| Back in Denim | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 November 1992 | |||
| Recorded | May 1990–July 1992 | |||
| Studio | Bark, RAK, Abbey Road, London | |||
| Genre | Glam rock, pop | |||
| Length | 49:51 | |||
| Label | Boy's Own Recordings | |||
| Producer | John Leckie, Brian O'Shaughnessy | |||
| Denim chronology | ||||
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Back in Denim is the debut album by British rock band Denim.
British rock band Felt broke-up in 1989, [1] while frontman Lawrence had been living in Brighton. [2] Finding Brighton to be unpleasant, [2] he moved to New York in early 1990. [3] Lawrence soon started to reminisce about his childhood in the 1970s. [2] He proceeded to visit a pawn shop and buy a guitar, which he would use to compose Back in Denim. [2] He eventually grew homesick and soon moved to London. [3] Lawrence formed Denim with a variety of "session men and ageing glitter-rockers", several of whom were members of The Glitter Band. [4] Lawrence had been receiving calls from major labels, [2] but decided to sign with dance-oriented record label Boy's Own Recordings, who had signed a distribution deal with London Records. [3] His decision to sign with them was based on his notion that "rock music was finished, and DJs could get our records into the charts." [2]
While Felt's albums were recorded with a minuscule budget for small independent labels, Lawrence had "the chance to make the album I'd always wanted" for a major label. [3] Between May 1990 and July 1992, Back in Denim was recorded and mixed with producer John Leckie. [3] [nb 1] At one point, Lawrence was banned from the studio and had pushed Leckie to breaking point, which resulted in him exclaiming: "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them." [3] Eventually, before threatening to disown the recordings, he finished the proceedings with Brian O'Shaughnessy. [3] The amount of money that went into making the album had made Boy's Own Recordings go bankrupt. [2]
The album's sound has been described as glam rock [6] [7] and pop. [8] Tim Sendra of AllMusic claimed that for Back in Denim, Lawrence "channeled his love of simple punk, huge hooks, novelty songs, and slagging everyone". [1] Mojo review Roy Wilkinson commented that the album's "wistful examination of Britain and knowing adoption of pop styles from other eras" laid the groundwork for Britpop. [3] The album was complete with "glam and pop hooks machined to perfection with the best in 1990s recording science". [3] "Middle of the Road" features a sample of Middle of the Road's version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| The Guardian | [8] |
| Stylus Magazine | A [10] |
| Trouser Press | Favourable [11] |
It was released in November 1992 [3] on Boy's Own Recordings. [9] London Records wanted to release the album's title track as a single, but Lawrence requested to re-recording the song's chorus, to which London Records cut funding for further studio time. [3] "Middle of the Road" was released as a single, with the B-sides "Ape Hangers", "Robin's Nest", and an instrumental version of "Ape Hangers" titled "The Great Grape Ape-Hangers", [12] in January 1993.
The album was received well by critics but was commercially poor. [13] In retrospect, Lawrence commented "The tills were closed. [...] This was my masterpiece and I would fight to death to get it right. If that meant it was going to end up selling 25 copies, then that was the way it had to be." [3] The album was reissued in May 2006 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. Norwegian band Turbonegro covered "Back in Denim" as a bonus track at 2007 album Retox.
In 2017, Pitchfork ranked Back in Denim at number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". [14]
All songs written by Lawrence.
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Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".
Peter William Phipps is a rock drummer, singer and songwriter known for his work with Gary Glitter, The Glitter Band, and later Eurythmics, XTC and Denim.
The Bends is the second studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. Most tracks were produced by John Leckie, with extra production by Radiohead, Nigel Godrich and Jim Warren. The Bends combines guitar songs and ballads, with more restrained arrangements and cryptic lyrics than Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).
Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Steve Rippon and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996.
Cast are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split. Following early line-ups with different guitarists and drummers, Liam "Skin" Tyson (guitar) and Keith O'Neill (drums) joined Cast in 1993.
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? is the second studio album by English rock band Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The structure and arrangement style of the album were a significant departure from the group's previous album Definitely Maybe (1994). Gallagher's compositions were more focused in balladry and placed more emphasis on "huge" choruses, with the string arrangements and more varied instrumentation contrasting with the rawness of the group's debut album. Morning Glory was the group's first album with drummer Alan White, who replaced Tony McCarroll.
Sounds was a UK weekly pop/rock music newspaper, published from 10 October 1970 to 6 April 1991. It was known for giving away posters in the centre of the paper and later for covering heavy metal and punk and Oi! music in its late 1970s–early 1980s heyday.
Middle of the Road are a Scottish pop group who have enjoyed success across Europe and Latin America since the 1970s. Before ABBA established themselves in the mid 70s, Middle of the Road were the sound of early europop with their distinctive harmonies and lead vocals from Sally Carr. Four of their singles sold over one million copies each, and received a gold disc: "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". "Sacramento", "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley". By early 1972 the group had sold over five million records.
The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories is the third album by English alternative rock band Felt, released in 1984 and produced by John Leckie. The album marked a departure from the introspective, guitar-led sound of their first two albums, with Lawrence's vocals becoming much more dominant in the mix along with a greater emphasis on pop melodies. The album also introduced a traditional drum kit to the band's sound, having previously relied on tom drums in the past.
The Pictorial Jackson Review is the eighth album by English alternative rock band Felt, released in 1988. The name of the album is a play on the character Pictorial Review Jackson from Jack Kerouac's novel Pic.
Lawrence Hayward is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is known as the frontman in the English indie pop bands Felt, Denim, and Mozart Estate. He has never used his surname in credits or press for his work.
Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon and Katie Kissoon.
"Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in 1970 by its composer Lally Stott, and made popular in 1971 by Scottish band Middle of the Road for whom it was a UK #1 chart hit. That version is one of fewer than fifty singles ever to have sold in excess of 10 million physical copies worldwide.
The Glitter Band are a glam rock band from England, who initially worked as Gary Glitter's backing band under that name from 1973, when they then began releasing records of their own. They were unofficially known as the Glittermen on the first four hit singles by Gary Glitter from 1972 to 1973.
Novelty Rock is a compilation album by the English rock band Denim. It was released through EMI Records in 1997 and gathers all the B-sides from the "Middle of the Road" and "It Fell off the Back of a Lorry" singles, as well as previously unreleased material plus various cover versions. The Kraftwerk-esque track "Supermarket" had previously been issued as a single through Ice Rink under the name Supermarket in 1992.
Harold "Lally" Stott was a British singer-songwriter and musician who wrote the song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" which became a UK number one hit for the Scottish band Middle of the Road in 1971, and charting at number 20 in the U.S. and number 41 in the UK the same year for Mac and Katie Kissoon.
Paul Francis Gadd, best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former glam rock singer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was imprisoned for downloading child pornography in 1999. He was also convicted of child sexual abuse in Vietnam in 2006, and subsequently of a series of sexual offences including attempted rape in the United Kingdom in 2015.
Denim were an English indie rock band, the brainchild of Lawrence, and was based in Birmingham, England.
Don't Let It Die is a song written, produced, and sung by Hurricane Smith. It was originally recorded by Smith as a demo in the hopes that John Lennon would record the song. Following advice from Mickie Most, Smith decided to release it himself. It made #2 on the UK Singles Chart, with Middle Of The Road's Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep keeping it from the top spot.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)Back in Denim at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
