James formed in Manchester in 1982, when Paul Gilbertson (guitar), Jim Glennie (bass), and Gavan Whelan (drums) met Tim Booth (vocals) at Manchester University and asked him to join their fledgling band. During the next year, James became regulars on the local club circuit, and by 1983 they had signed to Factory, releasing their debut EP, Jimone, later that year. Two years later, their second EP, James 2, was released, and Morrissey, the lead singer of the Smiths, publicly endorsed the group, asking them to open for his band. By the summer of 1985, Larry Gott had replaced Gilbertson, and the group signed to Sire Records. Working with producer Lenny Kaye, the group recorded its debut, Stutter, that year, releasing it in early 1986 to generally positive reviews.
Over the next two years, James toured constantly, building up a solid fan base. They released their second album, the folky Strip-Mine, in 1988. The record failed to capitalize on their live following, and the band departed Sire the following year, signing with the independent Rough Trade. On their new label, James released the moderately successful "Sit Down" and the live album One Man Clapping, which climbed to number one on the indie charts. In 1990, Whelan was replaced by David Baynton-Power, and James expanded to a septet with the addition of keyboardist Mark Hunter, violinist Saul Davies, and trumpeter Andy Diagram. The new lineup signed to Fontana Records and released Gold Mother in the fall. Following a handful of minor hit singles, Gold Mother finally became a breakthrough success in the spring of 1991, when a re-recorded version of "Sit Down" -- now boasting a contemporary baggy beat -- climbed to number two on the U.K. charts and became a staple on U.S. modern rock radio. Although the success of "Sit Down" was a blessing, it also was a curse, as the single became all James were known for. The band began to rebel in concert, playing almost nothing but new material, and its next album, 1992's Seven, was perceived as a misguided stab at big arena rock.
For the follow-up to Seven, James stripped away Diagram and worked with producer Brian Eno. The resulting record, Laid, was a quieter, more ambitious album, and it received some of the band's best reviews. While the album was ignored in the U.K., it was an alternative rock hit in the U.S. on the strength of the title track, which became a crossover hit. During the Laid sessions, James recorded another album's worth of experimental music with Eno that was released in the fall of 1994 as Wah Wah. The album received mixed reviews and the group took an extended break throughout 1995, partly due to guitarist Gott's departure. In 1996, Tim Booth recorded a collaboration with composer Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) entitled Booth and the Bad Angel, which received generally positive reviews.
With guitarist Adrian Oxaal in tow, James returned in early 1997 with Whiplash, a more straightforward record that was greeted with mixed reviews. Released in 1999, Millionaires, recorded with new guitarist Michael Kulas, was initially released only in the U.K. Their spectacular follow-up, 2001's Pleased to Meet You, was also available only in the U.K. A few months later, frontman Tim Booth announced his departure from the band he founded nearly 20 years before, and James called it quits following a winter tour of the U.K. in December 2001. The break was short-lived, however, as the band re-formed in 2007 and embarked on a tour in support of the double-disc compilation Fresh as a Daisy: The Singles. The following year saw the release of Hey Ma, James' tenth studio album.
The band returned in 2010 with a pair of "mini-albums" called The Night Before and The Morning After, respectively, before late 2011 brought a short, but novel, U.K. tour (the Orchestra of the Swan and the Manchester Consort Choir were their backup bands). In 2012, the lavish and long-awaited box set The Gathering Sound was issued, and included previously unreleased audio material alongside long-unavailable video concert footage. Details of the Max Dingel-produced La Petite Mort emerged in February 2014, and this first post-Mercury studio album was released four months later in June. Dingel then returned to produce their 2016 record, Girl at the End of the World. Written in Scotland and recorded in London, the album was described by the band as "big but personal, abrasive but warming" and "ultimately uplifting." Two years later, James teamed with producers Charlie Andrew and Beni Giles for Living in Extraordinary Times.
During the 2020 pandemic, Tim Booth teamed up with his Topanga Canyon neighbor Jacknife Lee to construct the basic tracks the rest of James completed while in quarantine. The resulting All the Colours of You was released in June 2021.
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There are other artists using the same name:
2) James is the vocalist of popular Bangladeshi band Nagar Baul. He was a member of the band Feelings and later formed the band Nagar Baul. James was raised in Chittagong and later moved to Dhaka for his singing career. Stylishly longhaired James--overwhelmingly known as the Nagar Baul (the City Bard), was the pioneer of psychedelic rock in Bangladesh. Originally a lead singer and guitarist, he has always been respected for his solo projects. He became affectionately called Guru by his fans. His tunes were bright and his singing a divergence from the archetypal tunes preferred by the commercial-type directors. His songs expressed love, rage, discontent, frustration, and happiness.
3) A Dutch rapper connected to the Fakkelteitgroep.
4) James Lee - known as James - was a former member of Royal Pirates, a South Korean band. On 2015, he got into an accident that caused him unable to play bass any longer. Hence, he decided to left the band.
James moved back to Los Angeles and decided to release music written post accident in a project called ’the Light EP’ consisted of 5 tracks. (http://jamesleeofficial.com/)
Fairground
James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I clash with whatever you do
When we dance together your rhythm and tempo
Cuts through my quick step and tune
You cry, I, I, can't take anymore
But you can't find the bloody door
Oh you might think we're free
'Til we slip back into memory
'Til we have come to some terms
Some love and acceptance, not hate and repentance
These skills are things to be learned
You cry, I, I, can't take anymore
But you can't find the bloody door
Oh you might think we're free
'Til we slip back into memory
I love you so
I'm stuck, can't you let go
Let's try again
This time we will be friends
I cannot change
All my tracks have been laid
Playin' the game
It's just, it's just a memory
Lost in memory
Here's to memory
In James's song Fairground, the lyrics depict a strained relationship between two individuals. The singer expresses their frustration with constantly clashing with the other person's actions, even when they are trying to dance together. Despite this tension, they acknowledge that they are "joined by a purpose" that refuses to let them go until they come to some mutual understanding and acceptance. The singer ends the song by professing their love for the other person and their desire to be friends, but also recognizing that there are some things that cannot be changed and that memories of their struggles will always remain.
Overall, the song seems to be about the complexities of human relationships and the difficulty of finding common ground with others. Despite the tension and struggles, the singer remains hopeful that they can find a way to make things work and move towards a brighter future.
Line by Line Meaning
Why is it always, when I open my mouth
I seem to create a problem with everything I say
I clash with whatever you do
Whenever we're together, we don't seem to get along
When we dance together your rhythm and tempo
Your way of doing things is very different from mine
Cuts through my quick step and tune
And that causes us to have difficulty working together
You cry, I, I, can't take anymore
Whenever I try to make things better, it seems to make them worse
But you can't find the bloody door
And we both seem to be stuck in this situation
Oh you might think we're free
We might think we can move on from this
'Til we slip back into memory
But we keep falling back into old patterns and memories
We're joined by a purpose that will not release us
Our situation seems to be determined by something outside of us
'Til we have come to some terms
Until we can come to an understanding and agreement
Some love and acceptance, not hate and repentance
We need to find a way to love and accept each other and not dwell on mistakes of the past
These skills are things to be learned
We need to learn how to work together in a positive way
I love you so
Despite everything, I still love you
I'm stuck, can't you let go
But I feel like we're stuck and can't move forward
Let's try again
But I want to try again and improve our situation
This time we will be friends
And instead of enemies, we can be friends
I cannot change
I understand that I can't change the past
All my tracks have been laid
And we have a long history that determines our relationship
Playin' the game
We're just going through the motions, stuck in old patterns
It's just, it's just a memory
But we need to let go of the past and move forward
Lost in memory
Otherwise we'll be forever trapped in our memories of the past
Here's to memory
Let's raise a toast to the past and move forward together
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: MICHAEL JAMES HUCKNALL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind