Hue and cry

Hue and Cry is a pop group formed in 1983 in Coatbridge, Scotland by brothers Pat Kane (vocals) and Greg Kane (keyboards). They had three UK chart hits in the late 1980's and released nine original albums between 1987 and 1999.

Related Topics:
Pop - 1983 - Coatbridge - Scotland - 1987 - 1999

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Their first single "Here Comes Everybody" was released on a small Glasgow-based independent label, Stampede. While not a chart hit, it attracted the interest of Virgin Records' subsidiary Circa who signed the duo in 1986.

Related Topics:
Glasgow - 1986

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Their debut and, to date, biggest hit was "Labour of Love" (1987, UK No.6), from the debut album Seduced and Abandoned (1987, UK No.22).

Related Topics:
1987

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Other UK Top 40 hits included "Looking for Linda" and "Violently (Your Words Hit Me)" - both from their second album Remote (1988, UK No.10).

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In the 1990's the brothers embarked upon a period of musical experimentation. The 1991 album Stars Crash Down pushed the boundaries of the pop genre, embracing folk, country, Latin and quartet jazz. It was a step too far for their record company Circa who dropped them. Truth & Love (1992) was released on the brothers' own short-lived label, Fidelity.

Related Topics:
1991 - Folk - Country - Latin - Jazz - 1992

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Hue and Cry had a brief chart revival in 1993 with the release of the Circa compilation album Labours of Love - The Best of Hue and Cry (UK No.27), which included a Joey Negro remix of "Labour of Love" (UK No.25).

Related Topics:
1993 - Joey Negro

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1994 saw a successful collaboration with master jazz arranger and composer Richard Niles. This produced the album Showtime! and the popular single "Just Say You Love Me". Pat Kane continued to work with Niles sporadically on many live concerts for BBC Radio 2 with Niles' own band Bandzilla and the BBC Big Band.

Related Topics:
1994 - Jazz - BBC Radio 2

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In 1996 Hue & Cry signed to Scottish jazz and classical label Linn Records for an intended trilogy of albums. First came JazzNotJazz, an album that mixed jazz with non-jazz sounds (hence the title!) The album was recorded in a week during the Glasgow Jazz Festival, enlisting the services of some of the jazz giants visiting the city. They included Michael Brecker (tenor sax) and Randy Brecker (trumpet) - who'd played on the Remote album - as well as guitarist Mike Stern (sidesman with Miles Davis), drummer Danny Gottlieb (Pat Metheny) and saxophinist Tommy Smith.

Related Topics:
1996 - Linn Records - Jazz - Michael Brecker - Miles Davis - Pat Metheny

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Next Move (1999) was even more radical, embracing drum 'n' bass, r 'n' b and Nuyorican latin-funk. The album contained a controversial cover of Prince's "Sign o' the Times", which they completely blow apart, strip bear and build back up again as an aggressive bebop number.

Related Topics:
1999 - Nuyorican - Prince - Sign o' the Times - Bebop

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Financial problems meant the brothers' intended third album on Linn Records would never see the light of day and Pat and Greg concentrated on their solo projects - Pat with his writing and solo performing, and Greg with his music production and DJing.

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In April 2005 Hue & Cry made a brief comeback when they won the fourth-week heat of the ITV1 pop-competition show Hit Me Baby One More Time with a rendition of "Labour of Love" and a cover of Beyonce's "Crazy In Love". They were beaten in the final by Shakin' Stevens — however, according to Pat Kane, they came close runners-up. Pat and Greg are currently working on a way to capitalise on the publicity and release new material.

Related Topics:
2005 - ITV1 - Hit Me Baby One More Time - Beyonce - Crazy In Love - Shakin' Stevens

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The band have to date released ten LPs (selling 2 million copies worldwide)

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