The High

This article is about the British rock band. For the street in Oxford, see High Street, Oxford. For the Wildstorm superhero, see The High (comics). For other uses, see High (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with The Higher.
The High
Origin Manchester, England
Genres Alternative rock
Madchester
Baggy
Years active 1989-1993, 2015-
Labels London
Associated acts The Stone Roses
Buzzcocks F.O.C.
Inspiral Carpets
Members Andy Couzens
John Matthews
Tony Meehan
Richard Thomas
Scott Parkinson
Past members Simon Davies
Chris Goodwin
Jack Couzens

The High are an English rock group from Manchester, who combine the late 60's style pop and psyche guitar sound.

The first incarnation of band (1989-1993) were signed to London Records.

The High reformed in early 2015, with John Matthews and Andy Couzens the only original members; they are joined by Tony Meehan (bass), Jack Couzens (drums), and Richard Thomas (keyboards).

The new line-up headlined at the "Gigantic" Festival in Manchester at the Academy 2 on 23 May 2015, as their comeback gig and have played a number of headline shows since.

The band has also been writing and recording new material, and in June 2016 released their first single for 25 years. 'Kiss The Sun' on their own label Thin Line Productions.

Warner Brothers re-released their debut album Somewhere Soon in June 2016, and a long awaited album is due for release in early 2017.

In 2016 the new drummer Jack Couzens left due to schedule clashes and was succeeded by Scott Parkinson.


History

The band was formed in 1989 by former Turning Blue singer John Matthews, along with former Buzzcocks F.O.C. members Andy Couzens (guitar, also formerly of The Stone Roses and pre-Roses bands The Patrol and Waterfront), Simon Davies (bass), and drummer Chris Goodwin (also formerly of Inspiral Carpets), when Steve Diggle left Buzzcocks F.O.C. to reform the Buzzcocks.[1][2]

They were signed by London Records and had three minor UK Singles Chart hits in 1990 before breaking into the top 30 in 1991 with a revamped version of their debut single, the Martin Hannett-produced "Box Set Go".[1][3] The band's debut album, Somewhere Soon, peaked at number 59 in the UK Album Chart.

With the Madchester scene losing favour with the critics, the band's later releases failed to chart, the band splitting up in 1993.[1] John Matthews and Chris Goodwin went on to form the Manchester group 'One Summer' with local musicians Stephen Fitzpatrick (guitar) and Carl Wolstenholme (bass). One Summer worked with Factory Records group A Certain Ratio and recorded a demo for the label before it went into administration.

The High have recently appeared on Jon Savages compilation, Perfect Motion - Jon Savage's Secret History Of Second-Wave Psychedelia 1988-93

Discography

Chart placings are from the UK singles and album charts.[1]

Singles

Albums

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, ISBN 0-86241-913-1
  2. ↑ "The High Biography", kolumn
  3. ↑ Raggett, Ned "Somewhere Soon Review", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.