The Europeans (band)

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The Europeans
Origin London, England
Genre(s) New Wave
Years active 1981-1985
Label(s) A&M Records
Associated acts Motion Pictures, How We Live, Marillion
Former members
Steve Hogarth
Colin Woore
Ferg Harper
Geoff Dugmore
This page is about the rock group. For other entries on The Europeans, see The Europeans (disambiguation).

The Europeans was a British group formed in 1981. They released three albums, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. The band are perhaps best known for their lead vocalist and keyboard player Steve Hogarth who went on to greater things as vocalist with Marillion.

Contents

[edit] Lineup

Studio album personnel since 1981:

[edit] History

In 1980, a Scottish band called Motion Pictures (consisting of Harper, Woore, Dugmore) moved to London and advertised for a keyboard player. Steve Hogarth, who recently moved to London from Doncaster, was chosen. The band rehearsed in Shepperton, changing their name to Europeans in spring of 1981.

Their first appearance on record was as the backing band on John Otway's All Balls and No Willy in 1982. They signed to A&M Records in 1982. Three singles were released before the first album Vocabulary: "The Animal Song", "A.E.I.O.U." and "Recognition". All lead vocals were handled by Harper, except "Kingdom Come" which was sung by Hogarth. Kiki Dee and Toni Childs were among the backing vocalists. Another single, "American People" was released, and the band toured extensively.

The second LP Live was released February 11th 1984. The LP reached 100 in the UK album charts, the only position the band made. Later in 1984, the Hogarth-penned "Listen" was released as a single.

A free promo single "Acid Rain" was released to promote their third album (the second in the studio), Recurring Dreams. Hogarth sang lead vocals on five of the eight tracks. When the Managing Director of A&M left the company a day after the release of the album, promotion took a nosedive. Hogarth and Woore split, forming How We Live in 1985 and signed to CBS.

In 2005, Recurring Dreams was re-released by Racket Records, an offshoot of Marillion's cottage industry business model.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • The Animal Song (1982)
  • AEIOU (1983)
  • Recognition (1983)
  • American People (1983)
  • Typical (live) (1984)
  • Listen (1984)

[edit] EPs

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Live albums

  • Live (1984) UK #100

[edit] External links