| The
Colourfield |
|
| Country |
UK |
| Years active |
1984–1987 |
| Genres |
Alternative, New
Wave, Rock |
| Labels |
Chrysalis |
| Members |
Terry Hall
Toby Lyons
Karl Shale |
The Colourfield were a British
band
formed in 1984 in Manchester,
when former Specials and Fun
Boy Three frontman, Terry Hall, joined up
with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale. Despite all
three of them originating from Coventry, they made their homebase in Manchester.
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 1984
- The Beginning
- 1.2 1985
- Virgins & Philistines
- 1.3 1986
- The Colour Field (EP)
- 1.4 1987
- Deception
- 1.5 After
The Colourfield
- 2 Discography
- 3 References
and external links
|
History
1984 - The Beginning
In January 1984 The Colourfield released their first single,
"The Colourfield", which just missed making the Top 40 in the UK
Singles Chart. In the summer of the same year, they released "Take"
as their second single, which commercially did not come close to their
debut six months earlier. However, the next single release would be the
one that would land them a high position on the charts.
"Thinking of You" released in January 1985, made it to number 12 in the
UK
chart, and featured Katrina Phillips on vocals. The final single, released days
before their debut album
came out, was "Castles in the Air" which reached the lower reaches of
the UK chart.
1985 - Virgins &
Philistines
When Virgins & Philistines
was initially released in April 1985 it contained twelve tracks in the U.S.
release and ten in the UK version - but can now be found with twenty
tracks as a Japanese
re-release, containing many B-sides and live tracks. It failed
to gain a large audience due to difficulty in marketing an album with
such a diverse sound -- it mixes 1960s and early 1970s pop music with more acoustic
based melodies
and string arrangements.
Virgins & Philistines is often regarded as
the direct musical predecessor to the later work of The Lightning Seeds in
the 1990s,
whom Hall would later collaborate with in a songwriting
role whilst providing occasional vocals.
Virgins & Philistines contained all
original material except "The Hammond Song" (a cover
of The
Roches song), and "Can’t Get Enough of You Baby" (written by
Linder/Randell), which was the only track that received much airplay.
The album was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport
(near Manchester)
and was produced by Hugh
Jones and Jeremy Green, and engineered by Chris Jones.
Additional personnel featured on the album included the, now late, Pete
de Freitas (Echo & the Bunnymen)
on drums; Paul
Burgess (ex-Camel, also drums), Preston
Heyman (percussion),
Ian Nelson (clarinet),
Katrina Phillips (background vocals).
1986 - The Colour Field (EP)
January 1986 saw The Colourfield become a four-man group,
adding Gary Dwyer (ex-The Teardrop Explodes)
on drums. They released a six track EP
entitled The Colour Field
(sic) containing the single and B-side "Things Could Be Beautiful" /
"Frosty Mornings" produced by Ian Brodie; two live tracks recorded at the Hammersmith
Palais, "Pushing Up The Daises" and "Yours Sincerely"; and two older
tunes produced by Hugh Jones, "Armchair Theatre"
and "Faint Hearts". "Things Could Be Beautiful" did not make the charts
and it was another year before the public would hear anything new.
1987 - Deception
The Colourfield returned in the spring of 1987. They were now
just a duo
augmented by Raquel Welch's band and session
musicians. Hall had to hire Welch's band after Lyons left during the
sessions. The content of Deception
was different from Virgins & Philistines.
It is almost as if Hall formed a new band but kept the same name. Since
then Hall has voiced his displeasure with the recording of the album,
because he did not feel he had control of the session musicians and
producers the way he needed to preserve The Colourfield’s sound. Deception
was produced by Richard Gottehrer and Jeffrey
Lesser at Wool Hall Studio, New York City.
The first two singles released from Deception
were both covers. "Running Away" was originally recorded by Sly & The Family
Stone and the second was of The Monkees "She". "She" was released as
a 12” and contained the additional
track "Monkey in Winter" with lead vocals by Sinéad
O'Connor. The track "Miss Texas 1967" is considered Hall’s best vocal
performance on the album.
Additional personnel featured included Gregg Mangiafico (keyboards);
Sammy Merendino (drum programming); Roland
Orzabal (Tears for Fears) (guitar
on "Running Away" and "Confession"); Dollette McDonald; Deborah Malone
and Janice Pendarvis (background vocals on "Digging It Deep").
After The Colourfield
Hall has gone on to do many other projects since The
Colourfield. In 1990, with a few ladies under the name of Terry, Blair
and Anouchka, he released the album Ultra Modern Nursery
Rhymes which contained a cover of the Captain
& Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us
Together". In 1992 he collaborated with Dave
Stewart (Eurythmics) under the name
Vegas. In 1995 he released his first solo
album, Home. He has worked with The Lightning Seeds, Stephen
Duffy, Gorillaz, and Tricky. He has
also appeared live with The Ordinary Boys.
More recently, on 21 July 2003, Hall released his album The
Hour of Two Lights which is a collaboration with Mushtaq (Fun-Da-Mental),
a twelve-year-old Lebanese
girl singer, a blind Algerian rapper, a Syrian flautist, Hebrew vocalists, a group of Polish Gypsies and Damon
Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz).
Lyons is now a university tutor of graphic
design at Sheffield Hallam
University in South Yorkshire.
Discography
Albums
- Virgins & Philistines
- The Colour Field
- (EP)
- Deception
- Fun Boy Three/The Colourfield - The Singles
Singles
- "The Colourfield" (1984) - #43 UK
- "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" (1984)
- "Take" (1984) - #70 UK
- "Thinking of You" (1985) - #12 UK
- "Castles in the Air" (1985) - #51 UK
- "Things Could Be Beautiful" (1986) - #83 UK
- "Running Away Pt. 1" (1987) - #84 UK
- "Running Away Pt. 2" (1987)
- "She" (1987)
References and external links
