Roddy Frame
Encyclopedia
Roddy Frame is a Scottish
singer-songwriter
and musician, who was the founder of the 1980s indie band, Aztec Camera
, and more recently is a solo performer.
. At the age of 16 he became involved with Postcard Records
, and his band Aztec Camera began to record
a string of low budget singles
such as "Just Like Gold" and "Mattress of Wire". The latter drew attention from BBC Radio 1
DJ, John Peel
.
In 1983, Aztec Camera released High Land, Hard Rain
, their first album on Rough Trade Records
, though this did not include the first two Postcard singles. It featured the hit single
"Oblivious", and Aztec Camera were recognised as one of the key acts on the Rough Trade label
. On tracks such as "Walk Out to Winter" and "Back on Board", Frame sang poetic lyrics
about love, both lost and found, two themes he would revisit with an increasingly mature outlook through a number of subsequent albums.
However, after High Land, Hard Rain, Frame signed the band to WEA
. Aztec Camera's second album, Knife
, released in 1984, was produced by Dire Straits
' guitarist/singer, Mark Knopfler
. The album was highlighted by the hit single "All I Need is Everything".
Beginning with Aztec Camera's third album, 1987's Love
, Roddy Frame became the group's only member, augmented by a wide array of session musicians for both studio recordings and live dates. Essentially Frame was a now a solo artist, working under the Aztec Camera brand name.
Love spawned 1988's "Somewhere In My Heart
", which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart
and is still a staple of FM radio
in the UK. Frame performed a duet with one of his musical heroes, Mick Jones
of The Clash
, on his 1990 single "Good Morning Britain", which showcased an overtly political streak that sometimes featured in his work. He also recorded with the Japanese composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto
. Frame decided to abandon the name Aztec Camera in 1996 after the 'group' released their final album, Frestonia
, for WEA.
At that point, Frame started to pursue a solo career under his own name. His first solo album, the critically acclaimed, The North Star, came out in 1998, and featured the single "Reason For Living". There was a change of gear for 2002's Surf
, an album of acoustic
songs that also attracted widespread critical acclaim, and was generally seen as a return to Frame's best songwriting form. The track "Small World" was used as the theme music
to the BBC TV
comedy series, Early Doors
. Frame also made his first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival
in 2003. His next album, Western Skies, was released in May 2006.
Frame has also recorded cover version
s of "In My Life
" by The Beatles
, "Bad Education" by Blue Orchids, Cyndi Lauper
s', "True Colors
" and a slowed-down version of "Jump
", originally recorded by Van Halen
.
In 2006 he released a live album, Live at Ronnie Scott's, followed in 2007 by another, Live at The Blue Note, Osaka.
Frame has had a long friendship with Edwyn Collins
, who was also signed to Postcard Records
in the 1980s with his band Orange Juice
. Frame performed with Collins in November 2007, as the latter played his first concert since suffering serious illness, and again at Glastonbury Festival
in June 2008.
He is scheduled to tour the UK throughout October 2011, with a small band.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and musician, who was the founder of the 1980s indie band, Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....
, and more recently is a solo performer.
Career
Frame became interested in music in the mid 1970s and was inspired by David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. At the age of 16 he became involved with Postcard Records
Postcard Records
Postcard Records is a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum...
, and his band Aztec Camera began to record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
a string of low budget 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...
such as "Just Like Gold" and "Mattress of Wire". The latter drew attention from 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...
DJ, 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...
.
In 1983, Aztec Camera released High Land, Hard Rain
High Land, Hard Rain
High Land, Hard Rain was the debut album by jangle pop, alternative rock, new wave band Aztec Camera, released in 1983. Three tracks from the album originally appeared on the Oblivious EP which reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1983. The album itself reached number 22 on the UK...
, their first album on Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
, though this did not include the first two Postcard singles. It featured the hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
"Oblivious", and Aztec Camera were recognised as one of the key acts on the Rough Trade 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,...
. On tracks such as "Walk Out to Winter" and "Back on Board", Frame sang poetic lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
about love, both lost and found, two themes he would revisit with an increasingly mature outlook through a number of subsequent albums.
However, after High Land, Hard Rain, Frame signed the band to WEA
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Aztec Camera's second album, Knife
Knife (album)
Knife is the second album by Aztec Camera and was released in 1984. It reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart – their highest showing at that time...
, released in 1984, was produced by Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
' guitarist/singer, Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
. The album was highlighted by the hit single "All I Need is Everything".
Beginning with Aztec Camera's third album, 1987's Love
Love (Aztec Camera album)
Love is the third album by Scottish group Aztec Camera, released in November 1987 on the WEA label.Love was something of a stylistic departure for the group. Various big-name producers were involved in the recording of the album which, with its radio-friendly hooks and glossy production values was...
, Roddy Frame became the group's only member, augmented by a wide array of session musicians for both studio recordings and live dates. Essentially Frame was a now a solo artist, working under the Aztec Camera brand name.
Love spawned 1988's "Somewhere In My Heart
Somewhere In My Heart
"Somewhere in My Heart" is the twelfth single and biggest hit by the Scottish band Aztec Camera. It was released as the third single from their 1987 studio album Love. The song was produced by Michael Jonzun and written by Roddy Frame....
", which reached number 3 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 ...
and is still a staple of FM radio
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
in the UK. Frame performed a duet with one of his musical heroes, Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
of The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, on his 1990 single "Good Morning Britain", which showcased an overtly political streak that sometimes featured in his work. He also recorded with the Japanese composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
. Frame decided to abandon the name Aztec Camera in 1996 after the 'group' released their final album, Frestonia
Frestonia
Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, a street at the north western boundary of Notting Hill, London, also known as Notting Dale, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977. Actor David Rappaport was the Foreign Minister, while playwright Heathcote...
, for WEA.
At that point, Frame started to pursue a solo career under his own name. His first solo album, the critically acclaimed, The North Star, came out in 1998, and featured the single "Reason For Living". There was a change of gear for 2002's Surf
Surf (album)
Surf is the second solo album by Scottish singer–songwriter Roddy Frame, first released in the UK on 5 August 2002 via Redemption Records, and in the US on 8 October 2002 via Cooking Vinyl. Surf is notable in that every song on the album was recorded in Roddy Frame's "own front room".-Critical...
, an album of acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
songs that also attracted widespread critical acclaim, and was generally seen as a return to Frame's best songwriting form. The track "Small World" was used as the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to the BBC TV
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
comedy series, Early Doors
Early Doors
Early Doors is a BBC sitcom written by Craig Cash and Phil Mealey who also appear in the series playing best friends Joe and Duffy. The setting is The Grapes, a small public house in Greater Manchester, where daily life revolves around the issues of love, loneliness and blocked urinals...
. Frame also made his first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
in 2003. His next album, Western Skies, was released in May 2006.
Frame has also recorded cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of "In My Life
In My Life
"In My Life" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, the extent of his contribution is in dispute. George Martin contributed the instrumental bridge...
" by 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...
, "Bad Education" by Blue Orchids, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
s', "True Colors
True Colors (song)
"True Colors" is a song written by songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, additional lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. It was both the title track and the first single released from Cyndi Lauper's second album. It was the only original song on the album that Lauper did not help write...
" and a slowed-down version of "Jump
Jump (Van Halen song)
"Jump" is a song by the American rock group Van Halen. It is the only single the group released in their career to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was released in 1984 as the second track on the album 1984...
", originally recorded by Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
.
In 2006 he released a live album, Live at Ronnie Scott's, followed in 2007 by another, Live at The Blue Note, Osaka.
Frame has had a long friendship with Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
, who was also signed to Postcard Records
Postcard Records
Postcard Records is a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum...
in the 1980s with his band Orange Juice
Orange Juice
Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...
. Frame performed with Collins in November 2007, as the latter played his first concert since suffering serious illness, and again at Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival 2008
The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 25 to 29 June 2008.-New features:* The John Peel stage doubled in size and had a screen outside it to watch bands.* There was a new 'Shangri-La' area that replaced Lost Vagueness...
in June 2008.
He is scheduled to tour the UK throughout October 2011, with a small band.
Solo discography
- The North Star (Independiente, 1998)
- SurfSurf (album)Surf is the second solo album by Scottish singer–songwriter Roddy Frame, first released in the UK on 5 August 2002 via Redemption Records, and in the US on 8 October 2002 via Cooking Vinyl. Surf is notable in that every song on the album was recorded in Roddy Frame's "own front room".-Critical...
(Redemption, 2002) - Western Skies (Redemption, 2006)
- Live at Ronnie Scott's (2006)
- Live at The Blue Note, Osaka (2007)