The Outfield is a British pop music project. The group enjoyed its popularity to a greater extent in the United States of America, and not in its native Britain, which is surprising in itself - usually listeners support their compatriots.
The team began its active work in the mid-1980s, and even then he released his first record. In America, this album was well received, sold a significant number of copies, the record was included in the list of 200 best-selling in the United States.
The single released by the group has appeared in many compilations of various genres. Beginning and professional musicians created cover versions for the composition. During the 1980s and 1990s, The Outfield toured extensively and worked on recording new studio songs.
The second album of the Bangin group also entered all the major charts in the United States, but by the end of the 1980s, the musical group was not very interesting to the public.
The fact is that at that time the drummer left the musical group, and the group became a duet. This was the reason that the listener was disappointed with the next album, and the critics expressed a lot of negative opinions.
In 1992, in connection with these events, the musicians decided to suspend the activities of the group, and until 1998 the group did not actually exist.
Only in 1998 did the musicians start touring again, even releasing two albums with live recordings.
History of the Outfield Group
The team appeared back in the late 1970s from the musicians of the Sirius B group. The musicians performed under this name for some time in England, but for several months of concert activity they could not please the public.
Perhaps the fact is that at that time such a musical genre as punk rock was very popular, and the band's music was far from this direction.
A few years later, the musicians got back together, this time they chose the name Baseball Boys, and this name was liked by a major record company with which the guys collaborated.
The group began to gain popularity, and later they were still asked to change their name, as the former sounded frivolous. The men decided to call the group The Outfield, and it was under this name that they became famous throughout the world.
The band's first album, Play Deep, was very popular with listeners, it even went platinum three times, which is surprising for a group from Britain, which has just begun its musical career on the American stage.
At this time, the group actively developed its touring activities, where it also gained significant success - the musicians repeatedly performed as an opening act for well-known bands.
According to the musicians in multiple interviews, all members of the group do not use drugs and do not smoke. This is surprising, because almost the entire music industry of those years is closely associated with bad habits, and musicians even considered smoking to be fashionable.
The band's second album, Banging', although well-deservedly popular, did not cause the same buzz as the first record. But the musicians did not give up and continued to tour. One of the songs from the second album Bangin' on My Heart entered the top 40 best songs and was liked by the listener.
The third album, Voices of Babylon, created an even bigger downfall for the band. The fact is that the musicians decided to change the direction in music, and also began working with a new producer.
Despite the fact that one of the songs from this album became a classic rock hit by Voices of Babylon, the popularity of the project continued to decrease, and the fans gradually forgot about the group.
Duet
After the release of the third album, drummer Simon Dawson left the band. For the duration of the tour, the musicians were able to replace him, but they could not find a permanent drummer. Therefore, the group turned into a duo, the guys signed a contract with another label, started working on a new album.
Since the group did not have a drummer, a temporary session musician was invited, who participated only in the recording process. The Diamond Days album also received public recognition and was liked by many fans of the group, but did not cause a significant stir.
Further work of The Outfield
The mid-1990s was a difficult period for many bands, and The Outfield was no exception.
The fact is that the tastes of the public began to change, more musical groups appeared, competition increased. At this time, the group decided to cease to exist, and nothing was heard about the musicians for many years.
The group was forced to return to Britain, where almost no one knew their music. For several years they performed in small venues at local concerts, but did not receive significant recognition in their native country.
But the musicians decided not to give up, recorded another album Extra Innings as a gift to their loyal fans and started touring again.
Already in 1999, the Super Hits collection was released, consisting of old and new songs, and a few years later two more records were released: Any Time Now, Replay. The musicians resumed concert activities, modifying their musical creativity and adjusting it to the needs of the listener.
The Outfield today
The Outfield became more active on social networks, the band got official accounts, and it became much easier for fans to follow the band's activities.
Vigorous activity continued until 2014, when the lead guitarist of the musical project, John Spinks, died of liver cancer. Today there are two members left in the band: Tony Lewis and Alan Jackman. They continue to write music and remake old compositions.
