Hugh Cornwell - Music Artist Band Bio

Biography

Born 28 August 1949, London, England. Cornwell had long since launched his solo career before his defection in August 1990 from the Stranglers, with whom he was lead vocalist and guitarist. His extra-curricular activities began in 1979, when he recorded an album, Nosferatu, with Captain Beefheart drummer Robert Williams, which also featured contributions from members of Devo. It is of considerable interest to Stranglers fans as it prefigures some of the lyrical and musical concerns of the band in the next decade. Cornwell returned to the Stranglers for much of the 80s, enduring several adventures, not least a jail term for heroin possession which he would later recall in a privately published indictment of the justice system - Who Guards The Guards?. He also appeared alongside Bob Hoskins in a London stage play. Cornwell's next album, Wolf, was a hugely disappointing affair, a limp attempt to carve a pop niche. Rightly considered a potent songwriter for his work with the Stranglers, this attempt to convert himself into a gruff Ray Davies fell flat, despite the presence of old pals Jools Holland and Mani Elias (Tears For Fears). The album had been prefaced by one notable single, 1987's "Facts + Figures", which featured on the soundtrack of the animated film When The Wind Blows.

Following his departure from the Stranglers after 16 years, Cornwell started to develop songs he had already half-written while still with the band. Before unveiling these, he collaborated with Roger Cook and Andy West for the largely ignored CCW album. Afterwards he recruited former collaborator Williams (drums), Alex Gifford (bass), Ted Mason and Chris Goulstone (guitars) and Art Of Noise producer Gary Langan to shape Wired. Far superior to its predecessor, this collection of songs revealed a grasp of vibrant pop. Guilty, released in 1997, continued this move towards the mainstream. The album was given an American release, under the title Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit, two years later (Wired was also issued in the US under a different title, First Bus To Babylon). At the end of the decade Cornwell released three Internet-only albums on his own His Records imprint, and recorded tracks for his studio album, Hi Fi.

Discography:
with Robert Williams Nosferatu (United Artists 1979)***, Wolf (Virgin 1988)**, with CCW CCW (UFO 1992)**, Wired (UK) First Bus To Babylon (US) (Transmission/Velvel 1993)***, Guilty (UK) Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit (US) (Madfish/Velvel 1997)***, Mayday (His 1999)***, Solo (His 1999)***, Sons Of Shiva (His 1999)**, Hi Fi (Koch 2000)***, Footprints In The Desert (Track 2002)***, In The Dock (Track 2003)***, Beyond Elysian Fields (Track 2004)***.

Bibliography:
Inside Information, Hugh Cornwell. The Stranglers Song By Song, Hugh Cornwell. A Multitude Of Sins: Golden Brown, The Stranglers And Strange Little Girls, Hugh Cornwell.



Source: Encyclopedia of Popular Music