Immaculate Fools

Immaculate Fools
Origin	Kent, England
Genres	Pop
Years active	1984–1997
Labels	A&M, Epic, Continuum, Cooking Vinyl

Past members	Kevin Weatherill Paul Weatherill Andy Ross Peter Ross Barry Wickens Paul Skidmore Ian Devlin Brian Betts Nick Thomas

Immaculate Fools were a pop group formed in 1984, who had their biggest success in 1985 with the single "Immaculate Fools",^[1] and continued until 1997, releasing six studio albums before splitting up.

Formation, album history and tours

The band was formed in Kent, England by two sets of brothers: Kevin Weatherill (vocals, guitar) and Paul Weatherill (bass, vocals), and brothers Andy Ross (guitar) and Peter Ross (drums), the sons of saxophonist Ronnie Ross.^[2]

The band's single "Immaculate Fools" reached #51 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1985.^[1] Their debut album, Hearts of Fortune, reached #65 in the UK Albums Chart the same year.^[3] The band toured Europe extensively, building a strong following in Spain, where they made several television appearances.^[2]

In 1987 the band's second album, Dumb Poet, was well received by critics (including a five-star review in Sounds magazine), although it did not repeat the first album's commercial success.^[2] The album did, however, give the band a second charting single with "Tragic Comedy."

The band underwent a major line-up change when the Ross brothers left, with Barry Wickens (violin), Brian Betts (guitar), Paul Skidmore (drums) and Ian Devlin (keyboards) joining for the Another Man's World album.^[2] The band set up a recording studio in a farmhouse (Woodhouse) on the Welsh borders near Ludlow. For the band's final two albums, Woodhouse and Kiss and Punch, the Weatherill brothers were joined by Wickens, Betts, and Nick Thomas (drums).^[2]

They continued to record music and occasionally tour until they formally split up in 1997.

In December 2014 Kevin Weatherill ( Dirty Ray ) announced on his website that Immaculate Fools are to reform in 2015, initially playing some gigs in Spain, Portugal and Italy and then embarking on a UK tour. In February 2015 the band began recording a new album with Adam Fuest (Blancmange, Baby Shambles, B.A.D. etc).

After the breakup

Kevin Weatherill, who was not only the lead vocalist but also the main songwriter of the band, continues to record and tour both in the UK and Europe under the name Dirty Ray. In 2010 he worked with Miles Hunt (of the band Wonderstuff) and violinist Erica Nockalls to produce the album Big World for a Little Man.
Andy Ross went on to work with Basia, Howard Jones, Miguel Bosé, and Tori Amos.^[4] In 2013 Andy Ross won an award at the Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival in New Zealand for his short film, Well Beyond Water, about the plight of drought affected farmers in New South Wales.

Discography

Albums

Hearts of Fortune (1985) Polygram (UK #65)^[1]
Dumb Poet (1987) A&M
Another Man's World (1990) CBS/Epic
The Toy Shop (1992) Continuum
Woodhouse (1995) Cooking Vinyl
Kiss and Punch (1996) Cooking Vinyl

Compilation albums

The Best of Immaculate Fools (1998)
No Gods No Masters (1998) Recall

Singles

"Nothing Means Nothing" (1984) A&M
"Immaculate Fools" (1984) A&M (UK #51)^[1]
"Save It" (1985) A&M
"Tragic Comedy" (1987) A&M (UK ##76)^[3]
"Wish You Were Here" (1987) A&M
"Falling Apart Together" (1990) Epic
"Sad" (1990) CBS
"Prince" (1990) CBS/Epic
"Heaven Down Here" (1992) Continuum
"Stand Down" (1992) Continuum
"Kiss and Punch" (1996) Cooking Vinyl

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 268. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Larkin, Colin (1995) The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness Publishing, ISBN 0-85112-662-6
↑ 3.0 3.1 Immaculate Fools, Chart Stats
↑ Gregory, Andy (2002) The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002, Routledge, ISBN 1-85743-161-8