Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock/pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK. After they broke up in 1989, Cole embarked on a solo career but the band reformed briefly in 2004 to perform a 20th anniversary mini-tour of the UK and Ireland.
Band history
The band were formed whilst Cole was studying at the University of Glasgow. They signed to Polydor Records; their debut single "Perfect Skin" reaching number 26 in the UK chart in spring 1984, while the second single "Forest Fire" reached 41. Their first album, Rattlesnakes, was released in October 1984. Produced by Paul Hardiman and featuring string arrangements by Anne Dudley, it peaked at No. 13 in the UK and was certified Gold for sales over 100,000 copies. NME included it in its Top 100 Albums of All Time list, and the title track was later covered by the American singer Tori Amos. The Welsh band Manic Street Preachers included the album amongst their top ten list. The band's follow-up album, Easy Pieces, was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Released in November 1985, the album was a quicker commercial success than its predecessor. The singles "Brand New Friend" and "Lost Weekend" were the band's first and only UK Top 20 hits. Two years later, the band released their third album, their final one whilst together, Mainstream. Produced by Ian Stanley, the album peaked at No. 9 in the UK and was also certified gold, but contained only one UK Top 40 single, "Jennifer She Said". Its first single "My Bag", and a later release, the From The Hip EP, failed to make the Top 40. In 1989, the band decided to split up and released a "best of" compilation, 1984-1989, which was their fourth Top 20 album and fourth Gold certification. Following this, Cole embarked on a solo career with the release of his eponymous album in 1990. On the first two Commotions albums, Cole was the band's main songwriter. The third album is credited to the band as a whole, though Cole remained the sole lyricist. Particularly notable were Cole's literate lyrics and namedropping the likes of Norman Mailer, Leonard Cohen, Arthur Lee, Grace Kelly, Truman Capote, Simone de Beauvoir, Nancy Sinatra, and Eva Marie Saint as well as referring to Sean Penn as "Mr. Madonna". In 2006, Scottish band Camera Obscura released the song "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" as an answer song to the Commotions' 1984 hit " Ready to Be Heartbroken?".
Clark continued working with Cole on almost all of his solo releases and full band tours. He was also a member of the short-lived group Bloomsday, with Irvine and Chris Thomson of The Bathers. He later worked as a website designer and wrote music for film and TV.
Donegan is a journalist and an author - he was a golf journalist for The Guardian and published several non-fiction titles, including No News at Throat Lake and Four Iron in the Soul.
Irvine joined former bandmate Clark in Bloomsday, and as a session musician worked with Del Amitri, Étienne Daho and Sarah Cracknell. He is also managing artists and bands.
