Texas

From Paris, Texas

Texas took its name from Wim Wenders's film Paris, Texas, whose Ry Cooder slide-guitar score influenced Johnny McElhone's playing. Wikipedia dates the formation to 1986 and Songfacts to 1988. McElhone, formerly of Altered Images and Hipsway, started it with Ally McErlaine and Sharleen Spiteri, a hairdresser who auditioned as vocalist. Early demos were recorded in Glasgow from February to December 1987, with an incomplete album session with Bernard Edwards of Chic at Burbank Studios in Los Angeles in summer 1987, Tony Thompson of Chic drumming on "I Don't Want a Lover"; that material stayed unheard until Spiteri found it in the Universal vaults in America and it came out in 2020. They made their live debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee, and recorded Southside from September to November 1988 at Maison Rouge in London with Tim Palmer.

"I Don't Want a Lover" came out on January 23, 1989 and reached 8 in the UK, and Southside followed on March 13, 1989, reaching 3 in the UK, 1 in Switzerland and 88 on the Billboard 200, with over two million sold. Mothers Heaven (1991) reached 32 and Ricks Road (1993) 18. White on Blonde (February 1997) went to number one, six times platinum, and The Hush (1999) to number one, with The Greatest Hits (2000) six times platinum. In 1998 Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and Method Man, who had remixed "Say What You Want", performed it with the band at the Brit Awards. They won the Ivor Novello for Outstanding Song Collection in 1998, an NRJ Music Award in 2000 and a Silver Clef for Outstanding Achievement in 2024. Careful What You Wish For (2003) and Red Book (2005, 16) preceded a hiatus.

Spiteri recorded solo records, Melody (2008) and The Movie Songbook (2010). The band reunited for a 2011 tour, then The Conversation (May 20, 2013, 4 in the UK, on PIAS), Jump on Board (2017) and Hi (May 28, 2021, 3, with Wu-Tang Clan on the title single), and The Very Best of 1989-2023 (June 16, 2023). Ally McErlaine's tenure ended in 2022, and Cat Myers has drummed since 2021. Setlist.fm lists around 900 gigs. The official site advertises a White on Blonde 30th anniversary edition. Southside was reissued in 2025 by PIAS as a double CD and white vinyl, cut from the original analog tapes at Abbey Road, with six tracks live at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in June 1989.