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The Waterboys | |
|---|---|
 The Waterboys performing in Antwerp in 2003. L–R: Mike Scott, Geoff Dugmore, Steve Wickham and Brad Waissman. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1983–1993; 1998–present |
| Members |
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The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in 1983[1] by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll. They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career. The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide. Scott emphasises a continuity between the Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."[2]
The early Waterboys sound became known as "The Big Music" after a song on their second album, A Pagan Place. This style was described by Scott as "a metaphor for seeing God's signature in the world."[3] Waterboys chronicler Ian Abrahams elaborated on this by defining "The Big Music" as "...a mystical celebration of paganism. It's extolling the basic and primitive divinity that exists in everything ('the oceans and the sand'), religious and spiritual all encompassing. Here is something that can't be owned or built upon, something that has its existence in the concept of Mother Earth and has an ancestral approach to religion. And it takes in and embraces the feminine side of divinity, pluralistic in its acceptance of the wider pantheon of paganism."[4]
"The Big Music" either influenced or was used to describe a number of other bands specializing in an anthemic sound, including U2,[5] Simple Minds, In Tua Nua, Big Country and Hothouse Flowers.[6]
In the late 1980s, the band became significantly more folk-influenced. The Waterboys eventually returned to rock and roll, and have released both rock and folk albums since reforming.
- ^ Scott 2017, p. 42.
- ^ "A Rock in the Weary Land review". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 October 2005.
- ^ "The 'Big Music' of the Waterboys: Song, Revelry, and Celebration". Archived from the original on 24 October 2005. Retrieved 22 October 2005. This article appeared as part of the Academy of American Poets' web-based National Poetry Almanac's 2004 "Poetry and Music" series. The author is unidentified. See "Poetry and Music". National Poetry Almanac. Archived from the original on 17 November 2005. Retrieved 1 December 2005. for more information about the series.
- ^ Strange Boat: Mike Scott & The Waterboys by Ian Abrahams (2007) p. 57
- ^ McGee, Alan (27 March 2008). "Time to rediscover the Waterboys". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "6 Echoes of The Big Music". Retrieved 22 October 2005.
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