Furniture (band)
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Furniture is a British pop band that was active from 1979 to 1991. The groups members consisted of Jim Irvin on vocals and percussion, Sally Still on bass, Maya Gilder on keyboards, Tim Whelan on guitar, Hamilton Lee on guitar and Larry N’Azone on saxaphone. Furniture’s following came from the UK and parts of Eastern Europe.
Formation
Furniture was formed in the Greater London area of England. The groups founding members were Jim Irvin, Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee. Simon Beaton (guitar) and Ian Macdonald (bass) joined shortly after and together Furniture played their first gig in 1979. In 1981 Furniture released their first single, “Shaking Story/Take A Walk Downtown” on the band’s own independent record label. However shortly after, Ian Macdonald and Simon Beaton left the band. Furniture remained a trio until new members Sally Still and Maya Gilder joined in 1983.Record Deal
In 1983, Furniture released a self financed E.P. titled “When the Boom Was On” and this won them a contract with the Survival record label. Under the Survival label they released a number of singles and LPs including their first single, “Dancing the Hard Bargain”. In 1986 the band switched to Stiff Records and released the single "Brilliant Mind", which peaked at number 21 in the UK singles chart. "Brilliant Mind" is considered as the band’s most popular and widely recognisable single. It has since been used on a series of 1980s compilation albums and was the theme music in "World Shut Your Mouth" for the character with the cymbals. It also appeared in the John Hughes film "Some Kind of Wonderful". Several other record companies tried to sign the band away from Stiff Records but the band decided against the move, a decision they would later regret.
The band attempted to capitalise on their success by releasing the album “The Wrong People”. The 30,000 pressed copies sold out quickly, but Stiff Records went into liquidation and the band was picked up by the label ZTT who deleted the album. ZTT refused to release Furniture from their contract and a three year court battle proceeded, which ruled in the favour of Furniture. In 1990 the band signed to Arista and released the album “Food, Sex and Paranoia”, which was produced by Mike Thorne. However, the band by then had been forgotten about and the album failed to sell a large amount of copies.
Furniture split up in 1991 in order for its members to pursue solo careers. Jim Irwin claims that the original idea was for the band to have “some time off” and reform later. However, the band has never reformed. One of the band’s final gigs was during the Reading Festival where they played in front of a small crowd. Jim Irwin has since been a music journalist for Melody Maker, The Guardian and Time Out. He is now the Senior Editor of Mojo. Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee went on to form Transglobal Underground in 1992.
Discography
Singles
(Two singles, Shake like Judy says and Brilliant Mind, can be found on the Stiff Records Box Set (4 CDs) )- April 1984: Dancing the Hard Bargain (Survival Records SUR 023) b/w Robert Nightman's Story
- December 1984: Love Your Shoes (Premonition Records PREM 12002) b/w Escape Into My Arms and The Script
- May 1985: I Can't Crack (Premonition Records PREM 3) b/w I Can't Crack (Broken Mix), Switch Off, Pause
- May 1986: Brilliant Mind (Stiff Records BUY 251) b/w To Gus, Brilliant Fragment
- October 1986: Love Your Shoes (Stiff Records BUY 254) b/w Turnupspeed, Me, You and the Name.
- October 1989: Slow Motion Kisses (Arista Records 112648) b/w 40 Hours in a Day, Brilliant Mind, She Gets Out the Scrapbook
- February 1990: One Step Behind You (Arista Records 112844) b/w One Step Behind You (Mark McGuire Club Remix), It Continues, International People
Albums
- September 1983: When the Boom Was On (Premonition Records 4C1)
- Tracks: Transatlantic Cable, They're On Me, Robert Nightman's Story, I Miss You, Why are We in Love, A Letter to Myself
External links
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