James

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God I love James - Gold Mother (How was it for you?, Sit down), Whiplash (Tomorrow, She's a Star), Millionaires (Crash, Just like Fred Astaire), Pleased to Meet You (the title song, What is it good for) - I :love: em all!

Noone could wear a dress like Tim! :happy:
 
James was a terrific UK band with a number of great melodic songs. I particularly like the Seven album but Laid is pretty close. Fav tracks are Sometimes & Don't Wait That Long.

Unfortunately, the band was notoriously lazy and made a series of head-scratching career moves. Their management was a flat out joke and bungled their career, sadly. I always joke that they could write a book entitled "How NOT to become big in the U.S (despite releasing great albums)" with a foreward by the Verve.
 
These songs despite being dark & depressing stick to you like gum, very catchy songs but nevertheless very good in my opinion. I only have the Laid cd whish i think is very very cool excpet maybe for the lame cover:whistle:
 
elevation2u said:
I only have the Laid cd whish i think is very very cool excpet maybe for the lame cover:whistle:

Unfortunately, this was a big reason I never have been able to be interested in them until recently. I had heard a few recommendations to check them out about 5 years back. I saw the 'Laid' album at a used store and thought it looked hideous on the spot. I stuck it in and told myself that I disliked what I heard after about 20 seconds because of the cover. It's weird how something like the cover really can make or break something sometimes.
 
Hawkfire said:


Unfortunately, the band was notoriously lazy and made a series of head-scratching career moves.

I don't know if I would ever call James lazy. 10 proper albums in the career span from 86-01 plus a best of, b-sides album, live album, re-release of 'James' for the US and several songs on soundtracks and compilations. They extensively toured Europe for years. Their management did screw them over and it wasn't until after Laid that they realized they were screwed, but I wouldn't entirely blame that on James. They even braved a whole summer of torment from Korn fans during Lollapalooza here in the states. No they never did truly break here, but I wouldn't say it was out of laziness or bad career moves. We could compile a list a mile long of bands that are truly talented have success everywhere else but not in the US...hate to admit it but we don't have the best taste in music.
 
By the band's own admission, they were lazy. Pre 1993, I wouldn't call them lazy, but post-Laid, they were lazy. On the verge of a breakthrough in the U.S., they went into hibernation for three years only to emerge with the thoroughly average 1997 comeback disc that went nowhere. Predictably, with sales short, the band quickly issued a greatest hits compilation in 1998 to cover themselves (hmmm, sounds like a band from Dublin I know, LOL). Now U2, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen can afford (sometimes) to take years between realeases, but a band in their prime, as James was in 1994, had no business going four years between records.

And the effort on the '97 disc (so unmemorable I can't even recall its name even though I own it) was sloppy at best and the band admitted as much in subsequent interviews. The end result? Not only was the band flat broke, following bad management in their "heyday" of 1988-1994, they got DROPPED by their US record label after the greatest hits. The irony is that the last two studio albums, Millionaires and Pleased to Meet You, weren't half bad and had a couple radio-friendly tunes.

Just as pathetic in my view was James' idea of a tour of the U.S. in 1997...they scheduled a cross country tour of ~30 or so dates at modest but realistic venues with would-be pop stars Third Eye Blind opening (3EB, though they're wretched, would finish the year opening for U2!!!!). After just three west coast dates, lead singer Tim Booth allegedly hurts himself and the tour was scrapped entirely. Remarkable, then, that just two weeks later James is announced as part of a terrible Lollapalooza bill in the 11am time slot!!! Basically, the band couldn't take it slogging across the US playing 1,000 capacity clubs and took the easy money made available on Lollapalooza. Well one thing is sure - of the few people who actually did attend that mess of a festival that year, they sure weren't James fans. On a bill with outrageously eclectic acts from electronic (Orbital) to hip hop to metal (Metalica), James was the only mainstream alt-rock act and they had no "crossover" appeal to any of the other artists. Playing a 8-9 song set in the middle of the day they were universally ignored. The festival was such a disaster it led to the subsequent cancellation of Lollapalooza for a further 6 years. The billing made ZERO sense career wise. It earned them ZERO new fans. Perhaps fittingly, these Lollapalooza shows were the last James ever played in the U.S. and the only U.S. shows (save the three West Coast club dates) the band played post 1994 Woodstock.

So while they toured Europe extensively in the late 1990's, the effort in the U.S. is an 'F' as far as I'm concerned. Through bad management and a series of boneheaded decisions, the band missed chances to break the US market and build a lasting fanbase. A real shame since few 1990's catalogues are superior.
 
While I agree Whiplash wasn't their best, strong first half, but weak ass second half. Ironically had their second best hit in the US 'She's a Star'.

The reason for the hibernation was negotiations with their label and the fuck ups with the management team. So out of pure comprimise recorded Whiplash and sent out the best of in order to fulfill their agreement with the label. And yes Tim injured his neck in an accident.

The next two albums I believe were their two strongest albums to date.

I'm really not sure if James ever really had any desire to really break the US, I think they could have easily done it with the last two albums but chose to retire at the top of their game.

I saw Tim Booth play a solo gig here in Chicago a couple months ago. Very cool guy, came out into the audience talked to fans and what not. I asked him if he was going to come back and do a real club tour, he said they would like to but admits he never felt comfortable touring in the states.
 
Hawkfire said:
Fav tracks are Sometimes & Don't Wait That Long.

I always joke that they could write a book entitled "How NOT to become big in the U.S (despite releasing great albums)" with a foreward by the Verve.

Don't Wait That Long is my favoritest James song of all.

And I think we could get Manic Street Preachers to write a prologue (to history? ;) ) for that book.
 
u2popmofo said:


Unfortunately, this was a big reason I never have been able to be interested in them until recently. I had heard a few recommendations to check them out about 5 years back. I saw the 'Laid' album at a used store and thought it looked hideous on the spot. I stuck it in and told myself that I disliked what I heard after about 20 seconds because of the cover. It's weird how something like the cover really can make or break something sometimes.

I no longer feel so cold & alone in this :dancing:,
I seriosuly had to turn the cover over where this a picture of nails (I believe) because the cover was very, very terrible and seriously stopped me from listening to it and burying at the bottom of a drawer.

Off the top of my head other cds I like but have removed the cover for the same reasons are Radiohead's Pably Honey & Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad

:yuck:
 
Hawkfire said:
So while they toured Europe extensively in the late 1990's, the effort in the U.S. is an 'F' as far as I'm concerned. Through bad management and a series of boneheaded decisions, the band missed chances to break the US market and build a lasting fanbase. A real shame since few 1990's catalogues are superior.

I won't debate the facts about James cos I don't know them. I will say however that not every band in the universe wants to crack America. I realise here on a U2 fanbase (if ever a band existed to want to take over America and base almost their whole career there, it was U2! :wink: ) people may not be aware.

Some bands don't want world domination.* They are happy to have some "cult" status and some immediacy with their fans. I think how lucky I was to be able to chat with Billy Bragg and Grant Lee Phillips after their gigs and have a drink. They enjoy that interaction with their fans too. A band like U2's status, it's completely impossible.

Maybe James realised that they didn't want it either. Who knows? This is all complete speculation.

PS I would add REM to that category. Peter Buck has said it himself.
 
HeartlandGirl said:


Don't Wait That Long is my favoritest James song of all.

And I think we could get Manic Street Preachers to write a prologue (to history? ;) ) for that book.

Great, I dont have that song on the CD I just bought. :(


PS - You're manically clever ;)
 
u2popmofo said:


Great, I dont have that song on the CD I just bought. :(


PS - You're manically clever ;)

Check the trampoline mix.

And I'm glad somebody got my joke! :D

Glad you picked up the best of. It's a worthy purchase.
 
Fond of them based on what little I've heard. Here the big one - on music video shows at least - was 'Just like Fred Astaire'.
 
HeartlandGirl said:


Check the trampoline mix.


Ok, I'm an idiot. Listened to this entire mix over again today. You were right, that song is beautiful. Loved it.
 
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