Babybird

Babybird最早只是一个化名，他的主人叫做Stephen Jones，一个英国高产的词曲创作者和歌手。80年代后期，在毕业于诺丁汉Trent大学后，其演出生涯开始于一个叫做Dogs in Honey的反戏剧剧团。在买了一个四轨的机器后，他便开始在家中自己录制Lo-fi唱片。几年后，他大概一共创作了400首流行歌曲，其主题涉猎范围极广，从超现实主义、搞笑的叙述到热情的个人冥想。在朋友的力劝下，他开始把带子寄给唱片公司，却遭到了斩钉截铁的拒绝。终于在94年，Jones获得Chrysalis Music的一纸合约，但其中却不包含唱片合同。于是他只好在95年自费以Babybird的名字发行了一张限量5000张的专辑《I Was Born a Man》，并在接下来的一年中接连推出了三张专辑《Bad Shave》、《Fatherhood》和《The Happiest Man Alive》，并据此最终为自己赢得了Echo唱片的合约。在加盟了大唱片后Babybird也从一个人的单打独斗衍生为一只乐队，加入的分别是吉他手Luke Scott，贝司手John Pedder，键盘手Hugh Chadbourne和鼓手Rob Gregory。为了区别，名字也改为Baby Bird。96年Baby Bird发行了作为一只乐队的首张专辑，《Ugly Beatiful》，歌迷投票从Jones之前四张专辑中所选出的歌曲的重唱，其中至少有两首单曲（《Candy Girl》和《Cornershop》）成为了热门歌曲。97年推出了一张带着强烈非商业色彩的Demo专辑，《Dying Happy》，限量1000张。98年发行《Something Going On》，依靠其中的单曲《Bad Old Man》的走红获得了一定程度的成功，另外两只单曲《If You'll Be Mine》和《Back Together》也一度有所表现。2000年推出颇受好评的《Bugged》，有两只单曲《The F-Word》和《Out of Sight》登上排行榜，但销售量却并不乐观，以至于被唱片公司解约。虽然后来同Animal Noise唱片签约，但在不久后乐队便解散了。
 
by Jason Ankeny
 
Baby Bird began as the alias of Stephen Jones, a prolific British singer/songwriter who initiated his performing career as a member of the Dogs in Honey &anti-theater& troupe. After buying a four-track machine, he began making his first lo-fi home recordings; over the next several years, he wrote some 400 eclectic pop songs, ranging in content from surreal, comic narratives to intensely personal meditations.
 
At the urging of friends, Jones sent out Baby Bird tapes to record companies, but his music was roundly rejected; however, Chrysalis Music did offer a publishing deal which Jones accepted, applying his earnings towards financing a series of independently-released, limited-edition collections. The first disc of material culled from the vast Baby Bird archives, I Was Born a Man, appeared in 1995; within the course of a year, three other acclaimed albums -- Bad Shave, Fatherhood, and The Happiest Man Alive -- followed, and won Jones a contract with Echo Records.
 
Upon making the leap to a major label, Baby Bird mutated from a one-man project into a full band, as Jones assembled a backing group comprised of guitarist Luke Scott, bassist John Pedder, keyboardist Hugh Chadbourne, and drummer Rob Gregory. In its new incarnation, Baby Bird debuted in late 1996 with Ugly Beautiful, a lush, sparkling collection of re-recordings of favorite songs from Jones' back catalogue, all selected by fans by means of postcard ballots included in the first four albums.
 
In 1997, Dying Happy was assembled; issued in a limited pressing of 1000 copies, the disc compiled a number of previously unreleased songs that Jones had kicking around. There's Something Going On followed in 1998, and two years passed until the release of Bugged, Baby Bird's ninth full-length.