Babybird

Last updated

Babybird
Origin Sheffield, England
Genres
Years active1995–2000, 2005–2013, 2015–present
LabelsBaby Bird Recordings, Echo, Unison Music, RW/FF Recordings
Members Stephen Jones
Danny Lowe
Robert Gregory
Luke Scott
Past membersHuw Chadbourn
John Pedder
Matt Hay
Website www.babybird.info

Babybird are an English rock band formed by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. [1] While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first used to distinguish the full band line-up that has changed often over the years. However, in recent years, Jones has recorded many of the Babybird albums himself, in addition to recording as a solo artist, and under various aliases including Death of the Neighbourhood, Trucker, Black Reindeer, Deluder, Arthritis Kid and others.

Contents

Stephen Jones started writing and recording songs at home and his first collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man , was released in July 1995 using the name Baby Bird. He formed a band in order to tour and promote this work. In 1996, Babybird signed to Echo Records and their first single was released in July 1996. Babybird were dropped from their record label in 2000 after their third album, Bugged , had poor sales. The band then split. Jones continued on his own, writing fiction, releasing solo work and created the score for the film Blessed (2004). In October 2005, the band reformed with three members and created the album Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music , released in September 2006. They went on tour in November 2009 and then split again in 2013. After a number of Babybird releases on Bandcamp from 2015, Jones took the band back out on tour in late 2017 with a new line up. A compilation album Happy Stupid Nothing was released in 2019, featuring a selection of Babybird tracks from 2015 onwards. [2]

Career

Jones had begun writing songs and recording home demos as part of an experimental theatre group in Nottingham. A collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man , was released in July 1995, under the name Baby Bird. He recruited a band made up of Huw Chadbourn (keyboards), Robert Gregory (drums), John Pedder (bass) and Luke Scott (guitar), in order to tour and promote his work. [3]

Commercial release

During 1995, two further albums of demo recordings were released under the name Babybird ( Bad Shave and Fatherhood ) and two in 1996 ( The Happiest Man Alive and Dying Happy ). Babybird were signed to Echo Records (a division of the Chrysalis Group), and the first authentic single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was released in July 1996, becoming a minor hit in the UK Singles Chart. [3] [4]

The group's second single, "You're Gorgeous", reached number 3 in the UK in October 1996, and was one of the biggest selling singles of the year, going on to chart around the world. Jones has declared it's a feminist song. [5] However, for its message, it presented a more commercial face to the public in comparison to Jones's earlier work, as well as in comparison to the rest of the material on the Ugly Beautiful album. [3] The album produced two more hit singles in "Candy Girl" and "Cornershop".

In 1997 the band returned to the studio, with producer Darren Allison. They recorded two new tracks - a brand new version of Bad Shave, and a re-working of CFC. These new tracks were included on the 1997 U.S.A. release of Ugly Beautiful.

Babybird returned, minus keyboardist Huw Chadbourn, in 1998 with There's Something Going On , preceded by a single, "Bad Old Man". The album was a modest success and was followed by further minor hits, "If You'll Be Mine" and "Back Together".

In 2000, a line-up of Babybird comprising Jones, Scott and Matt Hay created a third album. Bugged . Sales were poor and the two singles from it, "The F-Word" (later the theme tune to Gordon Ramsay's UK TV cookery show of the same name) and "Out of Sight" barely dented the charts. Babybird were dropped by their record label soon after. A third single from the album, "Fireflies" / "Getaway" was released on Animal Noise records, but sold few copies. The band subsequently split.

Jones went on to write fiction, release solo work and score a film, Blessed , in 2004. In October 2005, a posting on the Babybird website announced that the band had reformed as a three-piece featuring Jones, Scott and Robert Gregory. An album, Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music was released on 25 September 2006.

Reformation 2006-2012, 2015-present

In August 2009, it was announced that the band would be doing a tour of four gigs in November 2009 to promote the album Ex-Maniac , which was released in February 2010. The line-up consisted of Jones, Scott and Gregory, with a cameo appearance from long-term fan Johnny Depp on the track "Unloveable". [6] [7] Depp also directed the music video. The following year, Babybird released the album The Pleasures of Self Destruction .

In 2013, Stephen Jones announced via his Twitter feed that Babybird was no more.[ citation needed ] He launched his own site at Bandcamp, and released a number of albums under aliases such as "Black Reindeer", "Deluder", "Arthritis Kid", "The Great Sadness" and "Trucker".

In 2015, Jones started trading under the Babybird name again, reforming the band as a live unit in 2017 [8] and in early 2019, toured as support to Dodgy with his new line-up. [9] A number of Babybird tracks from 2015 onwards were released on 1 March 2019 as a compilation album 'Happy Stupid Nothing' [10] Just a few months later, it was announced that another album Photosynthesis would be released in July 2019. As well as these, Jones has been releasing a prolific amount of new Babybird albums via Bandcamp, often selling them as unique limited edition CDs.

Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbum detailsChart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[11] [12]
NZ
[13]
1995 I Was Born a Man (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: July 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
Bad Shave (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 5 October 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
Fatherhood (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: December 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
1996 The Happiest Man Alive (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 1 April 1996
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
127
Dying Happy (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 27 May 1996
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
Ugly Beautiful
  • Released: 21 October 1996
  • Labels: Echo
915
1998 There's Something Going On
  • Released: 24 August 1998
  • Labels: Echo
28
2000 Bugged
  • Released: 12 June 2000
  • Labels: Echo
104
2006 Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
  • Released: 25 September 2006
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
2010 Ex-Maniac
  • Released: 1 March 2010
  • Labels: Unison Music
186
2011 The Pleasures of Self Destruction
  • Released: 31 October 2011
  • Labels: Unison Music
2015The Last Album
  • Released: 8 May 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Back to the Womb
  • Released: 3 July 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
2016Life After Death
  • Released: 8 June 2016
  • Labels: Self-released
Take My Air
  • Released: 22 November 2016
  • Labels: Self-released
2017The Wrong Words
  • Released: 25 January 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
I Miss Myself
  • Released: 17 March 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
I Miss Myself 2
  • Released: 17 March 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
People Do Stupid Things
  • Released: 18 June 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
King of Nothing Part One
  • Released: November 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
2018King of Nothing Part Two
  • Released: 4 January 2018
  • Labels: Self-released
2018Selfies Inside The Coffin
  • Released: October 2018
  • Labels: Self-released
2019NOTPOP/Toothpaste For The Soul
  • Released: February 2019
  • Labels: Self-released
2019Photosynthesis
  • Released: 19 July 2019
  • Labels: RW/FF Recordings

Compilation albums

YearAlbum details
1997 The Greatest Hits (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 30 August 1997
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
2002 The Original Lo-Fi (boxset)(as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 18 November 2002
  • Labels: Sanctuary
2004Best of Babybird
  • Released: 16 February 2004
  • Labels: Echo
2012The Original Lo-Fi Greatest Hits
  • Released: 25 October 2012
  • Labels: Self-released
2013Outtakes
  • Released: 10 January 2013
  • Labels: Self-released
2014A Personal Lo-Fi Mixtape: Part One(as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 1 July 2014
  • Labels: Self-released
A Personal Lo-Fi Mixtape: Part Two(as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 1 July 2014
  • Labels: Self-released
2015Roadkiller
  • Released: 17 January 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Roadtripper
  • Released: 23 January 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Roadfiller
  • Released: 23 January 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Road
  • Released: 3 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Missing Lofi Part One
  • Released: 13 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Rehearsal Tapes
  • Released: 15 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Missing Lofi 2
  • Released: 21 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Missing Lofi 3: Songs
  • Released: 10 April 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Missing Lofi 3: Soundtracks
  • Released: 10 April 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Last Album Outtakes
  • Released: 15 May 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Fatherhood2(as Baby Bird)
  • Released: 26 June 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
2016People Do Stupid Things
  • Released: 1 July 2016
  • Labels: Self-released
2017KONpilation
  • Released: 22 December 2017
  • Labels: Self-released
2019Happy Stupid Nothing
  • Released: 1 March 2019
  • Labels: Psycho Mafia Recordings

Live albums

YearAlbum details
2012Live at the Electric Ballroom Bootleg 1996
  • Released: 30 October 2012
  • Labels: Self-released
2015Live Sessions 1995–8 Volume One
  • Released: 27 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Live Sessions 1995–8 Volume 2
  • Released: 27 February 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Cambridge Junction 1998
  • Released: 29 May 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
Babybird Live in Vienna 2000
  • Released: 16 October 2015
  • Labels: Self-released
2018Babybird Live in Koln at the Luxor
  • Released: 24 January 2018
  • Labels: Self-released

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbum
UK
[12]
AUS
[15]
FRA
[16]
GER
[17]
IRE
[18]
NZ
[13]
SWE
[19]
1995"Snake Caves" / "Baby Lemonade" (as Baby Bird)Non-album single
1996"Goodnight"28Ugly Beautiful
"You're Gorgeous"3284674162217
1997"Candy Girl"14184
"Cornershop"37125
1998"Bad Old Man"31There's Something Going On
"If You'll Be Mine"28128
1999"Back Together"22
Split 1(split single with East River Pipe)(as Baby Bird)Non-album single
2000"The F-Word"35Bugged
"Out of Sight"58
Double A EP("Getaway" / "Fireflies")
2006"Too Much" / "Dive"Between My Ears There's Nothing But Music
"Lighter 'n' Spoon"
2010"Unloveable"Ex-Maniac
2019"King of Nothing"Happy Stupid Nothing
2020"In Place of Love"

Compilation tracks

Promotional videos

Related Research Articles

Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, Becoming X (1996), and its singles "6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article the Beastie Boys published in their Grand Royal magazine about a man they hired to track down classic sneakers.

Mel and Kim were an English pop duo, consisting of sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. Originally managed by Alan Whitehead, they achieved success between 1986 and 1988, before Melanie died of cancer in January 1990 at the age of 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finn Brothers</span> New Zealand musical duo

The Finn Brothers are a New Zealand musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moloko</span> Anglo-Irish electronica/trip-hop duo

Moloko were an Irish-English electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their UK top 10 singles "The Time Is Now" (2000) and "Familiar Feeling" (2003), as well as the 1999 Boris Dlugosch remix of "Sing It Back" which became an international hit.

Stephen Jones is an English musician and novelist.

Voice of the Beehive were an Anglo-American alternative pop rock band formed in London in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin Quarter (band)</span> British band

Latin Quarter is a British band formed in 1983. They had one top 20 single "Radio Africa" in the United Kingdom.

Southern Sons was an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1989 by members of The State along with lead vocalist and guitarist Irwin Thomas, who was then using the stage name Jack Jones. They are best known for their Australian top ten hits "Heart in Danger", "Hold Me in Your Arms", and "You Were There".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Order discography</span>

The discography of New Order, an English rock band, consists of 10 studio albums, 12 compilation albums, six live albums, five extended plays (EPs), 45 singles, 12 video releases, 40 music videos and a number of soundtrack appearances. New Order were formed in 1980 by singer, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The group began life as a continuation of their former incarnation Joy Division. Joy Division had disbanded after the death of the lead singer Ian Curtis. Gillian Gilbert, who was Morris's girlfriend at the time, soon joined the group and played guitar and keyboards.

<i>Under the Iron Sea</i> 2006 album by Keane

Under the Iron Sea is the second studio album by the English rock band Keane, released on 12 June 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album opened at number one, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official Chart Company. In the United States, the album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, selling 75,000 copies in its first week there. Since its release, the album has sold over three million copies worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomorrow (Silverchair song)</span> 1994 single by Silverchair

"Tomorrow" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, which was released on 16 September 1994 on their debut extended play album, also titled Tomorrow. The song was later released on Frogstomp, the band's debut studio album, in 1995. Written by lead singer and guitarist Daniel Johns and drummer Ben Gillies, it was produced and engineered by Phil McKellar at the national radio station Triple J's studios for SBS-TV's show, Nomad, which aired on 16 June 1994. After the broadcast the band were signed to the Murmur label – a Sony Music subsidiary – which subsequently issued the Tomorrow EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garbage discography</span>

Garbage is an American rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1993. The group's discography consists of seven studio albums, three compilation albums, one remix album, one extended play, 37 singles, four promotional singles, three video albums, and 38 music videos. The line-up consists of Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson and Americans Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig. They have amassed worldwide album sales of over 17 million units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foo Fighters discography</span>

The discography of Foo Fighters, an American rock band formed in 1995 by Dave Grohl, consists of eleven studio albums, ten extended plays (EPs), six video albums, and 57 singles. The current Foo Fighters line-up consists of Grohl, Rami Jaffee (keyboard), Nate Mendel (bass), Chris Shiflett (guitar), Pat Smear (guitar) and Josh Freese.

<i>Ugly Beautiful</i> 1996 studio album by Babybird

Ugly Beautiful is a 1996 album by Babybird, the band's sixth, though their first for Echo Records. Released on 21 October, the album includes the singles "Goodnight", "Candy Girl", "You're Gorgeous" and "Cornershop". "You're Gorgeous" was a surprise top-three UK and international hit for the group. The album was written entirely by band-leader Stephen Jones. Many of the songs were written and recorded by Jones alone between 1988 and 1994. Several of the songs had been released in these demo incarnations on Jones' solo lo-fi work as Baby Bird that he did prior to forming the band with John Pedder, Robert Gregory, Luke Scott and Huw Chadbourn. The majority of the album was produced by Jones with Steve Power. Darren Allison and Ian Caple each produced a song.

<i>Tales of the City</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Rockmelons

Tales of the City is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Rockmelons. It was released in May 1988 on True Tone Records and peaked at number six on the Australian album charts. The band shared the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Award for 'Best Debut Album' in 1988 with 1927's album ...ish.

<i>Ex-Maniac</i> 2010 studio album by Babybird

Ex-Maniac is the fifth studio album by the rock band Babybird, released by Unison Records in 2010. The album features Johnny Depp, who is said to be a "long time fan" of the band, playing guitar on "Unloveable" [sic], the first single from the album. Depp also directed the video for the single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodnight (Babybird song)</span> 1996 single by Babybird

Goodnight is a 1996 single by Babybird, released from the album Ugly Beautiful. The song originally appeared on Stephen Jones' solo album Fatherhood, which had been released the previous December, but was later re-recorded with a full band after Babybird were signed to Echo Records. The single was a minor hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julien Baker</span> American rock musician (born 1995)

Julien Rose Baker is an American indie rock singer and guitarist. Her music is noted for its moody quality and confessional lyrical style, as well as frank explorations of topics including Christianity, addiction, mental illness, and human nature. She has received six Grammy Award nominations and three wins as a member of Boygenius.

<i>Thank You & Goodnight</i> 2018 studio album by Boyzone

Thank You & Goodnight is the seventh and final studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone, which was released on 16 November 2018. The album sold 100,000 copies in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunn O))) discography</span> Band discography

The discography of Sunn O))), an American drone metal band, consists of nine studio albums, three collaborative albums, six EPs, four demos, one remix album, eight official live albums, one box set compilation, two stand-alone singles and three compilation contributions.

References

  1. McKeating, Scott (14 February 2013). "Babybird". The Quietus . Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. Brown, Jason (4 March 2019). "Happy Stupid Nothing". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 42. ISBN   1-84195-017-3.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 37. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. The Guardian, 15 April 2024
  6. "Johnny Depp makes 'cameo appearance' on new Babybird album | News". Nme.Com. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  7. "Unloveable by Babybird Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  8. "Babybird - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  9. "Dodgy | HOMEGROWN 25". homegrown25.dodgyology.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. "Babybird | HHAPPY STUPID NOTHING". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  11. "UK Chartlog – 1994–2010 Darren B – David Byrne". zobbel.de. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Babybird / Artist / Official Charts". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  13. 1 2 "charts.nz — Discography Babybird". © 2006-2014 Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  14. 1 2 "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for: Babybird (from bpi.co.uk)" . Retrieved 25 May 2016 via Imgur.com (original site published by British Phonographic Industry).
  15. Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  16. "lescharts.com > Babybird dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  17. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Babybird – You're Gorgeous (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  18. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for: Babybird (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com (original site published by Fireball Media). Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  19. "swedishcharts.com > Babybird in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-25.