page_title: Woo (music group)
section_title: It's Cosy Inside - Into the Heart Of Love - A La Luna (1982-1991)
hierarchical_section_title: Woo (music group) / Biography / It's Cosy Inside - Into the Heart Of Love - A La Luna (1982-1991)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Into The Heart Of Love
context_page_description: Woo is an experimental music duo from the UK. The band consists of brothers Mark and Clive Ives. They grew up in the South of London.
  The band combine several musical styles, creating its own sound: Folk, Jazz, Pop, Ambient, Psychedelic as well as Healing Music. Woo is one of the first bands to incorporate acoustic instruments into electronic music in the early 70's.
  The name of the band, Woo, refers to the sound of a musical saw, an instrument the brother's uncle Fred used to play.
context_section_description: Free and under no contract, the band kept building its musical career, recording more and more tracks, in a free creative spirit, for a total of 1500 tracks over a period of 10 years. The Ives brothers become strongly interested in Raja Yoga and spiritual healing. Mark studied theosophy and Krishna consciousness, while Clive started practicing Shiatsu in parallel with their musical creations. Their spiritual interests had a strong impact on Woo's forthcoming musical projects.
  In 1987, the US label Independant Projects Record re-released "Whichever Way You Are Going You Are Going Wrong". In 1989, “It’s Cosy Inside”, which Woo had already created in 1983, is released in the US as well as in Europe, and gave the band the opportunity to get some exposure on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
  The band's musical style had evolved and was more mature throughout the 16 tracks of the album. This new album is influenced for the most part by George Orwell's novel "1984".
  "When we were recording, 1982-1983 we were living the suburban post-apocalyptic vision. The track “BB…..!” refers to the chant for Big Brother in 1984. CCT cameras had just been erected around the corner from where we were living and it felt like Big Brother was on his way! I photographed them and collaged them onto the top right corner of the album cover. The song “The Final Card”—also symbolised by the bar codes on the computer screen on the album cover—is a reference to identity tagging, where all our identity and finances are kept in an implanted under your skin. With Orwell’s vision looming towards us, the fear of nuclear war, conspiracy theories of the Illuminati, the apparent demise of the Love Generation—and with that loss, the reaction to the increasing awareness of all that is wrong in the world manifesting in suburban London with anarchy and Punk—and the increasing gulf between rich and poor with the Thatcher Government … Yeah, we were buying into an apocalyptic vision. "
  - Clive Ives on the inspiration for the album "It's Cosy Inside"
  Unfortunately, "It's Cosy Inside" did not have the same commercial success as the debut album, leading to a declining popularity of the band.
  Woo left its US label, and signed its next album with the label Cloud 9 Music. The third Woo album was issued in 1990 (on cassette only). Called "Into The Heart Of Love", it is often regarded as the band's masterpiece. This album had a new alchemy. Throughout the 20 slow-tempo tracks, which are sometimes accompanied by lyrics but for the most part instrumental, Mark's guitar and clarinet, as well as Clive's keyboard layers, shine in an oneiric mood. Influences for this album are very diverse: Native American mythologies, extra-terrestrial life, Tibetan culture, Steven Spielberg's movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and above all, universal love. Some tracks featured on the album were composed in the 70's.
  In 1991, the band issues their third album in 3 years "A La Luna" on Grunki Records. This album, featuring 26 tracks, is very atmospheric and once again with a broad range of influences, and titles including Nazca Lines, Man on the Moon, Voices in the Night and Orbit Unknown.
  Through these years, Woo played very rarely on stage. The band reckons its true strength lies in the way they work in the studio, and that its intimate music comes from an alchemy between the two members that does not translate into live performances. Mark often plays on his own with his guitar during various gigs, mainly at festivals and in pubs.
  The band developed aesthetics of its own throughout the 80’s, and starts the 90's with more maturity and more evolved technical skills.
caption: Woo - Into The Heart Of Love