Cecil (band)

Cecil was a rock band from Liverpool, England.
History.
Formation.
Cecil formed in Liverpool in 1993. The members were Ste Williams (vocals), Patrick Harrison (guitar), Ally Lambert (drums), Anthony Hughes (guitar and keyboards), and Jay Bennett (bass).
First concert.
The band took part in a "Battle of the Bands". It was sponsored by Liverpool Echo who later tried to stitch the band up by putting them on the front cover under the title "Bulger Band", a reference to their song No Excuses that they believed, incorrectly, to be about the murder of toddler James Bulger. The band never spoke to the Liverpool Echo again. The band signed a manangement contract with Raymond Coffer. They later signed with the record label Parlophone (EMI). They released their first single "No Excuses" with Parlophone in October 1995.
Tours.
The band spent the end of 1995 and most of 1996 playing concerts in much of the United Kingdom. They played with such bands as The Levellers, Skunk Anansie, and Paw. They also played in music festivals at Donnington and T in the Park. During this time, they released their second single "My Neck", which was backed with an acoustic track and a piano version of the single, giving a hint of the direction they were heading in for the recording of their 2nd record.
First album.
In 1996, their first album "Bombar Diddlah" was getting good reviews. It was produced by Barrett Jones of Foo Fighters.
Later history.
Cecil spent most of 1997 writing songs, touring with the band Mansun and making their music sound even better. The changes could particularly be heard in the sound of Ste Williams' vocals. By the end of 1997, their new sound could be heard in their new release "Red Wine At Dead Time". They released a second album in 1998, "Subtitles". It did not sell as well as hoped. The band spent the next few years writing and touring sporadically, finally relocating to Seattle in 2001 to work on a third album with long time cohort Barrett Jones. After a productive 2-month stint, straight after the 9/11 bombings, the band went back home to write more songs and booked to go into Stone Gossard's (Pearl Jam) Studio Litho with Barrett to record the rest of the third record. This never happened after being dropped from their label.The band went their separate ways in March 2002 and remain firm friends, occasionally reuniting for off the cuff live shows in their native Liverpool.