Stereophonics

Having embarked on a world tour in 2003/2004, which culminated in an appearance at the Manchester Move Festival in July 2004, the band are now taking a well deserved break. The corresponding album, "Into The Gap" was one of the best sellers of the year. ending with a christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff supported by Feeder and Ocean Colour Scene. Three equally as mature singles followed into 1984 - the poppy "Doctor Doctor"; the quirky, accordion-dominated "You Take Me Up" (at No.2, their biggest UK hit); and the haunting "Sister Of Mercy". Towards the end of the year the did a sell out tour of the U.K. It hit the Top 3 and remains one of the more timeless singles from an era and decade which tends to date a little more easily than others. 2003 saw the release of their latest album You Gotta Go There To Come Back and a change to their logo. It defied the trends of the electronic pop which was still dominating the charts, relying almost wholly on an emotive piano, some clever percussion from the New Zealand-born Currie and a heartfelt vocal from Bailey.

They then played back-to-back dates at Donington Park, supported by Ash, Black Crowes and Proud Mary in front of 120,000 fans and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to a capacity 80,000 that summer. At the end of 1983, a single "Hold me Now" was released.
The band had a relatively quiet 2000 and didn’t really hit the headlines again until the launch of Just Enough Education to Perform in April 2001. Further hits from debut album "Quickstep And Sidekick" followed, with Bailey's flame-red hair and bright ponytail and Currie's wasp-swatting style at the xylophone swiftly becoming endearing images of an exciting new act. They also cooperated with Tom Jones for a track on his album Reload. The remaining trio - singer and main musician Bailey; lyricist and percussionist Alannah Currie (born September 20, 1959); and multi-instrumentalist and stylings guru Joe Leeway (born November 15, 1957) - broke into the UK charts at the beginning of 1983 with "Love On Your Side". Later that year saw them play what was widely regarded as the best gig of the year in Britain in front of 50,000 people at Morfa Stadium in Swansea. After a lucky break, they were signed up to Arista records and group leader Tom Bailey (born January 18, 1956) paid off four of the members in return for their instruments.

Following on from the success achieved with The Bartender and the Thief in late 1998 the second single from Performance and Cocktails, Just Looking, was released and reached number 4 in March 1999 and the same month the much anticipated new album was finally released, entering at number 1 and within three weeks had gone platinum. They were originally a new-wave act who, after the founding threesome moved south from Sheffield, had so little money that they lived as squatters in London, with the personnel rising to seven members. During that year they had successful tours in Europe, Australia and the USA. The Thompson Twins are a British band which emerged in the 1980s in the immediate aftermath of New Romanticism, scoring a string of hits and conquering the USA in the process. In February 1998 they received a Brit Award for Best New Group the same week as a re-issue of Local Boy in the Photograph made number 14 in the charts and their first album went gold selling over 100,000 copies.
In the early days they supported both Manic Street Preachers and Ocean Colour Scene.

Word Gets Around (1997). The band first met Argentinian Javier when they were recording album demos, and then again in late 2003 when they were visiting Argentina. Javier Weyler (drums) was announced as a replacement to Stuart Cable in December 2004. Stuart Cable (drums) was sacked by the other two members of the band in September 2003 and was replaced by ex-Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman for several tour dates.

Richard Jones (bass). Kelly Jones (vocals/guitar and songwriter).