Powder were a

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

band that existed between 1994 and 1996 and released three singles on Parkway Records. They were fronted by

Pearl Lowe Pearl Lowe (born Pearl Samantha Davis; 7 April 1968) is an English fashion and textiles designer and former singer-songwriter. Career Music Lowe was the vocalist of mid-1990s Independent music, indie bands Powder (British band), Powder and ...

, with

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

s Mark Thomas on guitar and Tim McTighe on bass and James Walden on drums. Their highest-charting single, "Afrodisiac", reached No. 72 on the UK Singles Chart.

Career

Signed in late 1994 by music

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

agents John Best and Jane Savidge, they were the first band on the

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. Their first single, "20th Century Gods", a '' Select'' Single Of The Month, sold out of its pressing of 1,500 within two days. This was followed by the release of "Afrodisiac" in June 1995, and appearances at

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

s as well as prime-time

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

music special ''Britpop Now''.

Breakup and aftermath

After the release of their third and last single, "Deep Fried", in November 1995, Powder stopped touring as Lowe was pregnant. By the time she was ready to tour again the band was finished, having announced their split in spring 1996, citing musical differences between Lowe and Thomas. Posthumous album ''MCMXCV'', a compilation of all the tracks from their three singles, was released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1997. Lowe went on to front Lodger, and has also released a solo album. Thomas was later a member of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Black Spiders. Walden now drums for the psychedelic/rock three-piece The Joydanaires.

Discography

Singles

*"20th Century Gods" / "Dizgo Girl" (Parkway Records 1995) *"Afrodisiac" / "Shave Me" / "Fever" (Parkway Records 1995 - track 3 CD only) - UK No. 72 *"Deep Fried" / "Memo From Turner" / "Sold Out" (Parkway Records 1995) - UK No. 82

Compilation album

*''MCMXCV'' (Parkway Records 1997)

References

{{Authority control Britpop groups