The Loft was one of the early bands on Alan McGee's Creation label. The band started out as the Living Room in 1980, with singer/guitarist Peter Astor, drummer Dave Morgan, bassist Bill Prince, and lead guitarist Andy Strickland as members. Upon realizing that they shared their name with a venue run by McGee, the Television-inspired band changed their name to the Loft. After meeting up with the club owner, they began playing there regularly and wound up on his label. The single "Up the Hill and Down the Slope" won the group and the then-fledgling label a good amount of attention, winning the group a spot on The Oxford Road Show, a television program on BBC2; along with the Jesus & Mary Chain's debut single, it also upped Creation's profile during their early lean period.
While on a tour opening for the Colour Field, a major rift between the group grew extremely deep; there was the Morgan/Astor half and the Prince/Strickland half. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the former half was the second half to join upon the band's inception. Prior to a major show opening for the Colour Field at the Hammersmith Palais, Astor informed Prince over the phone of his wish to sack him and Strickland and continue with Morgan under the same name. After Prince told Strickland of the call, Strickland demanded that Astor be present for the gig. Astor showed; prior to the final song of the band's set, Strickland foiled the singer and told the packed crowd that the Loft would be no more after that show.
Almost immediately after the dramatic public split, Astor formed the Weather Prophets with Morgan (he also released solo records and formed the Wisdom of Harry later on). Strickland and Prince went on to play in a couple of minor bands and also continued working sporadically as music journalists; Strickland also ended up managing the Dotmusic website. Once Around the Fair, a compilation of the Loft's material, was issued posthumously by Creation. — Andy Kellman, AMG
LINKS
The Loft on MySpace
CreationRecords.org
Creation-Records.com
The Loft on TweeNet
Morganised -- Dave Morgan's site
The Caretaker Race on Foxdude Records
The Wishing Stones on Heavenly Recordings
Look for Loft tunes on Indie MP3
More music links
| DISCOGRAPHY | |||
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"Why Does the Rain" 1984, September -- Creation (CRE009)
Side A: Why Does the Rain |
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"Up The Hill And Down The Slope" 1985, May -- Creation (CRE015)
Side A: |
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Once Around the Fair 1989 -- Creation (CRECD047)
Tracklisting: |
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Magpie Eyes 1982-85
2005 -- Rev-Ola (CR REV122)
Tracklisting: |
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"Model Village" 2006, June -- Static Caravan (VAN116)
Side A: Model Village |
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Compilation Appearances: |
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Alive in the Living Room 1984 -- Creation (CRELP001) "Your Door Shines Like Gold" (live) |
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It's Different for Domeheads 1984 -- Creation (CRELP005) "Why Does the Rain" |
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Wild Summer, Wow! 1984 -- Creation (CRELP002) "Winter" |
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Flowers in the Sky 1988 -- Creation (CRELP028) "Why Does the Rain" "Up the Hill and Down the Slope" |
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Creation Soup, Vol. 1 1991 -- Creation (CRELP101) "Why Does the Rain" (3:39) "Like" (2:36) |
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Creation Soup, Vol. 2 1991 -- Creation (CRELP102) "Up the Hill and Down the Slope" (4:20) "On a Tuesday" (3:15) "Lonely Street" (3:02) "Time" (2:53) |
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Creation Soup, Vol. 5 1991 -- Creation (CRELP105) "Winter" |
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The Patron Saints of Teenage 1994 -- Creation "Winter" (3:08) |
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Creation Records: International Guardians Of Rock 'n' Roll 1983-1999 2000 -- Sony "Up the Hill and Down the Slope" |
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