David Gray (musician)
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| David Gray | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | June 13, 1968 (age 38) | |
| Origin | Sale, England | |
| Genre(s) | Rock Alternative Folk rock |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Piano Guitar |
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| Years active | 1993 - present | |
| Label(s) | Eastwest (UK) / RCA (US) Iht (UK) / ATO (US) Hut (UK) / Caroline (US) |
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| Website | http://www.davidgray.com/ | |
David Gray (born June 13, 1968 in Sale) is an English singer-songwriter who came to mainstream recognition with his 1999 album White Ladder.
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[edit] Career
Gray moved from Manchester to Wales at the age of nine. He grew up in the small coastal town of Solva in Pembrokeshire. He later moved to the north-west of England to attend the University of Liverpool.
His musical career received early support from a dedicated Republic of Ireland fan base. At an early gig in Ireland, Gray was introduced by comic playwright Pat Ingoldsby.
After a few marginally successful releases through the 1990s, Gray's breakthrough came with the worldwide release of his fourth album, White Ladder, in 1998. This was a critical and commercial success and included his best-known songs: "This Years Love", "Babylon" and "Please Forgive Me". In the United States, the album received a boost from jam-band leader Dave Matthews, who made it the first release by ATO Records, the record company he co-founded. In Ireland, it remains the biggest-selling album ever.
On August 11, 2001, White Ladder finally reached the top of the UK albums chart, on the back of the single success of "Babylon" (a remixed and edited version for radio, which omitted the third verse completely). The album had been selling steadily since its reissue the previous May, thereby setting a new record for the longest uninterrupted climb to Number One. The 2002 follow-up (not counting the Lost Songs 95-98 release), A New Day at Midnight, went straight in at Number One, whilst Gray's seventh album, Life in Slow Motion also hit the top in its first week of release in September 2005.
Gray's early music was in a contemporary folk-rock, singer-songwriter mode; his primary instrument was acoustic guitar, with occasional piano. 1996's Sell, Sell, Sell featured some rock arrangements and electric instrumentation. Starting with the release of White Ladder, Gray began to make significant use of computer-generated music to accompany his voice and acoustic instrumentation, a technique which differentiates him from many of his peers. Despite the move to more complex music, Gray has used small-scale, often home-based recording methods and equipment and espoused a "do it yourself" approach to music production. However, Life in Slow Motion is a collaboration with noted producer Marius De Vries.
[edit] The Venus in Furs
The band "Venus in Furs" (named after the Velvet Underground song whose title and lyrics in turn reference a novel of that name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch) was formed in 1998 for the film Velvet Goldmine. Gray provided vocals in the band which also included Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Andy Mackay (Roxy Music), Bernard Butler (Suede), Paul Kimble and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
[edit] Gray's songs in film and television
Gray's music has been featured in many films and television shows:
- The song "Disappearing World" from Life in Slow Motion was prominently featured on the TV series Smallville in fall 2005 and "Standoff" in the end sequence of "Episode 1x05 - Life Support", which first aired on October 31, 2006.
- "The One I Love" from Life in Slow Motion was featured in the season finale of the third season of Rescue Me, which aired on August 29, 2006.
- "Slow Motion" from Life in Slow Motion was featured at length on the season premiere of the long-running U.S. television series E.R., airing on September 21, 2006.
- "Please Forgive Me" from White Ladder is featured in a first-season episode of the TV comedy Scrubs along with the movie All Over the Guy.
- "Sail Away" from White Ladder is featured in the film 15 Minutes starring Robert De Niro.
- "Freedom" from A New Day at Midnight is featured in a fourth-season episode of the TV show Alias.
- "This Year's Love" from White Ladder is featured in a season-four episode of the television show Dawson's Creek and in the movies Wimbledon and The Girl Next Door. A piano-solo version of the song is also featured in the latter movie. It also appears in Crazy/Beautiful but it is not on the movie's soundtrack.
- "January Rain" from Lost Songs is featured in the movie Serendipity.
- "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" is played at the end of the Without A Trace episode "Claire de Lune"
- "The Other Side" is played at the end of Season 1, Episode 1 of Day Break.
- "Babylon" from White Ladder is played at a sequence near the end of Season 2, Episode 27 of Boston Legal.
[edit] Band
- David Gray - vocals, piano, guitar
- Craig "Clune" McClune - drums, percussion, vocals
- Rob Malone - bass, vocals
- Tim Bradshaw - Lap steel, keyboards, vocals
- David Nolte - guitar, keyboards, vocals, other various instruments
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
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[edit] Compilations
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[edit] Virtual albums
- iTunes Originals - David Gray * [1]
[edit] Singles
[edit] From A Century Ends
[edit] From Sell, Sell, Sell
[edit] From White Ladder
- "Please Forgive Me" (1999) #72 UK
- "Babylon" (2000) #57 US
- "This Years Love" (2001)
- "Babylon" (single remix edit) (2001) #5 UK
- "Please Forgive Me" (reissue) (single remix edit) (2001) #18 UK
- "This Years Love" (reissue) (strings remix) (2001) #20 UK
- "Sail Away" (2001) (Biffico radio edit) #26 UK
- "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" (radio edit) (2001) #26 UK
[edit] From A New Day at Midnight
[edit] From Life in Slow Motion
- "The One I Love" (2005) #8 UK
- "Hospital Food" (radio edit) (2005) #34 UK
- "Alibi" (radio edit) (2006) #71 UK
[edit] Trivia
- Gray made a cameo appearance in the film This Years Love, for which he wrote the title track and other music.
- Gray is the brother-in-law of Orbital co-founders Phil and Paul Hartnoll, and provided guest vocals for Orbital on the track "Illuminate" on their album The Altogether. A Hartnoll-mixed version of "Please Forgive Me" appears on the CD version of the eponymous single.
- He was involved with Soccer Aid in 2006, playing convincingly at right-back for the Soccer Aid England team, but conceded the penalty from which the Rest of the World side scored.
- Bonnie Raitt covered Gray's song "Silver Lining" on her 2002 album of the same name.
- Gray covered The Killers' song "Smile Like You Mean It" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.
- To commemorate the 80th anniversary of football commentary on BBC Radio, he was one of the co-commentators on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra for Arsenal versus Manchester United, the team he supports, on 21 January 2007.
- He is a "big Celtic fan",[citation needed] and presented the half-time draw ticket at Parkhead on March 3, 2007, during the visit of Dunfermline.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official home page
- David Gray collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- David Gray live at the Cornbury Festival Oxfordshire, July 7th 2007
| David Gray |
| David Gray |
| Other musicians: Tim Bradshaw • Rob Malone • Craig McClune |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: A Century Ends • Flesh • Sell, Sell, Sell • White Ladder • Lost Songs 95-98 • A New Day at Midnight • Life in Slow Motion |
| Singles: Birds Without Wings • Shine • Wisdom • Faster Sooner Now • Late Night Radio • Please Forgive Me • Babylon • This Years Love • Sail Away • Say Hello Wave Goodbye • The Other Side • Be Mine • The One I Love • Hospital Food • Alibi |
| Compilations: The EPs 1992-1994 • Shine: The Best of the Early Years |
| Videos: David Gray: Live • Live in Slow Motion |
