British pop rockers James have officially split. The band parted from their UK Mercury label Fontana Records in September this year. This was followed by vocalist Tim Booth’s announcement at the end of October that after nearly two decades James’ December tour dates would be his last with the band. That tour ended last night (12/10) at London’s Wembley Arena. The band were best known in America for their 1993 Gold record Laid, a collaboration with Brian Eno. “We’ll never say never [re-form], but we’re going to wait until the dust has settled,” says drummer David Baynton-Power.
Category Archives: News
Jim’s Statement On The Future Of James
Dear James People,
I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that Timothy is leaving, and I know this will have had all of us reaching for our Kleenex and wondering what is going to happen next. There’s no need for me to state the importance of Tim’s contribution to James over the past twenty years, and I don’t want to downplay the effect of his leaving, but in our true bloody-minded style, James will continue. The history of this band has been a battlefield of near disasters overcome by a passion and self belief bordering on arrogance, and an unstoppable determination that’s pulled us through the very worst of times…and here we go again!
It’s difficult for me to give exact details as there is a lot we’ve not decided yet, but rest assured, you haven’t seen the last of James, and I think we’ve got one or two surprises in store for you.
This just leaves me to thank Tim, and wish him all the very best for the future.
Enjoy the rest of the tour and see you in the new year,
Jim
NME News Article
JAMES have filmed their final hometown show with TIM BOOTH and plan to release it as a DVD in 2002.
James have just completed their final tour with vocalist Booth, who walked out on the group to concentrate on other musical projects.
On the Manchester date on the tour (December 7), the group were joined onstage by former members Larry Gott and Andy Diagram. A film of the show is likely to be released in 2002, according to a posting on the band’s official website, www.jamestheband.com.
In related news, James bassist Jim Glennie has issued a statement confirming that the remaining members of James plan to continue with the band.
He wrote: “I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that Tim is leaving, and I know this will have had all of us reaching for our Kleenex and wondering what is going to happen next.
“There’s no need for me to state the importance of Tim’s contribution to James over the past twenty years, and I don’t want to downplay the effect of his leaving, but in our true bloody-minded style, James will continue. The history of this band has been a battlefield of near-disasters overcome by a passion and self-belief bordering on arrogance, and an unstoppable determination that’s pulled us through the very worst of times… and here we go again!
“It’s difficult for me to give exact details as there is a lot we’ve not decided yet, but rest assured, you haven’t seen the last of James, and I think we’ve got one or two surprises in store for you.
“This just leaves me to thank Tim, and wish him all the very best for the future. Enjoy the rest of the tour and see you in the new year.”
Ananova News Article On DVD / Jim’s Statement
James are to release a DVD of the Manchester gig from their latest tour.
The tour was the band’s last with vocalist Tim Booth.
The DVD is expected to be released in February.
Booth has left the group to concentrate on other musical projects, NME.COM reports.
James were joined onstage at the Manchester gig by former band members Larry Gott and Andy Diagram.
James bassist Jim Glennie says the remaining members of the group plan to continue with the band.
He said: “I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that Tim is leaving, and I know this will have had all of us reaching for our Kleenex and wondering what is going to happen next.
“There’s no need for me to state the importance of Tim’s contribution to James over the past twenty years, and I don’t want to downplay the effect of his leaving, but in our true bloody-minded style, James will continue.
“The history of this band has been a battlefield of near-disasters overcome by a passion and self-belief bordering on arrogance, and an unstoppable determination that’s pulled us through the very worst of times…and here we go again!
“It’s difficult for me to give exact details as there is a lot we’ve not decided yet, but rest assured, you haven’t seen the last of James, and I think we’ve got one or two surprises in store for you.
“This just leaves me to thank Tim, and wish him all the very best for the future. Enjoy the rest of the tour and see you in the new year.”
Quirky Pop That Won Legions Of Fans – Manchester Evening News
December 2001, © Manchester Evening News
LOCAL HEROES MADE IT BIG
James were formed in 1982 when Tim Booth was brought into the band as a dancer after he was spotted strutting his stuff on the dance floor in Manchester University’s students union.
Unaware that he could sing, original members Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan asked the then drama student if he’d reproduce his rubber man antics to accompany their act.
It wasn’t long before he took over the microphone and the rest, as they say, is history.
So far James 19 years have taken them from the folky eccentricity of Hymn From A Village to the forthright jungle pop of What For and through the baggy-feel of Come Home and on to stadium anthems like Born of Frustration and the heartfelt acoustic pop of Sometimes.
By the early nineties, their quirky brand of guitar pop had won them legions of fans worldwide.
Their real breakthrough came in 1989 with the release of Gold Mother, which spawned the hits Come Home, How Was It For You? and Sit Down.
Sit Down was only held off the UK number one slot by Chesney Hawkes’ The One And Only.
James released Seven, which became a million seller, peaking at number 2 in the UK album charts.
The band were getting stronger with every release and they recruited Brian Eno for their next album Laid in 1993. Laid broke the band in the States, selling 600,000 copies.
However, just as the band appeared to have world domination in their grasp it all started to come apart at the seams.
Guitarist Larry Gott and manager Martine departed followed by a massive back-tax demand.
And it wasn’t until 1998 that the band returned the album Whiplash, containing the hits She’s A Star and Tomorrow.
A year later their Best Of compilation bumped the Titanic soundtrack off the top of the album charts.
Millionaires was released last year and Pleased To Meet You in June this year, both to mixed reviews.
Then in October, Tim Booth announced this was to be his final tour with the band.
Jim and the rest of James have vowed to carry on and Tim Booth says he might be back to play Glastonbury if he’s asked.
Home James – Manchester Evening News
December 2001, by Robert Meakin, © Manchester Evening News
Frontman bows out recalling his days as a “nerdy wimp”
As singer Tim Booth prepares for a final appearance with his bandmates in Manchester, the James frontman has been recalling his rather less glamorous debut in the group’s home city.
Booth, due to quit the Manchester band after almost 20 years at the end of their current UK tour, performs an emotional swansong in front of thousands at the Manchester Evening News Arena tonight, before pursuing solo material, writing and acting projects.
And the setting is certainly a far cry from the more humble Princess Street venue where he first cut his teeth with the group in 1982 as their new vocalist.
He tells me : “My first gig with James in Manchester was at the Cyprus Tavern to a load of hardcore James fans who didn’t know what to make of this nerdy wimp who’d become their new singer. It was very intimidating!”
The star admits tonight will prove to be a poignant occasion, adding: “It’s highly emotional. It’s really hard not to start crying actually. But at the same time it feels really good, it should be a celebration. Manchester has been our base.”
Nostalgia has been rife in recent days, with the group filming around their home city for a forthcoming DVD release, which will include footage from tonight’s show.
Booth will also be embarking on a rather different tour from next year when he travels around the UK, fronting “creativity workshops” with a system of dance and meditation designed to encourage a flow of ideas.
Rock’s Underdogs Reach The End Of The Line – The Guardian
Tim Booth’s recent decision to walk away from fronting James after 19 years should be viewed as a rare example of a rock star behaving with true dignity. Despite their 1998 Best of album selling 1m copies, the band’s last two studio albums – 1999’s Millionaires (arguably the best of their career) and this year’s Pleased To Meet You – fared inexplicably badly. When Mercury Records dropped them after a 10 year relationship, the writing was on the wall, but the number of “classic” groups that are lingering on or reuniting still throws Booth’s decision to quit into stark perspective.
Fans of many different ages are crammed into this warm-up for the final arena shows. James boast one of rock’s most loyal fan bases, and could still have made a very comfortable living as a touring band. As we line up to hear the songs for one last time, the gig has a surreal atmosphere: part funeral, part wake.
But James were never straightforward and the set list reflects their strange trajectory from oddball New Order support act to 1990s stadium giants. Curiously though, there are no songs from their early Factory Records period. Come Home blasts us back to 1990s Madchester; Say Something and Sometimes to the Eno-produced days of chart ubiquity. These songs tug at the heartstrings, and make James success seem all the more remarkable – this is a band that took mental illness on to Top of the Pops.
There was always something of the underdog about James though. They battled industy shenanigans, line-up upheavals, physical problems and personal turmoil, their determination reflected in the hopeful song Tomorrow. The crowd sing along, eyes closed. For years, James provided a precious rock to cling to for the multitudes who felt similarly distressed and alienated by the world.
Booth used to resent the way the press depicted him as a vegan and meditating Buddhist, but now, in vest and skull cap, he looks very much the part, which must afford him some wry amusement. He is subdued for the first half, but grows exuberant as the power of the songs carries him away. James close with the colossus Sit Down and then the seven-piece band walk to the front of the stage and wave goodbye, History will remember them kindly, a uniquely spirited rock band that never knew disgrace.
Tim Booth Quits James – Q Music News
Singer Bows Out Amicably
Tim Booth has announced his decision to leave James. The singer, who presented Brian Eno with the Merit Award at this year’s Q Awards, has said that the band’s forthcoming European tour will be his last as a member of the group. In a statement, Booth said: “After much deliberation I have decided it’s time for me to leave James. When we started the band we always said we’d give it a year and see how it went. If you had told me we’d last nearly 20 years I’d have asked you what drugs you were on. I am leaving on a high. The tour will be a great farewell party. For the last two years we have been getting on better with each other than ever before.
“So why am I leaving? Well because I want to stop while we are on top. To leave great memories knowing that I feel proud of just about everything we have done. And I am leaving because it feels like the right time. This is an intuitive decision enabling me to let go of a huge commitment and make space for something new to come in. I am sure the press will try and find all kinds of smaller reasons and many of them may be factually true. But this is the greater truth. I don’t know what the rest of the guys are going to do but I want to thank them for an amazing ride and for taking my departure so well.”
Booth revealed that he is mid-way through a screenplay and hinted that he would be pursuing musical projects of his own. He also thanked the band’s fans for “Your faith in us [which] has lifted us to higher levels. It seems like you have managed to always see us through the smokescreen of hipness and cool that the music industry is drowning in.”
James’s final tour with Booth takes in the Brighton Centre (2 December), Leeds University (3 December), Newcastle Arena (4 December), Birmingham NEC (6 December); Manchester Arena (7 December), Glasgow SECC (9 December) and London’s Wembley Arena (10 December).
James Bez Bootha – 30Ton.com (Polish)
Frontman grupy James – Tim Booth poinformowal, ze juz wkrótce zamierza rozstac sie z zespolem
Booth chce odejsc z zespolu James jeszcze przed koncem roku, zaraz po tym jak formacja zakonczy swoja trase koncertowa po Wielkiej Brytanii.
Na temat przyczyn swojego odejscia, Tim zamiescil informacje na oficjalnej stronie zespolu.
“Chce przestac gdy jeszcze jestesmy na szczycie. Chce pozostawic wspaniale wspomnienia, wiedzac, ze czuje sie dumny praktycznie ze wszystkiego co zrobilismy. Odchodze, bo czuje, ze to jest wlasnie ten WLASCIWY CZAS.
Kiedy tworzylismy zespól, mówilismy, ze damy mu rok na to, zeby zobaczyc co z tego wyjdzie. Gdybyscie wtedy powiedzieli mi, ze przetrwamy niemal 20 lat, spytalbym na jakich jestescie prochach” – napisal Booth.
Z informacji podanych na stronie wynika takze, ze pozostali czlonkowie Jamesa, nie zaprzestana dzialalnosci. Sam Booth zamierza popracowac przy nowych projektach i to nie tylko muzycznych. Artysta przyznal miedzy innymi, ze jest gdzies w polowie pracy nad wlasnym scenariuszem
James Singer To Quit Band – Aversion.com
The British alt-rock band James will lose its singer of 20 years at the conclusion of its next tour.
Tim Booth announced his impending retirement from the act on the band’s official web site. Booth will play out until the end of the act’s December tour. The remaining members of the band will continue on without him, though there is no word on who will assume vocal duties.
Booth plans to work on a screenplay, teach, act and work on other musical directions.
“I want to stop while we are on top,” he wrote, apparently forgetting about the seven years since Laid came out. “To leave great memories knowing that I feel proud of just about everything we have done. And I am leaving because it feels like the right time. This is an intuitive decision enabling me to let go of a huge commitment and make space for something new to come in.”
James Split – Popnews (French)
Tim Booth le chanteur de James a décidé de mettre fin à l’aventure du groupe après la tournée qui a commencé il y a 2 semaines. Il souhaite arrêter avant la descente aux enfers que subissent tous les groupes et se consacrera à l’ecriture de scénari, ainsi qu’à son nouveau metier d’acteur. La musique refera son apparition dans sa vie plus tard.
Aufhören, wenn es am Schönsten ist – Popkomm (German)
Und noch ein Split. Die Band James verliert ihren wichtigsten Mann.
Was ist nur auf der Insel los? Catatonia, Divine Comedy, Elastica und jetzt James. Eine wahre Split-Welle greift in der ersten Britpop-Etage um sich.
Sänger Tim Booth hat auf der offiziellen Website von James ein Statement hinterlassen. Er kündigt dort an, dass er nach der nächsten Tour James verlassen wird. Dieser Schritt geschehe nicht aus Unzufriedenheit, betont Booth. Ganz im Gegenteil, ihr aktuelles Album “Pleased To Meet You” sei das beste seit “Laid” und die Tour werde nun eine großartige Abschiedsparty werden.
Die verbliebenen Mitglieder der Band veröffentlichten dazu eine Pressemitteilung, in der sie bekräftigen, dass sie weiterhin zusammen Musik machen werden. Was mit dem Bandnamen geschieht, ist noch nicht entschieden. Mit ihrem charismatischen Sänger und Songwriter verlieren sie allerdings das wichtigste Markenzeichen. Als letztes Gründungsmitglied aus dem Jahr 1983 bleibt ihnen nur noch Bassist Jim Glennie.