The Sundays

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"Sundays" redirects here. For the day, see Sunday.
The Sundays

Background information
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Alternative
Dream Pop
Indie pop
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums
Years active 1988–1997
Label(s) Rough Trade
Geffen
Parlophone
Associated acts Jim Jiminee
Departure Lounge
Star 69 (band)
Members
David Gavurin
Harriet Wheeler
Patrick Hannan
Paul Brindley

The Sundays were an English alternative pop group.

The band, formed in the mid-1980s, released three albums of material in the late 1980s and 1990s. Their music is characterised by singer Harriet Wheeler's "dreamy"[citation needed] voice, David Gavurin's rich and jangly guitar sound, and suspension-rich harmonies.

Contents

[edit] Career

The band's genesis came with the meeting of Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university in Bristol. Wheeler had played gigs with the band Jim Jiminee.[1] [2] The duo soon augmented the band with bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan.

The Sundays were widely heralded by the British press after early gigs in London in 1988, drawing comparisons with Cocteau Twins and The Smiths.[3] The group's first single, "Can't Be Sure", was released in 1989 and was voted number one in John Peel's Festive Fifty that year.

The band achieved a measure of success in 1990 with its debut album, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, which went gold in the UK and U.S. Subsequent albums Blind (1992) and Static and Silence (1997) also went gold in the United States.

Patrick Hannan played Drums for Star 69 and Arnold.

Gavurin formed a friendship with the comedian David Baddiel when growing up in North London, which would lead to the Sundays providing the song "Another Flavour" (sans vocals) from Static and Silence as the theme tune to the Newman and Baddiel in Pieces TV series.

The band has been on a lengthy hiatus since the release of Static and Silence. Wheeler and Gavurin are focusing on raising their two children.[citation needed]

[edit] Band members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

Year Song UK U.S. Mod Rock AUS Album
1989 "Can't Be Sure" 45 – 74 Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
1990 "Here's Where the Story Ends" – – –
1992 "Love" – 2 – Blind
"Goodbye" 27 11 –
1997 "Summertime" 15 10 41 Static and Silence
"Cry" 43 – –

[edit] B-sides/unreleased songs

  • "Don't Tell Your Mother" (b-side of "Can't Be Sure")
  • "Noise" (b-side of "Goodbye")
  • "Here's Where The Story Ends" [Black Session] (b-side of "Wild Horses" U.S. cassette single)
  • "(The) Turkish" (only performed live, and at almost every live gig on the Blind and Static and Silence tours)
  • "Something More" (unreleased)
  • "So Much" (only on the U.S. version of Static and Silence)
  • "Skin & Bones" [live] (b-side of "Summertime")
  • "Here's Where The Story Ends" [live] (b-side of "Summertime")
  • "Nothing Sweet" (b-side of "Summertime")
  • "Gone" (b-side of (b-side of "Summertime")
  • "Can't Be Sure" [demo] (b-side of "Cry")
  • "You're Not The Only One I Know" [demo] (b-side of "Cry")
  • "Through The Dark" (b-side of "Cry")
  • "Life Goes On" (b-side of "Cry")

[edit] In popular media

Their version of the song "Wild Horses" from the album Blind was used as the last dance song at the Prom in the popular '90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was also featured on the first released soundtrack for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and in the movie Fear with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg during the roller coaster ride.

On the song "Nate and Matt" on the album "Cigarette Beach," Matt Kukla of Grand Buffet proclaims that he is a "compulsive gambler/consulting Ayn Rand" and that he "digs the Sundays/big slowcore fan."

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed., Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, vol 3, New England Pub. Associates, Chester, CT:, 1992, page 2416.
  2. ^ VH1.com : The Sundays : The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler - Rhapsody Music Downloads
  3. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. allmusic ((( The Sundays > Biography ))).
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