Gene (band)
Encyclopedia
Gene were an English
alternative rock
quartet that rose to prominence in the mid 1990s. Formed in 1993, they were popularly labelled as a Britpop
band and often drew comparisons to The Smiths
because of their Morrissey
-esque lead singer, Martin Rossiter
. Gene's music was influenced by The Jam
, The Small Faces
, The Style Council
and The Clash
. They had sold a million records.
" club in John Clellon Holmes
' novel Go, and later renamed Spin.
The band was formed by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and John Mason (bass). Soon afterwards, James joined on drums. A few years later, Clark, Mason and James recruited Mason's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar and thereby free Clark to focus on vocal style, which had been previously limited by his (still) mediocre guitar playing.
Two singles, 'Scratches (in the sand)' and 'Let's pretend' were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively. Then, Spin were involved in a road accident. John Mason suffered a serious head injury and went into an 11-day coma. The day prior to the accident, Clark had offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way the band and its record label, Foundation, were guiding its course. A further EP entitled 'Hot Blood' was released in late-1991.
John Mason, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Clark briefly recorded demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Spin, then gave up music to become a primary school teacher. Clark felt he was getting a bit old to be a rock star and decided to play and record only in his own bedroom and indeed returned to this after a hiatus of about ten years.
Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and James recruited bass player Kevin Miles, who had a long association with the band. After seeing Watford
-based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of a club, Mason approached him and they began to talk. Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card ("Martin Rossiter: Soothsayer to the Stars") and Mason giving Rossiter a chance to sing with the band. Rossiter appeared on Spin's last demos as "Martin T. Falls" (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the decision was made to adopt the name Gene.
Rossiter's eloquence and warm, emotive voice proved an effective pairing with Mason's intricate pentatonic guitar riffs, whilst Miles' melodic basslines and James' expertise in various rock drumming styles ensured a solid musical base for the group's successes.
journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson
encountered Gene, the band had already gained some live experience and written several songs. Cameron and Wilkinson were impressed enough to form independent record label Costermonger, created with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience. Their début release, the double A-sided single "For The Dead" / "Child's Body", was released on the fledgling Costermonger label in May 1994. The single received a great deal of attention from the music press: Select named it "Single Of The Month", whilst NME made it their "Single of the Week".
The limited edition of 1,994 copies sold out in two days. Numerous live shows followed, but it was Gene's performance in support of Pulp
at London's The Forum
that revealed the band to be a real force to be reckoned with. "Gene have just played third on the bill and willed the crowd into treating them like headliners who are very, very big indeed", said NME. "He [Martin] has made people love him, and now he's loving every minute of it."
With Gene already developing a devotional fan-base, a new single was planned to consolidate their popularity. The second single, a triple A-side consisting of "Be My Light Be My Guide", "This Is Not My Crime" and "I Can't Help Myself" was released on August 1, 1994 via Costermonger. Melody Maker
awarded "Be My Light Be My Guide" its "Single Of The Week", saying "[T]his record delights in its own sophistication".
, the band played their first UK headlining tour that included a show at London's Paradise Club
which sold out immediately, cramming 800 people into the venue. The plaudits hadn't gone unnoticed by the big record companies, and Gene eventually signed a deal with Polydor Records. For many observers, this was to prove a turning point for the band. After a successful appearance at the Reading Festival, the band released their third single 'Sleep Well Tonight', just prior to embarking on a large national tour, preceded by several sold-out French dates. Through 1995, Gene were still going from strength to strength. Featuring strongly in both critics and readers end of year polls ("they [continue to] outshine every other band around with heady, faultless grace" - Melody Maker), Gene were the proud recipients of the inaugural NME
Brat Award for 'Best New Act', and as such played at the sold out Brat Award ceremony at the London Astoria. They adorned the covers of both the NME and Melody Maker, who voted them their 'Brightest Hope' for 1995. Their fourth single, 'Haunted By You', became the band's second Top 40 hit (reaching number 32), whilst their debut LP Olympian
reached number 8 in the album chart following a plethora of excellent reviews. The album also gained Gene their first silver disc, recording sales of over 70,000 in the UK alone, and when the final single from the album was released ("Olympian"), it went into the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart
.
The summer and autumn of 1995 were spent touring the world, including a well-received performance at Glastonbury Festival
, headlining Reading Festival, a tour of Japan and Europe and then a foray into the USA. With Christmas looming, the band entered the studio again for pre-production on their new album, scheduled for release the following year. 1996 began with a remixed 'For the Dead' which subsequently became Gene's biggest hit (peaking at number 14 in the Top 40), leading to their début appearance on Top of the Pops
. To See The Lights, an LP of rarities, live tracks, radio sessions and acoustic versions of singles, was released in January and reached the number 11 spot in the album charts. A national tour was undertaken during most of the same month, culminating in two sell-out London shows at Shepherds Bush Empire
and the Astoria
.
In anticipation of their second studio LP, October 1996 saw the release of 'Fighting Fit', an up-tempo rock song which reached number 22. The start of 1997 heralded the release of 'We Could Be Kings', another epic rock song which again proved to be very popular, reaching number 18. The LP Drawn to The Deep End takes its name from a 'Fighting Fit' B-side, and it revealed a lavish production replete with strings, far more prominent guitar solos from Mason, and a rather warbling vocal affectation from Rossiter. The album showed some measure of musical development from the band, which was reflected by the inclusion of a keyboardist in their live shows (Grand Drive's Julian Wilson [1996-98, 2004], former Style Council
keyboardist Mick Talbot [1999-2001], Marcus Brown [2001], and Angie Pollack [2003-2004]), and the fact that Rossiter was starting to master the art of singing live whilst playing the keyboard for some songs. Lyrically speaking, the dominating themes of the album were loneliness and deep yearning. Indeed, Rossiter was in the depths of depression during the making of the album and the songs resulting from this period remain some of the band's most powerful work. Drawn to the Deep End was another critical success, with Q magazine awarding it four stars. Like its predecessor, the album entered the top 10 of the album charts, and subsequent singles, 'Where Are They Now?' and 'Speak to me Someone' both made the top 40, at 22 and 30 respectively.
Arguably the defining moment of the band's career came in March 1997 when they played with a full orchestra to a sell-out audience at the Royal Albert Hall
. Transmitted on Radio 1
, the event was commemorated by the release of two live EPs in tandem with the last two singles from Drawn to the Deep End. They also played in Hong Kong that year as part of the festivities of the UK's ceding the island back into Chinese hands.
By late 1997, Rossiter in particular had gained some press attention in his newfound status as a minor celebrity. He had already appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
and various articles speculated on his sexuality (much to Rossiter's bemusement. As he told Sorted magazine: "I've never hidden the fact that I've slept on both sides of the bed and people find that very odd that I was quite happy to say 'yeah, I'm bisexual and it doesn't really matter.") He also hit the headlines due to a war of words between Rossiter and comedian Paul Kaye
which culminated in Rossiter headbutting Kaye in a nightclub.
's Sound City. In fact, the most newsworthy article about Gene during this year was of Martin Rossiter's 'drastic' change in image. Gone were the suit jackets with white shirts and the floppy side-parted hair, in favour of the mod-like Fred Perry
polo shirts, jeans and a very short haircut. The new look was to be reflective of the band's rockier forthcoming studio LP, Revelations. On their return from relative wilderness, it appeared that Gene had lost a lot of their prestige during their year out of the limelight, and were no longer the golden boys of the indie scene. First off the LP, released in February 1999, was a Jam
-like political single called 'As Good As it Gets', which entered the charts at number 23 to lukewarm reviews. Revelations was released that March to very mixed reviews; the NME
awarded it 5/10, concluding that the album was "pretty thin on the ground".
Revelations carries some very political songs, such as the aforementioned 'As Good As it Gets', 'The British Disease' and 'Mayday'. Rossiter, who had an occasional political spot on BBC Radio Five Live
, launched a vitriolic critique on New Labour's first term in office. The album charted disappointingly at number 23, and the second single from the album, 'Fill Her Up', charted at number 37 that April. Despite a successful and comprehensive tour around the country, again selling out many venues, as well as making a successful appearance at the Reading Festival of that year, Gene and Polydor parted ways. It must be said that the band felt somewhat undermined by their label's lack of support and failure to market the album adequately. As Rossiter explained: "Only when we got to Gretna Green
did we realise that Polydor had disembarked at Crewe
." Whilst the band made the best of Revelations raw, live sound during the album's promotion, as well as the fact that the recording of the album took less than a month to complete (the marketing literature said it was in order to best convey the energy apparent from their live shows), after the split they claimed that they could have made it a better album had they been given more time by their label. Certainly, Revelations was by no means a failure, and it probably would have been a greater popular success given the right backing. Although Gene lost a lot of the benefits of being on a major label, they did at least gain artistic independence again.
That album, entitled Libertine, was released in October 2001 on Gene's own label, Sub Rosa Records.
The band members have all continued to work in music. Roy Wilkinson went on to manage the band British Sea Power
, while Snake Newton went on to mix an assortment of acts including Duran Duran
, Sugababes
, Pet Shop Boys
and Snow Patrol
.
In the third week of January 2008, all four members of Gene briefly took to the stage again for their ex-manager Jerry Smith's 50th birthday party. They performed five songs at the 100 Club in London: "Be My Light, Be My Guide", "For The Dead", "Where Are They Now?", "London, Can You Wait?" and "Olympian".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
quartet that rose to prominence in the mid 1990s. Formed in 1993, they were popularly labelled as a Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
band and often drew comparisons to The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
because of their Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
-esque lead singer, Martin Rossiter
Martin Rossiter
Martin Rossiter is a Welsh singer, who is noted for being the lead singer of the British indie band Gene, from 1993 until their break-up in 2004....
. Gene's music was influenced by The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
, The Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
and The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
. They had sold a million records.
The Go Hole and Spin
Gene's origins lie in a previous band which was first called The Go Hole, named after a fictional "BeatBeat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
" club in John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes , born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was an author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go. Considered the first "Beat" novel, Go depicted events in his life with his friends Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg. He was often referred to as the "quiet Beat"...
' novel Go, and later renamed Spin.
The band was formed by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and John Mason (bass). Soon afterwards, James joined on drums. A few years later, Clark, Mason and James recruited Mason's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar and thereby free Clark to focus on vocal style, which had been previously limited by his (still) mediocre guitar playing.
Two singles, 'Scratches (in the sand)' and 'Let's pretend' were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively. Then, Spin were involved in a road accident. John Mason suffered a serious head injury and went into an 11-day coma. The day prior to the accident, Clark had offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way the band and its record label, Foundation, were guiding its course. A further EP entitled 'Hot Blood' was released in late-1991.
John Mason, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Clark briefly recorded demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Spin, then gave up music to become a primary school teacher. Clark felt he was getting a bit old to be a rock star and decided to play and record only in his own bedroom and indeed returned to this after a hiatus of about ten years.
Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and James recruited bass player Kevin Miles, who had a long association with the band. After seeing Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
-based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of a club, Mason approached him and they began to talk. Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card ("Martin Rossiter: Soothsayer to the Stars") and Mason giving Rossiter a chance to sing with the band. Rossiter appeared on Spin's last demos as "Martin T. Falls" (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the decision was made to adopt the name Gene.
Rossiter's eloquence and warm, emotive voice proved an effective pairing with Mason's intricate pentatonic guitar riffs, whilst Miles' melodic basslines and James' expertise in various rock drumming styles ensured a solid musical base for the group's successes.
Breakthrough
By the time NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson
Roy Wilkinson
Roy Wilkinson is a British music journalist and band manager.As a journalist he is best known for his work in Sounds, Select and Q, but has contributed to various other publications. Considered an authority on the Pixies, he appears in their 2002 documentary Gouge, available on the 2004 Pixies DVD...
encountered Gene, the band had already gained some live experience and written several songs. Cameron and Wilkinson were impressed enough to form independent record label Costermonger, created with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience. Their début release, the double A-sided single "For The Dead" / "Child's Body", was released on the fledgling Costermonger label in May 1994. The single received a great deal of attention from the music press: Select named it "Single Of The Month", whilst NME made it their "Single of the Week".
The limited edition of 1,994 copies sold out in two days. Numerous live shows followed, but it was Gene's performance in support of Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
at London's The Forum
London Forum
The London Forum, or sometimes Kentish Town Forum is a well-known venue for concerts in Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom owned by the MAMA Group. The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the closure of the cinema, The Town & Country Club was established...
that revealed the band to be a real force to be reckoned with. "Gene have just played third on the bill and willed the crowd into treating them like headliners who are very, very big indeed", said NME. "He [Martin] has made people love him, and now he's loving every minute of it."
With Gene already developing a devotional fan-base, a new single was planned to consolidate their popularity. The second single, a triple A-side consisting of "Be My Light Be My Guide", "This Is Not My Crime" and "I Can't Help Myself" was released on August 1, 1994 via Costermonger. Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
awarded "Be My Light Be My Guide" its "Single Of The Week", saying "[T]his record delights in its own sophistication".
Popular success
After achieving the top spot in the UK indie chart and number 54 in the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, the band played their first UK headlining tour that included a show at London's Paradise Club
Paradise Club
Paradise Club may refer to:*Paradise Rock Club, Boston*The Paradise Club, a BBC TV programme* The Paradise, a fictional theatre featured in the film, Phantom of the Paradise...
which sold out immediately, cramming 800 people into the venue. The plaudits hadn't gone unnoticed by the big record companies, and Gene eventually signed a deal with Polydor Records. For many observers, this was to prove a turning point for the band. After a successful appearance at the Reading Festival, the band released their third single 'Sleep Well Tonight', just prior to embarking on a large national tour, preceded by several sold-out French dates. Through 1995, Gene were still going from strength to strength. Featuring strongly in both critics and readers end of year polls ("they [continue to] outshine every other band around with heady, faultless grace" - Melody Maker), Gene were the proud recipients of the inaugural NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
Brat Award for 'Best New Act', and as such played at the sold out Brat Award ceremony at the London Astoria. They adorned the covers of both the NME and Melody Maker, who voted them their 'Brightest Hope' for 1995. Their fourth single, 'Haunted By You', became the band's second Top 40 hit (reaching number 32), whilst their debut LP Olympian
Olympian (album)
Olympian is the 1995 debut album by British indie band Gene.The album reached #8 in the UK albums chart, selling 70,000 copies and gaining a silver disc.-External reviews:...
reached number 8 in the album chart following a plethora of excellent reviews. The album also gained Gene their first silver disc, recording sales of over 70,000 in the UK alone, and when the final single from the album was released ("Olympian"), it went into the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
The summer and autumn of 1995 were spent touring the world, including a well-received performance at Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, headlining Reading Festival, a tour of Japan and Europe and then a foray into the USA. With Christmas looming, the band entered the studio again for pre-production on their new album, scheduled for release the following year. 1996 began with a remixed 'For the Dead' which subsequently became Gene's biggest hit (peaking at number 14 in the Top 40), leading to their début appearance on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
. To See The Lights, an LP of rarities, live tracks, radio sessions and acoustic versions of singles, was released in January and reached the number 11 spot in the album charts. A national tour was undertaken during most of the same month, culminating in two sell-out London shows at Shepherds Bush Empire
Shepherds Bush Empire
The O2 Shepherds Bush Empire is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, run by the Academy Music Group. It was built in 1903, as a music hall, and in 1953 became the BBC Television Theatre...
and the Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
.
In anticipation of their second studio LP, October 1996 saw the release of 'Fighting Fit', an up-tempo rock song which reached number 22. The start of 1997 heralded the release of 'We Could Be Kings', another epic rock song which again proved to be very popular, reaching number 18. The LP Drawn to The Deep End takes its name from a 'Fighting Fit' B-side, and it revealed a lavish production replete with strings, far more prominent guitar solos from Mason, and a rather warbling vocal affectation from Rossiter. The album showed some measure of musical development from the band, which was reflected by the inclusion of a keyboardist in their live shows (Grand Drive's Julian Wilson [1996-98, 2004], former Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
keyboardist Mick Talbot [1999-2001], Marcus Brown [2001], and Angie Pollack [2003-2004]), and the fact that Rossiter was starting to master the art of singing live whilst playing the keyboard for some songs. Lyrically speaking, the dominating themes of the album were loneliness and deep yearning. Indeed, Rossiter was in the depths of depression during the making of the album and the songs resulting from this period remain some of the band's most powerful work. Drawn to the Deep End was another critical success, with Q magazine awarding it four stars. Like its predecessor, the album entered the top 10 of the album charts, and subsequent singles, 'Where Are They Now?' and 'Speak to me Someone' both made the top 40, at 22 and 30 respectively.
Arguably the defining moment of the band's career came in March 1997 when they played with a full orchestra to a sell-out audience at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. Transmitted on 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...
, the event was commemorated by the release of two live EPs in tandem with the last two singles from Drawn to the Deep End. They also played in Hong Kong that year as part of the festivities of the UK's ceding the island back into Chinese hands.
By late 1997, Rossiter in particular had gained some press attention in his newfound status as a minor celebrity. He had already appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
and various articles speculated on his sexuality (much to Rossiter's bemusement. As he told Sorted magazine: "I've never hidden the fact that I've slept on both sides of the bed and people find that very odd that I was quite happy to say 'yeah, I'm bisexual and it doesn't really matter.") He also hit the headlines due to a war of words between Rossiter and comedian Paul Kaye
Paul Kaye
Paul Kaye is an English comedian and actor. He achieved notoriety in 1995 portraying the character of Dennis Pennis, a shock interviewer on The Sunday Show...
which culminated in Rossiter headbutting Kaye in a nightclub.
Revelations and leaving Polydor
1998 served as a fallow year for the band, used for writing new material as well as a few low-key shows and events such as Radio 1BBC 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...
's Sound City. In fact, the most newsworthy article about Gene during this year was of Martin Rossiter's 'drastic' change in image. Gone were the suit jackets with white shirts and the floppy side-parted hair, in favour of the mod-like Fred Perry
Fred Perry
Frederick John Perry was a championship-winning English tennis and table tennis player who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slams and two Pro Slams. Perry won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships between 1934 and 1936 and was World No. 1 four years in a row...
polo shirts, jeans and a very short haircut. The new look was to be reflective of the band's rockier forthcoming studio LP, Revelations. On their return from relative wilderness, it appeared that Gene had lost a lot of their prestige during their year out of the limelight, and were no longer the golden boys of the indie scene. First off the LP, released in February 1999, was a Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
-like political single called 'As Good As it Gets', which entered the charts at number 23 to lukewarm reviews. Revelations was released that March to very mixed reviews; the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
awarded it 5/10, concluding that the album was "pretty thin on the ground".
Revelations carries some very political songs, such as the aforementioned 'As Good As it Gets', 'The British Disease' and 'Mayday'. Rossiter, who had an occasional political spot on BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
, launched a vitriolic critique on New Labour's first term in office. The album charted disappointingly at number 23, and the second single from the album, 'Fill Her Up', charted at number 37 that April. Despite a successful and comprehensive tour around the country, again selling out many venues, as well as making a successful appearance at the Reading Festival of that year, Gene and Polydor parted ways. It must be said that the band felt somewhat undermined by their label's lack of support and failure to market the album adequately. As Rossiter explained: "Only when we got to Gretna Green
Gretna Green
Gretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving...
did we realise that Polydor had disembarked at Crewe
Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. Built in fields near to Crewe Hall, it originally served the village of Crewe with a population of just 70 residents...
." Whilst the band made the best of Revelations raw, live sound during the album's promotion, as well as the fact that the recording of the album took less than a month to complete (the marketing literature said it was in order to best convey the energy apparent from their live shows), after the split they claimed that they could have made it a better album had they been given more time by their label. Certainly, Revelations was by no means a failure, and it probably would have been a greater popular success given the right backing. Although Gene lost a lot of the benefits of being on a major label, they did at least gain artistic independence again.
Artistic freedom and Libertine
Despite the lack of the support of a major record label, Gene spent a good portion of 2000 touring the world, which climaxed in a sell-out tour of the USA. One of their shows, at the Los Angeles venue Troubadour, was broadcast over the internet in what was then a record-breaking webcast, screened to at least 60,000 people worldwide. Only two months after the recording of that show, Gene released Rising for Sunset, a live album recorded from that Troubadour show. The webcast and album were promoted with a pioneering international internet-only campaign resulting in 40k units sold upon its universal release. As well as rehearsing the band's hits, they released two new tracks, 'Rising For Sunset' and 'Somewhere in the World'; promising songs that bade well for their next studio LP and marking a return to the romance of their more popular tracks.That album, entitled Libertine, was released in October 2001 on Gene's own label, Sub Rosa Records.
Split
Despite further successful live shows in subsequent years including a set at the Morrissey curated Royal Festival Hall Meltdown Festival in June 2004, Gene opted for an amicable split later that year. It is said that the band felt they were somewhat stuck in a rut, and had achieved as much as they felt they could. They realised that, although they had a loyal fan base and plenty of critical acclaim, they were never going to become world-conquering greats. Gene's last live performance was played on 16 December 2004 at the London Astoria, and there are not expected to be any further recordings or appearances.The band members have all continued to work in music. Roy Wilkinson went on to manage the band British Sea Power
British Sea Power
British Sea Power are an indie rock band based in Brighton, England, although three of the band members originally come from Kendal in Cumbria. Critics have likened their sound to a variety of groups, from The Cure and Joy Division to the Pixies and Arcade Fire. The band are famed for their live...
, while Snake Newton went on to mix an assortment of acts including Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Sugababes
Sugababes
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, Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
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and Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
.
In the third week of January 2008, all four members of Gene briefly took to the stage again for their ex-manager Jerry Smith's 50th birthday party. They performed five songs at the 100 Club in London: "Be My Light, Be My Guide", "For The Dead", "Where Are They Now?", "London, Can You Wait?" and "Olympian".
Albums
- 1995 OlympianOlympian- Magic and mythology :* One of the Twelve Olympians* One of the seven spirits described in Arbatel de magia veterum- Technology :* Leyland Olympian, double decker bus* Volvo Olympian, double decker bus* Volvo Olympian , also known as Volvo B9TL...
- UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#8 - 1996 To See The Lights - #11
- 1997 Drawn To The Deep End - #8
- 1999 Revelations - #25
- 2000 Rising For Sunset - #118
- 2001 As Good As It Gets: The Best Of
- 2001 Libertine - #92
- 2006 The Collection
- 2006 The John Peel Sessions
Singles
- 1994 "For The Dead"
- 1994 "Be My Light, Be My Guide" - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#54 - 1994 "Sleep Well Tonight" - #36
- 1995 "Haunted By You" - #32
- 1995 "Be My Light, Be My Guide" / "I Can't Help Myself"
- 1995 "Olympian" - #18
- 1995 "Still Can't Find The Phone" (Germany)
- 1996 "For The Dead" (re-issue) - #14
- 1996 "Fighting Fit" - #22
- 1997 "We Could Be Kings" - #17
- 1997 "Where Are They Now?" - #22
- 1997 "Speak To Me Someone" - #30
- 1999 "As Good As It Gets" - #23
- 1999 "Fill Her Up" - #36
- 2001 "Is It Over?" - did not chart
- 2001 "Does He Have a Name?" (promo)
- 2004 "Let Me Move On" - #69
External links
- You'll Never Walk Again -Full Discography,Bootlegs etc...
- More on why Gene split, from BBC 6 MusicBBC 6 MusicBBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
- Live Review of Gene in Portsmouth
- PALACE FIRES Discography