Ocean Colour Scene
Encyclopedia
Ocean Colour Scene are an English
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...

 Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...

 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...

 formed in Moseley
Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...

, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 in 1989. They have had five Top 10 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...

s and six Top 10 singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 to date.

Early days (1990-1995)

Ocean Colour Scene were formed after two other local bands called The Boys and Fanatics disbanded. Fanatics released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 titled Suburban Love Songs. OCS signed to Phfftt Records in 1990.

Their first single, "Sway", was released in September 1990 in the burgeoning UK indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....

 era. However, when their record 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,...

 was swallowed up by larger company Phonogram
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....

 their eponymous début 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...

 was remix
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 ....

ed, against the band's wishes, to fit in with the Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...

 musical trend of the time. The album was largely deemed a failure, and the band fell into dispute with their label. Being in dispute with their label, the band were forced back onto the dole, with no real direction and being only able to write new music, but with no outlet for it.

In 1993, the start of the turnaround occurred. Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...

 invited the band to support him on some dates of his tour. On the back of these performances, Weller invited Cradock to play on one of his singles, and Fowler to sing on his forthcoming album, Wild Wood
Wild Wood
Wild Wood was Paul Weller's second solo record, released in September 1993. It made it to number 2 in the UK charts, and contained three UK hits: "Wild Wood", which reached #14 in the UK charts, "Sunflower", which reached #16 and "Hung Up", which reached #11.The original 1993 UK and European CD...

. Cradock was asked to play live with Weller on his tour, and the money Cradock made kept the band afloat during this time .

Britpop fame (1995-2000)

The band recorded a demo
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...

 that was sent to various industry figures. After hearing this tape, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...

 invited the band to play with Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

 on their 1995 tour. This support slot brought OCS to the attention of more record labels, and eventually in late 1995, the band signed with MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

.

With the explosion of the Britpop scene, OCS's music became nationally and internationally known. Their second album Moseley Shoals
Moseley Shoals
Moseley Shoals is a 1996 album by the British rock group Ocean Colour Scene, that was released during the Britpop era. The album reached #2 in the UK charts, selling over 600,000 copies....

was released to critical acclaim, containing four hit singles and reached #2 in the 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...

. They also played at one of the concerts at Knebworth House
Concerts at Knebworth House
The grounds of Knebworth House near the village of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England has become a major venue for open air rock and pop concerts since 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band attracted 60,000 at the first large concert held at the venue....

 supporting Oasis in August 1996.

Marchin' Already
Marchin' Already
Marchin' Already is a 1997 album by Ocean Colour Scene.The album was a follow-up to the successful Moseley Shoals, and is in a similar style. The songs were taken from the band's catalogue that they had built up since forming several years earlier....

, the follow-up to Moseley Shoals, went to #1 in the UK Albums Chart, displacing Oasis' Be Here Now at the top of the charts in 1997. In 1998 they headlined their own arena tour in support of Marchin' Already and played three sold out nights at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...

, Scotland.

One from the Modern
One from the Modern
One from the Modern is a 1999 album by Ocean Colour Scene.The album made a departure from the two previous albums Moseley Shoals and Marchin' Already, and is slower and sadder...

was released in 1999, and peaked in the UK Albums Chart at #4. The record spawned three top 40 singles, "Profit in Peace
Profit in Peace
"Profit in Peace" is a rock song by Ocean Colour Scene .The song was released in 1999 and reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. It is taken from their 1999 album One From The Modern and was the first single to be released from the album....

", "So Low" and "July
July (song)
"July" is a rock song by Ocean Colour Scene . Released in 26 June 2000, it reached number 31 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the third and final single released from their 1999 album One from the Modern, following "Profit in Peace" and "So Low"....

".

Post-britpop (2001-2006)

Having undergone line-up changes, the band continued to record and perform, though they struggled to recapture the success they enjoyed with Moseley Shoals. Releases in 2001 (Mechanical Wonder
Mechanical Wonder
Mechanical Wonder is a 2001 album by Ocean Colour Scene. It peaked on the UK album chart at #7 and lasted four weeks in the top 75. To date, it is the last Ocean Colour Scene release to enter the top 10....

), 2003 (North Atlantic Drift
North Atlantic Drift
North Atlantic Drift is:* An ocean current that continues from the North Atlantic Current* An album by Ocean Colour Scene: North Atlantic Drift this doesn't make any goddamn sense....

), 2005 (A Hyperactive Workout For The Flying Squad
A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad
A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad is a 2005 album by Ocean Colour Scene ; Hyperactive Workout was originally due to be released in September 2004 but Sanctuary Records requested the band record a live album instead and pushed the release back to 'early 2005'...

) and 2007 (On the Leyline
On the Leyline
On the Leyline is the eighth studio album by Ocean Colour Scene, and was released on 30 April 2007. It entered at number 37 in the UK album charts on 6 May 2007, lasting only a single week in the top 75.-Releases:...

) continued the trend of releasing new material every two years.

2004 saw the band release their first live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

, Live: One For The Road. The album was a compilation of nineteen live tracks taken from various concerts. In 2006 the band released a live acoustic album, Live At The Jam House, which consisted of fifteen live tracks and also contained four new songs in "Great Man In Waiting", "The Word", "Still Trying" and "Matilda's England".

The band also released a live album in December 2006, which was recorded at Birmingham Academy and spread over two discs. People attending the gig were able to purchase the recording straight afterwards.

Recent years (2007-present)

In 2009 the band went into the studio with producer Gavin Monaghan, known for his work with Editors, Scott Matthews and The Twang, to work on a new album, Saturday, with a release date of 1 February 2010 to mark the 21st anniversary of the band. The album had a working title of 'Rockfield', named after the studios where it was recorded
Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales and just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire are where many of British rock music’s most successful recordings have been made.-History:...

, but it was released as Saturday - both "Rockfield" and "Saturday" being tracks thereon.

On 2 November 2009, the band released a free downloadable version of "Mrs Maylie", taken from the forthcoming album. "Magic Carpet Days", the first single from Saturday, was released on 25 January, followed by the album a few days later. The album charted at #35 on the UK Albums Chart. A second single, "Saturday", was released in May 2010 but it failed to chart. On 24 July 2010 they performed at the Wickerman Festival
Wickerman Festival
The Wickerman Festival is an annual music festival held near to Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed 'Scotland's Alternative Music festival', the festival will celebrate its 10th Birthday in 2011 on Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd July....

.

On 11 October 2010 the band released a 4 CD box set, 21, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the band. It included many previously unreleased tracks and a brand new song entitled "Twenty One".

In autumn 2010 the band's single, The Day We Caught The Train featured on Top Gear's [BBC] annual compilation album. The single was featured as the 15th track on Top Gear: Full Throttle.

In March 2011 the band released a 15th anniversary special edition of their 1996 hit album Moseley Shoals. It consisted of the full album, b-sides and live tracks. The band played a full UK tour in support of the re-release.

Collaborative work

Most band members have supported and collaborated with other artists during the group's existence. Simon Fowler
Simon Fowler
Simon Fowler is the lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist in Ocean Colour Scene.-The Fanatics:Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwriter for Birmingham band The Fanatics, which consisted of Simon Fowler , Damon Minchella , Paul Wilkes and Caroline Bullock...

 was one of the musicians involved in the official anthem for England's World Cup campaign, for France 98
France 98
France 98 is an association founded by the French footballers who won the World Cup in 1998. They organise charity and testimonial matches for former players....

. England United as they were named also included 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...

, Space and The Spice Girls. "(How Does It Feel) To Be On Top Of The World" reached number 9 in the 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 ...

. Steve Cradock
Steve Cradock
Steve Cradock is an English guitarist, most notable for playing in the rock group Ocean Colour Scene. Cradock is also the second guitarist in Paul Weller's band, having appeared on all of Weller's solo records following Weller's self titled debut album.He is a distinctive guitarist, who has a...

 and former member Damon Minchella
Damon Minchella
Damon Minchella is an English bass guitarist, formerly with Ocean Colour Scene, which he left in 2003. He was a regular member of Paul Weller's backing band until 2008, is a member of the supergroup The Players and played for The Who during their performance at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park.He...

 played regularly with Paul Weller, with Cradock also playing recently on Amy MacDonald
Amy Macdonald (singer)
Amy Macdonald is a Scottish recording artist. Macdonald rose to fame in 2007 with her debut album, This Is the Life and its fourth single, "This Is the Life". The single charted at number one in six different countries worldwide, and charted inside the top ten in another eleven countries worldwide...

's gigs.

During their peak (around the time of the Moseley Shoals release) OCS also regularly performed on stage with Noel
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...

 and Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...

 of Oasis with whom they were on tour at the time. One particular performance of note with the Gallaghers was a rendition of 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...

' "Day Tripper
Day Tripper
"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles, released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...

", which was included as a live B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 to "The Circle
The Circle (song)
"The Circle" is a rock song by Ocean Colour Scene .The song was released in 1996 and reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. It is taken from their 1996 album Moseley Shoals and was the fourth and final single to be released from this album, following "The Riverboat Song", "You've Got It Bad" and...

". The song was also included on the B-side compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, B-sides, Seasides and Freerides
B-sides, Seasides and Freerides
B-sides, Seasides and Freerides is a 1996 B-side compilation album by the British rock group Ocean Colour Scene. Most of the songs come from the Moseley Shoals B-sides, and are generally mellow acoustic songs....

. Noel Gallagher previewed an advance copy of the song during an interview on 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...

 with DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...

. The interview mainly focused on Oasis's then forthcoming gig in the grounds of Knebworth House
Knebworth House
Knebworth House is a country house in the civil parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England.-History and description:The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a genuine red-brick Late Gothic...

, of which Ocean Colour Scene were one of the supporting acts. Over 2.6 million people applied for tickets for the shows, making it the biggest demand for concert tickets in UK history. There was a combined audience of over 250,000 people. At a 2011 gig at the University of East Anglia, Ocean Colour Scene were joined on stage by former footballer Dion Dublin
Dion Dublin
Dion Dublin , is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an...

, an amateur percussionist, who accompanied them on The Dube, an instrument he invented.

Discography

  • Ocean Colour Scene
    Ocean Colour Scene (album)
    Ocean Colour Scene is the eponymous 1992 debut album by the British rock group Ocean Colour Scene. It was released during the early Britpop era with far less critical interest than their highly successful second album Moseley Shoals...

    (1992)
  • Moseley Shoals
    Moseley Shoals
    Moseley Shoals is a 1996 album by the British rock group Ocean Colour Scene, that was released during the Britpop era. The album reached #2 in the UK charts, selling over 600,000 copies....

    (1996)
  • Marchin' Already
    Marchin' Already
    Marchin' Already is a 1997 album by Ocean Colour Scene.The album was a follow-up to the successful Moseley Shoals, and is in a similar style. The songs were taken from the band's catalogue that they had built up since forming several years earlier....

    (1997)
  • One from the Modern
    One from the Modern
    One from the Modern is a 1999 album by Ocean Colour Scene.The album made a departure from the two previous albums Moseley Shoals and Marchin' Already, and is slower and sadder...

    (1999)
  • Mechanical Wonder
    Mechanical Wonder
    Mechanical Wonder is a 2001 album by Ocean Colour Scene. It peaked on the UK album chart at #7 and lasted four weeks in the top 75. To date, it is the last Ocean Colour Scene release to enter the top 10....

    (2001)
  • North Atlantic Drift
    North Atlantic Drift (album)
    North Atlantic Drift is a 2003 album by Ocean Colour SceneThe title track is political commentary on American cultural imperialism and its support by the UK government, particularly the then impending US-led invasion of Iraq, which was opposed by the majority of the British public...

    (2003)
  • A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad
    A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad
    A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad is a 2005 album by Ocean Colour Scene ; Hyperactive Workout was originally due to be released in September 2004 but Sanctuary Records requested the band record a live album instead and pushed the release back to 'early 2005'...

    (2005)
  • On the Leyline
    On the Leyline
    On the Leyline is the eighth studio album by Ocean Colour Scene, and was released on 30 April 2007. It entered at number 37 in the UK album charts on 6 May 2007, lasting only a single week in the top 75.-Releases:...

    (2007)
  • Saturday (2010)

External links

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