 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2020) |
The High | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, psychedelic rock, Madchester, baggy |
| Years active | 1989–1993, 2015–present |
| Labels | London |
| Members | Andy Couzens John Matthews Tony Meehan Richard Thomas Scott Parkinson |
| Past members | Simon Davies Chris Goodwin Jack Couzens |
The High are an English rock group from Manchester, whose sound combines alternative rock with a 1960s pop/psychedelic guitar sound.
The band was formed in 1989 by former Turning Blue singer John Matthews, along with former Buzzcocks F.O.C. members Andy Couzens (guitar, also formerly of The Stone Roses and pre-Roses bands The Patrol and Waterfront), [1] Simon Davies (bass), and drummer Chris Goodwin (also formerly of the Waterfront as well as the Inspiral Carpets), when Steve Diggle left Buzzcocks F.O.C. to reform the Buzzcocks. [2] [3]
They were signed by London Records (who would sign a number of other baggy/Madchester acts such as Camden's Flowered Up around the same time), who put out The High's debut album in 1990 (the album, Somewhere Soon, peaked at number 59 in the UK Albums chart). [4] The band also had three minor UK Singles Chart hits in 1990 before breaking into the top 30 in 1991 with a revamped version of their debut single, the Martin Hannett-produced "Box Set Go". [2] [5] However, London Records was fined £50,000 by the BPI in 1991, for suspected chart hyping in the UK Singles chart in regards to their single "More", [6] [7] [8] with the suspicion that their chart position may have been bought by the record company and not due to fans purchasing the record. In addition to this, the Madchester scene started to lose favour with the critics (who had moved on to covering new forms of dance music and the Seattle grunge scene) and so the band's later releases failed to chart. The band split up in 1993. [2]
John Matthews and Chris Goodwin went on to form the group One Summer, with Manchester musicians Stephen Fitzpatrick (guitar) and Carl Wolstenholme (bass). One Summer worked with Factory Records group A Certain Ratio and recorded a demo for the label before it went into administration.
The High reformed in early 2015, with John Matthews and Andy Couzens the only original members; they are joined by Tony Meehan (bass), Jack Couzens (drums), and Richard Thomas (keyboards).
The new line-up headlined at the Gigantic Festival in Manchester at the Academy 2 on 23 May 2015, as their comeback gig and have played a number of headline shows since.
The band has also been writing and recording new material, and in June 2016 released their first single in 25 years, "Kiss the Sun" on their own label Thin Line Productions.
Warner Brothers re-released their debut album Somewhere Soon in June 2016, and a long-awaited album was due for release in early 2017.
In 2016, new drummer Jack Couzens left due to schedule clashes and was succeeded by Scott Parkinson.
The High have recently appeared on Jon Savage's compilation, Perfect Motion - Jon Savage's Secret History of Second-Wave Psychedelia 1988-93.
In 2020 The High released The Martin Hannett Sessions, a collection of previously unreleased demos, as part of Record Store Day.
| Year | Album | Label | UK [4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Somewhere Soon | London Records | 59 |
| 1992 | Hype | — | |
| 2020 | The Martin Hannett Sessions | Vinyl Revival | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
| Year | Single | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] | |||
| 1990 | "Box Set Go" | 28 | |
| "Up and Down" | 53 | ||
| "Take Your Time" | 56 | ||
| 1991 | "More..." | 67 | |
| 1992 | "Better Left Untold" | — | |
| 1993 | "Sweet Liberty" | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Joy Division were an English post-punk band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Bolton in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester, England in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani, and drummer Reni.
James Martin Hannett was a British record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, Magazine, John Cooper Clarke, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Happy Mondays. His distinctive production style embraced atmospheric sounds and electronics.
Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie dance saw its artists merging indie rock with elements of acid house, psychedelia, and 1960s pop.
The Charlatans are an English rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands in 1988. As of 2000, their line-up consists of lead vocalist Tim Burgess, guitarist Mark Collins, bassist Martin Blunt and keyboardist Tony Rogers.
Magazine were a British rock band formed in 1977 in Manchester in England by singer Howard Devoto and guitarist John McGeoch. After leaving the punk group Buzzcocks in early 1977, Devoto decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band. The original lineup of Magazine was composed of Devoto, McGeoch, Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums.
Unknown Pleasures is the debut studio album by the English rock band Joy Division. It was released on 15 June 1979 through Factory Records. The album was recorded and mixed over three successive weekends at Stockport's Strawberry Studios in April 1979, with producer Martin Hannett contributing a number of unconventional recording techniques to the group's sound. The cover artwork was designed by artist Peter Saville, using a data plot of signals from a radio pulsar. It is the only Joy Division album released during lead singer Ian Curtis's lifetime.
Inspiral Carpets is an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1983, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassist Martyn Walsh and keyboardist Clint Boon.
Bummed is the second studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 21 November 1988 on Factory Records. During 1987 and early 1988, the band discovered house music and the rave drug ecstasy. Factory producer Martin Hannett was subsequently enlisted to produce the band's next album. Sessions were held at The Slaughterhouse recording studio in Driffield over three weeks. The period was noted for heavy drug use by the band and Hannett, with their manager later calling it the first "ecstasy-fuelled" album. Hannett moved recording to Strawberry Studios, where extra instrumentation was added. Bummed is a Madchester-style psychedelic funk album, where much of the lyrical content was influenced by the 1970 film Performance, with dialogue from the film sampled throughout.
Manchester's music scene produced successful bands in the 1960s including the Hollies, the Bee Gees and Herman's Hermits. After the punk rock era, Manchester produced popular bands including Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths and Simply Red. In the late 1980s, the ecstasy-fuelled dance club scene played a part in the rise of Madchester with bands like the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays. In the 1990s, Manchester saw the rise of Britpop bands, notably Oasis.
Baggy is a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and generally associated with the Northern UK's Madchester scene. The style saw alternative rock bands draw influence from psychedelia as well as dance music.
The Invisible Girls were a British rock band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order producer Martin Hannett and keyboardist Steve Hopkins, with contributions from, amongst others, Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks and Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe. The band also played on the first solo album by Pauline Murray, the eponymous Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls and some singles, and later with Nico for the single "Procession".
Stephen E Diggle is an English musician best known as a guitarist and later lead vocalist in the punk band Buzzcocks.
Spiral Scratch is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band. Spiral Scratch and the album Time's Up are the only Buzzcocks studio releases with original singer Howard Devoto, who left shortly after the EP's release to form one of the first post-punk bands, Magazine.
Danger Radio was an American rock band from Edmonds, Washington.
Flag of Convenience were a rock group formed in 1982 by former Buzzcocks members Steve Diggle and John Maher, along with bassist Dave Farrow and keyboard player Dave "D.P." Prescott. Through their first two line-ups they were managed by the writer and music critic Michael Gray, shortly after his personal management of Gerry Rafferty. Hence the band's first single was produced by Rafferty's co-producer Hugh Murphy. The band continued with changing line-ups until 1989, with later incarnations releasing records under the names F.O.C. and Buzzcocks F.O.C. The final incarnation of the band included former member of the Stone Roses Andy Couzens and former Inspiral Carpets drummer Chris Goodwin, who both went on to form the High. The band ended when Diggle joined Pete Shelley in a re-formed Buzzcocks, the reunion prompted by controversy over the use of "Buzzcocks" in the billing of Diggle's band.
The Best of Steve Diggle and Flag of Convenience – The Secret Public Years 1981–1989 is a CD compilation of Buzzcocks' Steve Diggle's first solo days and his subsequent band, Flag of Convenience, which compiles his post-Buzzcocks songs from 1981 to 1989, during the years Buzzcocks remained disbanded. It was released in 1994 in the UK on Anagram Records.
Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls is the only album made by Penetration singer Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, John Cooper Clarke's backing band. It was released in September 1980 on the RSO label.
New Hormones was a Manchester independent record label founded by Richard Boon and Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley. It was the first independent punk rock label in the UK.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
