The Pigeon Detectives
Encyclopedia
The Pigeon Detectives are an English
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...

 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 Rothwell
Rothwell, West Yorkshire
Rothwell is a market town on the River Dolphin in the south east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, situated between Oulton to the east, Belle Isle to the west, Woodlesford to the north east and Robin Hood to the south west. Swillington, Methley and Kippax are located...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, who formed in 2004. They have been championed by such well known DJs as Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...

 and Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...

, and performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...

 in 2006, where they were tagged "the band most likely to leap to the main stage in 2007" in an NME review. However, the band returned to the festivals in 2007 and again performed on the NME stage.

They supported Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things (band)
Dirty Pretty Things were an English band fronted by Carl Barât, a member of The Libertines. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Barât and Pete Doherty led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004. Barât had worked with Vertigo Records and had...

 while they toured in spring 2006. In early November 2006 they supported fellow Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....

, who are known to be fans of the band. On 8 July 2007, they played on the Radio 1 NME Stage in front of thousands at T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...

. The performance was televised and shown later that day on BBC3. They went on to perform their biggest show ever at Oxegen 2008
Oxegen 2008
Oxegen '08 was the fifth Oxegen festival to take place, following the dissolution of its predecessor Witnness in 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 11 July, Saturday 12 July and Sunday 13 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. For the first time the festival...

 which was beamed around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

.

Up to the end of 2008 the band had released two albums, selling over 500,000 copies in the UK.

Wait For Me

The Pigeon Detectives are signed to the Independent label Dance To The Radio
Dance to the radio
Dance To The Radio is an independent record label co-founded by Whiskas of Les Flames and ¡Forward, Russia! in 2004.It was named after the refrain of the Joy Division song "Transmission"...

 with whom their debut album, Wait for Me
Wait for Me (The Pigeon Detectives album)
Wait For Me is the platinum selling debut album of Leeds band The Pigeon Detectives. The album was released for CD, 12" and Digital Download on 28 May, and charted in the UK album chart at #3 in its first week of release....

, was released on CD, 12" heavyweight vinyl and digital download on 28 May 2007. The album, recorded in autumn 2006, has been produced by Will Jackson and was recorded in the band's home town of Leeds.

An early version of the album leaked to underground music download sites across the internet on 11 April 2007. The album charted straight in at Number 3 on the UK Top 40 achieving Gold status soon after release.

On 14 August 2007 the band appeared on the Jo Whiley show and performed in the Live Lounge
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...

, doing their current single "Take Her Back
Take Her Back
"Take Her Back" is the fifth single released by British indie band The Pigeon Detectives from their début album Wait For Me. It was released on 13 August 2007...

" and a cover of Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...

's "Girlfriend
Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne song)
"Girlfriend" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. The song was written by Lavigne with her producer Dr. Luke for Lavigne's third studio album, The Best Damn Thing . "Girlfriend" was released as the lead single from The Best Damn Thing on 27 February 2007...

".

During September 2007, the band played at JerseyLive. The festival (held in Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

, one of the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

) was a weekend event also including The Fratellis and Kasabian in the line up. The band also played Oxegen, an Irish festival in county Kildare, in July 2007 and performed again in July 2008.

In September 2007 it was announced that The Pigeon Detectives had been nominated for Best New Act at the Q Awards, but they lost out to The Enemy
The Enemy (UK band)
The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group . In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, first in the 'Guardian Lounge' on Saturday and then the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T in...

.

The band supported Kaiser Chiefs on three of their November/December UK tour dates, these include 1 December 2007 at the Manchester Evening News Arena
Manchester Evening News Arena
The Manchester Evening News Arena is an indoor arena situated in Manchester, England. It is adjacent to Manchester Victoria station near Corporation Street...

 and 15 December 2007 at Earls Court
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...

 in London.

A cover of the Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...

 track "The Power of Love" appears on the Radio 1 Established 1967
Radio 1 Established 1967
The compilation album Radio 1 Established 1967 is a collection of covers especially recorded for Radio 1 by a number of artists. The album celebrates the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1. There are 40 songs recorded by 40 different artists . Each artist was given a year, and were allowed to cover a...

compilation CD.

Band name

Speaking about the name drummer Jimmi Naylor said: "I never liked the name at first. But it's stuck - and it's probably got us more attention having a silly name.

"It came from an Australian guy called Steve who we met at the Leeds Festival. We were just discussing band names and he came up with The Pigeon Detectives. It became an in-joke for the rest of the festival.

"We thought nothing of it, but when it came to our first gig in Leeds the promoter was saying,'What's your name?' We were like 'Oh, um The Pigeon Detectives.' "

When asked by BBC Sound about the name Jimmi says "Dave breeds pigeons, and there's a pigeon that lives in a shed, thats his special pigeon, and this pigeon actually writes all the songs". Another story about the band name came around when Matt Bowman and Ryan were being interviewed for Later with Jools Holland
Later with Jools Holland
Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland. A spin-off of The Late Show, it has been running in short series since 1992 and is a part of BBC Two's late-night line-up, usually at around 11pm to 12 midnight...

, and Matt said that he and Ryan have a tradition of having Christmas dinner together and when they pulled the cracker they found the name in there. When asked about the Leeds Festival
Leeds Festival
Leeds Festival may refer to:*Reading and Leeds Festivals , a rock music festival in Leeds , West Yorkshire, England*Leeds Festival , European classical music festival in Leeds...

 rumour Matt denies this and says "There's also a rumour that there's a giant pigeon at the bottom of our garden that writes all the lyrics, But that's equally as untrue".

According to Matt's twitter, the band is in fact named after a 70's French cartoon.

Soccer AM

The band have appeared on the football based entertainment show Soccer AM
Soccer AM
Soccer AM is a British Saturday-morning football-based comedy/talk show, predominantly based around the Premier League...

 on three occasions. On the 2007 Christmas Day special, they became the first band to play in the Soccer AM studio, playing singles "I Found Out
I Found Out (Pigeon Detectives)
"I Found Out" is the first single from The Pigeon Detectives take from their debut album Wait For Me. The track was re-recorded, for the 2007 single release, with The Smiths and Blur producer Stephen Street. Officially there are 3 versions of the track. The album version was slightly re-mixed from...

" and "I'm Not Sorry
I'm Not Sorry
"I'm Not Sorry" is the third single from The Pigeon Detectives and is featured on their debut album Wait For Me. It reached #12 in the UK Top 40. , it is The Pigeon Detectives' highest charting UK hit...

".

During the same episode, lead singer Matt Bowman announced that he had suffered a fractured heel bone, after jumping off a set of speakers whilst performing at Manchester Academy.

Emergency

In January 2008, they headed into Monnow Valley Studios in Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 with producer Stephen Street
Stephen Street
Stephen Street is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths in the 1980s, as well as Blur and The Cranberries in the 1990s. Street also collaborated with Morrissey on some of his most popular work after The Smiths broke up, playing instruments and co-writing songs...

 to record their second album, titled Emergency
Emergency (Pigeon Detectives album)
Emergency is the second album by Leeds band, The Pigeon Detectives. The album was released on 26 May 2008, just under a year after their platinum debut selling album, Wait for Me...

.
The album was released on 26 May 2008 going in at number 5 in the UK album charts. The lead single This Is An Emergency
This Is An Emergency
"This Is an Emergency" is the first single from The Pigeon Detectives second album Emergency. It was first played on 24 March 2008 on BBC Radio 1 and was released on 12 May 2008...

 peaked at number 14, their 2nd highest charting single. Shortly before the album release the Pigeon Detectives played their biggest ever shows at Leeds Millennium Square playing to over 14,000 people in 2 sold out shows.

In June 2008, The Pigeon Detectives had their Brighton Dome gig filmed and later broadcast on Channelbee
Channel Bee
ChannelBee was an internet television channel which launched on 5 July 2008.As from 20/11/09 Channelbee has ceased operating.ChannelBee is a new concept featuring new and topical content each day varying from comedy sketches to daily blogs and football...

.

After a busy summer of festival gigs, including a huge show at Glastonbury, the band released the 2nd single of Emergency, Everybody Wants Me. The single reached 51 in the UK charts.

The band finished the Emergency campaign playing a sold out show at London's Alexandra Palace to 8,000 fans, their biggest headline gig to date.

Up, Guards And At 'Em!

After finishing the Emergency tour at the back end of 2008 the band took a little time out. They have been demoing songs over the course of the year in between festival slots, the last of which is headlining the Underage Festival in London. They are also working on a new album.

In October 2009, the band recorded and released a cover of "Tainted Love
Tainted Love
"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of The Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1965. It attained worldwide fame after being covered by Soft Cell in 1981, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, and has since been covered by numerous groups and...

" (made famous by Leeds band Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...

), with all proceeds going to charity to help neglected children in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

.

The Pigeon Detectives toured as special guests with Manchester
Manchester
Manchester 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...

 band James
James (band)
James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...

 in December 2010.

The band's 3rd album, "Up, Guards And At 'Em!'", was released on April 4, 2011, with the lead single being "Done In Secret". The album was both a critical and commercial disappointment; reviews ranged from lukewarm to poor, and the album peaked at only #30 on the UK charts. The single failed to chart altogether,

Discography

  • 2007: Wait for Me
    Wait for Me (The Pigeon Detectives album)
    Wait For Me is the platinum selling debut album of Leeds band The Pigeon Detectives. The album was released for CD, 12" and Digital Download on 28 May, and charted in the UK album chart at #3 in its first week of release....

  • 2008: Emergency
    Emergency (Pigeon Detectives album)
    Emergency is the second album by Leeds band, The Pigeon Detectives. The album was released on 26 May 2008, just under a year after their platinum debut selling album, Wait for Me...

  • 2011: Up, Guards And At 'Em!
    Up, Guards And At 'Em!
    Up, Guards And At 'Em!' is the third full length studio album by Leeds based Indie rock band The Pigeon Detectives. Following the 2009 album Emergency...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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