Mick McMick wrote:

Also, all of this is just what I read, so a good deal of it may be false. If you know it to be, please let me know that too. Honey said he'd like to put it on the website as well. Well, probably.

well, here we are, correcting things already ! as for the site thing, it already exists on the jeepster site at http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/faq/biography.htm and i can simply update the relevant parts if someone discovers something new :) the biog (which is effectively what this is!) was originally written by katrina when we were all writing bits for hopeful inclusion in a 'rough guide' type book on music.

Firstly by now we've probably all heard that Stuart Murdoch wrote rather a lot of songs on his own. Apparently he searched to be in a band for a while. He made some cassette tapes, at least two, and gave them to various people. I heard from a friend that he visited America for a time, and brought some demos with him. Supposedly he "jammed" with my friend's friends in Portland, but we'll never know the truth to that.

that bit is unfounded, we'll ask stuart m when he settles down, though i'm pretty sure there are a lot of people who can lay claim to similiar things due to stuart's passionate search for band members.

Suffice it to say he wrote some of his own songs, that's all that's important. One of the demos, supposedly the first, was released in '94 and entitled Le Pastie de la Bourgeosie, and apparently featured the song of the same name. Another was perhaps entitled Lisa Helps the Blind. No idea on song titles, number of songs, etc.

possibly also contained the first versions of 'sleep the clock...' and 'electronic ren...'

Stuart recorded the vaguely known Stow demos ("Pocketbook Angel," "London Has Let Me Down Again," "Hurley's Having Dreams,") at Stow College, alone (unless you count the drum machine).

note, he was NOT on the stow college project, i actually think these demo's were recorded in 'beat box' and not stow.

Stuarts Murdoch and David met through a government program and collaborated as Rhode Island, sending Jeepster a demo with Dog on Wheels, the State That I Am in, Belle and Sebastian, and My Wandering Days Are Over.

this is false, they did collaborate and record the demo, but the route to jeepster was via neil robertson who was doing the stow college music course with stuart david (not stuart m). neil hadn't sent a tape in for a while and mark jones (one of the jeepster bosses) asked neil to send him whatever he had, neil the sent a tape down with lots of stuff on it, 'rhode island' were just one of the bands on that tape, i think there were 2 or 3 songs on that tape, one of which was 'the state i am in'.

They did some bedroom gigs, as well as Glasgow radio session. No word on the songs, though. Rhode Island recorded the Dog on Wheels EP with Mick Cooke and various studio musicians, I guess for release on Jeepster? Not sure about that.

nope, just original demos'. jeepster released them after mark jones and stuart m had a talk, jeepster felt the recordings were important and shouldn't be shelved, stuart m agreed and the demo's formed the ep.

For reasons unknown to me, they formed the band from people met at the Grosvenor (sp?) Cafe in Glasgow. I don't know if these were random or auditions, but I suppose auditions. Richard Colburn was living in a flat with Stuart David (I think). This was in January of 1996.

roughly right. they were spending all their time in the café at that time, i think it was just a case of approaching everyone or being approached. at that time it appears that if you could play something no-one else could play and they liked you, then you were in the band!

Not sure as to why "Modern Rock Song," only mentions certain members of the band. Perhaps they had an early incarnation as the Stuarts + Richard and...did they mention Stevie in Modern Rock Song? My memory's gone fuzzy and I'm too lazy to go listen to my session.

we're unsure of this as well. one idea is that 'modern rock' was written in an early rehearsal/jam and that whoever was present and consented managed to get written into the song. it's clear that sarah wasn't in the band at that time, but everyone else was. mick was still a friend/session musician, he joined a lot later but was there for this.

They played an early gig in a bedroom in Glasgow, probably some days after forming, on the 13th of January. The lineup consisted only of Stuart M, Richard, and possibly Isobel. Here's what they played:

Mary Jo Expectations My Wandering Days Are Over You're Just A Baby Your Idea of Fun* I Don't Love Anyone The State I Am In

which i guess you've discovered from the old flyer that advertised it. the set list was announced on the flyer as a 'programme'.

Then they recorded Tigermilk at Stow, added Sarah somewhere after that, then signed to Jeepster in August 1st '96. Mick played with them on various recordings, but didn't become an official member of the band until...I think just before 3...6...9

you can fill the rest in using the biog we already have, i hope you don't mind if the timeline jumps a bit now so that i can include that biog for you... -- biography Belle and Sebastian were formed in an all-night café in Glasgow, January 1996. Stuart Murdoch (singer/songwriter) and Stuart David (bass guitar) met on a government training scheme and recorded some demos, which were picked up by a Jeepster scout who was taking part in the Stow College Music Business Course. The course, run by ex-Associate Alan Rankine, produces and releases one record every year on the college label Electric Honey Records, usually a single. Homever in the case of Belle and Sebastian they had enough songs to record a whole album, and so the elusive Tigermilk was born. Recorded in three days and one thousand copies released on vinyl only, it now changes hands for up to £400 per copy. Belle and Sebastian then signed to Jeepster in August and the critically acclaimed LP "If You're Feeling Sinister" (JPRCD/LP/MC001) was released November 18TH. The Support slot for the Tindersticks ICA Gigs, Followed by a headline show at the Borderline in early November brought the joys of Belle and Sebastian live to the south for the first time. The band then set about with the plan of spending the summer of 1997 releasing EP's, the first of these being "Dog On Wheels" on 28TH April. This release contained early demos of the band, previous to all the current members joining, including the demo version of "The State I Am In". Mark Radcliffe had played the mastered Tigermilk version of this track relentlessly and for those without a copy of the vinyl masterpiece, the Dog EP (JPRCDS/12/7001) appeased the fans thirst enough to put the single in at Number 59 on the singles chart. The second EP "Lazy Line Painter Jane", was released on July 28th, the Week of the seminal Union Chapel gig in Islington, London. Despite the poor sound, the band had the crowd dancing in the aisles (and pews) of the chapel. For most, this gig was their first B&S gig and a religious experience was shared by all. The "Lazy Jane" EP narrowly missed the top 40, crashing in at number 41, much to Chris Geddes (keyboards) amusement, as he had made bets with Jeepster boss Mark Jones that it would not get in. The band played two more gigs on their mini tour of the south-west in Oxford and Colchester, preparing them for their American debut. The "Sinister" LP had been licensed in north America by virgin subsidiary label the enclave since February. Belle and Sebastian journeyed over to New York in September to take part in the CMJ (College Music Journal) festival. They played two gigs at the Angel Oransanz Foundation Centre For The Arts, an old chapel in Greenwich Village. The excitement levels were so high, parts of the ceiling decided to join the band onstage, as Belle and Sebastian - literally - brought the house down. The band were also invited to play at the Barcelona BAM festival in late September. This time their venue was an ancient courtyard at the Plaza Del Rai, and under a starry moonlit sky, beneath the gaze of a thousand gargoyles they captivated, yet again, another audience. "3..6..9 Seconds Of Light" was the last of the summer EP's released on October 13th, and the music press finally realised just how important B&S are, when both the Melody Maker and the NME made it their single of the Week. Despite the lack of radio play, it became the bands' first top 40 hit, debuting at number 32 on the charts. Belle and Sebastian spent the end of 1997 recording their third LP and rehearsing for the Christmas gigs at the Manchester town hall on the 27th and 28th of December. The late summer of 1998 will see them release their third album and with it, whether they want it or not, they're almost guaranteed of being heralded as one of the most important bands of our time.

I think that should bring things to a point where most of you know everything. Anyway, send me suggestions...

which does now bring us up to date minus the past two months. if anyone wants to revise the biog to include the earlier info, then let me know and i'll update the site. on the site front, i think that a lot of you may not be aware of just how much info sits there, if you want to take a peek and see what's changed recently you should take a peek at http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/main/index.html cheers david kitchen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- david kitchen : merchandising and websites : jeepster records http://www.jeepster.co.uk/ http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/ mailto:shop@jeepster.co.uk jeepster recordings ltd, 217 canalot, 222 kensal road, london w10 5bn to subscribe to the news mailing list mail majordomo@jeepster.co.uk with the words 'subscribe news' in the body of the message there is no need to subscribe if you are on the 'sinister' list +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+