4AD Reveals New LUSH Site

4AD has just launched their own full-blown Lush site (not to be confused with the band's own site), detailing the bands history on the label, pre-2015 of course, beginning with a nice intro of where the band is today. There's even a mention of Emma stating that the next album(!) will be more rehearsed than 'Blindspot' is when it was recorded. All is told with the first person accounts of Miki, Emma and Phil, and additional details provided by former band mates Meriel Barnham and Steve Rippon and the very fitting tribute to Chris Acland and his importance to Lush are much appreciated.

The official website for independent record label 4AD.
The official website for independent record label 4AD.
4AD.COM

Happy Lushoween!

Lush was reborn in October 1988, with Miki taking the vacated lead vocal spot. And according to at least one source, Lush was originally formed on Halloween night of 1988, in London, England (*please see note below!). For today I'm referencing this alternate view to give full play to the whole Lush 'mythology' and for adding a bit fun for the holiday occasion ;)

Later on the band would eventually play a gig on an October 31st date. In 1990 they performed at Birmingham's Institute of Art and Design. Never again would Lush do another Halloween gig after this performance - coincidence? We may never know!

On several occasions the band members dressed up in costume (even at one time raiding a Hollywood costume shop in 1991)... which just so happens to be a very popular custom typically observed only for Halloween!

In 1992 Lush's first full length "proper" album was titled "Spooky".... though the whole wasn't entirely spooky in nature!

While staying in Normandy for the mixing of the album Split in 1994, some band members reported strange goings-on while holed-up at their secluded - and haunted - chateau. Chris felt his bed abruptly moved back one night. Phil too had a strange experience here. "[I dreamt that] I was in a red cathedral, and there was this red room in this huge church..." It wasn't until after relating the dream to their producer that Phil learned that "there used to be a church on the grounds where the chateau was, and one day there was a massacre in a big red room there." The band's mysterious connection to the nether realms deepens!

So what more is there to add but Lush's own music itself, last but not least. Hauntingly beautiful, for the Halloween holiday I offer you:

Lush's Most Haunted Mix!

• I Have the Moon - Amazon Preview
  
• When I Die - Amazon Preview
  
• Invisible Man - Amazon Preview
  
• Ocean - Amazon Preview
• Undertow [Spooky remix] - Amazon Preview (Spooky remix version n/a)
  

MP3 versions of these tracks may be purchased for download at Lush - Amazon.com


* There is no record of a Halloween gig in '88 on Miki's own exhaustive show listing, though she admits she may have missed one or few. It's near certain that the band had their very first gig in March 1988, having just filled the bass spot with Steve in the nick of time. Chris was on drums, Emma and Miki both backing vocals/guitar and Merial Barham on lead vocals. Personally I think a bit of confusion is responsible for the Halloween '88 date, even an '87 date when the very beginnings of the band were forming in the Fall of that year would make more sense. Also see one of my older post, Lush v.2.0.

Lush :: Baby Machines Downloadable CD Sleeve

I've been sitting on this one for a while, another CD sleeve I made up for you to download. Its one-of-a-kind. A sleeve for a live recording I have, from the original line-up of Lush back in April 1988. The recording is believed to be taped from their second ever gig.

Ah, the miracle of Photoshop. I may have earned scornful rebukes, but before you purists start hurling your shattered beer bottles and bits of rock at me for this, hear me out first. There are no photos in existence, so far as I know, of Lush as a five-piece, pre-Meriel Barham's exodus from the position as the original lead vocalist for another band.

To fix that slight yet glaring detail I picked a fitting publicity photo taken soon after Lush (Miki, Emma, Steve, Chris) was signed with label 4AD, and combined in a pub-shot from the Pale Saints (specifically Meriel) from the approximate same time. Overall it isn't too much of an atrocity, is it?

To add a little more pseudo-authenticity, I also decided to use a historic name for the title: the Baby Machines came from the original idea that the mates started with for a band name, before a friend suggested that they go with 'Lush' instead.

And there you have it... my hopefully semi-accurate imaginary portrayal of Lush as they might have appeared together on a record sleeve when they were still a five-piece.

The Early Lush Demos :: 1988, '89

Pretend that you just happened to lay your hands on a copy of the original demo tapes from Lush. Actually you don't have to, because it's provided to you right here and now, free for the taking. You can d/l all of the demo tracks (found on another blog) here: The Early Lush Demos :: 1998, '99 - The dates as listed on the bootleg for the demos obviously are incorrect. This should be dated '1988,'89'.

Note! This bootleg includes a track attributed simply as "Emma Vocals" (demo II). Emma emphatically refutes that the vocals are her's in a comment made on the YouTube video, and states that this is not a Lush song. Listen to the track yourself, "Emma Vocals" sounds oddly out of place compared to the other tracks. I don't believe this is a demo by Lush at all.

Album: Early Demos
Release: Unreleased
Label: N/A

TRACKLIST
Demo I
(recorded between March-October 1988 w/ Meriel Barham, Emma, Miki, Steve and Chris)

1. Grotesque (band's title is "Female Hybrid" see the March 1 post )
2. Truth Or Fiction
3. Skin
4. Sunbathing

After they cut the above four-song demo, Meriel left the band to join the Pale Saints.

Demo II
(first two tracks likely recorded in early 1989, w/ Miki, Emma, Steve and Chris)

1. Etheriel
2. Second Site (Second Sight)
[3. Emma Vocals] (according to Emma herself, this is NOT Emma singing and should not be considered as a recording made by Lush!)

Lush sent this second demo tape off to 4AD, One Little Indian, Rough Trade and Mute, before heading off on a mini-tour with House Of Love in May 1989.

Lush : Female Hybrid (demo)

I've finally, finally got a recording to post on YouTube (my movie editor and I have had issues). Not sure why the band image is placed off center, but I'm just happy to get anything up at this point.

This is one of the early Lush demos with Meriel Barham on lead vocals before she went on to join the Pale Saints.

This demo has also been shared under the title "Grotesque" (demo I) on a bootleg currently in circulation, including on YouTube. So being the little pita nit-picker that I am, I u/led the same song under the name used by the band - "Female Hybrid" is the commonly accepted Lush title.

I can proove it too :P

Steve, the founding bassist:

"I went down to an audition at this place behind the Holloway Road,' he continues. 'They (Lush) were possibly the worst group I'd ever seen in my life. It was an absolute cacophony. The songs were really simple and had titles like 'Female Hybrid', 'See-Saw' and 'He's A Bastard'. I thought, yeah, I can play bass to this."

Anniversary - Version Two

Depending on which version of the story you ascribe to (1987 vs. 1988)... it was 20 years ago this month.

Step back to October 1988. A date of some note as the leaves fall through the swirls of cooling breezes.

Only a few short months have passed. It was about a year ago in amongst the taverns, gig joints and college halls where an idea took root, sprouted and blossomed so that a new band was born. A friend of one member came up with a name for the new band, therefore adopted was the title: "Lush."

Bet you could never have guessed what I was talking about all along, could you?

The new band made up of college chums Emma, Miki and Chris with another recruit, Meriel, as the vocalist practice away in Miki's bedroom. They practice for months. 1987 becomes 1988. Practice continues. Only, there was something missing.

Steve, the founding bassist:

"I was sitting in the college canteen one day, and they sidled up to me, really embarrassed. They said can you play bass? I said, no. They said, great, can you learn in six weeks?

"I went down to an audition at this place behind the Holloway Road,' he continues. 'They were possibly the worst group I'd ever seen in my life. It was an absolute cacophony. The songs were really simple and had titles like 'Female Hybrid', 'See-Saw' and 'He's A Bastard'. I thought, yeah, I can play bass to this."

The urgency to recruit Steve was due to an impending gig at the Camden Falcon on 6th March 1988!

Now, let me stop and clarify where I'm heading with this. There are quotable dates a'plenty to back up a 1987 formation for the band. The 1988 birthdate has been come into play due in part to confusion, and part ignorance by journalists. So now lets pick up from that first gig - after they began playing dates and recorded the now-famous 4-track demo. It's at this time a turning point occurred. That's when Meriel Barnham left the band. It's October. And now Lush needed to audition for new lead vocalist.

Lets roll some of that footage from the John Wiederhorn interview, please:

"...We've had bad experiences with them in the past," says Berenyi.

The experiences she's referring to occurred in October of 1988. Less than a year into the band's career. After the departure of former vocalist Meriel Barham (now with Pale Saints). "It was so awful. We auditioned like 30 people and it was a complete nightmare. Either they couldn't sing at all, or else they were really strange... That's when everybody decided I would have to sing."

So Miki moved up to fill the vacancy in addition to her guitarist role. And Lush v.2, the band as the public knows it was birthed. Anyway, that's my take on it. But it doesn't really matter anyway, does it? Unless you're someone like me who's trying to get all his facts straight before posting what was to be a short blurb to the web.

So give or take a year regardless, the band had quite a bit of work that lay ahead yet before they'd begin to temper into the musicians their growing followers knew and loved. Lush were still young, not too terribly experienced for the most part and at times intimidated. Chris on his drums was the old-timer here, and his abilities had much to do with boosting their sound up to the next level, perhaps their confidence too. They persevered through the adversity, stayed focused and the idea grew into something alive and real.

The First Gig - Camden Falcon - March 6, 1988

Steve Rippon is hastely added to the Lush line-up just in time for the band's first gig at the Camden Falcon on 6th March 1988, supporting the Rosehips. The night passed as smoothly as could be expected.

With that first show under their belt, the band branches out to play other venues on the London toilet circuit.

Lush's First Nine : As a Five Piece

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the career Lush had as a Five Piece, after all, it was short-lived. But they did put on quite a few shows, learning how to play and laying down the framework to build upon.

So, without further to-do, here's the complete list of Lush's first nine gigs, all as a 5-piece band (or rather learning to be a band) with Meriel at lead vocals, Emma and Miki on guitars (w/ Miki doing backing vocals), Steve on bass and Chris at drums.

1. Mar 06, 88 Camden, Falcon - first ever gig
2. Mar 19, 88 Camden, Falcon
3. Jun 04, 88 Fullham, Greyhound
4. Jun 12, 88 Brixton, Canterbury Ams (Arms?)
5. Jun 19, 88 Ealing, Collage of Higher Education
6. Jun 22, 88 Finsbury Park, The George Robey
7. Jun 25, 88 Hammersmith, The Clarendon
8. ??? ??, 88 unknown gig
9. Jul 22, 88 Camden, Falcon

Following this gig the band didn't perform again until October 9. It's most likely that at this time Meriel left for Pale Saints and Miki moved over to fill the position, and performing from now on as a four piece. Think of it as a system upgrade from from Lush 1.0 to Lush 2.0. The old Lush was done, a new one begun.

We do have their first demo recordings from that period, but how I wish one photo existed from those first nine!

Anniversary - Version One

Depending upon which school you have joined up with (the 1987 vrs. the 1988 chronical of events) right about now would be the 20th anniversary of a date that carries some significance to the Friends of Lush.

Going by an interview/story written by Pat Gilberts for "Record Collector" magazine (sorry, no date) we have evidence for the year 1987 as being the date for the creation of Lush. I'll pick up the interview where the 'date of somewhat significance' appears:

... Miki was adding primitive guitar to rockabilly garage band the Bugs, and even accompanied them on a European tour to promote their August 1987 album, 'Darkside' (which she didn't actually play on). Around this time, Miki and Emma began hatching a plan for their own band, initially called the Baby Machines. Recruiting two of Miki's classmates, singer Meriel Barham and Kendal-born drummer Chris Acland (then Miki's paramour), they began rehearsing in Miki's bedroom. After a few weeks, they realised they needed a proper bassist, and approached another student, Steve Rippon, who was five years older than the others and originally from Bracknell. 'I was in their class as well,' recalls Steve, phoning from Ireland. 'I was sitting in the college canteen one day, and they sidled up to me, really embarrassed. They said can you play bass? I said, no. They said, great, can you learn in six weeks?

'I went down to an audition at this place behind the Holloway Road,' he continues. 'They were possibly the worst group I'd ever seen in my life. It was an absolute cacophony. The songs were really simple and had titles like 'Female Hybrid', 'See-Saw' and 'He's A Bastard'. I thought, yeah, I can play bass to this.'

The urgency to recruit Steve was because of an impending gig at the Camden Falcon on 6th March 1988, supporting the Rosehips. In the event, the night passed as smoothly as could be expected, and the band branched out to play other venues on the London toilet circuit. They even supported Ted Harris from 'Playschool' at Ealing College. After they cut a four-song demo, internal tensions bubbled over and Meriel was given the push. 'She just wasn't interested,' sneers Emma. 'We'd organise all these gigs and she couldn't play them because her boyfriend was going away the next day or whatever. He came first. But she also felt uncomfortable playing guitar.' Meriel went on to join fellow 4AD shoe-gazers, the Pale Saints.

You know the rest of it. Miki took over the lead vocals position vacated by Meriel when no replacement could be found. And the rest is music history.

You can read the entire article reproduced here: http://www.curve.demon.co.uk/lush/press/p_art3.html

In the beginning...

A Lush Chronology

1960
April 28 - Philip King born in London, England

1966
September 7 - Christopher Acland born in Lancaster, England

1967
March 18 - Miki Berenyi born in London, England.
June 10 - Emma Anderson born in London, England

1981
At the age of 14, Berenyi met future bandmate Emma Anderson at Queen's College in England. They found they had a common bond: their parents had bounced them both from school to school depending on family finances at the time.

Emma: Me and Miki have known each other since we were fourteen and we both got into music sorta around the same time

1983-85 (approx.)
Young Miki and Emma work together on music fanzines (Alphabet Soup)
the two teenagers wrote and produced a fanzine called Alphabet Soup, which only lasted for five issues.

1987
September - LUSH is born, conceived by Chris Ackland, Steve Rippon, Meriel Barham, Emma Anderson, and Miki Berenyi.

Miki: We just wanted to be in a band together really. I met Chris and steve at Polytechnic doing a degree. And um, Chris joined first and then, I think, Emma was playing bass then and I was playing guitar and we had a different singer. And then we all changed what we were playing and stuff and then Steve joined.

Emma: He could play a bit of guitar so I just asked him if he wanted to play bass and he said yes and that was it really. Really ropey beginnings.


1988
(According to other sources) Lush formed in London, England, in 1988 Berenyi studied English literature at London's Polytechnic University, where she met drummer Christopher Acland, bassist Steve Rippon, and singer Meriel Barham. Along with Anderson, they decided to form their own band. Anderson's friend Kevin Pickering told her he thought Lush would be a perfect name for a band. Anderson agreed, suggested the name to the band, and they started writing and rehearsing. After that conversation, Anderson never saw Pickering again.

On March 6, 1988, Lush played their very first performance at Camden Falcon in London. Not long after the band's first show, the U.K. press started to take notice with favorable reviews. But Barham decided he didn't want to stay with the band and later went on to join Lush's 4AD labelmates, the Pale Saints. The remaining members of Lush placed ads in local papers looking for Barham's replacement, but they couldn't find the singer they wanted. Berenyi took over the vocals, and the band continued to perform in clubs around London.

Miki replaced original lead Meriel Barham on vocals

Emma: Well, I think what happened was, well, yeah, we did want to start playing gigs as soon as possible however abyssmal we were. we just went out and did it. We had, I don't know about five, six songs. And we just played and played and played. And this line-up was really finalized, if you like, around October 88 - no...yeah, October 88. And we were sorta just still playing, sorta just improved our song-writing and our playing. It wasn't like we all got together and we could play and it was really good. It was a slow learning process.

Miki: We did a demo of two songs: "Etheriel" and "Second Sight" and we sent them out to about six companies - independant ones. We were going to go with another one first and do a single, but Ivo kept phoning to see what was going on, so he was interested, but I think he heard, from people, that we weren't very good live and whatever, so he was a bit cautious. but in the end he said "Well, I'll put you into the studio and you can record three songs. If I like them, we'll see what happens". So that's what we did. We went in the studio and we did "Babytalk", "Thoughtforms" and "Scarlet". And he really liked them. so he said "well, why don't you go back in the studio and do three more?" so we did and we did "Bitter", "Second Sight" and "Etheriel". and that was "Scar." So really, Scar's like demos, really.

Miki: Once we did release "Scar" it made it a lot better for us live 'cos it meant people already knew what we sounded like having bought the record. that made live a bit easier and then when we got a tour with...was it the Darling Buds? Yeah. We got a support tour with the Darling Buds, which was alright. It was okay and then we played with loop. We did a tour with them almost straight afterwards. As soon as we finished that was when we recorded "De-Luxe". Then we did our first headline tour the following year, followed immediately by a european tour with the Pale Saints.

1989

In January of 1989 Chris Roberts in Melody Maker wrote a rave review of Lush, describing them as "a delta," "irresistible" and "monstrously wonderful." Once the magazine hit the street, Lush received nonstop phone calls from record companies interested in the band.

Signed with 4AD Records in the U.K., 1989. By the summer, 4AD Records had sent them into the studio with producer John Fryer to record a three-song demo called Etheriel. Those three songs became the first side of Lush's debut mini-album, titled Scar, which they released that fall.

Lush is four people: Emma Anderson (guitar & vocals), Miki Berenyi (vocals & guitar), Chris Ackland (drums), and Steve Rippon (bass). The band came together in Camden (North London) in 1989 while Miki, Steve, & Chris were finishing up their degrees at London Polytechnic. (Emma was Miki's school-chum from way back. The two had put together a 'zine of sorts called "Alphabet Soup" that was apparently mostly just rude!). Steve left the band in Feb. 1992, after recording the B-sides the "For Love" e.p. He was replaced with former NME employee Phil King. Also, it should be noted that way back at the beginning, Muriel (now of Pale Saints fame), was the lead vocalist, before she moved onto her present band.

"Scar" tracks 8,9,10,11,12,13, recorded at Blackwood Studios, London July 1989, released as "Scar" ep / debut mini-LP October 1989.

"Scar" tracks 4,5,6,7, recorded at September Sound and the Church, London, December 1989, released Feb 1990 on "Mad Love" ep.

1990
On February 26, 1990, Lush released their next EP, Mad Love, and its first single, "Sweetness and Light." Produced by Cocteau Twins' guitarist Robin Guthrie, "Mad Love" provided another step in their musical growth and got the attention of Warner/Reprise Records, who licensed the band's releases in the United States. Lush didn't set out on a certain plan in their career from this point; they put aside ambition and decided to take things one step at a time.

In December of 1990 4AD/Reprise compiled and released Lush's two preceding EPs as "Gala," their first release in the United States. The group named the album after Salvador Dali's wife.

Released two EPs before licensing for U.S. distribution with Reprise Records, 1990

Released debut LP, "Gala," 1990

"Scar" tracks 1,2,3, recorded at Greenhouse, London 1990, released October 1990 on ep.

"Scar" track 14 recorded at First Protocol and September Sound, London, February 1990.

"Scar" album is released.

1991
Embarked on U.S. tour, 1991

In April of 1991 they returned to the United States for their second tour co-headlining with Ride. Then, at the end of the year, bassist Steve Rippon left the band to concentrate on writing novels full time. To replace him, Lush approached Philip King, a former New Musical Express journalist, who had played bass for many U.K. bands, including Felt, and Biff Bang Pow!

July-October: "Spooky" album is recorded at September Sound, London.

August: tracks on "Black Spring" ep recorded at September Sound, London, released that same year.



1992
With their new lineup in place, Lush headed back into the studio and released their next EP, "For Love," in January of 1992. Later in the year, Lush arrived in the record stores once again with their next album--also produced by Robin Guthrie — called "Spooky." Although it debuted at Number Seven on the U.K. charts, it received a negative reaction from the press. Some critics berated the band for bad songwriting, and others accused Guthrie of subduing the band's talents.

"Spooky" album is released.

They toured Great Britain, the United States, and Europe, then returned to the States to join the second annual Lollapalooza tour with Pearl Jam, Ministry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Ice Cube. At the end of the summer, the band took their tour to Japan and Australia.

Performed on Lollapalooza tour '92

Miki, under the influence on many tequilas, stage-dived during Ministry's set one night (Dallas I think) and landed on the barrier between the stagefront and the audience, leaving her with 15 stitches, and meaning she had to perform guitarless at the following show.

At an afterparty, Emma smashed a pane of glass with both fists which caused a few major cuts.

Rippon left, the band at this stage in order to concentrate on writing, though his book Cold Turkey Sandwich - a fictionalized chronicle of his time in touring - was rejected by publishers.

Philip King replaced Rippon on bass.

1993
October-December: Recording (for "Split") at Rockford Studios, Wales Berry House, Sussex and Abbey Road London.

Lush played in 4AD's "13 Year Itch" celebration at England's Institute of Contemporary Art and joined Rage Against the Machine for a special benefit concert for the Anti-Nazi League at the Brixton Academy.

1994
Releases: "Hypocrite" and "Desire Lines" ep's, and "Split" album.

On June 14, 1994, Lush released "Split," produced by Mike Hedges. In Great Britain, 4AD simultaneously released two EPs along with the album — "Hypocrite" and "Desire Lines." Berenyi wrote four of the album's songs, and Anderson wrote the other eight. Chris Gill in Guitar Player commented, "Split shares moments of hypnotic, resplendent pleasure-punk and hard, lardy angst-pop" and added that the album was "easily the British dream-pop band's most varied, cocksure, and commercial effort."

1995
May-August: Back to the studios to record (for "Lovelife")- Protocol Studios, London

1996
"Lady Killers (disc one and disc two)" ep's, "Lovelife" and "Topolino" albums released.

Acland killed himself in October 1996

One of the songs performed at Chris' funeral touchingly is "When I Die"...I'll see you again.


1998
The remaining band members officially announce that Lush has permanently disbanded.

2000
Miki records "Smile" in 2000. The song appears on a Japanese-only various artists release titled "Possessed".

2001?
"Ciao! Best of Lush" (4AD) 2001, a compilation of singles is released

Miki's daughter Stella is born

Emma: Yes! she has had a baby, it is her first baby, there were some rumours about three years ago, so she’s had a little baby girl and she’s at home looking after her at the moment, Phil is working for NME still and some other magazines off and on, I’m not sure if he’s doing anything musically at the moment - he has done bits and pieces over the last few years, but nothing that’s really... well he was in the Mary Chain for a while after we split up but I don’t think he’s made any records and Steve lives in Ireland with his wife and he works at a computer company and he writes sometimes for Mojo and Q, mainly reviewing reissues and stuff, back catalogue type things.

Emma: I have a day job, and I work for another band... who were big in the 80’s....
their initials are DD (*editor note-Duran Duran) and they’ve just got back together in the original line up.

2002
September 3: Emma's new band Sing-Sing releases it's debut album, "The Joy of Sing-Sing"

2004?
Miki's son Ivan is born

2005
Targeted Release of Sing-Sing's second album





(2011 note: not sure at all who originally started this excellent timeline and the sources — aside from some interviews ... but took someone's hard work, edited/expanded on it a bit myself, and now resharing it sheerly for the wealth of info provided in a simple timeline form for the benefit of those interested)