Texas

Foo Fighters, Chili Peppers To Play V2001

19 Apr 2001 06:33:00 EDT

Two-day U.K. festival also will feature Coldplay, David Gray, Doves.
By Courtney Reimer

Foo Fighters
Photo: Danny Clinch

Although many of the U.K.'s fabled summer music festivals have been daunted by the rash of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, V2001 is charging fearlessly ahead with a lineup that includes the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The recently finalized lineup also includes David Gray, Coldplay and Doves, a V2001 spokesperson said. The massive annual concert will take place at two English locations — Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park, Stafforshire — over the weekend of August 18-19, and tickets go on sale Saturday.

The Chili Peppers will headline Saturday's Weston Park show and Sunday's show in Chelmsford. Meanwhile, Coldplay and Texas will co-headline the Saturday gig in Chelmsford before heading over to Weston Park for Sunday night wrap-up duties.

Other bands scheduled to play V2001 include the Charlatans U.K., Muse, Placebo, JJ72, Grandaddy, Toploader, Faithless, the Divine Comedy, Shed Seven and Stairsailor.

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Texas Takes New Video To The Third Dimension

13 May 1999 05:30:00 EDT

Texas "In Our Lifetime"

It's been almost ten years since Texas first made a splash in the U.S. with the slide guitar-laced single "I Don't Want a Lover." After switching American labels just prior to the recent Universal-Polygram merger, the Scottish group is now making another big push for fame here in the States with a new album, "The Hush," and a sparkling new single, "In Our Lifetime."

The innovative video for "In Our Lifetime" [RealVideo] recently debuted here in the U.S. and is drawing notice for some eye-popping effects that make it seem as though Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri is flickering in and out of 3-D.

Spiteri tells MTV that the band decided to work with the clip's director only after he demonstrated the kind of dimensional "morphing" concept he wanted to use in the video.

''We worked with a guy called Phillipe Andre," Spiteri said.

"It's quite strange,"Spiteri said of the video's visuals. "They almost flip the film over, like they twist the film when they're doing the edits. It's all done on the computer and it's really good. But that's why we decided to do the video, because Phillipe had showed us this new technique he found. So we decided to try it out." [RealAudio]

Texas is scheduled to tape a performance of "In Our Lifetime" for the "Late Show with David Letterman" on June 7 and is currently mapping out plans for a U.S. tour.

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Texas

Texas: Glasgow's Lone Star Band On The Rise Again

3 May 1999 10:00:00 EDT

Texas' Sharleen Spiteri

It's been almost ten years since the Scottish band named Texas scored its first hit in America with the folk-rock, slide-guitar grooves of "I Don't Want A Lover," the lead track off the group's 1989 debut record, "Southside."

Now the Glasgow group, which takes its name from Wim Wenders' 1984 film, "Paris, Texas," is witnessing its newest single, "In Our Lifetime," begin to take off on alternative radio stations here in the U.S.

The situation marks a far cry from where the band found itself two years ago, when Texas' last record, "White on Blonde," was left DOA at the group's previous American label, Mercury Records.

According to lead singer Sharleen Spiteri, the label was having problems internally with "White on Blonde," a record that eschewed the roots-based stylings of the group's first three albums in favor of a more contemporary dance and synth-friendly sound. The move went over well in the U.K. and in the rest of the world, where "White on Blonde" sold some 4 million copies, but in America the record staggered to reach the six-figure mark.

"At the end of the day, we really felt we had to change as a band in order to survive and to be relevant now with the sort of music that was coming out. But also for our own sanity and ourselves. You've always got to be doing something new to keep it fresh and keep it moving. You've always got to push."

Now the group (which also includes bassist Johnny McElhone, guitarists Ally McErlaine and Tony McGovern, keyboardist Eddie Campbell and drummer Mikey Wilson) has become one of the few clear-cut winners to emerge from the recent Universal-Polygram merger. Before the "Uni-gram" deal was finalized, Texas inked a new U.S. contract with Universal, which ended up becoming the parent company to the band's old label.

The Texas turn-around has become nearly complete with the quick acceptance of "In Our Lifetime," which was one of the most added singles on alternative radio a few weeks back, thanks in large part to a catchy hook that Spiteri says is based upon a pseudo-Far Eastern melody.

"'In Our Lifetime' has a very distinctive sort of Cantonese hook in the guitar part," Spiteri explained, "and a lot of people have asked, 'Why were you going for that?' I think it was growing up in the '80s and hearing bands like Japan, Siouxsie and the Banshees with their 'Hong Kong Garden' and even David Bowie doing 'China Girl.' There was a real sort of thing for the whole Asian culture at the one point. Everyone was obsessed with it and I was a part of that. It was part of my growing up, and I think it's kind of stuck with us since then."

Texas already has a video for "In Our Lifetime" in the can and is currently sorting out plans for a second single, which Spiteri hopes will be the Blondie-ish rave, "Summer Son." Texas' new album, "The Hush," is due in stores on May 18.

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Texas

Texas - Say What You Want

12 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Say What You Want

Artist: Texas
Label: Mercury
Director: Peggy Sirota
Album: White on Blonde