Sign In:

The Telescopes

Biography

Introduction

The Telescopes were formed in 1987 by Stephen Lawrie and could best be described as a noise/space rock band - the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3 being influences and contemporaries.

Original Line-up

History

Their debut release was a split flexi disc with Loop on the Cheree label in 1988, which was given away with the Sowing Seeds fanzine. There followed their debut single, "Kick the Wall", and "7th# Disaster" also on Cheree Records. They moved to the American What Goes On Records and released their debut LP, Taste and "The Perfect Needle" single which is perhaps their most famous song. A live album appeared on Fierce Records and following What Goes On’s bankruptcy they signed to Creation Records. In contrast to Taste's noise-rock, a more laid back, baggy influenced sound followed, described by journalist Alexis Petridis as having "an almost fragile sense of elegance and melody", and the band scraped the lower reaches of the UK singles chart with the single "Flying", and released The Telescopes, their second album, in 1992. Lawrie explained the change in direction: "Your idea of perfection changes as you move on. I think we still hold the same approach to our music now, we still try just as many mad ideas, it's just a lot more subtle and works to a different end".

They toured again with a different line-up, new sound and all new songs in 1994 and later evolved into Unisex releasing a number of records. Unisex were Stephen Lawrie (Vocals) Jo Doran (Guitars/Backing Vocals) Nick Hemming (Guitars/Keyboards) Dan (Drums) Foz (Bass)

In 2002 they made a surprise return with "The Third Wave" on Double Agent Records. In 2005 they released their fourth album "The Telescopes #4" on their own Antenna Records. By this time they were a core of just Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran, with additional member Lorin Halsall (a member of The Dust Collectors), and were a much more experimental band specialising in electronic soundscapes. In 2006 The Telescopes line up again changed to Stephen Lawrie and Bridget Hayden. This incarnation continues in the experimental noise terror direction which has occupied The Telescopes since the turn of the century. They continue to perform live and release records.

Discography

Loop/Telescopes split 7" flexidisc with Loop (December 1988, Cheree / CHEREE 1)

  1. The Telescopes - "Forever Close Your Eyes"
  2. Loop - "SoundHead" (live at ULU)


Kick the Wall 7" (Cheree / CHEREE 2) Jan. 1989
Kick the Wall, This is the Last of What's Coming Now

Ltd edition initital pressing of 1,000 in blue sleeve, followed by a re-press of 500 in numbered red sleeve.

7th# Disaster 12" (Cheree / CHEREET4) Apr. 1989
7th# Disaster, Nothing, This Planet, Cold

The Perfect Needle 12" (What Goes On / WHAT GOES 15T) Aug. 1989 (UK Indie #9)
The Perfect Needle, Sadness Pale, S.H.C. Burn, You Can Not Be Sure

  • Taste LP/CD (What Goes On / GOES ON 32 / GOES ON CD 32) 1989 (UK Indie #5)

And Let Me Drift Away, I Fall, She Screams, Oil Seed Rape, Violence, Threadbare, The Perfect Needle, There Is No Floor, Anticipating Nowhere, Please, Before You Go, Suffercation, Silent Water, Suicide

Re-released in 1990 on Cheree (CHEREE 9 / CHEREE 9CD)
Re-released in March 2006 on Rev-Ola (CR REV 152) with bonus live tracks: There Is No Floor, Sadness Pale, Threadbare and Suicide.

  1. To Kill A Slow Girl Walking
  2. Treasure
  3. Forever Now
  4. Pure Sweetest Ocean


Trade Mark Of Quality Live LP/ CD (Fierce / Fright 039 / Fright 039CD) 1990
There Is No Floor, Sadness Pale, The Perfect Needle, 7th# Disaster, Threadbare, Violence, Anticipating Nowhere, Please, Before You Go, Suicide

  • Precious Little 7"/ 12"/ CDS (April 1990 Creation / CRES 081 / CRES 081T / CRESCD 081)
  1. Precious Little
  2. Deep Hole Ends
  3. Never Hurt You
  4. I Sense
  • Everso 7"/12"/CDS (December 1990, Creation / CRES 092 / CRES 092T / CRESCD 092)
  1. Everso
  2. Never Learn Not To Love
  3. Wish Of You


Celeste 7"/ 12"/ CDS (Creation/ CRES 103 / CRES 103T / CRESCD 103) Feb. 1991
Celeste, All A Dreams, Celestial

Flying 12"/CDS (Creation / CRES 108T / CRESCD 108) Jul. 1991(UK #79)
Flying, Soul Full Of Tears, High On Fire, The Sleepwalk

Splashdown, High On Fire, You Set My Soul, Spaceships, The Presence Of Your Grace, And, Flying, Yeah, Ocean Drive, Please Tell Mother, To The Shore

Re-released in 2004 on Rev-Ola as "# Untitled Second" (CR REV 81) with bonus tracks dnaanb and tornado.
Released for the first time on CD and LP in the United States on Bomp Records 2009


  • Third Wave LP/CD (April 2002, Double Agent / DA017LP / DA017CD)
  1. A Cabin In The Sky
  2. 3D Jesus Ashtray
  3. Tesla Death Ray
  4. My Name Is Zardak [Drop Your Weaponz]
  5. A Good Place To Hide
  6. When Nemo Sank The Nautillus
  7. Winter #2
  8. Moog Destroya
  9. The Atoms Of The Sea
  10. You And I Are The Foxboy Noises
  1. I Fall She Screams
  2. There is No Floor
  3. Threadbare
  4. Anticipating Nowhere
  5. Please Before You Go
  6. Silent Water
  7. Suicide
  8. Pure Sweetest Ocean
  9. Everso
  10. Never Learn Not to Love
  11. Celeste
  12. Flying
  13. The Sleepwalk
  14. Celestial
  1. Where The Sky Is Low
  • Mooga Destroya split 7" with Lo Casta (2003, Jonathon Whiskey Records / Brian Whiskey 37.)
    • Limited to 250 copies
  1. Mooga Destroya
  1. S.H.C. Burn
  2. You Can Not Be Sure
  3. Please Before You Go
  4. Oil Seed Rape
  5. Threadbare
  6. To Kill A Slow Girl Walking
  7. Forever Now
  8. Precious Little
  9. Everso
  10. Celeste
  11. Flying
  12. High on Fire
  13. The Sleepwalk
  14. Splashdown


  • Altered Perception CD compilation (2004, Space Age Recordings / ORBIT014CD)
  1. The Perfect Needle
  2. Sadness Pale
  3. 16T#4
  4. Violence
  5. And Let Me Drift Away...
  6. Treasure
  7. Deep Hole Ends
  8. Extended Intro Piece
  9. Wish of You
  10. All A Dreams
  11. Soul Full of Tears
  12. 16T#3
  13. From the Inner Void I Fear...
  14. You Set My Soul
  15. And
  • Winter 7" (November 2004, Hungry Audio / YUMS1)
  1. Winter #7
  2. The Perfect Needle #4
  • The Telescopes #4 CD (Antenna Records / Antenna 004CD) 2005

The Hypnotic Pulse of the Motor Driven, Link #1, On a Dead Man's Bones By the Light of the Moon Skeletons Dance a Demon Dance of the Doomed, All the Leaves, A Measure of Imbalance, Singularity, Fear the Eye Became the Tone, The Yearning, Winter #4, It Bleeds

  1. Household Objective #3
  1. DSM-IV Axis 1:307.46
  2. Household Objective #4
  1. Another Sky
  2. Where It Comes From Where It Goes
  3. Household Objective #2
  4. Demon Landscape
  5. Winter #7
  6. The Perfect Needle #4

References

Biography from Wikipedia