The Christians
| The Christians | |
|---|---|
 The Christians (2014) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Liverpool , England |
| Genre (s) | soul |
| founding | 1982 |
| Website | www.thechristianslive.co.uk |
| Founding members | |
Lead vocals |
Garry Christian |
singing |
Roger Christian |
Keyboard, saxophone |
Russell Christian |
Keyboard, guitar |
Henry Priestman |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Garry Christian |
Vocals, guitar |
Joey Ankrah |
guitar |
Stewart Boyle |
bass |
Clifford Watson |
Drums |
Lionel Duke |
The Christians are a British soul band from Liverpool , which had some chart hits in England and Europe in the late 1980s / early 1990s . The original members of the group were Garry Christian (February 27, 1955, lead vocals), Roger Christian (February 13, 1950, vocals), Russell Christian (June 8, 1956, keyboard, saxophone) and Henry Priestman (September 21, 1955, Keyboard, guitar).
The name of the band was chosen based on the surname of the Christian brothers and had no religious relationship whatsoever. In addition to soul elements, her musical style also shows influences from pop music , country , blues and contemporary rock .
history
The beginnings
The Christians , originally five brothers, sang and played in a band called "Equal Temperament" in the early 1980s , whose music was influenced by the Temptations and the Persuasions . In 1982 they met Henry Priestman , who had played the keyboard on " It's Immaterial " to date . The Christians were founded and "Forgotten Town" was released as their first single . Her first three singles reached the top 40 in the UK. Her debut album "The Christians" came in 1987 at number 2 on the UK album charts and sold over a million copies. The greatest success of this was the single "Ideal World" , which reached number 14 on the British charts.
In 1988 they released "Harvest for the World", a cover version of an old hit by the Isley Brothers . The accompanying music video was an animation created by four of the leading animation companies , including Aardman Animation , which was also invented by Wallace & Gromit . The video won several awards, and the single reached number 8 on the UK charts.
Together with Holly Johnson , Paul McCartney , Gerry Marsden ( Gerry & the Pacemakers ) and other British musicians, the Christians recorded the old Liverpool anthem "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" in 1989 for the benefit of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster . The song was number 1 on the British charts for 3 weeks .
Their second album "Color" was released in 1990 and reached number 1 on the British album charts, the successor from 1992, "Happy in Hell" came in 1992 again at number 18. At the beginning of the 90s, the band was on tour continuously, but theirs Popularity began to decline. None of the following singles made it into the top 20.
Separation and reunion
Garry Christian moved to Paris in 1995 and recorded a solo album. As a result, the band fell apart. A formal dissolution was not announced, however, in order to leave the door open for a later reunion. And four years later they got back together for an “ unplugged ” session. In 1999 they toured the UK extensively for 36 days, and again in 2000.
In 2001 the Christians began to write songs for a " comeback " album ( "Prodigal Sons" ). This was released in 2003 and accompanied by tours of Great Britain, France and Spain in 2004.
In 2005 Russell Christian announced that he no longer wanted to tour. The remaining members decided to give up the "unplugged" format and return to electronic music. This 'new' band was introduced during a 2005 tour and consists of Garry Christian , Henry Priestman , Neil Griffiths , Stewart Boyle , Bobby Kewley and Craig Connet . At the same time, however, efforts are made to re-form the original band.
In 2012 The Christians released their fifth album "Speed of Life".
On September 25, 2015, the sixth album "We" was released.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1987 | The Christians | - | - | - |
UK2  × 3
(68 weeks)UK |
US158 (8 weeks) US |
First published: October 1987
|
| 1990 | Color |
DE23 (20 weeks) DE |
AT30 (1 week) AT |
CH13 (11 weeks) CH |
UK1 (17 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: January 1990
|
| 1992 | Happy in Hell | - | - | - |
UK18 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 1992
|
| 1993 | The best of | - | - | - |
UK22nd  (8 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: November 1993
(compilation) |
more publishments
- 2003: Prodigal Sons
- 2008: Harvest for the World: Live at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
- 2009: Soul from Liverpool
- 2010: The Christians Live in Concert
- 2012: Speed of Life
- 2015: We
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1987 | Forgotten Town The Christians |
DE31 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK22 (11 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: January 1987
|
| Hooverville (And They Promised Us The World) The Christians |
- | - | - |
UK21 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: June 1987
|
|
| When the Fingers Point The Christians |
- | - | - |
UK34 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 1987
|
|
| Ideal World The Christians |
- | - | - |
UK14 (14 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: November 1987
|
|
| 1988 | Born Again The Christians |
- | - | - |
UK25 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: April 1988
|
| Harvest for the World | - | - | - |
UK8 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: October 1988
|
|
| 1989 | Ferry Cross the Mersey |
DE5 (15 weeks) DE |
AT15 (8 weeks) AT |
CH11 (9 weeks) CH |
UK1 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: May 1989
(with Paul McCartney , Holly Johnson , Stock Aitken Waterman & Gerry Marsden) |
| Words Color |
- | - | - |
UK18 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: December 1989
|
|
| 1990 | I Found Out Color |
- | - | - |
UK56 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: March 1990
|
| Greenbank Drive Color |
- | - | - |
UK63 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: August 1990
|
|
| 1992 | What's in a Word Happy in Hell |
DE60 (7 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK33 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: August 1992
|
| Father Happy in Hell |
- | - | - |
UK55 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: November 1992
|
|
| 1993 | The Bottle Happy in Hell |
DE86 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK39 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: February 1993
|
swell
Web links
- Official website
- The Christians at Discogs (English)