Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2002. Named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band comprises Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals).
The band first experienced chart success when their second single "Take Me Out" reached #3 in the UK Charts, followed by their debut album Franz Ferdinand which debuted on the UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. NME named Franz Ferdinand as their Album of the Year. From the album, three top-ten singles were released, "Take Me Out", "The Dark of the Matinée" and "This Fire".
The members of Franz Ferdinand played in various bands during the 1990s including The Karelia, Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders and Embryo. Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson played together in Yummy Fur and subsequently teamed up to write songs. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend Bob Hardy how to play bass. Kapranos met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany, in 2001.
In May 2003, the band signed to Laurence Bell's independent record label Domino Records. The band had recorded an EP which they intended to release themselves; however, it was instead released by Domino as Darts of Pleasure in the latter part of 2003. The cover art was designed by Thomson. It reached #43 in the UK chart. The band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004, announced in November 2003.
The band moved to Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson to record their debut album. In January 2004 the single "Take Me Out" reached #3 in the UK charts. The album, Franz Ferdinand, was released in early 2004, debuting at #3 in the UK Albums Chart in February 2004 and at #12 in the Australian album charts in April 2004. The album only reached the lowest levels of the Billboard 200 album charts in the US as of early 2004, but reached the top 5 of the indie rock chart and the Heatseeker chart for debut artists. After a couple of North American tours and heavy rotation of the "Take Me Out" video on MTV, the album eventually reached #32 on the Billboard 200 later in 2004 and sold over a million copies in the United States. Franz Ferdinand received a generally strong positive response from critics. NME rated with 9 out of 10 and said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring Duran Duran, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, Travis and Blur.
On 7 September 2004 the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. "Take Me Out" gained first place in the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 for 2004, winning more than twice the votes of the second-place entry. Franz Ferdinand proceeded to win an Ivor Novello Award in 2004 and two BRIT Awards in 2005. The avant-garde music video for "Take Me Out" earned them a Breakthrough Video MTV Award. NME named Franz Ferdinand the best album of 2004, and also placed it 38th on their 100 Best Albums of All Time list. The band performed at the Grammy Awards of 2005 where they performed "Take Me Out" as a live medley with Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani. "Take Me Out" was also featured on the video game NHL 05. The album has sold around 3.6 million copies worldwide.
Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Ferdinand_(band)
Songs:
Dark of the Matinee
Darts of Pleasure
No You Girls
Take me Out
Tell her Tonight
Ulysses
