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 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 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 witho ...
, Tim Parry on
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
, David Woolfson (keyboards/saxophone), Mike Ansell on
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gu ...
and Mickey Sparrow on
drums.
Matthew Flowers (formerly of new wave band
Sore Throat
Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. Usually, causes of sore throat include
* viral infections
* group A streptococcal infection (GAS) bacterial infection
* pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat)
* t ...
) accompanied the band live on
keyboards, with Pete Lancaster occasionally on
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...
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 unrele ...
playing occasional
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...
. Tim Parry later went on to become a
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
and work in artist management.
Blue Zoo had three
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a 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
"Cry Boy Cry" is a song by British new wave band Blue Zoo, released in 1982 as the third single from their 1983 debut album '' Two by Two''. The song is the band's biggest hit, and their only top 40 entry, reaching No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart ...
" reached the top 20, peaking at No. 13,
becoming the band's biggest hit. It stayed on 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 ...
'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 and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''.
They released an
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
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 we ...
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 }
Shepherds Bush Green (also known as Shepherds 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 which takes its name from the Green. The Green is al ...
on 22 July 2010. In February 2013, the band successfully completed a short tour of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
Members
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
British synth-pop new wave groups
Musical groups reestablished in 2010
Magnet Records artists