Hipsway

Hipsway
Pim Jones and Grahame Skinner from Hipsway
General information
origin	Glasgow , Scotland
Genre (s)	Pop , rock , soul
founding	1984
resolution	1989
Founding members
Electric bass	John McElhone (until 1986)
singing	Grahame Skinner
guitar	Pim Jones
Drums	Harry Travers (until 1989)
Last occupation
singing	Grahame Skinner
guitar	Pim Jones
Electric bass	Gary Houston (from 1986)
Drums	Stephen Ferrera (from 1989)

Hipsway was a British pop / rock band formed in Glasgow , Scotland , in 1984 . Hipsway released two albums alongside some moderately successful singles and broke up in 1989 after the moderate success of the second album. The musical style of Hipsway combined the distinctive baritone voice of the singer Grahame Skinner with a compact, funky guitar playing and often danceable rhythm to a mixture of pop, rock and "white soul / funk".

history

Environment and foundation

Hipsway was founded at a time when a vibrant Scottish pop music scene was well established. Bands like Simple Minds , Orange Juice and Associates made music regionally as well as nationally and were able to convince both commercially and critically . Ex- Altered Images bassist Johnny McElhone founded Hipsway in 1984. McElhone and his bandmates Grahame Skinner, Pim Jones and Harry Travers each had a history as musicians in various formations on the Scottish music scene, so the band quickly signed a contract Mercury Records came along.

In the beginning, the musician and film composer Craig Armstrong , who was very successful in later years, was one of the members of Hipsway.

First records and successes

The first two singles The Broken Years and Ask the Lord were released in quick succession, but in the summer of 1985 each did not go beyond number 72 on the British singles chart. Only the next single, The Honeythief , with catchy guitar riffs and distinctive brass sections , caught on better commercially, climbed to 17th place and thus developed into Hipsway's most successful sound carrier overall. In the wake of this success, the debut album entitled after the band name entered the British album charts and made it to number 42 in 1986.

The single Ask the Lord , which was published in the previous year, was reissued and was able to place itself in the British single charts again. With its driving bass line, incisive rhythm guitars and a melodious keyboard sequence with recognition value, Ask the Lord is one of the most popular and successful Hipsway titles and was also used in various extended and remix versions in European clubs and discos . The ballad Long White Car , which was later released from the debut album in 1986 , set a further accent with a calmer sound and a longer guitar solo , while the song Tinder achieved a certain popularity in a commercial for a Scottish lager . However, a chart success comparable to The Honeythief could not be achieved again.

Waning success and dissolution

Immediately after the activities and successes surrounding Hipsway's debut album, founder Johnny McElhone left the band and founded the later extremely successful band Texas . He was replaced on bass by Gary Houston. It was almost three years before Hipsway got back together and recorded the album Scratch the Surface . During this time, drummer Harry Travers got out and was replaced by Stephen Ferrera. The band had developed little musically and Scratch the Surface could in no way build on the success of the first album. The only single, Your Love , released in April 1989 , briefly entered the top 75 of the UK singles charts. The album itself did not sell well. Hipsway sank into insignificance and eventually dissolved.

All band members, especially Grahame Skinner and Pim Jones, remained musically active in various formations.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1986	Hipsway	DE62 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK42 (23 weeks) UK	US55 (18 weeks) US	First published: March 1986

more publishments

• 1989: Scratch the Surface

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	Broken Years Hipsway	-	-	-	UK72 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1985
	Ask the Lord Hipsway	-	-	-	UK50 (10 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1985
1986	The Honeythief Hipsway	-	-	-	UK17 (10 weeks) UK	US19 (15 weeks) US	First published: February 1986
	Long White Car Hipsway	-	-	-	UK55 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 1986
1989	Your Love Scratch the Surface	-	-	-	UK66 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1989

Web links

• Hipsway at Allmusic (English)
• Hipsway at Discogs (English)
• Hipsway co-founder Grahame Skinner's website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hipsway co-founder Grahame Skinner's website , accessed March 30, 2015
2. ↑ www.oldies.com , accessed March 30, 2015
3. ↑ Craig Armstrong's website ( memento of the original from April 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 30, 2015 
4. ↑ www.officialcharts.com , accessed March 30, 2015
5. ^ Website of Hipsway co-founder Grahame Skinner
6. ↑ www.officialcharts.com , accessed March 30, 2015
7. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE UK US