Career
Mishra was born in Rourkela, Orissa, India on 30 July 1966 and has lived in England since the age of three. White Town is often regarded as a one-hit wonder for its 1997 song "Your Woman," which reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart in January of that year, and No. 23 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
"Your Woman" is a reworking of the 1932 Bing Crosby song "My Woman," composed by Crosby (lyrics), Irving Wallman, and Max Wartell (music and lyrics). Al Bowlly, who was a vocalist in the Ray Noble Orchestra, recorded a version of "My Woman" on 29 November 1932 with the Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band in London. The Bowlly version was featured in the Pennies from Heaven film and soundtrack, and it was this version that White Town sampled for "Your Woman."
White Town was formed by Mishra in 1989 after he saw Pixies play. Initially there were other members on guitar, bass and drums playing support gigs for various bands including Primal Scream. In 1990 he released his first self financed record, White Town EP, on 7" vinyl. This featured Nick Glyn-Davis on drums and Sean Deegan on bass with Mishra on guitar and vocals. Glyn-Davis left and was replaced live by a drum machine and Leon Wilson on guitar. The rest of the band drifted away in Autumn 1990 and from then on Mishra mainly worked on his own, using other musicians to record with, including Gary Thatcher on guitar of the Derby band The Beekeepers.
Mishra, a straight edger and ex-Marxist, often incorporates political concerns in his songs veiled in terms of personal relationships. After a troubled working relationship with EMI, Mishra was dropped from the label in 1997. Since then, he has gone back to working with indie labels such as Parasol Records. His album, 2000's Peek & Poke, received moderately enthusiastic reviews but sold poorly compared to his major label work.
In 2005, White Town contributed the song "The PNAC Cabal" to the charity album, Voyces United for UNHCR.
A New Surprise EP was released in September 2006 by the Swedish indie label Heavenly Pop Hits, and was followed up by the album Don't Mention the War, which launched Mishra's own Bzangy Records label. Mishra currently lives in Derby.
Read more about this topic: White Town
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“I seemed intent on making it as difficult for myself as possible to pursue my “male” career goal. I not only procrastinated endlessly, submitting my medical school application at the very last minute, but continued to crave a conventional female role even as I moved ahead with my “male” pursuits.”
—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)