Elastica, Circa 1996

Elastica were a Britpop band who were popular in the 1990s, formed by Justine Frischmann after leaving Suede in 1991. Frischmann recruited Justin Welch (formally of garage rock band Spitfire - drums), Annie Holland (bass) and Donna Matthews (guitar). Image File history File links Photo of the band Elastica, circa 1995 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Britpop is a British alternative rock movement from the mid 1990s, characterised with the appearance of bands who borrowed many influences from 1960s and 1970s while creating big and catchy hooks, as well as the glamour of earlier pop stardom and the sense that they were creating the soundtrack to... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Justine Frischmann (born 16th September 1969) is a British singer and guitarist best known as the lead singer of Britpop band Elastica. ... Suede was one of the most popular and important bands in the UK in the 90s, and helped start the Britpop movement of the decade. ... See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... Justin Welsh is a musician from the UK best known for being the drummer in britpop band Elastica. ... Spitfire are a garage rock band from Crawley, West Sussex, England whose ever-changing line up revolved around brothers Nick & Jeff Pitcher. ...

History

Their first single was 1993's "Stutter", which was a word-of-mouth hit. In spite of a period of relative quiet, Elastica's fame grew throughout 1994 as Frischmann's relationship with Blur's Damon Albarn made tabloid headlines. Elastica's first LP, Elastica, entered the charts at #1. A glorious debut album, the record is seen by many as one of the defining moments of Britpop. Many britpop bands were influenced by Elastica's sound and had success of their own, however few captured the charisma and humour of Elastica's debut album. See also: 1992 in music, other events of 1993, 1994 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ... See also: 1993 in music, other events of 1994, 1995 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 29 - The Supremes Mary Wilson is injured when her jeep hit a freeway median and flipped over just outside of Los Angeles, California. ... Cover of Blur: The Best Of - Clockwise from top left: Coxon, James, Rowntree, Albarn Blur is the name of a British rock band. ... Albarn singing in the video for Beetlebum Damon Albarn (born March 23, 1968), (Leytonstone, London) is a British vocalist who is most famous as the lead singer of the rock band Blur. ... A tabloid is a newspaper format particularly popular in the United Kingdom, which is roughly 231/2 by 143/4 inches (597 by 375 mm) per spread. ... Elastica, released in 1995, was the first album by the band of the same name. ...

Further UK chart hit singles followed: "Connection" and "Waking Up". In 1995 there was a lawsuit from Wire claiming that many of the band's melodies were taken from Wire compositions. Notably Wire's "I Am the Fly" has a chorus similar to Elastica's "Line Up", and the intro of "Connection" is nearly identical to Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba". Indeed the band had originally intended to sample the intro of the song directly. The Stranglers also passed comment that Elastica's "Waking Up" bore a marked resemblance to their song "No More Heroes". The band did not deny these accusations and were not ashamed by these similarities, stating that all pop bands have borrowed ideas and all music was eventually recycled. Wire is a British punk/experimental rock band formed in 1976 by Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), Colin Newman (vocals, guitar) and Robert Gotobed (drums). ... The Stranglers are a British rock music group, formed in 1974 in Guildford. ...

Elastica were able to garner better American sales than other Britpop bands, replacing Sinéad O'Connor on Lollapalooza in 1995. Among their extensive tour schedule the band played a glorious Glastonbury performance in 1995 where their set was interrupted by a streaker George Best lookalike, who would briefly join the band as keyboard player in 1997. Sinéad OConnor Sinéad OConnor (born December 8, 1966) is an Irish pop singer and songwriter best known for her unconventional appearance and controversial positions. ... Official logo Lollapalooza is an American traveling music festival featuring alternative rock, rap, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. ... See also: 1994 in music, other events of 1995, 1996 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 18 - Jerry Garcia wrecks his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. ... The view from the stone circle on Thursday afternoon, 2004 The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury Festival or Glasto, is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Streaker refers to: A streaker is someone who purposely appears in public nude. ... George Best (born May 22, 1946 in Belfast) is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. ...

The after extensive touring the band began to experience personal problems. In 1997 bassist Annie Holland left the band citing repetitive strain injury following excessive touring as her reason for departure. In 1999 Donna Matthews left the band. There were several line up changes and keyboard players. Various supporting musicans came and went. Their second album was much delayed after several years of recording. There were worrying rumours of entire albums being scrapped and band tensions due to the perfectionism of Frishmann. The "lost years" of the band were often compared to the Stone Roses recording their Second Coming album. Repetitive strain injury, also called repetitive stress injury or typing injury, is an occupational overuse syndrome affecting muscles, tendons and nerves in the arms and upper back. ... The classic line-up at the time of Spike Island The Stone Roses were one of the most influential bands to come out of Britain during the late 1980s and early 90s. ... Second Coming was an album released on December 5, 1994 in the UK and early 1995 in the US by The Stone Roses. ...

A quickly recorded lo-fi self-titled EP was released in 1999 and the follow-up LP, The Menace, was finally released in 2000 to moderate sales. A less focused effort than their debut, the album nonetheless contained some interesting moments and more electronic songs than before. One of the high points was "How He Wrote Elastica Man" featuring Mark E. Smith on vocals. A new line up was revealed with two keyboard players replacing Matthews for tour dates. Lo-fi — from Low Fidelity — describes a sound recording which contains accidental artifacts, like distortion, or environmental noise, or a recording which has a limited frequency response. ... See also: 1999 in music, 2000 in music (UK), other events of 2000, 2001 in music, 2000s in music and the list of years in music // Events John Tavener is knighted in the New Years Honours List. ... Mark E. Smith in 1981 Mark E. Smith (born March 5, 1957) is the lead singer, lyricist and hub of The Fall, a renowned and idiosyncratic offshoot from the UK post-punk/new wave music scenes. ...

After more touring the band then released a final single "The Bitch Don't Work" and announced their break-up in September 2001. See also: 2000 in music, 2001 in music (UK), other events of 2001, 2002 in music, 2000s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 1 - Hum disbands. ...

As a postscript in 2002 the band confessed in John Harris's Britpop memoir The Last Party that most members had had severe problems with heroin addiction during most of the lifetime of the band. This was said to be the main cause of the slow work rate and personal difficulties within the latter years. This was also the reason for the departure of Holland, although she later returned to tour the final album. This was not revealed at the time, although some fans suspected this to be the case. John Harris (c. ... Heroin or diamorphine (INN) (colloquially referred to as junk, babania, horse, golden brown, smack, black tar, big H, lady H, dope, skag, juice, diesel, etc. ...

Their song "Connection" was used in May 2004 in Garnier television commercials. Frischmann herself was no stranger to television jingles; her uncle wrote the theme song to Benny Hill. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... // Background From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising in some countries. ... Born Alfred Hawthorn Hill (January 21, 1924/1925 - April 20, 1992), Benny Hill was a prolific comic British actor. ...

Band Members

Core members:

• Justine Frishmann Vocals and Guitar 1991 - 2001
• Donna Matthews Guitar and Vocals 1991 - 1999
• Annie Holland Bass Guitar 1991 - 1996 and 1999 - 2001
• Justin Welch Drums 1991 - 2001

• Dave Bush Keyboards 1997 - 2001
• Paul Jones Guitar 1998 - 2001
• Mew Keyboards and Vocals 1999 - 2001

Other members: Paul Jones (born February 24, 1942) is an English singer, actor and radio presenter. ... The word mew can have several meanings: An imitative word, also spelled meow or miaou, representing the cry of a cat or of sea-birds. ...

• Sheila Chipperfield Bass 1996 - 1998
• Abby Travis Bass 1997
• Anthony Genn Keyboards 1996

Discography

Singles

• Stutter - 1993
• Line Up - 1994
• Connection - 1994
• Waking Up - 1995
• 6 track EP - 1999
• Mad Dog - 2000
• The Bitch Don't Work - 2001

Albums

• Elastica - 1995
• The Menace - 1999
• Radio 1 Sessions Live - 2001