British supergroup
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
were an English
art rock
supergroup
composed of singer
Damon Albarn
of
Blur
and
Gorillaz
, bassist
Paul Simonon
of the
Clash
, guitarist
Simon Tong
of the
Verve
, and drummer
Tony Allen
. They released their
self-titled debut album
in 2007. Their second album,
Merrie Land
,
coproduced with
Tony Visconti
, was released in 2018. They disbanded in 2019, and Allen died in 2020.
History
[
edit
]
Formation and debut album
[
edit
]
The Good, the Bad & the Queen began as a solo project by
Damon Albarn
with production by
Danger Mouse
. However, by July 2006, the project had become a band,
[5]
with bassist
Paul Simonon
of the
Clash
, guitarist
Simon Tong
of the
Verve
, and
Fela Kuti
drummer
Tony Allen
. Albarn met Simonon at the wedding of Clash singer
Joe Strummer
in 1997, and Tong had worked with Albarn on
Blur
's 2003
Think Tank
tour, filling in as guitarist following the departure of
Graham Coxon
.
[6]
Allen contacted Albarn after hearing the 2000 Blur single "
Music Is My Radar
", which references him.
[6]
The Good, the Bad & the Queen played their debut gig in a village pub in Devon on 20 October, followed by a performance at the
London Roundhouse
on 26 October as part of the
BBC Electric Proms
.
[7]
They released their first single, "
Herculean
", on 30 October.
[8]
On 12 December, the band performed a secret launch gig exclusive to 300 chosen fans for
Myspace
's new feature
The List
in
Wilton's Music Hall
, East London.
[9]
The band released their
self-titled debut album
on 22 January 2007.
[10]
It was voted by the
Observer Music Magazine
as the Best Album of 2007.
[11]
At this point, Albarn said
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
was only the album title and that the band was "nameless".
[7]
Simonon said "we didn't properly name the band, because a name is for a marriage".
[11]
Albarn said the group had "permanently finished" in 2007; however, they reunited to perform at the 2008
Love Music Hate Racism
carnival.
[12]
Tong and Simonon appeared on Albarn's next project, the
Gorillaz
album
Plastic Beach
(2010)
,
and participated in the
Plastic Beach
tour. In November 2011, the Good, the Bad & the Queen played a show at London's Coronet Theatre for the 40th anniversary of
Greenpeace
, the first time they had played together in almost three years.
[13]
Allen and Tong appeared on Albarn's soundtrack for the opera
Dr Dee
(2012), and Allen and Albarn collaborated on the 2012 album
Rocket Juice & the Moon
.
[14]
Merrie Land
and disbandment
[
edit
]
In October 2014, Albarn announced that a new album had been written and was waiting to be recorded.
[15]
In April 2017, in a new interview with
Q
, it was reported that an album was still in the making but that recent events had caused the group to start afresh. Albarn told
Q
that
Brexit
had "given us a wonderful starting point".
[16]
Their second album,
Merrie Land
, produced by
Tony Visconti
, was released on 16 November, as “the right circumstances came about”, under the new label Studio 13 created by Albarn.
[17]
[18]
Albarn described the album as "a series of observations and reflections on Britishness in 2018" and "a reluctant goodbye letter" following the Brexit vote.
[19]
The band performed the first gig for the album in Tynemouth on 26 November 2018, which was the start of an eight-date warm-up tour in UK. They toured Europe from March to August in 2019.
[
citation needed
]
At a performance at
Lowlands Festival
on 16 August 2019, the last show of the tour, Albarn told the crowd it would be the band's final performance.
[20]
Allen died in April 2020.
[21]
Discography
[
edit
]
Studio albums
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Ankeny, Jason
"Damon Albarn Biography"
, AllMusic, Macrovision Corporation
- ^
"The Good, The Bad & The Queen @ EartH, London | Live Music Reviews"
.
Musicomh.com
. 6 December 2018.
- ^
"Albarn's The Good, The Bad, and The Queen"
.
Npr.org
. 16 February 2007
. Retrieved
1 May
2020
.
- ^
Neil McCormick (5 December 2018).
"The Good, The Bad & The Queen, EartH, review: Damon Albarn's Brexit-inspired blast of psychedelia"
.
Telegraph.co.uk
. Retrieved
1 May
2020
.
- ^
"Damon Albarn forms new band"
.
NME
. 28 July 2006
. Retrieved
28 July
2006
.
- ^
a
b
Williams, Murphy (20 January 2007).
"Songs of experience"
.
The Telegraph
.
ISSN
0307-1235
. Retrieved
16 April
2020
.
- ^
a
b
NME (21 October 2006).
"Damon Albarn launches new band with tiny pub gig"
.
NME
. Retrieved
29 August
2019
.
- ^
Uncut
(Nov. 2006, pp. 86?88)
- ^
"Damon Albarn's new band announce new single"
.
NME
. 28 November 2006.
- ^
MacBain, Hamish (12 January 2007).
"The Good, The Bad & The Queen: The Good, The Bad & The Queen"
.
NME
. Retrieved
11 December
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"2007: The best 50 albums"
.
The Observer
. 9 December 2007.
ISSN
0029-7712
. Retrieved
16 April
2020
.
- ^
NME (24 April 2008).
"The Good, The Bad And The Queen reforming after secret split"
.
NME
. Retrieved
29 August
2019
.
- ^
BlurBalls.
"Damon Albarn to revive The Good, The Bad and The Queen for Greenpeace charity gig"
.
BlurBalls - Latest Blur, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon news
. Retrieved
24 April
2020
.
- ^
Reed, Ryan (28 March 2012).
"Rocket Juice and the Moon: Rocket Juice and the Moon"
.
Paste Magazine
. Retrieved
11 December
2020
.
- ^
Minsker, Evan (19 October 2014).
"Damon Albarn Prepping New Gorillaz and the Good, the Bad & the Queen Albums"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
20 October
2014
.
- ^
Young, Alex (10 April 2017).
"Damon Albarn is working on The Good the Bad & the Queen's long-awaited new album"
.
Consequence of Sound
. Retrieved
10 April
2017
.
- ^
Young, Alex.
"The Good The Bad & The Queen to release new album, Merrie Land, in November"
.
Consequence of Sound
. Retrieved
18 October
2018
.
- ^
Webber, Darryl (8 November 2018).
"Damon Albarn talks about how Brexit inspired his new album"
.
essexlive
. Retrieved
24 April
2020
.
- ^
"Damon Albarn's band The Good, The Bad & the Queen announce new Brexit-inspired album and Glasgow date"
.
Scotsman.com
. Retrieved
16 April
2020
.
- ^
Daly, Rhian (16 August 2019).
"Damon Albarn says The Good, The Bad & The Queen have played their "last gig" at Lowlands Festival"
.
NME
. Retrieved
29 August
2019
.
- ^
Snapes, Laura; France-Presse, Agence (1 May 2020).
"Tony Allen, legendary drummer and Afrobeat co-founder, dies aged 79"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
1 May
2020
.
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