Orange Juice

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This article is about the music band; For alternative articles, see Orange juice (disambiguation).

Orange Juice was a Scottish post punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976, becoming Orange Juice in 1979. The group is perhaps best known for the hit "Rip it Up", which reached #8 on the UK singles charts in February 1983, the band's only UK Top 40.

The original line up was:

Edwyn Collins – guitar, vocals, songwriting
James Kirk – guitar, vocals, songwriting
David McClymont – bass
Steven Daly – drums

The band's first official show was on April 20, 1979 at the Victoria Cafe at the Glasgow School of Art. The band released their first singles on Postcard Records, with these singles achieving legendary status in the UK music press. Simon Reynolds ascribes their status as music media darlings as being due to the depression following the suicide of Ian Curtis of Joy Division - music critics and independent music fans were looking for something "life-affirming" with a sense of humour.

They signed to Polydor for their first album "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever". However, internal tensions led to this first version of the band breaking up, and for their subsequent albums the core line up was:

Edwyn Collins – guitar, vocals, songwriting
Malcolm Ross – guitar, vocals, songwriting
Zeke Manyika – drums, vocals, songwriting
Stephen Skinner – guitar (joined after supporting the band on tour with International Rescue)

Musically the band attempted to fuse post-punk guitars with disco and funk rhythms, rather in the manner of the Gang of Four. (Other key influences included Buzzcocks and Subway Sect). Lyrically, however, Orange Juice were always far more commercially minded than the Leeds-based Marxists: Edwyn Collins in particular adopting a fey, camp vocal style. In general, band were known for their love of kitsch, irony, and literate optimism.

While the group has long dispersed, members remain active in their separate and diverse fields (including travel writing).

At least two greatest hits albums are available.

Discography

You Can't Hide Your Love Forever (1981)
Rip It Up (1982)
Texas Fever (1983)
The Third Album (1984)
The Heather's on Fire
Ostrich Churchyard (1992)
The Glasgow School (2005) - a compilation of Postcard-era tracks -- named "Reissue of the Year" for 2005 by Britain's [Uncut Magazine]

References

Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984. Faber and Faber Ltd, April 2005, ISBN 0571215696 (U.S. Edition: Penguin, February 2006, ISBN 0143036726)

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