ENGLAND:GLASWEGIAN TUNESMITHS DEL AMITRI PREPARE TO HIT THE ROAD TO PROMOTE THEIR NEW ALBUM "SOME OTHER SUCKER'S PARADE" AHEAD OF UK AND US TOURS

Record ID: 509836

  • Title: ENGLAND:GLASWEGIAN TUNESMITHS DEL AMITRI PREPARE TO HIT THE ROAD TO PROMOTE THEIR NEW ALBUM "SOME OTHER SUCKER'S PARADE" AHEAD OF UK AND US TOURS
  • Date: 19th June 1997
  • Summary: "NOT WHERE IT'S AT" (RTV) JUSTIN CURRIE SAYING I WANTED TO WRITE AN ANTHEM FOR THE UNCOOL. DEL AMITRI BEING NOT WHERE IT'S AT AND THE SONG'S SUPPOSED TO BE THIS SORT OF MANIFESTO BUT IT JUST CAME OUT LIKE A LOVE SONG, IT CAME OUT WRONG. SONGS ALWAYS COME OUT WRONG. I WAS TRYING TO WRITE A TEENAGE FAN CLUB SONG 'COS I RELALY LIKE TEENAGE FAN CLUB SO THAT'S WHAT I STARTED OUT TRYING TO DO BUT IT CAME OUT LIKE A NICK LOWE SONG. (REPORTER SAYS DO YOU DO THAT A LOT?) CURRIE AND IAN HARVIE SAY, YEAH, EVERBODY DOES THAT. HARVIE SAYS EVERYBODY'S TRYING TO WRITE A BEACH BOYS SONG OR A NEIL YOUNG SONG OR A BEATLES SONG. CURRIE SAYS EVERYBODY'S TRYING TO WRITE "STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER" AGAIN AND AGAIN AND IT COMES OUT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EVERY TIME. I SPENT ABOUT A YEAR TRYING TO REWRTIE "EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE" AND THEN REALISED IT WAS A VERY BAD IDEA 'COS IT WAS SUCH A CRAP SONG IN THE FIRST PLACE
  • Embargoed: 4th July 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA16OOFTX751454DY0KRLK4G5ZH
  • Story Text: Glaswegian tunesmiths Del Amitri are preparing to hit the road to promote their new album "Some Other Sucker's Parade".

    The first single "Not Where It's At" is a catchy, infectious pop song about a girl who rejects a boy because she's cool and he's not.

    Justin Currie - one half of the core Del Amitri with Iain Harvie - said when he wrote "Not Where It's At", he was trying to write an anthem for the "uncool".

    "It's supposed to be this sort of manifesto but it just came out like a love song, it came out wrong," he said.

    "Songs always come out wrong." Currie, famed almost more for his 70's sideburns than his music, formed Del Amitri 14 years ago when he was still at school.

    He dreamt up the band's meaningless name and went on to write his first song "Roger's Got No Arms". Since then, he's written some hits like "Nothing Ever Happens", "Kiss This Thing Goodbye" and "Roll To Me".

    Del Amitri is also known for its electric guitars, angst-ridden songs and melodies.

    This time when the band went into the recording studio, Harvie says, they did have some rules, such as not having any acoustic guitars on the album.

    "We had all the songs written when we went in and they were all going to be less than three minutes and they were going to have no acoustic guitars on them," Harvie said.

    "We didn't quit fulfill all those rules." The Dels, as they're affectionatley known, have had some success Stateside but don't like to use that as a measure of their worth.

    Their biggest hit across the Atlantic was "Roll to Me" off 1995's "Twisted" album.

    That album also gave them four top 20 hits in Britain and kicked off an 18-month bout of touring -- mainly in the United States (U.S.).

    The Dels will be going back to America later this year and to the touring life they love.

    While they may - by their own admission - not be where it's at, Del Amitri are pretty comfortable and looking foward to getting back on the road.

    "Touring is a kind of escape from anything that even bears a glancing resemblance to real life," Currie said.

    And it's made easier, Harvie continues, because the band knows they have an audience.

    "Every band in the world has played a gig that nobody came to.

    We certainly have," Harvie said.

    "So you don't have that fear, you don't have the fear that absolutely no-one is going to come and you're going to have a thousand records under your bed for the rest of your life that nobody wants." "Some Other Sucker's Parade", Del Amitri's fourth album with A&M, is released on June 30. The band starts their UK tour in July 9 before heading to the U.S.
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