The Waterboys

The Waterboys in Antwerp (2003)

Mike Scott at a Waterboys concert (Antwerp, 2004)

The Waterboys are a British folk rock - band , on Scottish - Irish music relies. In 1985 she published The Whole of the Moon, her most successful title after chart positions in the UK .

formation

The band was founded in 1981 by Mike Scott and saxophonist Anthony Thistlethwaite. Scott was a fanzine editor from Edinburgh . He began his musical career in 1979 with Another Pretty Face . In 1981 he moved to London and founded the band Funhouse Three , which was renamed The Waterboys in autumn 1981 after a line by Lou Reed from the song The Kids . In the initial phase, the bassist and drummer changed frequently. In 1983 the first album , Waterboys , was released with lyrical rock music influenced by Irish folk . Scott's plaintive vocals and rough guitars took center stage. They dedicated their first single, A Girl Called Johnny , to Patti Smith . On the second LP A Pagan Place (1984), ex-Stadium Dogs member Karl Wallinger Delhaye replaced and drummer Kevin Wilkinson came as reinforcement.

Successes and appearances

With increasing popularity, the band had appearances as a support act on tours with U2 and the Pretenders . Bassist Matthew Seligman was integrated into the production of the LP This Is the Sea (1985). It was their most successful album to date, making it into the top 40 of the British album charts . The Waterboys also drew a lot of attention from live performances at the Glastonbury Festival . After internal problems, Wallinger formed his own group with World Party in 1986 , while Seligman migrated to Thomas Dolby . The line-up was constantly changing. In 1988 Scott processed his drug problems with the album Fisherman's Blues . 1990 was the most successful year of the Waterboys: Room to Roam appeared and reached number 5 in the British charts. Then began to disintegrate, because Scott moved to New York , Thistlethwaite left the band. In 1993 the album Dream Harder was released with Scott as the sole band member and session musicians such as Chris Bruce, Scott Thunes and Carla Azar. Scott made his debut as a soloist in 1995 and had some chart successes by 1998. In 2000 the band was revived after a long break.

In 2015 the Waterboys released the album Modern Blues , which they also presented live in Germany.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1984	A Pagan Place	-	-	UK100 (1 week) UK	-	First published: June 1984
1985	This is the sea	-	-	UK37 silver (19 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 16, 1985
1988	Fisherman's Blues	-	-	UK13 gold (19 weeks)UK	US76 (26 weeks) US	First published: October 17, 1988
1990	Room to Roam	-	-	UK5 silver (6 weeks)UK	US180 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 17, 1990
1993	Dream Harder	DE67 (8 weeks) DE	-	UK5 silver (10 weeks)UK	US171 (2 weeks) US	First published: May 24, 1993
1998	The Live Adventures of the Waterboys	-	-	UK91 (1 week) UK	-	First published: June 29, 1998
2000	A Rock in the Weary Land	-	-	UK47 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 25, 2000
2003	Universal Hall	-	-	UK74 (1 week) UK	-	First published: June 9, 2003
2007	Book of Lightning	-	-	UK51 (1 week) UK	-	First published: April 2, 2007
2011	An Appointment with Mr. Yeats	DE82 (1 week) DE	-	UK30 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 19, 2011
2015	Modern blues	DE46 (1 week) DE	CH56 (1 week) CH	UK14 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 19, 2015
2017	Out of All This Blue	DE68 (1 week) DE	CH78 (1 week) CH	UK8 (1 week) UK	-	First published: September 8, 2017
2019	Where the Action Is	DE65 (1 week) DE	CH56 (1 week) CH	UK21 (1 week) UK	-	First published: May 24, 2019
2020	Good luck, seeker	DE40 (... wks.) DE	-	UK14 (... weeks) UK	-	First published: August 21, 2020

More albums

• 1983: The Waterboys
• 1994: The Secret Life of the Waterboys 81-85
• 2001: Too Close to Heaven: The Unreleased Fisherman's Blues Sessions
• 2005: Karma to Burn
• 2008: Kiss the Wind
• 2011: In a Special Place (The Piano Demos for This Is the Sea)
• 2012: Cloud of Sound

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1991	The Best of the Waterboys '81 -'90	DE52 (8 weeks) DE	-	UK2 gold (18 weeks)UK	-	First published: April 29, 1991
2013	Fisherman's Box	-	-	UK84 (1 week) UK	-	First published: November 18, 2013

More compilations

• 1998: The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott and the Waterboys
• 2002: Open to Spirit: The Transformational Music of Mike Scott and the Waterboys
• 2003: The Essential Waterboys
• 2011: This Is the Sea / Fisherman's Blues (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1983	A Girl Called Johnny The Waterboys	UK80 (3 weeks) UK	First published: April 18, 1983
1985	The Whole of the Moon This Is the Sea	UK3 gold (17 weeks)UK	First published: October 14, 1985 New edition: March 25, 1991
1989	Fisherman's Blues Fisherman’s Blues	UK32 (7 weeks) UK	First published: January 2, 1989
	And a Bang on the Ear Fisherman’s Blues	UK51 (4 weeks) UK	First published: June 19, 1989
1993	The Return of Pan Dream Harder	UK24 (3 weeks) UK	First published: May 3, 1993
	Glastonbury song Dream Harder	UK29 (3 weeks) UK	First published: July 12, 1993

More singles

• 1983: December
• 1984: The Big Music
• 1984: Church Not Made with Hands
• 1985: Don't Bang the Drum
• 1985: This Is the Sea
• 1986: Medicine Bow
• 1989: How Long Will I Love You
• 1990: A Man Is in Love
• 1993: Preparing to Fly
• 2000: My Love Is My Rock in the Weary Land
• 2001: Is She Conscious (EP)
• 2001: We Are Jonah
• 2003: This Light Is for the World
• 2006: Everybody Takes a Tumble
• 2007: She Tried to Hold Me
• 2007: The Crash of Angel Wings
• 2009: Saints and Angels (with Sharon Shannon )
• 2011: Sweet Dancer
• 2012: Politics
• 2014: November Tale

swell

1. ^ Frank Laufenbergs Hit-Lexikon des Rock und Pop, 1st edition 2002
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
3. ↑ ^{a b c} UK gold / platinum database

Web links

Commons : The Waterboys  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official Site Mike Scott & Waterboys (English)
• The Waterboys at Allmusic (English)
• The Waterboys at Discogs (English)