Fairground Attraction are a Scottish

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 ...

and

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band. They are best known for the 1988

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

Perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

" and " Find My Love", both from their debut studio album '' The First of a Million Kisses''. The band won two Brit Awards in 1989, but broke up the following year to pursue solo careers. They reformed in 2024.

Career

Fairground Attraction were formed in London in the mid-1980s, consisting of Mark Nevin,

Eddi Reader Sadenia "Eddi" Reader Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as the lead vocalist of the Folk music, folk and soft rock band Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo caree ...

, Simon Edwards and Roy Dodds. The sound they developed together blends elements of

, jazz,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, and

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

styles. In 1987, they were signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Their first single, "Perfect", was an immediate success and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. It was also nominated for the prestigious Ivor Novello 'Best Song Musically and Lyrically' award. The album '' The First of a Million Kisses'' followed in 1988, with all but one of its songs written by guitarist Nevin. It entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

at #3 and peaked at #2, eventually being certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

. RCA released three other singles from the album: " Find My Love" (which reached #7), "A Smile in a Whisper", and "Clare". At the

1989 BRIT Awards Brit Awards 1989 was the ninth edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 13 February 1989 at Royal Albert Hall in London. This ...

, "Perfect" won Best British Single, and ''The First of a Million Kisses'' won Best British Album. The group found an especially devoted following in Japan, where they toured in 1989. The band split up in January 1990, whilst in the midst of recording a follow-up album. Reader and Nevin do not agree on what prompted their disbanding. The album '' Ay Fond Kiss'' was released by RCA in June of that year, but it was not the intended second album the band had been working on. Instead, it was a compilation of

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s and other material recorded alongside their first album, many being collaborations by just two band members. A cover of Patsy Cline's "

Walkin' After Midnight "Walkin' After Midnight" is a song written by Alan Block and Don Hecht and recorded by American country music artist Patsy Cline. The song was originally given to pop singer Kay Starr, but her label rejected it. The song was left unused until He ...

" was released as a single, and achieved minor chart success in the UK. Nevin later recorded material intended for the original second album with Brian Kennedy, and released it under the name Sweetmouth in 1991. He later worked with

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

, co-writing most of the '' Kill Uncle'' album. He also worked with

Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (, ; 10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter. The daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl, she recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop ...

again, before embarking on his own solo career. Reader continued to perform as a solo artist, performing Fairground Attraction songs as well as her solo songs, occasionally working with Nevin over the years. In December 2023, Reader announced on her Facebook page that Fairground Attraction would reform for a Japanese tour in 2024. The band subsequently announced new music and a UK tour on the band's Facebook page. They debuted a new single, "What's Wrong With The World?" on March 24th 2024, and followed suit on June 12th with the title track of their second studio album ''Beautiful Happening''. The album was released in September of 2024, over 36 years after ''The First of a Million Kisses''.

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic guitar, concertina * Mark E. Nevin – electric and acoustic guitars * Simon Edwards – guitarrón * Roy Dodds – drums, percussion

Tour personnel

* Roger Beaujolais – percussion * Graham Henderson – percussion, accordion, acoustic guitar, mandolin, piano

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''The Collection: Fairground Attraction, featuring Eddi Reader'' (1994) *''Perfect: The Best of Fairground Attraction'' (1995) *''The Very Best of Fairground Attraction, featuring Eddi Reader'' (1996) *''The Masters'' (1997) *''80s Eternal Best: Fairground Attraction Best'' (1998) *''The Very Best of Fairground Attraction'' (2004)

Live albums

*''Kawasaki Live in Japan 02.07.89'' (2003)

Singles

Videos

*''The First of a Million Kisses'' (1990)

Collection of music videos: "Perfect", "Find My Love", "A Smile in a Whisper", "Clare"

*''Live at Full House'' (1990)

Live performances from German television show called ''Live at Full House''

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work!! Category !! Result , - , 1988 , Smash Hits Poll Winners Party , rowspan=2, Themselves , Most Promising New Act , , - , rowspan=4, 1989 ,

Silver Clef Award The O2 Silver Clef Awards is an annual UK music awards lunch which has been running since 1976. History The Silver Clef fundraising committee was founded in 1976 by musicians and managers from across the British music industry, who wanted to hono ...

, Best Newcomer , , - ,

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

, rowspan=2, "

" , Best Song Musically & Lyrically , , - , rowspan=2, BRIT Awards , Best British Single , , - , '' The First of a Million Kisses'' , Best British Album ,

References

External links

Eddi Reader's official website

Mark E. Nevin's website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairground Attraction English folk musical groups English soft rock music groups Female-fronted musical groups Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 2024 Rock music groups from London Brit Award winners RCA Records artists