October 24, 1997 - The official Verve site says that Lucky Man will be released on November 24th while NME says December 1st? Anyway, it will have the following tracks:
CD1
Lucky Man
Never Wanna See You Cry
History (LP version) |
CD2
Lucky Man
Bitter Sweet Symphony MSG mix
The Longest Day
Lucky Man (Happiness More or less) |
October 22, 1997 - NME reports:
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"The Verve will release "Lucky Man" as their next single on December 1st, the third track taken from their number one album "Urban Hymns".
The single will be released as a two CD box set. Details of B-sides have yet to be revealed, though it is thought that some new tracks will be included that were recorded for the album but never made the final selection.
"Urban Hymns" has become the fifth fastest selling album in the UK behind Oasis' "Be Here Now", The Prodigy's "Fat Of The Land", Michael Jackson's "Bad", and U2's "Rattle & Hum".
In it's first week of sale, "Urban Hymns" sold more than 250,000, and has now sold almost 400,000, making it a platinum-seller in less than two weeks. It has sold more than 1.5million worldwide.
Their January tour sold out in two hours."
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October 14, 1997 - I'm sure many of you knew this but Urban Hymns went straight to Number 1 in the UK charts. That's the Big Boy charts and not the indie ones. They are above Elton John, Portishead, Rolling Stones, and even OASIS! Oh my gawd!
October 11, 1997 - I reset the polls again to fix a few bugs in the script. That damn thing is a pain-in-the-ass! Oh yeah, everyone go and visit The MusicDatabase. There's a link to it on the main page. If enough people check it out I will be referred to as a "friend of the Music Database," nothing special but I think it's a cool site.
October 10, 1997 - The Lucky Man single will be out shortly, not on October 13 like I had on my site for a while. Sorry about that, it was a bad rumor.
October 6, 1997 - The Verve tour has already started to sell out, I suggest that you all get tickets and make it sell out all over the US!!
October 6, 1997 - On October 5th, Simon and Richard were on Y107 (in Los Angeles) and they were answering a bunch of questions. Richard also played Sonnet and Lucky Man acoustic.
September 28, 1997 - The Verve Information Network has been launched.
September 27, 1997 - I'm hearing about a few people on the Verve mailing list that say you can buy Verve's Urban Hymns NOW! Laura said it's on sale at the Tower Records in Atlanta, GA. Go out and BUY IT! I'll be picking up my copy tomorrow morning because I'm stuck at work all day today!!! ARG!
September 27, 1997 - Between January 23, 1997 to September 27, 1997 this page has been hit 42, 247! And the total number of Unique Visitors was 26,232! These stats were provided by WebSideStory and I'm only writing it here because I have upgraded that little counter on the bottom of my page and those numbers couldn't be tranferred over.
September 17, 1997 - Tour dates are rolling in like a mofo, if you haven't visited the Tour Page recently, then do so NOW!!
September 11, 1997 - If you haven't seen the tour page recently then check it out. Some US east and west coast dates are now on there. Hopefully these won't change because the three dates in California are EXCELLENT timing for me!!!
September 9, 1997 - My site was metioned on Radio 1's Digital Update. They just talked about how Verve wanted me to remove the samples and some secret information about the new album from my site. They even quoted the Verve when they refer to me as, "that tosspot". WOW, I've hit the bigtime now. hahah.
September 8, 1997 - The Drugs Don't Work single went straight to Number 1 this week. Nice work on a great single!
September 7, 1997 - The first US tour date was metioned in the Washington post today.
September 2, 1997 - Hut records emailed me and said that Verve, is upset that I'm selling a bootleg CD and that I have samples of the new single Drugs Don't Work. I've decided to remove all my merchandise and samples from my site.
August 30, 1997 - man.. It's 12:09am and I'm still updating this page! Anyway, the Latest rumor is that the September tour is off. As far as I know, the November tour is still on. There are no confirmed dated for the United States. I've also taken the time to add some more samples to the Multimedia page.
August 27, 1997 - Here's the tracklisting of Urban Hymns:
| Bitter Sweet Symphony |
Sonnet |
| The Rolling People |
Drugs Don't Work |
| Catching The Butterfly |
Neon Wilderness |
| Space and Time |
Weeping Willow |
| Lucky Man |
One Day |
| This Time |
Velvet Morning |
| Come On |
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August 25, 1997 - Multiple sources confirm the RUMOR that Verve will be doing a short US tour at the end of September. They will also come back to the US in November to do a proper tour.
August 20, 1997 - I've added some more song to the multimedia page. I've put the first 3 singles in RealAudio, MP3, and WAV format for you listening pleasure. More is on the way.
August 16, 1997 - NME reports:
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THE VERVE will not make any money in publishing royalties from their hit single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. It's emerged that the publishing copyright on the song which the track samples - an Andrew Loog Oldham instrumental version of The Rolling Stones' 'The Last Time' - is owned by ex-Stones manager Allen Klein. The band had thought that only half of the publishing royalties would go to Klein. Richard Ashcroft commented: "It's horrible and it's a pisser and it's a downer but it's beautiful because the song goes, 'You're a slave to the money then you die'. In the end, who gives a shit. There's more to be had from this band than 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. We'll make another fucking symphony."
Meanwhile, the band release their long-awaited new album, 'Urban Hymns', on September 29. It follows the September 1 release of their new single, 'Drugs Don't Work'. Ashcroft believes the album will "blow people's heads off". "It's sounding incredible, it's unbelievably heavy in places," he enthused. "The Verve have always been one of the heaviest bands around, but there's some beautiful songs on there too. We can't wait for people to hear it. We're always going to be pushing it - that's what we're about. These songs have come together over a two-year period, and when you get five people locking in like we do, the music becomes greater than any individual." The Verve conclude their UK tour tomorrow (August 14) at London Hammersmith Palais. They also play Reading Festival (Sunday, August 24).
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August 10, 1997 - More interviews are now on the Interviews page.
August 9, 1997 - Tonight is the first show of Verve's reunion. Reviews will be up soon.
August 2, 1997 - The Drugs Don't Work samples are now on my Multimedia page. I'm now supporting MP3, so I hope all you warez guys are happy. I also added the Time Out interview to my Interviews page.
July 30, 1997 - Philip Crewdson (maintainer of the Verve Mailing List) said that the new album will be titled, "Urban Hymns" and it will be released on September 29.
July 29, 1997 - In the mail today I found a cassette copy of the new Verve single "Drugs Don't Work" which is going to be released a month from now on September 1. I will have audio clips in the multimedia section soon.
July 28, 1997 - I got one of the Bitter Sweet Symphony Whitelabel Promos today. It has an ALT version and a MSG version of the song. You can download a realaudio clip from my multimedia page.
July 28, 1997 - Bitter Sweet Symphony had moved up to #12 in the charts, they are up from #14 last week. Err... here is how excited I am: err..woo hoo.
July 27, 1997 - Verve will support Oasis on September 25, 26, 27 at Earls Court. Let's hope Nick doesn't get in a fight with the security again!
July 23, 1997 - I updated the Interviews section with the Dazed and Confuzed interview. I also updated the Tab section with tabs for So Sister, Sonnet, Drugs Don't Work, and Space and Time.
July 22, 1997 - Bitter Sweet Symphony has fallen 2 spots and it now #14 on the charts. Who cares, as long as they are above Hanson and that fookin' MMMbob shit!
July 17, 1997 - Here's some stuff Noel Oasis said in the July 12, 1997 issue of NME (neil is the man with the master plan :) ):
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Q. What other music excites you?
NG: The Verve are like a new band to me now. I loved 'A Northern Soul' and now they're back they're like a new Verve. That single is amazing, I must have played it about 20 times in a row when I first heard it. Wait until you hear the next one, 'Drugs Don't Work'! Mind blowing.
Q. How bad has the intrusion(from the press, camping outside his house) been for you?
NG: When you meet other people from other bands they're always shocked by it. Richard from The Verve came around one night and as he got out of his car a few photographers jumped out of the car, looked at him, and said 'Don't know him' and got back in again. He was like 'Does that always happen outside your house?', and I'm like, 'Yeah, every day'. Freaked him out.
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July 16, 1997 - I've updated my page with some new images and I tried to make it a bit faster to load. I also removed the text-only link because I wasn't updating it like I should have been. The Multimedia link is down at the moment because I'm still working on it.
July 16, 1997 - Neil sent this to the Verve mailing list this morning (from today's NME):
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THE VERVE follow the top 5 success of 'BSS' with a new single 'Drugs Don't Work', released on HUT on September 1st. It is taken from the band's as-yet untitled new album, due for release later in the year.
'Drugs Don't Work' comes in two CD formats backed by a James Lavelle remix of 'BSS', a demo version of 'Drugs Don't Work', and three new songs 'Three Steps', 'The Crab', and 'Stamped'.
The band will preview new material on their rescheduled UK dates, which place next month.
The tour also marks the live debut of longtime band friend Simon Tong who will be playing keyboards on all dates.
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July 14, 1997 - Bitter Sweet Symphony is at #12 this week.
July 14, 1997 - Melody Maker News:
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The Verve's press spokesman last week laughed off persistent rumours suggesting that guitarist Nick McCabe had left the band for a second time. It was McCabe's temporary departure that had lead to the group's split in late 1995 and the recruitment of new guitarist Simon Tong - who stayed in the line-up alongside McCabe when the latter was persuaded to rejoin early this year.
The Verve's spokesman last week blamed the rumours on "bored people in the industry" and assured The Maker that he'd recently seen McCabe in the studio hard at work on the new Verve album.
The spokesman confirmed that, as previously announced, the band will be releasing their new single "Drugs Don't Work" on Hut in late August, to coincide with their appearance at the Reading festival.
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July 10, 1997 - Bitter Sweet Symphony is at #6 in the UK charts. It's been three weeks since the release and it's still in the top ten. (thanks neil!!)
July 5, 1997 - Verve are rumored to open up for Oasis when they tour America this fall.
July 1, 1997 - This months Q magazine (Paul Weller on the cover) has a photograph of Richard laying down backing vocals for a track on Oasis' forthcoming album - Liam Gallagher is also in shot and seems to be playing air guitar while his hero does all the work. (thanks neil)
June 23, 1997 - Small article in the "The Face" says that the next single (Drugs Don't Work) includes a 40 piece orchestra. (thanks neil)
June 22, 1997 - Bitter Sweet Symphony has made it to number 2 in the UK charts.
June 18, 1997 - Dotmusic has written an article on Verve, Click here to check it out. They are also in this weeks issue of Time Out.
June 13, 1997 - There's word that a US tour will start in September. I don't have any dates or venues, so please don't ask. When I have the info, it will be on my Tour Page.
June 12, 1997 - Here's the "official" word on the postponed tour:
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The Verve have been forced to postpone their forthcoming UK tour because of
illness. Lead singer Richard Ashcroft has been instructed by doctors to
rest for six weeks after being diagnosed with a viral infection.
The tour however has been rescheduled for August and all tickets purchased
for the shows will be valid for the new dates which are as follows:
| Sheffield | Leadmill | 9th August |
| Glasgow | Barrowlands | 10th August |
| Manchester | University | 11th August |
| Wolverhampton | Wulfrun | 13th August |
| London | Hammersmith Palais | 14th August |
The dates now come immediately before the Verve's already scheduled
appearance at the Reading Festival on Sunday August 24th.
The release of the band's new single Bitter Sweet Symphony is still
scheduled for Monday June 16th. It comes as a prelude to their much
anticipated third album, which is set to be released later this year.
Tickets for Glasgow, Manchester and London are completely sold out. Entry
to the Sheffield concert is by payment on the door only, but a few tickets
remain for the Wolverhampton show, available from the venue box office.
The band regret any disappointment to the fans especially as these were to
be the Verve's first UK shows for two years.
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June 11, 1997 - A pretty good source emailed me and said that the Verve tour has been canceled because Richard is very ill. He also went on to say that it is not an official announcement. Oh yeah, he also wanted to remain anonymous. This is the worst news that I have ever seen since the breakup, I hope it isn't true!
June 7, 1997 - Verve are on the cover of NME this week and I should have a copy of it in a few days. It says that the next single is going to be "The Drugs Don't Work." And early rumors from the mailing say that it's going to be out on August 25 and the album will follow in September.
June 4, 1997 - Today I got a cassette copy of the new verve singles. They won't be released until June 16 in the UK and it will take a bit longer to reach everyone here in America.
June 1, 1997 - Neil Harnett (our UK representive) informs us that this months Vox (with John Squire on the cover) has a page on Verve. It also has a picture of Simon Jones and Richard Ashcroft. They also talk about Bitter Sweet Symphony being a great song (duh!) and how it's 8 minutes long. VERY NICE.
May 19, 1997 - If you want to check out the New Verve single, then go the the Raft because they asked me to remove it from my site. I don't want them to pull an Oasis on me. :)
May 18, 1997 - Neil Harnett mailed me the Verve postcard and it's now scanned and on my main page. I also ripped off the samples of the new Verve single from the official Raft page. You can get check them out on my Multimedia Page.
May 4, 1997 - With all the action that my pages have been going through in the past few weeks (Swervedriver being dropped from Geffen, Carter USM finally releasing a new album in the United States, oh yeah, and Verve getting back together), I forgot to post this bit: Verve are recording the new album at Metropolis Studios. I'm sure you can all sleep better at night knowing this. :)
April 30, 1997 - Once again Neil Harnett posts this new information about the Verve single to the mailing list (he got this straight from the current Melody maker):
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THE VERVE make their long awaited return in June with a new single and a short UK tour.
The single "Bitter Sweet Symphony" will be released on two different CD's on JUNE 16TH by Hut recordings. It's from The Verve's new album which is set for release later this year.
The first CD features the original version and a radio edit of "B.S.S" plus "Lord, i guess i'll never know" and "country song". CD2 features an extended version of the a-side aswell as the radio edit with "So sister" and "Echo bass".
The tour dates originally set up by the band have now been rearranged. The Glasgow show has been moved to Barrowlands to accomdate demand, and the Manchester gig will now take place at the University instead of the Hacienda.
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April 23, 1997 - NJ Harnett posted news about a Verve tour in the UK. I have posted his dates on the new Tour Dates page.
April 05, 1997 - In the Octover 12, 1996 Melody Maker reported this:
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DJ Shadow is among the contributors to a forthcoming all-star album credited to U.N.K.L.E.. He's working with Verve man Richard Ashcroft on a track for the album.
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Mar 03, 1997 - Click here to go to the NME page, or just read on:
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THE VERVE, who split in August 1995, have reformed with original guitarist Nick McCabe and will play this year's Reading Festival. The band are currently in the studio working on a new album with producer Youth, the former Killing Joke bassist who has worked as a producer for U2, Polly Harvey, Nick Cave and The Orb. The album is due out in September or October this year.
A spokeswoman for the band said: "The Verve never really went away. Nick left, but they didn't split up. Nick has now rejoined and the album is underway. The band have also been confirmed for Reading Festival this year." She added: "The album sounds wonderful, it's going to be the best yet. It's phenomenal. I think this could be The Verve's year, definitely." Former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler joined the band last summer, but left after only a week when singer Richard Ashcroft decided it wasn't working out. Original band member Nick McCabe then rejoined the band after Ashcroft's psychic advisor - a member of the Spiritualist Church near his London home - instructed him to re-enlist the guitarist's services, a band spokesman said.
The Verve split following their appearance at 1995's T In The Park festival. Ashcroft said he didn't feel the band was working any more. Three months later, he announced he was forming another band with Verve drummer Pete Salisbury and bassist Simon Jones, together with three new members, including guitarist Simon Tong. Record releases were mooted, but never materialised. Ashcroft appeared live in March last year at Oasis' New York Madison Square Garden gig and played three acoustic numbers. Planned solo shows at Oasis' Knebworth and Loch Lomond events, however, never took place. The new band recorded many tracks with former Stone Roses producer John Leckie in November 1995, but Ashcroft decided they were not up to scratch. They tried again with former Oasis producer Owen Morris, but again nothing was released.
Last summer, Ashcroft decided they needed another lead guitarist and tried to persuade former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire to join, but he already had plans for his own band, The Seahorses. Butler was suggested, and he and Ashcroft met and immediately started work in the studio. But a week later, Butler was told by Ashcroft it wasn't working out because, "there were too many egos" - it was his band, not Butler's. McCabe was busy making electro music in his bedroom at the time and had hardly picked up his guitar since leaving the band. But despite hardly talking to Ashcroft since the split, he decided to give The Verve another go. One insider said: "Their songs are better now than anything The Verve did before. They've got 40 songs in various states of completion. All of it's brilliant."
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Feb 25, 1997 - Here's the official word that everyone is looking for:
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The Verve, who split in August '95, have reformed with original guitarist Nick McCabe and will play the Reading Festival this year.
The band are currently in the studio working on a new album with producer Youth, the former KILLING JOKE bassist who has worked as a producer for U2, Polly Harvey, Nick Cave and the Orb. The album is due out in September or October.
A new single will be released in June. I'm assuming that this single will be released to conenside with their Festival date.
This information can be read in it's entirety in the next NME (1 March) The article goes into depth on the split, the replacements for Nick, the producers and the reunion. I can't beleive I have info on the web BEFORE it's published in the NME!!!
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Feb 04, 1997 - Apparently there are tons of rumors about Nick joining the band, to reform Verve and people are coming to me asking for the truth. Well, I heard that Nick is back, Simon Tong will stay and they will keep the name Verve. As for the demos that are flying around the world, who knows but Verve? I don't know if they will ever shows up on new Verve material or they will be knows as the Verve Dark Ages Tapes. I do know that if I ever get permission they will be on this page in FULL so stay tuned.
Jan 17, 1997 - Here's the latest from a source close to the band:
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New news! The verve are NOT turing with the Longpigs, and I mean that they are
not turing. The name of the band is not Embrace. All that was red in NME is
false! Members of the band have recently returned from an extended
christmas/new year vacation that started in the US in early December... What I
was told was that NOTHING is happening.
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Jan 10, 1997 - The new Verve minus Nick McCabe band will be in full swing by March. This info came from the Verve mailing list which came from an NME.
Jan 6, 1997 - The Real Audio files that are on the Multimedia page now stream.
