Frazier Chorus was formed in Brighton, England in 1987, by Tim Freeman (the brother of actor Martin Freeman and musician Jamie Freeman) on vocals and keyboards, Michéle Allardyce on percussion, Kate Holmes on flute, and Chris Taplin on clarinet and programming. Original names for the band included both Fishing For Clouds and Plop!, but the band eventually settled on Frazier Chorus, a phrase they had seen on a jacket for the Frazier College football team's cheerleaders in the United States. The band signed to 4AD Records, where their dreamy, pastoral sound lent itself perfectly to the label, and in 1987 they issued their debut single, 'Sloppy Heart'. For 1988's 'Dream Kitchen' the band jumped from 4AD to Virgin, where a year later they released their first full-length effort 'Sue', and the three melodic pop songs released from it achieved minor chart success. Allardyce was eventually dismissed from the band, who continued as a three-piece, and they recorded their second album, 'Ray', which was released in 1991. Three singles were released from it, and each one was remixed by a number of top remixers, including Paul Oakenfold, Chad Jackson and Youth. Following the album's release, the band was let go from Virgin after the label was purchased by EMI and began purging a number of its artists, and subsequently Holmes and Taplin fired Freeman before ultimately disbanding entirely. Holmes later moved into electronica via the bands Sirenes, Technique, and Client, while Freeman took several years off and re-emerged in the mid-1990s, resurrecting the band name with permission from Holmes and Taplin. In 1995 Freeman released a mini-album as Frazier Chorus, but 'Wide Awake' did not reach the UK Albums Chart, and he later released 'Monkey Spunk', a collection of five demos recorded prior to the sessions for 'Wide Awake', available exclusively via the band's website. Like so many indie bands of the 90's, they included non-album tracks on the b-sides of their singles, and although they were only together as a band for five years in their first incarnation, and released just two albums, they included enough exclusive material on their singles to make up this rather fine collection.
Track listing
01 Typical (EP version) (b-side of 'Sloppy Heart' 1987)
02 Living Room (demo) (b-side of 'Sloppy Heart' 1987)
03 Down (b-side of 'Dream Kitchen' 1989)
04 String (b-side of 'Typical!' 1989)
05 Born With A Headache (b-side of 'Typical!' 1989)
06 Anarchy In The UK (b-side of 'Sloppy Heart' 1989)
07 Spoonhead (b-side of 'Sloppy Heart' 1989)
08 Little Piece Of Hell (b-side of 'Nothing' 1990)
09 Blistered (b-side of 'Nothing' 1990)
10 Le Change Est Magnifique (b-side of 'Cloud 8' 1990)
11 The Window (b-side of 'Cloud 8' 1990)
12 Walking On Air (Dub Version) (b-side of 'Walking On Air' 1991)
