Monday, August 13, 2007

Texas: Band not State


Texas are a pop music band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone (formerly of the bands Altered Images and Hipsway) in 1986 and had their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas. Their musical sound went from blues rock on their debut album Southside via the blue-eyed soul of White on Blonde to the disco pop of Red Book.

History
Texas scored a UK hit in 1989 with their debut single "I Don't Want a Lover." This was taken from their debut album Southside, which went on to sell two million copies worldwide.


Ellen DeGeneres had approached the band, and Sharleen Spiteri and Ally McErlaine flew to the U.S. to re-record a song from the third album, "So Called Friend," which went on to become the theme song to DeGeneres' US sitcom Ellen.

In 1997 Texas came back with "Say What You Want"; this became their biggest hit single yet, peaking at #3. The album White on Blonde followed, entering at #1, where it would return a year later. Other hit singles from the album were "Halo," "Black Eyed Boy," and "Put Your Arms Around Me"; a reworking of "Say What You Want" with Method Man was released alongside album track "Insane."

The band's fifth album, The Hush, was released in 1999 with the lead-off single "In Our Lifetime" which was a huge hit in the UK reaching number 4 and was included in the "Notting Hill" Soundtrack.

In 2000, a greatest-hits album was released that included three new songs (In Demand, "Inner Smile," and "Guitar Song"). The video for "In Demand" featured actor Alan Rickman, and in the video for the anthemic follow-up single, co-written by Gregg Alexander, Spiteri dressed up as Elvis Presley. "Inner Smile" was a big hit in Europe and was later featured prominently in the 2002 feature film Bend It Like Beckham. The song "Like Lovers (Holding On)" is featured during the ending credits of the animated feature film Titan A.E.

In September 2002, Spiteri gave birth to her daughter Mysty Kyd. However, this did not prevent her from working on another album. In the television show The Office, fictional character David Brent claims that Texas used to open for his band, "Foregone Conclusion," before he gave up music to manage the Slough office of Wernham Hogg, a paper supply firm.

The band returned in mid-2005 with the single "Getaway," which entered the UK Top 10, the video for which was shot by Christopher Doyle and directed by Tim Royes. The single "Can't Resist" and album Red Book followed in the autumn.

Albums
Southside, Heaven, Ricks Road, White On Blonde, The Hush, Greatest Hits, Careful What you Wish For, Red Book

Don’t Miss the Songs:
Inner Smile and Fool for Love

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good post.