Athlete (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  London, England |
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| Genre(s) | Indie rock Britpop |
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| Years active | 1999–present | |
| Label(s) | Parlophone (UK) Astralwerks (USA) |
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| Website | http://www.athlete.mu/ | |
| Members | ||
| Joel Pott Carey Willets Steve Roberts Tim Wanstall |
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Athlete are an indie rock band hailing from Deptford, London, England.
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[edit] History
Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practising in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending demos out. Signing with Regal Recordings, they released their first single in February 2002. The band came to prominence in 2003 with their debut album, Vehicles and Animals, producing popular singles such as You Got the Style and El Salvador. The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies.
Their second album, Tourist, reached Number One in the UK Album Charts in its first week, following the huge success of single Wires, which, in 2006, won them the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Contemporary Song". In the UK charts, the band has frequently been frustrated by singles just missing out on top 40 placings, due to inconsistent support by music television channels and radio stations. For instance, certain songs, such as Wires and Half light, were played up to 10 times a day on larger UK radio stations, yet other singles such as Westside and Tourist received little to no radio play whatsoever, fueling talk of radio stations deciding who becomes a major player in the pop music franchise.
In a recent post on March 13, 2007 by Stephen Roberts said that the band are working with mixer Ben Allen and that in two weeks time they will have finished their third album. In February Roberts said that the band are "also talking about when to release the album. We're now thinking that maybe to wait after the summer could be a good time. So then the festivals will be finished and we will be all rehearsed ready to tour." Some of the new songs confirmed by the band are "Accidents Happen", "Airport Disco", "Shades On", "In the Library", "Tokyo", "Minute to Lose" and "This is What I Sound Like". [1]
[edit] Band members
- Joel Pott - lead vocals and guitar,
- Carey Willetts - bass and vocals,
- Stephen Roberts - drums and backing vocals,
- Tim Wanstall - keyboards and backing vocals.
[edit] Trivia
The song 'El Salvador' from the album Vehicles and Animals is part of the soundtrack to the 2006 Tony Goldwyn film The Last Kiss
The song 'Chances' from the album Tourist was used in the 2006 Russell Crowe film A Good Year
The song 'Half light' from the album Tourist was used for the Sky One ad to commerate the final episode of 'Star Trek Enterprise' in August 2005.
The song 'Tourist' from the album 'Tourist' is currently being used in the new Adidas commercial advertising basketball player Gilbert Arenas' endorsement with the company.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] EPs
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Westside / Dungeness / One Of Those Days" | 85 | The Athlete EP |
| 2002 | "You Got the Style" | 37 | Vehicles and Animals |
| 2002 | "Beautiful" | 41 | Vehicles and Animals |
| 2003 | "El Salvador" | 31 | Vehicles and Animals |
| 2003 | "Westside" | 42 | Vehicles and Animals |
| 2003 | "You Got the Style" re-issue | 42 | Vehicles and Animals |
| 2005 | "Wires" | 4 | Tourist |
| 2005 | "Half Light" | 16 | Tourist |
| 2005 | "Tourist" | 43 | Tourist |
| 2005 | "Twenty Four Hours" / "Stand In the Sun" | 42 | Tourist |
[edit] Compilations
Athlete tracks have appeared on the following compilation CDs:
| Year | Compilation | Track |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Album Vol. 4 | "Westside" |
| 2004 | The Alternative Album Vol. 2 | "Westside" |
| 2004 | The Best Bands in the World...Ever | "Beautiful" |
| 2004 | The Best Bands 2004 | "You Got The Styles" |
| 2005 | The Alternative Album Vol. 3 | "Shake Those Windows" |
| 2005 | The Album: Music from EMI | "Wires" |
| 2005 | Acoustic Vol.5: Acoustic 05 | "You Got The Style" |
| 2005 | The Album Vol. 6 | "Half Light" |
| 2006 | The Last Kiss Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | "El Salvador" |
| 2006 | The Ultimate Bands - The Classic Anthems | "Wires" |
| 2006 | Relaxing Songs 2006 | "Wires" |
