The Auteurs were an British alternative rock band of the 1990's and a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Luke Haines (guitar, piano and vocals).
Formerly of the band The Servants, Haines created the Auteurs with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman on bass guitar, former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and James Banbury on cello. Their first single "Showgirl" was praised by the United Kingdom music magazine, Melody Maker, and led to the band g...
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The Auteurs were an British alternative rock band of the 1990's and a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Luke Haines (guitar, piano and vocals).
Formerly of the band The Servants, Haines created the Auteurs with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman on bass guitar, former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and James Banbury on cello. Their first single "Showgirl" was praised by the United Kingdom music magazine, Melody Maker, and led to the band gaining a recording contract with Hut. The album, New Wave (1993), was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize and saw The Auteurs associated with the emerging Britpop genre.
However this association never sat well with Haines who frequently made derogatory remarks about his peers. After New Wave, the band remained on the fringes of the music scene. Their next album Now I'm a Cowboy (1994), built on the themes of New Wave and contained Haines' best known song, "Lenny Valentino". Demonstrating, again, their difference from their musical peers, the...
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