Claytown Troupe

Claytown Troupe
Origin	Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare
Genres	Gothic rock, Post-punk
Years active	1984–1993; 2004–present
Labels	Island Records EMI Records
Website	http://www.claytowntroupe.co.uk
Members
Christian Riou Richard Williams Ben Christo Johnny Thornton Dan Roth
Past members
Adrian 'Ben' Bennett Andy Holt Paul Waterson Chris Sharp Clive Murray Keith Simpsone

Claytown Troupe are a gothic rock band from Bristol, Bath and Weston-super-Mare, England.

Career

The band was formed in 1984 by lead singer Christian Riou, who claimed in an NME interview that a local clairvoyant advised him to form a band called "the Clayton Troop". By 1986, Claytown Troupe had an accomplished live show, which earned them major record label interest. In 1988, the band signed to Island Records by Ron Fair, who co-produced (with Ralph Jezzard) their debut album, Through the Veil. This album reached #72 on the UK Albums Chart in October 1989.^[1]

Claytown Troupe played to sell-out audiences the London's Marquee Club and Astoria, before going on to play as support band for The Cult's Sonic Temple tour, at venues such as Wembley Arena and Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. Following this success, the band continued as support band for Pearl Jam, The Wonder Stuff, The Damned, Julian Cope, Jesus Jones, The Godfathers, and The Mission, as well as the Los Angeles Foundations Forum, which also featured Ozzy Osbourne and Soundgarden.

Switching record labels to EMI Records, Claytown Troupe's next album, Out There (1991), was produced by David Bianco at New York's The Hit Factory. In 1992 they toured the United Kingdom with Terrorvision as their support act. At this stage, drummer Andy Holte, guitarist Ben Bennett and bassist Paul Waterson left and the band was dropped by EMI. Riou and Richard Williams continued for two more years before Riou decided to put the band on hold.

Riou and Williams reformed the band in 2004 and were invited to perform at that year's Whitby Gothic Weekend. The band played a headline date at The Half Moon music venue in Putney in December 2004.^[2] In 2008, they were joined by Ben Christo from The Sisters Of Mercy to play as support band for the Mission's last ever tour date at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Later that year, they played as support for Spear of Destiny at the Islington Academy, London.

Discography

Singles

• "Prayer"
• "Hey Lord"
• "Real Life"
• "Ways of Love" (1990) - UK #57^[1]
• "Wanted It All" (1992) - UK #74^[1]
• "Skybound"

Albums

• Through the Veil (1989) (Island) - UK #72^[1]
• Out There (1991) (EMI)

See also

• List of bands from England
• List of bands from Bristol
• Culture of Bristol

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 110. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
2. ^ http://www.halfmoon.co.uk/gigs/claytown_troupe.htm Half Moon, Putney gig details - 9 Dec 2004

External links

• Official Site
• Official Myspace