Blue (Scottish band)
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Blue was a Scottish pop/rock musical band, which was formed in Glasgow in 1973.
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[edit] Original band members
- Hughie Nicholson (born 30 July 1949, Rutherglen, Strathclyde, Scotland) — Guitarist / vocalist / keyboardist
- Ian MacMillan (born 1947, Paisley, Scotland) — Bass guitarist / vocalist
- Timi Donald (born 1946, Bristol, England) — Drums
[edit] Career
Formed and fronted by ex-Marmalade guitarist Nicholson, Blue signed to RSO Records and released eponymous debut album the same year. Nicholson was a member of Marmalade between 1971 and 1973, when he left to form Blue. He wrote the majority of Blue’s material, including their most recognised number - "Gonna Capture Your Heart". Earlier in his life, he had been a short lived member of the 1960s Scottish rock outfit, The Poets.
Debut single "Little Jody" failed. It was recorded before the late Jimmy McCullough joined the band, but it appeared on a compilation CD around thirty years later, and was highly praised by Radio 1 presenter John Peel attracting a certain amount of airplay, but did not chart. The collection was also produced by Peel. They then added another guitarist, Robert 'Smiggy' Smith (born 1946, Kiel, Germany) before recording and issuing their second LP - Life in the Navy.
This revised line-up did not last for long, with only MacMillan and Nicholson remaining. The duo then added Charlie Smith (drummer) and David Nicholson (Bass), and it was this line-up that scored a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart entry, and UK Singles Chart Top 40 hit[1], with "Gonna Capture Your Heart". However, Blue were unable to find a credible follow-up release, and their brief commercial success came to an abrupt end. It left them with the unenviable title of 'one-hit wonders'.
They then signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and two further albums were released, these being Another Night Time Flight in 1977, and Fool’s Party in 1979, after which Blue officially disbanded.
Over the ensuing years various incarnations of the band have toured and occasionally recorded. In 2003 the remaining personnel took the then high flying boy band Blue to court. It was a high profile High Court case over the use of the band’s name. But the 1970s band Blue lost the case, when the judge opined that "it is not difficult to distinguish between the present day pop group, and the original users of the group’s title". The two Blues subsequently came to an agreement that they could continue to share the name.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Blue - (1973) - RSO
- Life in the Navy - (1974) - RSO
- Another Night Time Flight - (1977) - (Rocket)
- Fool’s Party - (1979) - (Rocket)
[edit] Chart single
- "Gonna Capture Your Heart" - (1977) - No. 18 (UK); No. 88 (U.S.)
[edit] References
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 65. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
