{{#ifexist:Category:Articles needing additional references from March 2009
Hue and Cry
is a pop duo formed in 1983 in Coatbridge, Scotland by the brothers Pat Kane (vocals) and Greg Kane (keyboards). They had a number of modest hits in the UK Singles Chart in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, and have released eleven albums from 1987 to date.
|
HUE AND CRY TICKETS
|
Career
Their first single "Here Comes Everybody" was released on a small
Glasgow-based independent label, Stampede. While not a
chart hit, it attracted the interest of
Virgin Records' subsidiary
Circa who signed the duo in 1986. Around the same time, the Kane brothers contributed a track ('Dangerous Wreck') to a
compilation cassette entitled "
Honey at the Core" which featured then up-and-coming Glasgow bands, including
Wet Wet Wet and
Deacon Blue.
Their debut single for Circa, "I Refuse", reached number 85 in the UK Singles Chart. Their second single and, to date, biggest hit was "
Labour of Love" (1987, UK No.6), from the debut album
Seduced and Abandoned
(1987, UK No.22). Other UK
Top 40 hits included "Looking for Linda" (1989, UK No.15) and "Violently (Your Words Hit Me)", an EP that reached No. 21 - both from their second album
Remote
(1988, UK No.10). Although "Ordinary Angel" was released during the group's chart spell, it only managed No. 42, despite an appearance on TV's
What's That Noise?
with
Craig Charles.
Remote
was re-released in 1989 as a
double album, including "The Bitter Suite", a live recording.
In the 1990s the brothers embarked upon a period of musical experimentation. The 1991 album
Stars Crash Down
pushed the boundaries of the pop genre, embracing
folk,
country,
Latin and quartet
jazz.
Truth & Love
(1992) was released on the brothers' own short-lived label, Fidelity. Hue and Cry had a brief chart revival in 1993 with the release of the Circa compilation album
Labours of Love - The Best of Hue and Cry
(UK No.27), which included a
Joey Negro remix of "Labour of Love" (UK No.25).
1994 saw a successful collaboration with master
jazz arranger and
composer,
Richard Niles. This produced the album
Showtime!
and the single "Just Say You Love Me". Pat Kane continued to work with Niles sporadically on many live concerts for
BBC Radio 2 with Niles' own band Bandzilla and the
BBC Big Band. In 1996 Hue and Cry signed to the Scottish jazz and classical
record label,
Linn Records, for an intended trilogy of albums. First came
JazzNotJazz
, an album that mixed
jazz with non-jazz sounds. The album was recorded in a week during the
Glasgow Jazz Festival, enlisting the services of some of the jazz musicians visiting the city. They included
Michael Brecker (
tenor sax) and
Randy Brecker (
trumpet) - who had played on the
Remote
album - as well as guitarist
Mike Stern (sidesman with
Miles Davis),
drummer Danny Gottlieb (
Pat Metheny) and
saxophonist Tommy Smith.
Next Move
(1999) was even more radical, embracing
drum 'n' bass,
R&B and
Nuyorican Latin-
funk. The album contained a controversial cover of
Prince's "
Sign 'O' the Times", which they stripped bare and built up again as an aggressive
bebop number.
[1]
Financial problems meant the brothers' intended third album on Linn Records would never see the light of day, and Pat and Greg concentrated on their solo projects - Pat with his writing and solo performing, and Greg with his music production and
DJing.
In April 2005 Hue and Cry made a comeback when they won the fourth-week heat of the
ITV1 pop-competition show
Hit Me Baby One More Time
with a rendition of "Labour of Love" and a
cover of
Beyoncé's "
Crazy in Love".
[2]. They were beaten in the final by
Shakin' Stevens.
The band followed this up with dates in Scotland, a piano-vocal spot in support of
Jamie Cullum at the 'Live on the Lawn' festival in
Aberdeenshire, and a set in front of 25,000 at Glasgow's
Hogmanay party. Their
concerts in 2006 and 2007 sold out. The band also performed two nights at the West End festival in Glasgow in 2007, where they showcased piano-vocal versions of new and old songs. They also played Retrofest at
Culzean Castle on 2 September 2007, and headlined the Darvel Music Festival on 5 October. The duo showcased new tracks at a gig in Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms on 12 July 2008.
On 15 September 2008 they released their
Open Soul
album, for which
recording and mixing finished in 2007. The first single "The Last Stop" on
digital download was released on 1 September and coincided with the 20th anniversary of the release of their biggest selling album to date
Remote
. Despite the album's poor performance, Their 'Open Soul' tour had sold out dates in
Inverness,
Aberdeen, Glasgow,
London,
Manchester and
Sheffield, beginning on 11 September 2008. On 1 December the band released a second single "Heading for a Fall". They completed a tour of
House of Fraser stores and in February 2009 embarked on another sell out UK tour, billed as 'Open Soul..Open Road'. On 6 February EMI released a '
Best Of Collection' and released a third single "Fireball." May 2009 sees them headline the "Burns an a that" festival in Ayrshire and play an acoustic set in Aberdeen. In July 2009 the brothers supported Human League at Thetford Forest. December 2009 sees a "Homecoming Weekend" for fans in Glasgow. They will play 2 nights back to back at the ABC.
Discography
Albums
- 1987 Seduced and Abandoned
#22 UK
- 1988 Remote
#10 UK
- 1989 Remote/The Bitter Suite
#10 UK
- 1991 Stars Crash Down
#10 UK
- 1992 Truth & Love
#33 UK
- 1993 Labours of Love - The Best of Hue and Cry
#27 UK
- 1994 Showtime!
- 1995 The Best of Hue and Cry
- 1995 Piano & Voice
- 1996 JazzNotJazz
- 1999 Next Move
- 2005 The River Sessions: Volume 1
- 2008 Open Soul
- UK #130 [3] - Scottish Albums Chart #42 [4]
[5]
Singles
- 1986 "Here Comes Everybody"
- 1987 "I Refuse"
- 1987 "Labour of Love" #6 UK
- 1987 "Strength To Strength" #46 UK
- 1988 "I Refuse" #47 UK
- 1988 "Ordinary Angel" #42 UK
- 1989 "Looking For Linda" #15 UK
- 1989 "Violently" (EP) #21 UK
- 1989 "Sweet Invisibility" #55 UK
- 1989 "Peaceful Face"
- 1991 "My Salt Heart" #47 UK
- 1991 "Long Term Lovers of Pain" (EP) #48 UK
- 1991 "She Makes A Sound"
- 1992 "Profoundly Yours" #74 UK
- 1993 "Labour of Love (re-mix)" #25 UK
- 1994 "Just Say You Love Me"
- 1994 "Cynical"
- 2008 "The Last Stop"
- 2009 "Fireball"
- 2009 "Headin' For a Fall"
References
- Hue and Cry - Next Move - Glasgow Evening Times
- HUE & CRY PIPPED BY SHAKY IN GRAND FINAL OF 'HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME'!
- Official Album Chart for the week ending 27 September 2008
- The Official Scottish Album Chart for the week ending 27 September 2008
- British Hit Singles & Albums