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Scottish
pop/soul/funk combo Hipsway
was
formed in 1984 by ex-Altered
Images bassist Jon McElhone. His brother,
another
former Image, managed the band. Hipsway
also
featured vocalist Graham
Skinner, guitarist Pim Jones, and drummer Harry Travers. The
group
signed to Mercury and in mid-1985 issued their debut single "Broken
Years." The follow-up, "Ask the Lord," appeared a few months
later, but
despite a strong promotional push Hipsway
failed
to garner much attention until scoring a hit early the following year
with "The Honeythief." Their self-titled debut album also
launched a
fourth single, "Long White Car," but the band's chart success proved
fleeting -- the second Hipsway
album,
1989's Scratch the Surface, sold poorly and they disbanded soon
after
its release. Skinner and Jones later reunited as members of
Witness. Jon McElhone would later become a member of
the decidedly more
successful band Texas.
source: Jason
Ankeny, www.allmusic.com
=================================================================================
Many Americans think
Hipsway is something you do when you hear a good song. But in
Scotland,
rock 'n' roll fans know Hipsway is the name of a hot new band.
"It's funny, 'cause
we're quite revered in our native country," said Graham "Skin"
Skinner, vocalist with the Glasgow-based group. "We get stopped
at the
grocery stores all the time to chat with the kids. But no one
really
knows a lot about us here in the States. It's a big challenge to
try to
corner this market, because it's so huge."
Hipsway is touring the
United States for the first time in support of its debut album, Hipsway.
Hipsway's first US
single, "The Honeythief," reached the Top 20 on the national singles
charts, but Skinner credits the "Honeythief" video for introducing the
band to Americans. The MTV cable channel chose Hipsway's video as
its
"Hip Clip of the Week."
"Although I never
thought we were a terribly visual band, the kids responded favorably to
the video," Skinner said. "Our record company (Columbia) seems to
think
we have a lot of potential as well, 'cause they've asked us to make a
lot more videos." The video for
Hipsway's next single, "Ask the Lord," is beginning to appear on MTV
and other music-video shows.
As the singer and
frontman for Hipsway, Skinner, 25, is the band member who does most of
the interviews. Although that could cause tension within the
group, it
doesn't because the other musicians know any publicity is good, Skinner
said. "Besides, they get to
go out and sight-see and try out new restaurants while I have to
do interviews," he said. "I don't mind, but by the same token,
neither
do they."
Hipsway formed 3 1/2
years ago when Skinner and drummer Harry Travers split from their band,
the White Savages. Joining forces with former Altered Images
bassist
Johnny McElhone, they went through several guitar players before
enlisting guitarist Pim Jones, who was 18 when he joined the band.
McElhone left Hipsway
earlier this year because of artistic differences. Gary Houston
has
joined the band as its new bass player. "Gary is the odd one
in the group 'cause he's from Edinburgh," Skinner said, laughing.
"But
we're making him move to Glasgow."
Although many rock
bands move to London to be closer to the hub of Britain's music
industry, Hipsway won't, Skinner said.
"Everyone thinks any
good European group is from England, and I want to help people become
aware that isn't so," he said. "There are a lot of good Scottish bands,
but no one wants to know abut them because they don't have English
accents."
Hipsway's Scottish
accents have hampered interviews with the American press. "I have
no trouble
understanding Americans, but you guys seem to have a little problem
with the way we speak," Skinner said.
When Skinner sings, his
rich baritone voice is clearly understandable. Hipsway's look
emphasizes jeans and leather jackets instead of makeup and spandex,
which is fortunate for the lanky, 6-foot-4 Skinner.
"Somebody was saying
that I was too tall to be a rock singer," he said.
"Actually, I
didn't sing in most of the groups I was in before because I didn't
think I had a good voice. I played a little guitar -- very
little. The
theory goes that a baritone doesn't reach his potential until he's 35,
so I've still got several years to ago. Then I can make my
comeback."
source: Chicago Sun-Times,"Rockin' Scots will sway here," May 23, 1987
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