Song:Laid
Album:Laid
The British group James has been around since the 80s. They've done well in England but had their biggest success in the US with the 1993 single Laid and the album also called Laid. James is from Manchester, England and was formed in 1982 by guitarist Paul Gilbertson and his childhood pal bassist Jim Glennie. They added drummer Gavan Whelan and settled on the name Model Team. They tried several singers but Tim Booth brought the spark they needed. They renamed themselves James and signed with Factory Records. They released a couple of EPs. Gilbertson was replaced by Larry Gott because of Gilbertson's drug problems. James signed with Sire Records and released their first full length CD in 1986. But they still struggled. Whelan was fired after a fight with Booth and was replaced by David Baynton-Power. They added guitarist violinist Saul Davies, keyboard player Mark Hunter and trumpeter Andy Diagram. Their label Rough Trade thought James was limited. So they bought out their contract and signed with Fontana. James finally had some success with the 1990 album Gold Mother and their 1992 album Seven reached #2 on the British charts. They toured the US with Neil Young and got Brian Eno to produce the 1993 album Laid. It broke them in the US when the video was played on MTV. They had success on the college market mostly because the song is about sex. The controversy prevented Laid from being a bigger success and even forced Mercury to change the lyrics of the song to get airplay. There are also three versions of the video. Unfortuately at this point James fell apart. Gott left to spend more time with his family and Booth subsequently put the band on hiatus. Gott leaving was a big deal as he was the musical leader of James. The band continued to record without Booth. But they brought him in to record the vocals. Booth also released a 1997 solo CD. James recorded three more albums with mixed success and they split up in 2001. James reformed in 2007 and continue to record and tour today. I think it's doubtful that James will ever reach the heights of Laid and I recommend that CD. Here's the video for Laid by James. Don't they look cute in drag?
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