 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2018) |
Perfume | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leicester, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, indie [1] |
| Years active | 1993–1997 |
| Labels | Aromasound, Big Star |
| Past members |
|
Perfume were a British indie group from Leicester, active between 1993 and 1997.
When Blab Happy split up, singer/guitarist Mick McCarthy and bassist Tony Owen recruited John Waddington to form Perfume, initially releasing records on their own "Aromasound" label. Beginning with scented limited edition vinyl, they enjoyed a string of Indie Top 10 hits. Their first release was "Yoga/Perfume” in December 1993, the white label was played repeatedly on Radio 1 by Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley. Second single "Young/Anointed” (which was also perfume-scented) [2] appeared in April 1994. Third single "Lover" was picked up on by BBC Radio One DJ's Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley (the latter getting the band in to record a session for her show). [2]
The next two singles stormed the Indie Top 10, Lover (Steve Lamacq’s Single of the Week) and Yesterday Follows You established the band as radio favourites and NME and Melody Maker did full features on the band including What's going On the NME stereo Top 10.[ check spelling ] The video for Yesterday Follows You was featured on ITV Chart Show and the next headline tour saw shows sell out all over the UK. Perfume recorded songs at BBC Maida Vale for a week long Session for Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley.
Perfume drew a crowd of over 5,000 at the second stage at the Phoenix Festival. They co-headlined with Travis and toured as a headline act selling out many venues in the UK and were invited to play abroad at events such as the Black Sessions in Paris. The recruitment of bass player Karl Traae of Leicester's HBM and recently returned from a stint in the US with San Diego's Whirl lead to another Indie Top 10 (UK Chart Top 75) hit in January 1996 with the single "Haven't Seen You". After that, they signed to Big Star Records, and to Paul Weller's publishers Notting Hill, who reissued "Lover" to be followed by the debut album One in 1997, which received glowing reviews in Q and Select magazines. Perfume performed on the NME stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1997. After a lengthy record company takeover the band's final release was a posthumous "best of" compilation, Yesterday Rising, released on Aromasound in 1998. Perfume were Paul Weller's special guests at his Lazy Sunday Afternoon in Finsbury Park. Jo Whiley joined the band on stage at BBC Camden Live Festival to add handclaps to "Lover", a song she described as "The sweetest song in all the world." Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley included the interview with Perfume when the band surprised Whiley for her birthday as one of their highlights in the 20 years of The Evening Session programs in 2014.
"Lover" was featured on the 2010 Common People indie compilation and was described by Luke Lewis of the NME as a "lost gem." On NME.com he wrote an article called Rescue A Lost Classic about the song. "There is one track on the album that stopped me dead in my tracks. It's by Perfume and it's called 'Lover'. It's magnificent - an ecstatic, vernal bloom of falsetto and violins that gave me one of those powerful surges of nostalgia that critics always insist on calling a "Proustian rush."
Lover was chosen by Steve Lamacq for his 2019 Lost Alternatives album, receiving renewed airplay on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 from Steve Lamacq and on Jo Whiley and Simon Mayo.
In July 2020 the first edition of Speakeasy featured an article on Perfume... summing up with “Throughout their four-year career, Perfume were lauded by the NME, Melody Maker, Select and Q, had multiple songs on the Indie Top-10 chart and on the Indie Top 20 CD compilations. If they were missed the first time around, with plaudits like these there’s never been a sweeter smelling time to right these wrongs.”
Stephen Paul Lamacq, sometimes known by his nickname Lammo, is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music.
The Supernaturals are a five piece guitar-based indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Fronted by singer-songwriter James McColl, they signed to Parlophone in 1996, and had a string of singles which were taken from their three albums and four EPs. Other members included Mark Guthrie, Derek McManus, Gavin Crawford and Ken McAlpine. The band's best known songs were featured prominently in a series of television advertisements. In total they scored five Top 40 entries in the UK Singles Chart.
Ocean Colour Scene are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 singles to date.
Elbow are an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester in 1997. The band consists of Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner. They have played together since 1990, adopting the name Elbow in 1997. Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp in 2016 as a touring and session musician at first, before becoming a full member in 2024.
Sleeper are an English rock band formed in London in 1992. The group had eight UK top 40 hit singles and three UK top 10 albums during the 1990s. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of the pop cultural hit movie Trainspotting. The band split up in 1998, but reunited in 2017.
Johanne Whiley-Morton, better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 1. She currently presents her weekday evening Radio 2 show. She is also the main presenter for the BBC's Glastonbury Festival coverage.
Editors are an English rock band, formed in 2002 in Birmingham. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band currently consists of Tom Smith, Russell Leetch, Ed Lay, Justin Lockey, Elliott Williams, and Benjamin John Power.
Angelica were an English all-girl punk rock band from Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Holly Ross, Brigit Colton, Claire Windsor (guitar) and Rachel Parsons (drums) formed the band while still at school in 1994 and performed until 2003. Their music was influenced by punk music mixed with surf rock overtones, and features feminist lyrics.
Rosita was an English band formed by Marie Du Santiago and Emmy-Kate Montrose, formerly one-half of the band Kenickie, in the immediate aftermath of Kenickie's split in October 1998. Although mainly remembered as a Kenickie offshoot, they received regular coverage in their own right in the weekly UK music press, their second single, "Santa Poca's Dream" was a UK Independent Singles Chart Top 20 hit, and one of its bonus tracks, "Demon", was used as the soundtrack to a television advertisement for Leyland DAF Vans.
Millionaires is the eighth studio album by British alternative rock band James. During the Whiplash release cycle, guitarist Adrian Oxaal replaced founding member Larry Gott, and guitarist Michael Kulas joined the band. Touring to promote the release was cut-short when Booth injured his neck. With the release of The Best Of in early 1998, the band began recording their next album in May 1998. The sessions continued into February 1999 at a variety of studios: Ridge Farm, Hook End, Townhouse and Metropolis. While Brian Eno produced most of the record, the producer credit was also given to guitarist/violinist Saul Davies, keyboardist Mark Hunter, Steve Osborne, drummer David Baynton-Power and Faithless. Millionaires is an indie rock and pop release that drew comparison to Lou Reed and New Radicals.
Not Accepted Anywhere is the debut album from Welsh rock band The Automatic, originally released on 19 June 2006. Working with producers Stephen Harris, Richard Jackson and Ian Broudie on different tracks at a variety of studios around the United Kingdom the album was released through a joint deal between B-Unique Records and Polydor Records.
The View are a Scottish indie rock band that formed in Dundee, Angus in 2005. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, and folk in their music. They are best known for their 2007 single "Same Jeans" which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
The Maccabees were an English indie rock band, formed in 2004 in London. They released four albums: Colour It In in 2007, followed by Wall of Arms in 2009, Given to the Wild which was released on 9 January 2012 and their last album Marks to Prove It released on 31 July 2015. The band announced that they decided to disband in August 2016, with farewell gigs in 2017.
Blab Happy were a British indie band from Leicester formed in 1987, comprising Mick McCarthy, Jon Dennis, Tony Owen and Jeremy Clay. After two EPs released on their own Wisdom label won airplay on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, and enthusiastic reviews in New Musical Express, Sounds and Melody Maker, they were signed by Demon Records offshoot F-Beat, for whom they released 2 albums, 1991's Boat and 1993's Smothered. The NME's Gina Morris, wrote of the band: "Blab Happy are a cheerful Leicester four piece, smirking between That Petrol Emotion, Blur, and The Beatles". Blab Happy toured in their own right and as support to bands such as Radiohead, Kingmaker, and Squeeze. The band split up in 1993, with singer Mick McCarthy and bassist Tony Owen forming Perfume, who enjoyed the patronage of BBC Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley, having a minor hit in 1996 with "Haven't Seen You". Jon Dennis meanwhile formed Slinky, who also won airplay from Lamacq and Whiley with two singles produced by John Robb and were finalists in the 1995 In the City contest.
Silvery are a London-based 4-piece indie rock band, signed to Blow Up Records.
General Fiasco are an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. Since their formation in 2006, they have toured with Little Comets, Fighting With Wire, The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, Jet and Kids in Glass Houses. They released their debut album Buildings on 22 March 2010 on Infectious Records and released their second album Unfaithfully Yours on 30 July 2012 on Dirty Hit.
The Crookes were a British indie rock band who formed in Sheffield in 2007. They released their first single "A Collier's Wife" in 2009 as part of the Too Pure singles club, followed by single "Bloodshot Days" that was released on Heist or Hit Records in 2010. Signed to London independent record label Fierce Panda Records, they have subsequently released four albums, Chasing After Ghosts (2011), Hold Fast (2012), Soapbox (2014), and Lucky Ones (2016) along with an extended EP Dreams Of Another Day (2010).
James Levy is an American, New York-based singer, songwriter, and producer.
Bessie Turner is an English singer, songwriter and musician from Suffolk.
When Nirvana Came to Britain is a 2021 documentary about American rock band Nirvana's time in the United Kingdom from their first tour there in 1989 up to their headline performance at the Reading Festival in 1992 and their cancelled UK tour of 1994. It was produced by Wise Owl Films and first aired on BBC Two on 18 September 2021. It was produced to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's Nevermind album, which was released in September 1991.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
