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The Bluetones

{{short description|English indie rock band}}

{{for multi|the self-titled album|The Bluetones (album)|the backing band for Sugar Ray Norcia|Sugar Ray Norcia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2011}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = The Bluetones

| image = The Bluetones.jpg

| caption = The Bluetones in Bangkok, Thailand in 1996

| image_size =

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Hounslow, London, England

| genre = Britpop, indie rock, indie pop

| years_active = 1993–2011; 2015–present

| label = A&M, Superior Quality, Cooking Vinyl

| associated_acts =

| website = [http://bluetones.band/ bluetones.band]

| current_members = Mark Morriss
Adam Devlin
Scott Morriss
Eds Chesters

| past_members = Richard Payne

}}

The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.bluetones.org.uk/pictures/collections/Mick_Mercer/index.html|title=with a little charm...: pictures: collections: mick mercer|website=Bluetones.org.uk|access-date=9 March 2015}} The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden".{{cite web|url=http://www.bluetones.org.uk/faq/band_history.html|title=with a little charm...: faq: band history|website=Bluetones.org.uk|access-date=9 March 2015}}

The band has scored thirteen top 40 singles and three top 10 albums on the UK charts. Although their commercial success waned in the post-Britpop era, they continued to tour and release new records. Their most recent album, A New Athens was released in May 2010.

History

After the release of two singles on Fierce Panda Records, the band signed to A&M Records and released Expecting to Fly on their own sublabel Superior Quality Recordings.{{cite book

| first= Martin C.

| last= Strong

| year= 2000

| title= The Great Rock Discography

| edition= 5th

| publisher= Mojo Books

| location= Edinburgh

| page= 96

| isbn= 1-84195-017-3}} The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, and featured the singles "Bluetonic" and "Slight Return", with the latter climbing to #2 on the UK charts. Following the touring and promotional duties for Expecting to Fly, the band released stand-alone single "Marblehead Johnson" to bridge the gap between albums.

The second Bluetones album, Return to the Last Chance Saloon, was released in 1998. While failing to repeat the commercial success of their debut, it reached the top 10 in the UK album charts and spawned the hit singles "Solomon Bites the Worm" and "If...".

In 2000 the Bluetones released their third album, Science & Nature, which again reached the Top 10 and featured the hit singles "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and "Autophilia".

After a best-of album in 2002, the band released their fourth studio album Luxembourg to mixed reviews in 2003.

A three-album deal was signed in late 2005 with the Cooking Vinyl record label, promptly followed by the limited release of E.P. Serenity Now and a full UK tour.

In early 2006, Universal issued a comprehensive box set of all the Bluetones singles and B-sides released between 1995 and 2003, A Rough Outline.

A single, entitled "My Neighbour's House", was released in the UK on 18 September 2006. The single was taken from their self-titled album, which was released on 9 October that year. It failed to chart in the UK Albums Chart after its first week on sale. The album was also released in the United States, the first such occurrence since their debut. Although no reason was cited, on 1 October 2006, it was announced that a planned nine-date tour of North America and Australia had been scrapped.{{cite web|url=http://www.bluetones.info/|title=Bluetones Info|website=Bluetones.info|access-date=9 March 2015}} However, on 1 November 2006, the band began a month-long tour of Europe in support of their new release, including two sold-out nights at Glasgow's King Tuts.

In February 2007, the band released BBC Radio Sessions containing tracks recorded for the BBC between 1994 and 2000. This was followed in June with their first full live album, Once Upon a Time in West Twelve, recorded at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 18 November 2005, and was followed on 29 October 2007, by a live DVD of the same concert under the title Beat about the Bush. 2007 also saw the release of a compilation album of early demo recordings, entitled The Early Garage Years. They also released a DVD under the title Blue Movies, which includes all of their 15 music videos.

In January 2008, the band began a mini-tour of Scotland, playing five cities (Stirling, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh) in as many nights. In May 2008 a ten-date tour covered Cambridge, Whitehaven, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, London, Bristol, Manchester and Darwen, including one of the last few concerts at the Astoria. They also played a gig with Dodgy on 17 May 2009, at a secret London venue, to benefit the homelessness charity Crisis, as part of the charity's 'Hidden Gigs' campaign against hidden homelessness.{{cite web|url=http://www.crisis.org.uk/hidden/|title=Crisis Hidden Gigs|website=Crisis.org.uk|access-date=9 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115211157/http://www.crisis.org.uk/hidden/|archive-date=15 November 2012}}

In December 2008, the band embarked on a five-date tour, taking in Lincoln, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham. The tour saw them playing their debut album, Expecting to Fly, in full. Some further dates were subsequently announced for February and March 2009.

On 31 May 2010, the band released a new album entitled A New Athens. Despite moderate praise the album failed to chart in the UK Albums Chart.

On 28 March 2011, the band announced they would split after a farewell tour in the autumn. On 13 April 2015, the band announced that they would reform for a new UK tour.

In Summer 2017 they co-headlined the Star Shaped Festival tour run by the popular Britpop club of the same name alongside the newly reformed Sleeper. This took place in Birmingham, London, Manchester & Glasgow in July and August 2017.

Discography

{{Infobox artist discography

| Artist = The Bluetones

| Image =

| Caption =

| Alt =

| Studio = 6

| Live = 1

| Compilation = 6

| Video = 4

| Music videos =

| Tribute =

| EP = 5

| Singles = 20

| B-sides =

| Soundtrack =

}}

The discography of the Bluetones, an English indie rock band, consists of six studio albums, six compilation albums, one live album, five extended plays (EPs), twenty singles and four video releases.

=Studio albums=

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Album details

!colspan="2"| Chart positions

! style="width:135px;" rowspan="2"| Certifications
{{small|(sales thresholds)}}

style="font-size:smaller;"

!width="30"| UK
{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 67}}{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/bluetones/|title=Artist Chart History - The Bluetones|access-date=24 June 2013|publisher=Official Charts Company}}

!width="30"| AUS

1996

|align="left"| Expecting to Fly

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|1996|2|12}}
  • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M

| 1

| 44

|

  • UK: Platinum{{cite web | title = British certificates: searchable database | url = http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx | website = Bpi.co.uk | access-date = 5 January 2013 | archive-date = 6 October 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162141/https://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx | url-status = dead }}
1998

|align="left"| Return to the Last Chance Saloon

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|1998|3|9}}
  • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M

| 10

| –

|

2000

|align="left"| Science & Nature

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2000|5|15}}
  • Labels: Mercury

| 7

| –

|

2003

|align="left"| Luxembourg

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2003|5|12}}
  • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings

| 49

| –

|

2006

|align="left"| The Bluetones

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2006|10|9}}
  • Labels: Cooking Vinyl

| 100

| –

|

2010

|align="left"| A New Athens

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2010|5|31}}
  • Labels: CIA Recordings

| —

| –

|

=Live albums=

  • Once Upon a Time in West Twelve (2007){{cite web|url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_B.HTM|title= Chart Log UK|website=Zobbel.de|access-date=5 July 2010}}
  • Bluetonic (2017)

=Compilation albums=

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Album details

!| Chart positions

style="font-size:smaller;"

!width="30"| UK

2000

|align="left"| Are You Blind?

  • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2000|5
} (limited edition promotional CD)
  • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M Records

    • | –

    |-

    | 2002

    |align="left"| The Singles

    • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2002|4|8}}
    • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M Records

    | 14

    |-

    | 2006

    |align="left"| A Rough Outline: The Singles & B-sides 95 - 03

    | 156{{cite web | title=UK Chartlog - 1994–2010 Darren B – David Byrne | url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_B.HTM | website=Zobbel.de | access-date=5 January 2013}}

    |-

    |rowspan="2"| 2007

    |align="left"| BBC Radio Sessions

    | 164

    |-

    |align="left"| The Early Garage Years

    • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2007|7|30}}
    • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings

    | –

    |-

    | 2008

    |align="left"| Collection

    • Released: {{start date|df=yes|2008|4|21}}
    • Labels: Superior Quality Recordings

    | –

    |}

    =Extended plays=

    • A Bluetones Companion (1995, Japan only)
    • Mudslide (2000)
    • Serenity Now (2005, mail-order-only release)
    • Drive Thru EP (2024)
    • In The Cut EP (2025)

    =Singles=

    class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
    rowspan="2"| Year

    !rowspan="2"| Single

    !colspan="3"| Chart positions

    !rowspan="2"| Album

    style="font-size:smaller;"

    !width="30"| UK

    !width="30"| AUS
    Australian (ARIA) peaks:

    • Top 50 peaks: {{cite web|url=http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=The+Bluetones|title=Australian-charts.com|website=Australian-charts.com > The Bluetones in Australian Charts|publisher=Hung Medien|access-date=1 April 2016}}
    • Top 100 peaks to December 2010: {{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia|edition=pdf|page=35}}
    • "Slight Return": {{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/5wFGxDF.jpg|title=Australian ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 30 Jun 1996|publisher=Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA)|access-date=12 April 2018}} N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.

    !width="30"| IRL
    {{cite web|url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement | title=The Irish Charts (search by artist: 'The Bluetones'| publisher=IRMA| access-date=2016-07-18}}

    rowspan="3"| 1995

    |align=left| "Slight Return" (limited edition 7")

    | –

    | –

    | –

    |align=left| Expecting to Fly

    align=left| "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?"

    | 31

    | –

    | –

    |align=left| —

    align=left| "Bluetonic"

    | 19

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Expecting to Fly

    rowspan="4"| 1996

    |align=left| "Slight Return" (re-issue)

    | 2

    | 60

    | 15

    align=left| "Cut Some Rug"

    | rowspan="2" | 7

    |rowspan="3"| –

    |rowspan="3"| –

    align=left| "Castle Rock"

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| —

    align=left| "Marblehead Johnson"

    |7

    rowspan="4"| 1998

    |align=left| "Solomon Bites the Worm"

    | 10

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"| Return to the Last Chance Saloon

    align=left| "If..."

    | 13

    | –

    | –

    align=left| "Sleazy Bed Track"

    | 35

    | –

    | –

    align=left| "4-Day Weekend" (mail-order-only release)

    | –

    | –

    | –

    rowspan="2"| 2000

    |align=left| "Keep the Home Fires Burning"

    | 13

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Science & Nature

    align=left| "Autophilia (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car)"

    | 18

    | –

    | –

    2002

    |align=left| "After Hours"

    | 26

    | –

    | –

    |align=left| The Singles

    rowspan="2"| 2003

    |align=left| "Fast Boy"/"Liquid Lips"

    | 25

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Luxembourg

    align=left| "Never Going Nowhere"

    | 40

    | –

    | –

    rowspan="2"| 2006

    |align=left| "My Neighbour's House"

    | 68

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| The Bluetones

    align=left| "Head on a Spike"

    | 135

    | –

    | –

    2007

    |align=left| "Surrendered"

    | –

    | –

    | –

    rowspan="2"| 2010

    |align=left| "Carry Me Home"

    | –

    | –

    | –

    | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| A New Athens

    align=left| "Golden Soul"

    | –

    | –

    | –

    =Music Videos=

    class="wikitable"

    |+

    !Year

    !Title

    !Director

    rowspan="2" |1995

    |"Are You Blue or Are You Blind?"

    |Unknown

    "Bluetonic"

    |Dom & Nic

    rowspan="3" |1996

    |"Slight Return"

    |Lindy Heymann

    "Cut Some Rug"

    |Unknown

    "Marblehead Johnson"

    |Dom & Nic

    rowspan="4" |1998

    |"Solomon Bites the Worm"

    |John Hardwick

    "If..."

    |Tony Hill

    "Sleazy Bed Track"

    |Unknown

    "4 Day Weekend"

    |Koji Morimoto

    rowspan="3" |2000

    |"Keep the Home Fires Burning"

    |Edgar Wright

    "Mudslide"

    |Unknown

    "Autophilia"

    |Jake & Jim

    2002

    |"After Hours"

    |Edgar Wright

    rowspan="2" |2003

    |"Fast Boy"

    | rowspan="2" |Maggie Kelly

    "Never Going Nowhere"
    2006

    |"Head on a Spike"

    | rowspan="3" |Mark Morriss

    rowspan="2" |2010

    |"Carry Me Home"

    "Golden Soul"

    =Video/DVD releases=

    • Mondo Concerto (1997)
    • Blue Movies (2007)
    • Beat about the Bush (2007)
    • Expecting to Fly Live (2009)

    References

    {{Reflist}}

    External links

    • [http://bluetones.band/ http://bluetones.band/] The Bluetones' official website
    • [http://www.myspace.com/thebluetones www.myspace.com/thebluetones] The Bluetones' official MySpace
    • [http://www.bluetones.org.uk www.bluetones.org.uk] A Bluetones fan page
    • {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p169981|label=The Bluetones}}

    {{The Bluetones}}

    {{Authority control}}

    {{DEFAULTSORT:Bluetones, The}}

    Category:Britpop groups

    Category:Indie rock groups from London

    Category:Musical groups from the London Borough of Hounslow

    Category:Musical groups established in 1993

    Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2011

    Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2015

    Category:Cooking Vinyl artists

    Category:A&M Records artists

    Category:Mercury Records artists