Babybird

Babybird

Babybird are a British indie band formed in 1995. The band is fronted by Stephen Jones, who has also released records as a solo artist, using his own name and the name Baby Bird.

Formation

Jones had begun writing songs and recording home demos as part of an experimental theatre group in Sheffield. A collection of these demos (I Was Born a Man) was released in the summer of 1995, under the name Baby Bird. Following a warm critical reception for this record, he recruited a band made up of Huw Chadbourn (keyboards), Robert Gregory (drums), John Pedder (bass) and Luke Scott (guitar), in order to tour and promote his work.

During 1995, two further albums of demo recordings were released under the name Baby Bird (Bad Shave and Fatherhood) and two in 1996 (The Happiest Man Alive and Dying Happy).

By the end of the year, a decent public following had been built up, as well as quite considerable excitement within the press and music industry. Babybird were signed to Echo Records (a division of the Chrysalis Group), and the first "proper" single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was eventually released in the summer of 1996, becoming a minor chart hit in the UK.

The group's second single, "You're Gorgeous", reached number 3 in the UK in October 1996 and was one of the biggest selling singles of the year, going on to chart around the world. It remains the song for which Stephen Jones and Babybird are best known.

However, it presented a much more commercial face to the public in comparison to Jones's earlier work, as well as in comparison to the rest of the material on the Ugly Beautiful album. The early demo albums won Jones great credibility with those who heard them, but had had not reached a wide audience (each one being a one-off pressing limited to 1,000 CDs and 1,000 LPs). The commercial sound and success of "You're Gorgeous" received massive exposure by comparison, but was not representative of the group's overall style.

After "You're Gorgeous IF YOU GO TO ONE OF THEIR GIGS SHOUT AGAIN AND AGAIN WHO KILLED KATHY FLETCHER"

The album Ugly Beautiful was released to a warm reception, but was not the unmitigated critical triumph that some had anticipated from Babybird's first studio-recorded album. The album produced two more hit singles, "Candy Girl" and "Cornershop".

Babybird returned, minus keyboardist Huw Chadbourn, in 1998 with There's Something Going On, preceded by a single, "Bad Old Man". The album was a modest success and was followed by further minor hits, "If You'll Be Mine" and "Back Together".

In 2000, a line-up of Babybird comprising Stephen Jones, Luke Scott and Matt Hay created a third album. Bugged, which was well-received critically. However, sales were poor and the two singles from it, "The F-Word" (later the theme tune to Gordon Ramsay's UK TV cookery show of the same name) and "Out of Sight" barely dented the charts. Babybird were dropped by their record label soon after. A third single from the album, "Fireflies/Getaway" was released on Animal Noise records, but sold few copies. The band subsequently split.

Stephen Jones went on to write fiction, release solo work and score a film, Blessed, in 2004.

In October 2005, a posting on the official Babybird website announced that the band had reformed as a three-piece featuring Stephen, Luke Scott and Robert Gregory. A new album, entitled Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music was released on September 25, 2006.

In August 2009 it was announced that the band would be doing a brief tour of four gigs in November 2009 to promote new album Ex-Maniac released in February 2010. The lineup will consist of Stephen Jones, Luke Scott and Robert Gregory, with a cameo appearance from long-term fan Johnny Depp on the track "Unloveable."

In September 2009, Babybird launched their official online community at http://www.babybirdmusic.me featuring clips from the forthcoming album, a new video created by Stephen Jones and Stephen himself participating in discussions on the site.

Babybird discography

Singles

• "Goodnight" (Echo Records, June 1996) #28 UK
• "You're Gorgeous" (Echo Records, September 1996) #3 UK, #17 Sweden, #22 New Zealand, #28 Australia, #46 France
• "Candy Girl" (Echo Records, February 1997) #14 UK
• "Cornershop" (Echo Records, May 1997) #37 UK
• "Bad Old Man" (Echo Records, April 1998) #31 UK
• "If You'll Be Mine" (Echo Records, July 1998) #28 UK
• "Back Together (remix)" (Echo Records, February 1999) #22 UK
• "The F-Word" (Echo Records, March 2000) #35 UK
• "Out of Sight" (Echo Records, May 2000) #58 UK
• "Getaway/Fireflies" (Animal Noise, September 2000)
• "Too Much/Dive" (Babybird Recordings, November 2006)

Compilation tracks

• "Bad Twin" (on The Avengers OST, Atlantic Records, August 1998)

Albums

• I Was Born a Man (Babybird Recordings, 1995)
• Bad Shave (Babybird Recordings, 1995)
• Fatherhoood (Babybird Recordings, 1996)
• The Happiest Man Alive (Babybird Recordings, 1996)
• Dying Happy (Babybird Recordings, 1996)
• Ugly Beautiful (Echo Records, October 1996)
• There's Something Going On (Echo Records, August 1998)
• Bugged (Echo Records, June 2000)
• Best of Babybird (Echo Records, February 2004)
• Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music (September 2006 Babybird-Recordings February 2008 popup Records Hamburg)
• Ex-Maniac (Unison Music, 2010)

Promotional videos

• "Goodnight" (1996, directed by Stuart A. Gosling)
• "You're Gorgeous" (1997, directed by Stuart A. Gosling)
• "If You'll Be Mine" (1998, directed by David Slade)
• "The F-Word" (2000, directed by Rob Leggatt & Leigh Marling)
• "Out of Sight" (2000, directed by Rob Leggatt & Leigh Marling)
• "Lighter 'n' Spoon" (2008, directed by Philipp Pflüger)

External links

• Template:Myspace
• Babybird interview on Music Towers
• Label in Hamburg
• Babybird on The Mag