Sideway look
| Sideway look | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Edinburgh , Scotland |
| Genre (s) | Rock , alternative rock , indie rock , folk rock , new wave , post punk |
| founding | 1980 |
| Current occupation | |
| Colin Thom | |
| Brian Smith | |
| John Baird | |
| Johnny O Neill | |
| Iain Hardie | |
Sideway Look is a British indie rock band from Edinburgh . The band was founded in 1980 and released their second and so far last studio album in 1989, but played concerts every now and then, mainly in Scotland . Sideway Look combines raw and melodic alternative rock and rock and pop songs oriented towards new wave productions with original and atypical instrumentation and elements (see accordion ) of folk .
history
The band was formed in the middle of 1980 with the line-up Colin Thom ( guitar , accordion , keyboard , vocals ), Brian Smith (guitar, keyboard vocals), John Baird ( bass , keyboard, vocals), Johnny O Neill (keyboard) and Iain Hardie ( drums , percussion ) in Edinburgh . The heads of the band are lead singer Brian Smith and guitarist Colin Thom. Some of the members already knew each other while they were at school together in Edinburgh and since 1977 they have played in a band called "Cardinal Eugene" songs in the rough style of the Rolling Stones or Humble Pie . Subsequently, however, with the entry and exit of various band members and softer and more melodic influences of the zeitgeist through bands such as Roxy Music or Japan , they changed into an independent musical direction and so the actual band Sideway Look was born musically.
As an independent music group from the heart of Scotland , Sideway Look began to gain a reputation as a very dynamic, some say “overpowering live act”. As a result, not only enthusiastic concertgoers but also interested listeners from major record companies came to the live gigs. This led to the release of their first album on Virgin Records in September 1984. The album was produced by producer Ian Taylor. The multi-layered and complex musical result was released under the band's self-titled album name - Sideway Look . The name said it all , because the cover of this album Sideway Look also adorned an ensemble of modern surveying devices (for closer inspection) of the Scottish Highlands . Three singles were released from this album - in 1984 the two singles: Knowing You From Today and Tell Me Tonight and in 1985 the song: Till the Bitter End .
After very positive reactions from buyers, radio stations and critics, especially in Europe (including Germany) but also in North America, the queen's drummer Roger Taylor became aware of the band.
In 1995 there was a report in the music newspaper "Freddie Mercury Paradise" that Virgin Records had decided in March 1985 to book Roger Taylor and Richards to produce Sideway Look's second album for Virgin. But no sooner had they really started to mix the album in the English "The Townhouse" and "Eden Studios", the veto of the record company surfaced, and there were artistic differences, about the musical direction, the critical lyrics and the type marketing the music. The music label Virgin then strictly prohibited the further recording sessions . It is still unclear to this day how much material was actually completed because it disappeared in Virgin's archives and has remained unpublished to this day. A single Bulletproof Heart , a cover version of the band Fingerprintz's 1980 title , was believed to be ready for release, but that material was never officially released. However, the band likes to play the song Bulletproof Heart at their live concerts, for example in the famous music temple Apollo, one of the most renowned venues for music and live acts in Glasgow .
The text of the single by Bulletproof Heart can also be interpreted unambiguously and ambiguously as a massive criticism of the record industry itself, so with this knowledge the decision of Virgin Records to simply boycott the release of the entire album does not seem surprising today . According to the maxim: The hand that feeds you doesn't like to be bitten.
Excerpt from the lyrics of "Bulletproof Heart":
“Some say this is a dangerous place Dangerous women, lipstick face Men disappear without a trace Stay among us, I like your face In this town you need a bulletproof heart In this town you need a bulletproof A shatterproof heart When I came here I was innocent Soon found out what trouble meant Now I regret the times I spent In your tower blocks Your tenements In this town you need a bulletproof heart In this town you need a bulletproof A shatterproof heart Watch your step, don't open the door Watch your step, they wanna settle to score Watch your step, don't open the door Don't open the door Don't open the door Some say this is a dangerous place Searchlight circle, they watch this space Men disappear without a trace and none of us face Caught in a vase In this town you need a bulletproof heart In this town you need a bulletproof A shatterproof heart In this town you need a bulletproof heart In this town you need a bulletproof A shatterproof A shatterproof A shatterproof heart "
Not the first time that the music machinery of the big record companies stalled the careers of some promising independent Scottish bands with their socially critical lyrics. Other examples would be the bands "Sunset Gun" and "Sugar Sugar" - both with CBS Records . So the fate of the Sideway Look group is not an isolated one on the rough floor of the international panel industry. Remember such prominent artists as Prince .
Naturally disagreed with the path taken by the record company Virgin Records to force the band onto a more commercial and streamlined predetermined path, Sideway Look decided to pause for thought. The members of the Scottish quintet spent their time writing and producing for other bands. Sideway Look was seen in 1986 in the three-part television series Blood Red Roses which ran in Great Britain and the USA. In 1987 they brought out a maxi single called Hungry Waters together with the artist Karen Rix .
During these recordings and their constructive time with Karen Rix, they met producer and sound engineer Tim Summerhayes, who worked on projects with Status Quo , The Police , The Clash , Paul McCartney , Foreigner , Gary Numan , and Dire Straits , among others . You got to know and appreciate each other and, after developing a healthy respect for each other, you made a connection with him. In the summer of 1988, Sideway Look and Tim Summerhayes got together to work on a joint album project. It was found that the best way to work together was to have three of the band members in charge of production and Summerhayes to be at the mixer. The result is Taming the Blade , produced by Smith / Thom and Baird and mixed by Tim Summerhayes.
The single of the same name was first released in 1988, before the band released their second and so far last studio recording with Taming the Blade in 1989 on the SPV GmbH label , since the self-titled debut album Sideway Look , which was released by Virgin Records in 1984, and the unpleasant turbulence afterwards.
Various of their singles can be heard on various rock and pop samplers and compilations from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, including the single Knowing you from today on the pop sampler from Ariola Super 20 - hit sensation New '85 . Further releases of her songs can be found, for example, in 1999 on the album Maxi Pop V [Various Artists] CON-061-CD or the 2004 sampler Remember Collection [Various Artists] CON-252-CD.
Sideway Look and their music are often categorized in the style and tradition of Scottish bands such as Aztec Camera , Runrig , Big Country or Simple Minds , but also compared to the early phase of the Irish rock group U2 from the early 80s. In fact, Sideway Look is a completely independent and independent music group from Scotland that cannot be squeezed into any musical concept.
reception
Don Shewey, well-known journalist and critic who writes for such renowned newspapers as the New York Times , The Village Voice , Esquire , or Rolling Stone Magazine, said in 1985 about the new band on Virgin Records in the specialist magazine "The Rolling Stone Review" Sideway Look: Every new Scottish band has, despite their very own home-typical wealth, their charm and their roots also their influences and so he arranges the music of Sideway Look slightly derived in its musical flow somewhere between the sensitivity of Aztec Camera and the greatness and that Big Country shine with a hint of the Simple Minds .
Original English quote: "Don Shewey / Virgin - Any new Scottish band has a wealth of native influences to draw on. Sideway Look steer a slightly derivative course somewhere between Aztec Camera's sensitivity and Big Country's grandeur, with a touch of Simple Minds. "(Ira A. Robbins)
Discography
Albums
- 1984: Sideway Look (Virgin Records)
- 1985: Bulletproof Heart (Virgin Records, previously unreleased)
- 1989: Taming the Blade (SPV - Blue Flamingo Records - 85-8853)
Singles
- 1984: Knowing You From Today / Across the Park (7 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 106 853)
- 1984: Tell Me Tonight / For the Country (7 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 691)
- 1985: Till the Bitter End / Next Time We'll Sit at the Bar (7 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 107118-100)
- 1987: Hungry Waters / Stop the Night (7 ", Raya Records, Catalog No: S-RAYA-018)
- 1988: Taming the Blade / My People (7 ", SPV)
- 1989: Great Divide / Unlock the Capital (7 ", SPV)
Maxi singles
- 1984: Knowing You From Today (Extended Sunnyside Road Mix) / Across the Park (Extended King Fergie Mix) (12 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 601-525)
- 1984: Tell Me Tonight (Extended Coatbridge Mix) / For the Country / Tell Me Tonight (Instrumental Mix) (12 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 691-12)
- 1985: Till the Bitter End / Next Time We'll Sit at the Bar / I Know That You Can't (12 ", Virgin, Catalog No: VS 739-12)
- 1987: Sideway Look with Karen Rix: Hungry Waters (Unexpurgated Version) / Stop the Night (12 ", Influx Vinyls, Catalog No: INFVI 12)
- 1988: Taming the Blade / My People (12 ", SPV Blue Flamingo Records, Catalog No: SPV 50-8851)
Compilations (selection)
- 1985: Super 20 - hit sensation New '85 ( Ariola )
- 1999: Maxi Pop V (Various Artists, CON-061-CD)
- 2004: Remember Collection (Various Artists, CON-252-CD)
literature
Web links
- Works by and about Sideway Look in the catalog of the German National Library
- Sideway look at Discogs (English)
- Sideway Look at Allmusic (English)
- Sideway look with Hungry Waters in the Spanish Catalogo
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sideway Look at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Review in: Queen: these are the days of our lives, by Stephen Rider, Castle Communications, 1993 - 241 pages
- ↑ Report on Sideway Look in: Freddie Mercury Paradise, April 1995, N ° 188, page 23 (PDF file; 3.2 MB)
- ↑ Don Shewey Bio
- ↑ Sideway Look discussed in "The Rolling Stone Review," Rolling Stone Press, Blandford 1985, 256 pages (by Ira A. Robbins), 121
- ↑ Sideway Look-Album: "Sideway Look" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look-Album: "Taming the Blade" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Single: "Knowing You From Today" on Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Single: "Tell Me Tonight" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Single: "Till the Bitter End" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look with Karen Rix single: "Hungry Waters" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Maxi Single: "Knowing You From Today" on Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Maxi Single: "Tell Me Tonight" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Maxi Single: "Till the Bitter End" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Maxi Single: "Hungry Waters" at Discogs
- ↑ Sideway Look Maxi Single: "Taming the Blade" at Discogs