Stalking is a term commonly used to refer unwanted, obsessive attention by an individual or group to another human being. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation, and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet. The word ''stalking'' is used, with some differing meanings, in psychology and psychiatry and also in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense. According to a 2002 report by the National Center for Victims of Crime, "Virtually any unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear can be considered stalking."

Definitions of stalking

The difficulties associated with precisely defining this term (or defining it at all) are well documented.

Having been used since at least the sixteenth century to refer to a prowler or a poacher (''Oxford English Dictionary''), the term ''stalker'' started to be used by the media in the twentieth century to describe those who pestered and harassed others, initially with specific reference to the harassment of celebrities by strangers who were described as being obsessed. This use of the word appears to have been coined by the tabloid press in the United States.

Pathé and Mullen describe stalking as "a constellation of behaviours in which an individual inflicts upon another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications".

Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching, and/or harassing of another person. Most of the time, the purpose of stalking is to attempt to force a relationship with someone who is unwilling or otherwise unavailable. Unlike other crimes, which usually involve one act, stalking is a series of actions that occur over a period of time. Although stalking is illegal, some of the actions that can contribute to stalking are initially legal, such as gathering information, calling someone on the phone, sending gifts, emailing or instant messaging. They become illegal when they breach the legal definition of harassment e.g an action such as sending a text is not usually illegal, but is illegal when frequently repeated to an unwilling recipient. In fact UK law states the incident only has to happen twice when the stalker should be aware their behavior is unacceptable e.g two phone calls to a stranger, two gifts following the victim then phoning them etc. However, the victim may feel they have been the victim of a stalking after one incident e.g. being followed home.

Psychology and behaviors

People characterized as stalkers may have a mistaken belief that another person loves them (erotomania), or that they need rescuing. Stalking can sometimes consist of an accumulation of a series of actions which in themselves can be legal, such as calling on the phone, sending gifts, or sending emails. In the UK, government research demonstrates that, despite media reports and research of vested interests, the UK harassment act "is rarely used for stalking as portrayed by the media since only a small minority of cases in the survey involved such behaviour".

Stalkers may use threats, and violence to frighten their victims. They may also engage in vandalism, property damage, and make physical attacks that are mostly meant to frighten. Less common are sexual assaults.

In the UK, for example, most so-called stalkers are ex-partners and evidence shows that the mentally ill stalking type of behaviour propagated in the media occurs in only a minority of cases of alleged stalking. As with sexual harassment law, it is very easy for false claims to be made or at least for the law to be broken as the law is so ill-defined, whether or not someone has been harassed has no objective definition and claims can be made arbitrarily. Compensation claims add another reason for false and malicious claims. A UK Home Office Research study on the use the 1997 Protection of Harassment Act (which is the UK stalking law) quotes "The study found that the Protection from Harassment Act is being used to deal with a variety of behaviour such as domestic and inter-neighbour disputes. It is rarely used for stalking as portrayed by the media since only a small minority of cases in the survey involved such behaviour.

Psychological effects on stalking victims

Disruptions in daily life necessary to escape the stalker, including changes in employment, residence and phone numbers, may take a toll on the victim's well-being and lead to a sense of isolation.

According to Lamber Royakkers, "Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom they have no relationship (or no longer have). Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect)."

Gender studies related to stalking

According to one study, women often target other women, whereas men generally stalk women only. However, a January 2009 report from the Department of Justice in the United States reports that "Males were as likely to report being stalked by a male as a female offender. 43% of male stalking victims stated that the offender was female, while 41% of male victims stated that the offender was another male. Female victims of stalking were significantly more likely to be stalked by a male (67%) rather than a female (24%) offender." This report provides considerable data by gender and race about both stalking and harassment. The data for this report were obtained via the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Types of stalkers

Psychologists often group individuals who stalk into two categories: psychotic and nonpsychotic. Stalkers may have pre-existing psychotic disorders such as delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Most stalkers are nonpsychotic and may exhibit disorders or neuroses such as major depression, adjustment disorder, or substance dependence, as well as a variety of Axis II personality disorders (such as antisocial, avoidant, borderline, dependent, narcissistic, or paranoid). Some of the symptoms of "obsessing" over a person is part of obsessive compulsive personality disorder. The nonpsychotic stalkers' pursuit of victims can be influenced by various psychological factors, including anger, hostility, projection of blame, obsession, dependency, minimization, denial, and jealousy. Conversely, as is more commonly the case, the stalker has no antipathic feelings towards the victim, but simply a longing that cannot be fulfilled due to deficiencies either in their personality or their society's norms.

In "A Study of Stalkers" Mullen ''et al.''. (2000) identified five types of stalkers:

Rejected stalkers pursue their victims in order to reverse, correct, or avenge a rejection (e.g. divorce, separation, termination).

Resentful stalkers pursue a vendetta because of a sense of grievance against the victims – motivated mainly by the desire to frighten and distress the victim.

Intimacy seekers seek to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. To many of them the victim is a long-sought-after soul mate, and they were 'meant' to be together.

Incompetent suitors, despite poor social or courting skills, have a fixation, or in some cases a sense of entitlement to an intimate relationship with those who have attracted their amorous interest. Their victims are most often already in a dating relationship with someone else.

Predatory stalkers spy on the victim in order to prepare and plan an attack – often sexual – on the victim.

Unprovoked/Malicious/Obsessive Stalking is often carried out for no reason other than to cause harm to the victim.

The 2002 National Victim Association Academy defines an additional form of stalking: The vengeance/terrorist stalker. Both the vengeance stalker and terrorist stalker (the latter sometimes called the political stalker) ''do not'', in contrast with some of the aforementioned types of stalkers, seek a personal relationship with their victims but rather force them to emit a certain response favourable to the stalker. While the vengeance stalker's motive is "to get even" with the other person whom he/she perceives has done some wrong to them (e.g., an employee who believes is fired without justification from their job by their superior), the political stalker intends to accomplish a political agenda, also using threats and intimidation to force his/her target to refrain and/or become involved in some particular activity, regardless of the victim’s consent.

Many stalkers fit categories with paranoia disorders. Intimacy-seeking stalkers often have delusional disorders involving erotomanic delusions. With rejected stalkers, the continual clinging to a relationship of an inadequate or dependent person couples with the entitlement of the narcissistic personality, and the persistent jealousy of the paranoid personality. In contrast, resentful stalkers demonstrate an almost “pure culture of persecution,” with delusional disorders of the paranoid type, paranoid personalities, and paranoid schizophrenia.

One of the uncertainties in understanding the origins of stalking is that the concept is now widely understood in terms of specific behaviors which are found to be offensive and/or illegal. As discussed above, these specific (apparently stalking) behaviors may have multiple motivations.

In addition, the personality characteristics that are often discussed as antecedent to stalking may also produce behavior that is not stalking as conventionally defined. Some research suggests there is a spectrum of what might be called "obsessed following behavior." People who complain obsessively and for years, about a perceived wrong or wrong-doer, when no one else can perceive the injury—and people who cannot or will not "let go" of a person or a place or an idea—comprise a wider group of persons that may be problematic in ways that seem similar to stalking. Some of these people get extruded from their organizations—they may get hospitalized or fired or let go if their behavior is defined in terms of illegal stalking, but many others do good or even excellent work in their organizations and appear to have just one focus of tenacious obsession.

Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is the use of computers or other electronic technology to facilitate stalking. A booming “spy shop” industry has sprouted up to supply Hi-tech equipment such as computer hacking or monitoring software, hidden cameras, microphones, and GPS tracking units.

Stalking by groups

According to a U.S. Department of Justice special report a significant number of people reporting stalking incidents claim that they had been stalked by more than one person, with 18.2% reporting that they were stalked by two people, 13.1% reporting that they had been stalked by three or more. The report did not break down these cases into numbers of victims who claimed to have been stalked by several people individually, and by people acting in concert. Official Department of Justice documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that, of the 13% of victim reports of 3 or more stalkers "acting in concert", 41% of subjects in these cases reported that they were the target of teams or groups of stalkers working together. The data for this report were obtained via the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to a United Kingdom study by Sheridan and Boon, in 5% of the cases they studied there was more than one stalker, and 40% of the victims said that friends or family of their stalker had also been involved. In 15% of cases, the victim was unaware of any reason for the harassment.

False claims of stalking and delusions of persecution

In 1999, Pathe, Mullen and Purcell wrote that popular interest in stalking was promoting false claims. In 2004, Sheridan and Blaauw said that they estimated that 11.5% of claims in a sample of 357 reported claims of stalking were false.

According to Sheridan and Blaauw, 70% of false stalking reports were made by people suffering from delusions of persecution. Another study estimated the proportion of false reports that were due to delusions as 64%.

Multiple news reports have described how groups of Internet users have cooperated to exchange detailed conspiracy theories involving coordinated activities by large numbers of people and the use of "psychotronic weapons" and other alleged mind control techniques. These are generally reported by external observers as being examples of belief systems, as opposed to reports of objective phenomena.

Epidemiology and prevalence

Australia

According to a study conducted by Purcell, Pathé and Mullen (2002), 23% of the Australian population reported having been stalked.

Austria

Stieger, Burger and Schild conducted a survey in Austria, revealing a lifetime prevalence of 11% (women: 17%, men: 3%). Further results include: 86% of stalking victims were female, 81% of the stalkers were male. Women were mainly stalked by men (88%) while men were almost equally stalked by men and women (60% male stalkers). 19% of the stalking victims reported that they were still being stalked at the time of study participation (point prevalence rate: 2%). To 70% of the victims, the stalker was known, being a prior intimate partner in 40%, a friend or acquaintance in 23% and a colleague at work in 13% of cases. As a consequence, 72% of the victims reported having changed their lifestyle. 52% of former and ongoing stalking victims reported suffering from a currently impaired (pathological) psychological well-being. There was no significant difference between the incidence of stalking in rural and urban areas.

England and Wales

Budd and Mattinson found a lifetime prevalence of 12% in England and Wales (12% overall, 16% female, 7% males).

According to a paper by staff from the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, a unit established to deal with people with fixations on public figures, 86% of a sample group of 100 people assessed by them appeared to them to suffer from psychotic illness; 57% of the sample group were subsequently admitted to hospital, and 26% treated in the community.

A similar retrospective study published in 2009 in ''Psychological Medicine'' based on a sample of threats to the Royal Family kept by the Metropolitan Police Service over a period of 15 years, suggested that 83.6% of the writers of these letters suffered from serious mental illness.

Germany

Dressing, Kuehner and Gass conducted a representative survey in Mannheim, a middle-sized German city, and reported a lifetime prevalence of having been stalked of about 12%.

United States

Tjaden and Thoennes reported a lifetime prevalence (being stalked) of 8% in women and 2% in males (depending on how strict the definition) in the National violence against women survey.

Laws on harassment and stalking

Australia

Every Australian state enacted laws prohibiting stalking during the 1990s, with Queensland was the first state to do so in 1994. The laws vary slightly from state to state, with Queensland's laws having the broadest scope, and South Australian laws the most restrictive. Punishments vary from a maximum of 10 years imprisonment in some states, to a fine for the lowest severity of stalking in others. Australian anti-stalking laws have some notable features. Unlike many US jurisdictions they do not require the victim to have felt fear or distress as a result of the behaviour, only that a reasonable person would have felt this way. In some states, the anti-stalking laws operate extra-territorially, meaning that an individual can be charged with stalking if either they or the victim are in the relevant state. Most Australian states provide the option of a restraining order in cases of stalking, breach of which is punishable as a criminal offence. There has been relatively little research into Australian court outcomes in stalking cases, although Freckelton (2001) found that in the state of Victoria, most stalkers received fines or community based dispositions.

Canada

Section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada, titled "''criminal harassment''" addresses acts which are termed "stalking" in many other jurisdictions. The provisions of the section came into force in August 1993 with the intent of further strengthening laws protecting women. It is a hybrid offence, which may be punishable upon summary conviction or as an indictable offence, the latter of which may carry a prison term of up to ten years. Section 264 has withstood Charter challenges.

The Chief, Policing Services Program, for Statistics Canada has stated:

''"... of the 10,756 incidents of criminal harassment reported to police in 2006, 1,429 of these involved more than one accused." ''

Japan

In 2000, Japan enacted a national law to combat this behaviour, after the murder of Shiori Ino. Acts of stalking can be viewed as "interfering [with] the tranquility of others' lives" and are prohibited under petty offence laws.

Italy

Following a series of high-profile incidents that came to public attention in the past years, a law was proposed in June 2008, and became effective in February 2009, making a criminal offence, punishable with imprisonment ranging from six months up to four years, any ''"continuative harassing, threatening or persecuting behaviour which: (1) causes a state of anxiety and fear in the victim(s), or; (2) ingenerates within the victim(s) a motivated fear for his/her own safety or for the safety of relatives, , or others tied to the victim him/herself by an affective relationship, or; (3), forces the victim(s) to change his/her living habits"''. If the perpetrator of the offense is a subject tied to the victim by kinship or that is or has been in the past involved in a relationship with the victim (i.e. current or former/divorced/split husband/wife or fiancée), and/or if the victim is a pregnant woman or a minor, the sanction can be elevated up to six years of incarceration.

United Kingdom

There is no offence which is described in law as "stalking". An attempt to create such an offence by the Stalking Bill 1996 failed. It was felt that the proposed offence failed to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable conduct.

In England and Wales, "harassment" was criminalised by the enactment of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which came into force on June 16, 1997. It makes it a criminal offence, punishable by up to six months imprisonment, to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another on two or more occasions. The court can also issue a restraining order, which carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment if breached. In England and Wales, liability may arise in the event that the victim suffers either mental or physical harm as a result of being harrassed (or slang term stalked) (see ''R. v. Constanza'').

Already before the enactment of the Act, the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Telecommunications Act 1984 (now the Communications Act 2003) criminalised indecent, offensive or threatening phone calls and the sending of an indecent, offensive or threatening letter, electronic communication or other article to another person.

Obtaining evidence of stalking is a simple procedure using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act which enables the authorities to quickly obtain records of communication.

In Scotland, provision is made under the Protection from Harassment Act against stalking. It is not a criminal offence, however, but falls under the law of delict. Victims of stalking may sue for interdict against an alleged stalker, or a non-harassment order, breach of which is an offence.

United States

The first state to criminalize stalking in the United States was California in 1990 due to several high profile stalking cases in California, including the 1982 attempted murder of actress Theresa Saldana, the 1988 massacre by Richard Farley, the 1989 murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer, and five Orange County stalking murders also in 1989. The first anti-stalking law in the United States, California Penal Code Section 646.9, was developed and proposed by Municipal Court Judge John Watson of Orange County. Watson with U.S. Congressman Ed Royce introduced the law in 1990. Also in 1990, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began the United States' first Threat Management Unit, founded by LAPD Captain Robert Martin.

Within three years The DPPA prohibits states from disclosing a driver's personal information without consent by State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). As of 2011, stalking is an offense under section 120a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The law took effect on 1 October 2007. This law brings the UCMJ in line with federal laws against stalking.

See also

References

Further reading

''How To Stop A Stalker''. Proctor, Mike. Prometheus Books, 2000.

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse Annotated Stalking Bibliography

''The Psychology of Stalking''. Meloy, J. Reid. Academic Press, 2000.

''Stalkers and Their Victims'', 2nd edition. Mullen, Paul E., Pathe, Michele, Purcell, Rosemary. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

''Surviving a Stalker: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe''. Gross, Linda. Marlowe & Company, 2000.

Lifetime prevalence and impact of stalking: Epidemiological data from Eastern Austria. Stefan Stieger; Christoph Burger; Anne Schild. ''European Journal of Psychiatry'' Vol. 22, N.° 4, (235-241), Zaragoza (ES) 2008, .

Is This Stalking? A Comparison Between Legal and Community Definitions of Stalking. Susan Dennison and Don Thomson, paper presented at the Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology in Sydney, 7–8 December 2000

U.S. National Center for the Victims of Crime Annotated Stalking Bibliography

''Stalking Crimes and Victim Protection''. Davis, Joseph A. CRC Press, August, 2001.

External links

Category:Abuse Category:Aggression Category:Crimes Category:Sex crimes Category:Inchoate offenses

ca:Assetjament físic cs:Stalking de:Stalking es:Acoso físico fr:Stalking ko:스토킹 it:Stalking he:הטרדה מאיימת nl:Stalking ja:ストーカー no:Stalking pl:Stalking pt:Stalking simple:Stalk sk:Stalking fi:Vaaniminen sv:Förföljelsesyndrom uk:Сталкінг

Coordinates	40°37′29″N73°57′8″N
Name	Stalking Cat
Birth name	Dennis Avner
Birth date	August 27, 1958
Birth place	Flint, Michigan
Nationality	American
Known for	extensive body modifications to look like a tiger
Home town	Tonopah, Nevada
Footnotes	}}

Dennis Avner (born in Flint, Michigan August 27, 1958) of Tonopah, Nevada, United States, is widely known as "Cat Man," though he prefers his Native American name, Stalking Cat. Avner has spent considerable resources to surgically modify his body to resemble that of a tiger. He holds the world record for the most body modifications.

Description of modifications

extensive tattooing, including facial tattooing

hairline modification

facial transdermal implants to allow the wearing of whiskers

facial subdermal implants to change the shape of the brow, forehead and the bridge of the nose (a planned future implant on the top of his head for mounting tiger-like ears)

filing and capping of his teeth to have a more feline appearance

wearing green contact lenses with slit irises

having his ears surgically pointed and the earlobes elongated

silicone injection in the lips, cheeks, chin and other parts of his face

bifurcated upper lip

Avner himself claims not to keep track of the money he has spent on body modification, although some sources do state a total. Avner, whose parents were of Huron and Lakota heritage, states that altering oneself to resemble one's own totem is an ancient Huron tradition. The former Navy sonar technician who currently works as a computer programmer took on the name Stalking Cat and began his modifications after a discussion with a Native chief who reportedly inspired him to 'follow the ways of the tiger'.

As a result of his unusual appearance, Stalking Cat has attained local celebrity status and frequently travels to attend interviews and photo sessions. He has appeared and been interviewed on such television and radio shows as ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'', ''Larry King Live'', VH1's ''Totally Obsessed'', Kerrang! Radio's ''The Night Before'', BBC Choice's ''Anna in Wonderland'' (Episode 6), and Animal Planet's ''Weird, True & Freaky'' (2008 episode "Humanimals").

Many of Stalking Cat's body modifications have been performed by Arizona based artist Steve Haworth.

The first artist to begin the extensive tattoo work on Dennis's face was Larry Hanks of San Diego in 1985. He also tattooed scales on him and at this time Stalking Cat was referred to as "Cat Fish" although not by choice.

Medical ethics concerns

Glenn McGee, director of the Center for Bioethics at Albany Medical College in New York, says of Avner, "Cosmetic surgery is a practice based on informed consent that needs to balance the risks with the benefits. It is possible to have a coherent view that is nonetheless detrimental to one's well-being. This is a patient who's being harmed by medicine in the interest of his tradition."

See also

The Lizardman

Katzen

The Enigma

Lucky Diamond Rich

Body modification

References

External links

Dennis Avner's LiveJournal

Cat Man - the human 'tiger' who enjoys climbing trees and eats raw meat every day - an article dated 2008-09-06 from The Daily Mail, which features a photograph of Stalking Cat

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Body modification Category:Lakota people Category:Wyandot people

de:Stalking Cat es:Stalking Cat ja:ストーキング・キャット pt:Stalking Cat sv:Stalking Cat

Coordinates	40°37′29″N73°57′8″N
name	John B
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	John Bryn Williams
born	1977
origin	Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
genre	Drum and bass, Electrohouse, Techno, Italo disco, New wave
years active	1997–present
website	John-b.com
notable instruments	}}

John B (born John Bryn Williams, 1977, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England) is an English DJ and electronic music producer. He is widely recognised for his eccentric clothing and wild hair and his production of several cutting edge drum and bass tracks.

John B ranked #76 in ''DJ Magazine'' 's 2010 Top 100 DJs annual poll, announced October 27, 2010.

Biography

Williams started producing music around the age of 14, and now is the head of drum and bass record label Beta Recordings, together with its more specialist drum and bass sub-labels Nu Electro, Tangent, and Chihuahua. He also has releases on Formation Records, Metalheadz and Planet Mu.

Williams was ranked 1st drum and bass DJ on the 2009 DJMag's top 100. and #92 on the DJ List as of October 3, 2009.

He attended Durham University.

Style

While his trademark sound has evolved through the years, it generally involves female vocals and trance-like synths (a style which has been dubbed "trance and bass", "trancestep" and "futurestep" by listeners). His most recent concentration is an 1980s electroclash influenced fusion of electro and drum and bass, which was dubbed 'electrostep'. At first (around early 2002), this style seemed odd and comical to some in the drum and bass community. However, this move has given John the ability to carry his style of drum and bass forward. He has dabbled in darkstep, jazzstep and various other styles in his time. When he DJs, he is known to spin both drum and bass and electrohouse, sometimes with other genres such as disco and rock, in the same sets.

Discography

''Visions'' (1997)

''Catalyst'' (1999)

''Future Reference'' (2001)

''Brainstorm'' (2002)

''In:transit'' (2004)

''American Girls'' (2004)

''Electrostep'' (2006)

''To Russia With Love'' (2008)

References

External links

John B Official Homepage

John B Podcast

Beta Recordings' Website

Category:Club DJs Category:English drum and bass musicians Category:Alumni of Durham University Category:People from Maidenhead Category:Living people Category:1977 births

be-x-old:John B de:John B pl:John B ru:John B sk:John B uk:John B

Coordinates	40°37′29″N73°57′8″N
Name	Badly Drawn Boy
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Damon Gough
Birth date	October 02, 1969
Origin	Bolton, Lancashire, England
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, drums, banjo, piano, keyboards, clavinet, mellotron, synthesizer, flute, harmonica, organ, harp, celesta
Genre	Alternative
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1995–present
Label	Twisted Nerve RecordsXL Recordings (1998–2004)EMI (2006–2008)BDB Records/One Last Fruit (2009-present)
Associated acts	Beck
Website	badlydrawnboy.muronia.com }}

Damon Gough (stage name Badly Drawn Boy) is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England.

Damon Gough chose his stage name from the title character in the show ''Sam and his Magic Ball'', which he saw on TV at a party in Trafford, Manchester in 1995. Before he thought of using this name he made some business cards, each one unique, with a printed picture of a drawing by his nephew and a small collage by Gough. This was then laminated and given out to friends and people at clubs in Blackburn and Manchester.

A chance meeting with Andy Votel at the Generation X bar in Manchester, where Gough's friends Scott Abraham and Damon Hayhurst were contributing to an exhibition by the Space Monkey Clothing Company and Votel was DJing, led to the foundation of Twisted Nerve Records. Badly Drawn Boy's first 7-inch single, ''EP1'', was pressed the following year to critical acclaim, although only 500 copies were made.

In 2002, ''Q'' magazine named Badly Drawn Boy in their list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die", although this was as part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way" on account of Gough's tendency to talk and tell stories for extended periods in concert rather than play songs.

History

Early years: 1995–1998

Gough's recording career began in September 1997 with the five track vinyl release "EP1". This was distributed among friends and family members. With only 500 being pressed, the record is now considered something of a Holy grail for Badly Drawn Boy enthusiasts, with copies commanding up to £100 on eBay.

In April 1998 Gough released his second EP, "EP2". This featured one track less than its predecessor but twice as many copies were pressed. The highlight track "I Love You All" was later transferred to a music box which was released alongside the EP. The box plays eleven seconds of the song and is considered much rarer than the record itself due to its limited production.

Gough's third EP, "EP3", was released in November 1998 on both CD and vinyl formats, and was the first release in what would become a long-term partnership with XL Recordings. In the same year he collaborated with Unkle for their first album Psyence Fiction. "Road Movie" was released as a live recording with Gough's fellow Mancunians Doves. The B-side to the single was another track from the EP, "My Friend Cubilas". Music videos were recorded for both tracks.

Mainstream success: 1999–2002

''It Came from the Ground'' was the next EP, released in March 1999 on CD and vinyl. The style of this recording focused on woodland environments, an aspect displayed in both the cover art and the title track's video. Also released during this period was the single "Whirlpool". An instrumental was released on vinyl in April 1999.

Gough's last EP, ''Once Around the Block'', was released in August 1999 in two vinyl formats and one CD edition. The release is almost short enough to be considered a single.

Following the success of his early EPs, Gough's debut album, ''The Hour of Bewilderbeast'', was released in June 2000, accompanied by four singles (including a re-release of ''Once Around the Block'').

The album was critically acclaimed and Badly Drawn Boy was successful in winning the 2000 Mercury Music Prize, beating his contemporaries Doves to the £20,000 prize. The album sold well (300,000 copies) and is widely considered to be his defining work.

After a short break, Gough returned to score the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel ''About a Boy''. Impressed by his past work, the Weitz brothers asked Gough to score the film, a task which he undertook alone. Three singles from the album were released over the course of 2002.

His third album, ''Have You Fed the Fish?'', introduced more guitars and an increasingly mainstream pop sound which was not welcomed by all critics. The album is a play on Gough's minor celebrity status and namechecks music icons such as Madonna and John Lennon. Another three singles and a long American tour accompanied the album.

Later years: 2003–present

After his long spell in America, Gough suffered from homesickness and decided to record his next album closer to home. Recorded at moolah rouge studios in Stockport, Cheshire, ''One Plus One Is One'' was a portrait of his personal life. Documenting a death of a close friend and the loss of a grandfather in the Battle of Normandy, the album was highly intimate at times. Released in 2004, it was not a great commercial success, and Gough decided to leave his contract with XL Recordings after only one single was released. He then signed to EMI.

Two years went by before news arrived of a new Badly Drawn Boy album, ''Born in the U.K.'', which aims to explain Gough's experience of growing up in the United Kingdom. The album was promoted with a small UK tour, profits from which were donated to Oxfam, a charity which "offers the chance for thousands of people to use music to achieve something together, which is an idea that gets me excited," said Gough.

In November 2009 it was announced on the Badly Drawn Boy website that "Damon is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches to a very exciting new project which will be reaching your eardrums in the very near future". This album was soon revealed to be titled "Is There Nothing We Could Do?" featuring 'music taken from and inspired by the motion picture ''The Fattest Man in Britain'''. This was released on his own BDB Records label.

A seventh album, It's What I'm Thinking Pt.1 – Photographing Snowflakes, the first of a planned trilogy of albums all to be released under the title ''It's What I'm Thinking'', was released in October 2010.

On 17 December 2010 while on stage at the Troubador in Los Angeles, Gough became apparently unhappy with the quality of the sound acoustics at the venue and some members of the audience who chatted and then heckled hecklers, which lead to Gough swearing at some members of the audience. Gough had a similar breakdown at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon, in March 2007. Gough had a similar reaction on stage at Fairport's Cropredy Convention in August 2011, when he also said to the audience "I sometimes wonder why I bother doing this".

Discography

''The Hour of Bewilderbeast'' (26 June 2000)

''About a Boy'' (8 April 2002)

''Have You Fed the Fish?'' (4 November 2002)

''One Plus One Is One'' (21 June 2004)

''Born in the U.K.'' (16 October 2006)

''Is There Nothing We Could Do?'' (14 December 2009)

''It's What I'm Thinking Pt.1 – Photographing Snowflakes'' (4 October 2010)

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English buskers Category:English male singers Category:English songwriters Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Manchester Category:Music from Bolton Category:People from Bolton Category:People from Dunstable Category:XL Recordings artists

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