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Halftime Oranges
(England)
Halftime Oranges was formed by Grant Madden (ex Passing Clouds) and David Miles (ex The Potting Sheds) in September 1994 in order to write pop songs with a common footballing theme. They signed to Rutland Records on the strength of a demo tape which became their first single, the five track Peel Park EP, in April 1995. Shortly afterwards, they were commissioned to write a song about Eric Cantona for a compilation CD on Exotica Records which celebrated the end of Eric's "kung-fu" ban in October 1995.

Their debut album, Clive Baker Set Fire To Me, was released by Rutland Records in April 1996 to universal critical acclaim. The title referred to an unfortunate incident from the schooldays of former Premier League goalkeeper Clive Baker and their bass player at the time, Colin Brown. Apparently, it was common practice at their school for senior boys to ambush the first years wielding home-made Brut 33 aerosol flamethrowers and Colin did not escape a toasting.

The inspiration for their second album, Rotterdamnation, was the 1966 landmark Beach Boys album, Pet Sounds. The title referred to the nadir of the Graham Taylor era when England travelled to Holland in control of their own destiny but ultimately failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup Finals. Without specifically mentioning that game, Grants bittersweet lyrics effectively mirrored the atmosphere of frustration, disappointment and underachievement we all felt on that night.

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Releases:
Peel Park EP (7") Apr 1995
on Rutland Records - RUTEP9
Clive Baker Set Fire To Me (LP+CD) 1997
on Rutland Records - RUTCD3
Rotterdamnation (LP+CD) 1998
on Rutland Records - RUTCD 5
Last updated: 24-Dec-2009 © 1994-2024 TweeNet Creative Commons License