| The Europeans | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | New Wave |
| Years active | 1981–1985 |
| Labels | A&M Records |
| Associated acts | Motion Pictures, How We Live, Marillion |
| Past members | |
| Steve Hogarth Colin Woore Ferg Harper Geoff Dugmore |
|
The Europeans were 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. They should not be confused with the similarly named Europeans, a Bristol band that were active 1977-1979, and who released several recordings on Heartbeat Records and Bristol Archive Records.
Contents |
Studio album personnel since 1981:
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 The Europeans in early 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 album, Live was released in February 1984. The LP reached #100 in the UK Albums Chart.[1] 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.