Fairground Attraction

Fairground Attraction
left to right: Reader, Dodds, Edwards, Nevin
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Folk, Skiffle, Soft rock
Years active	1987–1990
Labels	RCA
Past members	Eddi Reader Mark E. Nevin Simon Edwards Roy Dodds

Fairground Attraction were a British folk and soft rock band. They are best known for their hit song "Perfect" and the subsequent single "Find My Love", and for helping to launch the career of lead vocalist Eddi Reader.

Career

In 1987 Fairground Attraction were signed to RCA, and released their first single, "Perfect", in April 1988. It was an immediate success, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart. Their album The First of a Million Kisses was a blend of folk, jazz, country, and cajun elements (all but one of its songs being written by Nevin). Released in May 1988, it followed the success of "Perfect" by entering the UK Albums Chart at number three, and rising to number two; it was eventually certified platinum. Three other singles were released from the same album: "Find My Love" (which reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart), "A Smile in a Whisper", and "Clare".

At the 1989 BRIT Awards "Perfect" won the award for best single, and The First of a Million Kisses won best album.

Although they were popular in European countries, and toured the United States, their main success outside the UK was in Japan, where they toured in 1989 (a tour that produced their only live album, Kawasaki Live in Japan 02.07.89).

In September 1989, however, during the recording of their second album, rumours of arguments circulated, and in January 1990 the band split up. An album Ay Fond Kiss was released in 1990, and one of its songs, a cover of Patsy Cline's 1957 country hit "Walkin' After Midnight", became their last single. The album was made up of B-sides and other material recorded alongside the first album (many being collaborations by just two band members). Material for the second album went on to be recorded by Nevin with Brian Kennedy under the name Sweetmouth, although eight tracks have since appeared sung by Reader on the Kawasaki Live in Japan 02.07.89 album.

Eddi Reader embarked on a solo career, while Mark E Nevin worked together with Morrissey, co-writing most of the Kill Uncle album^[1] as well as some later songs in a Rockabilly style.

Personnel

• Eddi Reader – vocals – born 29 August 1959, Glasgow, Scotland
• Mark E. Nevin – electric and acoustic guitars – born 13 August 1959, Ebbw Vale, Wales
• Simon Edwards – guitarrón – born 29 April 1958, Hurley, England
• Roy Dodds – drums – born 11 July 1951 [Bucks UK ]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions											Certifications
		UK [2]	AUS [3]	AUT [4]	CAN [5]	FIN [6]	GER [7]	NED [8]	NZ [9]	SWE [10]	SWI [11]	US [12]
The First of a Million Kisses	Released: 16 May 1988 Label: RCA	2	9	17	57	13	38	29	19	6	18	137	UK: 2× Platinum[13]
Ay Fond Kiss	Released: 18 June 1990 Label: RCA	55	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

• The Collection: Fairground Attraction, featuring Eddi Reader (1994)
• Perfect: The Best of Fairground Attraction (1995)
• The Very Best of Fairground Attraction, featuring Eddi Reader (1996)
• The Masters (1997)
• 80s Eternal Best: Fairground Attraction Best (1998)
• The Best of Fairground Attraction (2004)

Live albums

• Kawasaki Live in Japan 02.07.89 (2003)

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions											Certifications	Album
		UK [14]	AUS [15]	AUT [16]	BEL [17]	GER [18]	IRE [19]	NED [20]	NZ [21]	SWE [22]	SWI [23]	US [24]
1988	"Perfect"	1	1	19	4	5	1	5	4	2	5	80	UK: Silver[25] SWE: Gold[26]	The First of a Million Kisses
	"Find My Love"	7	86	3	24	22	6	30	34	—	—	—
	"A Smile in a Whisper"	75	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989	"Clare"	49	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990	"Walking After Midnight"	97	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Ay Fond Kiss
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Videos

• The First of a Million Kisses (1990)

  Collection of music videos: "Perfect", "Find My Love", "A Smile in a Whisper", "Clare"

• Live at Full House (1990)

  Live performances from German television show called Live at Full House:

References

1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/kill-uncle-mw0000320509
2. "UK Albums". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
3. "Australian Albums". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
4. "Austrian Albums". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
5. "Canadian Albums" (PDF). RPM Magazine. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
6. "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961" (in Finnish). Sisältää Hitin - Suomen listalevyt (Timo Pennanen). Retrieved 2016-07-14.
7. "German Albums". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
8. "Dutch Albums". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
9. "New Zealand Albums". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
10. "Swedish Albums". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
11. "Swiss Albums". hitparade.ch.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
12. "US Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
13. "BPI Certification". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
14. "UK Singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
15. Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
    • Top 50 peaks: Steffen Hung. "australian-charts.com > Discography Fairground Attraction". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
    • "Find My Love": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 5 June 2015". Imgur. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
16. "Austrian Singles". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
17. "Belgian Singles". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
18. "German Singles". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
19. "Irish Singles". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
20. "Netherlands Singles". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
21. "New Zealand Singles". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
22. "Swedish Singles". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
23. "Swiss Singles". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
24. "US Singles". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
25. "BPI Certification". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
26. "Swedish Single Certifications 1987-1998" (PDF). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 2016-06-19.

External links

• Eddi Reader's official site
• Mark E. Nevin's Web site