The Bluetones were an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members were Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden". The band scored thirteen Top 40 singles and three Top 10 albums in the UK charts, including their debut Expecting To Fly album, which knocked Oasis' What's The Story Morning Glory LP from the top spot in the mid-90's. Although their commercial success waned in the post-Britpop era, they continued to tour and release new records. Their final album A New Athens was released in May 2010 and the band split on 1 October 2011 following a farewell tour which ended with a concert in Osaka, Japan.
Links To Peel []
Peel discovered the group through the Fierce Panda label, who the band released a track on a compilation EP and two singles on the Superior Quality label before joining a major. Both singles (Bluetonic and Slight Return) were regularly played by Peel and entered in the 1995 Festive Fifty, months before one of them (Slight Return) reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1996. After the mid-90's, the group's commercial success waned and Peel rarely played their material.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 1995 Festive Fifty: Bluetonic #15
- 1995 Festive Fifty: Slight Return #21
Sessions[]
- The tracks Slight Return, Talking To Clary from session #1 and Castle Rock, Vampire from session #2 are all available on the BBC Radio Sessions (Mercury, CD, 2007)
1. Recorded: 1994-12-18. Broadcast: 21 January 1995. Repeated: None
- Cut Some Rug / Slight Return / A Parting Gesture / Talking To Clary
2. Recorded and live at Maida Vale: 1996-08-04. Broadcast: 04 August 1996
- The Simple Things / Castle Rock / Devil Behind My Smile / Electric Vampire
3. Recorded: 1999-01-31. Broadcast: 04 February 1999
- Bluetonic / 4 Day Weekend / Jub Jub Bird / Pretty Ballerina / Slight Return / Sky Will Fall / If
Live[]
1. Recorded for Sound City, Bristol: 1995-04-21. Broadcast: 21 April 1995
- Can't Be Trusted / Stringalong / Bluetonic / Slight Return / Are You Blue Or Are You Blind / Cut Some Rug / Time & Again
2. Recorded at Reading Festival: 1995-08-26. Broadcast: 26 August 1995
- Bluetonic / Cut Some Rug / Can't Be Trusted / Are You Blue Or Are You Blind / Slight Return / Driftwood / Time & Again
3. Recorded at Newcastle University for Sound City, unknown date. Broadcast 27 October 1998
- unknown tracks
Other Shows Played[]
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)
- 1994
- 09 December 1994: No. 11 (v/a 7" - Return To Splendour) Fierce Panda
- 10 December 1994 (BBC World Service): No. 11 (v/a 2x7" - Return To Splendour) Fierce Panda
- 30 December 1994: No. 11 (v/a 7" - Return to Splendour) Fierce Panda
The Bluetones Slight Return (Live Video)
'Slight Return', #21 in the 1995 Festive Fifty
- 1995
- 18 February 1995: Slight Return (7") Superior Quality
- 25 February 1995: Slight Return (7") Superior Quality
- 11 March 1995 (BBC World Service): 'Slight Return (blue vinyl 7")' (Superior Quality Recordings)
- 17 March 1995: 'Slight Return (7 inch)' (Superior Quality-given away at gigs)
- 13 May 1995: Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (7") Superior Quality
- 19 May 1995: 'Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (7 inch)' (Superior Quality)
- 15 September 1995: Bluetonic (7") Superior Quality
- 30 December 1995: 'Slight Return (7 inch)' (Superior Quality Recordings) (JP: 'From the first moment you heard that, you felt that you'd known it all of your life.') FF #21
- 30 December 1995: 'Bluetonic (7 inch)' (Superior Quality Recordings) FF #15
- 30 December 1995 (BFBS): 'Bluetonic (CDS-Bluetonic)' (Superior Quality Recordings)
- 1996
- 17 February 1996: The Fountainhead (album - Expecting To Fly) Superior Quality
- 1997
- 20 January 1997: Slight Return (Non-Peel session from March 1995) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)