The Bluetones
Quick Facts
Biography
The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. 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".
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. 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. 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.
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
The discography of the Bluetones, an English indie rock band, consists of six studio albums, six compilation albums, one live album, three extended plays (EPs), twenty singles and four video releases.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | |||
| 1996 | Expecting to Fly
| 1 | 44 |
|
| 1998 | Return to the Last Chance Saloon
| 10 | – |
|
| 2000 | Science & Nature
| 7 | – | |
| 2003 | Luxembourg
| 49 | – | |
| 2006 | The Bluetones
| 100 | – | |
| 2010 | A New Athens
| — | – | |
| 2024 | Drive Thru EP
| |||
Live albums
- Once Upon a Time in West Twelve (2007)
- Bluetonic (2017)
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK | ||
| 2000 | Are You Blind?
| – |
| 2002 | The Singles
| 14 |
| 2006 | A Rough Outline: The Singles & B-sides 95 - 03
| 156 |
| 2007 | BBC Radio Sessions
| 164 |
The Early Garage Years
| – | |
| 2008 | Collection
| – |
Extended plays
- A Bluetones Companion (1995, Japan only)
- Mudslide (2000)
- Serenity Now (2005, mail-order-only release)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | IRL | |||
| 1995 | "Slight Return" | – | – | – | Expecting to Fly |
| "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" | 31 | – | – | — | |
| "Bluetonic" | 19 | – | – | Expecting to Fly | |
| 1996 | "Slight Return" | 2 | 60 | 15 | |
| "Cut Some Rug" | 7 | – | – | ||
| "Castle Rock" | — | ||||
| "Marblehead Johnson" | |||||
| 1998 | "Solomon Bites the Worm" | 10 | – | – | Return to the Last Chance Saloon |
| "If..." | 13 | – | – | ||
| "Sleazy Bed Track" | 35 | – | – | ||
| "4-Day Weekend" | – | – | – | ||
| 2000 | "Keep the Home Fires Burning" | 13 | – | – | Science & Nature |
| "Autophilia (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car)" | 18 | – | – | ||
| 2002 | "After Hours" | 26 | – | – | The Singles |
| 2003 | "Fast Boy"/"Liquid Lips" | 25 | – | – | Luxembourg |
| "Never Going Nowhere" | 40 | – | – | ||
| 2006 | "My Neighbour's House" | 68 | – | – | The Bluetones |
| "Head on a Spike" | 135 | – | – | ||
| 2007 | "Surrendered" | – | – | – | |
| 2010 | "Carry Me Home" | – | – | – | A New Athens |
| "Golden Soul" | – | – | – | ||
Music Videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" | Unknown |
| "Bluetonic" | Dom & Nic | |
| 1996 | "Slight Return" | Lindy Heymann |
| "Cut Some Rug" | Unknown | |
| "Marblehead Johnson" | Dom & Nic | |
| 1998 | "Solomon Bites the Worm" | John Hardwick |
| "If..." | Tony Hill | |
| "Sleazy Bed Track" | Unknown | |
| "4 Day Weekend" | Koji Morimoto | |
| 2000 | "Keep the Home Fires Burning" | Edgar Wright |
| "Mudslide" | Unknown | |
| "Autophilia" | Jake & Jim | |
| 2002 | "After Hours" | Edgar Wright |
| 2003 | "Fast Boy" | Maggie Kelly |
| "Never Going Nowhere" | ||
| 2006 | "Head on a Spike" | Mark Morriss |
| 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)
