| For Tinkerbell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | May 1993 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Label | Crai | |||
| Producer | Catatonia | |||
| Catatonia chronology | ||||
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For Tinkerbell is the debut extended play by Welsh band Catatonia, and also their first release. It features five tracks, some of which were later re-recorded on their first studio album Way Beyond Blue . All the tracks were later compiled with those from the Hooked EP on The Crai-EPs 1993/1994 .
For Tinkerbell was self produced by the band, released on the Crai record label. The cover of the extended play was a photograph by Roland Dafis, who was a friend of band members Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts. He had previously taken photographs for Roberts' former band Y Cyrff, and for For Tinkerbell, the photograph featured a cherub ornament from Dafis' sideboard which he had bought from Poundstretcher. [1]
There were five tracks on the EP; "For Tinkerbell", "New Mercurial Heights", "Dimbran", "Sweet Catatonia" and the Welsh language version of "New Mercurial Heights", "Gyda Gwen". There were concerns from the record label about the song "For Tinkerbell" not being in the Welsh language as liaison Rhys Mwyn was apprehensive about promoting an English language track, since he felt that the song would connect more with Robert's Y Cyrff fanbase if it was in Welsh. [1]
Around two months after release, the EP started to get noticed by the media press. It was named as the single of the week by music magazine NME and BBC Radio 1 DJ Mark Radcliffe played it. He had chosen to do so as he was overwhelmed with the volume of "identakit grunge bands" and "Nirvana-u-likes", and felt that he wanted to support an independent record label and a band "who weren't trying to be anything but themselves". The single had been sent to Iestyn George at NME, who previously knew Matthews but wasn't aware of her as a musician. [2]
Several tracks were re-recorded to appear on Catatonia's first studio album, Way Beyond Blue . [3] All the tracks were later compiled onto The Crai-EPs 1993/1994 alongside those from the band's second EP Hooked, released a year after For Tinkerbell. [4]
All tracks are written by Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "For Tinkerbell" | 3:48 |
| 2. | "New Mercurial Heights" | 2:51 |
| 3. | "Dimbran" | 3:26 |
| 4. | "Sweet Catatonia" | 3:12 |
| 5. | "Gyda Gwên/New Mercurial Heights" | 2:51 |
| Total length: | 26:24 | |
Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews and Kirsty Kennedy. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.
Paper Scissors Stone was the fourth and final album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was released on 6 August 2001 in the UK, and reached #6 on the UK album chart.
Guto Dafydd Pryce is a Welsh musician best known as bass guitar player and songwriter in the band Super Furry Animals. With them he has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums, plus numerous singles, EPs, compilations and collaborations. Pryce also records and performs with several other musical acts including his band Gulp. He is part of the era of Welsh music prominence known as Cool Cymru.
Cerys Matthews is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Y Cyrff was a Welsh language indie band in the 1980s, initially formed at the Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy secondary school in Llanrwst, Conwy. The original line-up consisted of Barry Cawley (bass), Emyr Davies (vocals), Dylan Hughes (drums) and Mark Roberts. They performed on Welsh language television, and internationally, until they broke up in 1991. Afterwards, Roberts formed Catatonia, with Jones joining the band a while later. Cawley was also a guitar technician for the band.
Mark Roberts is a Welsh rock musician, first known as a founding member of Y Cyrff. He then met Cerys Matthews and formed Catatonia along with Paul Jones.
Way Beyond Blue is the debut album by the Welsh band Catatonia. It has been seen by many fans as being something of a compilation album, as all but five songs on the album had appeared on one of the band's early EPs or singles, albeit in different renditions. It spawned the band's first top 40 hit, "You've Got a Lot to Answer For" which hit No. 35.
International Velvet is the second album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was the band's breakthrough, reaching number 1 in the UK Albums Chart, spawning two Top 10 singles, "Mulder and Scully" and "Road Rage", three other Top 40 singles, "I Am the Mob", "Game On" and "Strange Glue", and catapulted the band and lead singer Cerys Matthews into the spotlight. Album sales reached 900,000, as it became one of the biggest selling albums of 1998 in the United Kingdom. The album was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
"Mulder and Scully" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Catatonia, released as a single by Blanco y Negro Records from the band's second album, International Velvet (1998). The song makes direct reference to fictional FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the two main characters of the popular American sci-fi TV series The X-Files who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In an interview Cerys Matthews, co-writer of the song, explained that while she was not a serious fan of the show, the basic premise of the series matched the concept of what she was trying to express.
Equally Cursed and Blessed is the third studio album by Welsh band Catatonia, released in April 1999 via Blanco y Negro Records. It reached number one in the UK Album Chart, and three singles were released from it: "Dead from the Waist Down", "Londinium" and "Karaoke Queen".
The Crai-EPs 1993/1994 is a compilation of two EPs released by the band Catatonia; For Tinkerbell and Hooked . The tracks "For Tinkerbell", "Gyda Gwên" and "Sweet Catatonia" later appeared on the album Way Beyond Blue as newly recorded versions. "Gyda Gwên" as a secret track at the end of the record.
The Sublime Magic Of Catatonia is a compilation of singles and EPs released by the band Catatonia. It combined tracks from the Bleed and Whale singles and the Hooked EP. The first five tracks on this release were later re-recorded for the band's first album, Way Beyond Blue. The Hooked portion of this compilation was again compiled as part of The Crai-EPs 1993/1994 in 1998.
Yr Anhrefn, also known simply as Anhrefn, were an influential Welsh punk rock group of the 1980s and 1990s.
Big Leaves were a Welsh rock band formed in 1988, originally named Beganifs. They disbanded in 2003, with two members subsequently forming Sibrydion.
"Game On" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Catatonia, released as the fifth and final single from their second studio album, International Velvet (1998), in October 1998. It was written by band members Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts and produced by TommyD and the band. Commercially, the song charted on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 33.
"Londinium" is a song by Welsh band Catatonia from their third studio album, Equally Cursed and Blessed (1999). It was written by Mark Roberts with Catatonia and produced by TommyD and the band. Released on 12 July 1999, the song reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Stone by Stone" is a song recorded by the Welsh band Catatonia, taken from their fourth studio album, Paper Scissors Stone. It was written by Mark Roberts and the band, and produced by TommyD. It was released as their only single from that album in 2001.
"Lost Cat" is a song recorded by the Welsh band Catatonia, taken from their first studio album, Way Beyond Blue. It was written by Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts, and produced by Stephen Street.
"Sweet Catatonia" is a song recorded by the Welsh band Catatonia, taken from their first studio album, Way Beyond Blue. It was written by Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts, and produced by Paul Sampson and Stephen Street. The title of the track was the original name for the band.
"Whale" is the debut single by Welsh band Catatonia, released in 1994 as a non-album release on the Rough Trade label. It later appeared on the compilation album The Sublime Magic of Catatonia, and was re-recorded for Catatonia's first studio album, Way Beyond Blue.
