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Ian Prowse | |
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 Ian Prowse in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ian Prowse |
| Born | 10 January 1964 Chester, England |
| Origin | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England |
| Genres | Pop, alternative rock, Celtic |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | CIA Records, IRL Records |
Ian Prowse (born 10 January 1964) [1] [2] is an English singer-songwriter, currently frontman of Amsterdam [3] and previously of Pele. [4]
Prowse formed Pele in 1989 along with Dally (drums), Robbo (Hammond), Nico (violin) and Jim McCallister (bass). [5] Signed by Michael Levy, Baron Levy in March 1991 to M&G Records/Polydor, the band went on to release two studio albums (Fireworks & The Sport Of Kings), one live album and six singles. Pele's singles never reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, with it being often remarked that Pele sold more of their famous primary colour T-shirts than they did records.[ citation needed ] However they scored a number one single in South Africa with "Megalomania", and had other hits in Holland, Portugal and Belgium. After nine tours of the UK, including those with Del Amitri and The Pogues, they split in 1996 due to problems with the record company whose efforts to make Prowse record as a solo artist were resisted by the singer.[ citation needed ] Prowse celebrated the 25th anniversary of first album Fireworks with a UK tour in the early 2017 with a 25th anniversary of The Sport of Kings tour announced for 2018.
Prowse went on to form Amsterdam in 1999 with former Blow Monkeys drummer Tony Kiley and cousin Johnny Barlow. It was not until September 2004 that the band managed to secure a record deal in the form of London-based Beat Crazy. They released one album The Journey in February 2005 and three singles, "The Journey" (which hit number 32 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside" also hit the lower reaches of the chart. The partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in 2006.
The band then signed to The Stranglers’ management company and released their next album Arm in Arm on CIA Recordings in 2008.
"Does This Train Stop on Merseyside" regularly elicited an emotional response from Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Peel's widow Sheila Ravenscroft gave a Radio 1 interview after the DJ's death and confirmed that 'He was not capable of playing it without crying'. [6] The song itself got a further lease of life in 2009 as one of the centre pieces of Christy Moore's album Listen , which spent five weeks at the top spot in his home country.[ citation needed ]
During this time, the band struck up a friendship with Elvis Costello who used them as his backing band on the Jonathan Ross television show [7] as well as support act on several occasions. Prowse also performed a duet with Costello for EMI Records with a cover of The Searchers' 1964 hit "Don't Throw Your Love Away" for the Liverpool Number Ones Project in 2008. He also picked up a musical icon award on Costello's behalf at Liverpool's Titanic Hotel in November 2014. [8]
Prowse is a member of the Irish Sea Sessions, which is described as "Part super group, part colossal session and part festival, all in a single gig". [8]
April 2012 saw the release of the career spanning Does This Train Stop On Merseyside: The Very Best Of Ian Prowse. Prowse and former Style Council drummer Steve White released a version of Bruce Springsteen song "Rosalita" in 2013, for the 'Check 'em Lads' testicular cancer charity. Prowse has a young daughter named after the song. He released his first solo album, Who Loves Ya Baby? in March 2014 initially via PledgeMusic and then IRL Records. [11]
Prowse also graduated with a BA (Hons) History Degree in 2009 and completed a master's degree in Irish Studies in 2010 at the University of Liverpool. His Masters thesis was entitled 'Locating the Role of Christy Moore in Irish Folk and Traditional Music'.
Prowse released his second solo album Companeros in 2015, the project rediscovered long lost songs from the British Isles. [12] Elvis Costello invited Ian Prowse to be his special guest on his Just Trust UK Tour in 2020.
Podcast - Prowse joined former BBC Merseyside boss Mick Ord and Baltic Triangle Director Russell Gannon to produce a podcast called Misadventures in Music. The discussions take the listener on journey through the music that the presenters love.
Declan Patrick MacManus, better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English songwriter, singer, record producer, author, and television presenter. Music critics consider Costello to be one of the most gifted and versatile songwriters of his generation. His first album, My Aim Is True (1977), is widely regarded as one of the best debut albums in the history of popular music. The album spawned no hit singles, but contains some of Costello's best-known songs, including the ballad "Alison". Costello's next two albums, This Year's Model (1978) and Armed Forces (1979), recorded with his backing band the Attractions, helped define the new wave music genre. From late 1977 through early 1980, each of the eight singles he released reached the UK Top 30. His biggest hit single, "Oliver's Army" (1979) sold more than 400,000 copies in Britain. He has had more modest commercial success in the US but has earned much praise among music critics. From 1977 through the early 2000s, Costello's albums regularly ranked high on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll, with his 1978 album This Year's Model and his 1982 album Imperial Bedroom voted the best album of their respective years. His biggest US hit single, "Veronica" (1989), reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007.
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China Crisis are an English new wave and synth-pop band formed in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside in 1979 with a core of lead vocalist and keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist/vocalist Eddie Lundon. Initially a politically charged post-punk band influenced by Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes, China Crisis soon crossed over to a more commercial sound and had success in the United Kingdom in the 1980s with ten top 50 singles and three top 40 albums. The band also achieved commercial success in other parts of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and some minor chart successes in North America.
The Farm are a British band from Liverpool. Their first album, Spartacus, reached the top position on the UK Albums Chart when it was released in March 1991; Spartacus 30 was released in 2021 to commemorate the anniversary. Spartacus includes two songs which had been top 10 singles the year before. In 2012, they toured with their Spartacus Live shows and formed part of the Justice Tonight Band, supporting the Stone Roses at Heaton Park, Phoenix Park, Lyon and Milan. The Justice Collective had the 2012 Christmas number one with their recording of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".
Get Happy!! is the fourth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his third with the Attractions — keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 15 February 1980 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions began in London but moved to the Netherlands after Costello found the material derivative of his previous album, Armed Forces (1979). The sessions were problematic but resulted in a large number of songs; the final album contains 20 tracks across a single LP.
Amsterdam are an English pop/rock group based in Liverpool. Formed in 1999, they had their first UK Top 40 single with "The Journey" in February 2005. The current band members are Ian Prowse (vocals/guitar), Johnny Barlow, Tony Kiley (drums), Kevin Spurgeon (keyboards), Eimear McGeowan (flute), Anastasia Risnes (violin) Laura McKinlay (violin) and Dave Mastrocola.
The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, and Pete Thomas (drums). They also released one album as an independent entity, without Costello, in 1980.
Caron Melina Wheeler is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born and raised in London, she performed in various singing competitions as a teenager and began her recording career as one of the founding members of Brown Sugar. She was also one of the founding members of the female backing vocalist group Afrodiziak. She officially rose to fame in the late 1980s as lead singer of R&B group Soul II Soul. Managed by her bandmate, Jazzie B, the group became one of the London's best-selling groups in the 1990s. Their debut album, Club Classics Vol. One (1989), which established them as a global success worldwide, earned two Grammy Awards and featured the UK and Billboard number-one singles "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life ".
Helen Love are an indie band from Wales whose music is a combination of punk rock, bubblegum pop and disco dance music. The band was formed in 1992 by Helen Love with Sheena, Roxy, and Mark (keyboards). Current members are Helen, Sheena and Ricardo Autobahn.
Peter James Wylie is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel.
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Pele were an English indie rock band, formed in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England in 1990, by the guitarist and frontman Ian Prowse and keyboard player Andrew Roberts. They were joined by Dally on drums, Jimmy McAllister on bass guitar and finally Nico on violin. Despite never reaching the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, the band built up a loyal live following, but split in 1995 due to a legal wrangle with their record label.
"Shipbuilding" is a song with lyrics by Elvis Costello and music by Clive Langer. Written during the Falklands War of 1982, Costello's lyrics highlight the irony of the war bringing back prosperity to the traditional shipbuilding areas of Clydeside, Merseyside, North East England and Belfast to build new ships to replace those being sunk in the war, whilst also sending off the sons of these areas to fight and, potentially, lose their lives in those same ships. According to Robert Sandall, the best version of the song is the one recorded and released as a single by English singer-songwriter Robert Wyatt in August 1982 a few months after the Falklands War, although it was not a hit until it was re-released eight months later on the first anniversary of the conflict.
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