The Rockingbirds were a British

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...

 country-rock band, 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 1990. They disbanded in 1995, but reformed in 2008 for the Heavenly Records 18th Anniversary shows. They began to tour again in spring 2009 and played the 2009 Glastonbury festival.

1990-1995

The band's original line-up featured songwriter Alan Tyler (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Sean Read (backing vocals and tambourine), Andrew Hackett (electric guitar), Patrick Arbuthnot (pedal steel guitar), Dave (aka Greenwood) Goulding (bass) and drummer Dave Morgan both formerly of Weather Prophets

The Weather Prophets

The Weather Prophets were a British indie band formed in London in 1986 after the break-up of The Loft. After two studio albums, the band split up, with singer Peter Astor going on to a solo career.- History :...

. Their first single release on Heavenly Records was 1991's "A Good Day For You Is A Good Day For Me", followed by a tribute song to Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...

 entitled "Jonathan, Jonathan" in 1992. That same year also saw the release of their eponymously titled debut album (produced by Clive Langer

Clive Langer

Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...

 and Alan Winstanley

Alan Winstanley

Alan Kenneth Winstanley is a British record producer active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer.-Notable studio albums produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer:* One Step Beyond... – Madness...

), which included the "Gradually Learning" single. This gained some radio play and Heavenly (backed by a Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 distribution deal) produced a video filmed in Austin, Texas. 1993 saw Heavenly release a 4 track E.P. entitled Rockingbirds-R-Us featuring brand new songs. The band's new line-up now featured Tim Kent on banjo, Chris Clarke replacing Gould on bass, and new drummer Trevor Smith. Their second album, Whatever Happened to the Rockingbirds?, was released in 1995 via Cooking Vinyl

Cooking Vinyl

Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...

 and featured production from 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...

. This was preceded by a single "Band Of Dreams" - released on 7" vinyl only - but the band split a few months later in November '95, with a farewell gig at The Garage in North London.
Alan Tyler has continued to record and play live both as a solo-performer and with his new band Alan Tyler and the Lost Sons of Littlefield. The new band includes Rockingbirds bass player Chris Clarke and occasionally Sean Read.

2008 Reformation

After reforming for a Heavenly Records 18th Anniversary show at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2008 The Rockingbirds played a series of gigs in April 2009 to support a 2-disc re-issue of the first album. This remastered version now features tracks from the Rockingbirds-R-Us E.P. as well as B-sides and live tracks culled from the single releases. A 500 run limited edition 7" single of new Rockingbirds material was also released on 6 April 2009 featuring the tracks "Man In The Moon" / "Lookingback Lullaby".

Albums

• The Rockingbirds (1992, Heavenly
  Heavenly Records
  Heavenly Records, aka Heavenly Recordings, is a London-based record label, distributed by EMI. Founded by Jeff Barrett, a former press officer for Creation Records and many successful indie bands of the time including Happy Mondays, Heavenly Recordings' first releases were 7" and 12" singles for...
  
  )
• Whatever Happened to the Rockingbirds? (1995, Cooking Vinyl
  Cooking Vinyl
  Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...
  
  )

Singles and EPs

• "A Good Day For You Is A Good Day For Me" (1991, Heavenly)
• "Jonathan, Jonathan" (1992, Heavenly)
• "Gradually Learning" (1992, Heavenly)
• Rockingbirds-R-Us EP (1993, Heavenly)
• "Band of Dreams" (1995, Cooking Vinyl)
• "Man In The Moon / Lookingback Lullaby" (2009 Heavenly)