# The Bluetones

The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden".
The band has scored thirteen top 40 singles and three top 10 albums on the UK charts. Although their commercial success waned in the post-Britpop era, they continued to tour and release new records. Their most recent album, A New Athens was released in May 2010.

## History

After the release of two singles on Fierce Panda Records, the band signed to A&M Records and released Expecting to Fly on their own sublabel Superior Quality Recordings. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, and featured the singles "Bluetonic" and "Slight Return", with the latter climbing to #2 on the UK charts. Following the touring and promotional duties for Expecting to Fly, the band released stand-alone single "Marblehead Johnson" to bridge the gap between albums.
The second Bluetones album, Return to the Last Chance Saloon, was released in 1998. While failing to repeat the commercial success of their debut, it reached the top 10 in the UK album charts and spawned the hit singles "Solomon Bites the Worm" and "If...".
In 2000 the Bluetones released their third album, Science & Nature, which again reached the Top 10 and featured the hit singles "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and "Autophilia".
After a best-of album in 2002, the band released their fourth studio album Luxembourg to mixed reviews in 2003.
A three-album deal was signed in late 2005 with the Cooking Vinyl record label, promptly followed by the limited release of E.P. Serenity Now and a full UK tour.
In early 2006, Universal issued a comprehensive box set of all the Bluetones singles and B-sides released between 1995 and 2003, A Rough Outline.
A single, entitled "My Neighbour's House", was released in the UK on 18 September 2006. The single was taken from their self-titled album, which was released on 9 October that year. It failed to chart in the UK Albums Chart after its first week on sale. The album was also released in the United States, the first such occurrence since their debut. Although no reason was cited, on 1 October 2006, it was announced that a planned nine-date tour of North America and Australia had been scrapped. However, on 1 November 2006, the band began a month-long tour of Europe in support of their new release, including two sold-out nights at Glasgow's King Tuts.
In February 2007, the band released BBC Radio Sessions containing tracks recorded for the BBC between 1994 and 2000. This was followed in June with their first full live album, Once Upon a Time in West Twelve, recorded at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 18 November 2005, and was followed on 29 October 2007, by a live DVD of the same concert under the title Beat about the Bush. 2007 also saw the release of a compilation album of early demo recordings, entitled The Early Garage Years. They also released a DVD under the title Blue Movies, which includes all of their 15 music videos.
In January 2008, the band began a mini-tour of Scotland, playing five cities (Stirling, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh) in as many nights. In May 2008 a ten-date tour covered Cambridge, Whitehaven, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, London, Bristol, Manchester and Darwen, including one of the last few concerts at the Astoria. They also played a gig with Dodgy on 17 May 2009, at a secret London venue, to benefit the homelessness charity Crisis, as part of the charity's 'Hidden Gigs' campaign against hidden homelessness.
In December 2008, the band embarked on a five-date tour, taking in Lincoln, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham. The tour saw them playing their debut album, Expecting to Fly, in full. Some further dates were subsequently announced for February and March 2009.
On 31 May 2010, the band released a new album entitled A New Athens. Despite moderate praise the album failed to chart in the UK Albums Chart.
On 28 March 2011, the band announced they would split after a farewell tour in the autumn. On 13 April 2015, the band announced that they would reform for a new UK tour.
In Summer 2017 they co-headlined the Star Shaped Festival tour run by the popular Britpop club of the same name alongside the newly reformed Sleeper. This took place in Birmingham, London, Manchester & Glasgow in July and August 2017.

## Discography

The discography of the Bluetones, an English indie rock band, consists of six studio albums, six compilation albums, one live album, five extended plays (EPs), twenty singles and four video releases.

### Studio albums

| Year | Album details | Chart positions | Chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
| Year | Album details | UK | AUS | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
| 1996 | Expecting to Fly Released: 12 February 1996 (1996-02-12) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M | 1 | 44 | UK: Platinum |
| 1998 | Return to the Last Chance Saloon Released: 9 March 1998 (1998-03-09) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M | 10 | – | UK: Gold |
| 2000 | Science & Nature Released: 15 May 2000 (2000-05-15) Labels: Mercury | 7 | – | |
| 2003 | Luxembourg Released: 12 May 2003 (2003-05-12) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings | 49 | – | |
| 2006 | The Bluetones Released: 9 October 2006 (2006-10-09) Labels: Cooking Vinyl | 100 | – | |
| 2010 | A New Athens Released: 31 May 2010 (2010-05-31) Labels: CIA Recordings | — | – | |

### Live albums

* Once Upon a Time in West Twelve (2007)
* Bluetonic (2017)

### Compilation albums

| Year | Album details | Chart positions |
| Year | Album details | UK |
| 2000 | Are You Blind? Released: May 2000 (2000-05) (limited edition promotional CD) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M Records | – |
| 2002 | The Singles Released: 8 April 2002 (2002-04-08) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings, A&M Records | 14 |
| 2006 | A Rough Outline: The Singles & B-sides 95 - 03 Released: 7 March 2006 (2006-03-07) Labels: Mercury Records | 156 |
| 2007 | BBC Radio Sessions Released: 26 February 2007 (2007-02-26) Labels: Mercury Records | 164 |
| 2007 | The Early Garage Years Released: 30 July 2007 (2007-07-30) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings | – |
| 2008 | Collection Released: 21 April 2008 (2008-04-21) Labels: Superior Quality Recordings | – |

### Extended plays

* A Bluetones Companion (1995, Japan only)
* Mudslide (2000)
* Serenity Now (2005, mail-order-only release)
* Drive Thru EP (2024)
* In The Cut EP (2025)

### Singles

| Year | Single | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Year | Single | UK | AUS | IRL | Album |
| 1995 | "Slight Return" (limited edition 7") | – | – | – | Expecting to Fly |
| 1995 | "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" | 31 | – | – | — |
| 1995 | "Bluetonic" | 19 | – | – | Expecting to Fly |
| 1996 | "Slight Return" (re-issue) | 2 | 60 | 15 | Expecting to Fly |
| 1996 | "Cut Some Rug" | 7 | – | – | Expecting to Fly |
| 1996 | "Castle Rock" | 7 | – | – | — |
| 1996 | "Marblehead Johnson" | 7 | – | – | — |
| 1998 | "Solomon Bites the Worm" | 10 | – | – | Return to the Last Chance Saloon |
| 1998 | "If..." | 13 | – | – | Return to the Last Chance Saloon |
| 1998 | "Sleazy Bed Track" | 35 | – | – | Return to the Last Chance Saloon |
| 1998 | "4-Day Weekend" (mail-order-only release) | – | – | – | Return to the Last Chance Saloon |
| 2000 | "Keep the Home Fires Burning" | 13 | – | – | Science & Nature |
| 2000 | "Autophilia (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car)" | 18 | – | – | Science & Nature |
| 2002 | "After Hours" | 26 | – | – | The Singles |
| 2003 | "Fast Boy"/"Liquid Lips" | 25 | – | – | Luxembourg |
| 2003 | "Never Going Nowhere" | 40 | – | – | Luxembourg |
| 2006 | "My Neighbour's House" | 68 | – | – | The Bluetones |
| 2006 | "Head on a Spike" | 135 | – | – | The Bluetones |
| 2007 | "Surrendered" | – | – | – | The Bluetones |
| 2010 | "Carry Me Home" | – | – | – | A New Athens |
| 2010 | "Golden Soul" | – | – | – | A New Athens |

### Music Videos

| Year | Title | Director |
| 1995 | "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" | Unknown |
| 1995 | "Bluetonic" | Dom & Nic |
| 1996 | "Slight Return" | Lindy Heymann |
| 1996 | "Cut Some Rug" | Unknown |
| 1996 | "Marblehead Johnson" | Dom & Nic |
| 1998 | "Solomon Bites the Worm" | John Hardwick |
| 1998 | "If..." | Tony Hill |
| 1998 | "Sleazy Bed Track" | Unknown |
| 1998 | "4 Day Weekend" | Koji Morimoto |
| 2000 | "Keep the Home Fires Burning" | Edgar Wright |
| 2000 | "Mudslide" | Unknown |
| 2000 | "Autophilia" | Jake & Jim |
| 2002 | "After Hours" | Edgar Wright |
| 2003 | "Fast Boy" | Maggie Kelly |
| 2003 | "Never Going Nowhere" | Maggie Kelly |
| 2006 | "Head on a Spike" | Mark Morriss |
| 2010 | "Carry Me Home" | Mark Morriss |
| 2010 | "Golden Soul" | Mark Morriss |

### Video/DVD releases

* Mondo Concerto (1997)
* Blue Movies (2007)
* Beat about the Bush (2007)
* Expecting to Fly Live (2009)