Flightside

Last updated

Flightside
Origin Uxbridge, England
Genres Lo-fi, post-grunge
Years active1992–1995, 2012–
Labelssuddenvibe, Bang Boom Krash
Website http://flightside.co.uk
Past membersSarah Eaglesfield (bass/vocals/keys), Paul Cormack (guitar), Mark Parton (drummer)

Flightside were a UK-based lo-fi post-grunge band formed in Uxbridge, England in 1992. [1] The line up consisted of Sarah Eaglesfield (keys/vocals), Paul Cormack (guitar) and ex-Velveto drummer Mark Parton. [2] Although Cormack and Eaglesfield had previously known each other in Birmingham, the three came together as a band whilst working on the 'flightside' (the area past the security checks) at Heathrow Airport.

Contents

Eaglesfield used her own publication Waxstreet Dive to raise awareness of the band and publicise their initial gigs. Showing influences such as The Birthday Party, Crime and the City Solution and Einstürzende Neubauten they won the award for Best Student Band in the 1992 UK University Unsigned Awards, [3] which led to them being signed by Bang Boom Krash.

History

Debut EP and European tour

Their first EP, Circles, was released within 2 months of the signing, and received a great deal of airplay in rotation on the UK Student Radio Network due to band members being heavily involved in the UK Student Radio Association. BBC Radio 1 and stations in the Capital Radio Group also picked up on the release, and the increased exposure for the band led to a well-received European tour covering Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Denmark.

Digital distribution and second EP

Flightside were most notable for their early adoption and use of digital media in promoting the band and distributing their music. In 1993 they became one of the first bands to make their music freely available online, advertising on Usenet newsgroups and using their student logins to establish an undercover website on Brunel University's academic web servers, long before webspace was freely available for home users. The URL was displayed on the cover of their second EP, M.C.K. (Middle Class Kid), which was released in 1994. The band split in 1995 to concentrate on their final year studies.

20-year reunion

In November 2011, Eaglesfield received funding from the Chilean Government through their Start-Up Chile scheme to establish a record label. The band decided to reunite for "test-marketing purposes" on the 20th anniversary of their formation and recorded 15 new tracks together. [4] The demo tracks they distributed were well-received, gaining airplay across the Chilean radio network, and the first track, Shark, was released on 7 May 2012 on the Suddenvibe label. [5]

Chart disqualification and controversy

The band encouraged fans to stream Shark instead of buying it, with a view to breaking the newly announced Official Streaming Charts in the UK. [6] It held the number one spot on the streaming web service, Deezer, for over two weeks in June 2012. [7] However, Shark was disqualified from the charts by the Official Charts Company, who claimed that the average number streams per customer was excessive.

The band contested this disqualification, citing a spokesperson on the Official Charts Company Facebook page: "If you've listened to Madonna 20 times today, then 20 streams will be counted for that track". [8] The Official Chart company did not reinstate the track, and Flightside fans set up an anti-chart movement, with a view to disqualifying one random track a week as a protest for the disqualification. [9] [10]

Discography

EPs

Singles

Related Research Articles

<i>Crash! Boom! Bang!</i> 1994 studio album by Roxette

Crash! Boom! Bang! is the fifth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 9 April 1994 by EMI. The album was an immediate commercial success, peaking within the top 10 in over 20 national charts throughout Europe, Australasia and South America. The full-length album was not originally released in the United States, where a shortened version titled Favorites from Crash! Boom! Bang! was sold for a limited time through McDonald's outlets; this version sold over a million copies in the US but was deemed ineligible to chart on the Billboard 200 as, until 2007, Billboard had a policy of excluding albums sold by an exclusive retailer.

Bloc Party British indie rock band

Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack, Justin Harris and Louise Bartle. Former members Matt Tong and Gordon Moakes left the band in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music. The band was formed at the 1999 Reading Festival by Okereke and Lissack. They went through a variety of names before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Moakes joined the band after answering an advert in NME magazine, while Tong was picked via an audition. Bloc Party got their break by giving BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand's lead singer, Alex Kapranos, a copy of their demo "She's Hearing Voices".

<i>Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?</i> 2006 EP by Arctic Monkeys

Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? is the second EP by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 24 April 2006 by Domino Recording Company. This is the band's final record to feature Andy Nicholson on bass, as he left the band a month after the EP's release.

Unintended (song)

"Unintended" is a song by English rock band Muse, released as the fifth and final single from their 1999 debut album, Showbiz. It peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2000 and reached number five in Norway in 2008.

The Wombats

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003. Since its inception, the band's line-up has consisted of Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis. The band is signed to 14th Floor Records and Bright Antenna. They have sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Rory Attwell is an English musician, best known for his part in UK punk trio Test Icicles, who formed in 2004 and played a handful of concerts before disbanding on 22 April 2006, after their sold out final show at the Astoria in London. During their time together they released the album For Screening Purposes Only, and had UK Top 40 singles with "What's Your Damage" and "Circle. Square. Triangle".

Bombay Bicycle Club English indie rock band

Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl (guitar), Suren de Saram (drums), and Ed Nash (bass). They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electronica, world music and indie rock.

Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, France, Deezer currently has 56 million licensed tracks in its library, with over 30,000 radio channels, 14 million monthly active users, and 7 million paid subscribers as of January 2019. The service is available for Web, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS, Windows, and MacOS.

Red Sky July are a British alternative, country band, consisting of husband and wife Ally McErlaine (ex-Texas) and Shelly Poole along with Charity Hair. They are influenced by alt country and Americana. They have released three albums since their formation in 2009.

Thats the Truth (McFly song)

"That's the Truth" is the third single from McFly's fifth studio album, Above the Noise. The single was first confirmed by band members Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter in a web chat on the group's official website, SuperCity. Graham Norton premiered the song on British radio on 15 January 2011, on his drivetime slot on BBC Radio 2. The single was released on 7 March 2011.

The Official Chart is a long-running United Kingdom music chart programme, airing each Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 1 and on MTV Music, MTV Hits. It airs the UK Singles Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company, and is currently hosted by Scott Mills.

Heart Skips a Beat 2011 single by Olly Murs

"Heart Skips a Beat" is a song by English singer-songwriter Olly Murs, taken from his second studio album, In Case You Didn't Know. The song features vocals from English hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks, and was released as the album's lead single on 19 August 2011. It was written by Alex Smith, Preston, Kish Mauve and Rizzle Kicks. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number one with first-week sales of over 109,000 copies, becoming his second number-one single. It also served as the closing song at Murs' 2012 arena tour.

The Sailmakers

The Sailmakers are an English psychedelic rock band from Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. The band formed in 2008.

Bright Light Bright Light

Rod Thomas is a Welsh independent singer-songwriter, based in New York. Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his music, also branching into synthpop, dance and house music. Two of his albums have reached the top 20 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Barb Wire Dolls

The Barb Wire Dolls are a grunge/punk rock band from Greece, based in the United States. They were championed by Lemmy on whose personal record label their third and fourth albums were released.

Folk Radio UK, based in Somerset, is an independent online folk music magazine founded in 2004. The music covered includes, but is not limited to, folk – both traditional and contemporary, American primitive, Celtic music, British folk music and world music. Its founder and owner is Alex Gallacher who is also the editor-in-chief.

Patrick Alavi is a German musician and DJ specialising in funk and electronic.

Desire (Years & Years song)

"Desire" is a song by English synthpop band Years & Years from their debut studio album, Communion (2015). It was released on 23 November 2014 as the album's third single. Written by Years & Years and Kid Harpoon, the song peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.

Official Albums Streaming Chart

The Official Albums Streaming Chart is a music chart based plays of an album's songs through audio streaming services in the United Kingdom. Introduced on 1 March 2015, it coincided with the Official Charts Company's decision to incorporate streaming data into the UK Albums Chart. The Official Albums Streaming Chart uses the same streaming sources as the Official Audio Streaming Chart to measure how many times albums have been streamed each week.

Pale Waves

Pale Waves are an English indie pop band from Manchester, formed in 2014. It was founded originally as Creek when lead singer and guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie met drummer Ciara Doran while attending university in Manchester. The band was joined by guitarist Hugo Silvani and bassist Charlie Wood, completing the lineup.

References

  1. ↑ "Flightside" MTV. Retrieved on 16 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Flightside on BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved on 13 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Flying High for Brunel". (23 November 1992). Le Nurb.
  4. ↑ "British entrepreneur turns rockstar in Chile". This Is Chile – the official website of Chile.
  5. ↑ "Shark by Flightside on Amazon UK"
  6. ↑ "Official music streaming chart launching in the UK" BBC
  7. ↑ "Deezer UK" Deezer UK
  8. ↑ "The UK's first Official Streaming Chart has arrived!" The Official Charts Company on Facebook
  9. ↑ [ permanent dead link ] Flightsiders anti-chart movement
  10. ↑ "Loophole in the new UK Official Streaming Chart revealed allows 'anti-fans' get songs disqualified" Yahoo! News
  11. ↑ "Circles on Musicbrainz". Musicbrainz. Retrieved on 13 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "M.C.K on Musicbrainz". Musicbrainz. Retrieved on 13 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "Shark by Flightside on Amazon". Amazon.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.