Name	Scalextric
Type	Slot car racing
Inventor	Mr B. "Freddie" Francis
Company	Hornby
From	1957
Slogan	http://www.scalextric.co.uk

Scalextric is a toy brand for a range of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s, as a creation of British firm Minimodels. The brand is currently owned and distributed by Hornby.

History

Scalextric came from the Scalex brand of Minimodels Ltd, which was a clockwork powered race car system that first appeared in 1952. Their inventor, Mr B. "Freddie" Francis, showed Scalextric ("Scalex" plus "electric") cars at the annual Harrogate Toy Fair in 1957 in the UK. In 1958, unable to meet demand for their popular range, the parent company was sold to Lines Bros Ltd, who operated as "Tri-ang". Their subsidiary Rovex, which specialised in plastic, then developed Scalextric, converting the metal cars to the easier and cheaper to mould plastic. The track, which was originally a rubber compound, became moulded plastic at a later date. Production continued at Mini-models in Havant until 1967, when it moved to Rovex's own site.

When Lines Bros collapsed, their subsidiary Rovex-Triang, which handled Scalextric and the Triang railway brand, was sold off, eventually becoming Hornby Railways. Although Scalextric remained based in the UK, most of the products are made in China.

In 2009, BBC Top Gear presenter James May announced plans to recreate the full length Brooklands racing circuit using Scalextric track and cars. This was undertaken with a team of 350 volunteers building the track from an uncounted number of pieces of Scalextric track, navigating ponds and roads, closely following the route of the old Brooklands track. This event broke the Guinness World Record for the longest ever Scalextric track in the world, intended to measure the original 2.75 miles of the original Brooklands circuit but in actuality recording 2.95 miles in length (due to the need to navigate modern features that block the original course). The episode was shown on BBC2 on 17 November 2009 as part of James May's Toy Stories.

Products

The majority of Scalextric Products are , though between 1968 and 1970 Super124 cars and track were manufactured at 1:24 scale. In the late 1990s, Micro Scalextric at was introduced. Cars and track are not compatible between scales; however classic 1950s models should run on modern Scalextric track and vice versa.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Scalextric track underwent a major redesign to make the track easier to assemble. The new design is known as Scalextric Sport. Scalextric Sport track can be connected to the classic design of track using special adaptor pieces.

Other manufacturers (such as Fly, Slot.it, SCX, MRRC and Ninco) produce cars that can run on Scalextric track without modification.

Also introduced, in 2004, is Scalextric Sport Digital, in which up to 4 digital cars can be raced in a single slot. The cars can change from one slot to another using special slot-lane change tracks, the lane change or otherwise being controlled by a button on the throttle. Sport Digital cars should run on non-digital track unmodified, but standard analogue cars require a new circuit (digital chip) to be added to them before they can run on the digital system.

Many of the original non digital Scalextric cars can be converted to operate on the digital system but not all, this is due mainly to insufficient space to install the necessary digital conversion chip. Performance of the converted classic cars on the digital system can vary.

As usage of Scalextric Digital has increased, a community has established itself at Slot Forum where users have developed enhanced powerbase functionality, fuel management and timing systems to increase the realism of the hobby.

A kit for converting Scalextric sport into Scalextric digital requires a digital power base; a transformer; lane changing track (to utilise the full benefits) and digital controllers.

To push Scalextric digital further into the 21st Century, Scalextric have released (Late 2010) a revised 6 Car digital powerbase, C7042. This powerbase includes a separate screen which aids set up and also displays race information such as lap times etc. Scalextric worked closely with its customers to make the product they wanted.

In Spain, Hornby Scalextric is marketed under the brand Superslot, as the Scalextric brand is owned there by Tecnitoys, whose products are sold internationally under the SCX brand. Whilst there are some common standards, parts of the two ranges (particularly in their digital offerings) are not compatible, and should not be mixed.

Sets

Scalextric is typically sold as a set containing enough track to make a circuit, the necessary power supply and throttles and two cars. The cars are usually based on real vehicles from Formula 1, A1 Grand Prix, NASCAR, rallying, touring, or Le Mans, or based on ordinary road going cars. A number of novelty sets have been produced; for example, horse racing sets and 360 degree sets. The latter, produced sporadically since the 1960s, have a specially-made guide that enables the car to run back the way it has come by spinning through 180 degrees.

Licensing

Scalextric have offered a number of TV and film tie-ins, including Batman Begins, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons and the 2007 Live-action Transformers movie. They also produced sets for The Amazing Spider-Man (the 1970s series), Tim Burton's Batman, James Bond 007 1960's, Knight Rider, Starsky and Hutch, The Italian Job (2003), Top Gear, The Sweeney and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Scalextric has also recently licensed the Need for Speed brand from Electronic Arts and has produced a set based on the popular video game series.

On 22 November 2004 thieves stole 2,500 Simpsons Scalextric sets from the back of a lorry which was parked near services on the M2 motorway in England.

Vehicles

In addition to all types of cars, Scalextric vehicles have included motorbikes, sidecars, go-karts, pickup trucks, SUVs, racing trucks, articulated trucks, horses and skateboards.

Track

Standard track consists of straights of various lengths and corners of different radii and degree of turn. Special track includes several different styles of chicane, cross-over tracks, crossroad track and humpback bridge. Novelty pieces of track have included pitlane tracks, Le Mans start, blow-out track and loop-the-loop tracks.

There are five generations of Scalextric track: #Original Scalextric Track (Mk. 1): This was made from rubber with thin, vertical electrical connectors, and held together with separate metal clips. This track had white lines between each lane. #Original Scalextric Track (Mk. 2): Released in 1965, the material became plastic, electrical connections were through wider, horizontal pins, and the track was held together by two integrated circular, spoon-shaped pins and sockets moulded into each end. Converter pieces were available to link the two types. It is now known as Classic track. Classic track is compatible with other leading brand, SCX's classic track. #Scalextric Sport: Released in 2001, another plastic track, but with a smoother surface. The track connectors are square and slot into place unlike the ring shaped Classic track ones. Converter pieces are available to link to Classic track. #Scalextric Digital: Released in 2004, scalextric Digital is compatible with Sport. It allows up to 6 cars on a 2 lane track at one time, with each car fully controllable. This was a feature previously unavailable from Scalextric. #Scalextric Start: Released in 2010, Scalextric Start aims to be a basic track for children. It has only one type of straight and corner, and each set can be set up into various layouts

Books

There is a comprehensive guide to Scalextric models by Roger Gilham. The current (sixth) edition was published in 2006.

Scalextric racing in popular culture

In 2009, BBC Top Gear presenter James May announced plans to recreate the full length Brooklands racing track using Scalextric track and cars. This was undertaken with a team of 350 volunteers building the track from an uncounted number of pieces of Scalextric track, navigating ponds and roads, closely following the route of the old Brooklands track. This event broke the Guinness World Record for the longest ever Scalextric track in the world, intended to measure the original of the original Brooklands circuit but in reality recording in length (due to the need to navigate modern features that block the original course). The episode was first shown on BBC2 on 17 November 2009 as part of "James May's Toy Stories", and repeated on BBC America in 2010.

Early Scalextric cars as they appeared

1957 Metal-bodied Ferrari 375 and Maserati 250F with Gimble-pick-up

1st edition catalogue 1960 - C54 Lotus, C55 Vanwall, C56 Lister Jaguar, C57 Aston Martin

2nd edition catalogue 1961 - C58 Cooper Car Company, C59 BRM, C60 Jaguar D-type, C61 Porsche Spyder

3rd edition catalogue 1962 - C62 Ferrari, C63 Lotus, C64 Bentley, C65 Alfa Romeo, E1 Lister Jaguar with lights, E2 Aston Martin DBR with lights

4th edition catalogue 1963 - C66 Cooper, C67 Lotus, C68 Aston Martin, C69 Ferrari GT, C70 Bugatti, C71 Auto Union, E3 Aston Martin with lights, E4 Ferrari GT with lights

5th edition catalogue 1964 - C72 BRM, C73 Porsche, C74 Austin-Healey 3000, C75 Mercedes 190SL, E5 Marshal's car with lights

6th edition catalogue 1965 - C76 Mini Cooper,

7th edition catalogue 1966 - C77 Ford GT40, C78 AC Cobra, C79 Offenhauser front engine, C80 Offenhauser rear engine, C81 Cooper, C82 Lotus, C83 Sunbeam Tiger C84 Triumph TR4A, C85 BRM, C86 Porsche, C87 Vanwall, C88 Cooper, C89 BRM, 90 Ferrari, C91 D-Type Jaguar, C92 Porsche

8th edition catalogue 1967 - C75 Mercedes 190SL Sports (James Bond), C97 Aston Martin (James Bond)

9th edition catalogue 1968 - C1 Alpine Renault, C2 Matra Jet, C3 Javelin Special, C4 Electra Special, C5 Europa Vee, C6 Panther, C7 Rally Mini Cooper, C32 Mercedes 250SL, C99 Fiat 600

10th edition catalogue 1969 - C8 Lotus Indianapolis, C9 Ferrari, C14 Mantra GP, C15 Ford Mirage, C16 Ferrari P4, C17 Lamborghini Miura, C18 Ford 3l GT, C19 Scalextric Team Car, C36 Honda GP

11th edition catalogue 1970 - C20 Dart GP, C21 Cougar Sports

12th edition catalogue 1971 - C22 Porsche 917GT, C23 Scaletti-Arrow, C24 Team Car MkII, C34 Jaguar E-type, C37 BRM

13th edition catalogue 1972 - C26 March Ford 721, C41 Ferrari GT330, C43 McLaren M9A, C44 Mercedes Wankel C111

14th edition catalogue 1973 - C25 Ferrari 312B2, C28 Renault Alpine, C37 BRM, C46 Porsche 917K, C47 Tyrrell Ford, C50 JPS Lotus 72

References

External links

Official Site

NSCC - UK National Scalextric Collectors' Club

Scalextric races on to the Net from The Register

The Old Toy Guide - Gallery and Information about old Scalextric

www.scalextricpassion.com New releases and collectors shop

Category:Hornby plc Category:Slot cars

Name	James May
Caption	May in 2006.
Birth name	James Daniel May
Birth date	January 16, 1963
Birth place	Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Residence	Hammersmith, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Other names	Captain Slow
Known for	Presenting:
Education	Caerleon Endowed Junior School Oakwood Comprehensive School Lancaster University
Years active	1998–present
Employer	BBC, The Daily Telegraph, (previously Channel 4, ITV and Sky)
Occupation	Author, writer, journalist, television presenter, media personality, pianist
Home town	Bristol, England
Height
Partner	Sarah Frater (2000–present)

James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter, award-winning journalist and writer.

May is best known as co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, and has presented a variety of other television documentaries and entertainment programmes around themes including science and technology, childhood toys, cars, food and drink, and the plight of manliness in modern times. In 2009 he presented a two part documentary programme marking the 40th anniversary of the moon landings, culminating in him taking a flight to the edge of space aboard a U2 spy plane. In addition he has released a variety of DVDs and books with similar themes, and writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section.

On Top Gear, his nickname is "Captain Slow", because of his careful driving style, love of small, underpowered cars and his habit of getting lost and distracted whilst driving. In a February 2007 episode of Top Gear he carried out a successful top speed test drive of a Bugatti Veyron at the Ehra-Lessien Volkswagen test track, reaching . In July 2010 he repeated the attempt in the updated Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, reaching the vehicle's top speed of , confirming that it had retaken the title as the fastest road car in production.

Early life

James May was born in Bristol, one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. In his early years, May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport, Monmouthshire. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church. He was also at school with Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes star Dean Andrews. A keen flautist and pianist, he later studied music at Lancaster University, where he was a member of Pendle College. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records' officer, and had a short stint in Her Majesty's Civil Service.

Personal life

May currently lives in Hammersmith, London with dance critic Sarah Frater, whom he has dated since 2000, and with his cat Fusker, who was a gift from Richard Hammond's wife, Mindy.

May has owned a number of cars: Bentley T2, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Jaguar XJS, Range Rover, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier, Porsche 911, Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new), Mini Cooper, Citroen Ami, Mazda MX-5, Ferrari F430 and several classic motorcycles. He has a penchant for prestige cars like Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, simple and basic cars such as the Fiat Panda, and motorcycles. He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt, and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time". He considers himself to be a Rolls Royce expert.

May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006 having trained at White Waltham Airfield despite suffering from mild acrophobia. Although he had not qualified for night flying at the time, he was still able to fly a Cessna 182 in a Top Gear challenge with Richard Hammond as a passenger in which his lack of night rating features prominently. Because he is not allowed to steer an aircraft during night time he and Richard Hammond lost the race from north Italy to London, England against Jeremy Clarkson in a Bugatti Veyron. He owns a and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with the registration number G-OCOK, a play on "Oh, cock", his trademark phrase used on Top Gear. In July 2008, May announced on a radio show that he was selling the Luscombe. May was presented an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Lancaster University on July 15th, at its 2010 award ceremonies.

Journalism

During the early 1980s, May worked as a writer for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed. He has since written for several publications, including a regular column called England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.

He has written a book titled May On Motors, which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, based on the TV series of the same name.

He has also written the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. His book, Notes From The Hard Shoulder, was published on 26 April 2007. James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, was published on 6 September 2007.

Dismissal from Autocar

In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that he was fired in 1992 from Autocar magazine after putting together a hidden message or acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Year Book" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together, which "was extremely boring and took several months". He went on to say:

So I had this idea that if I re-edited the beginnings of all the little texts, I could make these red letters spell out a message through the magazine, which I thought was brilliant. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect that "You might think this is a really great thing, but if you were sitting here making it up you'd realise it's a real pain in the arse". It took me about two months to do it and on the day that it came out I'd actually forgotten that I'd done it because there's a bit of a gap between it being "put to bed" and coming out on the shelves. When I arrived at work that morning everybody was looking at their shoes and I was summoned to the managing director of the company's office. The thing had come out and nobody at work had spotted what I'd done because I'd made the words work around the pages so you never saw a whole word. But all the readers had seen it and they'd written in thinking they'd won a prize or a car or something.

May's original message, punctuated appropriately, reads: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."

Radio and television

His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998-99, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One) exploring the toys of his childhood. This list was followed up the next year by a sequel of sorts, broadcast on BBC Two, entitled , this time attempting to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating animal penises as well as with his fish pie recipe.

Top Gear

May first co-presented Top Gear in 1999, before it was axed by the BBC because of poor viewing figures. He rejoined the show in the second series of the present Top Gear format in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his "careful" driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving, including in Top Gear Series 9, taking a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h) which is nearly one-third of the speed of sound at sea level and later on taking a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport edition to 259 mph (417 km/h). In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the new Pagani Zonda F. On the show he claimed that it was 'a piece of cake' driving those cars, but seconds later Jeremy Clarkson played a tape showing him spinning wildly over the test track in the Zonda. Originally he didn't want to do this test, but Clarkson hurt his neck in the previous episode while driving a truck through a brick wall and Richard Hammond claimed that he was busy selling fish at Morrisons. He is often mocked for a poor sense of direction, shown getting lost many times through out the course of the series, including race tracks and even being mocked once by Jeremy and Hammond for mistaking a normal Range Rover as the camera crew. He also flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. He also became one of the first people — with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew — to travel by car to the magnetic North Pole, using a modified Toyota Hilux. He was also one of the first people to drive across the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana. He has also driven a 1.3 litre Suzuki SJ413 through the Bolivian jungle and along Death Road and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux (that was also used as a crew car during the North pole expedition) up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland.

Science

May has also presented a documentary for Sky about sharks called Inside Killer Sharks and a series looking at inventions and discoveries during the twentieth century, entitled James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction.

James May on the Moon

In June 2009 May presented a documentary on BBC Two called James May on the Moon commemorating 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This made him one of the highest flying persons, along with the pilot, at that time, after the SR-71 pilots and the crew of the International Space Station. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity. Also for the series, he has recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. The running order is as follows:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Episode Number !! Featured Toy !! Feat Accomplished |- | One || Airfix || Building a 1:1 scale Spitfire model in the plastic injection moulding style of Airfix |- | Two || Plasticine || Making a garden entirely from plasticine and submitting it to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show |- | Three || Meccano || Building a bridge crossing Liverpool's revamped Pier Head canal |- | Four || Scalextric || Creating a life-size representation of the Brooklands racetrack entirely in Scalextric |- | Five || Lego || Constructing a life-size house made entirely from Lego bricks |- | Six || Hornby || Creating the world's longest OO gauge train set from Barnstaple to Bideford |}

Drink

In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was transmitted in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.

Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure

Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure was first aired in 2006 on BBC2. May and wine connoisseur Oz Clarke toured France in the first series. It was Oz's mission to educate the so-called 'scruffbag' in the arts of fine wines, including their terroir, grape types, and vineyard locations. James perhaps comprised the characteristics of a young, rebellious schoolboy as Oz played the role of his disciplining teacher. The pair had many a personality clash, but these were tongue-in-cheek and the two of them combined wit with knowledge and got on extremely well. In the second series, the pair toured California learning more about wine. A notable moment was in the first episode, when James told Oz he'd bought them a new 'car'. Oz spotted a Ford Mustang in the car park, but this was dismissed by James when he told Oz what he'd bought was in fact 'better'. He had, in actual fact, purchased a colossal motorhome which was, in James's words, longer than a Routemaster bus. Oz was clearly shocked upon learning this, but tried his best to hide his excitement. This tour bus was used by the two of them throughout the remainder of the series. In episode one of the second season about California, named Santa Barbara, the pair met Fess Parker, who has his own winery at Los Olivos, in the Santa Ynez Valley, and who they said was known for playing Davy Crockett.

Oz and James Drink to Britain

The pair's third series was entitled Oz and James Drink to Britain. This series consisted of Oz and James touring, instead of France and California, Great Britain and Ireland in a bid to find the definitive drink that ultimately spoke for the nation. Rather than Oz educating James in a specialist subject, it was more the two of them learning together in a subject on which neither of them were informed. They learned the basics of brewing beer, including being taught all about barley (notably husks - James remarked "So you've misled thousands of little husks of barley into thinking it's spring?"), all about hops and hop gardens ("So just because they're called hop gardens doesn't mean they're quite small and at the back of a house?"), the botanicals that gin comprises, and how to make cider. At the beginning of the series, James was given the task of picking an appropriate car for them to tour Britain in. James bought a Rolls-Royce Corniche cabriolet, which he believed to be 'quintessentially British'. They also bought a caravan to sleep in, which Oz later described as being 'small, inadequate and poorly built'. It was a 1978 caravan built by Sprite. Oz also said at the beginning of the series, to James, "I am utterly looking forward to spending my summer in close proximity to you, and I will provide you with much ale", to which James replied "Correct answer". Drink to Britain was first aired in January 2009.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Programme !! Notes |- |Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure || Book released (October 2006), DVD released (2007) |- |Oz and James Drink to Britain || Book released (January 2009), DVD released (2009) |}

Television

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role |- | 1999 || Top Gear (Original Format) || Presenter |- | 2003 || Top Gear (Current Format) || Presenter |- | 2005 || James May's Top Toys || Presenter |- | 2006 || Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure || Presenter |- | 2006 || Inside Killer Sharks || Presenter |- | 2006 || Petrolheads || Guest |- | 2007 || Top Gear of the Pops || Presenter |- | 2007 || James May's 20th Century || Presenter |- | 2007 || || Presenter |- | 2008 || Top Ground Gear Force || Presenter |- | 2008 || James May's Big Ideas || Presenter |- | 2009 || Oz and James Drink to Britain || Presenter |- | 2009 || James May on the Moon || Presenter |- | 2009 || James May at the Edge of Space || Presenter |- | 2009 || James May's Toy Stories || Presenter |- | 2010 || James May's Man Lab || Presenter |}

DVD

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Title !! Label !! Year |- | James May's Motormania Car Quiz || DMD || 2006 |- | James May's 20th Century || ITV || 2007 |- | James May's Big Ideas || DMD || 2009 |- | James May's Moon Adventures || BBC || 2009 |- | James May's Amazing Brain Trainer || DMD || 2009 |- | James May's Toy Stories || BBC || 2009 |- | Oz and James Big Wine Adventure: Series One || BBC || 2006 |- | Oz and James Big Wine Adventure: Series Two || BBC || 2008 |- | Oz and James Drink to Britain: Series Three || BBC || 2009 |- | Top Gear Apocalypse || BBC || 2010 |}

As The DVD Contains Both "On The Moon" and "The Edge Of Space", The Classification Name Is "Moon Adventures" or "James May On The Moon".

Books

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Title !! Publisher !! Year |- | May on Motors: On the Road with James May || Virgin Books || 2006 |- | Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure || BBC Books || 2006 |- | May on Motors || Virgin Books || 2007 |- | Notes from the Hard Shoulder || Virgin Books || 2007 |- | James May's 20th Century || Hodder & Stoughton || 2007 |- | James May's Magnificent Machines || Hodder & Stoughton || 2008 |- | Oz and James Drink to Britain || Pavilion (Anova) || 2009 |- | James May's Car Fever (H/B) || Hodder & Stoughton || 2009 |- | James May's Car Fever (P/B) || Hodder & Stoughton || 2009 |- | James May's Toy Stories || Conway (Anova) || 2009 |- | James May's Car Fever: Volume 2 || Hodder & Stoughton || 2010 |- | How to Land an A330 Airbus || Hodder & Stoughton || 2010 |}

References

External links

Telegraph Motoring - James May's weekly column

James May on Top Gear

Daily Mail article on May

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:British television presenters Category:People from Bristol Category:Top Gear Category:English writers Category:Alumni of Lancaster University Category:Motoring journalists Category:World record holders Category:British people of Armenian descent

Name	Erlend Øye
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Born	November 21, 1975
Origin	Bergen, Norway
Genre	Electronic, indie rock, instrumental
Occupation	Composer, musician
Years active	1997–present
Label	Astralwerks !K7
Associated acts	Kings of Convenience The Whitest Boy Alive Röyksopp
Url	Official site
Notable instruments	Guitar, voice

Erlend Øye is a Norwegian musician from Bergen, best known for being part of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience together with Eirik Glambek Bøe. He has released one solo album, Unrest, in 2003 and a mix-CD in the DJ-Kicks series in 2004.

He was born on 21 November 1975 in Bergen and formed the band Skog together with some friends in the mid 1990s. He joined the band Peachfuzz in 1996 as electric guitarist, and played several times in London between 1996-98. Øye moved to London in 1998 and then to Manchester for the first half of 1999. When he was back home in Bergen for vacations he jammed with Bøe. They formed Kings of Convenience in 1998 and released their first album, Quiet is the New Loud in 2001.

Øye had become interested in electronic music and spent the next years in Berlin (Nov 2002-06) or travelling around the world, recording his solo album Unrest in ten different cities (including Barcelona, Helsinki, Rome, and Turku) with ten different electronica artists such as Morgan Geist, Prefuse 73, and Schneider TM. He has toured as a DJ who sings along with the records that he plays, and in 2004 he released a remix CD in the DJ Kicks series. The album featured covers and remixes of "Always on My Mind", "It's a Fine Day" (made famous by Opus III), Cornelius, and his own songs. That year also saw the next release by Kings of Convenience.

Erlend Øye's most recent project is the band The Whitest Boy Alive. The band originally started as an electronic band, but slowly developed into a band with no programmed elements. Erlend sings and plays guitar. The Whitest Boy Alive released the single "Burning" on 24 May 2006. Their debut album, Dreams, was released on 21 June 2006, via their record label Bubbles. The latest album of The Whitest Boy Alive called "Rules" was released on 27 February 2009.

Erlend currently lives in Bergen when not touring with The Whitest Boy Alive or Kings Of Convenience. He is involved in the Bergen music scene and spends time promoting local bands, and assists with booking at the annual Træna Festival in northern Norway.

Discography

Albums

Unrest (2003)

Mixes

(2004)

Singles

Sudden Rush (2003)

Sheltered Life (2003)

The Black Keys Work (2004)

Songs featuring Erlend Øye on vocals

"Remind Me" on Melody A.M. by Röyksopp (2001)

"Poor Leno" on Melody A.M. by Röyksopp (2001)

"Talco Uno" on Jolly Bar by Jolly Music (2001)

"I Shall Not Die" on Envy by Ash (2002)

"No Train To Stockholm" on Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazlewood by Lee Hazlewood (2002)

"Last Christmas" on Seasonal Greetings — A Compilation of 13 Christmas and Winter Songs, a cover of Wham! (2002)

"This is the Dream of Evan and Chan (Safety Scissors Remix)" on This is the Dream by Dntel''

"The Partner" on Friday by Ragazzi (2003)

"Keep on Waiting" on NY Muscle by DJ Hell (2003)

"For the Time Being" on Identification by Phonique (2004)

"A Place In My Heart" on A Place In My Heart EP by Star You Star Me (2004)

"Sheltered Life" / "Fine Day (A Capella)" by Erlend Øye, an Opus III cover

"Poor Leno (Silicone Soul's Hypno House Dub)" / "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (A Capella)" (The Smiths cover) on by Röyksopp

"Lessons In Love" on Hello Stranger by Kaos (2005)

"I've Been Waiting So Long" on Ears by Korsakow (2005) (credited as Orlando Occhio)

"Cool My Fire" on Blondix 2 EP by Ada (2005)

"Sunlight's On The Other Side (acoustic version)" on Sunlight's On The Other Side (7" version) by Safety Scissors (2005)

"Breastbone" on Sunlight's On The Other Side (7" version) by Safety Scissors (2005)

"Sunlight's On The Other Side" on Tainted Lunch by Safety Scissors (2005)

"Friends And Lovers" on Friends And Lovers: Songs of Bread, a cover by Bread (2005)

"Criticize" on Sullen Look by Marco Passarani (2005) (credited as Orlando Occhio)

"All the Way to China" on Mistake Mistake Mistake by James Figurine (2006)

"All Ears" on All Ears by Kompis (limited 7") (2006)

"Omstart" on Sensuous by Cornelius (2006)

"Casualties" on Good Idea by Phonique (2007)

External links

Erlend Øye's website

Kings of Convenience official site

The Whitest Boy Alive official site

Interview with Erlend Øye in Exberliner magazine

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Astralwerks artists Category:Norwegian electronic musicians Category:Norwegian DJs