Orlando

The creation of songwriter/guitarist Richard ‘Dickon’ Edwards (b. 3 September 1972, Bildeston, Suffolk, England), this London, England-based band’s original personnel comprised drama school graduate, former funeral director and singer Timothy Mark Chipping, Simon Kehoe, and guitarist Stephen Jefferis. This line-up was eventually reduced to the core duo of Edwards and Chipping, although keyboard player Sean Turner was a brief collaborator. Edwards and Chipping made a colourful debut in 1995 with the single ‘Reproduction Is Pollution’. Credited to Shelley, it was released on cult independent label Sarah Records and attacked the unjustified propagation of the species in the light of over-population statistics. Their debut single as Orlando, ‘Just For A Second’, was released in the spring of 1996 for Blanco y Negro. The b-side featured a spoken extract from their first major press interview, with weekly music paper Melody Maker. Orlando was regularly championed by the paper’s Simon Price as leaders of the over-hyped and short-lived ‘Romo’ movement, which attempted to resurrect the spirit of new romanticism. They then toured the UK as part of the ill-fated Club Skinny package tour with Plastic Fantastic. Their 1997 debut, Passive Soul, was a flawed collection of soul-drenched modern pop songs, distinguished by Chipping’s aching vocals and Edwards’ witty, literate lyrics. Edwards left shortly after the album’s release to set up Fosca. Chipping carried on recording as Orlando on the Company Communications label, before finally dissolving the band in April 2000.