Cousteau (band)
Encyclopedia
Cousteau are a London-based band who enjoyed considerable international success, particularly in Italy
and the U.S.
from 1999 to 2003. The band's sound has been compared to Burt Bacharach
, Scott Walker
and David Bowie
with an updated contemporary edge.
Their best known song remains the single "The Last Good Day of the Year", from their eponymous debut album. It has featured in advertisements (such as those for Nissan in the US and Borsci in Italy
), film
s (such as Happily Ever After, with Charlotte Gainsborg, winner of the Special Selection category at the Toronto Film Festival 2005, and South Kensington with Rupert Everett
) and documentaries and television programmes around the world. It also enjoyed radio play on both BBC Radio 1
and BBC Radio 2
in the UK
, later becoming a staple of the NPR
and AAA
networks in the US.
magazine, and recommended album in Time Out London. When the band signed to Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures label a decision was made to re-record the majority of the album (two tracks, including 'Last Good Day of the Year', were not changed). On re-release the album was Album Of The Week in The Guardian
in the UK, and went on to sell more than 230,000 copies internationally.
The band achieved gold-record status in Europe after years of consistent touring and promotion, including tours supporting The Dandy Warhols
, David Gray
, and Goldfrapp
.
In 2002 the second album, Sirena, was released; the version released in the US included a DVD
with videos and unreleased live songs. This album sold over 80,000 copies, and contains the singles 'Talking to Myself' and '(Damn These) Hungry Times'. Sirena was met with critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone
, USA Today
and Billboard
, and most notably a 2-page colour feature in the New York Times. In 2005 Sirena was awarded Classic Album status in The Sydney Morning Herald
.
The band's line-up changed when songwriter/producer Davey Ray Moor
left to pursue production jobs in Italy, such as the No. 4 album Dove Sei Tu for Cristina Dona
, a solo album 'Telepathy', released in Europe in the USA (included in Republica's Critics Top 100, 2004) and television soundtracks such as Channel 4's Supernanny
. More recently Davey is a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University
where he teaches production, songwriting, marketing and performance.
Songwriting duties were taken on by singer Liam McKahey, and after a change in record companies, the group returned in 2005 with the album Nova Scotia, produced by U2
's engineer Ger McDonnel. Nova Scotia was released in the US in 2006 under the name of Moreau, for legal reasons.
The HBO network in the US continues to licence Cousteau's earlier work, with their song 'Mesmer' appearing in a feature about Heidi Fleiss
, and 'The Last Good Day of The Year' in the HBO film Tell Me You Love Me and again in the 2005 French movie Happily Ever After.
As of 2010 Cousteau remain inactive, but lead singer Liam McKahey (now resident in Australia) released a solo album in 2009 as 'Liam McKahey and the Bodies' entitled Lonely Road.
The Last Good Day Of The Year (radio mix) / Captain Swing / Love In The Meantime / The Last Good Day Of The Year (album mix)
She Don't Hear Your Prayer / Lovers In A Loveless Place (Babyman Remix) / Late September Rain
The Last Good Day Of The Year / Captain Swing / Rachael Lately
The Last Good Day Of The Year / Mesmer / You My Lunar Queen / The Last Good Day Of The Year (video)
She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live) / Rachael Lately
Heavy Weather (album version) / The Last Good Day of the Year (remix by Feel Good Production) / The Last Good Day of the Year (live) / She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live)
Wish You Were Her / To Know Her / The Cuttlefish Walks The Cuttlefish Waltz
Talking To Myself / Short Sighted, Beautiful And Shy / Last Secret Of The Sea
(Damn These) Hungry Times (Bedroom Rockers Remix Radio Edit) / (Damn These) Hungry Times (album version) / Nothing So Bad
Sadness / Nova Scotia / World Away
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1999 to 2003. The band's sound has been compared to Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
with an updated contemporary edge.
Their best known song remains the single "The Last Good Day of the Year", from their eponymous debut album. It has featured in advertisements (such as those for Nissan in the US and Borsci in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s (such as Happily Ever After, with Charlotte Gainsborg, winner of the Special Selection category at the Toronto Film Festival 2005, and South Kensington with Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
) and documentaries and television programmes around the world. It also enjoyed radio play on both BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, later becoming a staple of the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and AAA
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
networks in the US.
History
The first release of the 1999 eponymous album was 'home-made' and included many demos produced for various major labels. 3,000 copies of the album were pressed by indie label Global Warming, and sold out after receiving good reviews, including a 5-star review in UncutUNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
magazine, and recommended album in Time Out London. When the band signed to Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures label a decision was made to re-record the majority of the album (two tracks, including 'Last Good Day of the Year', were not changed). On re-release the album was Album Of The Week in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in the UK, and went on to sell more than 230,000 copies internationally.
The band achieved gold-record status in Europe after years of consistent touring and promotion, including tours supporting The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...
, David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...
, and Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
.
In 2002 the second album, Sirena, was released; the version released in the US included a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
with videos and unreleased live songs. This album sold over 80,000 copies, and contains the singles 'Talking to Myself' and '(Damn These) Hungry Times'. Sirena was met with critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, and most notably a 2-page colour feature in the New York Times. In 2005 Sirena was awarded Classic Album status in The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
.
The band's line-up changed when songwriter/producer Davey Ray Moor
Davey Ray Moor
Davey Ray Moor is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.Moor was born in Beirut and raised in Australia, and now lives in England. He first came to musical prominence in Sydney as keyboard player, and occasional vocalist, for an independent rock outfit...
left to pursue production jobs in Italy, such as the No. 4 album Dove Sei Tu for Cristina Dona
Cristina Donà
Cristina Donà is an Italian singer and songwriter.She developed a passion for music since she was a teenager, her favorites singers being, among others, Bruce Springsteen, Sinéad O'Connor, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Shocked, Tom Waits, Lucio Battisti, and Beatles .She studied at Accademia di Belle...
, a solo album 'Telepathy', released in Europe in the USA (included in Republica's Critics Top 100, 2004) and television soundtracks such as Channel 4's Supernanny
Supernanny
Supernanny is a reality TV programme which originated in the United Kingdom about parents struggling with their children's behaviour. The UK version has aired on Channel 4 with E4 showing repeats since 2004. The program returned in 2010...
. More recently Davey is a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a university based in, and around, Bath, England. The institution was previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College...
where he teaches production, songwriting, marketing and performance.
Songwriting duties were taken on by singer Liam McKahey, and after a change in record companies, the group returned in 2005 with the album Nova Scotia, produced by U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's engineer Ger McDonnel. Nova Scotia was released in the US in 2006 under the name of Moreau, for legal reasons.
The HBO network in the US continues to licence Cousteau's earlier work, with their song 'Mesmer' appearing in a feature about Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
, and 'The Last Good Day of The Year' in the HBO film Tell Me You Love Me and again in the 2005 French movie Happily Ever After.
As of 2010 Cousteau remain inactive, but lead singer Liam McKahey (now resident in Australia) released a solo album in 2009 as 'Liam McKahey and the Bodies' entitled Lonely Road.
Current
- Liam McKahey – vocals, percussion
- Robin Brown – guitars
- Joe Peet – bass guitar, violin, double bass
Former
- Davey Ray MoorDavey Ray MoorDavey Ray Moor is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.Moor was born in Beirut and raised in Australia, and now lives in England. He first came to musical prominence in Sydney as keyboard player, and occasional vocalist, for an independent rock outfit...
– songwriter, multiple instruments - on Cousteau and Sirena - Dan Church – drums on the Global Warming Cousteau album
- Craig Vear - drums and percussion
- Dan Moore – keyboards
- Paul Wigens – played drums on the 2005 tour
- Chloë March – played keyboards on the 2005 tour
Albums
- Cousteau - 1999, Global Warming Ltd (GLOB CD 5)
- Cousteau (reissue) - 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PALMCD 2058-2)
- Sirena - 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PALMCD 2083-2)
- Sirena (Italian release with different artwork) - 2002, Nun Entertainment (NUN 0139782)
- Sirena (US enhanced CD / DVD release with different track order and artwork) - 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PALMCD 2083-2)
- Nova ScotiaNova Scotia (album)Nova Scotia is the third album by Cousteau, released in 2005 on the Endeavour record label. It was subsequently released in the U.S. under the band name 'Moreau' due to legal reasons on the One Little Indian label with two additional tracks...
- 2005, Endeavour (602498711996)
Singles (CD)
- "The Last Good Day Of The Year" 1999, Global Warming Ltd (WARM CD 6)
The Last Good Day Of The Year (radio mix) / Captain Swing / Love In The Meantime / The Last Good Day Of The Year (album mix)
- "She Don't Hear Your Prayer" 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7032-2)
She Don't Hear Your Prayer / Lovers In A Loveless Place (Babyman Remix) / Late September Rain
- "The Last Good Day Of The Year" 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7043-2)
The Last Good Day Of The Year / Captain Swing / Rachael Lately
- "The Last Good Day Of The Year" (US promotional enhanced CD) 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PRCD v20581)
The Last Good Day Of The Year / Mesmer / You My Lunar Queen / The Last Good Day Of The Year (video)
- "Into The Blue EP" (US promotional EP) 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PRCD v20583)
She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live) / Rachael Lately
- "Into The Blue EP" (Italian promotional EP) 2001, Nun Entertainment/Tutto magazine
Heavy Weather (album version) / The Last Good Day of the Year (remix by Feel Good Production) / The Last Good Day of the Year (live) / She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live)
- "Wish You Were Her" 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7049-2)
Wish You Were Her / To Know Her / The Cuttlefish Walks The Cuttlefish Waltz
- "Talking To Myself" 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7074-2)
Talking To Myself / Short Sighted, Beautiful And Shy / Last Secret Of The Sea
- "(Damn These) Hungry Times" 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7089)
(Damn These) Hungry Times (Bedroom Rockers Remix Radio Edit) / (Damn These) Hungry Times (album version) / Nothing So Bad
- "Sadness" 2005, Endeavour (602498714133)
Sadness / Nova Scotia / World Away
Other contributions
- WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air PerformancesWYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air PerformancesWYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air Performances is a compilation album made of songs that were performed by various artists live on WYEP. WYEP is a non-commercial, community-supported radio station that specializes in eclectic music and programming...
(2002) - "Last Good Day of the Year" - KINK LIVE (2002) - "Last Good Day of the Year"
- Live @ The World Cafe Tenth Anniversary Edition (2001) - "Last Good Day of the Year"
- From the Mountain Music Lounge Volume 9 (2003) - "Last Good Day of the Year"
- City Folk Live IV (2001) - "Last Good Day of the Year"
- DETLIVE Vol 3 (2002) - "Your Day Will Come"
- Sounds Eclectic Too (2002) - "You My Lunar Queen"
- Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim BuckleySing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim BuckleySing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley is a double CD studio album performed by various artists in tribute to 1960s musician Tim Buckley. The album is named after a Buckley song of the same name which is also the first track on the first disc...
(2002) - "Blue Melody"