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Vitamin Z

 
Artist: Vitamin Z
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Howard Jones, Thompson Twins

Influenced By:

Marc Almond

Formal Connection With:

Roxy Music, Adam & the Ants
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Vitamin Z's vocalist Geoff Barradale was inspired to be a singer after attending a Paul Young concert; ironically, like Paul Young, Vitamin Z became recognized in the U.S. for one lovelorn ballad in the '80s and really nothing else. The song was "Burning Flame" and it represented Vitamin Z's creative peak, encapsulating the mid-'80s pop scene in England when British artists such as Young, the Style Council, and Spandau Ballet took stabs at blue-eyed soul. Barradale and Nick Lockwood (guitar, bass, keyboards) formed Vitamin Z in Sheffield, England, in 1982. The group immediately received an offer from CBS Records; however, they didn't feel they were ready yet and turned it down. The band continued to polish their sound and eventually signed with Phonogram in the U.K. and Geffen Records in America. Vitamin Z's debut album, Rites of Passage, was released in 1985. The LP featured guest musicians such as Peter Gabriel, percussionist Jerry Marotta, drummer Chris Merrick Hughes, guitarists Neil Hubbard and David Rhodes, and violinist Simon House; Rhodes later joined the group. The band became the opening act for Tears for Fears in England, and "Burning Flame" scorched the dance charts. Vitamin Z revisited "Burning Flame" on their next album, Sharp Stone Rain, its title a reference to the bombing of a Northern Ireland church wherein 11 people were killed. But the LP was not successful and the group split up. Barradale started the Wild Orchids and then began recording with Seafruit in 1998. ~ Michael Sutton, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Vitamin Z
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Vitamin Z
Origin Sheffield, England
Genres New Wave
Years active 1982 - ca. 1991
Labels Phonogram, Mercury, Geffen
Former members
Geoff Barradale
Nick Lockwood
David Rhodes

Vitamin Z were an English pop group, formed in 1982[1] by vocalist Geoff Barradale and bassist Nick Lockwood. Their lone hit "Burning Flame" charted well in the UK, but no further hits caught on. Geoff Barradale now serves as manager for the Arctic Monkeys.

Contents

History

Vitamin Z founders Geoff Barradale and Nick Lockwood were born and raised in Northern England’s Sheffield. The group originally took shape around a loose-knit collection of local musicians who came together in a common rehearsal space.

The band's debut album Rites Of Passage, was released in 1985. Its most prominent single, "Burning Flame," did well on the U.S. dance charts and the band toured England with Tears for Fears. Vitamin Z also made news when its video for the song "Circus Ring" filmed in Istanbul, making them the first Western Europeans to be allowed to film in Turkey since Midnight Express prompted government officials there to close the border to foreign film units.

A year or so further on and the follow-up album was ready to go. "But we sat down and listened to it and it didn't do anything," recalls Barradale. "If it didn't move us, it wasn't going to move anybody else. The songs were good, but the treatment was wrong, contrived, plastic. We see ourselves as far more edgy, spiky. It was the wrong marriage with a producer."

While they awaited the results of a lawsuit that would hopefully allow them to re-work the songs, they wrote a number of new ones. They liked what they were hearing so much that they paid for another demo out of their own pockets. "We knew," says Barradale, "that this was our moment. We had to take it." By the time the legal matters were settled, they were already in the studio working on Sharp Stone Rain, beginning with producer Pete Smith (Sting, The Adventures) but ended up co-producing tracks.

Also seizing the moment, Lockwood decided to move from bass and keyboards to guitar. "In a songwriting sense, it's more creative being able to write on the guitar".

Barradale appeared on The Alan Parsons Project album Gaudi released in 1987. He sang lead vocals for the "Standing On Higher Ground" track.

Vitamin Z recorded demos for a third album, which was never released.

Barradale continued to record and perform from his native Sheffield, teaming up with guitarist and songwriter Alan Smyth, later a respected producer based at his own 2-Fly Studios in the city. Their bands Fruit, Seafruit, were championed by Jeff Cooper (broadcaster)'s 'XS' show (now radio2XS) at the radio station Hallam FM, where they recorded two sessions in 1996 and 1997. Cooper also employed Barradale as the narrator of a 1995 radio documentary for the BBC 'Sheffield Music 1995', which also featured Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and others.

Barradale is currently the manager of the city's Arctic Monkeys

Discography

Albums

  • Rites of Passage, 1985
  • Sharp Stone Rain, 1989

Singles

  • "Burning Flame", 1985, 7" and 12"
  • "Circus Ring", 1985, 7" and 12"
  • "Every Time That I See You", 1985, 7" and 12"
  • "Hi Hi Friend", 1985, 7" and 12"
  • "Burn For You", 1989, 7", 12" and CD single
  • "Can't Live Without You", 1990, 7", 12" and CD single

External links

References

  1. ^ Sharp Stone Rain - Geffen Biography

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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