The Kooks
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The Kooks |
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The Kooks are a indie band based in the United Kingdom. The band was formed in Brighton, United Kingdom, and currently consists of four members. They have released two albums – their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out peaked at #2 on the UK Albums Chart, and their 2008 follow-up Konk hit #1.
History
Early days
The Kooks formed at the BIMM where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard, who was born in the Yorkshire seaside town of Saltburn, got bassist Max Rafferty involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. After getting lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred involved, they took their name from the song "Kooks" on the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory.[1] When Virgin tried to trademark the name, they found that in the late/mid 1990s a Swedish band by the same name released an album in Sweden called "Too Much is Not Enough".[2]
The Kooks released a debut EP and played gigs around Brighton, where they were based at the time, including the FreeButt festival. They were quickly signed to Virgin Records. Pritchard apparently wrote The Kooks' hit song "Naïve" when he was only 16 years old, and it was this song that propelled the debut album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for more than half of 2006. The album has sold more than a million copies and has attained triple platinum status. During a promo tour, they were interviewed on Channel 4's Popworld where presenter Simon Amstell made repeated references to Pritchard's ex-girlfriend, Katie Melua. The band have refused to appear on the show again, or partake in any activity involving Amstell since.[3]
Inside In/Inside Out
The group released Inside In/Inside Out and went on their first US tour in October 2006, selling out shows both in New York and Los Angeles.[4]. They also played at the Reading/Leeds festivals in the NME/Radio 1 Tent.
Among the band's honours are a nomination for Best New Act at the 2006 Q Awards and the award for Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards and had one nomination at The BRIT Awards and a shortlist nomination.
The band gave away non-album track "Pull Me In" as a prize in a competition they ran from their website and was limited to 5000 vinyl copies.
Konk
Their second studio album, Konk, was produced by Tony Hoffer and was released on 14 April 2008, it is still unknown who wrote the album.[5] In an interview with NME.com, Pritchard revealed that the band have "80 or 90" songs written and ready to record. "I want this album to be big," he said. "I've got an ego – I want the album to do well. I want our singles to come on the radio and for people to literally have their heads blown off by them."[6]
Bassist Max Rafferty officially left the band on 31 January after long standing rumours and an on-off absence from the band.[7] Dan Logan, bassist with Cat the Dog, was brought in as a temporary replacement,[7] although Pritchard revealed that he might join the act on permanent basis: "It's been really strange for us but it's something that had to happen. Dan hasn't joined the band properly yet. We're trying him out, but I love playing with him."[8]
"Always Where I Need to Be", the first single off the album, was played on Zane Lowe's radio show on 5 February. Konk was named the Zane Lowe most anticipated album.
Konk went straight to number 1 in the UK Album chart, and also entered Irish charts at number 2.
The Kooks were featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine for the publication's summer 2008, 2nd Anniversary issue.
RAK is the second part of a limited edition 2 disc version of Konk. It contains 9 extra tracks including an alternate version of "See the Sun" and a home demo called "Brooklyn".
The Kooks performed in front of 40,000 people during the Isle Of MTV 2008 at the Floriana granaries, Malta, on 25 June 2008, and the entrance was free.[9][10]
A Swedish band known as the Swedish Kooks[11] has impersonated the band and come into conflict with them by threatening to gate crash their performances and take the stage instead of them. The Kooks discussed this during a British TV interview in September 2008.
Notable performances
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| This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (November 2008) |
- Supported The Rolling Stones on their A Bigger Bang Tour at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in 2006.
- Supported Elton John on his Goodybye Yellow Brick Road Tour in 2005.
- Performed on the Album Chart Show at midnight on Saturday 18 March 2006.
- Played at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Europe's largest free festival in Dundee on 15 March 2006 and Maidstone in Kent on 11 May 2008.
- Performed "Ooh La", "Naive" and "She Moves In Her Own Way" at the "Jools Holland Annual Hootenanny 2006".
- Recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road in August 2006.
- Played at the Glastonbury festival in June 2007.
- Played on the Main Stage at OXEGEN 2007 in July.
- Played on the Main Stage stage at the V Festival in August 2007.
- Played at the Doncaster Dome in August 2007, playing some of their new songs.
- Played with The Wellingtons at Portsmouth Guildhall in the summer of 2004.
- Played at the Eastbourne Winter Gardens in August 2006.
- Played at Dublin Castle with The Coronas in May 2008.
- Played at Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2008.
- Played at MTV Live (Toronto,ON) May 2008.
- Played at Hurricane Festival, 22 June 2008.
- Played at Isle of Wight Festival, June 2008.
- Played at the Isle Of MTV Malta Special, 25 June 2008
- Played already three times at Rock Werchter
- Performed a cover of Violet Hill in the Radio 1 Live Lounge
- Performed a cover of "Kids" by MGMT on Triple J Australia
- Performed at Lowlands festival in The Netherlands, 22 August 2008
- Played at The Zoo in Brisbane to a sell out crowd, 30 August 2008
- Played at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia to two sell-out audiences on 27th Auguest and 28 August 2008
- Performed a Myspace Secret Show at the Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia on 28 August 2008
- Played on Rove in Australia, 31 August 2008
- Played at Hamilton College on 4 September 2008 to kick off their American tour.
- Performed as a headlining band for one of the four stages at the Virgin Festival in Toronto, 6 September 2008
- Performed at Central Park Summerstage on 10 September 2008.
- Performed at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO, on 7 October 2008.
- Performed at The Riviera in Chicago, IL, on 11 October 2008.
- Performed at Bogarts in Cincinnati, OH, on 12, October 2008.
- Performed at Foro Sol in Mexico City, MX, on 18 October 2008.
- Performed at Motorokr Fest in Guadalajara, MX, on 19 October 2008
- Performed at The Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR on 22 October 2008.
- Performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 29 October 2008.
Discography
Studio albums
- 2006 – Inside In/Inside Out
- 2008 – Konk
Singles
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart | UK Download Chart | Irish Singles Chart | US Modern Rock | Netherlands Singles Chart | Italian Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Eddie's Gun" | 35 | - | - | - | - | - | Inside In/Inside Out |
| "Sofa Song" | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006 | "You Don't Love Me" | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "Naïve" | 5 | 2 | - | 22 | 40 | 31 | ||
| "She Moves in Her Own Way" | 7 | 8 | - | 39 | 35 | - | ||
| "Ooh La" | 20 | 20 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2008 | "Always Where I Need to Be" | 3 | 4 | - | 22 | 27 | 41 | Konk |
| "Shine On" | 25 | 24 | 32 | - | - | - | ||
| "Sway" | 41 | - | - | - | - | - |
Contributions
- The Acoustic Album (2006, Virgin) - "She Moves in Her Own Way"
- The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show (2007, EMI) - "She Moves in Her Own Way"
References
- "The Kooks - All Hunky Dory" by Jeremy Lloyd, musicOMH.com, October 2005, retrieved 19 November 2006.
- "Meet the Kooks!" music.com, 15 November 2006, retrieved 18 January 2007.
- "Loveline" retrieved 5 April 2007
- ^ Coey, Julia. "The Kooks:Brit Rockers Finally Reach Canadian Shores". Ur magazine. Rogers. pp. p. 27.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help);|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ The "Original Kooks"
- ^ A video of the interview
- ^ http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2006/08/the_kooks_playi.html first US tour
- ^ The Guardian - 'I am a hit machine ... I just roll 'em out!'
- ^ The Kooks start work on new album
- ^ a b Kooks bassist quits the band
- ^ NME
- ^ Isle of MTV - Malta Special 2008
- ^ YouTube - ISLE OF MTV 2008 - OneRepublic, The Kooks, N.E.R.D, and more
- ^ "Kooks". LastFM. Retrieved 27 September.
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