Living In A Box were formed by keyboardist Marcus Vere and drummer Tich Critchlow in Sheffield, England in 1984. They met lead singer Richard Darbyshire a year later, by chance, in a local recording studio where they were working on demos. Richard loved the blue-eyed soul sound the boys were coming up with and formally joined the band when they signed with Chrysalis Records in December 1985. The trio immediately headed off to Los Angeles and recorded their first album with producer Richard James Burgess. In March 1987 the eponymous, worldwide hit “Living In A Box” (5) was released, followed up by two more Top 40 songs, “Scales Of Justice” and “So The Story Goes”, which also featured Bobby Womack on the 12″ Club Mix.
The band went on to record a second album Gatecrashing in 1989 co-produced by Dan Hartman and Tom Lord Alge. The album featured the title release “Gatecrashing” as well as the hit songs “Room In Your Heart” (5) and “Blow The House” Down (10), the latter featuring the sublime lead guitar work of Queen’s Brian May, cementing the band’s chart success. Differences with the record company over the label’s lack of performance in the U.S. led to the band splitting in 1990.
Living In A Box reformed for the Here And Now arena tour in 2004 but, shortly afterwards, Richard Darbyshire decided to retire from the music industry. There were never any hard feelings and the original members remain friends to this day. In 2013, the band’s first single “Living In A Box” was featured in the multi-million selling video game Grand Theft Auto V, bringing a whole new audience to the band’s music. In 2018, UK soul supremo Kenny Thomas joined Marcus and Tich for a series of live events. More recently Bryan Chambers took over the lead vocals, bringing his blistering vocal talent to the band. Living In A Box continue to tour and can be seen at festivals and live venues throughout the U.K. and Europe.
