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Doves are an English indie rock band, originating from Cheshire. The band is composed of twin brothers Jez Williams (guitar, vocals) and Andy Williams (drums, vocals), and Jimi Goodwin (bass, vocals, guitar). The members started working seriously together after meeting at The Haçienda in Manchester. Doves' unofficial fourth member is Martin Rebelski, who plays keyboards. The band have released four studio albums, two of which have reached Number One on the UK album charts. Their first career-spanning compilation album The Places Between: The Best of Doves was released in April 2010.

History

Formation: 1985–1991

The formation of Doves can be traced back to when the Williams brothers and Goodwin met at Wilmslow High School at age 15. At the time, Jimi Goodwin was playing lead guitar in a band called The Risk whilst spining plates; the other members were Joe Roberts (vocals and Rhodes keyboard), Steve Green (rhythm guitar), Dermot Ahern (bass guitar), Jimi's cousin Pat Goodwin (drums; after Simon Pitt, the original drummer, left the band) and managed by Tim Mulryan, who was said to have also managed the infamous "Macc Lads." The Risk used to practice at Handforth Youth Club and met with some moderate success, mainly playing in Manchester pubs and at The Gallery (Peter Street), The Boardwalk (Little Peter Street), and The International (Anson Road in Rusholme). They also played at The Tunnel Club, Greenwich and at SoapAid. A 5-song demo entitled Take Five was recorded at Spirit studios in Manchester.

Meanwhile, back in 1981, Andy and Jez Williams formed a band with schoolmate and bass player Tim Whiteley, recording and gigging from the age of 12 onwards. Various line-ups followed, as well as a brief TV appearance in 1986. Then, in 1988, Jez Williams and Whiteley became members of Metro Trinity, a Manchester indie band, with Jonny Male (latterly of Republica), and released a Debris flexi disc (Manchester indie fanzine) with the Inspiral Carpets. Managed by Warwick Embery, Donavan and the Bay City Rover's manager, Metro Trinity played a number of gigs including The Boardwalk and The Haçienda. They also released an EP called Die Young on Cafeteria Records, whose cover accidentally read "Die Yoing" by mistake, which was recorded in Brixton with drummer Colin Rocks, who was eventually replaced by Andy Williams due to Rocks' other commitments. Jimi Goodwin, Joe Roberts and Whiteley also played together in another band until Joe Roberts signed to London Records.

Sub Sub: 1991–1998

After meeting again at The Haçienda in 1989, the Williams brothers and Jimi Goodwin formed Sub Sub, releasing their first single "Space Face" in 1991, and then in 1993 they released "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)," which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. On the Williams twins' birthday in February 1996, the band's Ancoats studio caught fire and burned down, leading the band members to abandon their previous dance-oriented style and start afresh as alternative rock band Doves in 1998.

Of the threesome's change of direction, Jez Williams has said: "We were faced with a really black and white decision: throw the towel in or carry on. And if you're going to carry on, you've got to put everything into it to justify it, because before that you've lost everything. That was quite a liberating feeling, actually."

Commercial success: 1998–2003

The band released three EPs in 1998 and 1999 on Casino Records, a subsidiary of Rob Gretton's Rob's Records, which established the group's new sound and met with a warm critical response. Their debut album Lost Souls in April 2000 was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which they lost to fellow Mancunian and former collaborator Badly Drawn Boy.

Doves' second album The Last Broadcast was released two years later, reaching No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and was again nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The album's first single "There Goes the Fear" became the band's highest-charting single to date, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart despite only being released for one day before it was deleted. The album's second single "Pounding" reached No. 21 on the Singles Chart and was used in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics With Glowing Hearts/Des Plus Brillants Exploits advertisement campaign and in pre-event intros.

In 2003, the band released a B-sides compilation, Lost Sides, and a DVD entitled Where We're Calling From. The DVD included all of their music videos to date, as well as incidental videos played before the start of their Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast tours. Also on the DVD was a live concert video of the band's gig at Cornwall's Eden Project, recorded in Summer 2002, as well as documentary videos about Doves as well as Sub Sub.

Subsequent releases: 2003–2010

Doves recorded Some Cities, their third studio album, away from urban influences, and in cottages tucked away in the countryside of Snowdonia, Darlington, and around Loch Ness. "Lyrically, the theme of cities and towns and change started cropping up a lot... which was strange because we were recording and writing in the countryside, but it started taking this real urban shape," said Jimi Goodwin. Some Cities was released in February 2005 and went straight to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, aided by some of the strongest reviews they had received to date. The album was preceded by the single "Black and White Town," which reached No. 6 on the Singles Chart. On 18 June 2005, the band opened for U2 at Twickenham Stadium in London. They also supported Oasis at the City of Manchester Stadium on their triumphant return to Manchester, and Coldplay at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, both during their respective 2005 tours.

The band's fourth album, Kingdom of Rust, was released in April 2009. Prior to the new release, Doves offered a free download of the album's lead track "Jetstream" on their website. On 27 January 2009 the band announced a week's worth of tour dates from 12–19 March, in which new album tracks made their debuts. The eleven songs on the album were described by Jez Williams as "schizophrenic, but... also strangely cohesive." Worldwide tours, including multiple tours of the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, followed the album's release. On 12 July 2009 the band appeared on the Radio 1 stage at T in the Park and the festival Latitude in Southwold. They also appeared with the London Bulgarian Choir as part of the BBC Electric Proms series in October 2009.

The band's first career-spanning best-of compilation, entitled The Places Between: The Best of Doves was released on 5 April 2010.

An interview with the band regarding their history and Jodrell Bank performance was posted on The Guardian's website on 4 April 2010. Doves toured the UK throughout May 2010, and performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 2010.

Break and other activities: 2010–present

The band is on a break from recording, according to an interview with The Daily Record. Jimi Goodwin stated: "It's nice just to have a bit of breathing space... We just wanted to get off that whole album-tour-album-tour treadmill. None of us are ready to face going into the studio for another two years. This is wiping the slate clean, we have nothing else in the vaults now. That is it. Whatever we do from now on will be a new start."

On 2 October 2012, EMI International released a Doves anthology titled 5 Album Set featuring all four studio albums from Lost Souls to Kingdom of Rust and the 2003 re-issue of Lost Sides.

It has been announced that Jimi Goodwin will support British band Elbow on their Spring 2014 tour of the United Kingdom.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Lost Souls (2000)
• The Last Broadcast (2002)
• Lost Sides (2003)
• Some Cities (2005)
• Kingdom of Rust (2009)

Compilations

• Lost Sides (2001, reissued 2003)
• The Places Between: The Best of Doves (2010)

Live Albums

• Where We're Calling From (DVD) (2003)
• Live At Eden (EP) (2005)
• Live At The Eden Sessions 2nd July 2010 (2010)

References

1. Review The Guardian 15 March 2009
2. Wilmslow Express article
3. "Doves: The Last Broadcast (2002): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
4. "Doves: Some Cities (2005): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
5. "Doves: Kingdom of Rust (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
6. "BPI Searchable database - Gold and Platinum". BPI. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
7. The Places Between: The Best of Doves: Amazon.co.uk
8. "Doves Interview".
9. ^ Petridis, Alexis (17 April 2002). "Where did it all go right?". The Guardian. London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
10. Doves interview on Clash Music
11. "Badly Drawn Boy interview". CNN.
12. ^ Doves - Chart Stats
13. "Doves talk to Ukula".
14. Doves - Home Page
15. Doves announce comeback tour - NME.com, 27 January 2009
16. BBC Electric Proms
17. Doves - News (retrieved 23 February 2010)
18. Doves Music Blog - The Places Between (retrieved 23 February 2010)
19. Bainbridge, Luke (4 April 2010). "Doves: "The band are splitting up? Nobody told me!"". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
20. Doves - Gigography 2010
21. Isle of Wight Festival Line-up 2010
22. Cadden, Avril (28 April 2010). "Doves plan to fly again following post-RockNess break". Retrieved 30 April 2010.
23. "Doves set for 'two-year break from recording'". 28 April 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
24. "Amazon.com item listing". Retrieved 2 October 2012.

External links

• Doves' official website

• Use dmy dates from May 2011
• English rock music groups
• Musical groups from Cheshire
• Heavenly Records artists
• Musical groups established in 1998
• English alternative rock groups
• Post-Britpop groups
• People from Wilmslow