Babybird

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Babybird
Origin Sheffield, England
Genres Britpop, Indie
Years active 1995–2000, 2005-2013
Labels Unison Music
Website http://www.babybirdmusic.me/
Past members Stephen Jones
Huw Chadbourn
Robert Gregory
John Pedder
Luke Scott

Babybird were an indie band from the United Kingdom formed in 1995 and active until early 2013,[1] fronted by Stephen Jones, who has also released records as a solo artist, using his own name, and as Black Reindeer.

Jones started writing and recording songs at home and his first collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995 using the name Babybird. He formed a band in order to tour and promote this work. In 1996, Babybird signed to Echo Records and their first single was released in July 1996. Babybird were dropped from their record label in 2000 after their third album, Bugged, had poor sales. The band then split. Jones continued on his own, writing fiction, releasing solo work and created the score for the film Blessed. In October 2005, the band reformed with three members and created another album released in September 2006. They went on tour in November 2009 and then split again in 2013.

Career

Jones had begun writing songs and recording home demos as part of an experimental theatre group in Nottingham. A collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995, under the name Babybird. 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.[2]

Commercial release

During 1995, two further albums of demo recordings were released under the name Babybird (Bad Shave and Fatherhood) and two in 1996 (The Happiest Man Alive and Dying Happy). Babybird were signed to Echo Records (a division of the Chrysalis Group), and the first authentic single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was released in July 1996, becoming a minor hit in the UK Singles Chart.[2][3]

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. However, it presented a 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.[2] The album produced two more hit singles in "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 Jones, Scott and Matt Hay created a third album. Bugged. 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.

Jones went on to write fiction, release solo work and score a film, Blessed, in 2004. In October 2005, a posting on the Babybird website announced that the band had reformed as a three-piece featuring Jones, Scott and Robert Gregory. An album, Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music was released on 25 September 2006.

Reformation

In August 2009, it was announced that the band would be doing a tour of four gigs in November 2009 to promote the album Ex-Maniac, which was released in February 2010. The line-up consisted of Jones, Scott and Gregory, with a cameo appearance from long-term fan Johnny Depp on the track "Unloveable".[4][5] Depp also directed the video. In September 2009, Babybird launched their official online community, with clips from the forthcoming album, a new video created by Jones with Jones participating in discussions on the website.

In February 2012, it was announced that Babybird would be playing the LeeStock Music Festival alongside Wheatus in Sudbury, Suffolk.[6]

In 2013, Stephen Jones announced via his Twitter feed that Babybird was no more.[7] He has since released a number of solo albums under the names "Black Reindeer", "Deluder", "Arthritis Kid", "The Great Sadness" and "Trucker".

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[8][9]
NZ
[10]
1995 I Was Born a Man (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: July 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
- -
Bad Shave (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: October 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
- -
Fatherhood (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: December 1995
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
- -
1996 The Happiest Man Alive (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: April 1996
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
127 -
Dying Happy (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: May 1996
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
- -
Ugly Beautiful
  • Released: October 1996
  • Labels: Echo
9 15
1998 There's Something Going On
  • Released: July 1998
  • Labels: Echo
28 -
2000 Bugged
  • Released: June 2000
  • Labels: Echo
104 -
2006 Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
  • Released: September 2006
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
- -
2010 Ex-Maniac
  • Released: September 2010
  • Labels: Unison Music
186 -
2011 The Pleasures of Self Destruction
  • Released: October 2011
  • Labels: Unison Music
- -
2015 Back to the Womb
  • Released: July 2015
  • Labels: Self-released via Bandcamp
- -
The Last Album
  • Released: July 2015
  • Labels: Self-released via Bandcamp
- -

Compilation albums

Year Album Details UK
1997 The Greatest Hits (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: August 1997
  • Labels: Baby Bird Recordings
-
2002 The Original Lo-Fi (boxset) (as Baby Bird)
  • Released: November 2002
  • Labels: Sanctuary
-
2004 Best of Babybird
  • Released: February 2004
  • Labels: Echo
-

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[9]
AUS
[12]
FRA
[13]
GER
[14]
IRE
[15]
NZ
[10]
SWE
[16]
1995 "Snake Caves" / "Baby Lemonade" (as Baby Bird) Non-album single
1996 "Goodnight" 28 Ugly Beautiful
"You're Gorgeous" 3 28 46 74 16 22 17
1997 "Candy Girl" 14 184
"Cornershop" 37 125
1998 "Bad Old Man" 31 There's Something Going On
"If You'll Be Mine" 28 128
1999 "Back Together" 22
Split 1 (split single with East River Pipe) (as Baby Bird) Non-album single
2000 "The F-Word" 35 Bugged
"Out of Sight" 58
Double A EP ("Getaway" / "Fireflies")
2006 "Too Much" / "Dive" Between My Ears There's Nothing But Music
"Lighter 'N' Spoon"
2010 "Unloveable" Ex-Maniac

Compilation tracks

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)
  • "Unloveable" (2010, directed by Johnny Depp)

References

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External links

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