Albion Sky Album
Griffin performing in 2008 Background information Birth name Alistair Richard Griffin Born ( 1977-11-01) 1 November 1977 (age 40) Origin, England Genres Years active 2000–present Labels UMTV (2003–2004) Alistair Richard Griffin (born 1 November 1977) is an English and musician. Already an established, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the television show in 2003, where he was mentored by of the. He subsequently had two top twenty hit singles and a top twenty album in the UK. Contents.
In July 2012, he released his second solo album Albion Sky, on the label Dramatico Entertainment. Griffin's song 'Always.
Early career Alistair Griffin was born in, England. He started singing and writing songs whilst still a student at York St. John College (now ), playing guitar and on the streets of with a small band. His wide musical influences range from and, to English and American.
After graduating with a in English literature and following a brief stint working as a around his home town, he moved to to pursue a career as a. In 2001, as vocalist with the pop/rock band Sugartown, he performed in front of 70,000 people at the. The following year, he and his occasional songwriting partner, Stuart Hanna (now part of folk duo Megson) formed the band Pulse, and co-wrote the song 'Fade Away' (having recorded the song on an 8-track in Hanna's bedroom) and entered it for the 2002 on. The song was shortlisted, and a performance by Pulse was broadcast, but it failed to reach the finals. Griffin was briefly a member of the boyband and spent some time working in Germany with. It was widely reported that he auditioned for the boyband, only narrowly failing to make it to the final line-up, but Griffin later dismissed this as a fabrication by the press. Although signed by music publisher 's company, he was unable to get a solo recording contract and in 2002, he applied to become a contestant on the first series of.
Fame Academy Griffin reached the final audition stage of on his first attempt in 2002, but was not chosen to appear on the show. He re-applied for a place on the following year and was voted through by the public with the highest vote of the preliminary round. The vocal coaches criticized both his voice and image, calling them 'unoriginal', 'unidentifiable' and 'boybandish'; however, guest judge of the said Griffin had a 'unique talent' as a vocalist and songwriter, an 'ideal recording voice' with 'an engaging vocal tone'. His technically accomplished live performances and proven songwriting ability gradually gained him the support of the public. As the final approached, he was dubbed the ' of the show by presenter, and eventually finished in second place. The final showdown between Griffin and eventual winner was screened live and generated so many angry messages from viewers after, who duetted with both finalists, made his feelings clear by urging viewers that they should 'just vote for '.
This outburst by Bedingfield led to claims of favouritism. The BBC was forced to close down the message boards as negative messages just flooded in the board. Bedingfield made a public apology to Griffin for his behaviour and outburst. The actual voting figures have never been publicly released. Griffin said about Fame Academy: It helped open some doors that would otherwise have been closed to me, but equally closed quite a few which may have something to do with why it has taken me so long to come back from it all. Fame Academy was a bizarre, surreal and wonderful experience. I think it’s fair to say it was a bit of a double-edged sword in terms of how it shaped my future musically.
It was a good experience and taught me a great deal about the music industry while also giving me the exposure I needed and was desperately failing to obtain going it alone for all the years previously. After Fame Academy. Griffin in 2008 During 2004, Griffin performed live at over 50 gigs up and down the UK and appeared on numerous television programmes, including and. In March of that year, he also competed in the European 'WorldBest' competition in Cannes, singing live with. The live performances of his own material that he gave throughout that year, singing and with the backing of a regular 5-piece band, Riccardi, showed a marked difference from the generic 'pop' approach of his record company. After parting from UMTV, he abandoned his record company's ' style' backing tracks and his former ' image.
In the autumn, he supported on his 'Magnet' tour of Germany, opening each concert with an acoustic set of his own songs, playing guitar and accompanied on keyboards by long-time friend and fellow musician, Simon Waggott (Waggo), as well as joining Gibb on stage to duet on '. On his return, he released an independent recording of his live performances in Germany, which he showcased at a series of concerts in the North of England. During 2005, Griffin continued to perform live, both solo and with Riccardi, but split with them later that year. He moved back to York and although there were rumours of a new recording deal, nothing materialized. In November, he assembled a new backing band and performed his first London gig for over a year at, where he showcased several new compositions. Albion In April 2006, Griffin announced that he would shortly be forming a new band, and that he would no longer be pursuing a solo career, but rather be concentrating on working and writing with his new band, that he called Albion.
For some time, he performed solo only at charity events and small local venues. The initial lineup proved unsuccessful, with leaving a few months later to form another band, The Station Club. At the end of 2006, Griffin (guitar and vocals) and (drums), were joined by (ex ) (guitars and keyboard) and Paul 'Foda' Fothergill (bass). At the beginning of 2007, Griffin set up his own recording studio called Oakwood near York. Despite writing and recording many songs together and releasing several free download tracks, Albion split up abruptly in August 2007 for reasons which were not made public.
When interviewed, Griffin commented 'Things weren’t working out the way we anticipated and it seemed the right time to call it a day'. After Albion When interviewed shortly after disbanding Albion in August 2007, he confirmed his intention to resume recording and performing as a solo artist, although he has since performed several times at society weddings and other functions as well as at charity concerts, fronting his covers band, Blue Nun.
Brighton And Hove Albion Sky Sports
As well as pursuing various other projects, he wrote and recorded material for his next solo album. He performed several of these brand new songs live with his own (unnamed) backing band in May 2008, during a short tour of smaller venues in the UK supporting recently signed indie band. In August 2008, he headlined the Truck Stage at the H2008:Beached festival in and was also booked to return there for Acoustic Gathering 111 in September. UK tour dates with Ivyrise were announced for September as well as an additional appearance at the Grand Opera House, York. In December 2008, he made an impromptu appearance with David Smith and The Mojos. Recordings.
Griffin in 2006 In 1999–2000, Griffin recorded several demos of his own compositions which were made available online at Songmanagement.com. These have never been officially released. In 2002, he recorded the football anthem 'Stand Up' which was included in the compilation album Boro Songs – The Sound Of The Riverside. Several covers he recorded for the Fame Academy programme were released as download-only tracks by the BBC during the course of the show in 2003. These were also included in the compilation albums Fame Academy 'Bee Gees Special' and Fame Academy – The Finalists, also released in 2003. In October 2003, Griffin signed a record deal with and at the end of December released his first single, '; a double A-side also featuring 'My Lover's Prayer', a duet with Robin Gibb.
Although it received very little airplay, it was voted No. 1 for 6 consecutive weeks on the music TV channel, and reached the top 5 in the. On 9 January 2004, he was therefore able to fulfil one of his lifetime ambitions to appear live on. In January 2004, he released his debut album, also titled, featuring mainly self-penned songs. This charted at number 12 in the. His second single, ', reached the top 20 but Griffin parted with both his record company and management soon afterwards. In late 2004, he released an independent solo CD, Live in Germany, featuring live recordings of the acoustic set he performed in Germany while supporting Robin Gibb. This included 'Bring it On', 'You and Me (Tonight)', 'In Your Smile' and 'I Have Lived' with a cover of 'I Can't Make You Love Me'.
The limited edition CD was only made available for a short time at his concerts. At his Christmas concert in December 2006, he released another independently recorded, three track solo CD, Finding, consisting of one co-written song, 'Let Love Speak Its Name', a cover of 'Hallelujah' which he regularly sings live, and an acoustic cover of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Brand new versions of four of the songs which were originally recorded with his former band Albion, but never released, are included on his most recent solo CD Alistair Griffin (May 2008), again produced independently and only available to buy at live concerts during the tour. These are 'Blown Away', 'I Have Lived', 'Silent Suicide' and 'Is It Me'.
Unreleased demos of his own compositions are regularly previewed on his official Myspace. Griffin's third single ' entered the UK Singles Chart at number 38, after being played in full over the BBC's montage at the end of the.
The track was produced with at the Oakwood Studios, York. 'Just Drive' is the title song for ' F1 coverage.
In July 2012, he released his second solo album, on the label Dramatico Entertainment. Griffin's song 'Always, No.1' was played in full over the BBC's F1 montage at the end of the and in 2014 was played in a tribute to the F1 driver who had an accident months before, in the channel of a Spanish YouTuber called Efeuno (Formula One in English). Griffin wrote 'The Road', the official song of the which he recorded with 's. Recording 'Hallelujah Mark Viduka' In February 2007, Griffin sang at a charity event at the, home of Middlesbrough Football Club.
After his performance of ’s 'Hallelujah', he asked the audience if they would like to hear an alternative version, based on Cohen’s song, but with new words dedicated to the Boro hero at that time, Australian striker. Keeping faithfully to Cohen's melody, Griffin's vocals are sung to a simple acoustic backing, forming a contrast to the altered lyrics which reference the particular skills of Viduka and several other popular players in the team, as well as some of their opponents. After hearing the song, Middlesbrough manager was so taken with it, he asked Griffin to make a special recording to play at the following day’s match.
It was played to the crowd at half-time and to the players in the dressing room after the game. In an interview with the, Boro’s Aussie international keeper said: It’s a great song. He (Mark Viduka) is already copping some stick about it and I’m going to make sure he gets some more from the Australia camp — I’m going to make sure they get to hear it as well. We played it in the dressing room afterwards and were a bit unsure about it to begin with but the chorus is pretty good. We all sang and I think Mark was a little bit embarrassed by it but I think he enjoyed it The BBC Sports Review described the song as the 'football anthem of the week, year, decade and possibly all time', and the called it 'a bit on the excellent side'.
TV and radio coverage followed. A film of Griffin performing the song with other young Middlesbrough supporters appeared on, and he also appeared on the BBC's and 's regional news programmes. In addition to interviews on local radio stations, Griffin was also interviewed on.
The song was also broadcast on several channels in Australia and on the. Southgate embraced the tune as a way of raising money for his chosen charity,.
Leonard Cohen was approached and gave permission for the song to be released as a. Songwriting Griffin's songs cover a wide range of genres, from light pop and romantic to anthemic rock. After recording several demos, he obtained a publishing deal with Trevor Horn's Perfect Songs. He has also co-written songs with a number of other artists, including James Hearn, Michael Harwood, Nick Keynes and Jon O'Mahony of, Robin Gibb, singer/songwriter Richard Chance, songwriting duo Chris and Tony Griffiths (of ex- band ), and Paul Banks (ex Shed Seven). In 2002, 'Fade Away', one of several songs co-written with Stuart Hanna, was shortlisted for the Song for Europe competition. That year Griffin also co-wrote the football anthem 'England Crazy' which was recorded by and. He also recorded his own version of the Boro anthem 'Stand Up', which was included in the compilation album Boro Songs – The Sound Of The Riverside.
Several covers of his earlier songs have achieved notable chart success in the. 'You and Me' appears on the #1 album Impressed, released in 2003 by, runner-up in the Dutch series of Pop Idol; ’s ballad ' (co-written with ) reached the Dutch Top 10 in 2004 and 'Hungry For Love' (co-written with Greg Fitzgerald and Tom Nichols) was covered by rock band, getting to number 3 early in 2005. Griffin's debut album, Bring It On consisted mainly of songs that he wrote or co-wrote before being signed. During his time in Fame Academy, he also co-wrote several new songs with the students and the songwriters on the show. 'Painkiller', (co-written with Greg Fitzgerald and Tom Nichols) along with 'A Heart Can't Lie', co-written with fellow student, both appeared on his debut album. He has also written and co-written songs for albums by (2004), (2006), (2007), and (2009). In 2005, he resumed his writing partnership with James and Tom Martin.
He has since recorded new versions of several of these songs with Albion, which were made available as free downloads on Myspace in 2007. In 2012, he wrote ' for the during the.The single was released officially on 16 December 2012 as a UK Christmas single on. The proceeds from the single went to the British Olympic Foundation and the. The song was promoted with videos and messages of support from the mayor of London and many Olympic athletes, notably rowers, and Great Britain Rowers team and by tenor. Mayor Johnson said about the song: 'This song is a great tribute to the feelings of pride, inspiration and goodwill that spread throughout the country during the 2012 Games. I wish everyone involved the best of luck in their efforts in keeping the Olympic spirit alive.' In 2014 Griffin released his 3rd album From Nowhere.
He teamed up with Pledge Music allowing people to pre-order his album along with other bits of merchandise. The album featured 2014 Tour de France single 'The Road' along with his soon to be released single 'Freefall'. People who pre-ordered the album known as 'Pledgers' received a digital downloadable version of the album in July before general release in September 2014. Personal life Griffin was brought up in, a small village near,.
He has two older sisters. He has retained strong links with his family and his local community and often performs at local events to raise money for good causes. In 2003, without his knowledge, his mother, Barbara Griffin, offered a date with him as a prize in a charity for the Whitby Appeal. Enough money was raised to light the town for the next three years.
A former junior champion, he played tennis and also performed with Riccardi in Sir 's pro/celebrity Tennis Tournament in December 2004. In March 2017, Alistair's private residence was partially demolished after the driver of a stolen Audi A4 careered off the road, following a brief chase by police. Although Griffin himself was not in residence, his child and ex-girlfriend were sleeping upstairs at the time of the incident, though all parties remained unharmed.
Discography Albums Year Title Peak chart positions 2004. Released: 12 January 2004. Formats:, 12 2012 Albion Sky. Released: 2 July 2012. Formats:, - 2014 From Nowhere. Released: 7 July 2014.
Formats:, -. Apart from his three albums, he has also brought out the EP Mogganaut, containing four tracks. Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Album 2003 ' 5 Bring It On 2004 ' 18 2007 'Mark Viduka' — Non-album release 2010 ' 38 Albion Sky 2012 'Blinding Lights' — 'Always No. 1' — 2014 'The One' (featuring Leddra Chapman) — From Nowhere 'The Road' ( - Official Song of the ) (featuring Kimberley Walsh) 196 2015 'Heroes' ( - Official Song of ) — Non-album release Featured in Year Single Peak chart positions Album 2012 ' (The featuring Alistair Griffin) 70 Non-album release References. Retrieved 2012-05-21. Updated 8:00pm 21 May 2012 (2006-07-29).
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Archived from on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-21. Efeuno (2015-04-04). Retrieved 2015-04-04. Retrieved 3 July 2014. Archived from on 14 March 2016.
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Retrieved 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2017-05-05. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited.
Retrieved 16 December 2012. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. Reviews. Gig Review Other links and information sources. Official Website. report. In depth interview with Pete Bell of the Cultural Foundation, 19.6.2004.
Music Publisher. on. Media. (QuickTime). (QuickTime). January 2004 (RealPlayer). – comprehensive multimedia archive of live performances, 2004–2007, recorded by fans.
Middlesbrough Gazette. Broadband TV channel (video podcast), 1 March 2007.