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'The Verve' (originally 'Verve') are an English alternative rock band formed in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, by vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Simon Tong later became a member. The band split in April 1999 due to inner conflicts which led to McCabe's departure. They reunited in June 2007. The band has announced an album due at the end of the northern-hemisphere summer and a tour scheduled for November 2007.
Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to space rock and shoegazer music, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPs and two acclaimed records. They also endured name and lineup changes, breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. The band's commercial breakthrough was the album ''Urban Hymns'' and its single "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which became a massive worldwide hit. Soon after this commercial peak, the band broke up citing creative struggles between band members. By then The Verve had become one of the most influential British alternative rock acts of the decade.
Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the cliché. They were the statement and the definition."[1]
History
(1989–1992) Formation and ''Verve'' EP
Verve formed when the group met at Up Holland High School and later attended Winstanley Sixth Form College, Wigan Metropolitan Borough, in 1989. Led by singer Richard Ashcroft, the band caused a buzz in early 1991 for its ability to captivate audiences with its musical textures and avant-garde sensibilities. The bandmembers shared a collective liking for the Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Raspberries, Funkadelic, and Krautrock, as well as a near-legendary appetite for psychedelic drugs.
The group were signed by Hut Records in 1991[2] and their first studio releases in 1992, "All In The Mind", "She's a Superstar", and the ''Gravity Grave EP'' (along with the December 1992 US-issued ''Verve EP'') saw the band become a critical success, making an impression with freeform guitar work by McCabe and unpredictable vocals by Ashcroft.
(1993–1994) ''A Storm in Heaven''
1993's ''A Storm in Heaven'', the band's full-length debut, produced by Britpop record producer John Leckie, was a critical smash, but was only a moderate commercial success, reaching #27 in the UK album chart.[3]
The second single from the album, "Slide Away", topped the UK indie rock charts. The band played on the travelling U.S. alternative rock festival, Lollapalooza, in summer of 1994. The tour proved disastrous for the group, as Ashcroft was hospitalized for dehydration caused by overdosing with Ecstasy, and Salisbury was arrested for destroying a hotel room in Kansas in a drug-fuelled delirium. After the tour, the jazz label Verve Records sued the band for trademark infringement, forcing the group to officially change their name to The Verve.
Before adding "The" to "Verve", they had briefly considered changing the band name to simply "Verv" and naming their 1994 b-sides album "Dropping E for America". Eventually they decided on The Verve, and the album became ''No Come Down''.
(1995–1996) ''A Northern Soul'' and first breakup
The turmoil continued well into the recording sessions of the follow-up album, 1995's ''A Northern Soul''. The sessions started off well; McCabe even called the first three weeks of recording the happiest in his life (due to his massive intake of Ecstasy). However, the rampant drug use and strained relationship between Ashcroft and McCabe during the sessions, took their toll on the band. Richard Ashcroft later described the recording experience:
"Four intense, mad months. Really insane. In great ways and terrible ways. In ways that only good music and bad drugs and mixed emotions can make."
The band departed from the neo-psychedelic sounds of ''A Storm in Heaven'' and focused more on conventional alternative rock. The singles "This Is Music", "On Your Own", and "History" all reached the UK Top 40. The latter two singles were particularly new for the Verve, as they dabbled with soulful ballads. Around this period, Oasis guitarist and friend of Ashcroft, Noel Gallagher, wrote the song "Cast No Shadow" for the troubled frontman, on the album ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?''. Ashcroft returned the gesture by writing the title song "Northern Soul" for Noel.
Although the album reached the UK Top 20, Richard Ashcroft broke up the band three months after its release in July. Ashcroft reunited the group just a few weeks after the breakup, but McCabe refused to rejoin the lineup. The band hired former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, but he spent only a couple of days with the band. Thus, as a replacement, the band chose Simon Tong, a school friend of Ashcroft and Jones, to fill in the lead guitar duties for the remainder of the 1996 tour. Tong is credited with originally teaching the two to play guitar.
(1997–1999) ''Urban Hymns'', the height of fame and second break-up
Ashcroft, Jones, Salisbury, and Tong started writing songs for the upcoming album, with most of autumn 1996 and early 1997 used for recording sessions. In 1997, Nick McCabe returned to the fold alongside Tong. With the lineup back together, the group went through a "spiritual" (and drug-fuelled) recording process to finish the album ''Urban Hymns''. For the first time in its career, The Verve experienced widespread commercial success. Not only was the album a hit in the UK, but the band also found fame in the USA and much of the rest of the world.
Leadoff single "Bitter Sweet Symphony" entered the UK charts at #2. The single reached #12 on the U.S. charts, the band's highest position ever in the USA. The song borrowed a reversed looped sample of a symphonic recording of the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time"[1][2]. ABKCO Records, which controls the Rolling Stones' back catalogue, and which had warned The Verve against using the Rolling Stones sample in "Bitter Sweet Symphony," successfully sued The Verve for 100% of the royalties for the song. Further, as a result of the lawsuit, Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were given songwriting credits and full publishing rights to the song, which later appeared in a Nike commercial against The Verve's will. After the song was used in the movie ''Cruel Intentions'', The Verve filed a moral rights (copyright) suit to ensure the song was not distributed commercially any more. The Verve is said to have not made a penny from the song.
The follow-up single, "The Drugs Don't Work" gave the band their first UK number one single, with the album reaching the same position in the album chart, and hitting the US Top 30, going platinum in the process.[4]
Then, as the band was on a successful 1997-98 tour to promote the album, bassist Simon Jones collapsed on stage. The band played a successful homecoming show at Haigh Hall & Country Park in Aspull, Wigan, which would turn out to be the last time Nick McCabe played live with the band. Nick McCabe suddenly pulled out of the tour and decided he couldn't tolerate the constant life on the road any longer. Ashcroft, ''sans'' bandmates, appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in early 1998.
The band continued with established session guitarist B. J. Cole replacing McCabe. McCabe's guitar work was heavily sampled and triggered on stage. After two headline performances at the V Festivals in 1998, and one at Slane Castle outside Dublin, rumors began circulating that the band had called it quits for good. In April 1999, it was announced that The Verve had split up.
(2000–2006) Post-breakup activities
After the band's second collapse, Simon Tong and Simon Jones formed a new group called The Shining, which initially included former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire; however Squire left the band before recording and touring had began. The band released one album, "True Skies", before disbanding in 2003. Jones went on to join the band of Irish artist Cathy Davey.Tong appeared as a live replacement for ex-guitarist Graham Coxon in Blur and as additional guitarist for Gorillaz. Tong is also a member of the supergroup formed by Damon Albarn called ''The Good, the Bad and the Queen'', which released its first album ''The Good, the Bad and the Queen'' in January 2007.
After the breakup Nick McCabe worked with artists including John Martyn and Leeds-based band, The Music and London based Neotropic.
Besides working with Ashcroft, Pete Salisbury also filled in as the drummer for a UK tour in 2004 for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, when their original drummer briefly left due to alcohol and drug abuse. Salisbury also owns a drum shop in Stockport, England.
By the time the band had split for the second time, Richard Ashcroft, who quit taking drugs in the early 2000s, had already been working on solo material accompanied by, among others, Salisbury and Cole. In April 2000, his first solo single, "A Song For The Lovers", was released and hit Number 3. He debuted with ''Alone With Everybody'' (June 2000) and followed it with ''Human Conditions'' (October 2002). Recently, backed by Coldplay, Ashcroft performed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at the Live 8 concerts on July 2, 2005 at Hyde Park, London. Many felt this would help to revive his solo career and, though receiving mixed reviews, his third solo album, ''Keys to the World'' (January 2006), peaked at #2 in the UK charts. (It was kept off the top spot only by Arctic Monkeys' record-breaking debut.) The first single, "Break the Night with Colour", reached #3.
(2007–present) Reunion
On June 26, 2007 the band's reunion was announced by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1. The Verve is to release an album at the end of the northern hemisphere summer of 2007 which will coincide with a tour in November 2007. The tour starts in Glasgow on November 2nd, and will include performances at The Carling Academy Glasgow, The Empress Ballroom and the London Roundhouse.[5] The band stated it was "Getting back together for the joy of the music".[6] Missing from the band line-up is Simon Tong, who continues to work with ''The Good, the Bad and the Queen''.
The initial aftermath of the reunion announcement was followed by an overwhelming outpour of excitement amongst their fans. While band management opted for the strategy of booking a limited number of tour dates, out of fear of a deterioration in fan base, tickets for their six-gig tour slated for early November 2007 sold out in less than 20 minutes. The band's newly created MySpace page had been visited 30,000 times in its first two weeks. This has created circulation rumors that the band will eventually hold a gig in their hometown of Wigan; almost ten years after their well-remembered concert at Haigh Hall that was attended by 40,000 fans.
Discography
Main articles: The Verve discography
Legacy
After the Verve split in 1999, their songs have been covered or reinterpreted in recent years. Limp Bizkit created a mashup of Bittersweet Symphony and Home Sweet Home by Mötley Crüe on their Greatest Hitz album. Singer/songwriter Ben Harper covered the song The Drugs Don't Work in a live show which is found on the live album Live From Mars. Also Australian band Grinspoon did a cover on a radio station. The string section of Bittersweet Symphony has been sampled from a few artists such as Madonna and Kanye West in live concerts. Moby has created a remix of the song. In the movie Cruel Intentions it is played at the final scene of the movie. The music video for Bittersweet Symphony has become big enough as the song, contributing a parody by Fat Les of the 1998 World Cup song Vindaloo. The Verve's music also has inspired many new bands such as Travis, Coldplay, and Keane.
Trivia
★ The beach where the band took the picture of "Gravity Grave" single, was Formby, near Southport, and the naked man was actually a friend of the band identified as "B". He is currently drumming for new band Indigo Moss, whose forthcoming album was produced by The Verve's Simon Tong.
★ When the band released their first single "All in the Mind" in 1992, they flew to America, where they set up on the back of a truck and drove around Manhattan while playing extended versions of "Man Called Sun".
★ The band performed at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival with borrowed instruments; their own gear had been stolen from their van.
★ The band won 3 BRIT Awards in 1998 for Best British Group, Best Album (Urban Hymns) and Best Producer (The Verve, Chris Potter, & Youth). However, they weren't there to receive the award in person, as they were playing a rescheduled gig at Brixton Academy in aid of the National Children's Homes, Action for Children, and the House Our Youth 2000 campaign. Part of the gig was beamed via satellite into the award ceremony hall.
★ The band won 3 NME Awards in 1998 for Best video, Best single (both for "Bitter Sweet Symphony"), and Best Band. They refused to pick up the awards on stage.
★ The song "Life's Not A Rehearsal" that can be found in one of the two "History" singles, is an instrumental remix of the song "Life's An Ocean" that appears on ''A Northern Soul''. The remix was made by Verve guitarist Nick McCabe.
★ The front cover of the album ''A Storm in Heaven'' and the place where the "She's a Superstar" video was recorded is Thor's Cave in Staffordshire. The back cover of the same album was taken in Birkdale cemetery.
★ By the time Oasis were supporting some Verve shows during the ''A Storm in Heaven'' era, Ashcroft, Noel Gallagher, and McCabe performed an impromptu ''a capella'' version of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" with Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs on spoons, after a power-cut during the Verve's rendition of Blue at the Newcastle Riverside.
★ The song "Lucky Man" appears in the film ''The Girl Next Door''. "Star Sail" is on the soundtrack of the film ''Sliver''.
★ The song "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was once used for television advertisements in New Zealand by the Bank of New Zealand.
★ During her 2004 Reinvention Tour, Madonna used a sample of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" when performing "Don't Tell Me".
★ The Band attended the same High School as Everton Star Leon Osman.
External links
★ Official Site
★ Official Myspace Site
★ unofficial VERVE forum
★ The Friendly Verve/Ashcroft Forums
★ The Verve Online
★ The Unofficial Verve site
★ The Verve Guitar Tabs website
★ The Verve Live
★ Dutch The Verve Fansite
★ The Verve Archive
★ The-Verve.info
★ Purevolume The Verve
Notes
1. iZINE an internet magazine
2. Strong, Martin C., (2002), "The Great Rock Discography 6th edn, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-312-1
3. Strong, Martin C., (2002), "The Great Rock Discography 6th edn.", Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-312-1
4. Strong, Martin C. (2002), "The Great Rock Discography 6th edn.", Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-312-1
5. Xfm
6. ''NME''
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