Canadian Summertime Position". RPM. Archived from the original on 17 September 2009 . Retrieved 3 May 2009. And we should just accept The Sundays’ nine year existence for what it was – a glorious three album era. Larkin, Colin (1992). Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol.3. New England Pub. Associates, Chester, CT. p.2416. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) Your Not The Only One I Know was a one-two punch combined with Here’s Where the Story Ends here were two phenomenally catchy and beautiful songs that drove the disc’s success. The song itself examines our inner embarrassments and habits, from talking to ourselves to reading horoscopes on the lav. Only Harriet and David could turn this song about rationalizing our neurotic tics into a thing of such beauty that it is timeless. The lovely acoustic guitar treatment and Harriet’s transcendent voice take this song to another level. The vocals are just barely tethered to the ground by Gavurin’s swirling guitar. It all sounds so very effortless, pure sonic goodness.

In Neil Taylor’s 2010 book, An Intimate History Of Rough Trade, Gavurin argued – possibly joked – that The Sundays chose to sign to Rough Trade because “it was near our flat.” When the band first met RT’s co-directors Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee, who had only joined the company in 1987, immediate impressions were positive. The Sundays moved to Parlophone, and followed up with Blind (1992). And, after a long hiatus due to children, Static & Silence (1997). But then they simply stopped making records. They do still write, but said to American Way: “First, let’s see if the music we’re currently writing ever sees the light of day.” Dutchcharts.nl – The Sundays – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 October 2022. Of course, whether The Sundays were ‘pop’ very much depends on one’s definition. The Sundays weren’t even that popular: only one Top 20 single, Summertime, from their swansong album and they were barely recognisable as stars, other than to those who adored them. But they were very ‘pop’ in that alternative/indie way, and one of the most melodically beautiful bands of their era. That the Sundays are in some way responsible for the rash of 'indie-lite' female artists of the last two decades (e.g. The Cranberries, Natalie Imbruglia and lots of others that I have thankfully forgotten) is not something I can hold against them. They constructed a beautiful template in Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, that others have generally failed in reconstructing.Ah, some levity. Barmy lyrics about joining The Salvation Army, the Civil Service and going to Piccadilly Circus (“I took the first bus home”) reiterate ‘outsider’ status, but well-knowing: “My hopeless youth it’s just so uncouth” echoes the notion that wisdom, as in Can’t Be Sure, will come later. Gavurin’s scratchy jangle is very mid-80s indie and Paul Brindley’s bassline is a close relation of Hollow Horseby The Icicle Works, early ‘dream pop’ explorers of 1983-84. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic was released in January 1990 and became a commercial success, reaching number4 on the UK charts [7] and peaking at number39 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. [9] It went on to sell over half a million copies worldwide. [4] Critical reception was very positive; [6] Rolling Stone writer Ira Robbins referred to it as "an alluring slice of lighter-than-air guitar pop, a collection of uncommonly good songs graced by Harriet Wheeler's wondrous singing." [10] The single " Here's Where the Story Ends" was particularly successful in the USA due to radio play and MTV rotation. [6] The Sundays devoted nearly a year to an "exhausting" promotional tour, [4] which encompassed America, Europe, and Japan. [6] The tour was considered successful, [6] although it was not without some mishaps; a London show had to be rescheduled due to Wheeler losing her voice and the group experienced some amusement when a Dallas, Texas, show was advertised with the slogan "See The Sundays on Sunday with ice-cream sundaes". [7] 1991–1993: Blind [ edit ] One of the last songs written for the album, closer Joy is The Sundays at their most abstract. Again led by a circular bassline, it sounds more like a loose jam. The lyrics – it begins with “The Lone Ranger sold his wardrobe/ The Lone Ranger sold his bad dog” and ends with “work harder, work harder, you say” – fit what Gavurin called the band’s ‘impressionism’. It ends the album with a harder, droning squall of electric guitars, more reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine than the other-worldy folkiness of the rest of the LP. “They originally wanted to call the album Joy,” says Jeannette Lee, “but someone else had used it, I can’t remember who.” Joy was still performed as an encore during The Sundays’ final 1997 tour.

McLeese, Don (11 May 1990). "Sundays take elementary approach to perfection". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018 . Retrieved 27 January 2016.a b Tortorici, Frank (26 June 1999). "The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler". VH1 . Retrieved 30 March 2011.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Brennan, Carol (1997). McConnell, Stacy A. (ed.). Contemporary Musicians. Vol.20. Gale Cengage. ISBN 978-0-7876-1177-4 . Retrieved 30 March 2011.Seven years ago Adam Pitluk, editor of American Airlines’ in-flight magazine, secured a most unexpected interview where Wheeler and Gavurin revealed, that after an absence of two decades, they were writing music again. A much more trad-sounding shuffle that echoes the “new Morrissey/Marr” comparisons, mainly due to Gavurin’s guitar. Seems to be about another doomed fling, though the progress of words from “It’s that little souvenir of a terrible year” to “… of a colourful year” suggests all shame is eventually laughed off. It was a US hit, eventually: it was never released as a Sundays UK single due to Rough Trade’s distribution collapse, but Tin Tin Out had a UK No.7 with an anaemic ‘dance’ remake in 1998. The allusion to embarrassment in a shed suggests Wheeler has either a vivid imagination or she’s not making these dalliances up. Wheeler explained that: “Things don’t come mentally easy for us, we have to work on them until we feel they’re ready. It occurred to us that it was good, but we never had any enormous confidence that other people would like it… or wouldn’t like it.” Read more: Johnny Marr interview

A Certain Someone is a daydream of sorts that many of us use to get us through our day. Speculating about how we would spend our imaginary lottery winnings or windfalls. The thought follows through to trying to figuring out who we would take along on our ride to fame and riches. Reality steps in when we realize that we would probably mess everything up if our boat ever arrived. The rhythm section does a stellar job on this song.Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > The Sundays in Australian Charts". Hung Medien . Retrieved 30 August 2018. After that London debut (the band had moved to the capital), The Sundays were destined for an indie big-hitter: 4AD, home of the Cocteau Twins, or Rough Trade, previous home of The Smiths. Naturally. 4AD were in pole-position until owner Ivo Watts-Russell foolishly asked Gavurin and Wheeler to think carefully about which label to sign with. They bluntly answered: Rough Trade.