The Hit Parade is a music group from London that has released eight LPs and fourteen 7" vinyl records. The group has been described as "the very definition of twee Eighties style indie".

Background

The Hit Parade was initially formed by three schoolfriends Julian Henry, Raymond Watts, and Matthew Moffatt. They released their first single "Forever" in 1984 by announcing that they were 'London's No.1 Pop Group'. Their second and third singles "My Favourite Girl" and "The Sun Shines in Gerrards Cross" were lauded by the pop press and played on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

by DJs

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

and Janice Long despite being recorded cheaply in the garage of the Watts family house, a studio named 'The Building Site'. The group was later dismissed by the weekly music press as inconsequential and Watts moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1989 to work with

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...

, Henry developed a business in marketing and journalism, while Moffatt founded his own film lighting company. But The Hit Parade has continued to release new records to the present day, proclaiming the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto "Semper Eadem" ("always the same").

Recordings

The Hit Parade record for JSH UK record label producing 7" vinyl singles in limited editions. Their first single "Forever" was released in 1984 with a mock-vorticist manifesto. A year later The Hit Parade signed to

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

but the label went out of business before anything (other than a track on a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

) was released. The first pressing of the band's "See You in Havana' single JSH5 with Stiff Records logo is collectible. The first Hit Parade LP ''With Love From The Hit Parade'' was released in 1988 to mixed reviews. The album has been re-issued several times and is viewed as a 1980s indie classic. Following its release Henry was approached by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

and arranged nine songs on the first Would-be-goods album. In the 1990s, The Hit Parade signed to Sarah Records label and recorded "In

Gunnersbury Park Gunnersbury Park is a park between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926. ...

" b/w "Harvey". After live shows in Japan in the 1990s the Hit Parade were linked to the

Shibuya-kei is a microgenre of pop music or a general aesthetic that flourished in Japan in the mid-to-late 1990s. The music genre is distinguished by a "cut-and-paste" approach that was inspired by the kitsch, fusion, and artifice from certain music styl ...

movement alongside groups The Pastels, Orange Juice and

Flipper's Guitar Flipper's Guitar (フリッパーズ・ギター) was a Tokyo-based rock band led by (and later a duo of) Keigo Oyamada and Kenji Ozawa. The band was influenced by the chirpy sound of British 80s pop and post-punk groups like Haircut 100, E ...

. Rockin On Magazine termed the Hit Parade 'Neo Acoustic' for its thoughtful and retrospective attitudes. The Hit Parade signed to Vinyl Japan and later Polystar Records, had a minor hit with "Hello Hannah Hello". They toured Japan several times, played at the opening of the

Virgin Megastore Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenh ...

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

, Tokyo, appearing on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Japan and other music TV shows, and signed to

Minty Fresh Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt (band), Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US releas ...

Records, Chicago releasing their first US single, "Hello Hannah Hello". The Hit Parade produced their fifth LP with St Etienne producer Ian Catt in 2006 ''The Return of the Hit Parade'', and 9th single "My Stupid Band", the story of a failed pop group doomed to a life of obscurity. It was published with a manifesto that called for Food Lovers Fairs to be banned and for JG Ballard to be knighted. In 2007 the Hit Parade single "You Didn't Love Me Then", appeared on

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

C86 ''C86'' is a Audio cassette, cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, ''C86'' quickly evolved into shorthand for a g ...

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

''Cd86: The Birth of Indie Pop''. The 10th Hit Parade 7" single was a tribute to

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

's 'Unite D'Habitation', featuring Manchester singer Cath Carroll. "I Like Bubblegum" b/w " Zennor Mermaid" raised funds for the Porthmeor Studio in St Ives Cornwall restoration fund and was voted one of the best singles of 2010 by Drowned in Sound. Julian Henry was interviewed by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2011. In 2014, the Hit Parade released ''Cornish Pop Songs'' which was described by Cornishman art critic Lee Trewhela as "the best album made about Cornwall this century" and "a glorious collection of melodic, memorable guitar-based tunes". The album was re-issued on vinyl in 2016. In 2018, the Hit Parade released their 13th single "Happy World" to mark Record Store Day, described by the Arts Desk as "the very definition of twee Eighties style indie". A year later the eighth Hit Parade LP ''The Golden Age Of Pop'' was released on JSH Records and in 2022 "Pick Of The Pops" was issued on vinyl for the first time by Optic Nerve to 5* reviews in the music weeklies.

Concerts

The Hit Parade first played live in 1990 at The Mean Fiddler in London before embarking the first of several UK Tours. In 1992 they toured Japan playing concerts in Shinjuku, Tokyo; they returned for four other Japan tours playing concerts in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Sendai, appearing with

Billy Childish Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper; 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer, and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing, and visual art. He has ...

and his group the Milkshakes, and Edwyn Collins. Their line up during these tours included Mike Watts (keyboards), Harvey Williams (guitar) and Cath Carroll (vocals). Julian Henry and Harvey Williams played concerts in London and Oxford in 2009 and 2010 at the London Indiepop Festival. In May 2014, The Hit Parade performed as a live installation of Sarah 058 at the Arnolfini Art Gallery in Bristol for the 'Between Hello & Goodbye The Secret Life of Sarah Records' exhibition.; in 2024 Julian from The Hit Parade played at the Lexington London to promote the release of a new compilation LP "Under The Bridge 2" on Skepwax Records.

Line up

The Hit Parade bass guitarist, Raymond Watts, is known for his industrial group

PIG The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

, releasing seventeen albums. As well as touring North America, Japan and Europe, Watts has recorded many albums with

as Raymondo Scaballero, including writing credits on the video game and film ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

''. Since 2009, Watts has co-produced the music for

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

's Fashion shows. The Hit Parade's drummer, Matthew Moffatt, runs a London-based film lighting company, working with directors

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most i ...

and

Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass (born 13 August 1955) is an English film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist. One of his early films, '' Bloody Sunday'' (2002), won the Golden Bear at 52nd Berlin International Film Festival. Other f ...

. Moffatt is credited on several Hollywood and British produced films including the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning '' Hurt Locker'', and the Oscar nominated ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...

'' and '' United 93''. The Hit Parade's guitarist, Julian Henry, founded the public relations agency Henry's House, is a trustee of The

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

(ICA, London), is advisor to

Simon Fuller Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...

, and has written for periodicals including ''

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 ...

'', ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' and ''

'' on music and marketing. Other members included Cath Carroll, Harvey Williams and Mike Watts.

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

External links

The Hit Parade websiteThe Hit Parade myspace site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hit Parade, The British pop music groups Sarah Records artists British indie pop groups Musical groups established in 1984