Smith, now a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally hails from Bath, England, where he and Roland Orzabal met when both were teenagers. They first formed a band at school, for which Smith taught himself to play bass guitar, and later formed the band Graduate, which achieved fame in Europe, and released its only album in 1980. After disbanding Graduate, Smith and Orzabal founded Tears for Fears. TFF’s debut album, 1982’s landmark “The Hurting,” went on to produce three international bestselling singles – “Change,” “Mad World,” and “Pale Shelter” – each with lead vocals provided by Smith. Their 1985 sophomore album, “Songs from the Big Chair,” was even more successful, yielding hits including “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (memorably sung by Smith), “Shout,” and “Head Over Heels” (which Smith co-wrote). The duo spent the next several years recording their 1990 album “The Seeds of Love,” which proved to be another bestseller the world over, but Smith left the band shortly after its release and moved to New York. Smith acclimated to life in New York by hosting an MTV show, as well as a new music radio show that was syndicated to over 300 U.S. colleges, and by teaching a music industry course at New York University. Then, in 1995 a mutual friend introduced Smith to songwriter-guitarist Charlton Pettus. They began writing together and formed a band called Mayfield, which released a self-titled album in 1997. Smith moved to Los Angeles in 1998, and began work on what was to become “Halfway, pleased” a few years later, but the project soon had to be put on hold: he had begun speaking to Roland Orzabal again after 9 years of silence. Their conversations culminated in TFF reforming for 2004’s “Everybody Loves A Happy Ending,” which led to a worldwide tour, so it wasn’t until 2006 that Smith had time to resume work on “Halfway, pleased.” The semi-autobiographical album explores Smith’s relationships with his children, parents and friends. “Halfway, pleased” was released in May 2008, via Smith’s own KOOK Media imprint. It is available in CD and download configurations from major online retailers and from select retail locations. |
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