Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Frazier Chorus

English pop band

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Frazier Chorus were an English pop group from Brighton, England. They were known for their unconventional instrumentation, including synthesizers, trumpets, flutes and clarinets, as well as frontman Tim Freeman's "soft, heavily accented ... talk-singing" and sarcastically witty lyrics.

01History

Frazier Chorus was formed in Brighton, England, by Tim Freeman (the brother of actor Martin Freeman and musician Jamie Freeman, on vocals and keyboards), Michéle Allardyce (percussion), Kate Holmes (flute) and Chris Taplin (clarinet, programming). Original names for the band included both Fishing For Clouds and Plop!, but the band eventually settled on Frazier Chorus, a phrase they had seen on a jacket for the Frazier College football team's cheerleaders in the United States.

The band first signed to British indie record label 4AD and released the single "Sloppy Heart" in 1987. Shortly afterwards, they moved to Virgin Records and achieved three minor chart hits with melodic pop songs taken from their 1989 debut album, Sue. Allardyce was eventually dismissed from the band.

Their second album, Ray, followed in 1991, and its singles were remixed by a number of top remixers, including Paul Oakenfold, Chad Jackson and Youth. Following the album's release, the band was let go from Virgin after the label was purchased by EMI and began purging a number of its artists; subsequently, Holmes and Taplin fired Freeman before ultimately disbanding entirely. Holmes later moved into electronica via the bands Sirenes, Technique, and Client.

Freeman took several years off and re-emerged in the mid-1990s, resurrecting the band name with permission from Holmes and Taplin. In 1995, Freeman released a mini-album as Frazier Chorus, Wide Awake, which did not reach the UK Albums Chart. He later released Monkey Spunk, a collection of five demos recorded prior to the sessions for Wide Awake, available exclusively via the band's website.

After leaving the band, Holmes became a member of the synthpop band Technique, before joining Dubstar's Sarah Blackwood in the electronic band CLIEͶT in the 2000s.

02Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbumUK Albums
Chart
Label
1989Sue56Virgin
1991Ray66Virgin
1995Wide Awake-Pinkerton
"-" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

Year Song Peak chart positions Album Label
UK Singles Chart US Alternative Songs US Dance/Club Play Songs
1987 "Sloppy Heart" - - - Non-album release 4AD
1988 "Dream Kitchen" 57 - - Sue Virgin
1989 "Typical!" 53 - -
"Sloppy Heart" 73 - -
1990 "Cloud 8" 52 17 14 Ray
"Nothing" 51 - 28
1991 "Walking on Air" 60 - -
1996 "Driving" - - - Wide Awake Pure
"Wide Awake" - - - Seedy Singles
"-" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Compilations

YearAlbum
1998Monkey Spunk
Watch videos about Frazier ChorusExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Frazier Chorus, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.