Speedway were a Scottish
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
group, who were formed in 2001, by
Glaswegians Jill Jackson (lead vocals) and
Jim Duguid
Jim Duguid is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for co-writing the Alex Clare song "Too Close (Alex Clare song), Too Close".
Biography
A native of Glasgow, Duguid cut his teeth playing drums in a number of bands which centred around ...
(drums). The band acquired three more members in that year, with bass guitarist Tom Swann from Droitwich plus guitarist
Dan Sells, now lead singer of
The Feeling (the latter of whom was later replaced by Chris Leonard), and signed with
Innocent Records in 2002. Also recruited as a guitarist was Carlos Garcia of The Crave.
The band supported then labelmates
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
on their UK tour in early 2003, played a number of university
gigs, and played to over 25,000 people in September 2003 at the
KC Stadium in
Hull as part of a charity event made by the local radio station,
Viking FM. A mashup by
The Freelance Hellraiser of the
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
hit "
Genie in a Bottle" and "
Hard to Explain" by
the Strokes
The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...
had been a popular online and radio hit, but was refused commercial release by the record label. Seizing on this, Speedway covered the Aguilera song to sound as close to the mashup as possible, and as a result it became their first single as a double
A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
, with another song, "Save Yourself" and reached No. 10 on the
UK Singles Chart.
Their second single, "Can't Turn Back" reached No. 12 in February 2004. Their third single, "In & Out", hit No. 33 in June, and their album, ''
Save Yourself'' was released just after "Can't Turn Back" was released. The album reached No. 42 on 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 ...
. Speedway thus left Innocent Records after their first UK
tour, and later split up, later reforming briefly to support
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
on his ten date UK tour later that year.
Jackson later toured the material for an
acoustic solo album in support of
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Tennessee singer-songwriter Kevin Montgomery, formed a
duo with Irish singer-songwriter Gianna Cassidy called Jackson and Cassidy, and released her first solo album in 2006. Jackson then worked with her own band; members include Alan Frew (guitar), Carl Taylor (drums) and Lorna Thomas (bass).
Duguid was until recently drumming and writing for Scottish singer-songwriter
Paolo Nutini (who supported Speedway at some of their later gigs in 2004) and can be seen in the
videos to Nutini's singles.
Discography
Albums
*''
Save Yourself'' (2003) -
UK No. 42
Singles
*"
Genie in a Bottle/Save Yourself" –
UK No. 10
*"Can't Turn Back" – UK No. 12
*"In and Out" – UK No. 31
*"Around Back"
Band members
Final line up
* Jill Jackson – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
*
Dan Gillespie Sells – Lead Guitar
* Tom Swann – Bass Guitar
*
Jim Duguid
Jim Duguid is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for co-writing the Alex Clare song "Too Close (Alex Clare song), Too Close".
Biography
A native of Glasgow, Duguid cut his teeth playing drums in a number of bands which centred around ...
– Drums
Other members
* Chris Leonard – Lead Guitar
* Tom Lamb – Hi-hat
* Carlos Garcia – Guitar
* Noel Nugent – Bass Guitar
References
{{Authority control
Scottish soft rock music groups
Scottish pop rock music groups
Female-fronted musical groups
Musical groups established in 2001
Musical groups disestablished in 2004
Rock music groups from Glasgow
Innocent Records artists