James (band)

James
General information
origin	Manchester , UK
Genre (s)	Alternative rock
founding	1981, 2007
resolution	2001
Website	https://wearejames.com/
Founding members
singing	Tim Booth (1981-2001, since 2007)
guitar	Paul Gilbertson (1981-1984)
bass	Jim Glennie (since 1981)
Drums	Gavan Whelan (1981-1988)
Current occupation
singing	Tim Booth (1981-2001, since 2007)
guitar	Larry Gott (1984–1996, since 2007)
bass	Jim Glennie (since 1981)
Guitar , violin , percussion	Saul Davies (since 1989)
Keyboards	Mark Hunter (since 1989)
Drums	Dave Baynton-Power (since 1989)
Trumpet , percussion	Andy Diagram (1989–1992, since 2007)
former members
singing	Michael Kulas (1997-2001)
guitar	Adrian Oxaal (1996-2001)

James is an English alternative rock band that was formed in Manchester in 1981 and can be counted on the Madchester scene. The most successful albums are Gold Mother from 1990, Seven from 1992 and Laid from 1993.

history

Tim Booth at the Haldern Pop Festival 2013

Larry god

Jim Glennie

Saul Davies

Mark Hunter

Dave Baynton Power

Andy Diagram

The 1980s

The band's history began in 1981 in Whalley Range, a suburb of Manchester. There lived the music enthusiast Paul Gilbertson who - inspired by post-punk bands - persuaded his buddy Jim Glennie to buy an electric bass and to start a band. In addition to some other constantly changing "musicians", the drummer Gavan Whelan was added. Together they played a few gigs under the names Venereal and The Diseases , Volume Distortion and Model Team International (later simply: Model Team ). They played a spontaneous, purely improvising style. They acquired their "material" during jam sessions.

At a student party, Paul noticed a dancer with a rather wild dance style: Tim Booth . Paul invited him to perform as a dancer with the band. Tim accepted and quickly became the band's singer and lyricist. It was quite a contrast: a student reciting poetry with a trained voice and a certain artistic sensitivity and a couple of gruff guys scraping on their instruments. But it worked.

The band performed under the name Tribal Outlook for a short time , before changing the name to James in August 1982 . The idea for this came from Paul, who suggested that they name themselves after one of the band members. The name Gavan was rejected because it sounds too much like heavy metal . Paul was too humble to put himself or his name in the foreground and Tim feared that he would be accused of selfishness. So there was still Jim or James. The meaning of this name was " amorphous " enough to describe the essence of the band. It was clear to the band that people would expect just one person by the name. Accordingly, at a gig, Tim went on stage alone and recited a poem.

The band developed their own style, which was not influenced by any other band, and consciously took the risk that resulted from it. Tony Wilson from Factory Records was in the audience at a gig at the Haçienda Club . He offered the band a record deal, but the band refused. They were a very good live band by now, but had doubts that they could put their material on an album in the studio. Instead of a complete album (LP: long player) they wanted to release an EP (extended player) with three tracks. Her record debut was the EP Jimone , which was recorded in August 1983 at Strawberry Studios in Manchester . It was promptly named single of the week by some of the major UK music magazines , and the band toured as opening act for The Smiths .

James were considered the coming big thing at the time. But everything turned out differently. Compared to the record company they suspected that they were being taken advantage of by them. In addition, Paul was addicted to drugs, which meant that he no longer played the way he had before. Although Paul was one of the founders and the driving force of the band, the other band members felt it was necessary to ask him to leave the band. In addition, Jim and Tim joined a sect called Lifewave in search of spiritual experience . Although their general wellbeing improved, this created tension within the band.

In March 1985 they released their second EP: James II . Paul had since been replaced by the guitarist from the band Larry Gott, and the record company was eager to release a full album. Believing the record company was only interested in its own image, the band members switched to Sire Records .

The band's third release was the EP Sit Down (not to be confused with the later single of the same name), which came out in March 1986. In June of the same year the first album Stutter came out. The music press had meanwhile lost interest in the band; the band just released too slowly and too little material. The album stayed in the UK charts (# 68) and the record company lost confidence in the band.

The second album, Strip-mine , was recorded on a small budget and without significant support from the record company. It was a desperate attempt to regain the record company's trust. Before it was released in September 1988 (over a year after its completion), it was made radio-compatible by remixing it. The record company refused any promotion and the album only reached number 90. Based on this experience, the band looked for and found a clause in the contract to leave the record company.

Without a record deal and written off by the music press, hard times began for the band members. To make some money, they took part in drug tests by the Manchester Royal Infirmary . This earned them a spot in a TV documentary about fallen rock stars. In any case, they had a good reputation as a live band and loyal fans. Word of mouth made them an insider tip. Sales of T-shirts went better than record sales. T-shirts from James - a band that have never been in the top 40 - could be seen all over Manchester. Probably more t-shirts than records were being sold at the time.

To be able to release another album, the band needed a loan. They were negotiating with a banker from the Royal Bank of Scotland who was not at all willing to give them a loan. After seeing them live, he gave them a £ 12,000 loan. The (live) album One Man Clapping was recorded on November 14th and 15th, 1988 at the Moles Club in Bath with the help of the record company Rough Trade . Only 10,000 copies were made, so the album is very sought after by collectors. It was published in March 1989 and was a complete success, at least in the indie charts: first place. Media interest also reawakened.

However, there were also setbacks: In November Gavan (drums) and Tim fought on stage, whereupon Gavan was asked to leave the band. A few months later he was replaced by David Baynton-Power.

The loss of Gavan's characteristic drums led the band members to look for new musicians in order to develop as a band or their music. In the following year Saul Davies ( guitar , violin , percussion ), Mark Hunter ( keyboard ) and Andy Diagram ( trumpet , percussion) were added. With this line-up they recorded the fourth album Gold Mother in the studios Out of the Blue in Manchester and The Windings in Wrexham . At the time they were under contract with the record company Rough Trade . The boss Geoff Travis was based on the experience with the last singles Sit Down (June 1989) and Come Home (November 1989) of the opinion that they max. 20,000 to 30,000 buyers. The band took a completely different view. They bought the rights to the album and canceled the record deal. A successful tour in the winter of 1989/90 led to a recording contract with Fontana Records .

The 1990s

The new decade began with the first big record sales success: In June 1990 the fourth album Gold Mother was released. While the advance single Come Home from November 1989 only reached number 84 in the UK charts, the single How Was It for You? at least (and as the band's first single ever) in the UK Top 40 at number 32. Subsequently, a Flood remix by Come Home was released in June 1990 , which also landed at number 32. At the end of the year the band gave two sold-out concerts at the G-Mex Center - a former train station converted into an event hall - although they hadn't had a big hit until then. The breakthrough came in March of the following year. Next up were the singles Lose Control (UK # 38) and a re-recorded version of Sit Down in March 1991 . Sit Down stayed at number 2 for three weeks. After the success of the Flood remix and the two following singles that were not on any album, Gold Mother was re-released in May 1991 with a different composition: The pieces Crescendo and Hang On were replaced by Lose Control and Sit Down . In the meantime there is - at least in the UK - another version in which the two singles have been added to the original version. The album peaked at number 2 on the UK charts, and sales hit roughly ten times what Geoff Travis had assumed.

The rest of 1991 the band spent recording a cover version of Leonard Cohen's So Long Marianne for the tribute album I'm Your Fan for the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles and their next album Seven . In February 1992 it was released as its fifth album and reached number 2 in the UK Top 40 . In July 1992 they gave a sold out concert in front of 30,000 people at the Alton Towers theme park, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 . Despite this success, the media response was negative: Critics found the style of the seven-piece band too pompous and compared them to the Simple Minds . Thereupon the opinion prevailed in the band that they should return to their musical roots. So it was fitting that they would go on tour in the USA in autumn 1992 as the opening act for Neil Young .

After returning to England , the recordings for the next album began. For the production they were able to win Brian Eno , who was supposed to produce the first album Stutter , but was already busy at the time. Eno was impressed by the band's improvisations and spontaneous jam sessions and wanted to work out the essence of the band and bring it to the album. The band said afterwards that Eno had let them go on a "journey of self-awareness". The result was two albums: Laid , released in October 1993, and Wah Wah , released in September 1994 . Both albums were recorded within six weeks. With Andy Diagram's departure before the studio session began, there was no longer an overproduced trumpet , which led to the sound being reduced to the essentials. Fans and critics were impressed with Laid and thought it was the best the band had released to date. In 1994 the band toured the United States for most of the time . Since Wah Wah was only released almost a year after Laid , many thought it was completely new and were surprised by this "experimental album". Here was Wah Wah basically just out of the jam sessions that make up the pieces for Laid were developed. Eno felt that the improvisations were just as important as the pieces produced. He convinced the band, and so the only album with improvisations and jam sessions that the band has released was born. The fans and critics were less convinced; there were mixed reactions to both. While Laid had reached number 3 in the charts, Wah Wah made it to number 11.

In November 1995 work on the new album should begin. But something came up. This "something" was later only called "Black Thursday" by the band. A lot came together: Larry wanted to leave the band, as did their manager Martine. A tax bill for £ 250,000 surfaced, and Tim announced that he would be stepping away from the band to record an album with Angelo Badalamenti . The remaining band members didn't give up, but remembered their early days and set up a studio in David's house to record the new album. Adrian Oxaal took Larry's place and Tim would come over from the US from time to time to do the vocals. Tim's "digression" album Booth and the Bad Angel was released in 1996 and the new James album Whiplash in February 1997. With the album, the band continued in the style of Wah Wah , but also brought some "radio-compatible" pieces. The chart result: 9th place.

Then the band went on tour. In the USA they met the Canadian songwriter and guitarist Michael Kulas, who was a member of the band until 2001. It wasn't an easy tour: Tim twisted his neck while dancing on stage and had to undergo an operation, so that some concerts were canceled. Then there was an argument between Jim and Tim, which was about money. A fight broke out between the two of them, and for almost a year it was a bit difficult to work together in the band.

In March 1998 the album The Best Of was released, which contained all the hit singles that had been released by Fontana . It was intended as a reminder of the chart successes of the past decade and was intended to show the audience that there was more than just sit down . It worked. It became the biggest album chart success: No. 1, and as a result the band was celebrated at sold-out concerts.

Tensions between Jim and Tim had increased during this time. In order to reduce them, a meeting with the band's manager, Peter Rudge, was arranged as an intermediary. He managed to ease the tension and the band began work on the next album: Millionaires .

The recordings of Millionaires dragged on. The album was released in October 1999. The album was positively received by the music press. However, for the first time, the fans were not very enthusiastic. No wonder: the album was designed to be a commercial success. Some of the old fans said that the band lost their signature style. The high (commercial) expectations were not met, and the singles only achieved disappointing rankings, but around 150,000 albums were sold: No. 2 in the UK Top 40 .

The 2000s

In June 2001, the last studio album, Pleased To Meet You , was released, which was again directed by Brian Eno and reached number 11 in the British charts. In October 2001 Tim Booth announced that he wanted to leave the band. As a farewell, the band played another UK tour with a final concert in London's Wembley Arena, where, in addition to former James members Larry Gott and Andy Diagram, Brian Eno also performed with the band.

After the tour, the other band members stopped all band activities without officially disbanding the band.

In January 2007 the band announced that they had reformed and had new material. Shortly thereafter, a UK tour with the 1993 cast was announced for April 2007. On March 16, 2007 the band played an unannounced "comeback gig" at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen in London in front of 250 people. On April 30, 2007 the best-of album "Fresh As A Daisy - The Singles" was released , which included two brand new songs by James in addition to the singles. On the same day there was another unannounced gig in front of 300 fans at the Academy Club, the place where Jim Glennie and Tim Booth first met in 1981. In the summer James played at various festivals in the UK and Europe, at which for the first time since 2001 the former member Andy diagram played again.

On April 7, 2008 the new album Hey Ma was released in Great Britain , which entered the British album charts at number 10 a week later.

The 2010s

On September 6, 2010 the album The Morning After was released in Great Britain on CD and as MP3 download and on September 16 in the USA as a 2 CD set together with the mini-LP The Night Before , which was released on April 19, 2010 was. James received favorable reviews for The Morning After . The album was # 19 on the UK Albums Top 75 for a week.

Laid was the 2012 theme song for American Pie: The Class Reunion .

On June 2, 2014, the album La Petite Mort was released . The single Move On is only available on iTunes.

In November 2015, the band announced the release of their new album Girl at the End of the World for 2016.

James' opening act

The opening acts - the groups that are on stage in front of the actual band - of James are a story in themselves. In 1988 it was B. the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays . Two years later, James was the opening act for the Happy Mondays. The following year, Nirvana opened for James - the band that took first place on the Billboard Albums Chart a month later . During the 1993 tour, Radiohead was the opening act. After the creative break it went on like this. In 1997 Third Eye Blind was the opening act, a year later The Corrs and Stereophonics , and the following year Supergrass and the Doves . Then in 2000 Coldplay , who made their breakthrough a month later with the single Yellow and reached number one in the UK album charts the following month with their debut album Parachutes. In 2013 Echo & The Bunnymen supported the England Tour.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US
1986	Stutter	-	-	UK68 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1986 Producer: Lenny Kaye
1988	Strip mine	-	-	UK90 (1 week) UK	-	First published: September 26, 1988 Producer: Hugh Jones
1990	Gold mother	-	-	UK2 gold (34 weeks)UK	-	First published: June 4th, 1990 Producer: Steve Power
1992	Seven	-	-	UK2 gold (14 weeks)UK	-	First published: February 17, 1992 Producers: James, Steve "Barney" Chase, Youth
1993	Laid	-	-	UK3 gold (16 weeks)UK	US72 gold (26 weeks)US	First published: September 28, 1993 Producer: Brian Eno
1994	Wah wah	-	-	UK11 (2 weeks) UK	-	with Brian Eno First released: September 12, 1994 Producer: Brian Eno
1997	Whiplash	-	-	UK9 gold (25 weeks)UK	US158 (1 week) US	First published: February 25, 1997 Producer: Stephen Hague
1999	Millionaires	-	-	UK2 gold (16 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 11, 1999 Producer: Brian Eno
2001	Pleased to meet you	-	-	UK11 silver (4 weeks)UK	-	First published: July 12, 2001 Producer: Brian Eno, James
2008	Hey ma	-	-	UK10 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 7th, 2008 Producers: Lee Muddy Baker, James
2010	The Night Before	-	-	UK20 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 19, 2010 Producers: Lee Muddy Baker, James
	The Morning After	-	-	UK19 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 6, 2010 Producers: Lee Muddy Baker, James
2014	La petite mort	-	-	UK11 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 2nd, 2014 Producer: Max Dingel
2016	Girl At the End of the World	-	-	UK2 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 18, 2016 Producer: Max Dingel
2018	Living in Extraordinary Times	-	-	UK6 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 3, 2018

More albums

• 1989: One Man Clapping
• 1991: James (US version of the album Gold Mother )

Live albums

• 1989: One Man Clapping
• 1998: Live at Whitfield St. Studios
• 2002: Getting Away with It… Live
• 2008: Live in 2008 (Limited Edition)

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US
1998	The best of	-	-	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (70 weeks)UK	-
2007	Fresh as a Daisy - The Singles	-	-	UK12 silver (5 weeks)UK	-

More compilations

• 1985: Village Fire - Five Offerings from James
• 1991: James
• 1998: The Best Of
• 2001: B-Sides Ultra
• 2004: The Collection (UK:silver)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US
1986	Chain Mail One Man Clapping	-	-	UK93 (1 week) UK	-	First published: January 1986
1988	What For Strip Mine	-	-	UK90 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 28, 1988
1989	Sit down	-	-	UK7 (11 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 20, 1989 Producer: Steve Power
1990	Come Home (Remix) Gold Mother	-	-	UK32 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 20, 1989
	How Was It for You? Gold mother	-	-	UK32 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 30, 1990
	Lose Control James	-	-	UK38 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 26, 1990
1991	Sit Down (1991 re-recorded version) James	DE56 (7 weeks) DE	AT27 (1 week) AT	UK2 gold (10 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 18, 1991 Producer: Gil Norton
	Sound Seven	-	-	UK9 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 18, 1991
1992	Born of Frustration Seven	-	-	UK13 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 20, 1992
	Ring the Bells Seven	-	-	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 23, 1992
	Seven (EP) - Closed for Business	-	-	UK46 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 6, 1992
1993	Sometimes (Lester Piggott) Laid	-	-	UK18 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 30, 1993
	Laid laid	-	-	UK25th gold (4 weeks)UK	US61 (13 weeks) US	First published: November 1, 1993
1994	Jam J / Say Something Wah Wah	-	-	UK24 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 21, 1994
1997	She's a Star Whiplash	-	-	UK9 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 10, 1997
	Tomorrow Whiplash	-	-	UK12 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 21, 1997
	Waltzing Along Whiplash	-	-	UK23 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 23, 1997
1998	Destiny Calling The Best Of	-	-	UK17 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 9, 1998
	Runaground The Best Of	-	-	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 25, 1998
1999	I Know What I'm Here For Millionaires	-	-	UK22 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 19, 1999
	Just Like Fred Astaire Millionaires	-	-	UK17 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 4, 1999
	We're Going to Miss You Millionaires	-	-	UK48 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 13, 1999
2001	Getting Away with It (All Messed Up) Pleased to Meet You	-	-	UK22 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 25, 2001

More singles

1984: Jimone (release: November) 1985: James II (release: February) 1985: Village Fire 1986: So Many Ways (release: July) 1987: Yaho & 1 (release: September) 1990: Come Home (Flood Mix) (Release: July) 1990: Weather Change (Demo Version) 1994: Jam J (James vs. Sabers of Paradise ) 1998: Sit Down '98 (Apollo 440 Mix) 2007: Who Are You

2008: Whiteboy 2008: Waterfall 2010: Crazy 2010: Look Away 2011: The Gathering Sound 2014: Moving On 2014: Curse Curse 2014: Frozen Britain 2014: All I'm Saying 2016: Nothing but Love (release: February 5th)

Video albums

• 1991: James Come Home (Live from Manchester G-Mex) (VHS)
• 1992: Seven - The Live Video (VHS, DVD)
• 2002: Getting Away with It… Live (Live from Manchester EN Arena)
• 2007: Fresh as a Daisy - The Videos (DVD)

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	-	gold1	-	500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × silver3	7 × gold7th	2 × platinum2	2,080,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	3 × silver3	8 × gold8th	2 × platinum2

Web links

Commons : James  - Collection of Images

• Official website (English)
• James at Allmusic (English)
• James at Discogs (English)
• James at laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ z. B. this review on BBC Music
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2