The Hoosiers

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The Hoosiers (formerly known as The Hoosier Complex) are an odd pop band from Reading, Berkshire and Sweden. The band members are Irwin Sparkes (vocals, guitar), Martin Skarendahl (bass) and Alfonso (Alan) Sharland (drums). Their single “Worried About Ray” reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart dated 24 June 2007 on downloads alone. The single has climbed to #5 with CD sales included. Their second single Goodbye Mr A entered the charts at #5, and has since climbed another place to #4.

Hailing from Exeter, Reading and Stockholm, the band claim to create a sound that they call ‘odd pop’, a sound combining a number of musical genres. The band members cite their influences as The Cure, Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips and XTC.

According to their band biography, Alfonso and Irwin spent some time in the United States, encouraged by their chemistry teacher, in an attempt to broaden their horizons. The pair won themselves a football scholarship at the University of Indianapolis despite a reputed claim to be ‘allergic to running’. Having gathered enough material to compile an album, Alfonso and Irwin returned to London where they met Martin Skarendahl, a Swedish ex-fireman who was then working as a recording studio engineer.

The trio signed to RCA and have recorded an album together working on the title ‘Trick To Life’, release date 22nd October 2007 [2]. The band have spoken of their desire to write songs that are about “more than just boy meets girl after a night on the lash”[3], and say that the album will surprise people who only know their 2 singles. They have recently performed on the BBC Radio 2 Music Club[4].

The Trick To Life
The Hoosiers
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The Hoosiers
The Hoosiers
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Worried About Ray
The Hoosiers
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Goodbye Mr A
The Hoosiers
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Top Tracks

1	Worried About Ray full track	2,574
2	Goodbye Mr A full track	1,724
3	Cops And Robbers	1,472
4	A Sadness Runs Through Him	914
5	Run Rabbit Run full track	880
6	The Trick To Life	839
7	Worst Case Scenario	820
8	Everything Goes Dark	809
9	Killer	790
10	Clinging On For Life	759
11	Money to Be Made	513
12	Goodbye Mr. A	139
13	The Feeling You Get When [Hidd	96
14	The Feeling You Get When	66
15	Cops & Robbers	50

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Ehdee wrote:
5 hours ago

Just saw them in Sheffield. Excellent showmen, great musicians and some cracking tunes... but some blatant, blatant rip-offs. 'Goodbye Mr A' is 'Mr Blue Sky' by ELO slightly sped-up and 'A Sadness Runs Through Him' is 'Golden Brown' by the Stranglers reworked as a more guitar-based song. Good music but zero points for originality. Hopefully they'll find their own way (and their own voice) as the ones that weren't borrowed tunes were of a high quality and the crowd loved them.

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emmaforman wrote:
yesterday afternoon

love the tunes

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bexsta8 wrote:
Saturday afternoon

Heyo there, Catgirl :) Yeah, Robdk, you're not funny. Most of us writing on here love The Hoosiers, so if you're gonna continue saying stuff like that, you're gonna be fighting a losing battle. I bet you haven't even listened to their album, so you can't really say anything.

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xxwanting wrote:
Friday morning

The grey colour of this page, the boring standard text and the cluttered layout of last.fm in general appears to be more amusing than you, that Robdk bloke.

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MrsSparkes wrote:
Tuesday afternoon

Yeah, whatever. & btw, you aren't funny.

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Robdk wrote:
Tuesday afternoon

This tiny Rhinoceros on the left is better than the Hoosiers, and so is trifle, and the Moon, and fingerless gloves, and my friend Nobby. There you go, a whole list of things better than the Tossiers.

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xXcatgirlXx wrote:
8 days ago

haha woop woop ello there bexsta :) i JUST created a last fm account :D and no...doesnt get any better than the hoosiers

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bexsta8 wrote:
9 days ago

I'm a top listener! :D And I haven't even listened to The Hoosiers more than a thousand times on Lastfm...

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solid snake wrote:
last month

JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNN

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bexsta8 wrote:
last month

I really really don't think it can!

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MrsSparkes wrote:
last month

Nope, it can't!

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SPARKES3 wrote:
last month

Brilliant music, great people, hilarious videos - could it get better than the hoosiers?

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fartingsam wrote:
last month

goodbye mr aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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bexsta8 wrote:
last month

I really cannot believe that they were nominated for worst band and worst album at the NME awards. Pff. Those people don't have any tastes in music. Hoosiers FTW!! =D

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Dwyer_s wrote:
last month

coming to see you in october... ;]

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jazsparkes wrote:
last month

OMG THE HOOSIERS I LOVE THIS BAND!!!

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MrsSparkes wrote:
last month

CloudyCapulet: they won worst band and were nominated for worst album... yeah..

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killrm wrote:
last month

super music

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killrm wrote:
last month

hhhoooiiissseeerrreeesss

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phila_ wrote:
last month

cops and robbers <3

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Events

Oct 11 The Hoosiers Grimsby Auditorium, United Kingdom
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Oct 12 The Hoosiers Carling Academy, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Oct 13 The Hoosiers Carling Academy Newcastle, Newcastle, United Kingdom
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Listeners

alex90s
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to Goodbye Mr. A
AethonPhoenix
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Recent Activity

MlleAudrey, die_kaya, H3llsie and 16 other people added The Hoosiers to their libraries. 38 minutes ago
kobakou added The Hoosiers to the lineup of The Hoosiers at Duo Music Exchange. yesterday morning
gonesser, ruighean, LouisaGrollmann and 6 other people added The Hoosiers to their libraries. yesterday morning
eve_eva tagged The Hoosiers with ‘indie’ and ‘rock’. Saturday afternoon
stupid_and_ugly, Gethr, cassis39 and 11 other people added The Hoosiers to their libraries. Saturday morning
thewisedragon tagged The Hoosiers with ‘indie’. Thursday evening
Niciiiiii, SheerSimplicity, dxhawk and 1 other person added The Hoosiers to their libraries. Thursday evening
xNomaDx tagged The Hoosiers with ‘indie rock’. August 2008
SteveyBBz, ThinkAloud42, penguinrobot and 3 other people added The Hoosiers to their libraries. August 2008
MrsSparkes uploaded awwww to The Hoosiers’s images. August 2008