The The
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The The is an English musical and multimedia group that has been around since 1979 in various forms, with Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. Releases are fairly few and far between but over the years The The has managed to sell several million albums internationally.
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[edit] History
Johnson formed the first version of the band in 1979, with synth player Keith Laws. The group, after opening for Scritti Politti, issued its first single "Controversial Subject" on the 4AD label in 1980. One year later, it contributed a track to the Some Bizarre Records compilation album, Some Bizarre Album. In 1981 Johnson released "Burning Blue Soul", which, despite the fact that it is technically a Matt Johnson solo album (and was released under his name) is often considered to be the first The The album. The album featured Johnson and various musicians from the British post-punk underground, including various members of Wire.
By 1982, The The had become Johnson's solo project, with a revolving lineup of musicians. That year, the album The Pornography of Despair was recorded, but not released. In 1983, the band released its first real album Soul Mining, which featured the single "This Is the Day," recorded with Orange Juice's Zeke Manyika, pianist Jools Holland and cult legend Thomas Leer. The band's next album, Infected, was a commentary on the state of modern urban life in Great Britain. The album was released in 1986, with Johnson joined by musicians like Neneh Cherry, Art of Noise's Anne Dudley, Steve Hogarth (Marillion's vocalist since 1989), and Swans' Roli Mosimann, among others. It was accompanied by an album-length video and spawned The The's first UK hit single, "Heartland".
The The had a steady lineup again by the time its next album Mind Bomb was released in 1989, with Johnson joined by Irish singer/songwriter Sinéad O'Connor and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist James Eller and former ABC drummer Dave Palmer. It spawned the moderate UK hit single, "The Beat(en) Generation". The same lineup remained for the next album Dusk released in 1993, which brought about three UK hit singles, "Love Is Stronger Than Death," "Slow Emotion Replay," and "Dogs of Lust," but changed for the 1995 album Hanky Panky, which was a covers collection honoring the music of country musician Hank Williams; it resulted in another UK hit single, "I Saw the Light". The band then consisted of Johnson, guitarist Eric Schermerhorn, keyboardist D.C. Collard, harmonica player Jim Fitting, and drummer Brian MacLeod. After Collard left, the album NakedSelf was released in 2000.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current members
- Matt Johnson - vocals, bass guitar
- Eric Schermerhorn - guitars
- Earl Harvin - drums
[edit] Past members
- Johnny Marr - guitars (1988–1994) (see also The Smiths)
- J. G. Thirlwell - Tapes, samples, percussion (1979–2006) (see also Foetus)
- Jools Holland - Piano (1982)
- Steve Hogarth - Piano (1986)
- Thomas Leer - Keyboards (1979–1983)
- Sinéad O'Connor - vocals (1988–1989)
- Neneh Cherry - vocals (1985–1986)
- Anna Domino - vocals (1985–1986)
- James Eller - bass guitar (1988–1994)
- Gail Ann Dorsey - bass guitar (1994–1996)
- Dave Palmer - drums (1988–1994) (see also ABC)
- Keith Laws - keyboards
- D.C. Collard - keyboards (1991–1997)
[edit] Discography
- Spirits (1979) (Unreleased)
- Burning Blue Soul (1981)
- Soul Mining (1983)
- Infected (1986)
- Mind Bomb (1989)
- Dusk (1992)
- Solitude (1993)
- Hanky Panky (1995)
- Gun Sluts (1997) (Unreleased)
- NakedSelf (2000)
- 45 RPM (2002)
- London Town Box Set (2002)
With NakedSelf, the band moved from its previous label, Sony, to Interscope.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1980 | Controversial Subject | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1981 | Cold Spell Ahead | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1982 | Uncertain Smile | - | - | - | #68 | Soul Mining |
| 1983 | Perfect | - | - | - | - | Soul Mining |
| 1983 | This Is the Day | - | - | - | #71 | Soul Mining |
| 1986 | Heartland | - | - | - | #29 | Infected |
| 1986 | Infected | - | - | - | #48 | Infected |
| 1987 | Slow Train To Dawn | - | - | - | #64 | Infected |
| 1987 | Sweet Bird Of truth | - | - | - | #55 | Infected |
| 1989 | The Beat(en) Generation | - | #13 | - | #18 | Mind Bomb |
| 1989 | Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) | - | - | - | - | Mind Bomb |
| 1989 | Gravitate to Me | - | #15 | - | - | Mind Bomb |
| 1989 | Kingdom of Rain | - | #16 | - | - | Mind Bomb |
| 1990 | Jealous of Youth | - | #7 | - | - | Solitude |
| 1991 | Shades Of Blue EP | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1993 | Dogs of Lust | - | - | - | #25 | Dusk |
| 1993 | Slow Emotion Replay | - | - | - | #35 | Dusk |
| 1993 | Love Is Stronger Than Death | - | - | - | #39 | Dusk |
| 1994 | Dis-Infected EP | - | - | - | #17 | - |
| 1995 | I Saw the Light | - | - | - | #31 | Hanky Panky |
| 1999 | Shrunken Man | - | - | - | - | Naked Self |
