Doves Are the Business

You know those bands that are so great you're amazed that they aren't super stars?  Well, that's how I feel about Doves.  I just simply can't believe that everyone doesn't love Doves.

This occurred to me because on awhile back I put their four albums into my stereo and I've pretty much listened to them for a week straight.  It's like I'd been taken back to when was first introduced to the band.





They first popped up on my radar in 2000, the waning days of The Box.  "Catch the Sun" was one of the videos that was promoted on the channel with a short clip.  It was one of those things that burrowed into my head and firmly planted itself into my subconscious.  I knew at some point I was going to have to hear that whole song.

Then I got distracted by a variety of things and never followed up on that.  However in 2001 I was literally channel surfing, flipping through late night tv when I stumbled across Doves performing on Craig Kilborn's old late night show.  Needless to say, I was impressed.  I want to say that they performed "Rise" but I'm not 100% positive about that.  



Seeing the performance and being impressed by it, I immediately sought out their debut album Lost Souls and I've been a fan since then.  Lost Souls has such a quiet majesty to it.  It's an album that works just as well on a beautiful spring afternoon as it does on an overcast autumn day.  I'm sure if I cobbled together a list of my favorite albums, Lost Souls would rank up there.

And the more I found out about Doves the more compelling they became to me.  I'd found that for a time they served as Badly Drawn Boy's backing band.  Being a fan of Badly Drawn Boy, the connection seemed like an awesome stamp of approval.

I also learned that Doves had a precursor band called Sub Sub, which was more dance oriented.  But a studio fire destroyed all of their equipment and the band decided to carry on with a new name and direction.



How dope is that? Jez Williams, Jimi Goodwin and Andy Williams are at a point when they have a taste of success and then their dreams literally go up in flames.  But rather than give up, they forth with a tweak.  Inspiring, right?

Anyway, because I've been on such a Doves kick, I've been looking for some of the more difficult stuff to find.  For instance songs like "Devils in the Detail" and "Blues Tune" have proved to be difficult to find.



Equally elusive is the promo only The Last Broadcast Instrumentals. I've got Instrumentals of Rust, but I'd kill to hear The Last Broadcast instrumentals.  Maybe one day I'll find them.

And maybe on that day I'll get the chance to see Doves live.  One of my regrets is that I've yet to see them live.  I'd be hard pressed to point out when I've actually had the opportunity and balked, but I'm sure if I looked at their tour dates I'd be able to find missed opportunity.

What really sucks is that the band is on hiatus, taking some time to pursue other interests and solo projects, so chances are I won't be seeing them any time soon.  Still, I am hopeful that Doves will reunite and tour the U.S. at some point.

So there you have it.  Doves are the business and you should really be listening to them.