David Westlake

David Westlake
At the NME C86 show - London, 2014
Background information
Born	(1965-02-12) 12 February 1965 Hayes, Middlesex, England[1]
Origin	England
Genres	Indie, Art rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Cherry Red Captured Tracks
Associated acts	The Servants
Website	www.lostsheep.com/davidwestlake

David Westlake is an English singer/songwriter. He led indie band The Servants from 1985 to 1991.

History

Westlake formed indie band the Servants in 1985 in Hayes, Middlesex, England.^[2]

The Servants appeared on 1986’s NME-associated C86 compilation, and the band was from 1986 to 1991 the original home of Luke Haines.^[3]

Haines describes David Westlake's first solo album, 1987's Westlake, as "a minor classic".^[4]

Westlake's second solo album, 2002's Play Dusty for Me, was released in a limited issue that quickly sold out but was never re-pressed.^[5] Captured Tracks reissued Play Dusty for Me in LP format on Black Friday, 2015.^[6]

The Servants

The Servants' Small Time album was well received on its 2012 Cherry Red Records release, more than twenty years after its 1991-recording. The belated release followed the inclusion of 1990's Disinterest in Mojo magazine's 2011 list of the greatest British indie records of all time.^[7]

Westlake and Haines played together for the first time in twenty-three years at the Lexington, London N1 on 4 May 2014.^[8] Westlake and band played at an NME C86 show on 14 June 2014 at Venue 229, London W1; the show marked Cherry Red Records' expanded reissue of C86.^[9]

As chronicled in an interview in US music magazine The Big Takeover (issue 53, 2004), Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch was a huge Westlake fan and tried to locate him in the early 1990s in hope of forming a band with him, before launching Belle and Sebastian in his school class instead.^[10]

David Westlake is a solicitor and he lectures part-time at Brunel University.^[11]

Discography

Albums

• David Westlake, Westlake (Nov 1987, Creation Records, CRELP019 [LP]; reissued on CD by Sony in 2004)
• The Servants, Disinterest (Sep 1989, Paperhouse Records, PAPLP005 [LP]/PAPCD005 [CD])
• David Westlake, Play Dusty for Me (Jun 2002, Mahlerphone, CDA 001 [CD]; reissued Jul 2010 Angular Recording Corporation ARC 018 [digital])
• The Servants, Reserved (2006, Cherry Red Records, CDMRED297 [CD]) (compilation)
• The Servants, Youth Club Disco (2011, Captured Tracks, CT-111 [LP]) (compilation)
• The Servants, Small Time/Hey Hey We're The Manqués (Oct 2012, Cherry Red Records, CDB RED 535 [2CD]; reissued Dec 2013, Captured Tracks, CT-185 [2LP])
• David Westlake, Play Dusty for Me (Nov 2015, Captured Tracks, CT-220 [LP]) (reissue)

Singles

• The Servants, "She’s Always Hiding"/"Transparent" (Mar 1986, Head Records, HEAD1 [7"])
• The Servants, "The Sun, a Small Star"/"Meredith"/"It Takes No Gentleman"/"Funny Business" (Oct 1986, Head Records, HEAD3 [12"])
• The Servants, "It’s My Turn"/"Afterglow" (Sep 1989, Glass Records, GLASS056 [7"])
• The Servants, "It’s My Turn"/"Afterglow"/"Faithful to 3 Lovers"/"Do or Be Done" (Sep 1989, Glass Records, GLASS12 056 [12"])
• The Servants, "Look Like A Girl"/"Bad Habits Die Hard" (- 1990, Paperhouse Records, - [7"])

Videos

• David Westlake & Luke Haines, "It's My Turn" (2014)
• David Westlake, "Everybody Has A Dream" (2014)
• David Westlake, "The Sun, A Small Star" (2014)
• David Westlake, "Say When" (2001)
• David Westlake, "Even If" (2001)
• David Westlake, The Lexington, London N1 (2012)
• The Servants, "Look Like A Girl" (1990)
• The Servants, "Who's Calling You Baby Now?" (1988)
• The Servants, "The Sun, A Small Star" (1985)

External sources

• Derek Sozou, David Westlake site
• Luke Haines, Bad Vibes (London: William Heinemann, 2009), 5-10.
• Luke Haines, sleevenotes to the Servants' compilation Reserved (Cherry Red Records CDMRED 297, 2006)
• Luke Haines, sleevenotes to the Servants' album Small Time (Cherry Red Records CDB RED 535, 2012)
• Jack Rabid, review of David Westlake's album Play Dusty For Me in The Big Takeover, 17 Jan 2011
• John Peel session information
• Janice Long session information
• PhD

References