UK: RIALTO, THE BAND TIPPED AS THE NEXT BIG THING IN THE BRITISH MUSIC, HOPES TO PROVE THE CRITICS RIGHT

Record ID: 387424

  • Title: UK: RIALTO, THE BAND TIPPED AS THE NEXT BIG THING IN THE BRITISH MUSIC, HOPES TO PROVE THE CRITICS RIGHT
  • Date: 7th January 1998
  • Summary: (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) ELIOT SAYING, "THEY'RE NOT ALL NARRATIVES BUT QUITE A FEW OF THE SONGS ARE. I LIKE SONGS THAT MEAN SOMETHING AND THAT'S ONE WAY OF PUTTING SOMETHING ACROSS -- IF YOU TELL A STORY. I THINK IT'S BETTER TO DO THAT THAN RHYME A LOT OF CLICHES AND MAKE A SONG OF NONSENSE."
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA1UZY0R3U58P7NIS8O0JSV51WI
  • Story Text: - Rialto's first British top 40 hit "Monday Morning 5:19" combined Pulp-like lyrics with epic sounds.

    Their next single, "Untouchable", went into the charts at number 20 when it was released this month (January 5). It adds a big band sound to the epic guitars from the first single, pointing, according to most of the British music industry, to big things for Rialto in 1998.

    It's a prediction the band doesn't take too seriously.

    "A lot of the time people are billed as that, it's the kiss of death but it's actually taken us a long time to get here," lead singer Louis Eliot told Reuters Television.

    "In the press, it appears that we've come from nowhere but we've actually been working at it a long time." Rialto is five Londoners -- Eliot on vocals and guitar, Jonny Bull on guitar, Toby Hounsham on keyboards, Julian Taylor on bass and Pete Cuthbert on drums.

    The band started with Eliot and Bull getting together and recording on an 8 track in Bull's bedroom in the spring of 1995.

    In a previous incarnation, Eliot was with the band Kinky Machine.

    A year and many advertisments later, Eliot and Bull found Pete Cuthbert and Toby Hounsham. Louis' friend Julian Taylor completed the lineup.

    Instead of following the normal route into a recording studio, the band upgraded from an 8 track to 16 track and completed the bulk of their forthcoming album in Jonny Bull's bedroom.

    Rialto take their name from a defunct chain on 1960's cinemas.

    Movie references are found throughout their songs.

    Their lyrics are often narrative mini-melodramas or romantic thrillers.

    "I like songs that mean something and that's one way of putting something across -- if you tell a story," Eliot said.

    "Monday Morning 5:19" is a tale of a jealous boyfriend who rings his lover's house throughout the night to check what time she gets home.

    Continuing the movie theme, their new single "Untouchable" will appear on the movie soundtrack of the soon to be released film "Dad Savage".

    Rialto's musical influences are wide. To many music critics, Pulp are an obvious influence. The band, however, insist that's not the case.

    The will concede to being influenced by the Lightning Seeds, Pet Shop Boys, Phil Spector and the Beatles.

    With positive feedback coming from abroad in countries like Japan, Italy and Sweden, as well as at home, Rialto know now is their time.

    The band has just finished a UK tour with Echobelly and start more British dates next month.

    Their much-anticipated debut album is due in March.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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