Named after the sleepy port on the south-west coast of England where Geoff Barrow (b. 9 December 1971, Walton in Gordano, Somerset, England) spent his teens. His intentions in forming the band were simple: "I just wanted to make interesting music, proper songs with a proper life span and a decent place in people's record collections." Barrow started out as a tape operator, working in a minor capacity with Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry, and also wrote songs for Cherry ("Somedays" was included on her 1992 collection, Homebrew). With the aid of an Enterprise Allowance grant he recruited jazz guitarist and musical director Adrian Utley, drummer/programmer Dave MacDonald and vocalist Beth Gibbons (b. 4 January 1965, Exeter, Devon, England), whom he encountered on a job creation scheme while she was singing Janis Joplin cover versions in a pub. Together they recorded a soundtrack and film, To Kill A Dead Man, with themselves as actors because "we couldn't find anyone else to do the parts". At this point they came to the attention of A&R man Ferdy Unger-Hamilton at the Go! Discs subsidiary, Go! Beat, who encouraged Barrow to remix Gabrielle's "Dreams". He was sufficiently impressed with the results to sign the band immediately, despite several other interested parties.
Portishead's early singles "Numb" and "Sour Times" emerged to good press reaction, although the debut album slipped in and out of the charts with little fanfare. There was some problem with marketing the band - both Barrow and Gibbons were reluctant to do interviews, and had no initial interest in playing live. Instead the press campaign saw painted mannequin dummies distributed in strategic locations throughout London, ensuring press coverage outside of the expected media. Word of mouth continued to push the band's profile and, with virtually no radio support, their third single, "Glory Box", entered the UK charts at number 13 in January 1995. Aided by a distinctive, gender-swapping video (visuals are central to the band's approach), its arrival came on the back of several Album Of The Year awards for Dummy from magazines as diverse as Mixmag, ID, The Face and Melody Maker. Mixing torch songs with blues, jazz and hip-hop, their sound became known as "trip-hop", a loose term which was readily associated with other Bristol-based acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky. The interest also translated to America, where the album sold over 150,000 copies without the band even setting foot there. They were then awarded the Mercury Music Prize for best album of 1995. Following their success, the band was invited to contribute to several soundtracks, including two low-budget art movies and Tank Girl.
The long-awaited follow-up to Dummy was severely delayed when Barrow, a self-confessed perfectionist, reached a creative impasse that almost destroyed the band. His perseverance paid off, however, when Portishead was released in September 1997 to excellent critical reviews, but ultimately disappointing sales. Although first single "All Mine" had suggested some variation to the Portishead sound, the album covered essentially the same ground as their debut, albeit in an impressively stylish manner. A perfunctory live album followed in 1998.
Portishead's painstaking work schedule allowed the members room for other projects, the most notable of which was Gibbons collaboration with ex-Talk Talk bass player Paul Webb under the moniker Beth Gibbons and Rustin' Man. The duo released their debut recording, Out Of Season, at the end of 2002. In February 2005, Portishead appeared live for the first time in seven years at the Tsunami Benefit Concert in Bristol. Further live dates intensified the rumour that a new studio album was in the offering. Rumour became fact when Third was released at the end of April 2008. Thankfully, the trio had reacted to developments in music during the extended break and embellished their music with scratchy, discordant guitars and pounding drum loops. The result was one of the most pleasing comeback albums of recent times.
