Denzil is an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

band from

Bournemouth, England Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, based around singer-songwriter Denzil Thomas. Denzil signed to Giant Records in the US in 1993 and put out one album, ''

Pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

'', in 1994.

History

Denzil was formed in Bournemouth in 1990 by singer/songwriter Denzil Thomas. Thomas had been playing at

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

clubs for about a year when he met producer/

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Steve Ennever at a Bournemouth studio. In 1990, they produced a

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

called ''A Tape Called Denzil.'' They formed a band and played their first show in September 1990. Over the next year or so, Denzil played UK shows, first picking up alternating

drummers A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's eq ...

Andy Place and

Jeremy Stacey Jeremy Stacey (born 27 September 1963) is a British drummer and keyboard player. His early works included the 1990s band The Lemon Trees (with twin brother Paul Stacey on guitars, Guy Chambers and others) and Denzil (band), Denzil. He has also ...

and later finding

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Craig Boyd in nearby

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. In 1992, the band attracted the attention of former

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

and Famous Music A&R Michael LeShay. Based on the demo, Leshay convinced major label Giant Records to co-market and distribute a Denzil album in the US. The band entered the

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

in the early summer of 1993 to begin recording the album. The album was produced, arranged, and mixed by Steve Ennever. On 17 February 1994, an acoustic Thomas and Boyd played the pub at the

St. Francis Hotel The Westin St. Francis, formerly known as St. Francis Hotel, is a hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets in San Francisco, adjacent to the whole western edge of Union Square, San Francisco, California, Union Square. The two 12-story south wi ...

in San Francisco as part of the 1994 Gavin Convention. This was their first show in the US. ''

'' and the single, "Useless", was released on 12 April 1994. However, despite these successes, ''Pub'' never sold in great numbers since frictions between LeShay and Giant ended up standing in the way of continued label support. By October 1994, the investors in Play Records, Cary Greene and Neil Stein, were arrested by the SEC for fraudulent behavior in the world of financial securities, which ultimately caused the Play Records funding to cease. Frictions between Denzil and Steve Ennever also had an effect on the overall situation. Two days after returning from the US, Steve Ennever decided to part company with Denzil entirely. Ennever was replaced live with Bournemouth stalwart bass player Martin "Budgie" Burden, also known as "Budge Magraw". In mid-January 1995, Thomas, Burden, Boyd and Stacey began an 11 date tour of the UK to support the release of ''Pub'' in the UK on

BMG Records Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

under license from Giant. Denzil entered the studio immediately afterwards with Stacey as producer to create a series of demos for the next album. The band also filmed a special for

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

at this time, and was interviewed by Robert Sandall. Sandall introduced Denzil to

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

's manager

Peter Jenner Peter Julian Jenner (born 3 March 1943) is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises. Early career Peter Jenner is the son of Will ...

who started looking after the band from early 1995. In May 1995, BMG declined to sign Denzil direct to the UK, which effectively left them without a deal. The band was offered a series of small record deals in 1995 and 1996, which were not taken up. By 1997, Thomas was working full-time in the music industry and effectively the band disbanded.

Discography

''Pub'' (Play Records/ Giant Records), 1994

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site
English power pop groups Musical groups from Bournemouth 1990 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1990 Giant Records (Warner) artists