James consists of Adrian Oxxal (guitarist), David Baynton-power (drummer, percusionist), Jim Glennie (bassist, backing vocalist), Mark Hunter (keyboardist), Michael Kulas (backing vocalist, guiarist, percussionist), Saul Davies (guitarist, violinist, backing vocalist, percussionist), Tim Booth (vocalist).
James are an indie band from Manchester, England, formed in 1981. After an uphill struggle throughout the 1980s, they went on to become one of the most consistently successful acts of the 1990s, scoring a string of hit singles throughout the decade including " Sit Down" and " Laid". Following the departure of lead singer Tim Booth in 2001 the band has been inactive, although a split has never been officially confirmed.
James were formed in 1981 in Whalley Range, Manchester, when music enthusiast Paul Gilbertson, inspired by the post-punk bands of the era, convinced his best friend Jim Glennie to buy a bass and form a band with him. Rehearsing regularly in Jim’s bedroom with whatever other musicians were available, their line-up solidified with the acquisition of Gavan Whelan on drums, whose erratic, frenetic and almost tribal drum sound gave their music a distinctive edge against Gilbertson and Glennie’s raw, untutored guitar and bass styles. They played a string of gigs under the names of Venereal and the Diseases and later Volume Distortion (note the initials), before settling on the name of Model Team International, then shortened to Model Team. They performed mostly spontaneous, purely improvised material derived from jamming sessions, supporting The Fall at an early gig. Vocalists and other musicians drifted rapidly in and out of their line-up, until the band encountered Tim Booth at a student disco they had sneaked into. Intrigued by Booth’s wild, dervish-like dancing style, Gilbertson invited him to the band’s scout hut in Withington to join the band as a dancer. After accepting the invite, Booth was quickly promoted to lead vocals as well as lyricist.
The contrast of well-spoken Drama student against ruffians from Withington may have seemed a strange one, but it worked, imbuing the band’s raw, primitivist sound with an artistic sensibility. After a brief period under the name of Tribal Outlook, the band renamed themselves James in August of 1982 following Gilbertson’s idea to name themselves after one of the band members. The name came from Jim Glennie. The other members' names were rejected - Gavan was "too heavy metal", while Paul was “too modest” to put his own name forward and Tim was concerned about the ego-mania of the band being named for the lead singer. James was, however, declared "amorphous enough" to summarize what the band was about. The band instantly knew that people would make the mistake of thinking their name represented one person, and played upon this by having Tim walk on stage alone at the beginning of one gig and reading a poem to trick the audience into thinking they had been conned into watching a poet.
