James Artistfacts

1982–2001, 2007–
Jim GlennieBass1982-2001, 2007-
Tim BoothVocals1982-2001, 2007-
Gavan Whelan Drums, piano1982-1988
Paul GilbertsonGuitar1982-1985
Larry GottGuitar1985–1995, 2001, 2007–2015
David Baynton-PowerDrums1988-2001, 2007-
Saul DavisRhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, violin1989-2001, 2007-
Andy DiagramTrumpet, percussion1989–1992, 2001, 2007–
Adrian OxaalGuitar, cello1995-2001, 2015-
Deborah Knox-HewsonDrums2021-
Chloe AlperBacking vocals, percussion2018-
Michael KulasRhythm guitar1997-2001
James began as a friendship project between guitarist Paul Gilbertson and bassist Jim Glennie, two school friends from Whalley Range, Manchester - Gilbertson talked Glennie into buying a bass guitar and starting a group around 1980. With drummer Gavan Whelan rounding out the lineup, they played their earliest shows under a series of chaotic names - Venereal and the Diseases, Volume Distortion, and Model Team International - performing mostly improvised material drawn from free-form jam sessions and even supporting The Fall at an early show at Manchester Polytechnic.
When Jim Glennie and Paul Gilbertson spotted Tim Booth at a cellar bar at Manchester University around 1981, they were drawn to his hypnotic, freeform dancing, so they invited him to join the band as a dancer. Once rehearsals began, his bandmates realized he could sing, and he was promptly promoted to frontman and lyricist. "I was always the one that didn't fit in," Booth told The Big Issue. "There was always some tension."
The band renamed themselves "James" in August 1982 - after Jim Glennie's first name. "I wish I could say it has to do with my huge ego and talent, but unfortunately, it is not. It was just from a time when it didn't seem to matter what a band was called. Nobody knew who we were, and we wanted a name that didn't sound like a band, so we thought 'James' is good and it's a person's name," Glennie told XSNoize.

No one ever calls Jim Gleenie James, so he doesn't associate the band's moniker with his name. "We couldn't use Tim because he's the singer and that would be weird," he said. "Our drummer was called Gavin, and we thought it sounded too 'heavy metal,' and the other one was Paul, so it was either James or Paul, so we went with James. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time we just thought, "Cool let's call the band 'James.'"
In their early years, James were far better known for their merchandise than their music. The band's range of distinctive T-shirts sold heavily in Manchester and kept the group financially afloat during lean periods when their record sales were minimal.
James formed before The Smiths, but the two Manchester bands developed a close bond when James toured as support for The Smiths in Ireland and the UK in 1984 and 1985. Booth has also long claimed that Morrissey's 1992 single "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" was written in response to James' rise - a claim Morrissey has denied.
Away from music, Tim Booth has pursued an acting career that landed him in one of the biggest films of the 2000s. He played Victor Zsasz - a serial killer and recurring Batman villain - in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005). Booth had taken acting lessons during his hiatus from James after 2001 and also provided his voice for the character in the video game adaptation of the film.
Despite producing some of the most beloved songs of the Britpop era, James did not have a UK #1 album of original material until 2024, when Yummy topped the chart (1998's The Best of James previously reached the summit). Tim Booth told The Mirror that after 42 years in the music business he hoped the achievement would "put a crack in the glass ceiling of ageism," adding, "the aim was to make great music - focus on the music, not the numbers, and eventually the people will come."

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