Franz Ferdinand

After 3 days of stars who got a boost from YouTube and other contemporary social media, here's a band that made it the old-fashioned way: through playing gigs and releasing records. It's a band that was formed in Scotland, called Franz Ferdinand.

Franz Ferdinand were formed in Glasgow in 2002. They consisted of:

Alex Kapranos (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), born in 1972 in Gloucestershire, England to an English mother and Greek father and moved to Scotland at the age of seven.

Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), born in 1974 in Blackpool, England and raised in Munich, Germany. He moved to Glasgow as a young adult, having already gathered experience playing in bands in Germany.

Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals), born in 1976 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bob Hardy (bass guitar), born in 1980, in West Yorkshire, England. He moved to Glasgow to study in the Glasgow School of Art in 1999.

Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson met at a party and began a close friendship and played together in Yummy Fur, and subsequently teamed up to write songs. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend, Bob Hardy, how to play bass after being given a bass guitar by Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian. Kapranos met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany and broke into Glasgow's underground cultural scene as a member of the jazz band Scatter, in 2001.

Their first EP, Darts of Pleasure, was released in 2003 by Domino, an independent record label. The title track peaked at #44 in the UK. The band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004, announced in November 2003. Here's Darts of Pleasure:

The band moved to Malmö, Sweden, with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson to record their debut album. In January 2004 the single Take Me Out reached #3 in the UK, #3 in the US Alt/Rock chart, #7 in Canada, and #8 in Ireland.

The album, Franz Ferdinand, was released in early 2004, debuting at #3 in the UK Albums Chart in February 2004, and at #12 in the Australian album charts in April 2004. The album only reached the lowest levels of the Billboard 200 album charts in the US as of early 2004, but reached the Top 5 of the Indie Rock chart and the Heatseeker chart for debut artists. After a couple of North American tours and heavy rotation of the "Take Me Out" video on MTV, the album eventually reached #32 on the Billboard 200 later in 2004, and sold over a million copies in the US. Franz Ferdinand received a generally strong positive response from critics. NME rated it 9/10, and said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, Travis, and Blur.

On 7 September 2004 the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. They won an Ivor Novello Award in 2004 and two BRIT Awards in 2005. The avant-garde music video for Take Me Out earned them a Breakthrough Video MTV Award. NME named Franz Ferdinand the best album of 2004. In the Grammy awards, Take Me Out was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Franz Ferdinand was nominated for Best Alternative Album. The album has sold around 3.6 million copies worldwide.

Second single off the album was The Dark of the Matinée. It reached #8 in the UK.

Third single off the album, a song called Michael, is of particular interest to us. Here are some of the lyrics:

Michael you're the boy with all the leather hips

Sticky hair, sticky hips, stubble on my sticky lips

Michael you're the only one I'd ever want

Beautiful boys on a beautiful dance-floor

Michael you're dancing like a beautiful dance-whore

Michael waiting on a silver platter now

And nothing matters now

This is what I am, I am a man

Come and dance with me Michael

And here's the video of the song, which made #17 in the UK:

There have been rumors that Alex Capranos is gay or bisexual, but when asked directly on Twitter in 2010, he replied: "I'm not gay, but it's irrelevant." In any case, he's a faithful ally and he's the kind of person that doesn't discuss his personal life publicly.

This Fire was released as a download-only single, and reached #17 on the United States Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and #8 on the UK Download Chart. In Australia, the song was ranked #29 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004.

Jacqueline was part of a double A-side they released after This Fire. The other side was Get Up and Use Me.

The band spent much of 2005 in the studio in Glasgow working on their follow-up album, You Could Have It So Much Better, which was released on 3 October 2005. The band attempted to broaden its musical range on the album; Hardy said, "There's more to life than Disco-beat guitar music". It was generally well received in the press and seen as an album equal to, or better than, their first by most critics. It peaked at #1 UK, #2 in Germany and Ireland, #4 in Belgium and Switzerland, #5 in France, Australia and Austria, #8 in the US and #9 in the Netherlands. The album eventually sold 2 million copies worldwide.

First single off the album was an insanely catchy song called Do You Want To. Q, as well as the Sound Opinions, named it the greatest single of 2005. It made #4 in the UK and #9 in the US Alt/Rock chart.

The most interesting part of the lyrics:

Well he's a friend and we're so proud of you

He's a friend and I knew him before you

Your famous friend and I blew him before you

Oh yeah

Well do ya? do ya do ya want to?

Well do ya? do ya do ya want to?

Want to go where I've never let you before?

... And here's the song, which I love:

This Boy is an album track which contains the lyrics:

It seems this boy's bathed in ridicule

Too forward, way too physical

It's time that I had another

I'm always wanting more, if there's another one

Give me some more, I'll have another one

Here it is:

You Could Have It So Much Better went on to earn a nomination for Best Alternative Album at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006, as did Do You Want To for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Walk Away was the second single off the album:

Third single off the album was The Fallen:

On 26 January 2009, the band released their third studio album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. Alex Kapranos has stated that "The last record was...like a teenager having sex. This one's a bit more assured and a bit friendlier for the dance floor."

A couple of successful singles came out of this album. First, here's Ulysses, dedicated to our friend with the same name from New Jersey.

No You Girls was the other:

Here's an oddity from 2010. Franz Ferdinand, in collaboration with Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard, released Eyes of Mars as part of the Lady Dior campaign:

On 26 August 2013, Franz Ferdinand released their fourth album, titled Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. Lead single was Right Action:

Next single was Love Illumination:

Stand On The Horizon was the sixth and final single from this album:

On 9 March 2015, it was announced that the band had formed a supergroup with one of the most original bands of the 70s, the Mael brothers' vehicle, Sparks, under the name FFS, with plans to release a studio album and tour Europe during that summer. The album, called FFS, was released on 8 June 2015. First single was Johnny Delusional:

Call Girl was the next single:

Third and final single was Police Encounters:

In July 2016, the band announced that guitarist Nick McCarthy would not be involved in the recording and touring of their next album, in order to concentrate on his family and other musical interests. The band, however, have stressed that it is possible he may rejoin the band at a later date. In a letter directed to fans regarding McCarthy's departure, the band explained what the usual lengths for recording albums and subsequently touring are, also saying that McCarthy didn't want to be away from his family for too long.

Will the band carry on, or will it eventually implode? Will they ever release anything as vital as their first two albums? I guess we'll have to wait and see. In any case, they have left their mark on Pop Culture history.