Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 Discography
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 Original
albums
- 2.3 Compilation
albums
- 3 References
- 4 External
link
Career
The original line up was:
- Edwyn Collins (born 23 August 1959 in Edinburgh) –
guitar, vocals, songwriting
- James Kirk – guitar, vocals, songwriting
- David McClymont – bass
- Steven Daly – drums
The band's first official show was on April 20, 1979 at the Victoria
Cafe at the Glasgow School of Art. The
band released their first singles on Postcard
Records, with these singles achieving legendary status in the UK music
press. Simon
Reynolds ascribes their status as music media darlings, as being due to
the depression following the suicide of Ian
Curtis of Joy Division - music critics and indie
music fans were looking for something "life-affirming" with a sense of humour.
They signed to Polydor Records for their first album You
Can't Hide Your Love Forever. However, internal tensions led
to this first version of the band breaking up, and for their subsequent
albums the core line up was:
- Edwyn Collins – guitar, vocals, songwriting
- Malcolm Ross – guitar,
vocals, songwriting (formerly of Josef
K, latterly with Aztec Camera and Blancmange)
- Zeke Manyika (born 23
February 1955)
– drums, vocals, songwriting
- Stephen Skinner – guitar (joined after supporting the band
on tour with his group, International Rescue)
Musically the band attempted to fuse post-punk
guitars with disco
and funk
rhythms, rather in the manner of the Gang of Four. (Other
key influences included Buzzcocks and Subway
Sect). Lyrically, however, Orange Juice were always far more
commercially minded than the latter mentioned Leeds based Marxists:
Collins in particular adopting a fey, camp
vocal style. In general, the band was known for their love of kitsch, irony, and literate
optimism. Despite this their only Top 40 hit, "Rip It Up" was achieved
with the aid of the then-trendy synthesizer - in fact it was the first
hit song to use the Roland TB-303, years later an
essential component in Acid house music.[1]
By 1984, reduced to a duo of Collins and Manyika, they
enlisted the talents of reggae record producer Dennis
Bovell to record their six track EP, Texas Fever.
While the group has long dispersed, members remain active in
their separate and diverse fields (including travel
writing). At least two greatest hits albums are available.
Discography
Singles
- 1980 - "Falling and Laughing"
- 1980 - "Blue Boy"
- 1980 - "Simply Thrilled Honey"
- 1981 - "Poor Old Soul"
- 1981 - "Wan Light"
- 1981 - "L.O.V.E....Love" (UK No.65)
- 1982 - "Felicity" (UK No.63)
- 1982 - "Two Hearts Together" (UK No.60)
- 1982 - "I Can't Help Myself" (UK No.42)
- 1983 - "Rip It Up" (UK No.8)
- 1983 - "Flesh of My Flesh" (UK No.41)
- 1984 - "Bridge" (UK No.67)
- 1984 - "What Presence" (UK No.47)
- 1984 - "Lean Period" (UK No.74)
Original albums
- Mar 1982 - You Can't Hide Your
Love Forever (UK No.21)
- Nov 1982 - Rip It Up
(UK No.39)
- Mar 1984 - Texas Fever (UK
No.34)
- Nov 1984 - The Orange Juice
Compilation albums
- 1984 - In a Nutshell
- 1992 - The
Esteemed - The Very Best of Orange Juice
- 1992 - Ostrich Churchyard
- the long-awaited CD
release of the previously unreleased debut Orange Juice album for
Postcard Records (the Sound of Young Scotland), along with a Peel
Session, and, on the Japanese issue, a bonus BBC
Radio 1 session track, "Wan Light".
- 1993 - The
Heather's on Fire - the other long-awaited CD
release by Orange Juice on Postcard Records, this collection brings the
first four singles together with some more radio sessions and, on the Scottish version, a
NuSonics (pre-Orange Juice) cover of the New
York Dolls song 'Who Are The Mystery Girls?', sounding an awfully lot
like the Ramones.
- 2005 - The Glasgow School
- a compilation of Postcard-era tracks -- named "Reissue of the Year"
for 2005 by Britain's Uncut
Magazine
References
- Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up and Start Again: Post
Punk 1978-1984. Faber and Faber Ltd, April 2005, ISBN 0-571-21569-6 (U.S. Edition: Penguin,
February 2006,
ISBN
0-14-303672-6)
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
External link
