Toshack Highway is the musical group formed by the lead singer and guitarist from

Swervedriver Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable ...

Adam Franklin Adam Franklin (born 7 October 1968) is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter who is the front-man of the alternative rock band Swervedriver (1989–99, 2007–present) as well as the main creative force behind Toshack Highway (1999–200 ...

. The band name derives from merging the surnames of two

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

football players from the 1970s,

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

and

Steve Heighway Stephen Derek Heighway (born 25 November 1947) is an Irish former footballer who played as a winger. He was part of the successful Liverpool team of the 1970s. Following his eleven-year spell at the club, he was ranked 23rd in the 100 Players ...

History

The first full length debut, ''Toshack Highway'' and released by Catapult Records in the U.S. and

Flower Shop Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers ...

in Europe in 2000, showcased a full band sound of electric keyboards and bubbly

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

s played through guitar effects pedals over acoustic and

electric guitars Electric Guitars were an English band formed early in 1980 by Neil Davenport (vocals, lyrics) and Richard Hall (bass, vocals) who were both studying English at Bristol University. The band soon increased to a five-man line-up, with Andy Sander ...

. Half the record was

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

, but punctuated by spaceman samples and

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

spoken vocals – the other half featured Franklin’s laconic vocal drawl on more conventional

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 ...

pop workouts and the album was dubbed 'Spacefolk' by one reviewer. The second release was an EP of four-track recordings titled ''Everyday, Rock'n'Roll Is Saving My Life'' released by Space Baby in 2001, much more a back to basics affair with Franklin on his own playing simple melodic pop songs accompanied by electric and acoustic guitars, shakers,

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

vocals and the

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

of the

tape machine An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

. Release three was a split CD album with Canadians Sianspheric on their Hamilton, ON label

Sonic Unyon Sonic Unyon is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psionic, Sianspheric, Shallow North Dakota, Eric's Trip, Hayden, Chore, Frank Black and the Catholics, ...

entitled ''Magnetic Morning''. Reunited with the drummer and producer of the first eponymous release, this five-song release contains elements of folk, country,

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

and in "The Streets That Spin Off" came close to an old

theme: ‘songs about cars that rock’. A fourth download only EP called ''Birdsong EP'' was released in April 2006 by the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

label,

Shifty Disco Shifty Disco was a British independent record label based in Oxford, England. The record label was started by local enthusiasts in January 1997 and their early releases were often featured by John Peel on his BBC Radio 1 show. Shifty Disco has re ...

Members

(vocals, guitars, songs, instrumentals, keyboards, shakers, kitchen sinks) *Locksley Taylor (bass, guitar, keyboards, leafs) *Charlie Francis (production, bass, keyboards, fine cuisine) *Jeff Townsin (drums, big hair) *

Will Foster Will Foster is an English musician who is known as the former keyboardist for the English rock band The Tears. Previously, he played with UK art rock band Delicatessen before forming Lodger - alongside Delicatessen singer Neil Carlill, ...

(piano, a drink or two) *Ron Lowder (drums, southern drawl) *Mike Taylor (piano, sideburns) *Andrew Lindsay (bass, rye & coke) *Matt Durrant (drums, falling off drums)

Discography

References

External links

Official websiteMy Space's Band Web Page
{{Authority control British electronic musicians