Flashback Friday

Back to the 90's for an English Contemporary Christian band, Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band), one of the most influential CCM groups of the 90's. 

For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G (full name Stuart Garrard) on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Stew Smith on drums and percussion. During their final two years, drumming duties were assumed by Paul Evans.

The origins of Delirious? stretch back to 1992. The band began life as a collection of musicians, known simply as 'The Cutting Edge Band'. The group's function was to be a Christian worship band for a youth outreach event called "Cutting Edge", instigated by the Arun Community Church in Littlehampton, West Sussex. The events became popular via word-of-mouth, leading the band to play at other 'Cutting Edge' events along the south coast of England  The group remained as the house band for Cutting Edge for several years, and they began to record and release the 'Cutting Edge' cassette tapes.

The turnout at the events grew so much that the regular venue (a local school hall) had to be replaced with the school's sports hall, whilst the organizers had to charge a small fee to control the numbers attending. Similar challenges took place at the Central Hall in Southampton where up to 1200 people would gather each month. In 1996, an event was held in the open air, on the green next to Littlehampton's beach. An estimated 4000 people attended, while Channel 4 filmed it for a documentary.  

The band were able to release their increasingly popular material. In total, four EPs were released under the "Cutting Edge" name. Many of the band's most famous songs were written and recorded during this time, including possibly their most famous: "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever," which has been called a "modern worship classic" and is their most popular song in the United States.

Others included many great songs (some that we still play in church today)...  'Lord, You Have My Heart', 'Thank You For Saving Me', 'Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?', 'I've Found Jesus', 'I'm Not Ashamed', 'Find Me In The River', 'Shout To The North', 'All I Want Is You', 'Obsession', and of course a favorite, "The Happy Song"... 

Their music became well known in Christian circles, and demand grew for recordings. By 1996, they had sold over seventy thousand EPs by mail order. These EPs were later released as two albums in the UK, and one double album in the US. A similar composite edition of Cutting Edge was released to retail and achieved 'Gold' status in Canada. The following year saw the name change, and it didn’t take long for Delirious to turn heads across the Atlantic. Starting in 1997, Sparrow Records released all of the band’s previous work – the fruit of seven years of labor – within a 24-month span. And that’s all the time it took for Delirious?, along with America’s Sonicflood, to kick-start the modern worship boom that reshaped the world of Christian music. 

Between 1997 and 2001, the band targeted the majority of its work towards a mainstream audience, with several singles reaching the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. However, between 2003 and 2009 the focus was mainly placed on the CCM market, although occasional singles were still released.

In the final years of their career, Delirious? began to place a strong focus on humanitarian issues in their music. Both Martin Smith and Stu G started charities. Drummer Stew Smith left the band at the end of April 2008, and it was announced via a press release on in July of the same year that Delirious? would soon embark on an indefinite and probably permanent hiatus from recording and touring in order to focus on these new projects. In  November 2009 they gave their final performance for a sold-out crowd at London's Hammersmith Apollo. The three-and-a-half-hour final show was filmed for a live album, DVD and Blu-ray package, titled Farewell Show - Live In London. It was released in April 2010 after which the band officially disbanded.

During their career, Delirious? played in over forty countries around the world. In the United Kingdom. They supported Bon Jovi, Matchbox 20 and Bryan Adams on their UK tours in 2001 and 2002. Prior to the band's retirement, they played what were intended to be the first of many intimate 'Living Room' gigs, exclusively for fans. Delirious? also played many major shows in mainland Europe. In 2004, they headlined the Olympic celebrations in Omonia Square, Athens. In 2005, the band performed to an audience of 1.2 million people in Cologne, Germany.

The band also had an extensive touring schedule outside of Europe. In 2006, they played again to 1.2 million people, this time during a four date tour of India, with up to 400,000 people attending in one day. In the US, they played at such events as Acquire the Fire and Spirit West Coast. In 2007, they headlined their own twenty-four date tour across the country. In New Zealand they made appearances at the Parachute Music Festival, a four-day Christian music festival, the largest in the southern hemisphere.