Titus writes:
The Delgados are a Scottish indie rock band. Most
media people say they are from Glasgow, but as far as I know, they’re
actually from Motherwell, which is near Glasgow! They are Alan
Woodward (guitars & vocals), Emma Pollock (guitars & vocals),
Stewart Henderson (bass), and Paul Savage (drums), and formed in 1994.
The band seem to have a thing about cycling, and named themselves
after Pedro Delgado, a Spanish former professional cyclist, who won the
Tour de France in 1988. Unusually, the band didn’t sign for a Record
Company – they formed their own, which is Chemikal Underground Records
(not a lot of people know that). Notable bands who also signed to this
label were Mogwai and Arab Strap. The Delgados’ first single on the
label was ‘Monica Webster” / ‘Brand new car’, which John Peel liked, and
the band were always one of his favourites. He asked them to do a
session, but they ended up recording seven, all of which are on the
2006 released ‘Complete Peel Sessions’ LP.
Unfortunately,
the Chemikal Underground Label, like many others, became
cash-strapped, and the band couldn’t afford at this stage to release a
second single on it – instead they used Radar Records. The group
however, juggled work at the Label with several tours and I’m pleased to
say that four of their five studio albums were released on Chemikal
Underground. The first one was released in 1996 and called
‘Domestiques’ and the second in 1998 called ‘Peloton’ – both cycling
references – and the latter gave the Delgados not only their first
commercial single success, but also No. 1 in Peel’s Festive 50. The
track concerned was ‘Pull the wires from the Wall’, which was excellent
in my opinion, but has always reminded me of a similar tune that I can
never remember the title of. Answers on a postcard to Lex please,
and by the way, this record would also make the Festive Fifty all time
Chart in 2000.
The
Delgados released subsequent albums ‘The Great Eastern’, ‘Hate’(on
Mantra Records), and ‘Universal Audio’, and also had a single from ‘The
Great Eastern’ nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which was called
‘American Trilogy’. Incidentally, many people confuse the once-named
Great Eastern Hotel near Liverpool Street Station in London, with the
one whose picture is featured on the sleeve of the Delgados’ third
album. This is now The Great Eastern hostel for the homeless in
Glasgow, having formerly been a textile mill, and this is the one that
the Delgados were referring to.
The
band announced that they were splitting up in the Spring of 2005, with
Stewart Henderson, on his departure saying “It’s difficult to pour so
much of my energy and time into something that never seemed to quite get
the attention I felt it deserved”. The group still continued to run
Chemikal Underground, and by this time Pollock & Savage had
married. Ironically, during the band’s hiatus, a track called ‘I
fought the Angels’ from the ‘Universal Audio’ LP was used in the
production of Golden Globe Award winning medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
in 2006. Now, you know that I am always suspicious of bands
re-forming, but I am pleased to report that after deciding to end their
hiatus in 2022, the Delgados planned a tour of five tour dates in
2023, with the last gig being in Glasgow. They still sound pretty
darned good to me, and for the track I have requested Lex to play this
week, I have chosen ‘Pull the wires from the Wall’ from the ‘Peloton’
album, which can be found here.