The Trash Can Sinatras
Encyclopedia
The Trash Can Sinatras, now generally known as Trashcan Sinatras, are a Scottish
band
that was formed in Irvine
, Scotland
in 1986. The band's music makes frequent use of wordplay and pop
harmonies
.
band. The band members knew each other from school or met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The band name was derived from a school music class, where students improvised on various 'instruments'. After banging on some trash cans, someone mentioned Frank Sinatra
and the band name was born. The original band members included Frank Reader (bass), Davy Hughes (guitar and vocals), George McDaid (guitar) and Paul Forde (drums). By late 1986/early 1987, the line-up had changed to include Paul Livingston (guitar), John Douglas (guitar) and Stephen Douglas (drums), along with Frank Reader moving to vocals and Davy Hughes to bass. While the band has included other members for short periods of time over the years, this is the line-up that would record the bulk of the Trashcan Sinatras' music to date.
by Simon Dine in 1987 and quickly signed to Go! Discs
. Using their signing advance, the band purchased a recording studio
in Kilmarnock
, naming it Shabby Road. Work began on their debut album
, which was eventually released in 1990. Cake featured the band's largest worldwide hit single
, "Obscurity Knocks" as well as a couple other alternative music hits ("Only Tongue Can Tell" and "Circling the Circumference"). The band were often compared to The Smiths
and the success of Cake in the United States
, where it spent three months in the Billboard 200
, led to extensive touring in both the UK
and North America
in support of the album.
animated series
, Beavis and Butt-head
. The band released two singles ("Hayfever" and "I've Seen Everything") and toured the UK, North America and Japan in support of the album.
", a cover of the 1967 Lulu
#1 hit). The Trashcans did not tour in North America, only the UK and Japan.
After their record company Go! Discs was acquired by Universal
in 1996, the band was dropped from the label
, and subsequently forced to sell their Shabby Road recording studio and declare bankruptcy. The Trashcans kept a low profile in the following years, not playing any concert
s until early 1999 (in Japan and Ireland
). The Japanese concerts occurred at the same time the band was recording a new single, "Snow" (a cover of the Randy Newman
song), which was released by Sony Japan in December 1999.
, Connecticut
to record
their fourth album. Between March and June, the band recorded around a dozen songs and played a handful of shows in the northeastern United States, their first shows in America since 1993. After returning to Scotland, the band decided to scrap the album as too dark and somber (a reflection of their struggles over the previous few years), also feeling that the song writing was not really finished.
The band only performed four concerts in in the UK in 2001, instead focusing on writing additional songs and recording demos
for their fourth album. In March 2002, recording began at Riverside Studios in Glasgow
. The band recorded a dozen songs on and off over the course of a year. In 2003, the band started to raise its profile by playing concerts and festivals in Scotland. They hired New York
based record producer
and musician
Andy Chase
(of the band Ivy
) to mix
the new album tracks, which was completed by the end of the year.
With a new album ready for release, the Trashcans stepped up their activity in 2004. The band played in Spain and London, before heading to the United States in March. They appeared on the Morning Becomes Eclectic
radio show with Nic Harcourt
in March, the day of their sold out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles
California
(their first appearance on the west coast of the U.S. in 11 years). From there, the band headed off to Austin
, Texas
for five appearances at the South by Southwest
music festival
. The Trashcans garnered quite a bit of press (Billboard
staffers named the Trashcans one of the top 10 acts at SXSW) and record label attention, which led to a licensing deal with New York based spinART Records
.
The Trashcan Sinatras finally released their fourth album in August, 2004. Weightlifting
was warmly received by critics and the band completed a 25 date U.S. and Canada
tour in September and October 2004. They had follow up U.S. tours in December 2004 and in April and May 2005, while also extensively touring Scotland, England, Ireland, Japan and Australia during 2004-2006. The Weightlifting
album included the song "All the Dark Horses", which was featured prominently in the first episode of the ABC Family Channel
series Wildfire
.
between November 2007 and February 2008, at Stratosphere Sound
in New York and in Martha’s Vineyard. In July 2008, Carly Simon
recorded backing vocals for the song “Should I Pray?”
A single, "Oranges and Apples", was released as a download-only single on October 13, 2008. The song was inspired by Syd Barrett
, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd
. The single was released in connection with The City Wakes, a festival in tribute to Syd Barrett that took place in Cambridge and London in October, 2008.
The album was released (with bonus track “Astronomy”) in Japan on April 22, 2009 (on Victor Entertainment
), in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2009 (on Lo-Five Records) and April 27, 2010 in North America (also on Lo-Five Records, with digital distribution by Ingrooves
and physical distribution by Fontana Distribution
). The North American release includes eight live bonus tracks, which are live acoustic recordings taken from the band's November 2009 UK tour. Lo-Five also released a limited, numbered deluxe edition of the album in July 2009, which featured two additional bonus tracks (“I Can’t Stand Tomorrow” and “I Just Don’t Know How”) and an in-depth booklet of liner notes, photos and a listing of everyone who pre-ordered the release.
The album received strong reviews from print and online media, with the Guardian
describing it as “Gentle, grown-up popcraft that reveals more with each listen,” and the BBC
calling it “ . . . tender, affecting music which impresses with increasing listens.”
The band supported the 2009 album release with nearly 40 concerts and promotional appearances in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom between July and November 2009, and with a follow-up tour of Japan in March 2010. On the follow-up Japanese tour, the band was supported by Japanese act Sunny Day Service
, with whom they also recorded and released English-language and Japanese-language versions of the single “Town Foxes/yume iro no machide”. The band also completed an 11 date USA promotional tour in June, 2010.
Lo-Five is planning the November 2010 release of a live acoustic album "Brel" (recorded in Glasgow in 2009), a follow up to the band's 2005's acoustic live "Fez" (recorded in New York City). Brels release is expected to be supported by an acoustic tour of North America and possibly the UK. This will be followed by the 2011 release of "Earlies..." a 4 album box set marking the 20th anniversary of the release of Cake, comprising the 3 Go!Discs albums and Weightlifting, digitally remastered with additional tracks and packaging including mementos reflecting the band's distinguished career.
's I know it's over to the tribute compilation The Smiths is dead.
In 1998, the band recorded a song "Duty Free" under the pseudonym The Cat Protection League. The song was included on a compilation of local Kilmarnock/Irvine-area artists as part of a university music class project.
John Douglas wrote "Wild Mountainside", which was recorded by Eddi Reader
for her 2003 album Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns. This song was later recorded by the Trashcans and released as an EP in 2005. John Douglas wrote two songs, "Should I Pray?" and "Prisons", which appear on Eddi Reader's 2007 album Peacetime. The Trashcans have also recorded these songs for In the Music.
In 2006, Francis Reader sang a cover
of the The Beatles
' "Got To Get You Into My Life
", which was featured in an advertisement campaign for the U.S. telecommunications company Qwest Communications
.
The band collaborated with writer Ali Smith
on the song "Half an Apple", for the album Ballads of the Book
, released in March 2007.
Reader also contributed vocals in 2007 to Kevin Ayers
' album The Unfairground
.
30 May 2010 for the start of their 2010 tour The Trashcan Sinatras played in Mike Chandler's Portland OR living room. This was billed as an experimental show and gained much media attention with stories in USA Today, Wired Magazines blog The Underwire FOX News and The Oregonian. Tickets sold out in less than 36 hours, purchased by 50 fans who traveled from all over the west coast. The band played for three hours and over 30 songs with several songs seldom heard live over the past 20 years.
In 2010 the Trashcan Sinatras recorded a version of the Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" for use in a promotional video campaign by Narita Airport in Japan. The video is expected to run in the airport, on board aircraft, and on Japanese media for at least one year.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
that was formed in Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
, Scotland
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...
in 1986. The band's music makes frequent use of wordplay and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
.
Formation
The Trashcan Sinatras were founded as a coversCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
band. The band members knew each other from school or met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The band name was derived from a school music class, where students improvised on various 'instruments'. After banging on some trash cans, someone mentioned Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and the band name was born. The original band members included Frank Reader (bass), Davy Hughes (guitar and vocals), George McDaid (guitar) and Paul Forde (drums). By late 1986/early 1987, the line-up had changed to include Paul Livingston (guitar), John Douglas (guitar) and Stephen Douglas (drums), along with Frank Reader moving to vocals and Davy Hughes to bass. While the band has included other members for short periods of time over the years, this is the line-up that would record the bulk of the Trashcan Sinatras' music to date.
Cake era
The band was spotted performing in a pubPublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
by Simon Dine in 1987 and quickly signed to Go! Discs
Go! Discs Records
Go! Discs was a Hammersmith, London based record label, launched in 1983 by Andy MacDonald and Lesley Symons. With artists like Billy Bragg, The Housemartins and later The Beautiful South, it became a prominent label. Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for dance artists like Beats...
. Using their signing advance, the band purchased a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
, naming it Shabby Road. Work began on their debut 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...
, which was eventually released in 1990. Cake featured the band's largest worldwide 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...
, "Obscurity Knocks" as well as a couple other alternative music hits ("Only Tongue Can Tell" and "Circling the Circumference"). The band were often compared to 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...
and the success of Cake in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where it spent three months in the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, led to extensive touring in both 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...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in support of the album.
I've Seen Everything era
The follow-up record, I've Seen Everything was released in 1993. The song "Hayfever" made an appearance on the MTVMTV
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....
animated series
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
. The band released two singles ("Hayfever" and "I've Seen Everything") and toured the UK, North America and Japan in support of the album.
A Happy Pocket era
The band's third album A Happy Pocket followed in 1996. AHP was released in the UK and Japan, but was unavailable in the U.S. after the band's American distributor declined to release the record. The band released four singles from AHP ("The Main Attraction", "Twisted and Bent", "How Can I Apply...?" and "To Sir, With LoveTo Sir, with Love (song)
"To Sir With Love" is the theme from the 1967 film To Sir, With Love. The song was written by Don Black and Mark London."To Sir With Love" was initially recorded by Lulu for the film of the same name...
", a cover of the 1967 Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
#1 hit). The Trashcans did not tour in North America, only the UK and Japan.
After their record company Go! Discs was acquired by Universal
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
in 1996, the band was dropped from the 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,...
, and subsequently forced to sell their Shabby Road recording studio and declare bankruptcy. The Trashcans kept a low profile in the following years, not playing any concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s until early 1999 (in Japan and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
). The Japanese concerts occurred at the same time the band was recording a new single, "Snow" (a cover of the Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
song), which was released by Sony Japan in December 1999.
Weightlifting era
In March 2000, the band set up camp in HartfordHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
to record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
their fourth album. Between March and June, the band recorded around a dozen songs and played a handful of shows in the northeastern United States, their first shows in America since 1993. After returning to Scotland, the band decided to scrap the album as too dark and somber (a reflection of their struggles over the previous few years), also feeling that the song writing was not really finished.
The band only performed four concerts in in the UK in 2001, instead focusing on writing additional songs and recording demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
for their fourth album. In March 2002, recording began at Riverside Studios in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The band recorded a dozen songs on and off over the course of a year. In 2003, the band started to raise its profile by playing concerts and festivals in Scotland. They hired New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based record producer
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...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Andy Chase
Andy Chase
Andy Chase is a New York based musician/songwriter/producer. He is a member of the bands Ivy, Brookville, and Paco. He is also a co-owner of New York City recording studio Stratosphere sound with partners James Iha , and Adam Schlesinger .In 1995, Chase co-produced and engineered the title track...
(of the band Ivy
Ivy (band)
Ivy is a New York City band composed of a trio of musicians, Adam Schlesinger, Dominique Durand, and Andy Chase.-Lately and Realistic:...
) to mix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
the new album tracks, which was completed by the end of the year.
With a new album ready for release, the Trashcans stepped up their activity in 2004. The band played in Spain and London, before heading to the United States in March. They appeared on the Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, Mourning Becomes Electra.The show is hosted by Jason Bentley,...
radio show with Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt was, most recently, the Music Director for Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Before joining KCRW, Harcourt worked for eight years as a news director and music director at radio station WDST in Woodstock, New York...
in March, the day of their sold out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(their first appearance on the west coast of the U.S. in 11 years). From there, the band headed off to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
for five appearances at the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
. The Trashcans garnered quite a bit of press (Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
staffers named the Trashcans one of the top 10 acts at SXSW) and record label attention, which led to a licensing deal with New York based spinART Records
SpinART Records
spinART Records is a now-defunct New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by artists such as The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black and Michael Penn....
.
The Trashcan Sinatras finally released their fourth album in August, 2004. Weightlifting
Weightlifting (album)
Weightlifting is the fourth album by Scottish Indie pop band The Trash Can Sinatras. The album was released to positive critical review and as such was heralded as a great return to form for the band...
was warmly received by critics and the band completed a 25 date U.S. and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
tour in September and October 2004. They had follow up U.S. tours in December 2004 and in April and May 2005, while also extensively touring Scotland, England, Ireland, Japan and Australia during 2004-2006. The Weightlifting
Weightlifting (album)
Weightlifting is the fourth album by Scottish Indie pop band The Trash Can Sinatras. The album was released to positive critical review and as such was heralded as a great return to form for the band...
album included the song "All the Dark Horses", which was featured prominently in the first episode of the ABC Family Channel
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
series Wildfire
Wildfire (TV series)
Wildfire is a US television series that aired on ABC Family, which was produced by Lions Gate Television, Piller2 and The Segan Company . The show premiered June 20, 2005; its fourth and final season ended May 16, 2008 due to low ratings...
.
In The Music era
The band’s fifth studio album, In the Music, was recorded with producer Andy ChaseAndy Chase
Andy Chase is a New York based musician/songwriter/producer. He is a member of the bands Ivy, Brookville, and Paco. He is also a co-owner of New York City recording studio Stratosphere sound with partners James Iha , and Adam Schlesinger .In 1995, Chase co-produced and engineered the title track...
between November 2007 and February 2008, at Stratosphere Sound
Stratosphere Sound
Stratosphere Sound is a recording studio located in New York City. Previously known as "The Place", the studio was renamed Stratosphere Sound in 1999....
in New York and in Martha’s Vineyard. In July 2008, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
recorded backing vocals for the song “Should I Pray?”
A single, "Oranges and Apples", was released as a download-only single on October 13, 2008. The song was inspired by Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. The single was released in connection with The City Wakes, a festival in tribute to Syd Barrett that took place in Cambridge and London in October, 2008.
The album was released (with bonus track “Astronomy”) in Japan on April 22, 2009 (on Victor Entertainment
Victor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
), in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2009 (on Lo-Five Records) and April 27, 2010 in North America (also on Lo-Five Records, with digital distribution by Ingrooves
INgrooves
Ingrooves is a San Francisco-based, global digital distribution and music licensing company that provides various distribution, marketing, publishing and administrative services for selected independent record labels and recording artists, film and video companies, print media publishers and...
and physical distribution by Fontana Distribution
Fontana Distribution
Fontana Distribution is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group that was launched in 2004, which deals in distribution, as well as in a range of sales, marketing, and back office support services, for a diverse roster of independent record labels and their artists. The company takes its name and logo...
). The North American release includes eight live bonus tracks, which are live acoustic recordings taken from the band's November 2009 UK tour. Lo-Five also released a limited, numbered deluxe edition of the album in July 2009, which featured two additional bonus tracks (“I Can’t Stand Tomorrow” and “I Just Don’t Know How”) and an in-depth booklet of liner notes, photos and a listing of everyone who pre-ordered the release.
The album received strong reviews from print and online media, with the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
describing it as “Gentle, grown-up popcraft that reveals more with each listen,” and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
calling it “ . . . tender, affecting music which impresses with increasing listens.”
The band supported the 2009 album release with nearly 40 concerts and promotional appearances in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom between July and November 2009, and with a follow-up tour of Japan in March 2010. On the follow-up Japanese tour, the band was supported by Japanese act Sunny Day Service
Sunny Day Service
is a three-piece Japanese rock band which formed in 1992.-Members:*Sokabe Keiichi - vocals, guitar*Tanaka Takashi - bass*Maruyama Harushige - drums-History:...
, with whom they also recorded and released English-language and Japanese-language versions of the single “Town Foxes/yume iro no machide”. The band also completed an 11 date USA promotional tour in June, 2010.
Lo-Five is planning the November 2010 release of a live acoustic album "Brel" (recorded in Glasgow in 2009), a follow up to the band's 2005's acoustic live "Fez" (recorded in New York City). Brels release is expected to be supported by an acoustic tour of North America and possibly the UK. This will be followed by the 2011 release of "Earlies..." a 4 album box set marking the 20th anniversary of the release of Cake, comprising the 3 Go!Discs albums and Weightlifting, digitally remastered with additional tracks and packaging including mementos reflecting the band's distinguished career.
Other activity
In 1996, the band contributed a cover version of The SmithsThe 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...
's I know it's over to the tribute compilation The Smiths is dead.
In 1998, the band recorded a song "Duty Free" under the pseudonym The Cat Protection League. The song was included on a compilation of local Kilmarnock/Irvine-area artists as part of a university music class project.
John Douglas wrote "Wild Mountainside", which was recorded by Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts...
for her 2003 album Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns. This song was later recorded by the Trashcans and released as an EP in 2005. John Douglas wrote two songs, "Should I Pray?" and "Prisons", which appear on Eddi Reader's 2007 album Peacetime. The Trashcans have also recorded these songs for In the Music.
In 2006, Francis Reader sang a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Got To Get You Into My Life
Got to Get You into My Life
"Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney , it made prominent use of a brass section...
", which was featured in an advertisement campaign for the U.S. telecommunications company Qwest Communications
Qwest
Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a large United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.On April...
.
The band collaborated with writer Ali Smith
Ali Smith
Ali Smith is a British writer.She was born to working-class parents, raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge, for a PhD that was never finished. She worked as a lecturer at University of...
on the song "Half an Apple", for the album Ballads of the Book
Ballads of the Book
Ballads of the Book is a studio album, released on 5 March 2007, on Chemikal Underground. The project was curated by Roddy Woomble, and features collaborations between Scottish musicians and Scottish writers. The album is considered a "joint effort" by all those involved...
, released in March 2007.
Reader also contributed vocals in 2007 to Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
' album The Unfairground
The Unfairground
The Unfairground is an acclaimed 2007 album by Kevin Ayers, recorded with members of Ladybug Transistor, Teenage Fanclub, Neutral Milk Hotel, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Roxy Music. It is his sixteenth studio LP and his first new set of recordings in fifteen years. It was recorded in New York,...
.
30 May 2010 for the start of their 2010 tour The Trashcan Sinatras played in Mike Chandler's Portland OR living room. This was billed as an experimental show and gained much media attention with stories in USA Today, Wired Magazines blog The Underwire FOX News and The Oregonian. Tickets sold out in less than 36 hours, purchased by 50 fans who traveled from all over the west coast. The band played for three hours and over 30 songs with several songs seldom heard live over the past 20 years.
In 2010 the Trashcan Sinatras recorded a version of the Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" for use in a promotional video campaign by Narita Airport in Japan. The video is expected to run in the airport, on board aircraft, and on Japanese media for at least one year.
Members
- Stephen Douglas (drums, vocals)
- Francis Reader (vocals, acoustic guitar)
- Paul Livingston (lead guitar)
- John Douglas (rhythm guitar, vocals)
- Stevie Mulhearn (keyboards) - 1998-2000, 2006–present
- Frank Divanna (bass) 2009–present
Session/touring members
- Roddy Hart (keyboards, acoustic guitar) - 2003-2005
- Jody Stoddard (guitar) - 2007
- Grant Wilson (bass) - 1998-2000, 2002–2003, 2006–2008
Former members
- Davy Hughes (bass) - 1986, 1992–1996, 2001–2005
- George McDaid (bass) 1986, 1989-1991. Now an EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
teacher at Largs AcademyLargs AcademyLargs Academy is a Scottish secondary school, opened in August 1970, serving the towns of Largs, Fairlie, Skelmorlie and the island of Cumbrae, as well as taking placement requests from across Scotland.-Management Team:...
in Scotland.
Albums
- Cake (1990)
- I've Seen Everything (1993)
- A Happy Pocket (1996)
- Zebra of the Family (demos/alternate takes/unreleased songs) (2003)
- WeightliftingWeightlifting (album)Weightlifting is the fourth album by Scottish Indie pop band The Trash Can Sinatras. The album was released to positive critical review and as such was heralded as a great return to form for the band...
(2004) - Fez (live - unplugged) (2005)
- Midnight at the Troubadour (DVD) (2006)
- In the Music (2009–2010)
- Brel (live - unplugged) (est. fall 2010)
- Earlies... (back catalog box set) (est. late 2010/early 2011)
EPs
- Obscurity Knocks (EP) (1990)
- Only Tongue Can Tell (EP) (1990)
- Circling the Circumference (EP) (1990)
- Hayfever (EP) (1993)
- I've Seen Everything (EP) (1993)
- The Main Attraction (EP) (1996)
- Twisted and Bent (EP) (1996)
- How Can I Apply (EP) (1996)
- To Sir with Love (EP) (1996)
- Snow (EP) (Trash Can Sinatras) (1999)
- Weightlifting (EP) (2004)
- Wild Mountainside (EP) (2005)
- Snow (EP) re-release with DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(2006) - Oranges and Apples (download single) (2008)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Modern Rock | 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 ... |
|||
| 1990 | "Only Tongue Can Tell" | |
|
Cake |
| 1991 | "Obscurity Knocks" | |
|
Cake |
| 1993 | "Hayfever" | |
|
I've Seen Everything |
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
||
| 1990 | Cake | |
|
| 1993 | I've Seen Everything | |
|
External links
- Trashcan Sinatras official site
- 2005 interview with The Trashcan Sinatras
- Trashcan Sinatras collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive - Streaming MP3/Video of the 12/9/04 live set on KCRWKCRWKCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
's Morning Becomes EclecticMorning Becomes EclecticMorning Becomes Eclectic is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, Mourning Becomes Electra.The show is hosted by Jason Bentley,... - http://guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/08/17/paul-livingston-and-john-douglas-the-trashcan-sinatras/ Guitar International; Interview with John Douglas and Paul Livingston
- http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/05/band_fans_convince_trashcan_si.html
- http://www.kptv.com/video/23744977/index.html