Wonderful life - Black - 1988

Black

Wonderful life

Black

Source: Wikipedia

Colin Vearncombe, better known as Black, (born, 26 May 1962, Liverpool, England) is an English singer-songwriter, who enjoyed mainstream success in the late 1980s. William 

Ruhlmann of Allmusic described Vearncombe as a "smoky-voiced singer/songwriter, whose sophisticated jazz-pop songs and dramatic vocal delivery place him somewhere between Bryan Ferry and Morrissey

Black's first release was "Human Features" on Rox Records in 1981. This was followed by another independent release in 1982 "More than the Sun", after which he was signed by WEA Records.

In 1982, Black played with the Thompson Twins on their "Quick Step and Side Kick" tour. The live sound of synth/percussion/guitar and the use of reel-to-reel tapes got him noticed.

The first release for WEA was "Hey Presto" (1984), which got him noticed outside the UK: the video for this song featured on the satellite music channel Music Box, and the single was released in Australia. The second WEA single was a re-recording of "More than the Sun". After this, Black was dropped from the record label.

1985 was a gloomy year for Vearncombe, causing him to write the ironically entitled minor key song "Wonderful Life". Released independently through Ugly Man Records at first, this track got Black noticed by A&M Records who signed Vearncombe and launched his 

international career. At first, the single "Everything's Coming Up Roses" flopped, but the follow-up, "Sweetest Smile" became a UK top 10 hit. The third single, a re-release of "Wonderful Life", was a massive hit worldwide. The album of the same name, released in 1987, had similar success, reaping commercial and critical acclaim.

Black then went on to sell over two million records worldwide with Comedy (1988) and Black (1991). In the meantime, Vearncombe married Swedish singer Camilla Griehsel, formerly from the band One 2 Many. Disillusioned with having to deal with a big record 

company, Vearncombe founded the independent label Nero Schwarz (which is the word "black" in Italian and in German, respectively), and released one album Are We Having Fun Yet? (1993).

After a prolonged hiatus, Vearncombe returned in 1999 to release a string of recordings under his own name.

Vearncombe returned to the name "Black" to release a new recording entitled Between Two Churches in November 2005. On this album he included a song mocking the success of his hit "Wonderful life", where he poignantly re-asked the question, "Are you having a wonderful life?".

2009 saw two album releases. The Given was issued on 4 July, initially available as a free download under Vearncombe's name; and Water On Stone on 17 November, the first Black studio album in four years.

In September 2011, the album Any Colour You Like was released through Black's website. In April 2014, he started a pledge fund (via the dedicated music crowd-funding site PledgeMusic) for a new album. This was the first time Vearncombe participated in a crowl

funded project. The project significantly exceeded its funding goals and he regularly expressed his surprise and gratefulness through video updates on the PledgeMusic site. His experience with the process also contributed to the name of the album: Blind Faith. The album was released on April 13, 2015.