The Boo Radleys
The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England, in 1988, with singer/guitarist Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, and bassist Timothy (Tim) Brown. Their name is taken from the character Boo Radley in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.[1] The band split up in 1999.
The Boo Radleys
Wallasey, England
1988–1999, 2021–present
- Action
- Creation
- Rough Trade
- Columbia (US)
- Tim Brown
- Simon "Sice" Rowbottom
- Rob Cieka
In their 11-year-long career, the band had one top ten single, the 1995 single "Wake Up Boo!", which charted at no. 9; and a number one album, Wake Up!.[2] The band reunited in 2021, without original guitarist Martin Carr, and released a single, "A Full Syringe and Memories of You", their first new music since 1998.[3] Paul Banks of Interpol has cited the band as an influence.[4]
Career[edit]
Beginnings[edit]
In 1990, the band's first album Ichabod and I was released on a small British indie label, Action Records. Although not a commercial success, this release brought the band to the attention of Rough Trade Records, to whom they signed. Around this time, Hewitt was replaced on drums by Rob Cieka.[1] He then went on to drum for Placebo until 2007.
Almost immediately after the release of the Every Heaven EP in 1991, Rough Trade collapsed and the Boo Radleys were signed by Alan McGee's Creation Records. Their first for Creation was Everything's Alright Forever in 1992, and Giant Steps (1993) followed. Giant Steps was awarded 9/10 by the UK music magazine NME, which stated, "It's an intentional masterpiece, a throw-everything-at-the-wall bric-a-brac of sounds, colours and stolen ideas. That The Boo Radleys (of all people!) have decided to accept their own challenge and create a record as diverse and boundary-bending as this is, at first glance, staggering. Isn't this the job of the U2s and the leisured idols of rock, unable to do anything without the tacit approval of history? Fortunately not. The Boo Radleys are sifting through time (the mid-'60s, mostly) and conjuring up something that's as cut-up and ambitious as anything you'd care to mention".[5] Reviewing the album's re-release in 2008, Sic Magazine wrote, "For 64 minutes they were the greatest band on the planet."[6]
The Boo Radleys discography
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3
6
18
1
