Living in a Box | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Pop,[1]funk,[1]sophisti-pop[2] |
| Years active | 1985–1990, 2016–present |
| Labels | Chrysalis |
| Members | Anthony "Tich" Critchlow Marcus Vere Bryan Chambers |
| Past members | Richard Darbyshire Kenny Thomas |
| Website | Official website |
Living in a Box are a British band founded in 1985. The group's 1987 eponymous debutsingle reached No. 5 on theUK singles chart and was a top-20 hit in the United States on theBillboard Hot 100. Their 1989 single "Room in Your Heart" also reached No. 5 in the UK.
The group, which formerly included vocalistRichard Darbyshire, currently consists of founding members Anthony "Tich" Critchlow (drums) and Marcus Vere (keyboards, synthesizers) along with new vocalist Bryan Chambers.
Living in a Box were formed in 1985 inSheffield.[3] The group named themselves after the first song they had recorded together in the studio. Vere and Critchlow were recording the demo version of the tune in a studio also being visited byRichard Darbyshire, an independent recording artist at the time. Darbyshire was invited to join his two future bandmates in the studio to record vocals for the track, and the three officially became a band.
Released two years later, "Living in a Box" was their most commercially successful single, peaking at No. 5 on theUK Singles Chart[4] and became the band's only single to chart in the Top 40 of theBillboard Hot 100 in the US.[5] The single was featured on the group'sself-titled debut album, which also included follow-up singles "Love is the Art", "So the Story Goes", and "Scales of Justice". While "So the Story Goes" was the only one of these additional singles to reach the USBillboard Hot 100, all three songs charted in their home country.
Their follow-up album,Gatecrashing in 1989 proved to be even more successful in the UK, generating two top-10 hits, "Blow the House Down" (which featuredQueen'sBrian May on guitar)[6][7] and "Room in Your Heart". The album itself peaked at No. 21. Artistic differences, as well as changes to their record labelChrysalis, caused the band to break up in 1990 before a third album could be released.
Frontman Richard Darbyshire continued his long-standing music career, writing songs for artists such asLisa Stansfield and briefly enjoying modest success as a solo artist. His solo album,How Many Angels (1994) has been re-released a number of times (beginning in 1999, when it was re-issued under the title ofLove Will Provide) accompanied by various new and unreleased tracks.
Anthony "Tich" Critchlow and Marcus Charles Vere temporarily retired from the music industry after the band split. Critchlow runs his own company providing bespoke illumination and lighting installations.[citation needed]
After a brief break, Vere changed direction and produced an award-winning series of educational DVDs calledHere Comes A...! for pre-school aged children. The business moved online in early 2017 as Kids Trucks TV.[citation needed] In May 2016, Vere was credited with writing the songs "Viva Love", "Flames of Desire", "Kiss Me Goodbye" and "Ten Below Zero" on the top 5ABC albumLexicon of Love II.
In 2016, Living in a Box reformed with British soul singerKenny Thomas replacing Darbyshire. In summer 2022, they announced viaTwitter that they have a new singer, Bryan Chambers.[8] Since they have reformed, the band has appeared at live festival events in the UK such asLet's Rock,Rewind and Flashback.[citation needed]
The song "Living in a Box" was latercovered byBobby Womack, who had also worked with Living in a Box on the single "So the Story Goes".[citation needed] In 2013, the song "Living in a Box" was featured in the video gameGrand Theft Auto V.
Current members
Past members
| Title | Release | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] | GER | AUT | NED | SWE | SWI | US [5] | |||||
| Living in a Box | 25 | 22 | 18 | — | 30 | 10 | 89 | ||||
| Gatecrashing |
| 21 | — | — | 79 | 39 | — | — |
| ||
| "—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] | AUS [10] | AUT | BEL (FLA) | CAN | GER | IRE | NLD [11] | SWE | SWI | US [5] | ||||||
| 1987 | "Living in a Box" | 5 | 49 | 11 | 20 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 17 | Living in a Box | |||
| "Scales of Justice" | 30 | — | — | — | — | 35 | 27 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "So the Story Goes" | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 81 | |||||
| 1988 | "Love Is the Art" | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | "Blow the House Down" | 10 | 166[12] | — | 12 | — | 28 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 26 | — | Gatecrashing | |||
| "Gatecrashing" | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Room in Your Heart" | 5 | — | 27 | 20 | — | — | 6 | 16 | 20 | — | — |
| ||||
| "Different Air" | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||||
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