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news - Oxfordshire Unsigned Compilation - Mister Mann at number 25!! - New Releases - Book Publishing - Pronoia Relocating to Oxford More... artists Still Leven The Chrysalids Great Medical Disaster Gerrard G. Gerrard Viarosa Venus De Mileage The Chrysalids Website MySpace Facebook Shows Releases Press The Chrysalids were formed in north Manchester UK in January 1988 by former One Thousand Violins lead singer John Wood and Corsican multi-instrumentalist Yves Altana. John had relocated from Wolverhampton and Yves moved up from London specifically with the view to forming a band in a city, which had spawned both The Smiths and The Chameleons. Songwriting commenced and demos were recorded. The early songs were crafted with big choruses and even bigger key changes that remind you of The Bunnymen circa "Ocean Rain" and solo Scott Walker songs from his Scott 1-4 albums. The pair envisaged The Chrsyalids as more than just a recording project and put together a live band with a revolving cast of guitarists, bass players and drummers, playing the local Manchester scene. Both Warner Brothers and CBS showed serious interest and things looked rather promising but unfortunately it was just before the 'Madchester' bomb exploded. The band found themselves playing to more and more audiences who wanted to hear the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets influenced indie dance beats. The Chrysalids just didn't sound anything like them..... It was just unfortunate timing, a right place wrong time scenario and the major label A&R who descended on Manchester in search of the next big thing criminally ignored the band. The only song that ever made it on to a release was a song called "My Heart Is Where My Home Is” which ended up on the low rent compilation entitled "This is Manchester" on Castle Communications, which quickly found its way in to the bargain bins. The track brought some recognition from local Piccadilly Radio DJ Pete Mitchell (later to be on Virgin, XFM & BBC Radio 2) who provided the band with the opportunity to record a session for his Saturday lunchtime IQ show. Similarly the Stockport based indie radio station KFM (R.I.P.) also lent its support with the likes of Craig Cash (The Royle Family) and Jon Ronson (The Guardian) regularly playing the band's demos. A final hurrah came when John and Yves enlisted the services of John Lever (The Chameleons) on drums and Aky (Weaveworld, Molly Half Head) on bass for some powerful live shows, which showcased just what a great band with some fantastic songs they were. Alas “Just Like Stingray’ was never a James Bond theme and ‘Shrine’ would never make the Indie Top 10, the songs all consigned to the vault, whilst John retired his microphone and Yves lent his guitar skills to the likes of Wonky Alice, The Bardots, Mark Burgess, Invincible and more recently I Am Kloot. Well consigned until now, when they’ve been hauled in to the 21st century and lovingly restored so they can be finally released upon the world. The amazing thing listening again is just how unlucky the band were in terms of timing, pre-dating the likes of Suede, The Auteurs and Pulp by only a couple of years. The Chrysalids sound whilst not completely Brit-Pop, nods obviously in the direction of Bowie, the aforementioned Scott Walker and the new wave guitars of early Adam Ant and Roxy Music. feat. releases Still Leven Cases of Bluntness CD Album Great Medical Disaster Die, You Bitch, Cried Architect CD Album Viarosa Send For The Sea CD Album Like a Fox Like A Fox CD Album Helene Heliotrope CD Album Like a Fox A Little Vinyl Single

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