07/03/08THANK YOU TO ALL OUR FRIENDS WHO RAISED THE ROOF AT THE SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE ON THE 28TH - THERE WILL BE MORE TO COME, WATCH THIS SPACE - CTT
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“Claytown Troupe†have recently re-formed after a very long time away from the music scene, despite this, they put in an awesome performance, their guitar and keyboard based rock was just perfect for a night like this, “Prayer†and “Hey Lord†from their album “Through the Veil†got a very warm reception from the crowd. Ending their set with “Alabama†the band left the stage with the audience wanting more"
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Should you wish to book the Claytown Troupe for a gig or would like to run an interview, please contact us on: [email protected]
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CLAYTOWN TROUPE - Back in the late 80's this lot were the only real alternative to The Cult. More anthemic and more authentic than Astbury & Co's rawk; Moving a few hundred thousand units internationally over their short period in the limelight, they even broke the UK top 40 before disappearing.
Formed in Bristol in 1984 by lead singer Christian Riou (who claimed in a 2004 interview that a famous local clairvoyant advised him to form a band called the Clayton Troop!)
Claytown Troupe was an Alt-Rock act touted as a cross between The Cult's fake rock and the authentic crusty rock of Pop Will Eat Itself and Crazyhead.
In truth there was more to them than that and they suffered much in coming from England at a time of 'Crusty'; a time when high expectations in Rock, and Rock itself, were generally frowned upon.By 1986 they had an accomplished yet chaotic live show which earned them an exciting reputation on the underground scene.They signed to Island Records in 1988 without management, Christian then assigned Steven Abbott, (known as Abbo, who had been the singer in seminal punk act UKDecay).
Ron Fair and Ralph Jezzard produced the debut 'Through The Veil' which was universally well received & achieved solid international sales (yet only made it to a criminally underrated number 74 in the UK album charts in the days prior to computer controlled sales stats).'Through The Veil' shares The Cult's sensibilities for anthemic rock bluster coupled with a tinge of indigenous Americana and everyman lyrics: "If I could drink the world dry, then I could maybe cry."
It has a genuine atmosphere to it and sounds unlike anyone else, either then or now; there is a swagger and confidence on this album that promised great things and a stadium rock future.What followed was a string of high profile tours and excellent releases.
The Claytown's played the Marquee, Astoria and the Town & Country Club and supported The Cult on the 'Sonic Temple' tour, Pearl Jam, The Wonder Stuff, The Damned, Julian Cope, Jesus Jones and The Mission.Switching labels to EMI Records in the 90's Claytown Troupe cut their next album, the excellent 'Out There', with David Bianco producing at the Hit Factory, New York.
They toured Britain in 1992 with Terrorvision supporting and subsequently opened for Seattle behemoth's Pearl Jam (It had been arranged the other way round with PJ to support CT but the Grunge kings were kind of riding the whirlwind in '92.)
The second album didn't relaunch the band further than where they had been previously & disagreements with EMI compounded the frustrations.
After parting company with EMI, drummer Andy Holt and bassist Paul Waterson made their exit.Recently the band returned to the UK music scene, Christian Riou and Rick Williams reforming to headline the Whitby Goth festival to good overall reviews mixing old songs from their two previous albums with newer material.
And this year (2008) the band are joined by guitarist Ben Christo (Sisters Of Mercy, AKO), Johnny Thrornton (Bass) & are planning more live outings & new material after their successful support at the Shepherds Bush Empire with The Mission.
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