The history of the rock band Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand is an indie rock band formed in 2002 in Glasgow. The band is well known on the British post-punk-revival scene: their records have sold a staggering 3 million copies (and that's only according to 2009 estimates!) The band has won prestigious music awards, including the Brit Awards. Franz Ferdinand's success story began with the release of the album Darts of Pleasure: the title single broke into the top 50 in Britain, which made the musicians stars... The track "Take Me Out" also won acclaim from the public and critics! It also became the jewel of the band's repertoire... Stages of creativity, line-up, and the origin of such a unique name... All this in order!

The beginning of the journey...

The history of Franz Ferdinand began in Glasgow, a harbour town on the River Clyde, located in the western part of the Scottish Lowlands... It is worth emphasising that from the very beginning the band was haunted by legal problems... Alex Kapranos and Bob Hardy knew each other before the creation of the band: they both studied at the same Art Institute. At that time Alex was playing in Yummy Fur, where he met his future Franz Ferdinand colleague - drummer Paul Thomson. It was Kapranos who decided to form his own band, which the whole world would soon learn about....

Alex's acquaintance with Nick McCarthy, the fourth member of the band, has quite an entertaining story! It happened at one of the parties: then Alex and Nick almost got into a fight! The reason for it is quite commonplace among rock musicians (and even more so among young ones): alcohol... Fortunately, the conflict was resolved surprisingly quickly! Kapranos asked McCarthy if he played drums, to which he replied in the affirmative. Subsequently, the guy made friends with the electric guitar and provided his Franz Ferdinand colleagues with his flat as a "rehearsal studio". Needless to say, this caused terrible resentment on the part of Nick's neighbours....

For a long time the band couldn't find an ideal place for rehearsals, so they honed their skills in... abandoned warehouses of their native town! So, - during the day the guys were rehearsing hard, and in the evening they were giving extravagant shows for a small, but still small audience! Their favourite place even got an unofficial name "The Chateau"! However, as you might expect, all this led to problems with law enforcement agencies. Soon the rock band left the place, but quickly found a new one - an abandoned courthouse!

The meaning of the title...

Probably many fans of the band, or just inquisitive music lovers, have at least once thought about the history of the name's origin... And it really deserves attention! It turns out that the band was inspired by the Austrian Archduke....

Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, whose assassination was a fundamental factor in World War I... As legend has it, the band was enjoying a horse racing broadcast. One of the stallions was named Archduke, which brought back memories of the assassinated Franz Ferdinand to one of the band members... However, there is another story, according to which the band was watching a TV broadcast of motor racing that day:

"...When we were watching motor racing, one of the Porsche's took a turn called 'archduke'. It reminded us of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and we agreed that it could be a good name for our band...".

The success of the debut album!

Franz Ferdinand first made a name for themselves performing in a former courthouse, the so-called "The Chateau" (after a change of scenery, the name of their venue remained the same). Their fame as a band grew, and in 2003 they came out with the album Darts of pleasure. It is worth mentioning that Alex Kapranos' team was extremely lucky! Several labels were ready to sign the contract, but the choice fell on Domino Records. As for the debut EP, it entered the top 50 in Britain.

The first full-length album was released in 2004. Recorded with the participation of the well-known Thor Johansson - the work quickly became a success! The disc received warm reviews, and with it Franz Ferdinand's popularity began to steadily gain momentum... The main hit of the album was the track "Take Me Out", voted "Best Song of the Year"!

In the same year, the band participated in a number of major festivals, and also managed to perform with maestros such as Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and other...

New entries and new successes...

Throughout 2005 the band was actively hanging out in the studio, preparing for the release of the second album, which was called You Could Have It So Much Better. The disc was released in October, and... quickly attracted attention with its unusual cover in the spirit of Soviet oldies posters! As it turned out, the cover was inspired by the work of Russian avant-garde artists such as A. M. Rodchenko. The cover was based on the famous portrait of Lily Brik....

Overall, the disc was warmly received by critics and the public. It topped the charts in the UK, and reached the top 10 in the States! The disc sold about 2 million copies... The biggest hit of the release was "Do You Want To" - a track that reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart!

The next album was released only in 2009. The disc was called Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which perfectly reflected its content! As Kapranos said:

"This time round we've emphasised the danceable mood of our tracks..."

And indeed: there is a clear influence of the disco era... By the way: the recording of the album took place in the walls of an abandoned theatre in Glasgow... The main hit of the disc was the track "No You Girls", which became a huge success among the listeners!

The band later did their cover of the famous hit "Womanizer". Soon tours began...

https://youtu.be/_SpTQA2D474

Interesting facts...

• As Nick McCarthy's childhood was spent in Munich, the lyrics of tracks he has written often include phrases in German! For example: "Ich heisse Super-fantastisch!" ("Darts of pleasure")

• For a long time, Kapranos referred to his team as a pop band: "If you wiggle your foot to the music, you can be sure it's the purest pop! Sex Pistols, Nirvana... Everybody played pop music. A lot of famous rock bands did exactly that!"
• The composition "Love and Destroy" is inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's legendary novel "Master and Margarita"!