Too Close to See Far

Biography

The Cosmic Rough Riders are a pop/rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were originally formed in 1998 by Daniel Wylie and Stephen Fleming, and later they were joined by Mark Brown and James Clifford. Daniel made two solo albums under the guise of CRR, "Deliverance" in 1999 and "Panorama" in 2000. Local musician Stephen Fleming was brought in to engineer and play guitar on the "Panorama" sessions. After the album was complete, Wylie invited him to become a full time member of CRR: "we were bot...

The Cosmic Rough Riders are a pop/rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were originally formed in 1998 by Daniel Wylie and Stephen Fleming, and later they were joined by Mark Brown and James Clifford.

Daniel made two solo albums under the guise of CRR, "Deliverance" in 1999 and "Panorama" in 2000. Local musician Stephen Fleming was brought in to engineer and play guitar on the "Panorama" sessions. After the album was complete, Wylie invited him to become a full time member of CRR: "we were both unemployed and I didn't have any money to pay Stephen for his work, so I agreed to split everything 50/50 with him. I even gave him 50% of the song writing credit on my songs which he had nothing to do with writing. Such was my naivety of the music business at the time".

Alan McGee received a copy of "Panorama" from its sleeve designer (and old band mate) David Wells. McGee wanted to see the band live (not knowing it wasn't actually a band of course), so a band was hastely put together to showcase for him. McGee loved what he saw and wanted to sign the whole group. Wylie was 41 years old at the time and not wanting to blow this long awaited opportunity, agreed to sign as a band to Poptones.

McGee had an idea to release a compilation of the first two albums with three new songs. Wylie hurriedly wrote three new tunes, resulting in the release of the compilation album: "Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine". It went on to sell over 100,000 copies, spawning two top 40 singles.

Cosmic Rough Riders appeared on Top of the Pops and toured the world, but being in a band didn't work for Daniel. During sessions for the follow up to "Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine", Wylie (by now a successful songwriter who was used to making all his own decisions in the studio) got tired of the constant bickering about the direction the music should take; the interference from his newly acquired band members in the studio had become such a problem that he decided to leave and go solo again.

Daniel then signed a solo deal with Measured Records and released two albums; "Ramshackle Beauty" and the outtakes album, "Postcards". Both received critical acclaim but two years later with the contract at an end and looking for a new challenge Wylie again decided to move on.

His latest album, "The High Cost of Happiness" arrived in August 2006 via Neon Tetra Records (a label he set up with David Wells). On its release, the album was heralded by critics as "his best work yet" - also claiming Wylie to be "one of the best kept secrets on the UK's music scene".

Wylie continues to play live around the world and has just completed a Spanish tour where "The High Cost of Happiness", has received stunning reviews. "The Very Best of Daniel Wylie & Cosmic Rough Riders", is a reminder for those who bought into "Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine" that Wylie is still firing on all cylinders, writing classic, timeless, harmony pop music. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.