99-1921: Tim , Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians [ edit ] T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs "Tim Smith", a 2009 song by the Wildhearts from ¡Chutzpah! Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and producer Tim Smith, lead singer of Midlake Tim Smith, drummer with Poco Tim Smith, bass guitarist of The Brew Politics [ edit ] Tim Smith (British politician) (born 1947), former House of Commons politician Timothy Smith (New Hampshire politician) (born 1980), New Hampshire House of Representatives politician Tim Smith (Australian politician) (born 1983), Victorian Legislative Assembly politician Sports [ edit ] Timothy Smith (cricketer, born 1953) , English cricketer Tim Smith (American football) (born 1957), American football wide receiver Timmy Smith (born 1964), American football running back Tim Smith (ice hockey) (born 1981), Canadian ice hockey player Tim Smith (basketball) (born 1982), American professional basketball player Timothy Smith (cricketer, born 1983) , English cricketer Tim Smith (rugby league) (born 1985), Australian rugby league player Tim Smith (baseball) (born 1986), Canadian baseball player Tim Smith (Australian footballer) (born 1991), Australian rules footballer for Melbourne Other people [ edit ] Timothy L. Smith (1924–1997), religious historian Timothy Dudley-Smith (born Timothy Smith, 1926–2024), English bishop Timothy Smith (psychologist) (fl. 1970s–2020s), American psychologist Tim Smith (DJ) (born 1961), presenter on BBC Radio 2 Tim Smith (journalist) (fl. 2000s), music editor of
198-529: A Ball and a Chain") has ever been released to the public (it appears on the band's 2002 compilation Greatest Hits ). Another song, the Jon Poole-penned "Silvery", appeared regularly in the band's live repertoire, and was later re-recorded by Jon Poole himself for the God Damn Whores' second album (albeit under the title "Sparkly Silver Sky"). While Tim Smith's given explanation for the album's nonappearance
297-533: A Bus on the Bus ", at Elephant Studios in London. 1980 saw Smith recording the first and only Cardiac Arrest album, The Obvious Identity . Eventually, 1000 cassettes were recorded, but only sold at concerts to save on expenditure. Smith also played keyboards with the band. Smith became the frontman after Pugh and Tagg left the project, and would contribute keyboards in addition to vocals and guitar. Smith decided to change
396-496: A bass guitar so that he and Geoff could play a blues riff together, while Smith owned a snare drum and would drum with them. The next year, Shelton lent Smith an LP on how to play the guitar, teaching him to play the G chord during a visit. Smith learnt the song " Frankie and Johnny ", and played it whilst his mum sang. Around the same time, he heard a section on a record that "[made] his stomach go funny and [gave] him goosebumps". It changed his perception of music, and may have inspired
495-774: A break from Cardiacs to work on various other projects. During 1989 and 1991, he wrote songs for a solo album, Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld , eventually released in 1995. Smith, his ex-wife Sarah Smith, and William D. Drake were reunited as The Sea Nymphs , a "gentler" version of Cardiacs; they had recorded before in 1984 and released a cassette album, Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake . Smith also performed with Jo Spratley in Spratleys Japs , who released their album Pony in 1999. In March 2006, Smith toured with Ginger & The Sonic Circus as their support act, performing acoustic versions of Cardiacs' songs, along with his own material. Cardiacs released their only single of
594-545: A few years later. His miniKORG synthesiser was later inherited by Cardiacs. Cawthra was suspended from school and, after staying at the Kaleidoscope hostel in Kingston , moved to York . During that time, he and Smith would send each other tapes of unkind songs they had written for each other. In 1975, Smith began his musical career after forming a nameless band at school in which he played guitar. He played his first gig at
693-418: A fondness for musical acts such as Genesis , Gentle Giant , Split Enz , XTC , Devo , Sparks , Magazine , Queen , Mr. Bungle , Naked City , My Bloody Valentine , Foetus , Pixies , Roxy Music , Faust , Tom Waits , Blur , Supergrass , Frank Zappa , The Monkees , Can , The Gasman , The Beach Boys , The Beatles , The Incredible String Band , The White Noise , Everything Everything as well as
792-940: A full group member at the annual London Astoria concert on 12 November (Poole would go on to concentrate on God Damn Whores, various Wildhearts -related projects, Crayola Lectern and others). This lineup performed classic songs on Radio2XS in December 2004 as part of the station's "Barn Sessions". A number of other new members were drafted into the Cardiacs lineup around the same time – three backing singers (Claire Lemmon and Melanie Woods of Sidi Bou Said , plus former Shrubbies and current North Sea Radio Orchestra singer Sharron Fortnam) and two percussionists – Cathy Harabaras and Dawn Staple – playing mostly bass drums. After several years of limited live activity in front of established fans, Cardiacs made another attempt to recapture their momentum and play to fresh audiences by supporting long-terms fans
891-483: A full-length cassette release titled The Obvious Identity in 1980, which was released at around 1000 copies exclusively sold at concerts. Shortly after, the group went through a number of name changes, settling on simply Cardiacs in 1981. They held their first concert under the new name in April. In 1981, Cardiacs self-released the cassette album, Toy World , featuring both new material and recordings dating back to
990-546: A full-time member (also doubling on bass synthesizer). In July 1983, Tim Smith married Sarah Cutts – taking his surname, she was henceforward known as Sarah Smith. In mid-1983 Mark Cawthra left the band, to be replaced on keyboards by William D. Drake . Tim Smith had previously met Drake in 1982 at the debut performance of Drake's band Honour Our Trumpet (who promptly invited him to join as bass guitarist.) Following Cawthra's departure, Smith returned Drake's favour by inviting him to join Cardiacs. Drake played his first concert with
1089-458: A harder edged, metal -leaning sound retained in the subsequent albums Sing to God (1996) and Guns (1999). The final Cardiacs album, LSD , was left unfinished after Tim Smith was hospitalised with dystonia resulting from a cardiac arrest and stroke in 2008, which caused the band to go on hiatus indefinitely. Smith's illness brought increased and belated critical recognition to Cardiacs, with several music outlets calling Sing to God
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#17328688260021188-455: A little while ago which was based just on the memory of a song I heard by someone else way back when I was about 14 years old, trouble was that it ended up quite similar to the original, I didn’t care, but the audacity of it raised a few wiggly eyebrows, the actual tune I wrote was totally different and all that… but the atmosphere was very similar, which pleased me as it was that which I was trying to rekindle…. I thought my memory of it had twisted
1287-495: A long support stint on Chumbawamba 's UK tour. In June and November 1996, Cardiacs embarked on two UK tours of their own, most significantly filling the Astoria 2 on 2 November. The June tour was promoted by a second BBC Manchester radio session with Mark Radcliffe, aired on 11 June. The next two years saw no new music from Cardiacs and reduced live activity. However, there were three more London concerts in 1998 – at one of these (
1386-451: A lot of people won't admit to. It's the weirdness in everyone whether you like it or not. Some people think it's dead funny, others hate it. It's strange when people hate us—they really do hate us, it brings out something odd in people. —Tim Smith Between 5 November – 21 December 1984, Cardiacs performed their first major British support tour, supporting Marillion at the personal invitation of Marillion's vocalist, Fish . Whilst
1485-458: A masterpiece. His death in 2020 saw a raft of tributes on social media. Many rock groups including Blur were influenced by Cardiacs' eclectic music, which appeared on streaming services in 2021. Alternately billed as "Cardiacs", "The Cardiacs", and "Cardiacs Family & Friends", Cardiacs members "past, present, and future" performed the music of Tim Smith at several sold-out gigs in 2024. Cardiacs originated in Kingston upon Thames , Surrey, in
1584-673: A multi-instrumentalist in 1980. The pair separated in the early 1990s and the marriage ended in divorce, with Sarah leaving Cardiacs in 1990 to "be a full-time witch and live in the woods with the snails" whilst remaining in the Sea Nymphs. Smith's later partners included Joanne Spratley, Sarah Maher and Emily Jones. Appearances With the Sound With Shrubbies With Adrian Borland With Spratleys Japs With William D. Drake With Two Worlds Collide With Ginger With
1683-535: A rare concert at the Camden Falcon in north London. At the start of 1999, Cardiacs played three nights in a row at the Camden Falcon, London between 29 and 31 January: on the final date, Sarah Smith and William D. Drake joined in for the encore. On 20 and 21 March the band played two concerts at the Garage with support from Dark Star (a new band featuring ex-Cardiac Christian Hayes ) and Camp Blackfoot. Cardiacs toured
1782-410: A shared concert with Napalm Death at Salisbury Arts Centre on 30 June. The Cardiacs half of the concert was filmed and released as the video Maresnest (produced by Steve Mallet and directed by Steve Payne, and eventually also released as the 1995 live album All that Glitters is a Mares Nest ). The band performed as a seven-piece, with Sarah Smith making a one-day return as a band member. Although
1881-529: Is thought to have started the whole rumour to gain some publicity for the band, predating the superficially similar strategy later employed by the White Stripes twelve years later. On 17 April, the band's music video for "Tarred and Feathered" (from the Big Ship mini-album) was broadcast on Channel 4 's groundbreaking music show The Tube , giving Cardiacs their first exposure on national television. Later in
1980-479: The Baltimore Sun Timothy John Smith (actor) (fl. 2000s–2010s), American actor Fictional [ edit ] Tim Smith ( One Tree Hill ) , a character on One Tree Hill portrayed by Brett Claywell [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
2079-444: The Big Ship mini-album plus various singles and EPs. Also making an appearance in 1991 was the debut release by the Cardiacs spin-off, the Sea Nymphs . Their debut single, "Appealing to Venus", was a free bonus item with the first 500 copies of "Day Is Gone" and was subsequently sold through the fan club. The debut Sea Nymphs album, The Sea Nymphs , was released in 1992. Cardiacs remained active during 1992, touring frequently within
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#17328688260022178-482: The Shrubbies ). Luckman retained his connection with the band and would later make an appearance on stage during Cardiacs' 2001 Astoria show. In December 1993, Cardiacs revealed their new drummer, Jon Poole's former Ad Nauseam bandmate, Bob Leith . However, the following year proved to be Cardiacs' quietest year for a long time, with only four concerts played in total. After three years without any new releases, 1995 saw
2277-464: The Shrubbies , The Scaramanga Six and The Trudy . Smith created and/or edited pop videos for various bands including Sepultura , Dark Star , Zu and The Frank and Walters , as well as Cardiacs. In 2008, Smith created a film called The Wildhearts Live in the Studio: A Film By Tim Smith , featuring The Wildhearts playing their self-titled album along with surreal interludes. Smith has declared
2376-474: The Sing to God sessions saw extensive contributions from Jon Poole who played a strong role in orchestrating Smith's basic material with detailed riffs and keyboard parts (and contributed several songs entirely written by himself). Drummer Bob Leith also made significant contributions to the album's lyrics. Tim would have drums and rough keyboard chords on tape and would ask me to come up with guitar and bass riffs. I
2475-447: The 2000s, " Ditzy Scene ", in 2007. On 25 June 2008, Smith had a heart attack after attending a gig by My Bloody Valentine . Bandmate Kavus Torabi remembers "making up the spare room and going to bed, expecting [Smith] to arrive in a taxi, but he never came." Smith's heart attack had triggered a major stroke and an episode of cerebral anoxia which was treated in intensive care at University College Hospital . Although there
2574-573: The Alphabet Business Concern is that you realise the high regard they must have for The Organ ". The song charted at number 72 on the Spanish iTunes Chart on 11 October 2020. Claire Lemmon and Dawn Staple had also left the active lineup by the time of the 2007 winter tour, on which Melanie Woods and Cathy Harabaras both doubled on percussion and singing. On the tour, Torabi recalled that "the crowds were getting bigger and younger and something
2673-495: The British tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport ran a story claiming to be an exposé and revealing the supposedly incestuous relationship between Tim Smith and Sarah Smith, in which the couple were portrayed as brother and sister. The headline ran, "In their bizarre world of music... anything goes – even incest." (The article ultimately debunked the story by including a corrective quote from Tim Smith's mother). Band manager Mark Walmesley
2772-596: The Cardiac Arrest period. (Consequently, some tracks featured Michael Pugh as lead singer rather than Tim Smith). During 1981, Colvin Mayers left the band to join the Sound , a group led by Borland. Sarah Cutts briefly covered live keyboards as well as saxophone, before Mark Cawthra swapped drums for keyboards and Dominic Luckman was recruited from the road crew as the new drummer. At around the same time percussionist Tim Quy became
2871-514: The Cardiacs' circle. In July 2016, a special one-day concert took place in Preston , called The Whole World Window with all the funds going towards helping Smith get better. A cassette and CD album of the same name were also released via Hyena Inc containing performances by the same bands. In January 2018 an appeal was launched on the crowdfunding website JustGiving with the aim of raising £40,000 to fund Smith's ongoing care. The target amount
2970-451: The Filth, sometimes misremembered as "Philip Pilf and the Filth". The same year, the Filth wrote the song "Icky Qualms" and played their first gig the Kaleidoscope hostel, "a hostel for misfits and that". Smith formed the group with Peter Tagg on drums, Jim on bass, Michael Pugh on lead vocals and originally took on guitar and backing vocal duties. In 1979, Smith helped record a 7", " A Bus for
3069-662: The Garage concert on 4 December) the band was joined for an encore by William D. Drake . During the same year Cardiacs also played several performances in Germany and the Netherlands, and made appearances in Brighton and at a festival in St Austell in Cornwall. 1998 also saw renewed activity by the Sea Nymphs , with the " Appealing To Venus " single reissued with extra tracks by Org Records, and
Tim Smith - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-669: The Magic Numbers , Calling All Astronauts, Chris Catalyst , Dutch Uncles , Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson , Graham Coxon of Blur , Voivod guitarist Dan "Chewy" Mongrain , Pinback frontman Rob Crow , JG Thirlwell of Foetus , Oceansize frontman Mike Vennart , electronic musician Max Tundra , industrial metal band Pitchshifter , Silvery , writer and musician Rhodri Marsden , Ginger Wildheart , as well as television and radio personality Matthew Wright , also paid tribute on social media. Smith owned and operated his own recording studio Apollo 8 (at various locations, with
3267-713: The Scaramanga Six With Pinhead Nation With North Sea Radio Orchestra Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One of Britain's leading cult rock bands , Cardiacs' sound folded in genres including art rock , progressive rock , art punk , post-punk , jazz , psychedelia and heavy metal (as well as elements of circus , baroque pop , medieval music , nursery rhymes and sea shanties ), all of which
3366-470: The Sea which was released in 1989. The album successfully consolidated the intricate style and unusual songwriting vision of A Little Man and a House... , but the stable lineup which the band had enjoyed for four years was now beginning to weaken. Over the following two years, the Cardiacs lineup began to disintegrate. Sarah Smith left the band suddenly in April 1989 and was not replaced, removing saxophone from
3465-463: The Tim Smith-penned "More Money Than God", various covers including Cardiacs, XTC , Ring , and Foetus songs, and raw versions of Jon Poole-penned tracks that would later be recorded for Sing to God . Although the band had historically been well-used to lineup changes, Cardiacs were profoundly affected by the multiple departures taking place between 1989 and 1991. A particular blow had been
3564-496: The UK and Europe for the rest of the year (with Sarah Smith making the first of her special guest appearances at a Brixton Fridge concert on 17 September). During this period, the band also released Archive Cardiacs , a collection of material from the 1976–83 period (some of it previously unreleased). It was horrible, really like one of those yellow panic nightmares where everything's going wrong and you can't stop it, but I kept thinking it
3663-561: The UK in June 1999 to support the release of their new album, Guns , described by some of the music press as being their most accessible album to date. The band performed another radio session on 13 June for "Inside Tracks" (on BBC Choice digital radio). Three more concerts followed in October. During 1999–2000, Cardiacs began work on a new studio album that remains incomplete and unreleased. Only one song slated for inclusion ("Faster Than Snakes With
3762-458: The UK, including a double-headed tour with Levitation. On 4 June 1992 at the London Astoria , Cardiacs were supported by Radiohead . Prior to the departure of Hayes, Cardiacs had recorded an album called Heaven Born and Ever Bright (which featured several of Hayes' guitar and vocal parts, plus a track he had co-written called "Goodbye Grace"). This was released as the new Cardiacs album in
3861-461: The Wildhearts for the latter's tour between 8–15 December 2004. This tour saw another substitution – drummer Stephen Gilchrist ( Graham Coxon , the Scaramanga Six , Stuffy/The Fuses ) stood in for Bob Leith, who had previous tour commitments with art-punk band Blurt . Smith would later perform as a live acoustic trio with Ginger Wildheart and former Cardiac Jon Poole. Around this time a "Diary"
3960-454: The World (1970). The band that would become Cardiacs was formed in late 1977 by Smith and his brother Jim on bass guitar and backing vocals, alongside Michael Pugh on lead vocals and Peter Tagg on drums. The project was initially called the Filth, but soon changed their name to Cardiac Arrest. According to the official history, Tim Smith formed the band merely to punish his brother "for all
4059-532: The absurdist Alphabet Business Concern mythology which surrounded the band. Cardiacs played the Reading Festival on 24 August 1986, releasing the very rough audio footage as the Rude Bootleg album. On 27 January 1987, Cardiacs released the mini-album Big Ship , the first studio release by the sextet, to mixed reviews. The title track would prove to be one of their most enduring anthems. In March 1987,
Tim Smith - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-415: The age of 16 as Gazunder alongside the Sound frontman Adrian Borland and rock drummer Bruce Bizland at Surbiton Assembly Rooms, which sounded like the rock instrumentals on David Bowie 's The Man Who Sold the World (1970), and drew inspiration for his first guitar experiments after having briefly played bass before passing the task to Jim. Smith formed the band that would become Cardiacs in 1977 as
4257-558: The album, " Is This the Life? ", saw brief chart success due to exposure on mainstream radio, and garnered the attention of a wider audience when it entered the Independent Top 10 in the UK. The band followed up this burst of success with another single, a cover of the Kinks ' " Susannah's Still Alive " with a video directed by Steve Payne. Strange Fruit Records also released a 12-inch vinyl EP of
4356-700: The albums from The Seaside onwards, CD issues of live album All that Glitters is a Mares Nest and the Archive Cardiacs compilation, and a new compilation, the Cardiacs Sampler . In April 1995, Cardiacs performed a BBC Manchester radio session on Mark Radcliffe 's show. During May, they toured with Pura Vida and Sidi Bou Said and recorded a live acoustic session for GLR Radio . On 17 June, they appeared as special guests of (and concert openers for) Blur at their triumphant London Mile End Stadium concert. From 31 October to 18 November, Cardiacs performed
4455-440: The atmosphere into this new creature, but as it turned out my memory wasn’t that bad… but so what, tunes are for borrowing, you give them all back in the end. ‘Influences’ come more from random or abstract things… like I might walk past a radio playing something nice in somebodies window…. or I’ll hear a ghost in the bushes, or whatever, and I’ll think ‘oooh I’ll do a song like that’ but it’ll twist into something totally different in
4554-534: The band lineup had settled as the sextet generally referred to as "the classic lineup" – Tim Smith (lead vocals and guitar), Jim Smith (bass and vocals), William D. Drake (keyboards and vocals), Sarah Smith (saxophones and vocals), Tim Quy (percussion and keyboards) and Dominic Luckman (drums). The first Cardiacs release featuring the "classic" lineup was their third album, The Seaside (although Cawthra featured throughout on drums, keyboards and voice; and Simmonds and Johnston also appeared on several tracks). The album
4653-519: The band on 2 May at The Venue in New Cross (going on to join the band Nervous and, in 2001, embarking on a long-delayed solo career). Having joined up-and-coming indie-psychedelic band Levitation , Christian Hayes played his own final gig as a Cardiac in Oxford on 16 May: although Cardiacs and Levitation were friendly with each other and had even toured together, Hayes had finally found it impossible to balance
4752-532: The band on 31 August 1983. Later in the year, Cardiacs added Marguerite Johnston (alto saxophone) and Graham Simmonds (guitar), and for about a year the band worked as an octet. Both Johnston and Simmonds left during the following summer (in July and August respectively), although Simmonds stayed on as Cardiacs' sound engineer. At some point in 1983, Tim Smith produced two issues of a comic alternatively called "Peter and His Dog" and "Peter and His Dog Spot". By autumn 1984,
4851-645: The band on various occasions, as did the Consultant and Miss Swift. Support bands were always musicians with a professed Cardiacs connection or influence, and included Oceansize , the Monsoon Bassoon , the Scaramanga Six , Stars in Battledress and Jon Poole's hard-rock band God Damn Whores. Between 17–19 October 2003, Cardiacs recorded three special concerts at the Highbury Garage venue in London. As Jon Poole
4950-506: The band viewed the resultant footage, they decided against releasing it. Instead, they retained Francombe and Elborough for a new video project which would become Seaside Treats , named after the 12" single that was released at the same time. As well as containing three music videos, Seaside Treats contained a ten-minute film named The Consultant's Flower Garden . The latter featured Cardiacs (and various people connected with them) in bizarre, comedic situations which continued to propagate
5049-596: The band's BBC Radio 1 session from the previous year, under the title Night Tracks (The Janice Long Session) . By this time, Cardiacs concerts were drawing hundreds of audience members and they were well on their way to becoming a hit underground band. On 15 May, the band played a concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, which was recorded for later release as Cardiacs Live . Later in the year, Cardiacs recorded tracks for what would become their fifth studio album, On Land and in
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#17328688260025148-408: The band's plans for the rest of the year: a DVD release of All That Glitters is a Mares Nest , the release of LSD and two accompanying singles, another Marc Riley session and a fall tour supporting the new album. At the end of June 2008, Tim Smith collapsed from a cardiac arrest after leaving a My Bloody Valentine concert. This led to hypoxic brain damage , leaving Smith severely debilitated by
5247-431: The cassette albums ( The Obvious Identity and Toy World , but also included songs such as An Ant , Hopeless , Gloomy News and Hello Mr Minnow (which had never been officially recorded before and had only ever been played at concerts in the late '70s/early '80s). A two-volume CD set of recordings from the three shows – The Special Garage Concerts – was eventually released in 2005. Professional video camera equipment
5346-489: The concert has achieved legendary status amongst Cardiacs fans, it was problematic for the band. Among other things, Tim Smith's guitar fell apart and keys fell off Sarah Smith's saxophone. After the Salisbury concert, Tim Quy left the band to pursue other projects. Like Sarah Smith, he was not replaced: the removal of live tuned and untuned percussion from the lineup further altered the established Cardiacs sound. Quy's departure
5445-409: The demands of both bands. Both Hayes and Drake would continue to be associated with Cardiacs, and would occasionally guest with the band at selected live concerts many years later. Between 1991 and 1993, Tim Smith, Christian Hayes, and Jon Poole (with drumming by David Francolini ) performed live shows in a revitalized lineup of Hayes' 80's band, Panixphere. The band performed Hayes' original material,
5544-582: The departure of Drake, whose virtuoso keyboard skills and compositional input had made him one of the backbones of the band. Drake was considered irreplaceable and Cardiacs opted not to look for a new keyboard player, remaining as a quartet of two guitars, bass and drums (with Christian Hayes being replaced as second guitarist by Jon Poole who had previously played with the Cardiacs-inspired Milton Keynes band Ad Nauseam). While Cardiacs were still able to record more fully orchestrated music in
5643-422: The end….but I do like DEVO and I think Jim Feotus [sic] and Zappa are genius and Gentle Giant have there moments of total unique brilliance (and moments of embarrassing grimness as well, like anyone unfortunately) but I can’t say that they influence us any more than a crow on a stump does." -Margen Magazine (Spain) April 2001, Tim Smith Interview Smith married Sarah Cutts on 23 July 1983, who had joined Cardiacs as
5742-493: The final one being near Salisbury , Wiltshire ) and had a long list of production credits to his name. Since the early 1990s, Smith produced recordings for a variety of musicians and musical groups, many of whom belong to the so-called "Cardiacs family". These include Levitation , Sidi Bou Said , Eat , The Monsoon Bassoon , Wildhearts frontman Ginger (including his Silver Ginger 5 and Howling Willie Cunt projects), Stars in Battledress , Oceansize , William D. Drake ,
5841-420: The ideas into something that worked. Tim would chip in with ideas for my songs too like the string arrangement on "Manhoo" which was lovely. —Jon Poole on his contributions to Cardiacs' Sing to God album Sing to God was released in two formats – as a limited edition double CD, and as two separate CDs. At the same time, the band reissued almost their entire back catalogue on CD. This constituted all of
5940-624: The lack of tours, the band set up an annual tradition of one-off large-scale London concerts (the first of which took place on 11 November 2000 and the last in 2007). These usually took place in November at the London Astoria, and soon became a kind of Cardiacs family gathering in which the band was joined by various guests including former members and newer Cardiacs-inspired supported bands. During these concerts, Sarah Smith, William D. Drake , Christian Hayes and Dominic Luckman all appeared onstage with
6039-451: The last three days of the Marillion tour. A Cardiacs spin-off project – Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake – emerged in 1984. As the name suggests, this featured Tim and Sarah Smith plus William D. Drake and consisted of a quieter, more acoustically-orientated take on Cardiacs' music. The project released a self-titled cassette album which was only available via the Cardiacs fan club. Later on,
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#17328688260026138-487: The late 1970s. Frontman Tim Smith began his musical career in 1975 after forming a nameless band at school in which he played guitar. Smith played his first gig at Surbiton Assembly Rooms aged 16 alongside Adrian Borland of the Outsiders and drummer Bruce Bisland as Gazunder. The Cardiacs biography describes their two gigs in 1976 as sounding "a bit like the rocky instrumental bits" on David Bowie 's The Man Who Sold
6237-810: The later albums that I wrote when I was about thirteen. The one on Sing to God called "Billion", I did it when I was thirteen. Sometimes I put an old one on that I made when I was little, just for luck. "Interlude" on A Little Man and a House ... is another one. I just found it laying around on a bit of paper and thought "Ah, let's stick that one on it!" It's all for superstitious reasons, really. Smith attended Fleetwood Secondary School in Chessington with his friend Colvin Mayers. There, he met Mark Cawthra and Peter Tagg , who would later play in Cardiacs. In 1975, Smith and Cawthra formed an unnamed group with organist David Philpot. They played instrumentals inspired by Egg . The band never played live and Dave Philpot died
6336-451: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tim_Smith&oldid=1241016987 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Tim Smith (Cardiacs) Timothy Charles Smith (3 July 1961 – 21 July 2020)
6435-399: The music remained complex, if narrower in focus, and Smith recorded additional keyboard and percussion parts onto backing tapes for the band to play over. Before 1991 was over, the revitalised band had released a new single, called " Day Is Gone ", and played several concerts from October to December. This year also saw the release of Songs for Ships and Irons , which compiled material from
6534-407: The name of the band to Cardiacs in 1981. He helped record the band's first album, Toy World , in the same manner as the Cardiac Arrest album – on cassette tape – at a small basement studio known as Crow Studios. After another line up change, Smith recruited Tim Quy (percussion), Sarah Cutts (saxophone) and Dominic Luckman (drums). The label Alphabet Business Concern was created in 1984. Smith
6633-493: The only constant members in the band's regularly changing lineup . The band created their own indie label , the Alphabet Business Concern, in 1984 and found mainstream exposure with the single " Is This the Life? " from their debut album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (1988). Their second album, On Land and in the Sea (1989), was followed by Heaven Born and Ever Bright (1992), which displayed
6732-527: The orchestral work of Charles Ives and Ralph Vaughan Williams , and composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich . Smith was also reportedly fascinated with the music of Tom and Jerry cartoons. "I don’t know what influences [Cardiacs] really, I wouldn’t say that we are influenced by any actual bands in particular, I’ve got no bones about musically ripping someone else’s band off though…. I’ve definitely nicked bits and pieces here and there, I don’t mind if they don’t mind…. I remember working on one song we did
6831-574: The particular complexity, skill and idiosyncrasies of his songs and music, Smith was honoured with the Doctor of Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018, two years before his death in 2020. Smith was also a producer of records or promotional videos for acts including Oceansize , Sepultura , Dark Star , The Frank and Walters , Sidi Bou Said , Eat , The Scaramanga Six and Wildhearts frontman Ginger . Timothy Charles Smith
6930-530: The project would be renamed the Sea Nymphs . On 1 April 1985, an attempt was made to film Cardiacs at a live concert at the Surbiton Assembly Rooms. The band had been approached by film-maker Mark Francombe (later a member of Cranes ) and his colleague Nick Elborough, both of whom were at that time students at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. Francombe and Elborough offered to film the band for free as part of their coursework project. However, when
7029-778: The rare condition dystonia . All Cardiacs-related releases and activity (including the work-in-progress for the unfinished LSD ) were immediately shelved until further notice. A year of silence followed during which Smith recuperated in private. In June 2009, a new announcement appeared on the official Cardiacs website, letting readers know that, after a year of rehabilitation, Tim Smith's mind had returned to full functionality and that "no part of your favourite pop star's intellect or personality has been found to be absent whatsoever." It thanked fans for their kind thoughts and made clear Smith's interest in returning to playing music with Cardiacs at such time as his physical rehabilitation allowed. However, it became clear that such rehabilitation would be
7128-504: The release of the Bellyeye single on Org Records (the record-releasing wing of long-term Cardiacs' supporters Organ Magazine ). This was a taster for Cardiacs' most epic recorded effort to date. Sing to God was a double album, due to the sheer amount of material that Smith had written over a number of years. The album was notable for a change in Cardiacs' working methods – whereas most previous material had been written and arranged by Smith,
7227-435: The sound of his compositions. After that, Jim stopped playing bass until 1977. Some songs written by Smith at around age 13, notably "Interlude" from their debut album and "Billion" from Sing to God , would later be made into Cardiacs tracks. In an interview, Smith commented about his songs written at a young age: It depends on what year they were done, but we were really only youngsters then. A few songs have popped up on
7326-548: The standard Cardiacs sound. Although Sarah would not rejoin the band, she would retain a long-term connection with Cardiacs by playing on future albums and would very occasionally appear as a special guest for live concerts. Tim Smith brought in a second guitarist – Christian 'Bic' Hayes , formerly of the Cardiacs-inspired Ring and the Dave Howard Singers – and the new two-guitar lineup toured extensively around
7425-418: The studio, a lack of suitable personnel (or the budget to keep them in place) meant that the live band had to change drastically. Abandoning several signature musical features (saxophone, assorted percussion and virtuoso keyboards), Cardiacs' live music shifted away from the wider instrumentation of the past and moved towards a more guitar-heavy, power-rock sound in line with the remaining quartet lineup. However,
7524-400: The summer of 1992, the first fruit of a new distribution deal with Rough Trade Records . However, Rough Trade ceased trading shortly after the release of the album. This ensured that Heaven Born and Ever Bright could neither be stocked nor ordered by record shops, with the result that Cardiacs were left thousands of pounds in debt and unable to recoup their recording expenses. (The album
7623-508: The tour afforded the band a new level of publicity, generally they were not well received by Marillion's fanbase. On most dates of the tour, the band was pelted with a variety of makeshift missiles. During the 13 December show at the Hammersmith Apollo, Fish himself was indignant enough about the Marillion fans and their hostile behaviour to come onstage during Cardiacs' set and berate the audience about it. The band eventually ducked out of
7722-411: The unkind things he would do to him as an infant", as Jim allegedly couldn't play an instrument. Cardiac Arrest produced a demo in 1977, and released their debut single " A Bus for a Bus on the Bus " in 1979 under Tortch Records. Smith, the primary lyricist, initially took on guitar and backing vocal duties before Pugh's departure saw him promoted to frontman. Cardiac Arrest followed the single with
7821-459: The year, Cardiacs released a 12-inch single called " There's Too Many Irons in the Fire ". In October, a live-in-the-studio session was recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio Leeds, followed in December by a similar session on BBC Radio 1 for Janice Long's Night Track show. In 1988, Cardiacs released their debut studio album proper, A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window . The single from
7920-559: Was a nightmare, then about halfway through the evening I tried to wake up and I realised this was actually happening, right? (S)o I panicked, but nothing was going right and nobody could hear anything and Sarah's sax kept cutting out, and I think that's on the video, me shouting to myself that I can't stop it... but everyone else said it was a really good gig! —Tim Smith recalling the Salisbury Maresnest concert Cardiacs toured and gigged intermittently during 1990, culminating in
8019-413: Was able to supervise production and recording of some of his unfinished musical projects. He made several interviews during this period, and gave messages to fans. The 2020 remaster of A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window , released in 2023, was Tim Smith's last task before his death. Smith died on the evening of 21 July 2020 at the age of 59, following another heart attack. His death
8118-403: Was an English musician, record producer and music video director. A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Smith rose to prominence as the frontman of the rock band Cardiacs , which he co-founded with his brother Jim . In addition to Cardiacs, Smith led, co-led or contributed to The Sea Nymphs , Panixphere , Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld and Spratleys Japs . Recognised for
8217-524: Was announced by his brother and bandmate Jim Smith and bandmate Kavus Torabi . A raft of luminaries paid tribute: Mike Patton sent "tons of love" to Smith, noting that his musical ethos was conducted "independently and with no apologies", whilst Devin Townsend called him "one of the finest ever" and Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury , known for his fast, frantic playing, cited Cardiacs as causing him to write speedier riffs. Other bands and artists including
8316-478: Was apparently seen being used to record the band during the concerts, leading to a rumour that members of Org Records had filmed the entire three nights for later video release. This was debunked by Torabi in a 2009 interview, in which he stated that no such recordings existed. However, a static cam recording of one night was released by The Consultant. In the autumn of 2004, Torabi officially replaced Poole as Cardiacs' second guitarist, and made his formal debut as
8415-412: Was asked by vocalist Fish to support his band Marillion on their forthcoming tour near the end of the year. Smith agreed but was not prepared for the hostile audience that awaited them on all legs of the tour (forcing them off the final three days of the tour). From then until 1999, Cardiacs released six studio albums, as well as a number of singles, EPs and live albums. During the 1990s, Smith took
8514-538: Was begun and updated for the majority of 2005 on the official Cardiacs website, chronicling the band's exploits in typical absurd fashion. Three more annual Astoria gigs were performed over the following three years (the 2005 edition having been professionally shot but left in an unedited state awaiting Tim Smith's involvement). Cardiacs performed live radio sessions hosted by Marc Riley in October 2005 and June 2007. On 5 November 2007, Cardiacs released their first new material for eight years. The " Ditzy Scene " single
8613-546: Was born on 3 July 1961 in Carshalton , Surrey , England. He grew up in Chessington where he was primarily raised by his mother Eileen, a dinner lady at the primary school he attended with his older brother Jim . His father Ernie, a big band jazz trumpeter, died suddenly when Smith was 3. He and Jim acquired an interest in music around 1972 from their neighbourhood friend Geoff Shelton buying an electric guitar. Jim Smith bought
8712-563: Was by now also the bass player for the Wildhearts (and busy rehearsing for the upcoming Wildhearts tour) he was replaced for the concert by Kavus Torabi (formerly guitarist and singer for the Monsoon Bassoon , Torabi was also a long-standing Cardiacs associate who'd served as their guitar technician since the mid-1990s.) For these concerts, the band delved back into their distant past, abandoning virtually all of their available back catalogue in favour of exclusively playing songs that had been performed prior to 1983. These were taken mostly from
8811-541: Was commemorated by a message at the end of the Maresnest video stating "this film is dedicated to Tim Quy who left our world 30/6/90". (At the time, this was widely misinterpreted as an announcement of Quy's death). Quy remained on good terms with the band and would later appear as a special guest during Cardiacs' 2001 Astoria gig. The band was quiet for the first four months of 1991, during which time two more members departed. William D. Drake played his final concert with
8910-530: Was definitely happening", adding that Tim's brother and bass player Jim Smith said "something was in the air, that this might be our time." Cardiacs toured until the winter of 2007. In 2008, Tim Smith played snippets of two untitled LSD songs during an interview on Resonance FM . On 23 June 2008, the band performed three songs, including the unreleased live favorite "Silvery", live on Marc Riley's Brain Surgery . During an interview segment, Tim Smith revealed
9009-476: Was denied movement and speech, prompting him to retire from live performances. Cardiacs went on an indefinite hiatus following his hospitalisation, leaving the LSD album unfinished. In 2013, 2015 and 2017, events dubbed The Alphabet Business Convention were held in celebration of and with all proceeds funding Smith (who attended) and his ongoing recovery. Among other things, they featured live music from bands within
9108-448: Was eventually reissued on a revived Alphabet Business Concern in 1995 – it featured a picture of Jon Poole on the cover, although he had not actually played on the album when it was recorded.) Despite this crippling blow, the band soldiered on, but by July 1993 yet another long-term member – drummer Dominic Luckman – had decided to quit. He played his last concert as a Cardiacs member on 20 July at Camden Palace, London (and would later join
9207-672: Was exceeded in the first day and a new target of £100,000 was set to provide for a year's care. On 25 October 2018, Smith received the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland . His brother Jim accepted the honour on his behalf. Notable musicians including JG Thirwell , Craig Fortnam , Mike Vennart , Shane Embury , and Cardiacs' own Kavus Torabi paid tribute following this event. Further fundraising events were held in 2018 and 2019, featuring live music from Cardiacs members and related bands, film screenings and interviews, with Tim Smith sporadically in attendance. During his illness, Tim nevertheless
9306-439: Was literally allowed to do pretty much anything I wanted. Tim would then do the production bit and get the best out of me… I remember Tim had programmed the weird bit in the middle of "Odd Even" and left me to find a guitar line amongst the chords so I was sat on my own dropping myself in. When he came back it was done and he was very happy... particularly with my choice of last note! We would both make suggestions then Tim would edit
9405-557: Was released on Cardiacs own record label, Alphabet (which later became Alphabet Business Concern). The bizarre and sinister "Alphabet Business Concern" mythology now began to become a significant part of Cardiacs' artistic presentation, and the band members would promote and add to it at every opportunity. The band evolved an elaborate and theatrical stage show, involving off-putting "bandsmen's uniforms, makeup, Sarah's music stand, (and) Tim's mile-wide grin". A lot of people find our act disturbing because it brings out something in you that
9504-466: Was released on Org Records as a limited edition of 1,000 copies, and featured the new line-up, albeit minus Sharron Fortnam. Heavily pre-ordered , the single featured two other new tracks "Gen" and "Made All Up", which teased Cardiacs' next planned project, a full album called LSD (intended as a double set , their second following Sing to God ). On the release, Cardiacs biographer Adrian Bell comments "It's only when you become aware how insular
9603-523: Was some initial optimism - according to Craig Fortnam , "he was sat up in bed and smiling", - Smith was thought to have had had a second stroke in hospital a few days later while he recuperated. This in turn caused brain damage through hypoxia , which left him paralysed down one side of the body and unable to speak. He was eventually diagnosed with the rare neurological condition dystonia , which causes muscles to contract uncontrollably. As an outcome of his injuries and subsequent condition, Smith
9702-475: Was that it had been rendered "broken" in some manner, bandmate Kavus Torabi has since stated that, while the band did record around this time, the concept of a "lost album" was apocryphal. Cardiacs concerts were rare over the next few years, although the band played the Glastonbury Festival on 23 June 2000 and played two subsequent Whitchurch Festivals on 5 August 2000 and 3 August 2001. Counterbalancing
9801-426: Was topped by Smith's anarchic vocals and hard-to-decipher lyrics. The band's theatrical performance style often incorporated off-putting costumes and make-up, complete with on-stage confrontations. Their bizarre sound and image made them unpopular with the press, but they amassed a devoted following. Tim Smith was the primary songwriter, noted for his complex and innovative compositional style. He and his brother were
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