One Thousand Violins was an English 1960s-influenced indie-pop group from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, who had several UK Indie Chart hits in the late 1980s. The band was formed in 1985 by Darren Swindells (bass), Colin Gregory (guitar), John Wood (vocals), David Walmsley (keyboards/guitar), and Peter Day (drums). Gregory and Walmsley had previously played together in The Page Boys.
Links to Peel[]
Their first single, "Halcyon Days" was released in 1985, whose B-side, "Like One Thousand Violins" was played quite regularly by Peel and was voted into that year's Festive 50 by listeners to his show. A session by the band was also broadcast in that year, followed by a second session a year later. Further material was played by Peel, but by the end of the 80's, the band had already split and the group was almost forgotten by the DJ until 1997 when he revisited their "Like One Thousand Violins" track on his shows.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 1985 Festive Fifty: Like One Thousand Violins #49
Sessions[]
ONE THOUSAND VIOLINS John Peel 15th September 1985
Two sessions. Released John Peel session 25.09.85 (10"/digital, 2023, Precious) and John Peel session 02.12.86 (10"/digital, 2023, Precious).
1. Recorded: 1985-09-15. First Broadcast: 25 September 1985. Repeated: 09 October 1985, 17 December 1985
- Why Is It Always December / The Candle Man / Though It Poured The Next Day I Never Noticed The Rain / The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
2. Recorded: 1986-11-04. First Broadcast: 02 December 1986. Repeated: 23 December 1986, 28 January 1987
- Almost Dead And Nigh On Forty Years To Go / I Was Depending On You To Be My Jesus / If I Were A Bullet Then For Sure I'd Find A Way To Your Heart / No-One Was Saving The World
Other Shows Played[]
- 22 July 1985: Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld
- 22 July 1985 (BBC World Service): Halcyon Days (12") Dreamworld
- 30 July 1985: I Remember When Everyone Used To Ride Bikes… Now We All Drive Cars (12” single – Halcyon Days) Dreamworld
- 05 August 1985: Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld (Peel mistakenly calls the track as I Remember When Everybody Uses Bikes... Now We All Drive Cars)
- 13 August 1985: Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld (Peel mistakenly calls the track I Remember When Everybody Used To Ride Bikes, but later corrects himself after the Josef K track)
- 10 September 1985: Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld
- 22 October 1985: 'The Tragic Tale Of Daniel' (LP 'System Beat 2: The Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club') 1 In 12 Club
- 16 December 1985: Like One Thousand Violins (single) Dreamworld FF #49
- 1986
- 05 August 1986: You Ungrateful Bastard (shared 7" flexi-disc with The Man Who Knew About Trees - You Ungrateful Bastard / Perhaps I'll Never Learn) Not On Label
- 13 August 1986: You Ungrateful Bastard (shared 7" flexi with The Man Who Knew About Trees - You Ungrateful Bastard / Perhaps I'll Never Learn) Not On Label
- 01 October 1986: I Think It's Time That I Broke Down (12" - Please Don't Sandblast My House!) Constrictor
- 19 November 1986: I Think It's Time That I Broke Down (album - Please Don't Sandblast My House!) Constrictor
- 10 December 1986: Please Don't Sandblast My House (7") Dreamworld
- 1987
- 23 March 1987: Candlemen (v/a LP - Imminent 5) Food
- 22 July 1987: Beautiful Shirt (v/a LP - Lets Try Another Ideal Guest House) Shelter
- 10 August 1987: Locked Out Of The Love-In (EP) Constrictor
- 25 August 1987: Locked Out Of The Love-In (7") Dreamworld
- Late Aug. - Early Sept. 1987 (BBC World Service): Locked Out Of The Love-In (7" single) Dreamworld
- 28 October 1987: If I Were A Bullet (Then For Sure I'd Find A Way To Your Heart) (7") Report
- 02 November 1987: If I Were A Bullet (single)
- 1988
- 31 August 1988: Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld
- 17 November 1988 (BBC World Service): If Only Words (album - Hey Man That's Beautiful) Immaculate
- 12 December 1988: If Only Words (LP - Hey Man That's Beautiful) Immaculate
- 1997
- 10 March 1997 (BBC World Service): Like One Thousand Violins (12" - Halcyon Days) Dreamworld
- 11 March 1997: ‘Like One Thousand Violins (12 inch – Halcyon Days)’ Dreamworld