Rooster (band)
Encyclopedia
Rooster were an English indie rock
band that formed in London
in 2002. Comprising singer-songwriter Nick Atkinson
, guitarist and songwriter Luke Potashnick, backing guitarist and vocalist Ben Smyth, bassist Nick Howell and drummer Dave Neale, the band released two studio album
s and five UK top-40
singles before disbanding in 2007.
, after both admitted they were struggling to make an impact with their respective bands. Atkinson was previously the singer in British nu metal
band 50 Grind, who reached #57 in the UK Singles Chart
in December 2001 with "Gotta Catch 'Em All", featuring the Pokémon
all-stars, but never released any more material. They formed Rooster with Neale and Smyth and the name was settled on when Atkinson came home £250 richer after putting a bet
on a horse
called Rooster Booster
. After only a few live shows, were signed to the new BMG
affiliate label
Brightside. Howell would later join the band in early 2006, initially to play additional percussion in live shows but is later credited on bass on a number of tracks on Circles and Satellites.
The quintet received plenty of publicity when they became the first band to broadcast a concert live to mobile phone
s, with their gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
in London on 2 November 2004 aired by the 3 network
. The quartet's debut album was released the following January.
teen rock market. Rooster's debut single "Come Get Some
" reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart
in November 2004. The next single, "Staring at the Sun
", reached number 5 and their self-titled debut album
entered the UK Albums Chart
at number 3.
Live shows saw the band improvising and extending songs; Neale often performed a four-minute-long drum solo
during "Drag The Sunrise Down." Rooster were known to incorporate covers
, such as, Cream
's "Sunshine of Your Love
," Free
's "All Right Now
", Jamiroquai
's "Deeper Underground", Blackstreet
's "No Diggity
" and The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction
" into their live sets.
Rooster provided a track for the soundtrack of the film Stormbreaker
. The track selected to appear on the film's soundtrack was "Good to Be Here
" which was released as a download-only single in August 2006. In autumn 2008, Rooster's song "I Come Alive" was used in American Discovery Channel
commercials
.
, Rooster announced their split via their Myspace
page.
Singles
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band that formed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2002. Comprising singer-songwriter Nick Atkinson
Nick Atkinson
Nick Atkinson was the lead singer in the British rock band Rooster until their split in 2007. Before that he was in the band 50.Grind who were most famous for their song Gotta Catch Them All, which was about the Japanese cartoon series Pokémon. He has since launched a new rock/blues project with...
, guitarist and songwriter Luke Potashnick, backing guitarist and vocalist Ben Smyth, bassist Nick Howell and drummer Dave Neale, the band released two studio album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s and five UK top-40
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 ...
singles before disbanding in 2007.
Formation
Vocalist Atkinson and guitarist Potashnik were former school friends who reunited while living in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, after both admitted they were struggling to make an impact with their respective bands. Atkinson was previously the singer in British nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band 50 Grind, who reached #57 in 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 ...
in December 2001 with "Gotta Catch 'Em All", featuring the Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
all-stars, but never released any more material. They formed Rooster with Neale and Smyth and the name was settled on when Atkinson came home £250 richer after putting a bet
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
on a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
called Rooster Booster
Rooster Booster (horse)
Rooster Booster was a British-bred thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the 2003 Champion Hurdle.-Background:Rooster Booster was a gelding whose grey coat and racing style made him easily recognisable. He was the only horse of any consequence produced by the unsuccessful racehorse...
. After only a few live shows, were signed to the new BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
affiliate label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Brightside. Howell would later join the band in early 2006, initially to play additional percussion in live shows but is later credited on bass on a number of tracks on Circles and Satellites.
The quintet received plenty of publicity when they became the first band to broadcast a concert live to mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, with their gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
in London on 2 November 2004 aired by the 3 network
Hutchison 3G
3 is a brand name under which several UMTS-based mobile phone networks and Broadband Internet Providers are operated in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom...
. The quartet's debut album was released the following January.
Mainstream recognition
The band's style combined hard rock with pop but was marketed primarily at the UKUnited 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...
teen rock market. Rooster's debut single "Come Get Some
Come Get Some
"Come Get Some" is a song by English indie rock band Rooster, featured on their 2005 debut self-titled album. Written by vocalist Nick Atkinson and producers Charlie Grant and Peter Woodroffe, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 11 October 2004, reaching number seven on the...
" reached number 7 in 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 ...
in November 2004. The next single, "Staring at the Sun
Staring at the Sun (Rooster song)
"Staring at the Sun" is a song by English indie rock band Rooster, featured on their 2005 debut self-titled album. Written by vocalist Nick Atkinson, guitarist Luke Potashnick and producer Steve Robson, the song was released as the second single from the album on 15 January 2005, reaching number...
", reached number 5 and their self-titled debut album
Rooster (album)
-Personnel:Rooster*Nick Atkinson – vocals*Luke Potashnick – guitars*Ben Smyth – bass, backing vocals*Dave Neale – drumsAdditional personnel*Steve Robson – production on tracks 1, 3, 4, 8 and 10...
entered the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The 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...
at number 3.
Live shows saw the band improvising and extending songs; Neale often performed a four-minute-long drum solo
Drum solo
A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance....
during "Drag The Sunrise Down." Rooster were known to incorporate covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, such as, Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
's "Sunshine of Your Love
Sunshine of Your Love
"Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British supergroup Cream. The song was originally released on the album Disraeli Gears in November 1967, and was later released as a single in January 1968. It is Cream's only gold-selling single in the United States. It features a distinctive...
," Free
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
's "All Right Now
All Right Now
"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed...
", Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
's "Deeper Underground", Blackstreet
Blackstreet
Blackstreet is an American R&B group founded in 1991 by Thomas Taliaferro and Teddy Riley, the inventor of New Jack Swing known for his work as a member of Guy. Chauncey Hannibal and Levi Little were signed under production and management contracts with Thomas Taliaferro and were merged into what...
's "No Diggity
No Diggity
"No Diggity" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen in her first recorded appearance. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 in the UK. It ranked at #91 on . It sold 1.6 million copies in 1996, and won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a...
" and The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" into their live sets.
Rooster provided a track for the soundtrack of the film Stormbreaker
Stormbreaker (film)
Stormbreaker is a 2006 British spy film based on Anthony Horowitz's novel of the same name, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside actors Mickey Rourke and Bill Nighy...
. The track selected to appear on the film's soundtrack was "Good to Be Here
Good to Be Here
"Good To Be Here" was the second single from UK indie group Rooster from their second album Circles and Satellites. The song was included for the soundtrack to the film Stormbreaker....
" which was released as a download-only single in August 2006. In autumn 2008, Rooster's song "I Come Alive" was used in American Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
.
Break-up
On 23 January 2007, with musical differences and difficulties with their record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Rooster announced their split via their Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page.
Post break-up
- Atkinson joined the indie blues band The Ya Ya Boys.
- Neale became a founding member of the superhero rock band The Justice Force 5. He also drums for Diana VickersDiana VickersDiana Vickers is an English singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer who initially came to public attention as a semi-finalist on the fifth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2008...
- Smyth is now playing with Amy MacdonaldAmy MacDonaldAmy MacDonald is an American author of children's books. Her works include Little Beaver and the Echo, which has been translated into 28 languages around the world, and Rachel Fister's Blister. Her first book, a satire of Jill Krementz's children's books, was A Very Young Housewife.Amy MacDonald...
and Olly MursOlly MursOliver Stanley "Olly" Murs is an English singer-songwriter and TV presenter. Murs rose to fame after being the runner-up on the sixth series of The X Factor...
, and performing with other bands and solo artists. - Potashnick is now in the band Ben's BrotherBen's BrotherBen's Brother is a five-piece band from the UK, headed by founder Jamie Hartman. Their band was named after Jamie's big brother Ben, in whose shadow he lived as a teenager...
and is the guitarist on Leona LewisLeona LewisLeona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
' 2010 Labyrinth Tour. - Howell is currently touring with post-punk outfit "Illusions, Michael"
Band members
- Nick Atkinson - Lead Vocals
- Luke Potashnick - Guitar
- Nick Howell - Bass & Additional Percussion
- Ben Smyth - Backing Guitar & Vocals
- Dave Neale - Drums
Discography
Studio albums| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Rooster Rooster (album) -Personnel:Rooster*Nick Atkinson – vocals*Luke Potashnick – guitars*Ben Smyth – bass, backing vocals*Dave Neale – drumsAdditional personnel*Steve Robson – production on tracks 1, 3, 4, 8 and 10...
|
| 2006 | Circles and Satellites Circles and Satellites -Personnel:Rooster*Nick Atkinson – vocals*Luke Potashnick – guitars*Ben Smyth – bass, backing vocals*Dave Neale – drumsAdditional personnel*Matt Wallace – production*Steve Robson – production*Ash Howes – mixing... |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK 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 ... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CHI People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... |
JAP Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
NZ New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
|||
| 2004 | "Come Get Some Come Get Some "Come Get Some" is a song by English indie rock band Rooster, featured on their 2005 debut self-titled album. Written by vocalist Nick Atkinson and producers Charlie Grant and Peter Woodroffe, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 11 October 2004, reaching number seven on the... " |
7 | 38 | 5 | 18 | 22 | Rooster |
| "Staring at the Sun Staring at the Sun (Rooster song) "Staring at the Sun" is a song by English indie rock band Rooster, featured on their 2005 debut self-titled album. Written by vocalist Nick Atkinson, guitarist Luke Potashnick and producer Steve Robson, the song was released as the second single from the album on 15 January 2005, reaching number... " |
5 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | "You're So Right for Me You're So Right for Me "You're So Right For Me" was the third single from UK indie group Rooster from their self-titled debut album Rooster.Despite high anticipation for the track following the success of the band's previous two singles the track only managed to reach #14 in the UK Singles Chart.-Track listings:Part... " |
14 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Deep and Meaningless Deep and Meaningless "Deep and Meaningless" was the fourth single from UK indie group Rooster from their selftitled debut album Rooster. The song reached No.29 in the UK Singles Chart.-Track listings:#Deep and Meaningless ... " |
29 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "Home Home (Rooster song) "Home" was the first single from UK indie group Rooster from their second album Circles and Satellites. The song reached No.29 in the UK Singles Chart.-Track listings:# "Home"# "In Your Head"... " |
33 | — | — | — | — | Circles and Satellites |
| "Good to Be Here Good to Be Here "Good To Be Here" was the second single from UK indie group Rooster from their second album Circles and Satellites. The song was included for the soundtrack to the film Stormbreaker.... " |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
| "One of Those Days" | — | — | — | — | — |