Ride (band)

Name	Ride
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Oxford, England
Genre	Alternative rock, shoegazing
Years active	1988–1996; 2001
Label	Creation, Warner, Sire, The First Time Records
Url	RideOX4.net
Past members	Andy BellLaurence ColbertMark GardenerSteve Queralt

Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other projects, most notably Bell who became the bassist for Oasis. In 2001, the band members were briefly reunited for a one-off performance for a television show.

History

1988-1989 Starting out

Mark Gardener and Andy Bell had been to Cheney School in Oxford, appearing in the school's musical theatre productions, and in October 1988, they moved to Banbury to do Foundation Studies in Art and Design at North Oxfordshire College & The Oxfordshire School of Art & Design. There they met Laurence Colbert. Steve Queralt, who also went to Cheney School, was recruited from the local Our Price record shop where he worked as a singles buyer (although Bell and Queralt had already played together in an obscure reggae/pop band called "Big Spiderback"). After considering various names, the band settled for 'Ride', with its evocation of travel, and after the Ride cymbal. Bell has cited a performance by The Smiths as the inspiration for forming a band. Ride's top-75 placing was a first for Creation Records. The first two EPs were released together as Smile in the USA in July 1990 (and later released in the UK in 1992), while the Fall EP was incorporated into the CD version of their first album, Nowhere, released in October 1990. The band were often labelled as part of the "shoegazing" scene, but the band rejected this, Bell stating "my first reaction was like, this is another boring tag. These days...that's pretty much still my reaction".

Nowhere was a critical and commercial success, reaching #11 in the UK,

In February 1992 the band broke into the UK top 10 with "Leave Them All Behind", and the following month saw the release of the band's second album Going Blank Again. the album was split between songwriters Gardener and Bell, with the former's songs on side one and the latter's on side two. Opening with the riff-heavy "Moonlight Medicine", tracks also include "From Time to Time", "Birdman" and a cover of The Creation's "How Does It Feel to Feel", which was released as a single. The album was not well-received by critics, Bell explaining "These were good times but the music took second place. When we recorded the Carnival Of Light album we got indulgent".

1996 The break up

1995 saw the dissolution of the band while recording Tarantula. Gardener and Bell had led the band away from their shoegazing roots to become more contemporary, hoping to change their style with the times. Queralt has remarked that the band had two future directions open to them, and they chose the wrong option. Gardener had become interested in dance music, and wanted Ride to incorporate that into their style, while Bell disagreed. Rolling Stone were more complimentary, stating "the album is saved from maudlin self-obsession because it's rawer and rocks harder than anything else Ride have recorded".

Since the break-up, both Bell and Gardener have been more reflective about the group's disintegration, with Bell especially admitting his own part in the process.

1997-2001 Post break-up years

After the split, Andy Bell formed a new band called "Hurricane #1" but this project was permanently dissolved when he was asked to play bass for Oasis after having turned down the opportunity to join Gay Dad. The recording of this song, plus two short sound checks, were released in 2002 as Coming up for Air. The interest in this limited release CD caused the band to consider future releases. In late 2002, Ride released a 3CD box set which is made up of OX4_ The Best of Ride, Firing Blanks (Unreleased tracks) and Live_Reading Festival 1992.

Mark Gardener is also now pursuing a solo career. From 2003 to 2005, Mark toured extensively, sometimes with the help of Oxford friends Goldrush, in order to personally fund a full length studio album. During the tour, a three-track EP with Goldrush (Falling Out Into the Night) and a live album (the acoustic solo Live @ the Knitting Factory, New York City) were released. He also spent part of 2005 working with the French duo rinôçérôse. In late 2005, Mark's album These Beautiful Ghosts was released in North America on United For Opportunity.

Any thoughts of permanently re-forming the band, however, have been explicitly denied by Bell, with the reasoning that it would not live up to expectations. However, the members, Bell included, have stated that they would not mind working with each other again. Since, Bell and Colbert made an appearance at one of Gardener's early shows; Bell later shared two nights of acoustic sets with Gardener in November 2003 when Gardener made a tour stop in Bell's current home of Stockholm.

Colbert has also started playing in a band again - as guitarist and vocalist. He also plays drums in different projects, most notably with the reformed Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass (filling in for Danny Goffey), International Jetsetters with fellow Jesus and Mary Chain bandmate Mark Crozer, and Damo Suzuki (Can). In 2005, Gardener was stuck in France and unable to play the Truck Festival; Colbert's band filled the gap in the bill. Colbert studied on the 1 Year Diploma in Drum Performance at London's Drumtech after the split of Ride.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations and live albums

Smile (1990) Sire/Creation

Kaleidoscope (1991) Sire (promotional only)

Grasshopper (1992) Sire/Warner Bros.

Cosmic Carnival (1994) Sire

Live Light (1995) Mutiny/Elektra

Ride (Box Set) (2001) Ignition

OX4 The Best of Ride (2001) Ignition

Firing Blanks Unreleased Ride Recordings 1988–95 (2001)

Live Reading Festival 1992 (2001)

Waves (BBC Radio One sessions) (2003)

Singles

Video

Going Blank Again - Live At Brixton Academy (1992)

References

External links

Ticket to Ride — extensive fan website

Ride at WorldMusicDatabase

Category:Musical groups established in 1988 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Category:British alternative rock groups Category:Creation Records artists Category:English rock music groups Category:Shoegazing musical groups Category:Music from Oxford