Stereophonics

Members: Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, Javier Weyler

Active: 1992-present

HISTORY

Stereophonics are a British rock band from Wales with original members Kelly Jones, Richard Jones (no relation to Kelly) and Stuart Cable growing up together in their hometown of Cwmaman in South Wales. The trio began writing and performing in working men?s clubs together in 1992 as a teenage cover band known as 'Tragic Love Company', a name inspired by their favourite bands Tragically Hip, Mother Love Bone and Bad Company. Later the band changed their name to "Stereophonics", named after the maker of ex-drummer Stuart Cable's grandmothers gramophone.

They finally made a big splash in 1996 as the first band to be signed to Richard Branson's new Virgin Records label V2. Their distinctive sound offered a blend of Oasis-inspired Britpop and '70s-influenced rock & roll earning them a series of big UK hits.

In 2003 drummer Stuart Cable was sacked from the band by Kelly Jones because of problems over "commitment", eventually being replaced by present drummer Javier Weyler.

In the early days they supported both fellow Welsh rockers the Manic Street Preachers and English retro mods Ocean Colour Scene as well as being joined onstage by Doug Parmenter.

They were the first band to be signed to Richard Branson's V2 record label in 1996.

In February 1998 they received a Brit Award for Best New Group the same week as a re-issue of "Local Boy in the Photograph" made number 14 in the charts and their first album went gold in the UK, selling over 100,000 copies. During that year they had successful tours in Europe, Australia and the USA.

Following on from the success achieved in late 1998 with "The Bartender and the Thief", the second single from Performance and Cocktails, "Just Looking", was released and reached number 4 in March 1999. The same month the much anticipated new album was finally released, entering at number 1 and within three weeks having gone platinum. Later that year saw them play what was widely regarded as the best gig of the year in Britain in front of 50,000 people at Morfa Stadium in Swansea. They also cooperated with Tom Jones for a track on his album Reload.

The band had a relatively quiet 2000 and didn't really hit the headlines again until the launch of Just Enough Education to Perform in April 2001. They then played back-to-back dates at Donington Park, supported by Ash, Black Crowes and Proud Mary in front of 120,000 fans and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to a capacity 80,000 that summer.

2003 saw the release of their fourth album You Gotta Go There To Come Back and a change to their logo. Towards the end of the year they did a sold-out tour of the UK, ending with a Christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, supported by Feeder and Ocean Colour Scene. The song "High as the Ceiling" was featured in a 2005 commercial for a Nissan sports utility vehicle.

Having embarked on a world tour in 2003/2004, which culminated in an appearance at the Manchester Move Festival in July 2004, the band took a well deserved break.

The band's 5th studio album Language. Sex. Violence. Other was released in March 2005 and marked their first recordings with their new drummer, Javier Weyler. The band grabbed their first #1 hit in the UK singles charts with the album's first single, the punky, upbeat "Dakota". The second single from the album, "Superman" was a growling, Black Sabbath-inspired rocker. This song however did not repeat the success of "Dakota", peaking at number 13 in the charts, partly due to limited radio airplay. After "Superman" came "Devil", which featured a controversial video and reached number 11 in the charts.

On July 2nd 2005, the group appeared at the Live 8 concert, in Hyde Park, London, playing to their biggest audience yet.

The Stereophonics song "Maybe Tomorrow" is featured over the end titles of the race-drama movie "Crash", which won the Academy Award for Best Film in 2006, as well as the 2004 psychological thriller film Wicker Park.

The band were scheduled to support Oasis for a number of dates across Europe in early 2006, but pulled out due to family commitments. After taking a break, they are currently working on their next album.

ALBUMS

1997 - Word Gets Around

1999 - Performance and Cocktails

2001 - Just Enough Education to Perform

2003 - You Gotta Go There to Come Back

2005 - Language. Sex. Violence. Other?

LIVE ALBUMS

2006 - Live from Dakota

SINGLES

From Word Gets Around

1996 - "Looks Like Chaplin"

1997 - "Local Boy In The Photograph"

1997 - "More Life In A Tramps Vest"

1997 - "A Thousand Trees"

1997 - "Traffic"

1998 - "Local Boy In The Photograph" (re-issue)

From Performance and Cocktails

1998 - "The Bartender And The Thief"

1999 - "Just Looking"

1999 - "Pick A Part That's New"

1999 - "I Wouldn?t Believe Your Radio"

1999 - "Hurry Up And Wait"

From Reload by Tom Jones

2000 - "Mama Told Me Not To Come"

From Just Enough Education to Perform

2001 - "Mr. Writer"

2001 - "Have A Nice Day"

2001 - "Step On My Old Size Nines"

2001 - "Handbags And Gladrags"

2002 - "Vegas Two Times"

From You Gotta Go There to Come Back

2003 - "Madame Helga"

2003 - "Maybe Tomorrow"

2003 - "Since I Told You It?s Over"

2004 - "Moviestar"

From Language. Sex. Violence. Other?

2005 - "Dakota"

2005 - "Superman"

2005 - "Devil"

2005 - "Rewind"