Babybird | |
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Origin | Sheffield, England |
Genres | Britpop, Indie |
Years active | 1995–2000, 2005-2013 |
Labels | Baby Bird Recordings, Echo, Unison Music |
Website | http://www.babybirdmusic.me/ |
Past members |
Stephen Jones Huw Chadbourn Robert Gregory John Pedder Luke Scott |
Babybird were an indie band from the United Kingdom formed in 1995 and active until early 2013, fronted by Stephen Jones, who has also released records as a solo artist, using his own name, and as Black Reindeer.
Jones started writing and recording songs at home and his first collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995 using the name Babybird. He formed a band in order to tour and promote this work. In 1996, Babybird signed to Echo Records and their first single was released in July 1996. Babybird were dropped from their record label in 2000 after their third album, Bugged, had poor sales. The band then split. Jones continued on his own, writing fiction, releasing solo work and created the score for the film Blessed. In October 2005, the band reformed with three members and created another album released in September 2006. They went on tour in November 2009 and then split again in 2013.
Jones had begun writing songs and recording home demos as part of an experimental theatre group in Nottingham. A collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995, under the name Babybird. He recruited a band made up of Huw Chadbourn (keyboards), Robert Gregory (drums), John Pedder (bass) and Luke Scott (guitar), in order to tour and promote his work.
During 1995, two further albums of demo recordings were released under the name Babybird (Bad Shave and Fatherhood) and two in 1996 (The Happiest Man Alive and Dying Happy). Babybird were signed to Echo Records (a division of the Chrysalis Group), and the first authentic single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was released in July 1996, becoming a minor hit in the UK Singles Chart.