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The Wild Swans (band)
Encyclopedia
The Wild Swans are a post-punk
band from Liverpool
, England
, which originally formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson (ex-keyboards) left The Teardrop Explodes
and teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn
(keyboards), James Weston (bass) and Justin Stavely (drums). Stavely was later replaced by Alan Wills and although bass players came and went, Joseph Fearon played on both of the studio albums, recorded by a reincarnated Mark II version of the band.
The Wild Swans have not to date recorded any charting hits or albums, but they have enjoyed a degree of success and/or cult status in the US
, Germany
, UK
, Japan
, and especially the Philippines
. The Wild Swans also spun off two charting splinter projects; Care
and The Lotus Eaters
. Members of The Wild Swans have also been members of such Liverpool-based UK chart acts as Echo & The Bunnymen
, The Icicle Works, The Woodentops
and The Lightning Seeds.
An opportunity arose when Pete de Freitas
of Echo & the Bunnymen
(an old friend and flatmate of Simpson's) agreed to fund their first single "The Revolutionary Spirit" (1982, Zoo Records
). De Freitas, who ended up financier, drummer and producer for the single, was credited under his middle names, Louis Vincent. Bassist for the group at the time was Rolo McGinty, who would leave the group shortly after the release of the single, and found The Woodentops
.
Despite turning out to be Zoo's last ever release, the single received a measure of critical acclaim and in time, developed cult status. Subsequent to the release of "The Revolutionary Spirit", weekly rehearsals were given a degree of urgency when the band was offered a BBC Radio 1
John Peel
session. Songs on this session, all written by the team of Simpson, Quinn and Kelly, include "No Bleeding", "Enchanted'" and "Thirst". By this point, the band was rounded out by two new members: Baz Hughes (bass) and Joe McKechnie (drums).
The Wild Swans were sporadically active in the early 1980s; touring with Echo and The Bunnymen in 1981 following a residency with The Teardrop Explodes. A Dave Jensen session came in spring 1982, with the band penning and performing "The Iron Bed", "Flowers Of England" and "Now You're Perfect". The group split very soon after this BBC Radio 1 session was broadcast.
with co-founder Peter Coyle. Simpson followed suit with the duo Care
, teaming up with Ian Broudie
. Strangely, Arista Records
, who had refused to sign The Wild Swans, then snapped up both of the offshoots. Simpson later described this as "paying twice the price for half of the magic."
Both groups issued several singles. The Lotus Eaters scoring a chart hit, and releasing their lone album in 1984. Care, meanwhile, reached number 48 in the UK charts with the single "Flaming Sword". Both bands had broken up by 1985, with Care having recorded an unreleased album.
In 1986, the session recorded for the Radio 1
John Peel
Show, was finally released on Strange Fruit Records
, containing the tracks "No Bleeding," "Enchanted," and "Thirst." For fans, the EP represented the closest thing to "the album that never was" and hope of a re-union was rekindled, especially as the group's three main players were not currently in bands. Shortly thereafter, Simpson, Kelly and Quinn got together and began playing once again as The Wild Swans.
By 1988, Quinn had dropped out, remaining Wild Swans Simpson and Kelly were joined on bass by Joe Fearon, and a long-awaited debut album finally emerged. Titled Bringing Home The Ashes (1988, Sire
/Reprise Records), featuring session players on keyboards and drums, it was produced by Paul Hardiman
and yielded two singles, "Young Manhood" and "Bible Dreams". Simpson is nowadays disparaging of the sound developed on the album and feels that some of the aura and magic surrounding the (Mark I) Wild Swans had been lost. "Major label thinking is like a virus, you forget why you started the band and fall into the 'hit' record mind-set". He went on to offer even more stark words of wisdom for those thinking of setting up a band: "Major labels suck the poetry from your bones and fill the gaps with a cement made from cocaine and crushed teenagers". Jem Kelly, qualifies this negativity, "The sound on the album is defined largely by the '80s gated snare drum, which dates it, but the songs remain strong 20 years later and Paul's lyrics have retained their relevance".
Bringing Home The Ashes was issued on CD in the States initially, followed by UK and German releases. A near-simultaneous promo-only release called Music and Talk From Liverpool included Wild Swans tracks interspersed with interviews with the Jeremy Kelly.
A second album on Sire was released in 1990, subsequent to the departure of Jeremy Kelly. Space Flower was produced by Ian Broudie, and (according to the original album liner notes) the official Wild Swans line-up was now Paul Simpson (vocals, mellotron, effects), Joe Fearon (bass), Ian Broudie (guitars, keyboards), Chris Sharrock
(drums) and Ian McNabb
(additional guitars, vocals). Sharrock and McNabb were both of the Liverpool three piece The Icicle Works. Simpson refers to this latter version of the band as simply, 'himself and a few friends'.
Much of the material written for the album had a curiously food-flavoured theme, depicted by the tracks "Melting Blue Delicious", "Tangerine Temple", "Chocolate Bubble-Gum" and "Vanilla Melange". The album was released in the US, Germany and Japan, but not in the UK.
The Wild Swans split up again shortly after Space Flower and Simpson went on to form his own project 'Skyray', recording several singles, EPs and albums.
and Long
Sessions, as well as a number of live songs, demos and alternative versions. An accompanying booklet features biographical information on the band and a detailed track by track commentary from Simpson. The familiar 'Icarus Swan' artwork, which first appeared on the cover of "The Revolutionary Spirit", also returns for a second outing.
In a 2004 interview, Simpson was asked for his verdict on The Wild Swans and replied:
In 2007, after many years of deletion, Sire Records finally elected to re-release both Bringing Home the Ashes and Space Flower, this time giving them a full UK release. Both albums were re-packaged as a 2-CD set called Magnitude, whose cover and artwork this time mirrored 1988's Wild Swans - Music and Talk From Liverpool album, complete with familiar Swan design. The album itself was released as part of Sire's April 2007 relaunch of the Korova label, alongside other re-releases from acts like Ian McCulloch
and Electrafixion
, all 2-CD sets with extra tracks.
Magnitude CD 1 features the whole of Bringing Home the Ashes and the four b-sides from the singles "Young Manhood" and "Bible Dreams", all mastered from the original tapes.
CD 2 features the first UK appearance of the Space Flower album, with the addition of an extra track, recorded back in 1989 but left off the album at the time, called "Tastes Like Tuesday". Another studio recording is the Bill Drummond
unreleased single remix of "Melting Blue Delicious".The second disc concludes with five demo recordings, made by Simpson back in late 1988, including early versions of "Melting Blue Delicious" (called "Telescope") and another mix of "Tastes Like Tuesday".
Magnitude enjoyed a relatively short physical shelf life as a 2-CD set, however, as in June 2007 Warner Brothers (UK) was disbanded by the parent company.
A year and a half later, the band had indeed reformed, albeit with a very revised line-up: founder and original member Paul Simpson was now joined by Ricky Rene Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen),Mike Mooney (Julian Cope
/Spiritualized
), and Steve Beswick (Slipstream
). Ged Quinn remains an 'honourary member' of the band, while original Wild Swans member Jeremy Kelly is currently busy with the revived version of The Lotus Eaters (of which Quinn is no longer a member), and is not involved in this iteration of The Wild Swans.
The "Mark III" version of The Wild Swans released the group's first single in over 20 years in May 2009, a limited edition 10" vinyl single on the Occultation label entitled "English Electric Lightning"'. The single featured at number four on the Mojo magazine 'Playlist' in April 2009, and received favourable reviews in a number of publications. The Wild Swans follow-up single "Liquid Mercury" was released on Occultation on 30 November 2009, and was placed at number 5 in the Mojo Vinyl Countdown and was declared single of the year by Pennyblackmusic and Evil Sponge.
On 23 and 24 July 2009 The Wild Swans performed live for the first time since their 1990 demise. The sell out gigs were performed to an audience of 200 each night at Liverpool's Static gallery. The band line up comprised Paul Simpson, Les Pattinson, Ricky Maymi, Mike Mooney and Steve Beswick with Henry Priestman (It's Immaterial
) sitting in for Ged Quinn on keyboards. Will Sergeant (Echo and the Bunnymen) joined the band for the encores and was DJ each night. The Wild Swans played a third gig at Static Gallery, Liverpool on 11 December 2009 with latest band member Richard Turvey on keyboards.
On 6 February 2010 The Wild Swans released a five track live download (The Wild Swans Live at Static Gallery 2009) featuring the tracks "Archangels", "The Revolutionary Spirit", "Tangerine Temple", "Melting Blue Delicious" and "Bringing Home the Ashes". The release was briefly available online to help fund recording costs and was withdrawn from sale in March 2010. The latter three tracks feature guest guitarist Will Sergeant and marked the first recording of Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson playing together since 1997.
Recording of the new album, The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years, finished on 10 September 2010 and will be released early in 2011. It will comprise of 16 tracks and features Paul Simpson, Les Pattinson
, Ged Quinn, Ricky Maymi
, Mike Mooney, Will Sergeant
, Henry Priestman
, Candie Payne
, Steve Beswick and Richard Turvey. In February 2010, Paul Simpson said 'For the first time ever I am happy with the results, the unmixed tracks are sounding so good its scary. It may be 20 odd years late but I think we have finally made the definitive Wild Swans masterpiece'
The Wild Swans is scheduled to perform for two nights in the Philippines on October 1, 2011 at the SM Mall of Asia.
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 from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
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...
, which originally formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson (ex-keyboards) left The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...
and teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn
Ged Quinn
Ged Quinn is an English artist. He studied at the Ruskin in Oxford, the Slade School of Art in London, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam....
(keyboards), James Weston (bass) and Justin Stavely (drums). Stavely was later replaced by Alan Wills and although bass players came and went, Joseph Fearon played on both of the studio albums, recorded by a reincarnated Mark II version of the band.
The Wild Swans have not to date recorded any charting hits or albums, but they have enjoyed a degree of success and/or cult status in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 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...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and especially the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The Wild Swans also spun off two charting splinter projects; Care
Care (band)
Care were a New Wave band formed by Paul Simpson and Ian Broudie in 1983 in Liverpool, England.-History:Paul Simpson is the vocalist of The Wild Swans, whose songs include the 1981 single "The Revolutionary Spirit". Simpson has said that the Care single "Whatever Possessed You" was originally...
and The Lotus Eaters
The Lotus Eaters (new wave)
The Lotus Eaters formed in 1982 in Liverpool, England. Their debut single "The First Picture of You", from their debut album, No Sense of Sin , became a hit in the UK and Europe, notably France, Italy and Spain.-History:...
. Members of The Wild Swans have also been members of such Liverpool-based UK chart acts 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...
, The Icicle Works, The Woodentops
The Woodentops
The Woodentops are a British rock band that have enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s.-History:The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty , Simon Mawby , Alice Thompson , Frank DeFreitas , and Paul Hookham .After a...
and The Lightning Seeds.
Origins: The Wild Swans, Mark I (1980-1982)
The brainchild of Paul Simpson, The Wild Swans formed in 1980 and created a unique and distinctive sound based around Kelly's jangling guitars, Quinn's chiming piano and Simpson's post-Romantic lyrics and brooding delivery.An opportunity arose when Pete de Freitas
Pete de Freitas
Pete Louis Vincent de Freitas was a musician and producer, best known as a drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, and whose drumming skills have been compared to Dave Grohl's....
of 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...
(an old friend and flatmate of Simpson's) agreed to fund their first single "The Revolutionary Spirit" (1982, Zoo Records
Zoo Records
Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched in order to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band, Big in Japan...
). De Freitas, who ended up financier, drummer and producer for the single, was credited under his middle names, Louis Vincent. Bassist for the group at the time was Rolo McGinty, who would leave the group shortly after the release of the single, and found The Woodentops
The Woodentops
The Woodentops are a British rock band that have enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s.-History:The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty , Simon Mawby , Alice Thompson , Frank DeFreitas , and Paul Hookham .After a...
.
Despite turning out to be Zoo's last ever release, the single received a measure of critical acclaim and in time, developed cult status. Subsequent to the release of "The Revolutionary Spirit", weekly rehearsals were given a degree of urgency when the band was offered a 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...
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...
session. Songs on this session, all written by the team of Simpson, Quinn and Kelly, include "No Bleeding", "Enchanted'" and "Thirst". By this point, the band was rounded out by two new members: Baz Hughes (bass) and Joe McKechnie (drums).
The Wild Swans were sporadically active in the early 1980s; touring with Echo and The Bunnymen in 1981 following a residency with The Teardrop Explodes. A Dave Jensen session came in spring 1982, with the band penning and performing "The Iron Bed", "Flowers Of England" and "Now You're Perfect". The group split very soon after this BBC Radio 1 session was broadcast.
Post-split: Care and The Lotus Eaters (1982-1985)
Once the band split, Kelly and Quinn started up The Lotus EatersThe Lotus Eaters (new wave)
The Lotus Eaters formed in 1982 in Liverpool, England. Their debut single "The First Picture of You", from their debut album, No Sense of Sin , became a hit in the UK and Europe, notably France, Italy and Spain.-History:...
with co-founder Peter Coyle. Simpson followed suit with the duo Care
Care (band)
Care were a New Wave band formed by Paul Simpson and Ian Broudie in 1983 in Liverpool, England.-History:Paul Simpson is the vocalist of The Wild Swans, whose songs include the 1981 single "The Revolutionary Spirit". Simpson has said that the Care single "Whatever Possessed You" was originally...
, teaming up with Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
. Strangely, Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, who had refused to sign The Wild Swans, then snapped up both of the offshoots. Simpson later described this as "paying twice the price for half of the magic."
Both groups issued several singles. The Lotus Eaters scoring a chart hit, and releasing their lone album in 1984. Care, meanwhile, reached number 48 in the UK charts with the single "Flaming Sword". Both bands had broken up by 1985, with Care having recorded an unreleased album.
Revival: The Wild Swans, Mark II (1986-1990)
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...
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...
Show, was finally released on Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions....
, containing the tracks "No Bleeding," "Enchanted," and "Thirst." For fans, the EP represented the closest thing to "the album that never was" and hope of a re-union was rekindled, especially as the group's three main players were not currently in bands. Shortly thereafter, Simpson, Kelly and Quinn got together and began playing once again as The Wild Swans.
By 1988, Quinn had dropped out, remaining Wild Swans Simpson and Kelly were joined on bass by Joe Fearon, and a long-awaited debut album finally emerged. Titled Bringing Home The Ashes (1988, Sire
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
/Reprise Records), featuring session players on keyboards and drums, it was produced by Paul Hardiman
Paul Hardiman
Paul Hardiman is a British record producer noted for his work with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions , and Lloyd Cole solo. More famously he also produced the worldwide hit "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh and the critically acclaimed Soul Mining by The The.- External links :...
and yielded two singles, "Young Manhood" and "Bible Dreams". Simpson is nowadays disparaging of the sound developed on the album and feels that some of the aura and magic surrounding the (Mark I) Wild Swans had been lost. "Major label thinking is like a virus, you forget why you started the band and fall into the 'hit' record mind-set". He went on to offer even more stark words of wisdom for those thinking of setting up a band: "Major labels suck the poetry from your bones and fill the gaps with a cement made from cocaine and crushed teenagers". Jem Kelly, qualifies this negativity, "The sound on the album is defined largely by the '80s gated snare drum, which dates it, but the songs remain strong 20 years later and Paul's lyrics have retained their relevance".
Bringing Home The Ashes was issued on CD in the States initially, followed by UK and German releases. A near-simultaneous promo-only release called Music and Talk From Liverpool included Wild Swans tracks interspersed with interviews with the Jeremy Kelly.
A second album on Sire was released in 1990, subsequent to the departure of Jeremy Kelly. Space Flower was produced by Ian Broudie, and (according to the original album liner notes) the official Wild Swans line-up was now Paul Simpson (vocals, mellotron, effects), Joe Fearon (bass), Ian Broudie (guitars, keyboards), Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock is an English drummer from Bebington, Merseyside, England who has a long history of being an official member of many noted British bands, including The Icicle Works, The La's, The Wild Swans, World Party, The Lightning Seeds, The Robbie Williams Band, Oasis, and Beady...
(drums) and Ian McNabb
Ian McNabb
Robert Ian McNabb is a British singer-songwriter and musician from Liverpool, England. He is known both for his work as leader and songwriter-in-chief of The Icicle Works in the 1980s, and his critically acclaimed solo career throughout from the early 1990s to date...
(additional guitars, vocals). Sharrock and McNabb were both of the Liverpool three piece The Icicle Works. Simpson refers to this latter version of the band as simply, 'himself and a few friends'.
Much of the material written for the album had a curiously food-flavoured theme, depicted by the tracks "Melting Blue Delicious", "Tangerine Temple", "Chocolate Bubble-Gum" and "Vanilla Melange". The album was released in the US, Germany and Japan, but not in the UK.
The Wild Swans split up again shortly after Space Flower and Simpson went on to form his own project 'Skyray', recording several singles, EPs and albums.
Reissues and retrospectives (2003-2007)
In 2003, a retrospective collection of rare Wild Swans recordings was compiled and released by Renascent Records. Incandescent, is a double CD containing material from 1981–1987, but mostly from the band's earliest period. It includes the Peel, JensenDavid Jensen
David "Kid" Jensen , is a Danish Canadian-born, British radio DJ.-Early career:Born in a Danish family residing Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began his career in his home country at the age of sixteen playing jazz and classical music. He then joined Radio Luxembourg at the age of eighteen in...
and Long
Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...
Sessions, as well as a number of live songs, demos and alternative versions. An accompanying booklet features biographical information on the band and a detailed track by track commentary from Simpson. The familiar 'Icarus Swan' artwork, which first appeared on the cover of "The Revolutionary Spirit", also returns for a second outing.
In a 2004 interview, Simpson was asked for his verdict on The Wild Swans and replied:
In 2007, after many years of deletion, Sire Records finally elected to re-release both Bringing Home the Ashes and Space Flower, this time giving them a full UK release. Both albums were re-packaged as a 2-CD set called Magnitude, whose cover and artwork this time mirrored 1988's Wild Swans - Music and Talk From Liverpool album, complete with familiar Swan design. The album itself was released as part of Sire's April 2007 relaunch of the Korova label, alongside other re-releases from acts like Ian McCulloch
Ian McCulloch (singer)
Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
and Electrafixion
Electrafixion
Electrafixion were an alternative rock band, formed by former Echo & the Bunnymen members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant in 1994, joined by bass guitarist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan. They released one album, Burned, and four singles and EPs before splitting up in 1996, due to the...
, all 2-CD sets with extra tracks.
Magnitude CD 1 features the whole of Bringing Home the Ashes and the four b-sides from the singles "Young Manhood" and "Bible Dreams", all mastered from the original tapes.
CD 2 features the first UK appearance of the Space Flower album, with the addition of an extra track, recorded back in 1989 but left off the album at the time, called "Tastes Like Tuesday". Another studio recording is the Bill Drummond
Bill Drummond
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...
unreleased single remix of "Melting Blue Delicious".The second disc concludes with five demo recordings, made by Simpson back in late 1988, including early versions of "Melting Blue Delicious" (called "Telescope") and another mix of "Tastes Like Tuesday".
Magnitude enjoyed a relatively short physical shelf life as a 2-CD set, however, as in June 2007 Warner Brothers (UK) was disbanded by the parent company.
Current revival: The Wild Swans, Mark III (2009-present)
Paul Simpson declared his intention to resurrect The Wild Swans on his Myspace site late in 2007:A year and a half later, the band had indeed reformed, albeit with a very revised line-up: founder and original member Paul Simpson was now joined by Ricky Rene Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen),Mike Mooney (Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
/Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
), and Steve Beswick (Slipstream
Slipstream (band)
Slipstream were formed in 1994 after Mark Refoy left Spiritualized. The band consisted of Ian Anderson on guitar, Gary Lennon on bass, Steve Beswick on drums and occasional appearances from Jonny Mattock who had also stopped drumming for Spiritualized later that year...
). Ged Quinn remains an 'honourary member' of the band, while original Wild Swans member Jeremy Kelly is currently busy with the revived version of The Lotus Eaters (of which Quinn is no longer a member), and is not involved in this iteration of The Wild Swans.
The "Mark III" version of The Wild Swans released the group's first single in over 20 years in May 2009, a limited edition 10" vinyl single on the Occultation label entitled "English Electric Lightning"'. The single featured at number four on the Mojo magazine 'Playlist' in April 2009, and received favourable reviews in a number of publications. The Wild Swans follow-up single "Liquid Mercury" was released on Occultation on 30 November 2009, and was placed at number 5 in the Mojo Vinyl Countdown and was declared single of the year by Pennyblackmusic and Evil Sponge.
On 23 and 24 July 2009 The Wild Swans performed live for the first time since their 1990 demise. The sell out gigs were performed to an audience of 200 each night at Liverpool's Static gallery. The band line up comprised Paul Simpson, Les Pattinson, Ricky Maymi, Mike Mooney and Steve Beswick with Henry Priestman (It's Immaterial
It's Immaterial
It's Immaterial were a band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1980. They were best known for their 1986 single "Driving Away From Home ", which reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart.-Career:...
) sitting in for Ged Quinn on keyboards. Will Sergeant (Echo and the Bunnymen) joined the band for the encores and was DJ each night. The Wild Swans played a third gig at Static Gallery, Liverpool on 11 December 2009 with latest band member Richard Turvey on keyboards.
On 6 February 2010 The Wild Swans released a five track live download (The Wild Swans Live at Static Gallery 2009) featuring the tracks "Archangels", "The Revolutionary Spirit", "Tangerine Temple", "Melting Blue Delicious" and "Bringing Home the Ashes". The release was briefly available online to help fund recording costs and was withdrawn from sale in March 2010. The latter three tracks feature guest guitarist Will Sergeant and marked the first recording of Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson playing together since 1997.
Recording of the new album, The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years, finished on 10 September 2010 and will be released early in 2011. It will comprise of 16 tracks and features Paul Simpson, Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson is an English musician, best known for his work as the bassist and co-writer of the Liverpool based band, Echo & the Bunnymen....
, Ged Quinn, Ricky Maymi
Ricky Maymi
Ricky Rene Maymi is a multi-instrumentalist from San Francisco, California. Born September 15, 1972. He is most famous for his work with the neo-psychedelic rock band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre .-The Brian Jonestown Massacre:...
, Mike Mooney, Will Sergeant
Will Sergeant
Will Sergeant is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in the centre of Liverpool, he grew up in the suburb of Melling and attended nearby Deyes High School...
, Henry Priestman
Henry Priestman
Henry Priestman is an English rock singer, keyboardist, record producer and songwriter.-Biography:...
, Candie Payne
Candie Payne
Candice "Candie" Payne is an English singer and songwriter from Liverpool. She released her debut album, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, on Deltasonic in May 2007. She is the sister of singer/songwriter Howie Payne, former frontman of band The Stands and Sean Payne, the drummer of The...
, Steve Beswick and Richard Turvey. In February 2010, Paul Simpson said 'For the first time ever I am happy with the results, the unmixed tracks are sounding so good its scary. It may be 20 odd years late but I think we have finally made the definitive Wild Swans masterpiece'
The Wild Swans is scheduled to perform for two nights in the Philippines on October 1, 2011 at the SM Mall of Asia.
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release formats | B-sides | |||
| 1982 | "The Revolutionary Spirit" | Non-album single | 12" | "God Forbid" |
| 1988 | "Young Manhood" | Bringing Home The Ashes | 7", 12" | "Holy Holy" (7" & 12"), "The World Of Milk and Blood" (12") |
| 1988 | "Bible Dreams"' | 7", 12" | "1982" (7" & 12"), "Pure Evil" (12") | |
| 2003 | "The Iron Bed" | Incandescent | CD, mp3 | |
| 2009 | "English Electric Lightning"' | The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years | 10", CD, mp3 | "The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years" |
| 2009 | "Liquid Mercury"' | 7", CD, mp3 | "The Wickedest Man In The World" | |
Albums
- Bringing Home The Ashes (1988)
- Space Flower (1990)
- Incandescent (2003)
- The Coldest WInter For A Hundred Years (2011)
See also
- CareCare (band)Care were a New Wave band formed by Paul Simpson and Ian Broudie in 1983 in Liverpool, England.-History:Paul Simpson is the vocalist of The Wild Swans, whose songs include the 1981 single "The Revolutionary Spirit". Simpson has said that the Care single "Whatever Possessed You" was originally...
- The Lotus Eaters
- The Lightning Seeds
- The Icicle Works