Cirkus

There is more than one artist with this name: 1. cirKus (Sweden) are Matt Karmil, Burt Ford (Neneh's husband Cameron McVey, is known for his work under various names with portishead, Massive Attack etc) their 2006 début album also features Lolita Moon, daughter of Neneh Cherry. Combining different ages, nationalities and music styles they are hard to categorise. Their sound is based around programmed yet natural sounding beats, acoustic guitars and the three very distinct voices of Ford, Moon and Cherry. They have released 3 full albums the latest being Medicine (2009) and 2011 saw the release of a new single "Bells". 2. Cirkus (UK) was formed from the ashes of bands Moonhead and Lucas Tyson, the group's high standard of musicianship was well known in their native north-east where they attracted much attention and had a devoted following. It was felt that the quintet could achieve success on a national scale, provided management handled matters properly and they got the right breaks. In 1973 they recorded their debut album "Cirkus One" at Sound Associates/Emison & Air Studios and just 1000 copies were pressed up. When in 1975 lead vocalist Paul Robson left the group, his replacement was Alan Roadhouse (ex Halfbreed) who also played the saxophone. With Dogg on acoustic and electric guitars, Derek Miller on keyboards, John Taylor on bass and main songwriter Stu McDade providing backing vocals, drums and assorted persussions, this became the new line-up. As a result the band moved away from their early symphonic style adopting a somewhat more mainstream approach albeit maintaining a certain "Cirkus sound". In 1977, Cirkus made an unusual move by touring in a somewhat zany theatre production called "Future Shock".