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McFly

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McFly

McFly are an English pop rock band who broke into the music scene in early 2004 with their number one single, 5 Colours in Her Hair. The band was founded by Tom Fletcher (born July 17, 1985) and also consists of Danny Jones (born March 12, 1986), Dougie Poynter (born November 30, 1987) and Harry Judd (born December 23, 1985). They are signed to the Island Records label and are managed by Prestige Management.

As of December 2006, McFly have had eleven top ten singles, six of which were number one, in the UK Singles Chart and three top 10 albums two number one albums, their debut being Room on the 3rd Floor followed by Wonderland. Their third album, Motion in the Ocean, was released on November 6, 2006 and charted at number six.

History

Early years

McFly's name was chosen by Tom Fletcher, the band's founding member, based on his love for the American science-fiction comedy Back to the Future and Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly [1]. Tom had originally auditioned for Busted, but was rejected. He then met Danny Jones at a pub where he played Richard Ashcroft songs, and the two began writing songs along with James Bourne of Busted. To complete the band, they held auditions at London's Covent Garden for a drummer and a bass player. Coincidentally, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd both auditioned on the same day. Thus, McFly was formed.[2].

Room on the 3rd Floor

McFly's early sound was a mixture of pop rock and pop punk. Their debut single, "5 Colours in Her Hair", which was released March 29, 2004, entered the UK Singles Chart at number one in April 2004 and stayed there for two weeks. In July 2004 their second single, "Obviously", also topped the charts. This was followed by the album Room on the 3rd Floor debuting at number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album broke records, as McFly were the youngest band to have a debut album enter the charts in the top position, beating The Beatles. The third single, "That Girl", was released on September 6, 2004 and lost the battle for the top spot to Brian McFadden's "Real To Me". It went to number three, despite topping midweek sales charts. The fourth single, Room on the 3rd Floor (the album's title track), was released on November 15, 2004 and made number five.

Wonderland

In March 2005, McFly released "All About You/You've Got A Friend", a double A-side of their sixth and seventh singles and the first release from their second album, Wonderland, which features a 60-piece orchestra. The single reached number one for a week on March 13, 2005 and the profits from the single were donated to Comic Relief. The video for "You've Got A Friend" was shot in Uganda, Africa, which McFly visited for the charity appeal. They completed their second arena tour in October 2005. The second single from Wonderland, "I'll Be OK", was released in the UK on the 15 August, 2005 and scored them their fourth UK number one. The album itself was released on 29 August, 2005 debuting at number one. The third single from Wonderland, "I Wanna Hold You", was released October 17, giving them their sixth top three single, missing out on number one to the Arctic Monkeys. Their fourth single, "Ultraviolet/The Ballad of Paul K" was released on 12 December, 2005 and reached number nine.

Motion in the Ocean

The first single from Motion in the Ocean was named, "Please, Please", released in the UK as a double A-side with the Queen hit "Don't Stop Me Now" on July 17, 2006 as the official song for Sport Relief 2006. The double A-side reached number one in the UK charts on July 23, 2006 making it the band's fifth number one single of their career. After losing a bet to the owner of G-A-Y, McFly had to appear naked on stage as they did in their "Please, Please" video. On 14 September, 2006, it was confirmed via an email newsletter from McFly's official website, that the third album would be called Motion in the Ocean. The album was released on November 6, 2006, and reached number 6. The second release from the album, "Star Girl" was released on October 23, 2006, to promote the album.[3] "Star Girl" reached number one in its first week with 54,802 copies sold. The third release from the album, "Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night", was released on December 18, 2006, and reached number three in the UK singles charts. "Friday Night" is featured in the movie Night at the Museum, which was released on December 22, 2006, in Canada and the US and December 26, 2006, in the UK. [4].


Musical style

McFly's style has been dubbed by themselves and others in the music business as "Nu-Pop" [5] but is possibly more commonly considered pop or pop rock. Despite the band's pop image and reputation, there are musical differences from other contemporary boybands. Influence is apparent from bands such as The Raspberries (particularly Eric Carmen-penned material), The Beach Boys, and The Beatles (particularly Paul McCartney-penned material). Lyrically, however, their style is closer, though not quite similar, to other contemporary guitar pop bands such as Busted . McFly are often considered similar in style to the now defunct Busted, with whom they shared a record label and were generally considered to be friends. Indeed, James Bourne of Busted and Son of Dork, has had a hand in writing several of McFly's biggest hits, and Tom Fletcher had also partially written tracks for bands James Bourne has been involved with. However, though similar, Busted evidence greater influence from pop punk bands such as Blink 182 and Sum 41 than 1960s rock, in addition to their clear pop overtones.

Cover songs

McFly have recorded and performed a variety of officially released and unreleased cover versions of well-known songs.

2004

McFly's cover of "Help!", originally by The Beatles, was featured on the "Obviously" single while "She Loves You", also by The Beatles, was featured on the That Girl single. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", originally by Queen was featured on the Room on the Third Floor single.

2005

McFly released "You've Got A Friend", originally by Carole King, which they recorded as part of the official 2005 Comic Relief song, along with "All About You", where the video sees the band visiting children in Uganda affected by AIDS[6]. McFly also recorded the 2004 hit "Mr Brightside", originally by The Killers, which is featured on the "I Wanna Hold You" single, and "I Predict A Riot", originally by The Kaiser Chiefs, which they performed at Radio 1's Live Lounge session and is also featured on the "Ultraviolet" single. McFly also teamed up with Roger Daltrey of The Who in September, 2005 to re-record the 1965 hit, "My Generation" to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust and to launch HMV Digital's new download service [7]. They also released covers of songs as singles such as The Who's "Pinball Wizard", which they performed on Movie Music Mania on November 12, 2005[8]. McFly also performed a version of The Used's "On My Own" on December 15, 2005 at a Harrods Winter Signing[9].

2006

McFly performed a version of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" at The Prince's Trust on May 20, 2006[10]. They released a cover of "Don't Stop Me Now", originally by Queen, which was recorded to raise money for Sport Relief 2006 as the official song along with "Please, Please"[11]. When performing this cover on their Motion In The Ocean tour 2006, they were joined onstage by Queen guitarist Brian May at Wembley Arena, who also performed the opening riff to "5 Colours in Her Hair". Matt Willis performed "Don't Stop Me Now" with the band at Wembley Arena and Manchester Evening News Arena. They also performed "Fight for Your Right", originally by the Beastie Boys and the "Ghostbusters" theme tune, originally by Ray Parker Jr. They also opened Children in Need 2006 with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles. The Christmas song, "Rockin' Robin", originally by Bobby Day, was also featured on the "Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night" single.

Acting career

In 2005, the band guest-starred in an episode of the long-running British drama series Casualty[12]. They also starred in the teen comedy film Just My Luck with Lindsay Lohan and Chris Pine, which was released in the US on May 12, 2006 and in the UK on June 30, 2006. They play themselves in the film, the soundtrack features a variety of their songs from both albums plus their latest song "Just My Luck" at the time. McFly held a concert at the London Hammersmith Apollo on May 19, 2005 which was used in the film. The Just My Luck UK premiere took place on June 28, 2006 in London.

Tours

McFly have played four major tours to date:

  • 2003 - Supporting Busted on their nationwide UK arena tour with V
  • 2004 - UK Theatre Tour
  • 2005 - Wonderland Arena Tour
  • 2006 - Motion in the Ocean Arena Tour
  • 2007 - McFly Up Close and Personal: 24 locations not covered by their arena tours (tickets sold out in two hours)

Discography

Albums

Cover Album Information
Room on the 3rd Floor
Wonderland
File:Just My Luck Album Cover.jpg Just My Luck
Motion in the Ocean

DVDs

Awards

In 2004, McFly won five Smash Hits Awards including Stars of the Year, Best UK Band, Best Album (Room on the 3rd Floor), Best Video (That Girl), Best Stars of the Year and Danny Jones won Most Fanciable Male [16]. McFly beat their number of awards in the 2005 Smash Hits Awards by winning Stars of the Year, Best UK Band, Best Single (All About You), Best Album (Wonderland) while Danny Jones won Most Snoggable Male and Dougie Poynter won Top Mop [17]. Also in 2005, McFly won Best Pop Act at the Brit Awards [18].


References

  1. ^ McFly - Harry chats to ilikemusic.com
  2. ^ McFly Soundgenerator biography
  3. ^ Premiere of New McFly single Star Girl
  4. ^ New McFly double A single: Dec 18th
  5. ^ Profile of pop music band McFly
  6. ^ McFly in Africa for Comic Relief
  7. ^ McFly and Roger Daltrey team up on 1965 classic
  8. ^ Get tickets to see McFly on Movie Music Mania
  9. ^ Winter Wonderland With McFly At Harrods
  10. ^ The Prince of Wales - News & Events
  11. ^ Sport Relief
  12. ^ Pop act McFly to star in Casualty
  13. ^ BPI Certification: Room on the 3rd Floor
  14. ^ BPI Certification: Wonderland
  15. ^ BPI Certification: Motion in the Ocean
  16. ^ McFly rule at Smash Hits awards
  17. ^ McFly storm the Smash Hits awards
  18. ^ Brit Awards 2005
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