Ocean Color Scene

Ocean Color Scene (often abbreviated to OCS), a British pop - rock band from Birmingham , their greatest successes in the Britpop had the 1990 era in the second half.

Band history

In the 1980s, singer Simon Fowler and bassist Damon Minchella were members of the rock band Fanatics . Drummer Oscar Harrison first played at Echo Base and then joined the Fanatics. After the end of the band, the three formed Ocean Color Scene together with Steve Cradock in 1989 . Pianist and guitarist Cradock previously played with a band called The Boys and met the other three at a Stone Roses concert . Musically they were based on this band and they were then assigned to the Madchester scene.

The four musicians came under the independent label ! Phfft and released their first singles a year later. They received anticipatory reviews and with Yesterday Today they had a hit in the UK charts in 1991. Before they could release their debut album, however, their label was taken over by the larger Fontana label. Under the new leadership, their album was revised several times, including with the help of well-known producers such as Jimmy Miller and Tim Palmer , but when it finally came out in 1992 it turned out to be a flop. It took the band four years to recover from the failure. They had to buy their way out of the unproductive collaboration with Fontana and were then left with debt. At the same time, however, they received support from Paul Weller , who brought them in 1993 as the opening act for a performance and temporarily took the musicians into his accompanying band. Cradock also played on Weller's album Wild Wood . The following year they were hired by Noel Gallagher from Oasis as a backing band for their first major tour. Ocean Color Scene benefited from the success and the emerging Britpop movement as well as the advertising by Gallagher, which kept them talking, and in 1995 they signed a new record deal with MCA .

It took them a year to complete a second album: With Moseley Shoals they had their big breakthrough in 1996. The album debuted at number 2 on the UK album charts and sold over a million copies, which earned them triple platinum . Three songs on the album made it into the top 10 of the single charts.

The album Marchin 'Already followed in the following year , with which they were able to build on their success. It was number one on the LP charts and spawned three other top 10 hits. In 1998 they went on a sold out tour of the UK. Despite the great success at home, they were unable to gain a foothold abroad. The fourth album by the band One from the Modern gave them the only chart position in Germany at position 92. Paul Weller and his drummer Steve White and Brian Travers from UB40 played on the album . It reached number 4 in the UK in 1999. Another sold-out UK tour followed two years later and another top 10 album, Mechanical Wonder .

In 2003, Damon Minchella left Ocean Color Scene after an argument . He then played for Paul Weller for a long time and started his own projects. Stone Roses bassist Gary Mounfield replaced him on the 2003 tour, then Dan Sealey was added as bassist and Andy Bennett as another guitarist. But the other members also started various projects and Steve Cradock released a solo album in 2010 with the title The Kundalini Target , but everyone stayed loyal to the band. Ocean Color Scene continued to release albums regularly throughout the 2000s , but the band's popularity continued to decline. In 2007 they had their last single hit with I Told You So. Her albums continued to hit the charts, but were only moderately successful there. The band's tenth studio album, Painting , reached number 49 on the UK charts in February 2013.

Band members

• Stephen Cradock (born August 22, 1969); Electric guitar and background vocals
• Simon Fowler (born May 25, 1965); Vocals and acoustic guitar
• Oscar Harrison (born April 15, 1965); Drums and backing vocals
• Dan Sealey (born April 8, 1977); Bass (from 2003)
• Andy Bennett, guitar (from 2003)

Former member

• Damon Minchella (born June 1, 1969); Bass (until 2003)

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		DE	UK
1996	Moseley Shoals	-	UK2 × 3 Triple platinum (73 weeks)UK
	Ocean Color Scene	-	UK54 silver (2 weeks)UK	originally published in 1992, re- released in 1996
1997	B-Sides, Seasides & Freerides	-	UK4th gold (14 weeks)UK	compilation
	Marchin 'Already	-	UK1 platinum (37 weeks)UK
1999	One from the modern	DE92 (1 week) DE	UK4th gold (11 weeks)UK
2001	Mechanical Wonder	-	UK7th silver (4 weeks)UK
	Songs from the Front Row - The Best Of	-	UK16 gold (4 weeks)UK	compilation
2003	North Atlantic Drift	-	UK14th silver (3 weeks)UK
	Anthology	-	UK75 (1 week) UK	compilation
2005	A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad	-	UK30 (3 weeks) UK
2006	Live Acoustic at the Jam House	-	UK73 (1 week) UK	Live album
2007	On the Leyline	-	UK37 (1 week) UK
2010	Saturday	-	UK35 (1 week) UK
2013	Painting	-	UK49 (1 week) UK

More albums

• Live on the Riverboat (Simin & Oscar) (2002)
• OCS Live: One for the Road (2004)
• Live at Birmingham Academy 17th Dec 2006 (2006)
• Ocean Color Scene - The BBC Sessions (2007)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1992	Yesterday Today	UK49 (1 week) UK
1996	The Riverboat Song Moseley Shoals	UK15th silver (5 weeks)UK
	You've Got It Bad Moseley Shoals	UK7 (4 weeks) UK
	The Day We Caught the Train Moseley Shoals	UK4th gold (11 weeks)UK
	The Circle Moseley Shoals	UK6 (6 weeks) UK
1997	Hundred Mile High City Marchin 'Already	UK4th silver (7 weeks)UK
	Travelers Tune Marchin 'Already	UK5 (5 weeks) UK
	Better Day Marchin 'Already	UK9 (5 weeks) UK
1998	It's a Beautiful Thing Marchin 'Already	UK12 (4 weeks) UK
1999	Profit in Peace One from the Modern	UK13 (5 weeks) UK
	So low one from the modern	UK34 (2 weeks) UK
2000	July / I Am the News One from the Modern	UK31 (2 weeks) UK
2001	Up on the Down Side Mechanical Wonder	UK19 (3 weeks) UK
	Mechanical Wonder Mechanical Wonder	UK49 (1 week) UK
	Crazy Lowdown Ways Songs for the Frontrow	UK64 (1 week) UK
2003	I Just Need Myself North Atlantic Drift	UK13 (3 weeks) UK
	Make the Deal North Atlantic Drift	UK35 (2 weeks) UK
2004	Golden Gate Bridge North Atlantic Drift	UK40 (3 weeks) UK
2005	Free My Name A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad	UK23 (2 weeks) UK
	This Day Should Last Forever A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad	UK53 (1 week) UK
2007	I told you so on the leyline	UK34 (1 week) UK

More singles

• One of Those Days (1990)
• Sway (1990)
• Giving It All Away (1992)
• I Just Got Over You (2007)
• Go to Sea (2007)
• Margic Carpet Days (2010)
• Saturday (2010)

swell

1. ↑ Certified Awards - BPI (database search)
2. ^ Ocean Color Scene: 'Painting' video premiere , Rolling Stone, February 1, 2013
3. ↑ Review The Kundalini Target , Mathias Scheicher, hhv.de-mag, October 17, 2010
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE UK

Web links

• Official Homepage (English)
• Ocean Color Scene (English)
• Entry in the Birmingham Music Archive (English)
• Ocean Color Scene at laut.de
• Ocean Color Scene at Allmusic (English)