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The Sundays - Reading Writing and Arithmetic
RiPPER..: Ints'R'Us GENRE......: Indie
LABEL...: Rough Trade SCENE DATE.: 01/30/2011
bITRATE.: VBR/44,1 STORE DATE.: 04/17/1990
ENCODER.: Lame 3.97 TRACKS.....: 10
SiZE....: 51,7 MB SOURCE.....: CDDA
- TRACKLIST
01 Skin & Bones 04:18
02 Here's Where The Story Ends 03:55
03 Can't Be Sure 03:26
04 I Won 04:23
05 Hideous Towns 03:49
06 You're Not The Only One I Know 03:52
07 A Certain Someone 04:26
08 I Kicked A Boy 02:19
09 My Finest Hour 04:00
10 Joy 04:11
Total Playtime: 38:39
- NOTES
The Sundays' debut album builds on the layered, ringing
guitar hooks and unconventional pop melodies of the
Smiths, adding more ethereal vocals and a stronger
backbeat. As evidenced by the lilting, melancholy single
"Here's Where the Story Ends," it's a winning combination,
making Reading, Writing and Arithmetic a thoroughly
engaging debut.
+ + +
About the Band:
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic
Building on the jangly guitar pop of the Smiths and the
trance-like dream pop of bands like the Cocteau Twins, the
Sundays cultivated a dedicated following in indie rock
circles, both in their native England and in America, in
the early '90s. Although the sales of their first two
albums were strong, the band never crossed over into the
mainstream, as so many observers and critics predicted
they would.
The Sundays formed in the summer of 1987 in London,
England. Originally, the group consisted of vocalist
Harriet Wheeler, who had previously sung with a band
called Jim Jiminee, and guitarist David Gavurin. After the
duo had written several songs, they added a rhythm
section, featuring bassist Paul Brindley and drummer
Patrick Hannan. In August of 1988, the Sundays performed
their first concert, playing at the Falcoln "Vertigo Club"
in Camden, London. The concert generated good
word-of-mouth within the industry, and the group became
the target of a record label bidding war. By the end of
the year, the band had signed to Rough Trade; they would
sign a deal with DGC Records for American distribution
within a year.
"Can't Be Sure," the Sundays' first single, appeared in
January of 1989 and entered the U.K. charts at number 45.
The group took a year to record its first album, Reading,
Writing and Arithmetic. The debut was released in early
1990 to very positive critical notices and unexpectedly
entered the U.K. charts at number four. Upon its American
release later in the year, the album became a modern rock
hit, peaking at number 39. Its success in the U.S. was
largely due to heavy radio and MTV airplay for the single
"Here's Where the Story Ends." The single wound up topping
the modern rock charts in America. The Sundays spent the
rest of 1990 successfully touring America, Europe, and
Japan.s
During 1991, Rough Trade collapsed due to financial
mismanagement. After the label went out of business, the
Sundays signed a deal with Parlophone Records in the U.K.;
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic went out of print in
England and would not go back in print until 1996. Even
considering the setback of Rough Trade's implosion, the
Sundays took a long time to write and record their second
album. They finally delivered the follow-up to Reading,
Writing and Arithmetic in the fall of 1992. The resulting
album, entitled Blind, was greeted with mixed reviews but
was an immediate hit in the U.S. and U.K. In America,
"Love" became a number two modern rock hit and "Goodbye"
peaked at number 11. Although Blind was initially
successful, it didn't have they staying power of the debut
and dropped out of the charts by the summer of 1993. The
Sundays supported the album with an international tour.
After the release of Blind, the Sundays were quiet for the
next several years. The only sign of the band was the use
of their cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" in an
American television commercial in 1994. It would be five
years until The Sundays would release another album.
Wheeler and Gavurin got married, had a baby girl named
Billie, and yearned for a normal life during this time.
This obviously explained their absence from the music
world, but it was well worth the wait. The Sundays again
achieved mainstream success with their third album, Static
& Silence (1997), thanks to the popular hit single
"Summertime."