Breathe (British band)
Breathe | |
---|---|
Origin | London, England |
Genres | Pop[1] |
Years active | 1984–1992 |
Labels | |
Members |
David Glasper Marcus Lillington Ian "Spike" Spice Michael Delahunty |
Breathe were an English pop rock band formed in London in 1984.
Career
Originally a larger, five-piece called Catch 22, the members were childhood friends who went to Yateley School together in Hampshire where they lived. They later trimmed down to a quartet. Phill Harrison (bass) left to join the Fire Brigade. In 1984, singer David Glasper, guitarist Marcus Lillington, drummer Ian "Spike" Spice, and bass guitarist Michael "Mick" Delahunty began working on some demos. Those songs were introduced to personnel from the label Siren Records, and led to a recording contract with A&M Records. Breathe released their debut album, All That Jazz, in April 1988. The album contained the group's two best-known hits, "How Can I Fall?" and "Hands to Heaven". The former charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3, and the latter at No. 2 in 1988 and at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.[2] "Hands" also ranked inside Billboard's 1988 Year-End Top 10 at No. 9.
Bassist Michael Delahunty left the group in 1988 as Breathe were about to reach the peak of their success, and the remaining three continued with promotion for the All That Jazz album and singles. Afterward, they continued with this line-up and released their second and final studio album Peace of Mind in August 1990.
Their sound was a combination of light jazz with some pop and soul, somewhat reminiscent of Air Supply and Rick Astley. However, the band's success was short-lived. Sales were low even though many radio stations played some tracks from the second release, Peace of Mind. They disbanded in 1992 because major record labels did not continue to promote them.
Drummer Ian "Spike" Spice died in 2000. David Glasper has made demonstration recordings posted on YouTube in the last few years. Marcus Lillington and Phil Harrison still play together in Stroke the Toad.
Personnel
- David Glasper (vocals) - born 4 January 1965, Cardigan, Mid Wales.
- Marcus Lillington (guitars, keyboards) - born 28 February 1967, London. Now works at web design firm, Headscape,[3] and co-hosts web design podcast, Boagworld.com.[4] He plays guitar and sings in the band Stroke the Toad.
- Spike (drums) - born Ian Spice, 18 September 1966 - died 2000.
- Michael Delahunty (bass) - band member 1984-1989.
Other
- Steve Price-Wardley (keyboards) - Session keyboardist for the band. Born in Trinidad and educated at Charterhouse. Later formed an indie record label with Will Crichton-Stuart.
- Phill Harrison (bass, guitar) - born 29 October 1966 - original bass player; departed before the recording of All That Jazz.
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [5] |
SWE [6] |
US [7] | |||||||
All That Jazz | 22 | 12 | 34 | ||||||
Peace of Mind |
|
— | — | 116 | |||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [5] |
GER [10] |
NOR [11] |
NZ [12] |
SWE [13] |
US [14] |
US AC [15] | ||||||||
1986 | "Don't Tell Me Lies" (original release) | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | All That Jazz | |||||
1987 | "Hands to Heaven" | 4 | 29 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
1988 | "Jonah" | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"How Can I Fall?" | 48 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | |||||||
1989 | "Don't Tell Me Lies" (re-release) | 45 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 5 | ||||||
"Any Trick" (US only) | x | x | x | x | x | — | — | |||||||
"All This I Should Have Known" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | |||||||
1990 | "Say Hello" | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Peace of Mind | |||||
"Say a Prayer" | 93 | — | — | — | — | 21 | 3 | |||||||
1991 | "Does She Love That Man?" | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | 17 | ||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart, "x" denotes releases not released in that country | ||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ Deming, Mark. "Breathe – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 77. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ Headscape team: Marcus Lillington Archived May 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ About Boagworld
- 1 2 "Chart Stats - Breathe". Chart Stats. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "BPI Searchable Database". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ↑ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts - German Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ "Breathe Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
External links
- Breathe biography at AllMusic
- Breathe discography at AllMusic