Blue Zoo are an English
new wave band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
* Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
* Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...
, active between 1980 and 1985, and again since 2010.
Career
Formed in 1980, their original band name was Modern Jazz, and they released two
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
titled "In My Sleep (I Shoot Sheep)"
and "Ivory Towers" in 1981.
The nucleus of the band were Andy O (Overall) on
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
, Tim Parry on
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, David Woolfson (keyboards/saxophone), Mike Ansell on
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
and Mickey Sparrow on
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
s.
Matthew Flowers
Matthew Flowers (born 1956) is a British contemporary art dealer based in London and New York. He is the managing director of Flowers Gallery. Throughout his career he has been on boards and committees of international art fairs and arts institu ...
(formerly of new wave band Sore Throat) accompanied the band live on
keyboards, with Pete Lancaster occasionally on
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
and
Steve Pond from
Inner City Unit
Inner City Unit were a London based popular music group active from 1979 through to 1985, their music style encompassing psychedelia and punk rock. They recorded four studio albums, one studio EP and one compilation album of previously unrelea ...
playing occasional
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
. Tim Parry later went on to become a
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and work in artist management.
Blue Zoo had three
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
s which
charted in the UK. "I'm Your Man" reached No. 55 in June 1982 and in October 1982, "
Cry Boy Cry" reached the top 20, peaking at No. 13,
becoming the band's biggest hit. It stayed on the
UK Singles Chart's top 40 for eight weeks. "(I Just Can't) Forgive and Forget" reached No. 60 in May 1983.
Although failing to chart, "Love Moves in Strange Ways" was a single of the week in ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
''.
They released an
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, ''
Two by Two'' (sometimes written as ''2x2'' or ''2By2'') in 1983.
Cherry Red Records
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...
reissued an expanded edition of ''Two by Two'' with bonus tracks on 4 November 2013.
Blue Zoo played their first concert in 28 years at the Ginglik in
Shepherd's Bush Green
}
Shepherd's Bush Green (also known as Shepherd's Bush Common) is an approximately triangular area of open grass surrounded by trees and roads with shops in Shepherd's Bush, an area of west (London sub region), west London which takes its name fr ...
on 22 July 2010. In February 2013, the band successfully completed a short tour of the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.
Members
Lewis Boakes (tambourine)
Current lineup
*Andy O (vocals)
*Mike Ansell (bass)
*Mickey Sparrow (drums)
*Tom E Morrison (guitar)
The band also performs with guest keyboard players.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
{{Authority control
English new wave musical groups
English synth-pop groups
Musical groups established in 1980
Musical groups disestablished in 1985
English synth-pop new wave groups
Musical groups reestablished in 2010
Magnet Records artists