Luke Haines (born 7 October 1967) is an English musician, songwriter and author, who has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder.
Haines formed numerous bands when he was at school. At college he joined The Servants who recorded two commercially unsuccessful albums. It was only when Haines formed The Auteurs with his girlfriend Alice Readman and Glenn Collins in 1990 that he began to achieve some success. Regular gigging in the London area and an NME sponsored gig brought them to the attention of Hut Records. They released their first single, "Showgirl" in 1992, and their debut album New Wave a month later. Haines was later to claim that this was the album that started Britpop, though he later showed disdain towards the movement, stating in a 2003 interview that Britpop consisted of "a bunch of bands who weren't good enough to exist in their own right, like music's equivalent of the Bloomsbury Group." Certainly it was ahead of its time in turning back from the acid house then popular to more traditional songwriting in the vein of The Kinks or The Small Faces. It is arguable that more commercially successful bands (such as Suede) owed much to Haines' vision. In any case, the album sold 12,000 copies only but was nominated for a Mercury Prize. The band toured the UK and the USA, gaining generally good reviews: however it is the opinion of the NME that the band were better in the studio than live.
Black Box Recorder reformation. In December 2007, Black Box Recorder teamed up with Art Brut to create the single Christmas Number One under the collaborative title of The Black Arts. In October 2008 Black Box Recorder appeared at the Nick Sanderson (Earl Brutus) tribute concert. It was subsequently announced on Luke Haines' web site that the band would play their first headlining gig for five years at The Luminaire, Kilburn, London in February 2009.
As an author
Haines' memoir Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall was published on 1 January 2009 by William Heinemann Ltd. The book covers Haines' experiences during the Britpop era 1991 to 1997.
Studio Albums
* New Wave, 1993 (The Auteurs)
* Now I'm a Cowboy, 1994 (The Auteurs)
* After Murder Park, 1996 (The Auteurs)
* Baader Meinhof, 1996 (Baader Meinhof)
* England Made Me, 1999 (Black Box Recorder)
* How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, 1999 (The Auteurs)
* The Facts of Life, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
* Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST, 2001 (Luke Haines)
* The Oliver Twist Manifesto, 2001 (Luke Haines)
* The Worst of Black Box Recorder, 2001 (Black Box Recorder)
* Passionoia, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
* Das Capital, 2003 (Luke Haines)
* Luke Haines is Dead, 2005 (Luke Haines)
* Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop, 2006 (Luke Haines)
Singles/EPs
* Showgirl, 1992 (The Auteurs)
* How Could I Be Wrong, 1993 (The Auteurs)
* Housebreaker, 1993 (The Auteurs)
* New French Girlfriend, 1993 (The Auteurs)
* Lenny Valentino, 1993 (The Auteurs)
* Chinese Bakery, 1994 (The Auteurs)
* The Auteurs vs Mu-Ziq EP (remixes), 1994 (The Auteurs/Mu-Ziq)
* Back With the Killer EP, 1995 (The Auteurs)
* Kid's Issue, 1996 (The Auteurs)
* Light Aircraft on Fire, 1996 (The Auteurs)
* Child Psychology, 1998 (Black Box Recorder)
* England Made Me, 1998 (Black Box Recorder)
* The Rubettes, 1999 (The Auteurs)
* The Facts of Life, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
* The Art of Driving, 2000 (Black Box Recorder)
* These Are the Things, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
* The School Song, 2003 (Black Box Recorder)
* Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop, 2006 (Luke Haines)
* Christmas Number One, 2007 (The Black Arts - collaboration between Black Box Recorder and Art Brut)
* Leeds United EP, 2007 (Luke Haines)
Posts
0 comments