The Bluebells
Encyclopedia
The Bluebells were a Scottish
pop
group
in the 1980s.
based pop not dissimilar to their Scottish contemporaries Aztec Camera
and Orange Juice
. They had three Top 40
hit single
s in the UK
, all written by guitarist
and founder member Bobby Bluebell (real name Robert Hodgens) - "I'm Falling", "Cath", and their biggest success "Young at Heart
". The latter was co-written with Siobhan Fahey
of Bananarama
(and originally recorded on Bananarama
's album Deep Sea Skiving
) and made it to number 8 in the UK Singles Chart
on its original release in 1984. The band also released one EP, The Bluebells, and one full-length album
, Sisters.
The band split up in the mid 1980s, but enjoyed an unexpected revival in 1993 when "Young At Heart" was used in a Volkswagen
television advertisement
. Re-issued as a single, it was number one for four weeks and led to the band reforming temporarily to perform the song on BBC Television
's Top of the Pops
. A compilation album
followed, The Singles Collection, which peaked at #27 in the UK Albums Chart
in April 1993.
The band reformed in late 2008, with original members the McCluskey brothers and Bobby Bluebell, to support Edwyn Collins
at a show in Glasgow on 23 January 2009. On 29 May 2011 the band will perform as part of the Southside Festival.
played with The Commotions
and then trained as a journalist
and is now a golf
correspondent for The Guardian
, having previously worked at The Scotsman
. The other members of the band stayed in the music business after the split - David McCluskey and his brother, Ken, formed a folk duo. Ken also works as a lecturer at Stow College
in Glasgow teaching music business, and David uses music therapeutically with a wide variety of people. Robert Hodgens returned to DJ
duties and more recently formed a new group The Poems - they signed to the American
label
Minty Fresh; whilst the former Aztec Camera
axe-man Craig Gannon
briefly filled in for bassist Andy Rourke
in The Smiths
on tour during 1986, then stayed as a second live guitarist until being fired from the band, after which he joined The Adult Net
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
in the 1980s.
Career
The Bluebells performed jangly guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
based pop not dissimilar to their Scottish contemporaries Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....
and Orange Juice
Orange Juice
Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...
. They had three Top 40
Top Forty
The Top Forty or Top 40 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. When used without qualification, it typically refers to the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music songs of the previous week...
hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s 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...
, all written by guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and founder member Bobby Bluebell (real name Robert Hodgens) - "I'm Falling", "Cath", and their biggest success "Young at Heart
Young at Heart (1984 song)
"Young at Heart" is the title of a popular song recorded in the 1980s by the British female singing trio Bananarama and later reworked heavily by the Scottish pop group The Bluebells...
". The latter was co-written with Siobhan Fahey
Siobhan Fahey
Siobhan Fahey is an Irish musician and founding member of the 1980s British girl group Bananarama, and later formed the BRIT Award and Ivor Novello award winning musical outfit Shakespears Sister.-Career:Fahey was born the eldest of three daughters to Helen and...
of Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
(and originally recorded on Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
's album Deep Sea Skiving
Deep Sea Skiving
Deep Sea Skiving is the debut album by the British female vocal group Bananarama, released in 1983. The album peaked at no.7 on the UK album chart and was certified Silver by the BPI....
) and made it to number 8 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 ...
on its original release in 1984. The band also released one EP, The Bluebells, and one full-length 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...
, Sisters.
The band split up in the mid 1980s, but enjoyed an unexpected revival in 1993 when "Young At Heart" was used in a Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
television advertisement
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...
. Re-issued as a single, it was number one for four weeks and led to the band reforming temporarily to perform the song on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's 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...
. A compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
followed, The Singles Collection, which peaked at #27 in 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...
in April 1993.
The band reformed in late 2008, with original members the McCluskey brothers and Bobby Bluebell, to support Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
at a show in Glasgow on 23 January 2009. On 29 May 2011 the band will perform as part of the Southside Festival.
Post Bluebells
After the group's demise band member Lawrence DoneganLawrence Donegan
Lawrence Donegan , is a musician and journalist, currently Golf Correspondent at The Guardian.Donegan was educated at St Modan's High School and the University of Glasgow, where his musical career began. He was the bassist in The Bluebells, whose biggest hit was "Young at Heart," and Lloyd Cole and...
played with The Commotions
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK...
and then trained as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and is now a golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
correspondent for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, having previously worked at The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
. The other members of the band stayed in the music business after the split - David McCluskey and his brother, Ken, formed a folk duo. Ken also works as a lecturer at Stow College
Stow College
-History:The college is named after David Stow, whose primary teaching seminary was founded close to the college at Dundasvale. Stow was the first purpose-built Further Education college in Glasgow, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009....
in Glasgow teaching music business, and David uses music therapeutically with a wide variety of people. Robert Hodgens returned to DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
duties and more recently formed a new group The Poems - they signed to the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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,...
Minty Fresh; whilst the former Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....
axe-man Craig Gannon
Craig Gannon
Craig Gannon , is an English guitar player. Previously best known for being the second guitarist in The Smiths, he is now a composer for film and television.-Career:...
briefly filled in for bassist Andy Rourke
Andy Rourke
Andy Rourke is a bass guitarist best known for being a former member of The Smiths.-Career:...
in 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...
on tour during 1986, then stayed as a second live guitarist until being fired from the band, after which he joined The Adult Net
The Adult Net
The Adult Net was a British indie pop band formed by the American singer and guitarist Brix Smith and the British musician Simon Rogers in 1985. Formed while they were still members of the British post-punk band The Fall, The Adult Net released seven singles and one album, of which just one of the...
.
Band members
- Bobby Bluebell (born Robert Hodgens, 6 June 1959, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - David McCluskey (born 13 January 1964, Scotland) – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Ken McCluskey (born Kenneth McCluskey, 8 February 1962, Scotland) – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/ harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Lawrence DoneganLawrence DoneganLawrence Donegan , is a musician and journalist, currently Golf Correspondent at The Guardian.Donegan was educated at St Modan's High School and the University of Glasgow, where his musical career began. He was the bassist in The Bluebells, whose biggest hit was "Young at Heart," and Lloyd Cole and...
(born 13 July 1961, StirlingStirlingStirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
, Scotland) – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Craig GannonCraig GannonCraig Gannon , is an English guitar player. Previously best known for being the second guitarist in The Smiths, he is now a composer for film and television.-Career:...
(born 30 July 1966, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, EnglandEnglandEngland 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...
) – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Russell Irvine – guitar
- Neal Baldwin – bass
Singles
- "Forevermore" / "Aim In Life" - 1982
- "Cath" / "Will She Always Be Waiting" - 1983 - 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 ...
#62 - "Sugar Bridge (It Will Stand)" - 1983 - UK #72
- "I'm Falling" - 1984 - UK #11
- "Young at Heart" - 1984 - UK #8
- "Cath" (re-issue) - 1984 - UK #38
- "All I Am (Is Loving You)" - 1985 - UK #58
- "Young at Heart" (re-issue) - 1993 - UK #1
Albums
- The Bluebells EP - 1983 - Sire RecordsSire RecordsSire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
- SistersSisters (The Bluebells album)Sisters is a 1984 album from Scottish Indie pop band The Bluebells.The only proper full length album released by the band during their short career , Sisters featured remixed versions of earlier singles "Cath" and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" as well as the contemporary singles "I'm...
- 1984 - London RecordsLondon RecordsLondon Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
- 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...
#22 - Second - 1992 - Vinyl Japan
External links
- [ Allmusic Guide The Bluebells]