Racing Cars
Encyclopedia
Racing Cars are a Welsh
pop
band
, formed in the Rhondda Valley
, Wales
in 1973.
record label
s of the time, Chrysalis Records
. Racing Cars's debut album
yielded their only hit
single
with "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". It reached number fourteen in the UK Singles Chart
in 1977, and was inspired by the film
, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. Touring to promote their debut releases, Racing Cars backed Bad Company
in 1976, including dates at Earls Court
and the York Theatre Royal
.
Without any similar further chart appearances, Racing Cars ultimately acquired the dreaded one hit wonder
label. However, the band was sufficiently established on the touring circuit to issue two further album
s. These never reached the same commercial heights, and Racing Cars split up for the first time in the early 1980s.
Those albums included bit parts for the session
pianist
Geraint Watkins; America
n saxophonist
Jerry Jumonville; The Bowles Brothers Band (on vocal harmonies
); and, perhaps most significantly, the former Swinging Blue Jeans
member, Ray Ennis.
After they parted, lead vocalist
Morty has sung backing vocals
for artist
s including The Beach Boys
, Tina Turner
and Bryan Adams
. Of their reformation, he said "We were a bit reluctant. We're a bit long in the tooth and a bit out of touch but we finally said yes". They continue to play gigs
across Europe
, after reforming in 2000 with a new album, Bolt From The Blue and a gig at the Cardiff International Arena
.
Their most recent album Second Wind was released in October 2007.
Racing Cars performed their last concert together on 11 April 2009 at the Parc and Dare theatre, Treorchy
, though they made an appearance at the tribute concerts for Man
guitarist Micky Jones in Pontardawe
on 18 September 2010.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, formed in the Rhondda Valley
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 1973.
Career
They were signed to one of the biggest BritishUnited 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...
record label
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,...
s of the time, Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
. Racing Cars's debut 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...
yielded their only hit
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...
single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
with "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". It reached number fourteen 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 ...
in 1977, and was inspired by the film
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...
, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. Touring to promote their debut releases, Racing Cars backed Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
in 1976, including dates at Earls Court
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
and the York Theatre Royal
York Theatre Royal
The York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St. Leonard's Place, York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 847 people. This reduced capacity takes into account removal of the mixing position seats and the stage side boxes which are normally not sold...
.
Without any similar further chart appearances, Racing Cars ultimately acquired the dreaded one hit wonder
One-hit wonders in the UK
This is a list of artists who have achieved one #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry whatsoever on the chart. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles uses this definition of "one-hit wonder", which is a controversial term with various other proposed definitions.-Methodology:A hit is...
label. However, the band was sufficiently established on the touring circuit to issue two further 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...
s. These never reached the same commercial heights, and Racing Cars split up for the first time in the early 1980s.
Those albums included bit parts for the session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Geraint Watkins; America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n 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...
Jerry Jumonville; The Bowles Brothers Band (on vocal harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
); and, perhaps most significantly, the former Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans were a four piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label; "Hippy Hippy Shake", the follow-up, Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly", and "You're No Good", a Clint Ballard song that provided a change of pace and furnished the...
member, Ray Ennis.
After they parted, lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
Morty has sung backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s including The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
and Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
. Of their reformation, he said "We were a bit reluctant. We're a bit long in the tooth and a bit out of touch but we finally said yes". They continue to play gigs
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, after reforming in 2000 with a new album, Bolt From The Blue and a gig at the Cardiff International Arena
Cardiff International Arena
The Cardiff International Arena was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. On 1 March 2011, the Cardiff International Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, after the car sales company with a branch in Newport bought the naming rights to the Cardiff...
.
Their most recent album Second Wind was released in October 2007.
Racing Cars performed their last concert together on 11 April 2009 at the Parc and Dare theatre, Treorchy
Treorchy
Treorchy is a village, although it used to be and still has characteristics of a town, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr valley...
, though they made an appearance at the tribute concerts for Man
Man (band)
Man are a rock band from South Wales whose style is a mixture of West Coast psychedelia, progressive rock, blues and country-rock. Formed in 1968 as a reincarnation of Welsh rock harmony group ‘’The Bystanders’’, Man are renowned for the extended jams in their live performances, and having had...
guitarist Micky Jones in Pontardawe
Pontardawe
Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...
on 18 September 2010.
Band members
- Graham Headley Williams (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...
) - Gareth Mortimer (guitarist / lead vocalist) – aka Morty
- Simon Davies (keyboardistKeyboardistA keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and vocals) - Colin Griffin (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...
) - Chris Thomas (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...
) - Robert James Wilding (drummer)
- David Land (bassist)
- Ray 'Alice' Ennis (guitarist)
- Paul Saurin (keyboards)
- Paul Rosser (drummer and vocals)
Albums
- Downtown Tonight (1976) – (Chrysalis) – UK No. 39
- Live in Concert (1977) – (ROIR)
- Weekend Rendezvous (1977) – (Chrysalis)
- Bring On the Night (1978) – (Chrysalis)
- Bolt from the Blue (2000) – (Angel AirAngel AirAngel Airlines, trading as Angel Air, was an airline based in Bangkok, Thailand, which was operational between 1997 and 2006.-Fleet:Over the years, Angel Airlines operated the following aircraft types:...
) - Second Wind (2007) – (Angel Air)
See also
- Windsong International RecordsWindsong International RecordsWindsong International Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom active in the early 1990s. It specialised in releasing recordings made for or by BBC Radio One for broadcast on the In Concert radio programme....
- List of Peel Sessions
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
- Pinkpop Festival