The Lucy Show (band)
Encyclopedia
The Lucy Show was a rock
/New Wave
band that was formed in London
, England
in early 1983.
, guitar
, keyboards
) and Rob Vandeven (vocals, bass
), with Pete Barraclough (guitars, keyboards), and Bryan Hudspeth (drums
). Bandola and Vandeven, two Canadian
-born friends who had moved to England in the late 1970s, shared song writing and lead vocal chores equally, although the bulk of the early (pre-album) material had been written by Vandeven.
In 1983, they released their first single
, "Leonardo da Vinci," on independent record label
Shout Records, which managed to receive some airplay
by John Peel
. Guitarist Barraclough provided lead vocals on the B-side of the single for his song "Kill The Beast". In 1984, A&M Records
signed the band, releasing two singles and an EP
during that year (on an off-shoot label imprint called Piggy Bank Records). After providing a cassette recording of their material to R.E.M., The Lucy Show was invited by the Athens
band to support them on their 1984 UK tour.
In 1985, the band's debut album, ...undone
, was released. With a guitar-heavy, lushly atmospheric, brooding sound reminiscent of The Cure
and Comsat Angels
, it received generally favorable critical notices and, even more importantly, eventually went to the #1 spot on the CMJ album charts in the United States
. The band's momentum had been steady up to that point and they naturally assumed continuing chart success would be in their future. However, they were shocked when they learned that A&M UK decided to abruptly drop the band at the end of the year.
In 1986, the band signed to indie label Big Time Records, who released their second album, Mania. The band's songs were much more upbeat and bouncy this time around, and the sound was augmented by a thick wash of synthesizers, making the group sound very much like a typical trendy mid-80's new wave
group. The change in direction initially promised to be effective, as the album once again topped the all important CMJ charts, and MTV
began playing their music video
for the first single off the album, "A Million Things". Both this song, and subsequent single "New Message", were substantial college radio hits.
Bad luck would strike the band again, this time when Big Time Records went bankrupt, leaving The Lucy Show adrift. Barraclough and Hudspeth were asked to leave and Bandola and Vandeven stuck together, releasing one final single, "Wherever Your Heart Will Go", in 1988 on Redhead Records. When that single went nowhere, both Bandola and Vandeven realized it was time to quit, and they permanently disbanded The Lucy Show.
Bandola released an EP under his own name in 1993 entitled Til Tuesday, a collaboration with Let's Active
producer Mitch Easter
, and, for a short while, was a member of London post-rock group Ausgang
. He now releases experimental pop CDs under the name Typewriter ( mostly a solo effort but with contributions from various guest musicians ), with debut album Skeleton Key in 2003, a second, Birdsnest in 2006, and, most recently, Pictures from the Antique Skip in early 2010.
Vandeven and Barraclough have continued to work within the music industry under a variety of differing names and projects.
In 2005, Mania was reissued on CD
by the Words on Music label, with numerous bonus track
s. In 2009, ...undone was released on CD for the first time by Words on Music.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band that was formed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
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...
in early 1983.
History
The band was formed by Mark Bandola (vocalsSinging
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
) and Rob Vandeven (vocals, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), with Pete Barraclough (guitars, keyboards), and Bryan Hudspeth (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
). Bandola and Vandeven, two Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born friends who had moved to England in the late 1970s, shared song writing and lead vocal chores equally, although the bulk of the early (pre-album) material had been written by Vandeven.
In 1983, they released their first single
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...
, "Leonardo da Vinci," on independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Shout Records, which managed to receive some airplay
Airplay (song)
Airplay is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to state how frequently a song is being played on over-the-air radio stations. For example, a song which is being played several times every day would be classed as receiving a large amount of airplay...
by 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...
. Guitarist Barraclough provided lead vocals on the B-side of the single for his song "Kill The Beast". In 1984, A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
signed the band, releasing two singles and 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...
during that year (on an off-shoot label imprint called Piggy Bank Records). After providing a cassette recording of their material to R.E.M., The Lucy Show was invited by the Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
band to support them on their 1984 UK tour.
In 1985, the band's debut album, ...undone
...undone
...undone was released in 1985 in the UK and the U.S. on A&M Records. It was The Lucy Show's debut album. The band's sound at that time was brooding and melancholic, heavily influenced by—and favorably compared to -- The Cure, Comsat Angels, and Joy Division. The album contains what are generally...
, was released. With a guitar-heavy, lushly atmospheric, brooding sound reminiscent of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
and Comsat Angels
Comsat Angels
The Comsat Angels were a post-punk band from Sheffield and Doncaster, England, active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with spare instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form of heartache." They have been credited as being an influence...
, it received generally favorable critical notices and, even more importantly, eventually went to the #1 spot on the CMJ album charts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The band's momentum had been steady up to that point and they naturally assumed continuing chart success would be in their future. However, they were shocked when they learned that A&M UK decided to abruptly drop the band at the end of the year.
In 1986, the band signed to indie label Big Time Records, who released their second album, Mania. The band's songs were much more upbeat and bouncy this time around, and the sound was augmented by a thick wash of synthesizers, making the group sound very much like a typical trendy mid-80's new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
group. The change in direction initially promised to be effective, as the album once again topped the all important CMJ charts, and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
began playing their music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the first single off the album, "A Million Things". Both this song, and subsequent single "New Message", were substantial college radio hits.
Bad luck would strike the band again, this time when Big Time Records went bankrupt, leaving The Lucy Show adrift. Barraclough and Hudspeth were asked to leave and Bandola and Vandeven stuck together, releasing one final single, "Wherever Your Heart Will Go", in 1988 on Redhead Records. When that single went nowhere, both Bandola and Vandeven realized it was time to quit, and they permanently disbanded The Lucy Show.
Bandola released an EP under his own name in 1993 entitled Til Tuesday, a collaboration with Let's Active
Let's Active
Let's Active was an American rock musical group formed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1981.-History:The principal songwriter and sole continuous member of Let's Active was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s. The band's musical style is sometimes referred to as...
producer Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
, and, for a short while, was a member of London post-rock group Ausgang
Ausgang
-History:Ausgang formed from the ashes of previous band Kabuki. Some members had also been members of another band, The Solicitors. Max , Cub and Matthew were all previously in Kabuki, the band releasing one single before splitting up...
. He now releases experimental pop CDs under the name Typewriter ( mostly a solo effort but with contributions from various guest musicians ), with debut album Skeleton Key in 2003, a second, Birdsnest in 2006, and, most recently, Pictures from the Antique Skip in early 2010.
Vandeven and Barraclough have continued to work within the music industry under a variety of differing names and projects.
In 2005, Mania was reissued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
by the Words on Music label, with numerous bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s. In 2009, ...undone was released on CD for the first time by Words on Music.
Albums
- ...undone...undone...undone was released in 1985 in the UK and the U.S. on A&M Records. It was The Lucy Show's debut album. The band's sound at that time was brooding and melancholic, heavily influenced by—and favorably compared to -- The Cure, Comsat Angels, and Joy Division. The album contains what are generally...
A&M AMA5088 (1985) LP; Words on Music WM28 (rereleased 2009) CD - Mania Bigtime ZL71274 (1986) LP; Words on Music WM18 (rereleased 2005) CD
Singles/EPs
- "Leonardo da Vinci/Kill the Beast" Shout XS007 (1983)
- "Electric Dreams/History Part I" Piggy Bank BANK999 (1984)
- "See It Goes/Resitance" Piggy Bank BANK888 (1984)
- "Extended Play - The Price of Love/Resistance/See It Goes/Is It" Piggy Bank BANX888 (1984) 12"EP
- "Ephemeral (This is no Heaven)/White Space" A&M AM261 (1985) 7"
- "Ephemeral (This is no Heaven)/White Space/Leonardo da Vinci (Long Version)" A&M AMY261 (1985) 12"
- "Undone/Dream Days" A&M AM287 (1985) 7"
- "Undone (12" Mix)/Dream Days" A&M AMY287 (1985) 12"
- "A Million Things/Sojourn's End" Bigtime ZB41398 (1986) 7"
- "A Million Things/Sojourn's End/Jam in E" Bigtime ZT41398 (1986) 12"
- "New Message/Sun and Moon" Bigtime ZB41603 (1986) 7"
- "New Message (12" Mix)/Invitation/Sun and Moon/New Message (7" Mix)" Bigtime ZT41603 (1986) 12"
- "Wherever Your Heart Will Go/Only Moments Away" Redhead LUC1 (1988) 7"
- "Wherever Your Heart Will Go (12" Mix)/Wherever Your Heart Will Go (7" Mix)/Only Moments Away" Redhead LUCT1 (1988) 12"