Luke Haines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Luke Haines | |
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 Luke Haines, performing at the 2005 Summer Sundae
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 7, 1967 , Walton-on-Thames, England |
| Origin | England |
| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock, Britpop, Electronica |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano/keyboard |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Label(s) | Degenerate |
| Associated acts | The Servants The Auteurs Baader Meinhof Black Box Recorder |
| Website | www.lukehaines.co.uk |
Luke Haines (born October 7, 1967) is an English musician and songwriter, who has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 'New Wave'
Haines formed numerous bands when he was at school. At college he joined The Servants who recorded two commercially unsuccessful albums. It was only when Haines formed The Auteurs with his girlfriend Alice Readman (who had also been in The Servants) and Glenn Collins in 1990 that he began to achieve some success.
Regular gigging in the London area and an NME sponsored gig brought them to the attention of Hut Records. They released their first single, "Showgirl" in 1992, and their debut album New Wave a month later. Haines was later to claim that this was the album that started Britpop, though he later showed disdain towards the movement, stating in a 2003 interview that Britpop consisted of "a bunch of bands who weren't good enough to exist in their own right, like music's equivalent of the Bloomsbury Group." Certainly it was ahead of its time in turning back from the acid house then popular to more traditional songwriting in the vein of The Kinks or The Small Faces. It is arguable that more commercially successful bands (such as Suede) owed much to Haines' vision. In any case, the album did well commercially (for a first album) and was nominated for a Mercury Prize.
The band toured the UK and the USA, gaining generally good reviews: however it is the opinion of the NME that the band were better in the studio than live.
[edit] A brush with fame
Their second album, Now I'm a Cowboy (1994) featured "Lenny Valentino" one of their most famous songs. By now the band were touring Europe and the States regularly, and were gaining a reputation as one of the best new British bands.
However, just as the band looked like 'breaking through' to the mainstream (as other British bands, such as Oasis and Blur were then doing), Haines broke both of his ankles, resulting in the cancellation of much of their 1994 European tour. At the time he claimed "I jumped off a fifteen-foot wall (while) touring, ... to finish the tour and get the insurance" but later, in the sleeve notes to Das Capital, he denied that it was deliberate, writing "I merely drank too much wine and fell over. It happens." In a wheel chair for most of 1995, Haines wrote the very different songs that would end up becoming the Auteurs' third album, After Murder Park. Even bleaker and more introspective than previous Auteurs albums, this was just as English as his previous work but now showed very different influences: the downbeat folk of Richard Thompson, the aggression of My Bloody Valentine, the pared down experimentalism of Wire, and the caustic lyrics of The Fall. It benefited from spare production by Steve Albini. Recorded, ironically, at Abbey Road studios at the height of Britpop, this was a distinctly anti-Britpop album.
[edit] After 'After Murder Park'
The Auteurs recorded a session for John Peel on 20 February 1996. [1]
At this point, Haines created a solo side project called Baader-Meinhof. Haines released one eponymous album under this moniker in 1996, which is named after the Baader Meinhof terrorist group. The sound was similar to that of The Auteurs, but more sparsely produced and with elements of funk and electronica, with lyrics, typically for the ever-contrary Haines, about terrorism.
After this, Haines disbanded the Auteurs, only to bring them back together again for their fourth album How I Learned to Love the Bootboys. This sounds like an amalgamation of Haines' previous styles: it is electronic, but has the same concern for pop hooks as his first two albums: on the other hand, the lyrics are brooding and obsessive, in a similar way to those on After Murder Park. From this point on, The Auteurs became merely a name for whatever musicians Haines chose to bring together for specific projects.
[edit] Black Box Recorder
After this album Haines created another side project with John Moore (formerly of The Jesus and Mary Chain) and Sarah Nixey: Black Box Recorder. With a sound clearly influenced by trip-hop and the ambient sound of French bands such as Air, the band produced three commercially successful albums, England Made Me, The Facts of Life, and Passionoia. There is also a B-sides collection, The Worst of Black Box Recorder. The Facts of Life produced the eponymous single, which has been the biggest hit of Haines' career so far.
Recently Haines has branched into film music, writing the music for Christie Malry's Own Double Entry, a British film based on the novel by B.S. Johnson.
[edit] Going solo
He has also produced a solo album under his own name, The Oliver Twist Manifesto. However, perhaps realising that he will always be best known as the creative force behind The Auteurs, Haines continues to reform them and remake their songs in a variety of ways. The Auteurs 'Best of' album Das Capital (sic) consisted of Auteurs songs reworked by a classical orchestra in a typically eccentric fashion.
In 2001 Haines called for a "National Pop Strike". [2]
A box set covering his career to date, Luke Haines is Dead, was issued in 2005, and two new albums were expected in 2006: 'Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop', and the soundtrack to the abandoned musical 'Property', which like his Black Box Recorder work, also features Sarah Nixey.
Cherry Red Records released a "Best of The Servants" compilation, with sleeve notes by Haines, early in 2006.
New album Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop was released in October 2006. Haines has been working with maverick pop producer Richard X (Sugababes, Liberty X, Rachel Stevens) on some tracks. The album was preceded by a double A-sided single 'Off My Rocker At The Artschool Bop (Richard X version) b/w I Am The Best Artist/Skinny White Girls.' There is currently no news on a release date for the 'Property' soundtrack.
Haines toured the UK and Ireland during November 2006. John Moore guested on bowed saw and backing vocals at some gigs.[3]
On 16 November 2006 Haines played a live session for BBC Radio 6 Music's Gideon Coe show.
On 13 December 2006 Haines played a live session (three songs) for BBC Radio 2's Janice Long show. During an interview on the same show Haines said that he may play some gigs in early 2007 in support of a E.P. release of Leeds United.
Haines has played at book signings for David Peace who was promoting The Damned United, a book on Brian Clough's brief tenure at Leeds United in the 1970s. Leeds United relates to this, and with the reference to the Yorkshire Ripper, to Peace's earlier Yorkshire/Red Riding Quartet. The refrain "The North! The North!" advances on the earlier Auteurs track The South Will Rise Again, itself a response to The N.W.R.A. by The Fall.
In December 2007, Black Box Recorder teamed up with Art Brut to create the single Christmas Number One under the collaborative title of The Black Arts. [4]
In issue four of the comic book Phonogram, Haines appears as a spirit guide leading the main character through a metaphorical land representing Britpop.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio Albums
- New Wave, 1993 (The Auteurs)
- Now I'm a Cowboy, 1994 (The Auteurs)
- After Murder Park, 1996 (The Auteurs)
- Baader Meinhof, 1996 (Baader Meinhof)
- England Made Me, 1999 (Black Box Recorder)
- How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, 1999 (The Auteurs)
- The Facts of Life, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
- Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST, 2001 (Luke Haines)
- The Oliver Twist Manifesto, 2001 (Luke Haines)
- The Worst of Black Box Recorder, 2001 (Black Box Recorder)
- Passionoia, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
- Das Capital, 2003 (Luke Haines)
- Luke Haines is Dead, 2005 (Luke Haines)
- Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop, 2006 (Luke Haines)
[edit] Singles/EPs
- Showgirl, 1992 (The Auteurs)
- How Could I Be Wrong, 1993 (The Auteurs)
- Housebreaker, 1993 (The Auteurs)
- New French Girlfriend, 1993 (The Auteurs)
- Lenny Valentino, 1993 (The Auteurs)
- Chinese Bakery, 1994 (The Auteurs)
- The Auteurs vs Mu-Ziq EP (remixes), 1994 (The Auteurs/Mu-Ziq)
- Back With the Killer EP, 1995 (The Auteurs)
- Kid's Issue, 1996 (The Auteurs)
- Light Aircraft on Fire, 1996 (The Auteurs)
- Child Psychology, 1998 (Black Box Recorder)
- England Made Me, 1998 (Black Box Recorder)
- The Rubettes, 1999 (The Auteurs)
- The Facts of Life, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
- The Art of Driving, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
- These Are the Things, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
- The School Song, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
- Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop, 2006 (Luke Haines)
- Christmas Number One, 2007 (The Black Arts - collaboration between Black Box Recorder and Art Brut)
- Leeds United EP, 2007 (Luke Haines)
[edit] Popular culture references
Haines often refers to his influences or other parts of culture.
- From New Wave
Junk Shop Clothes
- Chaim Soutine, Belarusian-Jewish expressionist painter,
- Lenny Bruce, American comedian.
- From Now I'm A Cowboy
Lenny Valentino
- Lazarus, New Testament figure,
- John Judnich, sound engineer on the Lenny Bruce show.
Brainchild
- Patti Smith (probably), American singer.
New French Girlfriend
- Alain Delon (probably), French actor,
- Vanessa Paradis (probably), French singer/actress.
Chinese Bakery
- Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, French artist,
- Bob Dylan, American singer.
Daughter of a Child
- Truman Capote, writer.
- From Back With The Killer EP
Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream
- Kenneth Anger, avant-garde film maker, devotee of Aleister Crowley.
- From After Murder Park
Light Aircraft on Fire
- Queen Victoria, monarch.
Child Brides
- Jesus Christ, religious leader.
Dead Sea Navigators
- Mickey Green, drug runner.
- From Baader Meinhof
Baader Meinhof
- Andreas Baader, Baader Meinhof gang member.
- Ulrike Meinhof, Baader Meinhof gang member.
- Axel Springer, German media mogul.
- Rudi Dutschke, German political activist.
- Eva Braun, girlfriend of Adolf Hitler.
- Michael Baumann, Baader Meinhof gang member.
Meet Me at the Airport
- Zohair Youssif Akache, alias Captain Martyr Mahmud, hijacker of Lufthansa Flight 181.
There's Gonna be an Accident
- Petra Schelm, Baader Meinhof gang member.
Mogadishu
- Zohair Youssif Akache, alias Captain Martyr Mahmud, hijacker of Lufthansa Flight 181.
Kill Ramirez
- Patrick Argüello, PFLP member and wannabe Sandinista who died in the foiled hijacking of El Al Flight 219 in 1970.
- Leila Khaled, another PFLP member who took part in the above incident but survived.
Back on the Farm
- Petra Schelm, Baader Meinhof gang member.
- Holger Meins, Baader Meinhof gang member.
- From How I Learned to Love the Bootboys
The Rubettes
- The Rubettes, 1970s glam rock/pop band.
1967
- The Beatles, popular musical group,
- The Rolling Stones, popular musical group.
How I Learned to Love the Bootboys
- Big Youth, Jamaican DJ.
Some Changes
- Luke Haines, singer.
School
- Michael Ray, unidentified.
Johnny and the Hurricanes
- Nero, Roman emperor,
- Johnny and the Hurricanes, 1950s instrumental beat combo,
- Johnny Kidd, 1950s singer,
- Johnny Ace, blues singer, in the original lyrics for the song,
- Richard Kaey, unidentified.
Lights Out
- Romeo and Juliet, fictional lovers.
Future Generation
- Lazarus, New Testament figure.
- From The Oliver Twist Manifesto
Oliver Twist
- Oliver Twist, eponymous hero of Charles Dickens's novel.
The Death of Sarah Lucas
- Sarah Lucas, Young British Artist in the room.
Discomania
- Kim Wilde, 1980s pop minx,
- The Silent Twins, subjects of the song,
- Tallulah Bankhead, American actress and 'character'.
- Marc Ecko, American fashion designer and entrepreneur.
Mr & Mrs Solanas
- Valerie Solanas, radical feminist, writer of the SCUM Manifesto,
- Guy Debord, founder member of the Situationist International & Lettrist International,
- Michele Bernstein, novelist & critic who married Guy Debord, also mentioned;
- Raoul Vaneigem, another key player in the Situationist International.
Christ
- Billy Mackenzie, singer in 1980s band The Associates.
The Spook Manifesto
- Giacomo Casanova, writer and lover,
- Comte de Saint-Germain, occultist,
- General Weldon,
- Prinz Ragoczy, an alias of the Comte de Saint-Germain, occultist, who allegedly claimed to be the son of Francis II Rákóczi.
The Oliver Twist Manifesto
- Oliver Twist, eponymous hero of Charles Dickens's novel.
- From Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST
England, Scotland and Wales
- Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister,
- George Orwell, author,
- Lord Beaverbrook, tycoon.
- From Das Capital
Satan Wants Me
- Aleister Crowley, occultist,
- L. Ron Hubbard, Scientologist,
- The Beatles, popular music group,
- The Rolling Stones, popular music group,
- Kenneth Anger, avant-garde film maker, devotee of Aleister Crowley,
- The Dalai Lama, religious leader,
- Grigory Rasputin, Russian mystic,
- Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin guitarist,
- Johnny Kidd.
The Mitford Sisters
- Walter Raleigh, English explorer, poet and courtier,
- Oswald Moseley, British Fascist politician,
- Diana Mitford, Moseley's wife,
- Nancy Mitford, novelist and biographer,
- Unity Mitford, another Fascist sympathiser,
- Adolf Hitler, dictator,
- Michael Powell, British film director; alternative title to The Mitford Sisters.
- From Luke Haines is Dead
X-Boogie Man
- Bela Lugosi, Hungarian actor,
- Susan Atkins, member of the Manson Family,
- Jack the Ripper, serial killer,
- Genghis Khan, Mongolian warlord.
- From Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop
Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop
- El Lissitzky, Russian Suprematist artist,
- Tadasky Kuwayama, Japanese Op Artist, in
- László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian Constructivist artist,
Leeds United
- Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, subject of the song,
- Doris Stokes, spiritualist and medium,
- Jimmy Savile, television presenter,
- Kendo Nagasaki, British wrestler,
- The Queen.
All the English Devils
- Boadicea, ancient British queen,
- Nobby Stiles, footballer,
- Mrs Beeton, Victorian cookery writer.
The Walton Hop
- Jonathan King, pop impresario and convicted paedophile,
- Chicory Tip, Bubblegum pop band, in the original lyrics to The Walton Hop.
' Here's to Old England
- Enoch Powell, Tory politician,
- Freddie Mills, boxer,
- Jack the Stripper, serial killer,
- Mr Kipper, pseudonym adopted by the killer of Suzy Lamplugh,
- George Best, footballer,
Freddie Mills is Dead
- Freddie Mills, boxer,
- Michael Holliday, singer,
- Bing Crosby, crooner.
Bad Reputation
- Gary Glitter, pop musician and convicted paedophile,
- The Glitter Band, his backing group.
- From Black Box Recorder songs
Being Number One
- Max Clifford, tabloid publicist
Andrew Ridgeley
- George Michael, musician,
- Andrew Ridgeley, Michael's former partner in Wham!.
The Deverell Twins
- The Deverell Twins, drowned in the Thames in the 19th century.
