The Sound
Encyclopedia
The Sound were an English post-punk
band, formed in 1979 and dissolved in 1988. The band was fronted by Adrian Borland
and evolved from his previous band, The Outsiders
. They shared record labels with groups such as Echo & the Bunnymen
and The Chameleons
, and shared stages with Echo & the Bunnymen, the Comsat Angels
, the Au Pairs
, Modern Eon
, Felt
, Medium Medium
, U2
, Public Image Ltd.
, Eyeless In Gaza
, The Stranglers
, China Crisis
, Thompson Twins
, and Aztec Camera
.
(vocals, guitar
), Graham Bailey (bass
), Mike Dudley (drum
s) and Benita "Bi" Marshall (keyboards
, saxophone
, clarinet
). In 1979, the band signed a contract with Korova Records, a small label under Warner Brothers, to produce three albums. They debuted with Jeopardy, which received favourable reviews.
The second album, From the Lions Mouth, saw the replacement of keyboard player Marshall with Colvin "Max" Mayers, and more accolades from the critics, but neither record caused the band to break beyond a cult status. Korova pressured Borland and his mates to come up with a more commercially successful third album. In an act of rebellion, the band responded with All Fall Down, an album that took them even further away from that direction. Drummer Mike Dudley told it this way: "We thought [the label wasn't] giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth they hadn't really done....So when they turned around and said 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs,' we thought, 'Fuck you,' and went ahead and produced All Fall Down."
During the early 1980s, The Sound toured throughout Europe, covering the UK and much of the continent. Like their contemporaries, the Comsat Angels (whom they toured with in 1981), they enjoyed perhaps their greatest success in the Netherlands
, developing a substantial following there. The Sound recorded several Peel sessions and performed the single "Sense Of Purpose" on the TV show Old Grey Whistle Test
(circa 1981). In 1983 and 1984, they made two short tours of the US.
Not long after the release of a live album in 1986, In the Hothouse, Statik went into bankruptcy. The band produced one more album, Thunder Up, on the small Belgian label Play It Again Sam. While touring in Spain
in 1987, they had to cancel several appearances when Borland had a complete breakdown. Dudley recalled bringing an incoherent Borland home on a plane. The band decided to split up in early 1988.
Following the collapse of The Sound, Borland maintained a solo career for approximately a decade, and helmed the bands White Rose Transmission and Honolulu Mountain Daffodils (in which he gave himself the alias Joachim Pimento). Never able to conquer depression, Borland committed suicide
on April 26, 1999, throwing himself in the path of an express train at Wimbledon station.
." And from Jack Rabid of Big Takeover magazine: "The Sound? Just one of the finest bands of the 1980s."
Shortly before Adrian Borland's death, The Sound's back catalog was remaster
ed and reissued by Renascent Records, a label which was originally founded to perform solely that task. (Thunder Up is the band's only studio album to not see reissue by Renascent.) In June 2006, members of notable British bands held a concert called "The Sound of Adrian Borland;" various guest singers who had been close friends with Borland (such as Mark Burgess
of The Chameleons) filled in on vocals.
There is a biography of Adrian Borland, entitled (The Book of) Happy Memories. In 2001, a tribute album titled In Passing – A Tribute to Adrian Borland and The Sound was released. Another tribute album is forthcoming, titled There Must Be a Hole In Your Memory.
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band, formed in 1979 and dissolved in 1988. The band was fronted by Adrian Borland
Adrian Borland
Adrian Borland was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, bestknown as the lead singer of post-punk band The Sound...
and evolved from his previous band, The Outsiders
The Outsiders (British band)
The Outsiders were an early British punk rock group from Wimbledon, England. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was the first self-released punk album in the UK.Adrian Borland was central to the group, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass,...
. They shared record labels with groups such as Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
and The Chameleons
The Chameleons
The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...
, and shared stages with Echo & the Bunnymen, the Comsat Angels
Comsat Angels
The Comsat Angels were a post-punk band from Sheffield and Doncaster, England, active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with spare instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form of heartache." They have been credited as being an influence...
, the Au Pairs
Au Pairs (band)
The Au Pairs were a British post-punk band that formed in Birmingham in 1979. Music historian Gillian G. Gaar noted in her history of women in rock that the band mingled male and female musicians in a revolutionary collaborative way, as part of its outspoken explorations of sexual...
, Modern Eon
Modern Eon
Modern Eon was a British post-punk/New Wave band, formed in Liverpool, England in 1978. They released one album on the independent UK label Dindisc in 1981.-History:...
, Felt
Felt (band)
Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
, Medium Medium
Medium Medium
Medium Medium were a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.-History:Emerging in 1978 out of Nottingham punk/rhythm & blues band The Press, Medium Medium's debut single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
, Eyeless In Gaza
Eyeless in Gaza (band)
Eyeless In Gaza are a Post-punk musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in...
, The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, China Crisis
China Crisis
China Crisis is an English pop/rock band. They were formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon...
, Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
, and 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....
.
Beginnings
Founded from the remnants of The Outsiders, the original lineup of The Sound consisted of Adrian BorlandAdrian Borland
Adrian Borland was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, bestknown as the lead singer of post-punk band The Sound...
(vocals, guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
), Graham Bailey (bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
), Mike Dudley (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s) and Benita "Bi" Marshall (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
). In 1979, the band signed a contract with Korova Records, a small label under Warner Brothers, to produce three albums. They debuted with Jeopardy, which received favourable reviews.
The second album, From the Lions Mouth, saw the replacement of keyboard player Marshall with Colvin "Max" Mayers, and more accolades from the critics, but neither record caused the band to break beyond a cult status. Korova pressured Borland and his mates to come up with a more commercially successful third album. In an act of rebellion, the band responded with All Fall Down, an album that took them even further away from that direction. Drummer Mike Dudley told it this way: "We thought [the label wasn't] giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth they hadn't really done....So when they turned around and said 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs,' we thought, 'Fuck you,' and went ahead and produced All Fall Down."
During the early 1980s, The Sound toured throughout Europe, covering the UK and much of the continent. Like their contemporaries, the Comsat Angels (whom they toured with in 1981), they enjoyed perhaps their greatest success in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, developing a substantial following there. The Sound recorded several Peel sessions and performed the single "Sense Of Purpose" on the TV show Old Grey Whistle Test
Old Grey Whistle Test
The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970, while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers...
(circa 1981). In 1983 and 1984, they made two short tours of the US.
Change of record labels
After All Fall Down, The Sound parted company with Korova and sought out another record company. In 1984, they signed with Statik, an independent label. The following year, they released an EP, Shock of Daylight, and an album Heads and Hearts. The touring continued, in spite of the fact the band still struggled to gain a wider audience. By 1985, Borland began to exhibit symptoms of mental illness, perhaps made worse by the frustrations of his career.Not long after the release of a live album in 1986, In the Hothouse, Statik went into bankruptcy. The band produced one more album, Thunder Up, on the small Belgian label Play It Again Sam. While touring in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1987, they had to cancel several appearances when Borland had a complete breakdown. Dudley recalled bringing an incoherent Borland home on a plane. The band decided to split up in early 1988.
Post-breakup activity
Graham Bailey moved to New Orleans, where he lived for 16 years, returning to the UK in 2007. Max Mayers died in 1993, from an AIDS-related condition. Mike Dudley retired from the music industry, living and working in South London.Following the collapse of The Sound, Borland maintained a solo career for approximately a decade, and helmed the bands White Rose Transmission and Honolulu Mountain Daffodils (in which he gave himself the alias Joachim Pimento). Never able to conquer depression, Borland committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on April 26, 1999, throwing himself in the path of an express train at Wimbledon station.
Legacy
Many have said that The Sound were not given the recognition they deserved. From the Sun Records Music Store: "The Sound were tragically overlooked in their time and have remained unjustly neglected since." From Trouser Press: "It's hard to understand why this London quartet never found commercial success. At their best, the Sound's excellent neo-pop bears favorable comparison to the Psychedelic Furs and Echo & the BunnymenEcho & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
." And from Jack Rabid of Big Takeover magazine: "The Sound? Just one of the finest bands of the 1980s."
Shortly before Adrian Borland's death, The Sound's back catalog was remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed and reissued by Renascent Records, a label which was originally founded to perform solely that task. (Thunder Up is the band's only studio album to not see reissue by Renascent.) In June 2006, members of notable British bands held a concert called "The Sound of Adrian Borland;" various guest singers who had been close friends with Borland (such as Mark Burgess
Mark Burgess (musician)
Mark Burgess is an English singer, bass player and songwriter. He was the lead singer, co-founder and main force behind English post-punk band The Chameleons. He currently resides in Germany and the UK.-Biography:...
of The Chameleons) filled in on vocals.
There is a biography of Adrian Borland, entitled (The Book of) Happy Memories. In 2001, a tribute album titled In Passing – A Tribute to Adrian Borland and The Sound was released. Another tribute album is forthcoming, titled There Must Be a Hole In Your Memory.
Studio albums
- JeopardyJeopardy (album)Jeopardy, released in 1980, is the first album released by The Sound. Unlike the band's later work, this album would present an array of fast, punchy songs in strong punk style, as opposed to the later, more tempered releases such as Heads and Hearts and Thunder Up...
(Korova, 1980) #23 NZ - From the Lions Mouth (Korova, 1981)
- All Fall Down (Warner Bros. [WEA], 1982) #50 NZ
- Heads and HeartsHeads and HeartsHeads and Hearts, released in 1985 is the fourth album by The Sound - Track listing :# "Whirlpool"# "Total Recall"# "Under You"# "Burning Part Of Me"# "Love Is Not A Ghost"# "Wildest Dreams"# "One Thousand Reasons"...
(Statik, 1985) - Thunder UpThunder Up* You've Got a Way is sometimes separated into two pieces, part I and II, in order to distinguish the initial piano piece. This brings the total amount of tracks on some editions to 11....
(PIAS, 1987)
EPs, Singles
- Physical World (Torch, 1979)
- "Heyday" (b/w "Brute Force") 7" (Korova, 1980)
- Live Instinct EP 7"/12" (Korova [Holland only], 1981)
- "Sense Of Purpose" 7"/12" (b/w "Point Of No Return," "Coldbeat") (Korova, 1981)
- "Hothouse" (b/w "New Dark Age" [live in Holland]) 7" (Korova, 1982)
- "Counting the Days" (b/w "Dreams Then Plans") 7" (Statik, 1984)
- "One Thousand Reasons" 7"/12" (b/w "Blood And Poison," "Steel Your Air") (Statik, 1984)
- Shock of DaylightShock of DaylightShock of Daylight, released in 1984 , is an EP released by The Sound.-Track listing:#"Golden Soldiers"#"Longest Days"#"Counting the Days"#"Winter"#"A New Way of Life"#"Dreams Then Plans"-Musicians:...
EP (A&M [U.S.]/ Statik, 1984) #31 NZ (contained on the CD reissue of Heads and HeartsHeads and HeartsHeads and Hearts, released in 1985 is the fourth album by The Sound - Track listing :# "Whirlpool"# "Total Recall"# "Under You"# "Burning Part Of Me"# "Love Is Not A Ghost"# "Wildest Dreams"# "One Thousand Reasons"...
) - "Temperature Drop" (b/w "Oiled") 7" (Statik, 1985)
- "Under You" (b/w "Total Recall") 7" (Statik, 1986)
- "Hand of Love" 7/12" (b/w "Fall Of Europe," "Such A Difference") (Play It Again Sam, 1987)
- "Iron Years" 7"/12" (b/w "Fall Of Europe," "I Give You Pain (live)") (Play It Again Sam, 1987)
Compilation albums, Live albums
- Counting The Days CD (Statik, 1986; best-of compilation)
- Counting the days 03:36
- Winning 03:53
- Dreams then plans 04:03
- Total recall 04:51
- Burning part of me 03:26
- Longest days 05:07
- Under you 05:01
- Golden soldiers 03:15
- Silent air 06:29
- Sense of purpose 05:18
- "new way of life" 04:38
- Wildest dreams 05:13
- Heartland 04:07
- Temperature drop 04:20
- Missiles 07:05
- In The Hothouse 2xLP (Statik, 1986; live at The Marquee in London, Aug. 27&28, 1985) (reissued twice, each time on 1 CD)
- PropagandaPropaganda (Sound album)Propaganda is an album by The Sound. Taken from a 1979 recording session, the album was released in 1999.-Track listing:#"No Salvation" – 3:13#"Deep Breath" – 2:42#"Cost of Living" – 3:54#"Quarter Past Two" – 3:35#"Night Versus Day" – 3:08...
CD (Renascent, 1999; 1979 studio session) - The BBC Recordings 2xCD (Renascent, 2004; live 1980-85)
- Dutch Radio Recordings (Vols. 1 - 5) (live 1980-85) (2006, Renascent)
External links
- Brittle Heaven the official website of Adrian Borland
- [ The Sound biography on Allmusic.com] by Andy Kellman
- The Sound's MySpace page
- Renascent label website
- The Sound's Trouser Press entry
- The Sound's gig list
- 1984 Shock Of Daylight press release (.jpg)
