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Texas (band)

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Texas

Texas are a rock band from Bearsden near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone (formerly of the bands Altered Images and Hipsway) in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas.

The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single "I Don't Want a Lover" which was a worldwide success, charting at number eight on the UK Singles Charts and other high charting positions in Europe. Southside debuted at number three in the United Kingdom and eighty-eight on the US Billboard 200 album charts. Despite the success of Southside, follow up albums Mothers Heaven and Ricks Road were less successful in the UK, only charting inside the top forty album charts.

Texas' White on Blonde album was one of the best selling albums when released in 1996. To date, it has been certified six-fold platinum in the UK,[1] making it the band's best selling UK album. Their only other album to reach a six-fold platinum certification was 2000's The Greatest Hits. Follow up, The Hush was also successful, debuting at number one on the UK album charts and being certified triple platinum.

Texas would go on to release a further two studio albums, Careful What You Wish For in 2003, and Red Book in 2005, both of which were certified gold in the UK. After the release of Red Book and a tour to support the album's release, Texas entered a self imposed hiatus. Lead singer, Sharleen Spiteri launched a successful solo career, releasing her debut solo album, Melody in 2008.

History

1989–1991: Southside

Main article: Southside (Texas album)

Texas's first release was an EP in 1989 titled Everyday Now which failed to chart. Later in 1989, Texas hit the UK Singles Charts with their debut single, "I Don't Want a Lover". The song potentially became one of the biggest songs of 1989, charting at #8 on the UK Singles Charts.[2] The song charted at #77 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts as well as high positions in various countries worldwide. The song shot Texas to global fame. The with the success of "I Don't Want A Lover", Texas released their debut album, Southside, which charted at #3 on the UK Album Charts. The album received a fair amount of reviews from critics and became one of the biggest selling albums in 1989. With the success of both "I Don't Want a Lover" and Southside, the band released a second single in April 1989, "Thrill Has Gone". The song failed to follow up the international success of "I Don't Want a Lover", only charting at #60 on the UK Singles Charts. Unlike the band's first single the song didn't receive as much airplay but the reviews continued to be positive.[3] Although "Thrill has Gone" didn't do so well worldwide, the band still continued to push ahead with the third confirmed release single, titled "Everyday Now". The song was released on 5 August 1989. "Everyday Now" was more successful on the UK Singles Charts, charting at #44 but still failed to make the UK Top 40 like "Thrill Has Gone". "Everyday Now" also managed to chart at #25 on the French Singles Charts and received a lot more airplay than "Thrill Has Gone". Although "Everyday Now" continued to fail to reach the UK Top 40, hopes were high for Texas and fans and hoped that the next single, "Prayer for You", would turn things around for the band. However, the song became the band's third single to miss the UK Top 40. "Prayer for You" fared worse than both "Everyday Now" and "Thrill Has Gone", only managing #73 on the UK Singles Charts. "Thrill Has Gone" is Texas's second-worse UK Chart position after the 1991 single "In My Heart", which charted at #74. After this, Texas bagan work on their second studio album.

1991–1993: Mothers Heaven

Main article: Mothers Heaven

In early 1991, to help promote the band's upcoming second album, Texas released a promotional EP titled Extracts from Mothers Heaven. The release comprised four tracks which are included on the parent album.[4] In 1991, Texas hoped that they would return to the UK Top 40 with their first single from Mothers Heaven. "Why Believe in You" was released in 1991 and failed to chart the UK Top 40 but managed #66 on the UK Charts. The song didn't receive as much airplay in the UK or any EU countries, as the band had received in 1989 with the singles from Southside. Even though the band had not been in the UK Top 40 since the release of "I Don't Want a Lover" in 1989, the band still went ahead with their second album, which ultimately provided as the band's lowest UK album chart position to date, only charting at #32. However, reviews were mostly positive. The album charted at #11 in France, #15 in Spain and #35 in Sweden. Even though the releases of both Mothers Heaven and "Why Believe in You" were not great commercial successes for the band, they continued to release more singles from Mothers Heaven. The next release, "In My Heart", became Texas's lowest and worst-charting UK chart peak to date, managing #74 on the UK Singles Charts and receiving little radio airplay. In 1992, just as Texas were getting the feeling that it was time to drop music after their last five singles had failed to make the UK Top 40, the band's third single from Mothers Heaven was released in 1992. "Alone with You" charted at #32 on the UK Singles Charts, making their UK Top 40 comeback since 1989. The song went on to receive significantly more airplay than its two predecessors.

1993–1996: Ricks Road

Main article: Ricks Road

1993 Texas returned with confidence after charting the UK Top 40 since 1989 with the single "So Called Friend", released in September 1993. The song received a strong amount of radio airplay and received fair reviews. The song charted at #30 on the UK Singles Charts meaning the song managed to continue on the UK Top 40 success that "Alone With You" had done. With the UK Top 40 success continuing; Texas released their third album titled Ricks Road, the album charted at #18 on the UK Album Charts succeeding to do better than their second album Mothers Heaven. A Third single from the album just made the UK Top 40 at #39; "You Owe It All to Me" was released in October 1993. The music video for the track "You Owe It All to Me" was directed by Dani Jacobs. It was filmed in Arizona and features Sharleen Spiteri and Ally McErlaine filmed in the style of a road movie with the pair encountering another version of themselves along the way. In February 1994; Texas released "So In Love With You", the third single from Ricks Road. The song charted at #28 on the UK Singles Charts doing better than the previous two singles released from the album.

1997–1999: White on Blonde

Main article: White on Blonde

Following an endorsement by then Radio 1 presenter Chris Evans on his Channel 4 show TFI Friday in 1997, Texas came back to the music scene with the international hit "Say What You Want". The song was released internationally on January 6, 1997. The song became the bands highest peaking single to date on the UK Singles Charts debuting at #7 before peaking at #3 in its second week of release.[5] The song stayed around for a total of 10 weeks in the United Kingdom; dropping to #6 in its third week and #8 in its fourth week. Its fifth week seen the song fall out of the UK Top 10 charts at #13 and in its sixth week falling to #18. Its seventh week it dropped to #28 and its eight dropped to #38, and in its ninth week dropped to #37. In its tenth and final week the song fell to #48 and failed to make an eleventh week on the UK Charts. In February, Texas released their fourth, multi-platinum selling album. White on Blonde, it went on to become the bands most successful album to date. The album charted at #1 on the UK Album Charts and returned to the top spot in the United Kingdom three times (including its debut peak at number one). The album managed 91 weeks on the UK Album Charts.[6][7] After the success of "Say What You Want", Texas released the track "Halo" on April 6, 1997. "Halo" became one of the bands biggest charting UK Singles (the bands third UK Top 10 single at that point) charting at #10 on the UK Singles Charts.[8] Like "Say What You Want", "Halo" received strong airplay on UK radio stations and received fairly positive reviews from music critics. The song stayed on the UK Singles Charts for a total of 7 weeks. Texas went on to release a third single from the album; "Black Eyed Boy" was released on July 28, 1997 and became the bands fourth UK Top 10 single at the time of its release. The song charted at #5 on the UK Singles Charts and #29 on the French Singles Charts, as well as charting at #68 in Germany and #23 on the Irish Singles Charts. In the United Kingdom, the song received strong radio play. The song managed 6 weeks on the UK Singles Charts. The albums fourth single; "Put Your Arms Around Me" was released on November 23, 1997. The single became the bands fifth United Kingdom Top 10 single at the time when it was released in November 1997 and also made White on Blonde one of a few albums to spawn 5 UK Top 10 Singles. The song managed a strong 8 weeks on the UK Singles Charts.[9] In 1998, Texas's song "Put Your Arms Around Me" was the lone vocal track for the Andy Tennant film, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, starring Drew Barrymore. Following on the success of "Say What You want", Texas released a remixed version of the song featuring rapper ODB from the Wu Tang Clan as a double A sided single with "Insane" which became the final single to be lifted from the album. It managed to peak at number 4 in the UK charts back in March 1998.

1999–2000: The Hush

Main article: The Hush

In 1999, Texas released their first single from their new fifth studio album. "In Our Lifetime" was released in April 1999 and became the band's second highest charting single in the United Kingdom, debuting at #4 on the UK Singles Charts.[10] The song also was included on the Notting Hill soundtrack. With the success of "In Our Lifetime", Texas continued to go ahead with the release of their fifth studio album; The Hush was released in May 1999, and like its predecessor White On Blonde, charted at #1 on the UK Album Charts in its first week of release.[11] The Hush received fair reviews with 'All Music Guide' stating the album was "Blessed with a stylish production and sharp commercial songs". In the album's second week it dropped two places to #3 but in its third week rose back to #2. The album managed 43 weeks on the UK Album Charts. With the continued Texas success, the band followed up the success of their album with a second single. "Summer Son" was released on August 16, 1999. "Summer Son" charted in the UK Top 10 at #5, making Summer Son the band's seventh UK Top 10 single at that point. Summer Son received a lot of fair radio airplay in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe and received a fair amount of positive reviews. The song serves as one of Texas's biggest and best known songs to date.[citation needed] One more single was releases from The Hush, "When We Are Together". The song was released on November 15, 1999 and missed the UK Top 10, but became the band's 13th UK Top 40 single (including their UK Top 10 Singles). The song charted at #12 on the UK Singles Charts behind Garbage's 1999 James Bond movie theme "The World Is Not Enough". The Hush has become one of the band's biggest selling albums worldwide.

2000–2005: The Greatest Hits and Careful What You Wish For

Main articles: The Greatest Hits (Texas album) and Careful What You Wish For (Texas album)

In 2000; Texas released their debut greatest hits album; The Greatest Hits on October 23, 2000. The albums lead single "In Demand" was released October 2, 2000. The song reached #6 on the UK Singles Charts and also reached high positions in various European countries such as #80 in Germany, #10 in Spain, #20 on the Irish Singles Charts and #49 in Switzerland. When The Greatest Hits was released; it went straight to #1 in the United Kingdom like the previous to studio albums White on Blonde and The Hush. The album also charted at #24 on the Belgium Album Top 100,[12] #48 on the Spanish Albums Top 100 charts,[13] #60 on the Irish Album Charts[14] and #72 in Switzerland.[15] The Greatest Hits saw the release of a second single titled "Inner Smile". The song was released at the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001 in certain countries. Inner Smile reached #6 on the UK Singles Charts, becoming the bands ninth UK Top 10 single at the time of the singles release. The video for Inner Smile featured a homage to Elvis Presley (and specifically his '68 Comeback Special shows) with lead singer Sharleen Spiteri dressed as Elvis in his famous black leather suit and using prosthetics to resemble Elvis. It begins with Sharleen/Elvis turning on a TV (probably to see "the show", i.e. the video clip), then she/he begins to sing. It had some black and white stills showing her in distinct situations (in one of them, Sharleen/Elvis proudly holds a belt with the word "SHAR" instead of "ELVIS", formed with diamonds). In some scenes, she switches from her Elvis costume to another black leather outfit (without prosthetics). The video clip was shot in London in November 2000 with a live audience and with the band members playing different roles as musicians and/or audience members (with Spiteri portraying various groupies). In one of the scenes, Sharleen (as Elvis) sings along with Sharleen. It is often assumed this scene represents Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

In September 2002, Spiteri gave birth to her daughter Mysty Kyd, although this did not prevent her from working on another album. On October 6, 2003; Texas released their first single from their upcoming sixth album titled "Carnival Girl" which featured rapping vocals by Canadian artist Kardinal Offishall. The song reached #9 on the UK Singles Charts,[16][17] #15 on the Denmark Singles Charts,[18] #41 in Switzerland,[19] #43 on the Irish Singles Charts,[20] #57 on the French Singles Charts Top 100[21] and #94 on the German Top 100.[22] On October 30, 2003, Texas released their long awaited sixth studio album Careful What You Wish For. The album did not make #1 in the United Kingdom like the past three albums (two studio and 1 greatest hits) but however made #5 on the UK Album Charts and only managed Gold status awarded by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[23] A Second and final single was released from the album titled "I'll See It Through" was released on December 8, 2003. The single became the bands lowest charting single in the UK since "In My Heart" in 1991. The song only managed #40 on the UK Singles Charts and only remained in the UK Top 100 for another two weeks.[24] However the song seems to have had a revival and, as of 7 August 2010, is the band's most viewed track on youtube.[25]

2005–2007: Red Book

Main article: Red Book (album)

The band returned in mid-2005 with the single "Getaway", which entered the UK Singles Charts at #6 becoming the bands tenth UK Top 10 single. The song also charted at #6 on the Denmark Singles Top 40,[26] #18 in Norway,[27] #34 on the Irish Singles Charts,[28] #41 in Sweden,[29] #43 in Belgium[30] #45 in Switzerland,[31] #59 in France[32] and 59 in Germany.[33] "Can't Resist" was released as the second single on 31 October 2005. The song failed to make the UK Top 10, reaching #13 in the UK and becoming the bands nineteenth UK Top 40 single. The song received a fair amount of radio play in the UK.[clarification needed] The bands seventh studio album; Red Book followed on 7 November 2005. The album reached #16 in the UK albums chart. Red Book became the bands third album to miss the UK Top 10 after Mothers Heaven in 1991 and Ricks Road in 1993. The album also charted at high positions in many European countries.[citation needed] The bands third single and final single from the album was released on 9 January 2006; "Sleep". The song became the bands eleventh UK Top 10 single peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Charts as well as making #37 on the Irish Singles Charts.[34] The song featured vocals from Paul Buchannan from the Scottish band The Blue Nile and the video featured comedian Peter Kay. On 21 February 2006 a promo only single "What About Us" was released.

2007–present: The BBC Sessions and hiatus

Main article: The BBC Sessions (Texas album)

On 24 September 2007 the band released The BBC Sessions, including radio sessions spanning from 1989 to 2005, with extensive liner notes and interviews with Sharleen Spiteri. Cover songs include Elmore James's "It Hurts Me Too", The Beatles' "I've Got a Feeling", and Ashford & Simpson's "You're All I Need to Get By."

In 2008, lead singer Sharleen Spiteri embarked on a solo career. Her debut album Melody was released in July 2008[35] and debuted at #3 in the UK.[36][37] Worldwide the album sold over 300,000 copies. She released her debut solo single "All The Times I Cried" which made the UK Top 40 at #26. She also released the singles "Stop, I Don't Love You Anymore" and "It Was You". "Don't Keep Me Waiting" was released as a promo single in Switzerland.[38][39] On New Year's Eve 2009, she performed two cover songs on The Graham Norton Show: "Take My Breath Away" and "Xanadu". Sharleen's second solo studio album The Movie Songbook was released on March 1, 2010 worldwide[40]

On 8 September 2009 Ally McErlaine was hospitalized after he collapsed with a massive brain aneurysm at the age of 40.[41][42][43] As of February, 2010, he is on the road to recovery, as reported by bandmate Sharleen Spiteri in The Sunday Mail: "Ally is the most stubborn person I have ever come across, and I think his sheer pigheadedness is the reason he's still here! When he asked what was happening with Texas, I said it was up to him. He told me he wanted to get back into the studio." A new Texas album is planned to be released in November 2011.[44]

Membership

Current members

Discography

Main article: Texas discography

References

  1. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
  2. ^ Texas - I Don't Want a Lover UK Singles Charts 1989
  3. ^ Texas - Thrill has Gone UK Charts
  4. ^ Texas - Extracts From Mothers Heaven (CD) at Discogs
  5. ^ Say What You Want - Texas UK Chart Positions
  6. ^ Texas - White on Blonde UK Album Charts
  7. ^ Chart Stats - Texas - White On Blonde
  8. ^ Halo - Texas UK Chart Positions
  9. ^ Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me UK Charts
  10. ^ Texas - In Our Lifetime UK Singles Charts April 1999
  11. ^ Texas - The Hush UK Album Charts
  12. ^ Texas - The Greatest Hits Belgium Charts
  13. ^ Texas - The Greatest Hits Spanish Charts
  14. ^ Texas - The Greatest Hits Irish Charts
  15. ^ Texas - The Greatest Hits Swiss Charts
  16. ^ Texas - Carnival Girl UK Singles Charts
  17. ^ Texas featuring Kardinal Offishall - Carnival Girl UK Singles Charts
  18. ^ Texas - Carnival Girl Denmark Charts
  19. ^ Texas - Carnival Girl Swiss Charts
  20. ^ Texas - Carnival Girl Irish Singles Charts
  21. ^ Texas - Carnival Girl French Singles Top 100
  22. ^ Texas- Carnival Girl German Charts
  23. ^ Texas Gold Status (Careful What You Wish For)
  24. ^ Texas - I'll See If Through UK Singles Charts
  25. ^ [1] Youtube - Texas
  26. ^ Texas - Getaway Denmark Charts
  27. ^ Texas - Getaway Denmark Singles Top 100
  28. ^ Texas - Getaway Irish Singles Charts Top 75
  29. ^ Texas - Getaway Sweden Singles Charts
  30. ^ Texas - Getaway Belgium Singles Charts
  31. ^ Texas - Getaway Swiss Singles Charts
  32. ^ Texas "Getaway" French Singles Charts Top 100
  33. ^ Getaway - Texas German Chart Stats
  34. ^ Texas - Sleep Chart Positions on the Irish Singles Charts (2006)
  35. ^ Sharleen Spiteri 'Melody' (2008)
  36. ^ Melody UK Chart Positions
  37. ^ Sharleen Spiteri - Melody - Music Charts
  38. ^ Sharleen Spiteri - All The Times I Cried - Music Charts
  39. ^ Sharleen Spiteri - Don't Keep Me Waiting - Music Charts
  40. ^ Sharleen Spiteri - The Movie Songbook
  41. ^ Texas Guitarist suffering Critical after brain haemorrhage
  42. ^ Texas guitar player Ally McErlaine in hospital after fall in London
  43. ^ Texas Guatarist in critical conditions after brain hemorrhage
  44. ^ [2]
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