Bill Fox (musician)

Bill Fox was the lead singer and guitarist of the three-piece Cleveland, Ohio, garage pop band The Mice, which existed from January 1985 to 1988. They released two albums, For Almost Ever and Scooter (re-released by Scat Records as For Almost Ever Scooter in 2004), and were a major influence on the burgeoning Ohio power pop scene, including Dayton's Guided by Voices.

Years later, Fox released two solo albums, Shelter from the Smoke (originally released in 1996 on Fox's-Helen(a)Rimac's Cherry Pop label and re-released by SpinArt in 1997) and Transit Byzantium (SpinArt, 1998).

After his brief West Coast tour for the latter album, Fox promptly quit the music business and remained disconnected from all media contacts regarding his music for nearly a decade. Fox is the subject of a long article by Joe Hagan in the June/July 2007 issue of The Believer, in which he is referred to as "one of America’s greatest contemporary songwriters.". Hagan set out to make contact with Fox and get an answer to the question "Why Did Bill Fox Stop Playing Music?" Though he did not meet Fox, he did get his answer.

Hagan's article made a large impact on past and present fans of Fox to rediscover his music. Reportedly the article prompted some iTunes royalties that have inspired Fox to both allow the reissue of his solo albums and begin performing again.

On April 3, 2008, Scat Records announced Fox agreed to allow them to re-release both of his albums on vinyl and CD. Robert Griffin, owner of Scat Records, told cleveland.com what Fox thinks of the reissues: "He just thinks they're music, and God, if some of these weird people still want to buy 'em, OK, let's print some more up."

The reissue of Shelter from the Smoke was released late 2009, adding three tracks from Fox's short-lived early 1990s group The Radio Flyers, as well as both songs from the 1995 Bird of the World 7" single.

In 2009, Fox commenced playing again in Cleveland and area. In May 2010, he headlined at the 16th anniversary concerts of Kelp Records, based in Ottawa, Canada.[1] Fox headlined at anniversary performances in Toronto,[2] Montreal [3] and Ottawa.[1]

On June 8, 2010, alternative rock band Nada Surf released a cover of Fox's song "Electrocution" on an album titled if i had a hifi

On October 20, 2011, a video entitled "An Anthem For Occupy Wall Street" was uploaded to the website YouTube. It contains images of the Occupy Wall Street events of that year along with a previously unreleased song by Bill Fox, entitled "Men Who Are Guilty of Crimes." Bill Fox approved the song's use in the video, discussing it in a November 2011 interview in which he also said that he would be releasing a new album in 2012.

Discography

For discography of The Mice, see The Mice

1995 Bird of the World

1996 Shelter from the Smoke (Cherry Pop release 15 tracks)

1997 Shelter from the Smoke (SpinArt release 18 tracks)

1998 Transit Byzantium

1998 I Stayed Up All Night Listening To Records (Compilation)

2009 Shelter from the Smoke (Scat reissue 23 tracks)

2011 Before I Went To Harvard (previously unreleased recordings)[4]

2012 One Thought Revealed

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Performance Notice, May 14, 2010; www.kelprecords.com.
  2. ↑ Performance Notice, May 12, 2010; www.kelprecords.com.
  3. ↑ Performance Notice, May 13, 2010; www.kelprecords.com.
  4. ↑ | Bill Fox (3) - Before I Went To Harvard (Cassette) at Discogs

External links