All beginnings start with a name. And so, in October 1989, Simon Fowler, Steve Cradock, Damon Minchella and Oscar Harrison sat down together, chose their three favourite words, arranged them in a satisfactory order and became Ocean Colour Scene. A year later, they recorded their debut single ‘One Of Those Days’ and within months had a first taste of chart action with a third single ‘Yesterday Today’. Nevertheless, mainstream success would prove to be a trickier proposition. After a clutch of underperforming single releases, their record label, Fontana, dropped the band.
There followed a three year hiatus and a difficult period of self-examination. When the band re-emerged, they had reinvented themselves and faced the music industry guns blazing. In February 1996, ‘The Riverboat Song’ smashed into the UK chart and trail blazed six consecutive top ten hits. Backed by the triple platinum selling “Moseley Shoals” and the number one album “Marchin’ Already“, Ocean Colour Scene became one of the hottest bands in the country, as the hits kept rolling.
Thirty-five years on, and Ocean Colour Scene are still together: making music and regularly selling out huge concert halls across the country. They have the support of an extraordinarily dedicated and loyal fan base who cherish their music and hold close to their hearts a lifetime of memories supporting the group. Yet Ocean Colour Scene have never been popular with the music press. They are frequently overlooked for the key role they played in the nineties music scene. They were, and still are, subjected to derision and scorn. It matters not. Ocean Colour Scene did it their way. Standing firm by their music. They became the people’s band. They believe in the soul of bass, drum and guitar rhythm. They exude melody. And they stand amongst the finest purveyors of the stirring sounds of a live concert. Each of the band has a passion to transcend everyday mundanity with music. And most of all they believe, as they always have, that one song can elevate the spirit and enrich the human experience.
Demon Music kick off an Ocean Colour Scene reissue campaign with Yesterday Today 1992-2018, a massive 15CD box set.
The large format package Includes all 10 of their studio albums. They are: Ocean Colour Scene (1992), Moseley Shoals (1996), Marchin’ Already (1997), One For The Modern (1999) , Mechanical Wonder (2001), North Atlantic Drift (2003), A Hyperactive Workout For The Flying Squad (2005), On The Leyline (2007), Saturday (2010), and Painting (2013).
Additionally, there’s five bonus discs featuring a very large selection of B-sides and rarities including the Free inspired ‘So Sad’ and ‘Men Of Such Opinion’, ‘Huckleberry Grove’ featuring the Jamaican ska legend Rico Rodriguez, and the more sedate ballads ‘Robin Hood’, ‘I Need A Love Song’ and ‘Mrs Jones’ and a cover of ‘Day Tripper’, featuring Noel and Liam Gallagher. The package offers 230 tracks in total.
The box set comes with a 72-page hardback book, with in-depth essay from award winning author Daniel Rachel depicting the rise of Ocean Colour Scene from the inside. The book includes photographs from Ocean Colour Scene photographers Lawrence Watson and Tony Briggs, many previously unseen.
A limited edition, 5LP coloured vinyl collection with the same name will be released at the same time. Smaller in scale, this simply offers the band’s first three studio albums Ocean Colour Scene, Moseley Shoals (2LP)and Marchin’ Already (2LP).
Both sets will be released on 24 February 2022 via Edsel/Demon Records and the label promises a “year-long” campaign marking 30 years of the band.
The Fat Angel Sings 