Research Paper on Coldplay

[Jenjie]

So I had to do a research paper & of course I did it on Coldplay. I wanted to post it just to see what you think. BTW sorry for the internal citations & it's really long. Anways enjoy!

 

 

Imagine that you are at a concert. People are enthusiastically waiting for the band to come out. The music starts rushing guitars, rhythmic drums and the words that come from the falsetto voice makes you shiver. There is much adrenaline rush from four regular guys in a band from England. Coldplay consists of Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin and they have released three albums within their career.

 

Guy Berryman was born in Scotland on April 12, 1978. At the age of 12 he moved to Kent where he learned bass guitar. As a child his musical influences growing up were James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Kool & the Gang. “Everyone was into bands like the Smiths and Stone Roses, but I wanted to find a music that I could call my own. It was a form of rebellion.” (Qtd. In Spivack 23) Jonny Buckland was born in Mold, England on September 11, 1977. At the age of 11 Jonny learned guitar. Growing up his musical influences were the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and The Beatles. Will Champion was born in Southampton on July 3, 1978. Will’s main instrument was the guitar until he changed to drums to play with Coldplay. As a kid Will’s favorite band was Tom Waits and he also listened to Irish folk music. Chris Martin was born in Devon, England on March 2, 1971. He learned piano at Sherborne School. As a kid his musical influences were REM, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen. Chris also has a group he refers to as “The Big Three” which include Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Tom Waits. “There’s magic about Dylan. Even when I think I’ve written the perfect song, I put in Bob Dylan and I realize I haven’t come close. He has a melodic and lyrical brilliance. And he’s very mysterious like Tom Waits. I like that.” (Qtd. In Spivack 23)

 

So let’s go back to the beginning. The members of Coldplay attended the University of London where they all met in 1996. The first Freshers’ week Chris saw Jonny and became acquainted around the Student’s Union pool table. They became friends and shared a common interest in music. “Meeting Jonny was like falling in love. He could make all the ideas work and we were writing two songs a night sometimes.” states Chris. Legend has it that fellow UCL student and funk-obsessed bassist Guy Berryman heard of Chris and Jonny’s embryonic compositions and confronted them in the student bar, inebriatedly demanding to be allowed to join their ‘band’. Shortly after, Guy dropped out of his engineering course, opting instead for a degree in architecture that was supposed to span a seven years. He eventually pulled of that too but opted to stay in London to see how this new band with Chris and Jonny worked out. (Roach18) All three ‘members’ lived at Ramsey Hall. The final member of Coldplay was Will Champion.

 

The trio of Chris, Jonny, and Guy knew of a reputable drummer at UCL and approached him with a crude demo of some nascent songs, which included a very early version of Coldplay’s eventual debut album opener ‘Don’t Panic’. “We played him ‘Panic’ and he said ‘no’. We just couldn’t believe it. Even then there was a feeling of, ’But what we’re doing is great why wouldn’t you want to be apart of it?’” One day, Chris was recounting this rejection to his hockey team-mate and casual acquaintance, Will Champion. Will informed Chris that his room-mate was a drummer and offered to set up rehearsal. The problem was when the three arrived at Will’s digs and the drummer was no where to be seen. Anxious not to have wasted their time, Will suggested that although he was actually an aspiring guitarist, maybe he could keep basic time behind the kit and they could rehearse anyway. With the absent drummer down the local pub, Will thus found himself enrolled as Coldplay’s stickman. The date was January 6, 1998. (Roach 19)

 

Coldplay hasn’t always gone under the same name. The first original name was Starfish. How did the title Coldplay come about? A friend of the guys was in a band and their name was Coldplay but they dropped it because it was “too depressing”. The name originated from the book of collected poems called “Child’s Reflections: Cold Play” by Philip Horky.

 

Coldplay has released three albums within their seven year career. The first is Parachutes. Parachutes was released in 2000. Parachutes get you out of bad situations. “The album was going to be called Don’t Panic but Parachutes seem to fit. Some of our songs have bleak outlook you know? and then the parachute is pulled and you can enjoy it.” (Qtd. in Spivack 40.) The singles from Parachutes were Shiver, Yellow, Trouble, and Don’t Panic. Yellow was the first song played on American radio.

“Nic Harcourt was the very first DJ to take hold of the band. Dougie and Fran of Travis were in my studio to play guest DJ on my show in July 2000. Dougie said ‘You gotta play this, man’ an excitedly pulled a CD out of his back pocket. But the CD was cracked. It was his own copy of Parachutes. KCRW began to play multiple songs from Parachutes. Along with ‘Yellow,’ KCRW’s full time rotation included ‘Shiver,’ ‘Trouble,’ and ‘Don’t Panic’ It quickly became the in-house favorite with all our DJ’s at the station.” (Qtd. Spivack 49)The second released album was A Rush of Blood to the Head in 2002. “A rush of blood to the head is a British expression that serves as a timely metaphor for being alive, living in the present and being in tune with adrenaline of the moment.”(Qtd. In Spivack) The singles released from A Rush of Blood to the Head were In My Place, The Scientist, Clocks, and God Put a Smile upon Your Face. The third album from Coldplay’s career is X&Y. X&Y was released in the summer of 2005. “In mathematics X&Y were always the answers but in life no one knows. To me the album is about those unanswerable questions and what you should do about the fact that you can’t explain all those unknown variables.” Chris says.

 

Coldplay has never had their music featured on advertisements.

“If it’s used for trailing programs, I don’t mind that. But we’d never advertise Coke or something like that, especially traveling as much as we do. I just get sick of adverts. You can’t escape consumerism on American TV. ” (Qtd. in Spivack 27). Over the years Coldplay has had well over $4 million worth of advertisements.

 

Coldplay is not just your average rock and roll band they care about the economy and worldly issues. The organization is trying “make trade fair” between rich economic countries and poor countries. The guys were approached by Oxfam to support the association during the making of the second album. On the inside cover of A Rush of Blood to the Head on the liner notes it reads: For countries to develop or even survive they need to be able to trade fairly. At the moment poorer countries are strangles by ridiculous international trade laws and ruthless western businesses, keeping millions trapped in poverty and widening the gap between rich and poor. If you were to go to a Coldplay concert you would see on the side Chris’ piano has “MTF” and on the front it has “=” both painted in green.

 

Coldplay is not your typical rock & roll band. “We’re not a sports-metal band. We don’t scream or play out of tune. If you like a band that is passionate about writing great songs and really meaning it when they sing it, then we’ll be your favorite band.” (Spivack 15) The music is enjoyed by all generations and it is unique. Coldplay has gained many fans because they have stayed true to what they believe in and if they continue to stay this way then they truly will go further than any other current band.

 

Thanks ticking*clocks

[crazyduckette]

“Meeting Jonny was like falling in love. He could make all the ideas work and we were writing two songs a night sometimes.” states Chris

Love this!!!

 

and the last paragraph is great too

Coldplay is not your typical rock & roll band. “We’re not a sports-metal band. We don’t scream or play out of tune. If you like a band that is passionate about writing great songs and really meaning it when they sing it, then we’ll be your favorite band.” (Spivack 15) The music is enjoyed by all generations and it is unique. Coldplay has gained many fans because they have stayed true to what they believe in and if they continue to stay this way then they truly will go further than any other current band.

Coldplay is not your typical rock & roll band. “We’re not a sports-metal band. We don’t scream or play out of tune. If you like a band that is passionate about writing great songs and really meaning it when they sing it, then we’ll be your favorite band.” (Spivack 15) The music is enjoyed by all generations and it is unique. Coldplay has gained many fans because they have stayed true to what they believe in and if they continue to stay this way then they truly will go further than any other current band.

[clockpolitiks]

Awesome paper!

[victaniac]

Wow..

 

If only I were allowed to write papers on Coldplay.. youngin's have it way too easy nowadays! :laugh4:

 

Great paper :nice:

[Texasluvsjonny]

Mold is in Wales, not England. But Jonny wasn't born there, he was born in London and moved to Mold when he was 4.

[Carol_Berryman]

very good text.

refreshed my memory

[yellowbug]

It's great! I wish I was allowed to write a school paper on Coldplay! that would be amazing...

[maricircus]

As a paper, its ok. some sentences could be combined together, and there are a few minor grammatical errors.

example :

 

"Coldplay has released three albums within their seven year career. The first is Parachutes. Parachutes was released in 2000. Parachutes get you out of bad situations. “The album was going to be called Don’t Panic but Parachutes seem to fit.

though, cool concept."

 

Those in particular, needs to be conjoined, creating a better flow for the reader.

 

 

Also, some of your sentences don't make sense, and need commas !

 

Example :

 

"Coldplay is not just your average rock and roll band they care about the economy and worldly issues."

 

See how this statement needs a period in the middle ? Make it "Coldplay is not your average rock and roll band. They care about the economy and worldly issues".

 

Maybe, you could add a bit more depth there as well.

 

 

(prepares to be bombarded)

[Samantha]

 

 

(prepares to be bombarded)

 

 

it was Benjamin Franklin i believe, that said 'critics are our friends, they show us our faults'.

 

pointing out mistakes will help people do better....im sure you wont be bombarded!

[victaniac]

Example :

 

"Coldplay is not just your average rock and roll band they care about the economy and worldly issues."

 

See how this statement needs a period in the middle ? Make it "Coldplay is not your average rock and roll band. They care about the economy and worldly issues".

 

Maybe, you could add a bit more depth there as well.

 

 

(prepares to be bombarded)

Wellll.. if you wanna be real nitpicky, I'd say a semicolon would suit better there than a period. But no one remembers poor old semicolons anymore..! :laugh4:

[yellow_fever]

Great paper, but Will was born on July 31st, no? ;)