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Artist
The Virginians (1986-1989)
5+ albums
Gothiccinematicmale vocal1980sHammond
about
The Virginians were formed in 1986 by Alan Lacroix and Graham Griffiths, the name was inspired by a New Cross advertising hoarding (depicting a particular tobacco company's 'golden' wide screen vision of the American planes) as the duo queued for entry to a Creation Records night. Over a four year period around 100 songs were recorded embracing the cinematic pop pioneered in the 1960s by Jimmy Webb, Bacharach and David and Scott Walker. The invasive West Coast influence of The Byrds and The Doors and the more contemporary Julian Cope were also evident. The soundscapes that these artists inspired were reflected through a wide range of instrumentation including harpsichords, hammond organs, acoustic guitars, 12 string Rickenbackers, sampled trumpets and string sections, Akai Linn drums, sleigh bells, chimes, tambourines, leslie cabinets and harmoniums... Over the course of those four years of intensive songwriting and recording there were a handful of London live performances (with the help of multitrack backing tapes), a couple of video promos and a near miss with a record company, by 1989 the duo realised they were unable to make any headway with their wall of sound and would reform with a new direction in 1992 as an indie pop band drum! User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
