McFly (band)

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McFly are a British pop rock band who first found fame in 2004 and are the youngest band to have an album debut at number one. The band was founded by Tom Fletcher (born 17 July 1985)^[3] and also consists of Danny Jones (born 12 March 1986),^[4] Dougie Poynter (born 30 November 1987)^[5] and Harry Judd (born 23 December 1985).^[6] They are signed to the Island Records label and are managed by Prestige Management.^[2][7]

As of October 2007, McFly have thirteen top ten singles, seven of which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart^[8] and two number one albums: their debut, Room on the 3rd Floor, and their second, Wonderland. Their third album, Motion in the Ocean, was released on 6 November 2006 and charted at number six. The band released their All The Greatest Hits compilation album on November 5, 2007, which charted at number four. The band's fourth studio album, as yet untitled, is due to be released July 20, 2008.^[9]

History

Formation

The name "McFly" was chosen by Tom Fletcher, the band's founding member, based on his love for the American science-fiction comedy Back to the Future series and Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly.^[10] Fletcher had originally auditioned for Busted, but was rejected.^[7] He then started writing songs with Busted member James Bourne and was asked to come along to film auditions for a new band, V. Jones came along to the audition and met Fletcher.^[11] The two then began collaborating together. Jones and Fletcher moved into the InterContinental Hotel in London for 2 months,^[12] and the two began writing songs along with Bourne. Poynter and Judd were recruited via a classified advert in NME.^[7]

Room on the 3rd Floor

McFly's early sound was a mixture of pop and rock. Their debut single, "5 Colours in Her Hair", released 29 March 2004, entered the UK Singles Chart at number one in April 2004 and stayed there the following week.^[13] In July 2004 their second single, "Obviously", also topped the charts.^[14] This was followed by the album Room on the 3rd Floor debuting at number one in the UK Albums Chart.^[11] It would go on to be certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.^[15] The album broke records, as McFly earned an award from Guinness World Records for being the youngest band to have a debut album enter the charts in the top position, a distinction previously held by The Beatles.^[16] The idea for the album name came from where Danny and Tom wrote most of the songs for the album: room 363 in the InterContinental Hotel in London.^[12] The third single, "That Girl", was released on 6 September 2004 and lost the battle for the top spot to Brian McFadden's "Real to Me", placing at number three,^[17] despite topping midweek sales charts.^[18] The fourth single, Room on the 3rd Floor, the album's title track, was released on 15 November 2004 and reached number five.^[19] McFly supported Busted on their nationwide arena tour^[11] along with V in February 2004 and then had their first headlining tour in September 2004.^[20]

Wonderland

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Tom Fletcher of McFly performs at T4 on the Beach in Weston Super Mare in 2006.

In March 2005, McFly released "All About You/You've Got a Friend", a double A-side of their sixth and seventh singles and the first release from their second album, Wonderland, which featured a 60-piece orchestra. The single reached number one for a week on 13 March 2005^[21] and the profits from the single were donated to Comic Relief.^[22] The video for "You've Got a Friend" was shot in Uganda, Africa, which McFly visited for the charity appeal.^[23][24] Several months later, on 2 July, McFly co-headlined Live8 Japan, with Björk and Good Charlotte.^[25][26] The second single from Wonderland, "I'll Be OK", was released in the UK on the 15 August 2005 and scored them their fourth UK number one.^[27] The album itself was released on 29 August 2005 entering at number one.^[28] The third single from Wonderland, "I Wanna Hold You", was released on 17 October, giving them their sixth top three single, missing out on number one to Arctic Monkeys.^[29] Their fourth and final single, "Ultraviolet/The Ballad of Paul K" from Wonderland was released on 12 December 2005 and reached number nine.^[30] McFly headlined their Wonderland Arena Tour, which started on 15 September 2005. A DVD of the tour, recorded live at the MEN Arena in Manchester, was released on 28 November.^[31] The band also played at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance.^[32]

 Just My Luck

In 2006, McFly turned their attentions to America, appearing in the Lindsay Lohan movie Just My Luck,^[33] released on 12 May, three days after the soundtrack of the movie, which comprised McFly songs taken from both Room on the Third Floor and Wonderland,^[34] as well as a new version of "Five Colours In Her Hair". The band played several gigs in Los Angeles and New York,^[35] as well as attending the American premiere of Just My Luck in Hollywood.^[34]

Motion in the Ocean

McFly's first single of 2006 was "Please, Please", released in the UK as a double A-side with a cover of the Queen hit "Don't Stop Me Now" on 17 July as the official song for Sport Relief 2006.^[36][37] It reached number one in the UK charts on 23 July,^[38] making it the band's fifth number one single of their career. On 14 September 2006, it was confirmed via an email newsletter from McFly's official website, that the third album would be called Motion in the Ocean.^[39] The album was released on 6 November 2006, and reached number six.^[40] The second release from the album, "Star Girl" was released on 23 October 2006, to promote the album.^[41] "Star Girl" reached number one in its first week.^[42] The third release from the album, "Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night", was released on 18 December 2006, and reached number three in the UK singles charts.^[43] "Friday Night" is featured in the movie Night at the Museum, which was released on 22 December 2006, in Canada and the US and 26 December 2006, in the UK.^[44] Their next single, Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania, was released on the 7 May 2007, becoming the band's seventh number one.^[45] The original single release date was due to be 26 February,^[46] but the band took up the offer to return at that time to the town of Kamwokya in Uganda, which they previously visited for Comic Relief in 2005.^[47] "Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania" holds the record for the biggest fall from number one for a non-limited edition single. It fell from number one to twenty after a week, matching a limited edition Elvis Presley single, "One Night".^[48]

McFly held their Motion in the Ocean tour from September 17, 2006 and were supported by The Click Five^[49] and Nylon.^[50] They also held their McFly Up Close and Personal tour, supported by Lil Chris,^[51] which started on March 20, 2007, and consisted of performing in twenty four locations not covered by their arena tours over thirty-four dates.^[52] Motion in the Ocean was re-released as a double disc edition with "Baby's Coming Back" and DVD from the Wembley show on 14 May 2007 and reached number fourteen.^[53][54]

 All The Greatest Hits

McFly's All The Greatest Hits compilation album was released on November 5, 2007 and reached number three in the charts.^[55] The first single from the album, The Heart Never Lies, which reached number three in the UK singles chart,^[56] was premiered at the V Festival in August.^[57] The band went on a 26 date Greatest Hits tour in the autumn,^[58] supported by Elliot Minor,^[59] in order to promote the album.

 Cover songs

McFly perform at the Virgin Radio VIP area.

McFly have recorded and performed a variety of officially released and unreleased cover versions of well-known songs.

2003–2004

McFly collaborated with Busted for a cover of The Kinks' song "Lola" (which was a B-side on the "5 Colours in Her Hair" single)^[60] and a version of "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations from Busted's "Crashed the Wedding" single.^[61] Their cover of "Help!", originally by The Beatles, was featured on the "Obviously" single^[62] while "She Loves You", also by The Beatles, was featured on the "That Girl" single.^[63] "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", originally by Queen, was featured on the "Room on the Third Floor" single.^[64]

2005

McFly released "You've Got a Friend", originally by Carole King, which they recorded as part of the official 2005 Comic Relief song, along with "All About You", where the video sees the band visiting children in Uganda affected by AIDS.^[22][23][24] McFly also recorded the 2004 hit "Mr Brightside", originally by The Killers, which is featured on the "I Wanna Hold You" single,^[65] and "I Predict a Riot", originally by the Kaiser Chiefs, which they performed at BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session and is featured on the "Ultraviolet" single.^[66] McFly also teamed up with Roger Daltrey of The Who in September, 2005 to re-record the 1965 hit, "My Generation" to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust and to launch HMV Digital's new download service.^[67] They also released a cover The Who's "Pinball Wizard" on "I'll Be OK".^[68]

 2006

McFly performed a version of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" at The Prince's Trust on 20 May 2006.^[69] They released a cover of "Don't Stop Me Now", originally by Queen, which was recorded to raise money for Sport Relief 2006 as the official song along with "Please, Please".^[36][37] When performing this cover on their Motion In The Ocean tour, they were joined onstage by Queen guitarist Brian May at Wembley Arena,^[16] who also performed the opening riff to "5 Colours in Her Hair". Matt Willis also joined McFly to play "Don't Stop Me Now" at Wembley Arena and the Manchester Evening News Arena.^[70] Also on the tour, they performed "Fight for Your Right (To Party)", originally by the Beastie Boys and the "Ghostbusters" theme tune, originally by Ray Parker Jr.^[71] A few weeks later, they opened Children in Need 2006 with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles.^[72] The song "Rockin' Robin", originally by Bobby Day, was performed at the Top Of The Pops Christmas Special and was also featured on the "Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night" single.^[73]. They also covered Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon.^[74]

 2007

On 23 February 2007, McFly performed Primal Scream's "Rocks" with Charlotte Church on The Charlotte Church Show.^[75] They also covered "Baby's Coming Back", originally by Jellyfish, which they released as a double A-side to "Transylvania".^[76] McFly recorded the song You're The One That I Want from Grease for an album which was recorded in just five days, Over the Rainbow.^[77] McFly were among a forty artists who recorded a track for Radio 1’s birthday celebrations, covering The Jam classic Town Called Malice, to feature on the compilation album Radio 1. Established 1967.^[78] The hit Rihanna song, Umbrella, was also covered by McFly and is on their single, The Heart Never Lies.^[79] They also covered Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.^[80]

 Television and film appearances

In January 2005, the band guest-starred in an episode of the long-running British drama series Casualty.^[81] In May 2006, they starred in the teen comedy film Just My Luck with Lindsay Lohan and Chris Pine, which was released in the US on 12 May 2006 and in the UK on 30 June 2006.^[33] They play themselves in the film and the soundtrack features a variety of their songs from their first two albums.^[34] The band also recorded another song, "Just My Luck", which was to be included on the US-only album release of the same name. McFly held a concert at the London Hammersmith Apollo on 19 May 2005 which was used in the film.^[82] The UK premiere of the film took place on 28 June 2006 in London.^[83] The film generally did not receive good reviews, gaining a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[84]

On June 23, 2007, McFly made a cameo appearance in an episode of the science fiction series Doctor Who. The episode "The Sound of Drums", saw the band appearing in a spoof party political broadcast, which featured testimonials from British celebrities such as McFly and Sharon Osbourne showing their support for Mr Saxon to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.^[85]

On October 22, 2007, McFly hosted the first annual Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards.^[86]

 Awards

McFly have won a variety of awards in categories ranging from their looks to their music. In 2004, they won five Smash Hits Awards including 'Stars of the Year', 'Best UK Band', 'Best Album' (for Room on the 3rd Floor), 'Best Video' (for "That Girl"), 'Best Stars of the Year' and Danny Jones won 'Most Fanciable Male'.^[87] The following year they beat their previous number of awards by winning 'Stars of the Year', 'Best UK Band', 'Best Single' (for "All About You"), 'Best Album' (for Wonderland), while Danny Jones won 'Most Snoggable Male' and Dougie Poynter won 'Top Mop'.^[88] Also in 2005, they won 'Best Pop Act' at the BRIT Awards.^[89] The band won 'Best Group' and Dougie Poynter won 'Most Fanciable Male' in the Virgin.net Music Awards for 2006.^[90] McFly also won 'Best Band' at the first annual Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards, which they hosted.^[86] On November 6, 2007 it was announced McFly had won 'Best Pop Act' at the UK Festival Awards 2007 for their appearance at the V Festival in August.^[91] They also won Best Live Act at the Virgin.net Music Awards 2007 and Dougie Poynter won Most Fanciable Male for the second year in a row.

Discography

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