Jazz and Rhythms

When in Rome are an English New Wave trio, originally consisting of vocalists Clive Farrington and Andrew Mann, and keyboards player Michael Floreale. They are best known for their 1988 single, “The Promise”.

Clive Farrington and Michael Floreale were in the Manchester-based group Beau Leisure, along with Corinne Drewery. When Drewery left to form Swing Out Sister, Farrington and Floreale recruited Andrew Mann, and adopted the name When in Rome.

The group was signed by Virgin UK subsidiary 10 Records. Producers Ben Rogan (who had worked with Sade) and Richard James Burgess (Five Star, Living in a Box, Colonel Abrams, Spandau Ballet) took special interest in the trio’s song “The Promise,” issued first as a 12″ dance disk.

When the song became popular, hitting the top of Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart, Virgin ordered an album.

A remixed version of “The Promise” was the first single from their self-titled debut album. It was an instant success, barely missing the Top Ten in the United States, peaking at #11.[2] Months later, the trio reached Billboard’s pop chart’s lower reaches for the last time with “Heaven Knows” (#95, 1990). Additional singles did little on the charts, and the group ultimately faded away.

“The Promise” was also featured in the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite. The band Anberlin included a cover version of “The Promise” on the special edition of their 2007 album Cities.

Farrington and Mann continue to create and record music together as When in Rome. Floreale now lives in Dallas, Texas, where he composes music for television and film. In 2006, Floreale created a new group using the name When in Rome. Floreale’s group has since toured with various other 80s groups. The band is the headline of the new founded Los Angeles Rock’n Comic-Con on 28 May 2010 in LA.

Source: Wiki and Official Bio Website

Music Links:

The Promise

Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.

Two of Vega’s songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner”. The latter was originally an a cappella version on Vega’s album, which was then remade in 1990 as a dance track produced by the British dance production team DNA.

Vega’s self-titled debut album was released in 1985 and was well-received by critics in the U.S.; it reached platinum status in the United Kingdom. Produced by Lenny Kaye and Steve Addabbo, the songs feature Vega’s acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements.

A video was released for the album’s song “Marlene on the Wall”, which went into MTV and VH1’s rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics for two songs on Songs from Liquid Days by composer Philip Glass.

Her next effort, Solitude Standing (1987), garnered critical and commercial success including two hit singles: “Tom’s Diner” and “Luka”, the latter of which was an international success. “Luka” is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child—at the time an uncommon subject for a pop hit. While continuing a focus on Vega’s acoustic guitar, the music is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements.

The a cappella “Tom’s Diner” was later a hit again, remixed by two British dance producers under the name DNA, in 1990. The track was originally a bootleg, until Vega allowed DNA to release through her record company, and it became her all-time biggest hit.

Source: Wiki and Official Website

Music Links:

Left of Center
Tom’s Diner
Luka

The The is a British musical and multimedia group that has been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter/frontman Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. Although releases are fairly few, The The have sold several million albums internationally and achieved critical acclaim.

In November 1977, Matt Johnson placed an advertisement in the NME 1977, asking for “Bass/lead guitarist into Velvets/Syd Barrett”. Johnson later placed a second advertisement in the NME, stating his new influences as “The Residents/Throbbing Gristle”.

Finally, The The made their debut as a trio at London’s Africa Centre on 11 May 1979,[1] third on the bill to Scritti Politti and PragVEC, using backing tape tracks for the drums and bass. The band at this point consisted of Johnson on vocal and guitar, Keith Laws on synths/tapes, and guitarist/violinist Peter Fenton-Jones (who would quickly drop out).

In 1978 Johnson had recorded a demo solo album (See Without Being Seen) which he continued to sell at various underground gigs on cassettes. In 1979, working with Colin Lloyd-Tucker (a friend from De Wolfe Music the Soho music publisher/recording studio they were both employed by) Johnson recorded his first album proper, Spirits which featured the track “What Stanley Saw”, later licensed to Cherry Red Records for their Perspectives & Distortion compilation album to appear alongside artists such as Virgin Prunes, Lemon Kittens, Thomas Leer, Kevin Coyne and Mark Perry. To date this is the only song from Spirits to have been commercially released. As The The was now getting underway, Johnson was simultaneously working with experimental synth-pop combo The Gadgets.

Peter Ashworth, now a successful photographer but then known as Triash, became The The’s drummer in 1980, and Tom Johnston (also managing The The at this point and later to become a successful cartoonist for the Evening Standard, Daily Mirror and The Sun newspapers) was added on bass. Although both were credited with appearing on The The’s debut single (“Controversial Subject”/”Black and White”) on 4AD Records neither actually played on the recordings, which were produced by Wire members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis. All instruments were in fact played by Johnson and Laws. Johnston and Ashworth soon dropped out of The The and to return to their respective day jobs.

As a duo (Johnson and Laws), The The began playing shows with some of that era’s most influential groups: Wire, Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, This Heat, The Birthday Party and Scritti Politti.

In 1981 Johnson was signed up by Ivo Watts-Russell for 4AD Records to record a solo album Burning Blue Soul. Although all of the instruments and vocals were performed by Johnson, the album featured various producers including Wire’s Bruce Gilbert & Graham Lewis, Ivo and Johnson himself. Years later, due to a request from Johnson it would be re-issued and credited to The The.

Source: Wiki and the Official Webpage

Music Link:

This Is The Day