Lloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work. Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He attended (but did not graduate from) the University of Glasgow, where he studied philosophy and English and met the other members of The Commotions.
The Commotions' 1984 debut, Rattlesnakes, contained literary and pop culture name-checks to such figures as Norman Mailer, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Truman Capote and Joan Didion. The group produced two more albums, Easy Pieces and Mainstream, before disbanding in 1989, when Cole relocated to New York to record with various artists, including Fred Maher, Robert Quine and Matthew Sweet.
This solo setting produced two acclaimed albums, Lloyd Cole in 1990 and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe. The latter was recorded in two parts: one side continued the New York rock mastered on his first solo album, while the other side featured a session orchestra, much in the style of Burt Bacharach or Scott Walker. Although some reviewers have claimed Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (the title being a quotation from the American minimalist writer Raymond Carver) to be a creative peak, it produced significantly fewer record sales. While he remained with Polydor as his record label, the US distribution contract with Capitol Records ended. (US rights were immediately picked up by Rykodisc).
Cole continued redefining his sound with Bad Vibes (1993), a collaboration with producer/remixer Adam Peters, using a harder and psychedelia-inspired sound. Love Story (1995) established stripped-down, largely acoustic sound landscapes with the help of Stephen Street (famous for his work with Blur and The Smiths) and former Commotions Neil Clark and Blair Cowan; the album produced a minor hit ("Like Lovers Do") earning Cole a mid-90s appearance on Top of the Pops.
In 2000, after being a solo artist for more than a decade (and a couple of years without a contract), Cole teamed with a younger generation of New York musicians under the name The Negatives. The group consisted of Jill Sobule, Dave Derby of the Dambuilders, Mike Kotch and Rafa Maciejak, and recorded an eponymous CD, released mainly in France. Cole has since released solo albums on smaller independent labels. Sanctuary Records, the company responsible for the revival of Morrissey, released Music in a Foreign Language (2003) in the UK. Recorded largely by Cole himself (including tracks recorded directly onto a Mac), the songs had a stark, folk-inspired singer-songwriter style. One Little Indian, home of Björk, released the album in the US; they also collected a number of outtakes (recorded from 1996 to 2000) on 2002's Etc. and released an instrumental ambient electronica album, Plastic Wood, the same year.
In 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions reformed to perform a one-off, sellout tour in the U.K. and Ireland. The reformation was never intended to be permanent and Cole released another solo album in 2006, Antidepressant, using his usual home recording outfit by playing all the instruments himself with friends like Sobule, Derby and the guitar work of former Commotion Neil Clark on some tracks. Also in 2008, a boxed set with his complete collection of B-sides and alternative takes and previously unreleased material was released by Tapete Records under the title Cleaning Out the Ashtrays.
Cole released the album Broken Record in September 2010. It is more of a band effort than recent solo releases. The musicians playing on the record include Fred Maher, Joan As Police Woman, Rainy Orteca, Dave Derby and Blair Cowan.
As an avid golfer, Cole is known for playing concerts in towns suspiciously close to famous golf courses. He shares a passion for this sport with Alice Cooper. Cole's 5.3 handicap tied for 11th place on Golf Digest's top 100 list of musicians (tied with Cooper and Dan Tyminski). He has published articles in golf journals and starred in a commercial for a local golf supply store located near his home.
Acknowledgement: Wikipedia
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