Zorbing

Album: The Beachcomber's Windowsill (2009)
Charted: 74
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Stornoway is an English alternative indie pop band from Oxford. Singer and guitarist Brian Briggs who was reading ornithology at Oxford University hooked up with cellist and keyboardist Jon Ouin, who was studying for a degree in Russian literature there. Brian told The Daily Mail: "We met during Fresher's Week. I was studying ducks. Jon was trying to decipher Russian poems. We began talking about music and did some gigs as a two-piece."
  • The acoustic duo decided they needed a fuller sound, so they recruited Brian's trumpeter brother Adam and South African-born brothers, bassist Oliver and drummer Rob Steadman. They named themselves after the Hebridean town on the Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecasts. 'Brian explained the name to the The Daily Mail: "We wanted something nautical, Then we watched the BBC weather forecast and saw the name Stornoway at the top of the map. We played there this year. I'm sure the islanders were suspicious. We needed to play well to convince them we weren't going to give their town a bad name!"
  • This was the band's first major label single, which was released in July 2009. Zorbing is the sport of rolling downhill in a transparent plastic globe and the song describes steering one of the titular plastic orbs through Oxford city centre. It was re-released the following year and this time it peaked at #74 on the UK singles chart.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

N.W.A vs. the World

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

Jon Anderson of Yes

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.