KAISER CHIEFS - NAMED AFTER THE SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL CLUB

Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band who formed in 1997. Hailing from Leeds, the group consist of vocalist Ricky Wilson, Andrew 'White' White (guitar), Simon Rix (bassist), Nick 'Peanut' Baines (keyboardist), and Nick Hodgson (drummer). They were named the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs, a team which former Leeds United defender , Lucas Rabede played for. The group's debut album, Employment, was released in 2005. It was primarily inspired by new wave and punk rock music of late 1970's, and enjoyed international success with sales of over three million. In 2005, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Kaiser Chiefs' second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007), yielded "Ruby", a number one single in the United Kingdom.



Rewind the history about them, when they were around eleven years old, Nick Hodgson, Nick Baines and Simon Rix met in the same class at St. Mary's School, Menston in Bradford. After leaving school, Rix and Baines left for university in 1996 whereas Hodgson remained in the Leeds area, meeting both with Andrew White and Ricky Wilson. Hodgson, White and Wilson formed the band Runston Parva. It's a name a deliberate misspelling of a small Yorkshire village called Ruston Parva. After Runston Parva failed to secure a record deal, the group would re-form as Parva upon the return of Rix and Baines from university. Parva's career would go beyond the boundaries of Leeds, and the band was able to obtain both a record and publishing deal. However, after Beggars Banquets closed the Mantra label, Parva were dropped and left desolate and without any direction after the release of an album and three singles. The band decided that they would aim for a longer term record deal and started afresh with new songs and a new name; Kaiser Chiefs. The new name was taken from South African football club, Kaizer Chiefs, where former Leeds United captain Lucas Rabede had once played.

The group's debut album Employment was released in March 2005, being primarily inspired by new wave and punk rock music of late 1970's. The album was well received by music critics, described as "thrilling from the beginning to the end" and "quintessentially British, without pretension and most important, a whole lot of fun". It reached number two on the UK albums chart, and was certified five times platinum. In 2005, Employment was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, an anual music prize awarded for the best British or Irish album for the previous year. The first single released from the album was "Oh My God" in 2004, which reached number six on the UK singles chart when it was reissued in February 2005. In 2007, the song was covered by Mark Ronson and Lily Allen for Ronson's album Version. "I predict a Riot" soon followed as the album's second released. In 2007, the song was ranked number thirty-six on the NME "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever" countdown. The top twenty singles "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" and "Modern Way" followed in late 2005. The band opened and performed several of their singles at the Philadelphia Live Eight concert in 2005. The song "Saturday Night" was featured in a pre-release video for the XBOX 360 gaming console. It was posted on the official XBOX 360 page before its launch. In August 2006 the band released a book entitled A Record Of Employment, which along with photos by Peter Hill, documented the band's rise from being unsigned to their triumph at the Brit Awards that year.

Kaiser Chiefs' second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob was released in February 2007. The group recorded the album throughout the September and October 2006 at Hook End Studio in Oxfordshire, England. the group took inspiration from Led Zeppelin and American rock music, and recorded over twenty-two songs. Like Employment, the album received mixed reviews from the critics who found it to be "an album full of jukebox hits" and "predictable". Yours Truly, Angry Mob reached number one on the UK albums chart and number forty-five on the Billboard 200 albums chart. "Ruby", the album's lead single, became Kaiser Chiefs' first UK number one single. "Everything Is Average Nowadays" was released as the album's second single, and reached number nineteen in the UK. The album's third single "The Angry Mob", described by The Sun as a "clever, accessible pop" song, peaked at number twenty-two in the UK. The fourth single, "Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)", was released on 12 November as a collector's edition 7" only single via their website.

On August 2008, the band confirmed the name of their third album as Off With Their Heads. It was released on 20 October 2008. The first single "Never Miss a Beat" was released on 6 October 2008. The band also released a DVD of their live performance at Elland Road from May 24th. the DVD contains the full set from the home of Leeds United as well as the Kaiser Chiefs performance for the 2007 BBC Electric Proms. Kaiser Chiefs set out on a UK tour in October 2008 with Castle Donington band Late of the Pier and The Hair. The tour started at Leeds Academy, a new venue where they were the first headlining band to play. Other dates include Manchester Academy, Southampton Guildhall, Reading Rivermead, Glasgow Barrowlands, Leicester De Montfort Hall and London Forum. It has also announced that Kaiser Chiefs are to head out on a UK Arena tour kicking off in Nottingham and ending in London. The tour was also visited Sheffield, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff & Dublin. This was be the album tour to promote Off With Their Heads.