Furniture (band)

Furniture
Origin	London, England
Genres	New wave, post-punk, pop rock, synthpop
Years active	1979–1991
Labels	Survival (1986) Stiff/ ZTT (1986–1990) Arista (1989–1991)
Associated acts	Transglobal Underground, The Transmitters, Because, The Flavel Bambi Septet, Groove Armada
Members	Jim Irvin Sally Still Maya Gilder Hamilton Lee Tim Whelan Larry N'Azone
Notable instruments
Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, yangqin, percussion

Furniture was a British new wave band, active from 1979 to 1991. The band is best known for the 1986 Top 30 hit, "Brilliant Mind".

The longest-serving and best-known line-up of Furniture (from 1983–1990), comprised founder members Jim Irvin (vocals), singer/multi-instrumentalist Tim Whelan and drummer Hamilton Lee, plus bass player/occasional singer Sally Still and keyboard player Maya Gilder. Larry N’Azone (saxophone) was an occasional member during this period and often appeared with the band live. Furniture's chief success was in the UK but they also enjoyed a following throughout Eastern Europe where they toured in 1987 and 1988.

Since the break-up of the band, Furniture has retained a certain cult appeal, partly due to a continuing high reputation for songwriting and partly due to the nature of the band's career. Noted for the bad luck and practical frustration that prevented them from making a long term-breakthrough, Furniture have been described as "one of the most unfortunate of bands, and a salutory lesson for any young hopefuls being courted by minor labels."

After the band's break-up, Whelan and Lee went on to form Transglobal Underground (which rapidly eclipsed their prior band in terms of success and recognition), while Irvin and Still became high-profile British music journalists (as well as continuing their work in music, predominantly as songwriters).

Furniture's musical style was eclectic and has been described as a fusion of "new wave, jazz, blues, post-punk, alt-rock, and about a dozen other genres with some of the most poetic lyrics ever written." The band was also noted for the quality of its compositions, hailed as "storytelling songwriting at its best."

Furniture was formed in 1979 in the Ealing area of London, England by Jim Irvin, Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee. Simon Beaton (guitar) and Ian Macdonald (bass) joined shortly afterwards, and together Furniture played their first gig in 1979. In 1981 the band set up their own independent record label (The Guy From Paraguay) and released their first single, "Shaking Story"/"Take A Walk Downtown". In the same year, Tim Whelan joined The Transmitters as lead vocalist. He would remain in The Transmitters until 1989 but would continue working with Furniture at the same time. (Hamilton Lee would also divide his time between Furniture and The Transmitters during 1988 and 1989).

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