Delgados

The Delgados were formed in Glasgow in 1995 and released their first single in that year on their own Chemikal Underground label. Their first single was made Melody Maker sinle of the week. I first saw them that year playing support to Pavement and Mercury Rev at the Barrowlands in Glasgow. since then they have been top of John Peels festive fifty for their single pull the wires from the wall and have released three fine albums domestiques, peloton both named after lead singer Stewart Hendersons love of Cycling and the fantastic the Great Eastern which spawned in my opinion their finest hour the single No Danger. Their label is also home to other scottish acts such as Arab Strap, radar Bros and Suckle

It's worth knowing that Alun Woodward is actually the main vocalist, though I can't say whether its his love of cycling that lead to the album titles, or bassist Stewart Henderson's. I'd guess at Woodward's, seeing as he writes most of their material.

Also, the band is named after Tour De France winner Pedro Delgado, who is possibly the Pedro mentioned alongside Albert (Einstein) and Pablo (Picasso?) in their early track Teen Elf, all of whom, apparently, ain't got no culture.

They used to do a T-shirt that said "All good cyclists take drugs", but they've stopped now. Alun Woodward, when asked "If The Delgados were a boy band, was persona would you be?", said "Emaciated drug addict."

Their album releases are as follows:

Domestiques - 28.10.96 - CHEM009
BBC Sessions - 15.09.97
Pelaton - 08.06.98 - CHEM024
The Great Eastern - 17.04.00 - CHEM040
Hate - 14.10.02


Singles:

Monica Webster / Brand New Car
Lazarwalker
Liquidation Girl (with Van Impe and on Boa Records)
I've Only Just Started To Breathe
Cinecentre
Booker T Jones (with Urusei Yatsura)
Under Canvas Under Wraps
Sucrose
Everything Goes Around The Water
Pull The Wires From The Wall
The Weaker Argument Defeats The Stronger
American Trilogy
No Danger
Coming In From The Cold
All You Need Is Hate


It's interesting to listen to the progression of their sound - I recommend buying all of their albums just to do that. They are also somewhat unique in that each album is better than the previous one.

Paul Savage on Monica Webster (debut Delgados release, and first single on Chemikal Underground):

"The rumour is that we started Chemikal Underground because no one else wanted to put out our records. It is true that there were no offers on the table at the time but we never sent any copies of our recordings to anyone, so why would there be?"

Quoted from www.delgados.co.uk

Please /msg me and complaints, additions, etc.