Elbow (band)

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Elbow emerged from the late 1990s Manchester music scene centred around the city's vibrant Northern Quarter on Oldham Street.

Acclaimed for their innovative sound, breathtaking live gigs and the candid, evocative lyrics of singer Guy Garvey, Elbow have received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists Blur, REM, U2, and Velvet Underground whose bassist John Cale cited Elbow's "Switching Off" as one of the greatest songs ever written in a BBC interview. However, commercial success has yet to match Elbow's critical acclaim and cult status.

Singer Guy Garvey met guitarist Mark Potter at Sixth form college in 1990 at the age of 16. Mark asked Guy to sing in a band he was in with drummer Richard Jupp and bassist Pete Turner and they formed SOFT. Mark's brother Craig Potter joined soon after on keyboards. By 1997 they had changed their name to Elbow, signed a deal with Island Records and recorded their debut album with producer Steve Osbourne. However, when Island was bought out by major label Universal, the band were dropped in a mass cull and their album never released.

They continued to record on the iconic independent label Uglyman, and released The Noisebox EP and The Newborn EP, which was given extensive airplay by BBC Radio 1 .

Their debut album, Asleep in the Back, released on V2 in 2001, was hailed as a seminal album of the new millennium, gaining them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and a Brit award nomination. Their second album, Cast of Thousands - a reference to their performance at Glastonbury in 2002, when they recorded thousands of people singing "We still believe in love, so fuck you", sealed their reputation as innovators in UK music.

In 2004 Elbow went on an unofficial tour of Cuba, becoming the first British band ever to play a concert outside Havana. The tour was made in to a short film by British documentary maker Irshad Ashraf.

Elbow's innovation in the studio has invited work with other bands, notably Editors and I Am Kloot whose debut album was produced by Guy Garvey. Their third album, Leaders of the Free World, was entirely self produced at Blueprint studios in Salford, a space the band hired for the duration of their recording sessions, teaming up with video artists [The Soup Collective] to produce an integrated music and video DVD.

They have contributed the song "Snowball" to the 2005 War Child benefit album Help: a Day in the Life. Guy also returned to I Am Kloot as co-producer for their single Maybe I Should and Guy Garvey continues to work closely with Manchester Indie Label [Skinny Dog].

Their acoustic cover of Destiny's Child's "Independent Woman", made exclusively for a Radio 1 session, was turned into a popular web animation by Rathergood.com's Joel Veitch, and features a band of flat-capped kittens "performing" the song. You can watch the animation here: [link]

Contents

1 Band members
2 Discography

2.1 Studio albums
2.2 UK singles & EPs

3 External links

Band members

Guy Garvey: lead vocals, guitar, lyrics
Mark Potter: guitar, backing vocals
Craig Potter: keyboards, organ, backing vocals
Pete Turner: bass guitar
Richard Jupp: drums

Discography

Studio albums

Positions listed are for the UK Album Chart:

1. Asleep in the Back (May 7, 2001); #14

2. Cast of Thousands (August 18, 2003); #7

3. Leaders of the Free World (September 12, 2005) #12

UK singles & EPs

All positions are from the UK Singles Chart:

Early releases:

"Newborn" (2000)
"Any Day Now" (2001)

From Asleep in the Back:

"Red" (2001) #36
"Powder Blue" (2001) #41
"Newborn" (2001) #41
"Asleep in the Back"/"Coming Second" (2002) #19

From Cast Of Thousands:

"Fallen Angel" (2003) #19
"Fugitive Motel" (2003) #44
* "Ribcage"/"Fugitive Motel" limited edition "7 (2003)
"Not a Job" (2004) #26
"Grace Under Pressure"/"Switching Off" (2004)

From Leaders Of The Free World:

"Forget Myself" (2005) #22
"Leaders Of The Free World" (2005) #53

External links

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