Blink (band)

Blink are a pop rock band from Ireland. They are noted for their mixture of humour and melancholy. They have released three albums to date: A Map of the Universe by Blink (1994), The End Is High (1998) and Deep Inside the Sound of Sadness (2004). "A Map of the Universe by Blink" was an Irish top ten album. "The End is High" was a Billboard album of the week and "Deep inside the Sound of Sadness" was nominated as Best Irish Album of the Year in the 2005 Meteor Music Awards.

The band are also notable as being the first band to be pictured on a telephone card.^[1]

The San Diego, California based pop punk band now known as Blink-182 was originally also called Blink, but a legal dispute with the Irish Blink resulted in their name change to Blink-182.

Biography

Blink was formed in the early 1990s by Dermot Lambert (vocals/guitars), Robbie Sexton (keyboards), Brian McLoughlin (bass) and Barry Campbell (drums). Blink's inclusion on a CD for a trade festival in New York generated a positive review, which ended with the band signing with EMI for their debut release.

Four months after playing their very first gig in 1992, Blink found themselves in recording studios working with producers including John O'Neill, Gil Norton and Steve Hillage.

Blink's first singles 'Going To Nepal' and 'Happy Day' reached the top 20 in Ireland. Their third release 'It's Not My Fault' debuted at No 8.

August 1994 saw the release of their debut album 'A Map Of The Universe By Blink'. Parlophone and EMI UK launched the Lime Records imprint in the US and brought Blink stateside for their US debut where they garnered college and mainstream radio airplay and packed live shows. Blink was indeed on the map!

When the record company were looking for a new album, the band hesitantly packed their bags and headed back to start recording for Parlophone UK.

However, the call of the US kept coming hard and strong - offers of shows, supports with bands they had met over there, so album number two was postponed in favour of a return trip to the States.

The decision to try to break the States was a solid one and a year later, the band signed on the dotted line with Paradigm Records, Blink began recording their second album 'The End Is High', releasing it in the US in March 1998.

Billboard magazine named the album their five star album of the month, and the album went on to sell 90,000 copies in a very short space of time, opening the doors for bigger US tour supports. 1999 onwards saw Blink opening shows and sharing dressing rooms with artists including Mercury Rev, Moby, Lloyd Cole, The Cardigans, Mark Geary and Blink-182.

Despite Paradigm Records closing, Blink and Ministry programmer, Howie Beno, agreed to go ahead with plans for Blink's third album, Deep Inside The Sound Of Sadness. Wendy Starland took time out from writing with Quincy Jones to sing on the album's track Don't You Rollerblade In Nashville Tennessee?

Lead singer Dermot Lambert released his first solo album Tiny to critical acclaim in June 2013, featuring several singles including Twinkle Twinkle Satellite, Hey Sean and Fade Into The Morning Sun.^[2]

Singles A–Z

• "A Planet made of Rain" (Paradigm)
• "Cello" (Lime Records/Parlophone)
• "Dead Little Bird" (Paradigm)
• "Going To Nepal" (Lime Records/Parlophone)
• "Happy Day" (Lime Records/Parlophone)
• "Is God Really Groovy?" (Serene)
• "It's Not My Fault
• "Kiss Me"
• "The Luckiest Man Alive" (Paradigm)
• "The Tiny Magic Indian" (Serene)
• "To Go"
• "Would you kill for Love?" (Paradigm)

References