Hiya, Here it is, with some tweaking and additional info added. Enjoy! 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. 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. Some songs may have included early versions of Electronic Renaissance, Sleep the Clock Around, and a song entitled Perfection as a Hipster. Also, some have speculated that Lisa Helps the Blind may have some connection with the song "Beautiful," in which the words "They let Lisa go blind," are repeated several times. Three of demos from one of these tapes ("Pocketbook Angel," "London Has Let Me Down Again," "Hurley's Having Dreams,") have been circulated somewhat. Stuarts Murdoch and David met through a government program and collaborated as Rhode Island, recording demos of Dog on Wheels, the State That I Am in, Belle and Sebastian, and My Wandering Days Are Over. Jeepster scout Neil Robertson sent Jeepster a demo with songs by a lot of bands, including Rhode Island. They did some bedroom gigs, as well as a Glasgow radio session. No word on the songs, though. Rhode Island recorded the Dog on Wheels EP with Mick Cooke and various studio musicians who were taking the course at Stow. It was intended as a demo. Later, they were convinced to release at least some of these recordings as an EP. The band as we know them reputedly formed by adding Rhode Island to people met at the Grosvenor Cafe in Glasgow. These were pretty much just matters of them approaching and being approached. Richard Colburn was living in a flat with Stuart David, so perhaps that was where they found him. This was in January of 1996. 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 Stevie. It's also possible that they were the only four working on the song when it was written, or when it was arranged for the entire band, perhaps. If there was an early incarnation, Chris and Isobel joined shortly thereafter. 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 By now the band contained all the current members except Sarah and Mick (though he helped out on various recordings). From here on the official biography is more complete than I could manage to be, so refer to that. /"\_/"\_/"\ Mick McMick - bp224995@oak.cats.ohiou.edu - ICQ#5056758 \ / Sandcastle Records - (same e-mail for now) | | Sandcastle Homepage - | | http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/4972/ | | "I am always wishing to make people | | in the world happy with my smiles." | | - Mr. Friendly +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+