The Delgados
Encyclopedia
The Delgados were a Scottish indie rock
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 from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The band was composed of Alun Woodward
Alun Woodward
Lord Cut-Glass is the current stage name of Alun Woodward. He is a singer-songwriter from Motherwell, formerly of the influential Glasgow based band the Delgados...

 (vocals, guitar), Stewart Henderson (bass), Paul Savage
Paul Savage
Paul Savage is a Scottish musician and record producer, best known for being the drummer in the Scottish indie rock group The Delgados.-Early life:...

 (drums) and Emma Pollock
Emma Pollock
Emma Pollock is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist.-Early life:Pollock studied Physics at the University of Strathclyde and later Archaeology at the University of Liverpool...

 (vocals, guitar).

Biography

The band was formed after friends Woodward, Henderson and Savage were ejected from the band Bubblegum. Joined by Savage's then-girlfriend Pollock, the band named themselves after Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 winning cyclist, Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado Robledo , also known as Perico, is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989....

.

Their first commercial release came with the inclusion of their track "Liquidation Girl" on the 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...

 Skookum Chief Powered Teenage Zit Rock Angst from Nardwuar the Human Serviette
Nardwuar the Human Serviette
Nardwuar the Human Serviette is a Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is the lead singer and keyboardist for The Evaporators and plays in Thee Goblins....

. Instead of signing to a record 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,...

, the band started their own, Chemikal Underground
Chemikal Underground
Chemikal Underground is an independent record label set up in 1994 by Glasgow, Scotland rock band The Delgados. It was set up to release their first single, "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" and went on to break many new Scottish bands in the nineties....

, on which they released their own records and also some from other local bands, among them Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...

 and Arab Strap
Arab Strap (band)
Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...

. Chemikal Underground's first release was the Delgados first 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...

 "Monica Webster / Brand New Car". The single caught the attention of 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...

 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...

 John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

, and the band quickly became one of his favourites, going on to record fifteen sessions for his show.

The cost of Chemikal Underground's second release, the single "Disco Nation 45" by Bis
Bis (band)
Bis are a Scottish indie pop band composed of Steven Clark , John Clark , and Amanda MacKinnon . Formed in 1994, the band broke up in 2003, but reformed briefly in 2007 for a series of concerts.-History:...

, left the cash-strapped label unable to afford another release by the Delgados, so their next release "Lazarwalker" came from the London-based Radar Records
Radar Records
Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed by Martin Davis who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Records and United Artists...

. Tempted by Radar to a five album deal, the band declined, instead poaching their A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 contact, Graeme Beattie, for work at Chemikal Underground.

Another single, "Cinecentre" followed in early 1996 as the band juggled work at the label with several tours, and recorded their debut album. The band released two more singles, this time taken from their album Domestiques
Domestiques
Domestiques is The Delgados' debut album. It was released on their own label, Chemikal Underground, on October 28, 1996. The title is a reference to the support team for the team leader in road bicycle racing....

released in November 1996. The song "Under Canvas, Under Wraps" being voted number three in John Peel's Festive Fifty
Festive Fifty
The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's fifty best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show...

.

The band released their second album in 1998. Peloton
Peloton (album)
Peloton is the second album by The Delgados, released in 1998 on their own label, Chemikal Underground. The title refers to the large main group in a road bicycle race.-Track listing:All songs by The Delgados.# "Everything Goes Around the Water"...

- also a cycling reference
Peloton
The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...

. The single "Pull the Wires From the Wall" gave the Delgados their first hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...

 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 ...

, reaching number 69. The band's close relationship with Peel continued, with "Pull the Wires From the Wall" voted to number one in the Festive Fifty (it would also make the all time chart made in 2000).

The Delgados' evolution continued with The Great Eastern in 2000. The record was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. From 1990 onwards he co-produced all releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips...

. Their next single, "American Trilogy", reached number 61 in the UK chart. The record was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Their fourth album, Hate, was released on Mantra
Mantra Records
Mantra Recordings was a subsidiary of Beggars Banquet Records.-Artists:*China Drum*The Delgados*Dot Allison*Gorky's Zygotic Mynci*King of Woolworths*Muki*Natacha Atlas*Parva*Saint Etienne*Six by Seven...

 rather than the band's own label. The song "The Light Before We Land" was used as the opening theme for the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

Gunslinger Girl
Gunslinger Girl
Gunslinger Girl is an ongoing manga by Yu Aida. It first premiered in the November 2002 issue of the monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The chapters are also being published in tankōbon volumes by ASCII Media Works. 13 volumes have been released in Japan as of April 2011...

, while the song "Woke From Dreaming" is played at the beginning of episode 7.

The band returned to their own label for 2004's Universal Audio.

The band announced they were splitting up in April 2005 due to the departure of Henderson who found it difficult "to pour so much of my energy and time into something that never quite seemed to get the attention or respect [he] felt it deserved." The four will continue to run Chemikal Underground together. Songwriters Pollock and Woodward are pursuing individual projects, while Savage will continue production duties at the band's Chem19 Studios in Hamilton and in a new studio.

Since the band's separation, the track "I Fought the Angels" from Universal Audio has been used in the fourth episode in the second season of the Golden Globe-winning medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

 Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...

in 2006, and in the opening scene in the series premiere of BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...

's Lip Service
Lip Service (TV series)
Lip Service was a programme broadcast in the UK on ITV2.Holly Willoughby, of ITV's Dancing on Ice, and Spencer Brown take a look at the best, weirdest and funniest bits from celebrity chat shows around the world....

in 2010.

A double disc containing 29 tracks, The Complete BBC Peel Sessions
The Complete BBC Peel Sessions
The Complete BBC Peel Sessions is a posthumous release by The Delgados. It was released on their own Chemikal Underground record label in 2006 after they acquired the rights at the start of the year.- Session information :* Alun Woodward - Guitar, Vocal...

, was released on 12 June 2006 in Europe, and later in the year in the United States. Woodward released his debut solo album in June 2009 under the name Lord Cut-Glass. Savage also played on the album.

Albums

  • Domestiques
    Domestiques
    Domestiques is The Delgados' debut album. It was released on their own label, Chemikal Underground, on October 28, 1996. The title is a reference to the support team for the team leader in road bicycle racing....

    (1996, LP / CD )
  • BBC Sessions
    The Complete BBC Peel Sessions
    The Complete BBC Peel Sessions is a posthumous release by The Delgados. It was released on their own Chemikal Underground record label in 2006 after they acquired the rights at the start of the year.- Session information :* Alun Woodward - Guitar, Vocal...

    (Strange Fruit, 1997 CD)
  • Peloton
    Peloton (album)
    Peloton is the second album by The Delgados, released in 1998 on their own label, Chemikal Underground. The title refers to the large main group in a road bicycle race.-Track listing:All songs by The Delgados.# "Everything Goes Around the Water"...

    (1998, LP / CD)
  • The Great Eastern (2000, LP / CD)
  • Live at the Fruitmarket
    Live at the Fruitmarket
    Live at The Fruitmarket is a live album by The Delgados, recorded on January 20, 2001 at the Fruitmarket, Glasgow. It was the last show of the Great Eastern tour.-Track listing:...

    (2001, CD)
  • Hate (2002, Mantra LP / CD)
  • Universal Audio (2004, LP / CD)
  • The Complete BBC Peel Sessions
    The Complete BBC Peel Sessions
    The Complete BBC Peel Sessions is a posthumous release by The Delgados. It was released on their own Chemikal Underground record label in 2006 after they acquired the rights at the start of the year.- Session information :* Alun Woodward - Guitar, Vocal...

    (2006, CD)

Singles and EPs

  • "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" (1995, 7")
  • "I've Only Just Started to Breathe" (Ché, 2x7", split with Bis
    BIS
    Bis is a prefix or suffix designating the second instance of a thing, thus preceding ter.Bis can also refer to:* Bis , a Scottish pop band* Bis , a high-teens' magazine published by Kobunsha of Japan...

    , Merzbow
    Merzbow
    is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...

    and The Golden Mile)
  • "Lazarwalker" (1996, Radar 7"/CD)
  • "Cinecentre" (1996, 7”/CD)
  • "Under Canvas Under Wraps" (1996, 7”/CD)
  • "Sucrose" (1996, 7”/CD)
  • "Booker-T Jones" (1996, 7", split with Urusei Yatsura)
  • "Everything Goes Around the Water" (1998, 7”/CD)
  • "Pull the Wires From the Wall" (1998, 7”/CD)
  • "The Weaker Argument Defeats the Stronger" (1998, 7”/CD)
  • "American Trilogy" (2000, 7"/CD)
  • "No Danger (Kids' Choir)" (2000, 7"/CD)
  • "Coming in From the Cold" (2002, Mantra 7" /CD)
  • "All You Need is Hate" (2003, CD)
  • "Everybody Come Down" (2004, 7"/CD)
  • "Girls of Valour" (2005, 7")

External links

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