The Boo Radleys were a British guitar band of the 1990s who made experimental indie music, and were briefly associated with the Britpop movement. They were formed in Liverpool, England in 1988, with singer/guitarist Sice, guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, bassist Timothy Brown and drummer Steve Hewitt. The band split in 1999. The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Britpop was a British alternative rock and cultural movement which gained popularity in Great Britain in the mid 1990s, characterised by the prominence of bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice to produce music. ... Steve Howe playing lead guitar for Yes in 1977 A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. ... Sice was the stage name of a singer / guitarist from Liverpool best known as the singer of the Boo Radleys. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Born in Scotland but raised in Liverpool, Martin Carr was the chief song writer and lead guitarist with the British band The Boo Radleys. ... Bass guitars typically have four strings instead of six as found on regular guitars. ... Timothy Brown played Dr. Spearchucker Jones in the television series M*A*S*H. He was dropped from the show when the producers learned that there were no African American surgeons in the Korean War. ... A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Steve Hewitt, drummer for the English band, Placebo. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Band Name

The band's name comes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in which Boo Radley is the name of a character who is feared by the neighbourhood children as some kind of freak, but ultimately turns out to have been misunderstood. To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. ... Harper Lee (born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama) is an American novelist, best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. ...

Fans sometimes called the band "The Boos".

Beginnings

In 1990, the band's first album Ichabod and I was released on a small British indie label, Action Records. It was similar in style to much of the then-popular shoegazing sub-genre, and bore the influence of My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr. 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. See also: 1989 in music, 1990 in British music, other events of 1990, 1991 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 21 - MTVs Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze February 6 - Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle... Shoegazing is a style of alternative rock that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. ... My Bloody Valentine were an Irish-British shoegazing rock band. ... Dinosaur Jr. ... Rough Trade on 130 Talbot Road (nearby Notting Hill station) Rough Trade Records is a British independent record label. ...

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 release for Creation was Everything's Alright Forever in 1992, which was the first step in a move away from the shoegazing sound. That development in their sound was to be fully realised on their first album for Creation, Giant Steps (1993). The album takes its title from a song by jazz musician John Coltrane, of whom Martin Carr is a fan. Carr said the album "was a step away from the MBV sound into using more instruments and less conventional arrangements." The record was well-received by critics, and was awarded 9/10 by the influential weekly music magazine NME, which wrote: 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. ... Alan McGee is a British music industry mogul famed for founding the independent Creation Records label which ran from 1983 to 2000. ... At least two different record labels called Creation Records have existed. ... See also: 1991 in music, other events of 1992, 1993 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events 1992 was a pivotal year in the development of music. ... 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. ... John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a music magazine in the UK which has been published weekly since March 1952. ...

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.

Both NME and Select Magazine declared Giant Steps album of the year in 1993. A UK music magazine of the 90s, Select is particularly famous for its involvement in Britpop. ...

Wake Up! and later albums

Despite such critical acclaim and a large cult fanbase, the Boo Radleys were still largely unknown to the general public by the time the Britpop phenomenon broke into the mainstream in 1995. This changed when the band made released the musically (but not lyrically) upbeat single "Wake Up Boo!" in the summer of that year. It made the UK chart top 10, and has been used extensively since as background music on television. Britpop was a British alternative rock and cultural movement which gained popularity in Great Britain in the mid 1990s, characterised by the prominence of bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Their fourth album Wake Up! (1995), from which the single was taken, was close in tone to much of the catchy, melodic, Beatles inspired British pop of the time, but many tracks featured unusual arrangements, relatively complex songwriting, and strangely titled songs like "Martin, Doom! It's Seven O' Clock". The group came to be seen as a Britpop band, which they resented. Interviewed in 2005 by the BBC, Martin Carr said: Wake Up! is an album by UK indie band The Boo Radleys, released by Creation Records in 1995. ... 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 Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ...

I tried to have nothing to do with what was being called Britpop. Our whole career was spent trying not to 'fit in'. We just carried on doing what we had been doing. I didn't like most of the new bands or the flag-waving. I didn't like New Labour or idolise Paul Weller and I hated media-generated movements within music.

They responded to mainstream success in 1996 with C'mon Kids, which featured more experimental sounds. Their final LP was 1998's Kingsize, which was influenced in parts by soul music, hip hop and dance music. Both albums were warmly received by critics, but neither found commercial success. A career-spanning compilation, Find the Way Out, was released in 2005. See also: 1995 in music, other events of 1996, 1997 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 8 - Madonnas stalker, Robert Hoskins is found guilty and convicted on 5 charges of assault, stalking, and threatening to kill her. ... See also: 1997 in music, other events of 1998, 1999 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events February 15 - Sir Edward Elgars unfinished third symphony, completed by Anthony Payne is performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall. ... Soul music is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel which began in the late 1950s in the United States. ... Hip hop music (also referred to as rap or rap music) is a style of popular music. ... Dance music is music composed, played, or both, specifically to accompany social dancing. ...

Disbandment

The Boo Radleys disbanded in early 1999. Under the name Brave Captain, Martin Carr has since released two albums, Advertisements for Myself (2002) and All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2004). Brave Captain is the name adopted by former Boo Radleys song writer and guitarist Martin Carr for his solo pop career. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in...

Discography

• Ichabod and I (July 1990)
• Everything's Alright Forever (March 1992)
• Learning To Walk (1992)
• Giant Steps (July 1993)
• Wake Up! (March 1995)
• C'mon Kids (September 1996)
• Kingsize (October 1998)
• Find the Way Out (July 2005)

Debut album by Britpoppers The Boo Radleys, released in 1990. ... This article is about the year. ... Second album by English indie rock group the Boo Radleys, released in 1992. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Learning To Walk is a compilation album by UK indie band The Boo Radleys, released by Rough Trade Records in 1992. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... This is the third album by The Boo Radleys, released in 1993. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Wake Up! is an album by UK indie band The Boo Radleys, released by Creation Records in 1995. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fifth album by English Britpoppers The Boo Radleys, released in 1996. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Sixth and final album by English Britpoppers The Boo Radleys, released in 1998. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official biography from the Boo Radleys website
• Archived reviews at NME.com
• Archived 1993 review of Giant Steps, from the NME
• Interview with Martin Carr marking the anniversary of Britpop
• Interview with Martin Carr from a Creation Records fansite