Breathe (British band)
Breathe | |
---|---|
Origin | London, England, U.K. |
Genres | Pop rock, soft AC |
Years active | 1984–1992 |
Labels | Siren Records A&M Records |
Members | David Glasper Marcus Lillington Ian "Spike" Spice Michael Delahunty |
Breathe was an English pop rock group that formed in the early 1980s.
Career
Originally a larger, five-person band called Catch 22, all the members were childhood friends who went to Yateley School together in Hampshire where they lived. They later trimmed down to a quartet. Phill Harrison (bass) left to join the Fire Brigade. In 1984 singer David Glasper, guitarist Marcus Lillington, drummer Ian "Spike" Spice, and bass guitarist Michael "Mick" Delahunty began working on some demos. Those tunes were introduced to personnel from the label Siren Records, and that led to a recording contract with A&M Records. They released the album, All That Jazz, in 1988. This contained their two best-known hits, "How Can I Fall?" and "Hands to Heaven". The former charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3, and the latter at No. 2 in 1988 and at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] "Hands" also ranked inside Billboard's 1988 Year-End Top 10 at No. 9.
Bassist Michael Delahunty left the group in 1988 as they were about to reach the peak of their success, and the remaining three continued with promotion for the All That Jazz album and singles. Afterward, they continued in this line-up with the lesser known Peace of Mind in early 1990.
Their sound was a combination of light jazz with some pop and soul, somewhat reminiscent of Air Supply and Rick Astley. However, their success was short-lived. Sales were low even though many radio stations played some tracks from the second release, Peace of Mind. They disbanded because major record labels did not continue to promote them.
Drummer Ian "Spike" Spice died in 2000. That same year, David Glasper returned to singing, setting up a Myspace account[2] with two demos. Marcus Lillington and Phil Harrison still play together in Stroke the Toad.
Personnel
- David Glasper (vocals) - born 4 January 1965, Cardigan, Mid Wales.
- Marcus Lillington (guitars, keyboards) - born 28 February 1967, London. Now works at web design firm, Headscape,[3] and co-hosts web design podcast, Boagworld.com.[4] He plays guitar and sings in the band Stroke the Toad.
- Spike (drums) - born Ian Spice, 18 September 1966 - died 2000.
- Michael Delahunty (bass) - band member 1984-1989.
- Steve Price-Wardley (keyboards) - born in Trinidad and educated at Charterhouse. Later formed an indie record label with Will Crichton-Stuart.
- Phill Harrison (bass, guitar) - born 29 October 1966 - Bass player, Stroke the Toad - Leads 'Symmetry', an ongoing project with various musicians, owns Fluke Productions (.co.uk)
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [5] |
SWE [6] |
US [7] | |||||||
All That Jazz |
|
22 | 12 | 34 | |||||
Peace of Mind |
|
— | — | 116 | |||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [5] |
GER [10] |
NOR [11] |
NZ [12] |
SWE [13] |
US [14] |
US AC [15] | ||||||||
1987 | "Don't Tell Me Lies" | 77 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 5 | All That Jazz | |||||
"Hands to Heaven" | 4 | 29 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
1988 | "Jonah" | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"How Can I Fall?" | 48 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | |||||||
1989 | "Any Trick" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"All This I Should Have Known" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | |||||||
1990 | "Say Hello" | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Peace of Mind | |||||
"Say a Prayer" | 93 | — | — | — | — | 21 | 3 | |||||||
1991 | "Does She Love That Man?" | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | 17 | ||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
References
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 77. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ David Glasper's MySpace Profile
- ^ Headscape team: Marcus Lillington
- ^ About Boagworld
- ^ a b "Chart Stats - Breathe". Chart Stats. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "BPI Searchable Database". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts - German Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
External links
- Breathe biography at Allmusic website
- Breathe discography at Allmusic website
- Unofficial Breathe Homepage