Rialto were an English rock band formed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1997. They released their self-titled debut album in 1998, followed by their second and final album, ''Night on Earth'', in 2001. Their single "Untouchable" reached the top 20 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the summer of 1998, Rialto became the first ever UK chart band to release a single exclusively through the internet. Despite finding favour with music critics, with ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' anticipating "a fairytale future of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

-like proportions", the band were famously dropped by their label East West, a

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

imprint, a month before the release of their heavily promoted eponymous debut album, denting the group's chances of major commercial success.

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for '' The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Ne ...

noted that Rialto were "among the most critically acclaimed and highly touted new groups to emerge" of the late 1990s, making "carefully crafted, Beatlesque pop, with an epic, cinematic sound and slightly sinister lyrics". The group gained a following in

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, particularly in

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where their debut reached the number one spot in the album charts.

Band members

* Louis Eliot – lead vocalist, guitar, songwriter * Jonny Bull – guitar, programming, backing vocals, producer * Julian Taylor – bass, backing vocals and trumpet * Pete Cuthbert – drums * Toby Hounsham – keyboards (1997–2000) * Anthony Christmas – drums (1997–2000)

Biography

Rialto grew from the remains of the band

Kinky Machine Kinky Machine were a 1990s indie rock band with members including Louis Eliot and Johnny Bull who went on to form Rialto, and Julian Fenton who later joined The Lightning Seeds. History The band was formed in West London in late 1991 by Louis ...

, which featured

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Louis Eliot and

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Jonny Bull. Kinky Machine released two albums: their self-titled debut in 1993 (Oxygen/

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) and ''Bent'' in 1995. In 1997, Eliot and Bull rejoined and, with the addition of bassist Julian Taylor, drummer Pete Cuthbert and keyboardist Toby Hounsham, formed Rialto. Later that year, they released their first singles, "When We're Together" and "Untouchable." The latter was re-released in January 1998 and cracked the Top 20 in the

. Despite the anticipated arrival of their self-titled debut album,

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with ...

dropped them from their label, with

China Records China Records was a record label founded 1 October 1984 by Derek Green. Its top-selling artists were Art of Noise, Morcheeba and the Levellers. In 1986 and 1987, China Records releases were manufactured and marketed worldwide by Chrysalis R ...

releasing the album on 13 July 1998 instead. A six-track EP, ''Girl On A Train'', followed in 2000, receiving accolades from '' NME'' and '' Q''

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s. By the time Rialto gathered to make a second album, Hounsham and Christmas had left the group, leaving them as a four-piece. The band released their second and final album, ''Night on Earth'', in 2001.

Post-band activities

Following the band's split, Eliot released his

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debut, the '' Everybody Loves You When You're Dead'' EP, in 2002, followed by his full-length debut, ''Long Way Round'', on Iodine Records in 2004. Bull co-wrote the song "Friday Night" with

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

at his

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. The song ended up on her debut album ''

Alright, Still ''Alright, Still'' is the debut studio album by English singer Lily Allen, released on 13 July 2006 by Regal Recordings. After being rejected by several record labels, Allen signed to London Records, who eventually lost interest in her, leading ...

''. In 2011, he wrote and sang the song for the "Ph. Diddy" video produced by Invitrogen to illustrate life in a biotechnology laboratory. Toby Hounsham now plays keyboards for

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

and

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry are a British rock band, formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was " In the Summer ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Rialto'' (1998) – UK No. 21 * ''Night on Earth'' (2001)

EP

* ''Girl on a Train'' (2000)

Singles

* "When We're Together" (1997) * "Monday Morning 5.19" (1997) – UK No. 37 * "Untouchable" (1998) – UK No. 20 * "Dream Another Dream" (1998) – UK No. 39 * "Summer's Over" (1998) – UK No. 60 * "Anything Could Happen" (2001) - UK No. 85 * "London Crawling" (2001)

References

External links

Inspiracy - Rialto fansiteBiography at MTV.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rialto (Band) English alternative rock groups Britpop groups Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 East West Records artists Eagle Records artists China Records artists MNRK Music Group artists