Modern English (band)
Encyclopedia
Modern English are an English
rock
band best remembered for their songs "I Melt with You
", "Hands Across the Sea
", and "Ink and Paper". The group disbanded for a period in 1991, but later recorded in 1995 and 2002 with new members. The original 80's line up have now reformed and are touring the US and UK and are writing new material.
, Essex
, England
, in 1979 by Robbie Grey (vocals), Gary McDowell (guitar, vocals), and Michael Conroy (bass, vocals), Modern English were originally known as The Lepers. The group expanded to "Modern English" when Richard Brown (drums) and Stephen Walker (keyboards) were subsequently added to the line-up of the band.
After a single on their own 'Limp' label in 1979, the band signed to 4AD
the following year, with two further singles released, and a session for John Peel
recorded before the band's debut album, Mesh & Lace, in 1981, the band in the early days showing a strong Joy Division
influence. A second Peel session was recorded in October 1981. The follow-up, After The Snow (April 1982), was more keyboard-oriented and was compared to Simple Minds
and Duran Duran
. It was also released in the United States
by Sire Records
the following year, where it reached number 70 on the Billboard
chart, and sold over 500,000 copies. Grey said of the album, "We used to think 'God, we'll never make a pop record. We're artists!', but things don't always turn out as you planned and when you actually create a pop record, it's so much more of a thrill than anything else". The second single from the album was also a hit in the US, the jangly "I Melt With You" reaching number 78. When he reviewed the album, Johnny Waller of Sounds
described the track as "A dreamy, creamy celebration of love and lust, which deserves to be showcased on as 12" single all by itself, with no b-side", while his colleague Tony Mitchell described it as "suburban amateurism at its most unrewarding". The band relocated to New York City
and worked on a third album, Ricochet Days, which again made the top 100 in the US, after which the band left 4AD and were solely signed to Sire outside the UK and Canada. The album Stop Start (1986) was the last record Modern English record released by Sire, with the band splitting up after its release. During 1983–4 time Grey, McDowell and Conroy were also involved with This Mortal Coil
.
Robbie Grey re-formed Modern English with Mick Conroy and Aaron Davidson for a new album in 1990, Pillow Lips, now on the American TVT
label. The album featured a re-recorded "I Melt With You", which was released as a single, and saw the band again in the Billboard top 100. The band split up for a second time in 1991, after contractual problems with TVT, with Grey forming Engine. In 1995, with the legal issues with TVT sorted out, Engine evolved into the next incarnation of Modern English and signed to the Imago label, with Grey and Matthew Shipley (keyboards). This line-up recorded the 1996 album Everything's Mad.
Robbie Grey toured the US with a new Modern English lineup from 1998–2002 and travelled coast to coast across the US and recorded a new album with Hugh Jones (producer of earlier Modern English records). The songs written with guitarist Steven Walker and including Matthew Shipley came together on the road and back home in London between tours. After a few years on the shelf this collection of songs, entitled Soundtrack, was released on May 24, 2010 on Darla. In 2010 the original line-up of the band reformed and toured the US in July and September 2010 and the UK and Paris June 2011. They are planning another US tour in September 2011 and are currently writing material for a new album. They were invited by film director Mark Pellington to re-record "I Melt With You" for his new movie of the same name. This vastly different version has been made available as a free download via the band official website and the link below. The current line up includes original members Robbie Gray (vocals and acoustic guitar), Gary McDowell (lead guitar and vocals), Mick Conroy (bass and vocals), Stephen Walker (keyboards) and additional member Steven Walker (guitar).
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...
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...
band best remembered for their songs "I Melt with You
I Melt With You
"I Melt with You" is a song by the British post-punk and New Wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was a single from the 1982 album After the Snow, and is about a couple making love as nuclear bombs fall. It reached #7 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart and #78 on the Billboard...
", "Hands Across the Sea
Hands Across the Sea (Modern English song)
"Hands Across the Sea" is the ninth single by British New Wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was taken from the band's third album Ricochet Days. It reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984....
", and "Ink and Paper". The group disbanded for a period in 1991, but later recorded in 1995 and 2002 with new members. The original 80's line up have now reformed and are touring the US and UK and are writing new material.
History
Formed in ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, 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...
, in 1979 by Robbie Grey (vocals), Gary McDowell (guitar, vocals), and Michael Conroy (bass, vocals), Modern English were originally known as The Lepers. The group expanded to "Modern English" when Richard Brown (drums) and Stephen Walker (keyboards) were subsequently added to the line-up of the band.
After a single on their own 'Limp' label in 1979, the band signed to 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
the following year, with two further singles released, and a session for John Peel
John 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...
recorded before the band's debut album, Mesh & Lace, in 1981, the band in the early days showing a strong Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
influence. A second Peel session was recorded in October 1981. The follow-up, After The Snow (April 1982), was more keyboard-oriented and was compared to Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
and Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
. It was also released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
the following year, where it reached number 70 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart, and sold over 500,000 copies. Grey said of the album, "We used to think 'God, we'll never make a pop record. We're artists!', but things don't always turn out as you planned and when you actually create a pop record, it's so much more of a thrill than anything else". The second single from the album was also a hit in the US, the jangly "I Melt With You" reaching number 78. When he reviewed the album, Johnny Waller of Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
described the track as "A dreamy, creamy celebration of love and lust, which deserves to be showcased on as 12" single all by itself, with no b-side", while his colleague Tony Mitchell described it as "suburban amateurism at its most unrewarding". The band relocated to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and worked on a third album, Ricochet Days, which again made the top 100 in the US, after which the band left 4AD and were solely signed to Sire outside the UK and Canada. The album Stop Start (1986) was the last record Modern English record released by Sire, with the band splitting up after its release. During 1983–4 time Grey, McDowell and Conroy were also involved with This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil was a gothic dream pop supergroup led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom...
.
Robbie Grey re-formed Modern English with Mick Conroy and Aaron Davidson for a new album in 1990, Pillow Lips, now on the American TVT
TVT Records
TVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...
label. The album featured a re-recorded "I Melt With You", which was released as a single, and saw the band again in the Billboard top 100. The band split up for a second time in 1991, after contractual problems with TVT, with Grey forming Engine. In 1995, with the legal issues with TVT sorted out, Engine evolved into the next incarnation of Modern English and signed to the Imago label, with Grey and Matthew Shipley (keyboards). This line-up recorded the 1996 album Everything's Mad.
Robbie Grey toured the US with a new Modern English lineup from 1998–2002 and travelled coast to coast across the US and recorded a new album with Hugh Jones (producer of earlier Modern English records). The songs written with guitarist Steven Walker and including Matthew Shipley came together on the road and back home in London between tours. After a few years on the shelf this collection of songs, entitled Soundtrack, was released on May 24, 2010 on Darla. In 2010 the original line-up of the band reformed and toured the US in July and September 2010 and the UK and Paris June 2011. They are planning another US tour in September 2011 and are currently writing material for a new album. They were invited by film director Mark Pellington to re-record "I Melt With You" for his new movie of the same name. This vastly different version has been made available as a free download via the band official website and the link below. The current line up includes original members Robbie Gray (vocals and acoustic guitar), Gary McDowell (lead guitar and vocals), Mick Conroy (bass and vocals), Stephen Walker (keyboards) and additional member Steven Walker (guitar).
Singles
| Title | Year | Label | UK Indie Chart | US Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Drowning Man" | 1979 | 4AD | - | - |
| "Swans on Glass" | 1980 | 46 | - | |
| "Gathering Dust" | 36 | - | ||
| "Smiles and Laughter" | 1981 | 16 | - | |
| "Life In The Glad House (12" Club Mix)" | 1982 | 26 | - | |
| "I Melt With You I Melt With You "I Melt with You" is a song by the British post-punk and New Wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was a single from the 1982 album After the Snow, and is about a couple making love as nuclear bombs fall. It reached #7 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart and #78 on the Billboard... " |
18 | 78 | ||
| "Someone's Calling" | 1983 | 43 | - | |
| "Chapter 12" | 1984 | 15 | - | |
| "Hands Across the Sea Hands Across the Sea (Modern English song) "Hands Across the Sea" is the ninth single by British New Wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was taken from the band's third album Ricochet Days. It reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.... " |
- | 93 | ||
| "Ink and Paper" | 1986 | Sire | - | - |
| "I Melt With You (re-recorded)" | 1990 | TVT | - | 76 |
| "Life's Rich Tapestry" | 1990 | TVT | - | - |
| "Beautiful People" | 1990 | TVT | - | - |
| "It's OK" | 2010 | Darla | - | - |
| "Blister" | 2010 | Darla | - | - |
Studio albums
| Title | Year | Label | UK Indie Chart | US Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesh and Lace | 1981 | 4AD | 5 | - |
| After the Snow After the Snow After the Snow is Modern English's second album, released in 1982 on 4AD Records in the United Kingdom, Vertigo Records in Canada and Sire Records in the United States... |
1982 | 13 | 78 | |
| Ricochet Days | 1984 | 5 | 93 | |
| Stop Start | 1986/2010 | Sire | - | - |
| Pillow Lips | 1990 | TVT | - | - |
| Everything's Mad | 1996/2007 | Imago | - | - |
| Soundtrack | 2010 | Darla | - | - |
External links
- Official Web Site
- [ All Music page on Modern English]
- Modern English at Beggars Group
- Download I Melt With You (2011 film version)