Northern Uproar are 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 ...

band formed in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

in 1995. They disbanded in 1999, but reunited in 2006, and recorded two more studio albums and a live album. They have released four studio albums and a number of singles, several of which charted in the UK Singles Chart. Their biggest-selling single was the double A-side " From a Window/This Morning", which peaked in the UK's

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

in February 1996.

History

Beginning and debut album (1995–96)

The band formed in 1995 with Leon Meya (vocalist, bassist), Paul Kelly (guitarist), Jeff Fletcher (guitarist), and Keith Chadwick (drummer). Still in their teens and without a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

, the band drew praise from the music magazines ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', following several energetic live performances at the Roadhouse in Manchester. After a bidding war, the group eventually signed with

Heavenly Records Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists ...

and in Monnow Valley Studio in

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

they recorded songs with

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. His cousin Sean Moore is a ...

as producer and

Dave Eringa David James Eringa (born 30 July 1971 in Brentwood, Essex, Brentwood, Essex) is an English people, English record producer, sound engineer, and mix engineer. Biography He has had a long-standing association with Manic Street Preachers. His ea ...

as co-producer. The band released their first single, "Rollercoaster", in late 1995 and appeared on

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

. The track peaked at #41 in the UK Singles Chart. The group's next single, "From a Window", peaked at number 17. During this period of initial success the band made the cover of ''Melody Maker'', and also appeared on the BBC TV programme ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. At around the same time, Meya was featured in tabloid newspapers due to a rumoured relationship with the 1980s pop singer

Sinitta Sinitta Malone known mononymously as Sinitta, is a British-American singer. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single " So Macho" and had several other hits during the decade. In the 2000s, she became known for te ...

. In April 1996, Northern Uproar's self-titled debut album was released and the group toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Japan.

Second album and break-up (1997–99)

In 1997, they began recording their second full-length album, ''Yesterday Tomorrow Today'', featuring songs co-written with the band's guitar technician, Nigel Banks. This album was not as commercially successful as their debut effort; although it was well received by the UK music press. In late 1997 the band issued a fittingly entitled final single, "Goodbye", before parting company with

. The band toured Japan for a second time and recorded demos for a third album. These remained unreleased however as the band split up in 1999.

Returning to touring, reformation and ''Stand and Fight'' (2004, 2006–07)

In 2004, Meya and lead guitarist Fletcher returned to the live circuit under the Northern Uproar name, with two shows in the Manchester area, performing both new and old songs. A reunion was mooted but nothing emerged in 2005. However, the band officially reformed in 2006 with Meya, Fletcher and Meya's cousin Noel on drums. A new album, ''Stand and Fight'', was released in July 2007 on the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

Tiny Rebel, preceded by an album launch gig on 14 March at the

Manchester Academy The Manchester Academy, originally known as the University of Manchester Main Hall, is composed of four concert venues, located on the campus of the University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. The four venues are: Academy 1, 2 and 3 and ...

. A full UK tour followed. In October 2007 the band supported

The Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral (album), The Coral'', from which came the single "Dreaming of You (T ...

at the Oxford Carling Academy. They were invited after Meya met their

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

James Skelly James Alexander Skelly (born 16 August 1980) is an English musician who is the frontman of The Coral. He embarked on a solo career when the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. The band regrouped in 2015. Skelly is the cousin of fellow music ...

, on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''Transmission'' show. In addition to this, the band performed at a number of festivals in southern Spain. A video including footage of these shows was released for the song 'Nothin' you can do'.

Festivals and other shows, ''All That Was Has Gone'' and ''Hey Samurai!'' (2011–present)

On 27 May 2011, Northern Uproar headlined the 'This Feeling' Britpop night at The Vibe Bar London, tickets for the event sold out after it was featured in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper and the ''

''. Leon Meya appeared on the Steve Harris show on

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

on 26 May 2011 and spoke of the time he had spent living in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

writing a new album and of the band's plans to release new material though the

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

website, as well as the possibility of more live shows in the summer. On 30 June 2011, Northern Uproar performed at the AAA

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer, songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Bl ...

+ friends Exhibition by the Manchester-based photographer

Karin Albinsson Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise * Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' *Karin Kokubu, a main character in ...

. The band were featured in the exhibition alongside

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international Cannabis (drug), cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been sm ...

and others. On 8 July 2011, Northern Uproar played to a sold out Sound Control, Manchester as special guests of Rochdale-based band

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by vocalist and lead guitarist John Fogerty. It was released as a single in January1969 by Fantasy Records and on the band's second studio album, '' Bayou Coun ...

. In September 2011, Leon Meya gave an interview to music blog Mr Scott:Music, where he gave an update about the recording of the new album, saying "The aim is to deliver an amazing album to the people who want it. We get asked at every gig when there's gonna be new stuff... so it's for those people!" On 29 June 2013, Northern Uproar released their fourth album, ''All That Was Has Gone'', which was funded via

Pledgemusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects, such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist pa ...

, as well as announcing more live shows. Guitarist Jeff Fletcher left the band in 2013. On 17 November 2014, former guitarist Jeff Fletcher was hit by a lorry and killed in

. The band released their fifth album, ''Hey Samurai!'', on 9 October 2015. In 2018, the band returned to play three dates of the Star Shaped Festival tour. In April 2021 the band appeared briefly on an episode of BBC show,

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...

Members

;Current members *Leon Meya - vocals, bass (1995–1999, 2004, 2006–present) *Alex Stubbs - drums (2007–present) *Chris Gorman - guitars (2007–present) ;Former members *Jeff Fletcher - guitars (1995–1999, 2004, 2006–2013; died 2014) *Paul Kelly - guitars (1995–1999) *Keith Chadwick - drums (1995–1999) *Noel Meya - drums (2006–2007) *Nick Harty - drums (2007)

Discography

Studio albums * ''Northern Uproar'' (1996) - #22 UK * ''Yesterday Tomorrow Today'' (1997) * ''Stand and Fight'' (2007) * ''All That Was Has Gone'' (2013) * ''Hey Samurai!'' (2015) Compilation albums * ''Singles'' (2014) Singles *" Rollercoaster/Rough Boy" (5 October 1995) - #41 UK *" From a Window/This Morning" (25 January 1996) - #17 UK *" Livin' It Up" (1 April 1996) - #24 UK *"

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

" (1 June 1996) - #48 UK *" Any Way You Look" (1 May 1997) - #36 UK *"A Girl I Once Knew" (1 August 1997) - #63 UK *"Goodbye" (20 October 1997)

References

External links

Northern Uproar's official MySpace entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Uproar English alternative rock groups Britpop groups Alternative rock groups from Greater Manchester Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Heavenly Recordings artists