moby Grape
; "Being Boring" by Pet Shop Boys
; "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Tower of Song", and "Chelsea Hotel" by Leonard Cohen
; "People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave
; "Vicious" by Lou Reed
; "I Don't Believe You", "She Belongs to Me", "You're a Big Girl Now", "I Threw it All Away" ", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Black session live) and "Most of the Time" by Bob Dylan
; "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
" by The Beatles
; "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks
; "Human" by The Human League
(with Stephin Merritt
's 6ths); "Believe
" by Cher
(done as a lark); "Glory" by Television
; "If I Were a Carpenter", "Lady Came From Baltimore", and "Reason To Believe" by Tim Hardin
;, "Pocket Calculator" by Kraftwerk
; "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" by Burt Bacharach
; "These Days" by Jackson Browne
(not to be confused with Cole's own song "These Days" on Mainstream); "Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" by AC/DC
; "Please Don't Tell Me How This Story Ends" by Kris Kristofferson
; and "Chinese Translation" by M. Ward
. His versions often differ significantly in arrangement to the originals.
Cole's "Rattlesnakes" has been covered by Tori Amos
, while Sandie Shaw
has recorded a version of "(Are You) Ready to Be Heartbroken?
".
In 2006, Scottish
band Camera Obscura
released the song "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" as an answer song
to Cole's 1984 hit "(Are You) Ready to Be Heartbroken?".
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer and songwriter
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...
, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and 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...
from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.
Early life
Cole was born in BuxtonBuxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. He grew up in nearby Chapel en le Frith and went to New Mills Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and later attended Runshaw College in Leyland Lancashire. After failing in law at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, he later attended (but did not graduate from) the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, where he studied philosophy and English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and met the other members of The Commotions.
Career
The Commotions' 1984 debut, RattlesnakesRattlesnakes (album)
Rattlesnakes was the debut album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and was released in 1984. The album reached #13 in the UK record charts and included the hit singles "Perfect Skin" , "Forest Fire" and "Rattlesnakes" .-Influences:The bulk of the album was written by frontman Lloyd Cole, who...
, contained literary and pop culture references to such figures as Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
, Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
, Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, and Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
. The group produced two more albums, Easy Pieces and Mainstream
Mainstream (Lloyd Cole album)
Mainstream is the third and final studio album released by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was produced by Ian Stanley and released in 1987 by Capitol Records in the US and Polydor in the UK. It conained the hits "From the Hip", "My Bag", and "Jennifer She Said"...
, before disbanding in 1989, when Cole relocated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to record with various artists, including Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
, Robert Quine
Robert Quine
Robert Wolfe Quine was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison...
and Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
.
This solo setting produced two acclaimed albums, Lloyd Cole in 1990 and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe. The latter was recorded in two parts: one side continued the New York rock mastered on his first solo album, while the other side featured a session orchestra, much in the style of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
or Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
. Although some reviewers have claimed Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (the title being a quotation from the American minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
writer Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
) to be a creative peak, it produced significantly fewer record sales. While he remained with Polydor as his record label, the US distribution contract with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
ended. (US rights were immediately picked up by Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
).
Cole continued redefining his sound with Bad Vibes (1993), a collaboration with producer/remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
er Adam Peters, using a harder and psychedelia-inspired sound. Love Story (1995) established stripped-down, largely acoustic sound landscapes with the help of Stephen Street
Stephen Street
Stephen Street is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths in the 1980s, as well as Blur and The Cranberries in the 1990s. Street also collaborated with Morrissey on some of his most popular work after The Smiths broke up, playing instruments and co-writing songs...
(famous for his work with Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
and 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...
) and former Commotions Neil Clark
Neil Clark (guitarist)
Neil Clark is a Scottish guitarist, known for his work with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. He has regularly worked and toured with Lloyd Cole post-Commotions including playing on and touring in support of Cole's 2006 album, Antidepressant...
and Blair Cowan
Blair Cowan
Blair Cowan is a Scottish musician, formerly a member of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Following the breakup of that band, he continued to collaborate with Lloyd Cole early in the singer's solo career, playing and co-writing on 1990's Lloyd Cole and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe.He has since...
; the album produced a minor hit, affording Cole a mid-90s appearance on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, with the song "Like Lovers Do". However, following a massive purge of the artist roster that came with Universal Music's takeover of Polygram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
and Cole's disappointment with the label, his contract was terminated despite at least two full-length recordings being locked in its vaults (later released in 2002 by One Little Indian).
In 2000, after being a solo artist for more than a decade (and a couple of years without a contract), Cole teamed with a younger generation of New York musicians under the name The Negatives. The group consisted of Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...
, Dave Derby
Dave Derby
Dave Derby is an American songwriter, producer, and composer of music for film and television. He was a founding member of the Dambuilders, Brilliantine, and Gramercy Arms. Derby has also released solo records and played bass in Lloyd Cole's band The Negatives....
of the Dambuilders
Dambuilders
-History:The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members - Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga - hail from Hawaii and had played in a number of bands before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and...
, Mike Kotch and Rafa Maciejak, who recorded an eponymous CD, released mainly in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He has since released solo albums on smaller independent labels
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
. Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, the company responsible for the revival of Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
, released Music in a Foreign Language (2003) 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...
. Recorded largely by Cole himself (including tracks recorded directly onto a Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
), the songs had a stark, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-inspired singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
style. One Little Indian, home of Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, released Music in a Foreign Language in the U.S.; they also collected a number of outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
s (recorded from 1996 to 2000) on 2002's Etc. and released an instrumental ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
album, Plastic Wood, the same year.
In 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions reformed to perform a one-off, sellout tour in the UK and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
which generated some media interest, mostly in UK broadsheets. The reformation was never intended to be permanent and Cole released another solo album in 2006, Antidepressant, using his usual home recording outfit by playing all the instruments himself with friends like Sobule, Derby and the guitar work of former Commotion Neil Clark on some tracks. The lyrics focus on the reality of a young American middle-class parent: leaving New York for a life in the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s, worrying about the stock market crash, fantasies
Fantasy (psychology)
Fantasy in a psychological sense is broadly used to cover two different senses, conscious and unconscious. In the unconscious sense, it is sometimes spelled "phantasy".-Conscious fantasy:...
of escaping marriage, or being "no longer young, no longer driven to distraction, not even by Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
." The follow-up, "Broken Record" released in September 2010, marked a departure from his solo recordings as it was performed by a band of longstanding friends and working partners including Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
, Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser is a violinist and singer/songwriter in the indie rock world. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. She has released three albums as a singer songwriter, the 2006 Real Life the 2008 To Survive and the 2011 The Deep Field...
, Rainy Orteca, Dave Derby
Dave Derby
Dave Derby is an American songwriter, producer, and composer of music for film and television. He was a founding member of the Dambuilders, Brilliantine, and Gramercy Arms. Derby has also released solo records and played bass in Lloyd Cole's band The Negatives....
and Blair Cowan
Blair Cowan
Blair Cowan is a Scottish musician, formerly a member of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Following the breakup of that band, he continued to collaborate with Lloyd Cole early in the singer's solo career, playing and co-writing on 1990's Lloyd Cole and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe.He has since...
- as well as two musicians, Matt Cullen (guitar; banjo) and Mark Schwaber (guitar; mandolin), with whom Cole tours, billed as 'Lloyd Cole Small Ensemble'. The recording of the album was entirely financed by advance purchases by his fans, and later distributed by Tapete Records - who also oversaw and negotiated the rights to re-release a boxed set with his complete collection of b-sides and alternative takes and previously unreleased material under the title Cleaning Out the Ashtrays.
Live performances
Cole is on tour frequently, playing small club venues in a one-man acoustic setting and presenting rock songs from his past career remodelled to simple folk songs. He interacts extensively with the audience and some songs are told rather than played as spoken wordSpoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
or stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
. Performances recorded in April 2008 at Whelan's in Dublin and in 2003 in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
(also broadcast by Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
) were used for two live albums called the Folksinger series. In 2010, he formed a small ensemble consisting of New England musicians, Mark Schwaber and Matt Cullen and, in October and November of that year, completed an extensive tour of Europe. Further tours of New Zealand and Australia and Europe followed in 2011. Later, in June of that year, http://www.lloydcole.com/weblog/index.php?p=3907&c=1 a tour of North America and Canada was planned.
Personal life
Cole married his AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
wife, Elizabeth Lewis, in December 1989. They live in Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
with their sons William and Frank.
Golf
As an avid golfGolf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er, Cole is known for playing concerts in towns suspiciously close to famous golf courses. He shares a passion for this sport with Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, who is said to have introduced the song "Only Women Bleed" by claiming "not even Lloyd Cole has written a song about menstruation
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
" when playing live (which he in fact has). Cole's 5.3 handicap tied 11th place on Golf Digest
Golf Digest
Golf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...
s top 100 list of musicians (tied with Cooper and Dan Tyminski
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
). His occasional dab into golf journalism, an article about playing the famous golf courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt while being on tour, was awarded with the Best Feature of the Year Award by the Australian Golf Writers Association. He has also starred in a commercial for a local golf supply store located near his home.
Covers
Cole has recorded and performed a number of songs by Marc BolanMarc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
: "Children of the Revolution", "The Slider", "Mystic Lady", and "Romany Soup". Cole has also covered "I'm Not Willing" by Moby Grape
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
; "Being Boring" by Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
; "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Tower of Song", and "Chelsea Hotel" by Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
; "People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
; "Vicious" by Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
; "I Don't Believe You", "She Belongs to Me", "You're a Big Girl Now", "I Threw it All Away" ", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Black session live) and "Most of the Time" by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
; "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" is a song by The Beatles released on their 1968 album The Beatles, commonly referred to as The White Album. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney...
" by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
; "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
; "Human" by The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
(with Stephin Merritt
Stephin Merritt
Stephin Merritt is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles , best known as the principal singer and songwriter in the band The Magnetic Fields...
's 6ths); "Believe
Believe (Cher song)
"Believe" is a song by American recording artist Cher. It was released on November 24, 1998 as the lead single from her twenty-third studio album of the same name. It was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennen, Paul Barry, Steven Torch, Matthew Gray, and Timothy Powell and produced by Mark...
" by Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
(done as a lark); "Glory" by Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
; "If I Were a Carpenter", "Lady Came From Baltimore", and "Reason To Believe" by Tim Hardin
Tim Hardin
James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
;, "Pocket Calculator" by Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
; "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
; "These Days" by Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
(not to be confused with Cole's own song "These Days" on Mainstream); "Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" by AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
; "Please Don't Tell Me How This Story Ends" by Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
; and "Chinese Translation" by M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
. His versions often differ significantly in arrangement to the originals.
Cole's "Rattlesnakes" has been covered by Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
, while Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
has recorded a version of "(Are You) Ready to Be Heartbroken?
Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken
"Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken" is a song by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions later covered by Sandie Shaw in 1986. Shaw had made a comeback two years earlier thanks to Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths and having released a cover of their song "Hand in Glove" discussed making an album with...
".
In 2006, Scottish
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...
band Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura (band)
Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band formed in 1996 and have released four albums to date.-History:Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined...
released the song "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" as an answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
to Cole's 1984 hit "(Are You) Ready to Be Heartbroken?".
With the Commotions
- RattlesnakesRattlesnakes (album)Rattlesnakes was the debut album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and was released in 1984. The album reached #13 in the UK record charts and included the hit singles "Perfect Skin" , "Forest Fire" and "Rattlesnakes" .-Influences:The bulk of the album was written by frontman Lloyd Cole, who...
(1984), UKUK Albums ChartThe 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...
#13, Sweden #25, Canada #68, Australia #28, US #201 - Easy PiecesEasy Pieces (album)Easy Pieces was the second album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was released in November 1985 and included the hit singles "Brand New Friend" , "Lost Weekend" and "Cut Me Down" .-Track listing:...
(1985), UK #5, Sweden #25, Canada #77, Australia #14 - Mainstream (1987), UK #9, Sweden #31, Australia #54
- 1984-1989 (1989), UK #14, Australia #85
- Lloyd Cole. The Commotions. The Singles (2004)
- Rattlesnakes - Deluxe EditionRattlesnakes (album)Rattlesnakes was the debut album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and was released in 1984. The album reached #13 in the UK record charts and included the hit singles "Perfect Skin" , "Forest Fire" and "Rattlesnakes" .-Influences:The bulk of the album was written by frontman Lloyd Cole, who...
(2004)
Solo
- Lloyd Cole (1990), UK #11, Sweden #6, Australia #49, Germany #38
- Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (1991), UK #21, Sweden #7
- Bad Vibes (1993), UK #38, Sweden #8
- Love Story (1995), UK #27, Sweden #9
- Collection (1998), UK #24, Sweden #56
- Plastic Wood (2001)
- Etc. (2001)
- 2001 - Collected Recordings by Lloyd Cole (2001)
- Music in a Foreign Language (2003)
- Antidepressant (2006) Sweden #20; France #152
- Cleaning Out the Ashtrays (2009), 4CD b-sides and rarities collection
- Radio Bremen: Folksinger Volume 1 (2009), live recording
- The Whelan: Folksinger Volume 2 (2009), live recording
- Broken Record (2010), Sweden #12, Germany #58
Singles
| Year | Title | Charts | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 ... |
Australia ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
Ireland | New Zealand |
US Modern Rock |
|||
| 1984 | "Perfect Skin" | 26 | 54 | - | - | - | Rattlesnakes Rattlesnakes (album) Rattlesnakes was the debut album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and was released in 1984. The album reached #13 in the UK record charts and included the hit singles "Perfect Skin" , "Forest Fire" and "Rattlesnakes" .-Influences:The bulk of the album was written by frontman Lloyd Cole, who... |
| "Forest Fire" | 41 | 87 | - | 25 | - | ||
| "Rattlesnakes" | 65 | 59 | - | - | - | ||
| 1985 | "Brand New Friend" | 19 | 73 | 11 | 20 | - | Easy Pieces |
| "Lost Weekend" | 17 | - | 10 | 33 | - | ||
| 1986 | "Cut Me Down" | 38 | - | 12 | 49 | - | |
| 1988 | "My Bag" | 46 | - | 20 | - | 13 | Mainstream |
| "Jennifer She Said" | 31 | - | 27 | - | - | ||
| "From the Hip" | 59 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1990 | "No Blue Skies" | 42 | 92 | - | - | - | Lloyd Cole |
| "Don't Look Back" | 59 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Downtown" | - | - | - | - | 5 | ||
| 1991 | "She's A Girl And I'm A Man" | 55 | - | - | - | 7 | Don't Get Weird On Me Babe |
| "Tell Your Sister" | - | - | - | - | 6 | ||
| 1992 | "Butterfly" | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1993 | "So You'd Like to Save the World" | 72 | - | - | - | - | Bad Vibes |
| "Morning Is Broken" | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1995 | "Like Lovers Do" | 24 | - | - | - | - | Love Story |
| "Sentimental Fool" | 73 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996 | "Baby" | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1998 | "That Boy" | - | - | - | - | - | Collection |
| 2000 | "Impossible Girl" | - | - | - | - | - | The Negatives |
| 2003 | "No More Love Songs" | - | - | - | - | - | Music in a Foreign Language |
| 2010 | "Writers Retreat!" | - | - | - | - | - | Broken Record |