ATHLETE (BAND)

'Athlete' is an indie rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott (lead vocals and guitar), Carey Willetts (bass and backing vocals), Stephen Roberts (drums and backing vocals) and Tim Wanstall (keyboards and backing vocals). Recently, the quartet have recruited Jonny Pilcher as a live guitarist.

Contents

History

Discography

Albums

Singles

Compilations

In popular culture

See also

References

External links

History

Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practicing in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending demos out. Signing with Regal Recordings, they released their first single in February 2002. The band came to prominence in 2003 with their debut album, ''Vehicles and Animals'', producing popular singles such as "You Got the Style" and "El Salvador". The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies.
Their second album, ''Tourist'', reached Number One in the UK Album Charts in its first week, following the huge success of single "Wires", which, in 2006, won them the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Contemporary Song". In the UK charts, the band has frequently been frustrated by singles just missing out on top 40 placings, due to inconsistent support by music television channels and radio stations. For instance, certain songs, such as "Wires" and "Half Light", were played up to 10 times a day on larger UK radio stations, yet other singles such as "Westside" and "Tourist" received little to no radio play whatsoever, fueling talk of radio stations deciding who becomes a major player in the pop music franchise.
On 10 June 2007, it was announced that the title of their third album would be ''Beyond the Neighbourhood''.^[1]. The album was mixed by Ben Allen and Michael Brauer, who also worked on ''Tourist''. Some of the new songs confirmed by the band are "Accidents Happen", "Airport Disco", "Shades On", "In the Library", "Tokyo", "Minute to Lose" and "This is What I Sound Like". ^[2]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year	Song	UK Singles Chart	Album
2002	"Athlete (EP)"	85	'' ''
2002	"You Got the Style"	37	''Vehicles and Animals''
2002	"Beautiful"	41	''Vehicles and Animals''
2003	"El Salvador"	31	''Vehicles and Animals''
2003	"Westside"	42	''Vehicles and Animals''
2003	"You Got the Style" re-issue	42	''Vehicles and Animals''
2005	"Wires"	4	''Tourist''
2005	"Half Light"	16	''Tourist''
2005	"Tourist"	43	''Tourist''
2005	"Twenty Four Hours" / "Stand In the Sun"	42	''Tourist''
2007	"Hurricane"	31	''Beyond the Neighbourhood''

Compilations

Athlete tracks have appeared on the following compilation CDs:

Year	Compilation	Track
2002	The Album Vol. 4	"Westside"
2004	The Alternative Album Vol. 2	"Westside"
2004	The Best Bands in the World...Ever	"Beautiful"
2004	The Best Bands 2004	"You Got The Style"
2005	The Alternative Album Vol. 3	"Shake Those Windows"
2005	The Album: Music from EMI	"Wires"
2005	Acoustic Vol.5: Acoustic 05	"You Got The Style"
2005	The Album Vol. 6	"Half Light"
2006	The Last Kiss Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	"El Salvador"
2006	The Ultimate Bands - The Classic Anthems	"Wires"
2006	Relaxing Songs 2006	"Wires"
2007	The Saturday Sessions	"God Only Knows" (Cover)

In popular culture

★ "Chances" from ''Tourist'' was used in the 2006 Russell Crowe film ''A Good Year''

★ "Wires" is the theme song for The Learning Channel's show ''Diagnosis X''

See also

★ ''Live from London'' (iTunes)

References

External links

★ Official website

★ TheMusicZine live review

★ TheMusicZine interview

★ Athlete at WikiMusicGuide

★ Myspace site

★ 2007 Interview with Athlete on ilikemusic.com

★ Hurricane Review