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Charlatans UK Information
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'The Charlatans' (known in the United States as 'The Charlatans UK') are a British band originally formed in Birmingham by bassist Martin Blunt who recruited fellow West Midlanders Rob Collins (keyboard), John Brookes (drums), John Baker (also known as Day) (guitar) and vocalist Baz Ketley.
Former Electric Crayons singer Tim Burgess (from Northwich) replaced Baz before the release of The Charlatans debut single "Indian Rope" in 1990 on the bands own Dead Dead Good Records label. It proved an indie hit and the group soon found a label, Beggars Banquet off-shoot Situation Two, in time for the release of "The Only One I Know" which reached the top 10 in the UK.
A further single, "Then", and debut album Some Friendly were released later that year to great commercial and critical acclaim.
Around this time The Charlatans were forced to add UK to their name for an American tour due to competing claims by a 1960s rock band also known as The Charlatans.
John Baker left the band after 1991's "Over Rising" single to be replaced by Mark Collins (no relation to Rob) who made his debut on another non-album single, "Me. In Time".
The band brought in maverick producer Flood for their poorly-received second album Between 10th And 11th (named after the address of the New York Marque, site of the groups first US gig) which failed to hit the top twenty in the UK. Follow up, Up To Our Hips, was hailed as a return to form and reached number 8 in the British album charts.
However it was their fourth' self-titled album which saw them become major UK stars again, topping the UK chart and spawning the top 20 single "Just When You're Thinking Things Over".
Keyboard player Rob Collins was tragically killed in a car crash during the recording of fifth album Tellin' Stories on July 22 1996, just as things seemed to be going well for the band. After much soul-searching The Charlatans decided to continue and Primal Scream and former Felt keyboardist Martin Duffy was drafted in for The Charlatans high-profile support slot with Oasis at their huge Knebworth gigs in summer 1996 until a permanent replacement for Collins could be found.
Tellin' Stories was released in 1997 featuring contributions from both Rob Collins and Duffy and in the singles "One To Another", "North Country Boy" and "How High" the group had their biggest UK hits to date.
After releasing the career-spanning compilation Melting Pot the band's contract with Beggars Banquet was up and they signed for Universal Records with Burgess stating that, although he and the band had enjoyed their time on the independent record label they had made next to no money in the eight years since their first release. Relations with Beggars remained strong however and the band helped put together the DVD Just Lookin' 1990 - 1997 showcasing all their promo videos and a selection of live recordings from that era and b-sides collection Songs From The Other Side, both of which were released in 2002.
Us And Us Only saw the start of a new era for The Charlatans. Their first release for Universal saw keyboard player Tony Rogers make his album debut (he had previously toured with the group in support of Tellin' Stories and contributed to b-sides "Keep It To Yourself" and "Clean Up Kid" from the "How High" single) and the band take on a slightly country sound, heavily influenced by Burgess's love of Bob Dylan. The soul influenced Wonderland followed in 2001 before the more traditionally 'Charlatans' sounding Up At The Lake was released in 2004.
The band plan to release their ninth album proper in 2006. Provisionally entitled Simpatico it will feature the tracks "The Road to Paradise", "Always A Clue in a Dead Man™s Eye" and "Blackened Blue Eyes".
Discography
Albums
# Some Friendly (8 October 1990) - UK #1, US #73
# Between 10th And 11th (23 March 1992) - UK #21
# Up To Our Hips (21 March 1994) - UK #8
# The Charlatans (28 August 1995) - UK #1
# Tellin' Stories 21 April 1997) - UK #1
# Melting Pot (23 February 1998) - UK #4
# Us And Us Only (18 October 1999) - UK #2
# Wonderland (10 September 2001) - UK #2
# Songs From The Other Side (20 May 2002)
# Live It Like You Love It (22 July 2002)
# Up At The Lake (17 May 2004) - UK #7
Singles
# "Indian Rope" (?? January 1990, re-released ?? August 1991) - UK #57
# "The Only One I Know" (14 May 1990) - UK #9
# "Then" (10 September 1990) - UK #12
# "Over Rising" (25 February 1991) - UK #15
# "Me. In Time" (4 November 1991) - UK #28
# "Weirdo" (24 February 1992) - UK #19
# "Tremelo Song" (6 July 1992) - UK #44
# "Can't Get Out Of Bed" (24 January 1994) - UK #24
# "I Never Want An Easy Life If Me And He Were Ever To Get There" (7 March 1994) - UK #38
# "Jesus Hairdo" (20 June 1994) - UK #48
# "Crashin' In" (28 December 1994) - UK #31
# "Just Lookin'/Bullet Comes" (8 May 1995) - UK #32
# "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" (7 August 1995) - UK #12
# "One To Another" (26 August 1996) - UK #3
# "North Country Boy" (24 March 1997) - UK #4
# "How High" (9 June 1997) - UK #6
# "Tellin' Stories" (20 October 1997) - UK #16
# "Forever" (4 October 1999) - UK #12
# "My Beautiful Friend" (6 December 1999) - UK #31
# "Impossible" (15 May 2000) - UK #15
# "Love Is The Key" (27 August 2001) - UK #16
# "A Man Needs To Be Told" (19 November 2001) - UK #31
# "Up At The Lake" (10 May 2004) - UK #23
# "Try Again Today" (26 July 2004) - UK #24
# "Loving You Is Easy" (20 December 2004) - Radio Single Only
DVDs
# Just Lookin' 1990 - 1997 (20 May 2002)
# Live At Last (11 April 2005)
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