Simon Fowler is the lead vocalist and
acoustic guitarA steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
ist in
Ocean Colour SceneOcean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
.
The Fanatics
Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwriter for
BirminghamBirmingham 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...
band The Fanatics, which consisted of Simon Fowler (vocals & guitar),
Damon MinchellaDamon 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...
(bass), Paul Wilkes (guitar) and Caroline Bullock (drums). Future
Ocean Colour SceneOcean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
drummer and former Echo Base band member
Oscar HarrisonOscar Harrison is a musician who currently plays drums with Birmingham-based band Ocean Colour Scene, where he gained prominence. He also plays piano and bass guitar, and occasionally sings lead vocals.-Early days:...
replaced Bullock on drums.
The Fanatics released one record in 1989 before splitting, the four track 'Suburban Love Songs' 12" vinyl e.p. on Chapter 22 Records (12 CHAP 38), containing the songs "1,2,3,4"; "My Brother Sarah" (later re-recorded by
Ocean Colour SceneOcean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
), "Suburban Love Songs" and "Tight Rope".
Following the demise of The Fanatics in late 1989, Fowler, Minchella and Harrison teamed up with guitar player
Steve CradockSteve 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...
to form Ocean Colour Scene.
Other works
Fowler has also appeared as a backing singer for Paul Weller, and with
Kate RusbyKate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
.
Personal life
In 1998,
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tabloid newspaper
The SunThe Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
outedOuting is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
Fowler as
gayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
; this was troubling for him, as he had not then
come outComing out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to his family, let alone publicly. He lives with his long term partner Robert in
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
.
He was educated at Tudor Grange School in
SolihullSolihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, and later studied at The Sixth Form College Solihull where he wrote "Foxy's Folk Faced". Fowler went on to become a
journalistJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, working for the
Birmingham PostThe Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
.
External links