Verve, The

THE VERVE

Formed: 1989, Wigan, Lancashire, England; Disbanded 1999

Members: Richard Ashcroft, vocals, guitar (born Billinge, Wigan, Lancashire, England, 11 September 1971); Simon Jones, bass (born Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 29 July 1972); Nick McCabe, guitar (born St. Helens, Lancashire, England, 14 July 1972); Peter Salisbury, drums (born Bath, Avon, England, c. 24 September 1971).

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Urban Hymns (1997)

Hit songs since 1990: "Bittersweet Symphony," "Lucky Man," "Sonnet"

The British band the Verve spent a good portion of the early 1990s relatively unknown internationally but fairly popular in their native U.K. Their hit "Bittersweet Symphony" from their album Urban Hymns (1997) is an anthemic, swooping, mid-tempo pop song with a full orchestra that ended up in a Nike ad.

The Verve formed in 1989 in the northern England town of Wigan. Lead singer Richard Ashcroft, whose full lips and rock-star swagger have often earned him comparisons to the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, was joined by guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Their first few albums received much critical acclaim but barely registered on the sales charts. Their 1995 album, A Northern Soul, reputedly recorded under the influence of the drug Ecstasy, features a swooping, psychedelic explosion of guitars. After the album's release Ashcroft left the band, only to reassemble it a few weeks later. Prior to the release of A Northern Soul, the band had had its troubles, including a lawsuit from the major jazz label Verve, which forced the band to change its name to the Verve, and bad-boy rock-star behavior: Salisbury was arrested for damaging a Kansas City hotel room, and Ashcroft was hospitalized for dehydration.

The band split up after A Northern Soul but got back together to release their breakthrough LP, Urban Hymns (1997). The success of the single "Bittersweet Symphony," which borrows a sampled loop from the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time," boosted the album to the twenty-third position on the Billboard Top 200 chart, with that track reaching number four on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Its placement in a Nike advertisement guaranteed that anyone who spent time watching television would hear the song.

Urban Hymns is filled with love songs such as "Lucky Man" and "Sonnet" that belie the rancor among band members that preceded its release. With its plainspoken, unapologetic lyrics—"Yes there's love if you want it / Don't sound like no sonnet / My love"—and its emotional climax, "Sonnet" helped lend a romantic graciousness to the band's image. Confessional lyrics in "The Drugs Don't Work" added to the softening. Ashcroft reveals, "Now the drugs don't work / they just make you worse / but I know I'll see your face again."

Despite the band's problems, Urban Hymns remains a classic modern-rock album of the late 1990s. With its sweeping strings and hypnotic, psychedelic guitar loops, Urban Hymns became one of the fastest-selling British albums of all time and garnered the band three awards, including Best British band, at the 1998 BRIT awards. Sadly, the Verve never gave themselves an opportunity to top that success. In April 1999 the band announced it was calling it quits and Richard Ashcroft embarked upon a solo career.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

A Northern Soul (Vernon Yard/Virgin, 1995); Urban Hymns (Virgin, 1997).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

M. Clarke, The Verve: Crazed Highs and Horrible Lows (London, 1998); S. Egan, Verve: Starsail (London, 1999).

carrie havranek