Orange Juice

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This article is about the band. For other uses, see Orange juice (disambiguation).
Orange Juice

Background information
Origin Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s) Post-punk
Years active 1979-1985

Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics (who were named after a cheap brand of guitar) with his fellow Bearsden Academy pupil, Alan Duncan, and James Kirk and Steven Daly left a band called The Machetes to join them[1]. The band became Orange Juice in 1979. Orange Juice are perhaps best known for the hit "Rip It Up", which reached number 8 on the UK singles chart in February 1983, the band's only UK Top 40 hit.

Contents

[edit] Career

The original Orange Juice line-up was:

The band's first official show was on April 20, 1979 at the Victoria Cafe at the Glasgow School of Art. The band released their first singles on Postcard Records, with these singles achieving legendary status in the UK music press.[citation needed] Simon Reynolds ascribes their status as music media darlings, as being due to the depression following the suicide of Ian Curtis of Joy Division - music critics and indie music fans were looking for something "life-affirming" with a sense of humour.

The orignal line-up signed to Polydor Records and recorded their first album You Can't Hide Your Love Forever. However, internal tensions led to James Kirk and Steven Daly leaving in early 1982, and for the next two album releases the core line-up was:

Musically the band attempted to fuse post-punk guitars with disco and funk rhythms, rather in the manner of the Gang of Four. (Other key influences included Buzzcocks and Subway Sect). Lyrically, however, Orange Juice were always far more commercially minded than the aforementioned Leeds based Marxists: Collins in particular adopting a fey, camp vocal style. In general, the band was known for their love of kitsch, irony, and literate optimism. Despite this their only Top 40 hit, "Rip It Up" was achieved with the aid of the then-trendy synthesizer - in fact it was the first hit song to use the Roland TB-303, years later an essential component in Acid house music.[1]

By early 1984, Malcolm Ross and David McClymont had left the band leaving a core line-up of:

Together the duo recorded Orange Juices final album called The Orange Juice. They also enlisted several musical friends to help them out on the recording. It was produced by Dennis Bovell.

While the group has long dispersed, members remain active in their separate and diverse fields (including travel writing). At least two greatest hits albums are available.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • 1980 - "Falling and Laughing"
  • 1980 - "Blue Boy"
  • 1980 - "Simply Thrilled Honey"
  • 1981 - "Poor Old Soul"
  • 1981 - "Wan Light" (scheduled on Postcard Records but never pressed or released)
  • 1981 - "L.O.V.E....Love" (UK No.65)
  • 1982 - "Felicity" (UK No.63)
  • 1982 - "Two Hearts Together" (UK No.60)
  • 1982 - "I Can't Help Myself" (UK No.42)
  • 1983 - "Rip It Up" (UK No.8)
  • 1983 - "Flesh of My Flesh" (UK No.41)
  • 1984 - "Bridge" (UK No.67)
  • 1984 - "What Presence" (UK No.47)
  • 1984 - "Lean Period" (UK No.74)

[edit] Studio Albums

[edit] Compilation albums

  • 1984 - In a Nutshell
  • 1992 - The Esteemed - The Very Best of Orange Juice
  • 1992 - Ostrich Churchyard - the long-awaited CD release of the previously unreleased debut Orange Juice album for Postcard Records (the Sound of Young Scotland), along with a Peel Session, and, on the Japanese issue, a bonus BBC Radio 1 session track, "Wan Light".
  • 1993 - The Heather's on Fire - the other long-awaited CD release by Orange Juice on Postcard Records, this collection brings the first four singles together with some more radio sessions and, on the Scottish version, a NuSonics (pre-Orange Juice) cover of the New York Dolls song 'Who Are The Mystery Girls?', sounding an awfully lot like the Ramones.
  • 2005 - The Glasgow School - a compilation of Postcard-era tracks -- named "Reissue of the Year" for 2005 by Britain's Uncut Magazine

[edit] References

  1. ^ Postcard Records on TweeNet

[edit] External links

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