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The Bathers are a Scottish chamber pop band. The vehicle for singer-songwriter Chris Thomson, they have released seven albums and have been referred to as "the best-kept secret in Scottish music". They were initially active between 1985 and 2001 and reformed in 2016.
Chris Thomson originally came to attention with the 1980s Glasgow funk/pop/Celtic soul band Friends Again, which also featured future Love and Money members Paul McGeechan, James Grant and Stuart Kerr. When Friends Again split up in 1985, Thomson secured a solo deal with Go! Discs Records, using the project name of "The Bathers" and drawing on a pool of musicians (including Grant) to flesh out his songs.
The debut Bathers album was 1987's Unusual Places To Die. Recorded with a core band of Thomson, Sam Loup (bass), Jon Turner (keyboards) and James Locke (drums), it gained an enthusiastic critical reception, but label politics limited its success.[ citation needed ] Thomson went back to the drawing board, changed record labels, and released the follow-up Sweet Deceit on Island Records in 1990, to further critical acclaim. Thomson then took time out from The Bathers to work with two former members of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (Neil Clark and Stephen Irvine) and Madness bass player Mark Bedford in the one-off band Bloomsday, who released their lone album Fortuny in 1990.
Returning to The Bathers, Thompson signed to the German label Marina Records, which would go on to release three albums by the band – Lagoon Blues (1993), Sunpowder (1995) and Kelvingrove Baby (1997). Working from a floating membership (which still included James Grant, Neil Clark and James Locke) The Bathers now featured string players and arrangers Mark Wilson and Iain White, keyboard player Carlo Scattini and drummer/percussionist Hazel Morrison (who also added operatic soprano backing vocals). Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins recorded several tracks with the band on 1995's Sunpowder, and performed live with them in Glasgow. Although Thomson enjoyed a good relationship with Marina, he felt that a label nearer home would be preferable: consequently, The Bathers' sixth album Pandemonia appeared on Wrasse Records in 1999.
By 2001, The Bathers featured Thomson, Morrison, White, Callum McNair (electric guitar), Ken McHugh (bass), Barry Overstreet (saxophone, guitar, vocals) and Robert Henderson (trumpet), but gigs were rare. Despite never formally splitting up, the band quietly bowed out after releasing Desire Regained in 2001 (a compilation of twenty re-recordings of the best known Bathers songs). The Bathers' reputation remained intact despite their retirement – in 2003, The Scotsman listed the fifth Bathers album Kelvingrove Baby at number 42 in its 100 Best Scottish Albums; in 2005 the newspaper put the band's second opus Sweet Deceit as one of their five lost Scottish classic albums. [1]
After fifteen years of inactivity, Chris Thomson reformed The Bathers in January 2016 to play two shows at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, with a lineup of himself, Hazel Morrison and James Grant, plus Maya Burman-Roy, Andrew Cruickshank and Kobus Frick. Subsequently reverting to the Thomson-Morrison-McNair-McHugh lineup, the band announced further dates for October 2016 in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, as well as reissues of their back catalogue and the recording of a new album. Also in 2016, Thomson was confirmed as one of the main contributors to Paul McGeechan's Starless LP.
In August 2020, 'Lagoon Blues', 'Sunpowder' and 'Kelvingrove Baby' were reissued through Marina Records on limited edition vinyl.
Parliament-Funkadelic is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive funk style drew on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, Afrofuturism, and surreal humor. They released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology would help pioneer Afrofuturism.
America Eats Its Young is the fourth album by Funkadelic, released in May 1972. This was the first album to include the whole of the House Guests, including Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, Chicken Gunnels, Rob McCollough and Kash Waddy. It also features the Plainfield-based band U.S., which consisted of guitarist Garry Shider and bassist Cordell Mosson, on most of the tracks. Unlike previous Funkadelic albums, America Eats Its Young was recorded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in the UK. The original vinyl version contained a poster illustrated by Cathy Abel. The bottom of the poster features the first widespread appearance of the Funkadelic logo, which would appear on the cover of their next album Cosmic Slop.
The Electric Spanking of War Babies is the twelfth studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in April 1981 on Warner Bros. Records. The title is an allusion to the Vietnam War and baby boomers. Sly Stone contributed to the recording sessions, singing lead vocals on "Funk Gets Stronger ".
Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
Paul Robert Thomson is a Scottish drummer who played for the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand from their formation in 2002 until October 2021.
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and the Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.
Hipsway are a Scottish pop/new wave band.
The Secret Goldfish are a band from Glasgow, Scotland. The group was formed by ex-Fizzbombs singer Katy McCullars, guitarist John Morose, and the rhythm section from The Mackenzies, Graham Lironi and Paul Turnbull.
Marina Records is a German record label started in 1993 and specialising in indie pop. Acts include Ashby, Pearlfishers, Cowboy Mouth and The Bathers.
Love and Money are a Scottish rock/soul/funk band, formed in 1985 in Glasgow, Scotland. The band was formed by three former members of Friends Again along with bassist Bobby Paterson, who replaced Friends Again's Neil Cunningham and who had been a member of Set the Tone, a band previously signed to Island Records in 1983.
Time to Fall is the second solo (studio) album by Karen Matheson, lead singer of the Scottish band Capercaillie.
Christopher John Glen, known simply as Chris Glen, is a Scottish rock musician. He is best known for playing with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band from 1972 to 1977, and Michael Schenker Group from 1980 to 1984, 2008 to 2010, and 2016 to 2020. He also performed with Michael Schenker Fest; featuring original MSG band members.
Friends Again were a Scottish new wave band, formed in 1981 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Cooltide is an album by John Martyn. Recorded at CaVa Sound Workshops, Glasgow, Scotland. Originally released on CD by Permanent Records, catalogue number PERM CD 4.
James Grant is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter. He grew up in Glasgow's Castlemilk district and still resides in the city.
All You Need Is... is the debut studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released by Mercury in 1986.
The Devil's Debt is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released by Vertical in 2012.
Strange Kind of Love is the second studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released in 1988.
Sawdust in My Veins is the debut solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter James Grant, released in the UK by Survival Records on 27 April 1998. The album reached number 42 in the Scottish Albums Chart.
I Shot the Albatross is the third solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter James Grant, released in the UK by Vertical on 2002. The album is a collection of poetry by various poets set to music written by Grant.
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