The Adventures

{{Short description|Defunct Northern Irish rock/pop band}} {{other uses|Adventures (disambiguation)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2010}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = The Adventures | image = | caption = | background = group_or_band | origin = Belfast, Northern Ireland | genre = New wave, pop rock, alternative rock, Irish folk (later work) | years_active = 1984–1993, 2007, 2009, 2019–present | label = Chrysalis, Elektra, Polydor Cherry Red Records | website = | past_members = Terry Sharpe Pat Gribben Eileen Gribben Gerard 'Spud' Murphy Paul Crowder Jonathan Whitehead Tony Ayre (deceased) }}

'''The Adventures''' are a Northern Irish rock/pop band, formed in Belfast in 1984 who had a number of hits during the 1980s and early 1990s.

The band moved to London where they signed to Chrysalis Records and released their first single in 1984. Following their debut album, the group moved to Elektra Records and scored their biggest hit, "Broken Land". Written by guitarist Pat Gribben, it reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart, and became the most played song on BBC Radio 1 in 1988.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/80s-hitmakers-reunite-for-further-adventures-28479154.html|title=80s hitmakers reunite for further Adventures|work=The Belfast Telegraph|access-date=17 August 2018|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

The band were actively recording and touring from 1984 up until 1993, but despite being managed by the highly-influential Simon Fuller, The Adventures never achieved a significant commercial breakthrough.<ref name=ITimes>{{cite web |url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2018/12/28/news/adventures-man-terry-sharpe-on-final-gigs-and-memories-of-1980s-pop-success-1514851/ |title=Adventures man Terry Sharpe on 'final' gigs and memories of 1980s pop success |website=Irish News |date=28 December 2018 |accessdate=9 June 2020}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070505050601/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616684,00.html The TIME 100: Simon Fuller], Time. Retrieved 3 May 2007</ref>

The band have reformed several times to play live gigs and festivals in Belfast, including in 1997, twice in the 2000s, and in 2019.<ref name=ITimes /> They have performed at The Empire, Belfast for three consecutive years; 2023, 2024 & 2025. After more than 30 years a new studio album was released in 2025.

== History == Lead vocalist Terry Sharpe and guitarist Pat Gribben first worked together when in 1978 they joined punk band The Starjets.<ref name="Larkinindie">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-579-4|page=13}}</ref> The band experienced limited success and disbanded in the early 1980s.<ref name=occstarjets>{{cite web|title=Starjets – Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17954/starjets/|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=20 January 2016}}</ref> In 1982, Sharpe appeared in the Bananarama video for "Shy Boy"<ref name="irishnews.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2018/12/28/news/adventures-man-terry-sharpe-on-final-gigs-and-memories-of-1980s-pop-success-1514851/|title = Adventures man Terry Sharpe on 'final' gigs and memories of 1980s pop success|date = 28 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/bananarama-are-back-it-was-every-bit-as-intense-as-a-marriage-but-without-the-sex-1.3061076|title=Bananarama are back: 'It was every bit as intense as a marriage, but without the sex'|newspaper=The Irish Times }}</ref> and co-wrote several tracks on their debut album ''Deep Sea Skiving''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://postpunkmonk.com/2017/05/09/record-review-bananarama-deep-sea-skiving/|title=Record Review: Bananarama – Deep Sea Skiving|date=9 May 2017}}</ref>

In early 1984, Sharpe and Gribben formed The Adventures with Gribben's wife, Eileen, Gerard Murphy, Tony Ayre and Paul Crowder,<ref name="Larkinindie"/> performing their first show in February 1984 in North London.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tarradell |first=Mario |date=28 April 1998 |title='The Adventurers' find their musical voices |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19880428&id=FP4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-vMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3493,8653194 |newspaper=The Miami News |location=Miami, Florida|page=3C|accessdate=20 October 2014}}</ref> They signed to Chrysalis Records<ref name="Larkinindie"/> and were taken on by upcoming manager Simon Fuller, who saw them achieve much publicity and promotion in the music press, including an appearance on BBC's ''Crackerjack''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6POvrHnelg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/i6POvrHnelg |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=Crackerjack - 1984 - Full Episode|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Despite this promising start, their debut single, "Another Silent Day", released in the summer of 1984, barely scraped into the chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> Further singles were released, "Send My Heart", "Feel the Raindrops", and "Two Rivers", all of which were minor hits in the UK Chart, but no major breakthrough was achieved.<ref name=occadventures>{{cite web|title=Adventures – Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21916/adventures/|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=20 January 2016}}</ref> Their debut album, ''Theodore and Friends'', was released in 1985 while the group were on a world tour supporting Tears for Fears. It received much critical acclaim, but again no significant sales.

The band lay low for the next two years. During this time, main songwriter Pat Gribben composed some new songs for a second album and the band left Chrysalis Records and were picked up by Elektra Records.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> With another burst of promotion and heavy airplay, their new single "Broken Land" became their only significant hit, reaching No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart and spending 10 weeks on the chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> It was quickly followed up by the album, ''The Sea of Love'',<ref name="Larkinindie"/> which reached No. 30 and also remained on the charts for 10 weeks.<ref name=occadventures/> The follow-up singles, "Drowning in the Sea of Love" and "One Step From Heaven", stalled at No. 44 and No. 82 respectively, though the album was certified Silver (for 60,000 copies sold) by the BPI in 1989, a year after its release.

The band combined pop/rock with a folk music sound for their third studio album, ''Trading Secrets with the Moon''. Released in early 1990, along with a couple of singles, the album failed to capitalise on their earlier success and only appeared briefly on the UK Albums Chart, stalling at No. 64.<ref name=occadventures/> This ended their contract with Elektra.

With another rethink and now down to a quartet, The Adventures returned in 1992 with the single "Raining All Over the World". Now signed to Polydor Records, the song reached No. 68, and was to be the group's final chart appearance.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> A fourth album, ''Lions and Tigers and Bears'', was released in 1993, produced by ex-Vibrators bassist Pat Collier at London's Greenhouse Recording Studios. Despite featuring a new single, a contemporary reworking of the classic 1960s hit "Monday Monday", the album met with a tepid response and failed to chart. The group were then dropped by Polydor, and broke up soon after.

Pat Gribben has continued to write songs, and has worked with singer Ryan Molloy. Terry Sharpe spent some years performing in a cover band, The Dead Handsomes. The Adventures regrouped briefly in 2007 for some gigs in Belfast, but no major reunion was ever organised. They regrouped again in 2009 to perform further small scale gigs in Belfast, as well as appearances at the Time To Be Proud and Féile an Phobail festivals during the summer.

Former bass player Tony Ayre died on 20 December 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freewebs.com/magdalane/ |title=Home – The Adventures |website=Freewebs.com |date=6 March 2009 |accessdate=30 April 2012}}</ref>

On 5 January 2019, The Adventures (featuring Sharpe along with Pat and Eileen Gribben) played a show at The Empire, Belfast,<ref name="irishnews.com"/> with The Starjets<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestarjets.com/ |title=Home |website=Thestarjets.com}}</ref> reforming later on in the year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagechart.co.uk/chart-archive/week-86-13-march-2022|title=Week 86, 13 March 2022|website=Heritagechart.co.uk}}</ref>

A new The Adventures studio album, entitled ''Once More with Feeling'', was released on 28 March 2025 on Cherry Red Records.

==Band members== * Terry Sharpe – lead vocals (born 11 September 1956) * Pat Gribben – guitar * Eileen Gribben – vocals, violin * Gerry "Spud" Murphy – guitar, percussion, vocals * Tony Ayre – bass (died 2009) * Paul Crowder – drums * Jonathan Whitehead – keyboards

==Discography== ===Studio albums=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:50px; text-align:center;"|Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:200px; text-align:center;"|Album ! colspan="3" style="width:50px; text-align:center;"|Chart positions |- !width="38"|UK <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref name=occadventures/> !width="38"|AUS <ref name="ARIA history pages">{{cite web|url= https://imgur.com/a/HgLiUDV| title=The Adventures ARIA Chart History complete to 2024|publisher=ARIA|via=Imgur.com|access-date= July 26, 2024}} N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.</ref> !width="38"|US |- | style="text-align:center;"|1985 |align="left"|''Theodore and Friends'' | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;"|1988 |align="left"|''The Sea of Love'' | style="text-align:center;"|30 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|144 |- | style="text-align:center;"|1990 |align="left"|''Trading Secrets with the Moon'' | style="text-align:center;"|64 | style="text-align:center;"|137 | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;"|1993 |align="left"|''Lions and Tigers and Bears'' | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- |style="text-align:center;"|2025 |align="left"|''Once More with Feeling'' | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |}

===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:50px; text-align:center;"|Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:200px; text-align:center;"|Single ! colspan="6" style="width:50px; text-align:center;"|Chart positions ! rowspan="2" style="width:200px; text-align:center;"|Album |- !width="38"|UK <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref name=occadventures/> !width="38"|IRE !width="38"|US !width="38"|GER !width="38"|ITA !width="38"|AUS <ref name="ARIA history pages"/><ref name=aus>Australian chart peaks: * Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 19 June 1988: {{cite book|last=Kent |first=David |authorlink=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location = Sydney|year=1993|edition=Illustrated|page=12|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988. * "Broken Land" (ARIA Chart) peak: {{cite web|url=http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Adventures&titel=Broken+Land&cat=s|title=australian-charts.com > The Adventures – Broken Land (song)|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=11 October 2015}} * "Drowning in the Sea of Love" and "Your Greatest Shade of Blue" (ARIA Chart) peaks: {{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716153430/http://i.imgur.com/oyPN1pW.jpg|url=http://i.imgur.com/oyPN1pW.jpg|archivedate=16 July 2015|title=Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2015-07-15|accessdate=11 October 2015|publisher=Imgur}}</ref> |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1984 |align="left"|"Another Silent Day" | style="text-align:center;"|71 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"|''Theodore and Friends'' |- |align="left"|"Send My Heart" | style="text-align:center;"|62 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|24 | style="text-align:center;"|44 | style="text-align:center;"|92 |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1985 |align="left"|"Feel the Raindrops" | style="text-align:center;"|58 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- |align="left"|"Two Rivers" | style="text-align:center;"|96 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|1988 |align="left"|"Broken Land" | style="text-align:center;"|20 | style="text-align:center;"|8 | style="text-align:center;"|95 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|25 | style="text-align:center;"|45 |rowspan="3"|''The Sea of Love'' |- |align="left"|"Drowning in the Sea of Love" | style="text-align:center;"|44 | style="text-align:center;"|15 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|53 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- |align="left"|"One Step from Heaven" | style="text-align:center;"|82 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;"|1989 |align="left"|"Washington Deceased" | style="text-align:center;"|102 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |rowspan="2"|''Trading Secrets with the Moon'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|1990 |align="left"|"Your Greatest Shade of Blue" | style="text-align:center;"|109 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;"|1990 |align="left"|"Bright New Morning" | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |- | style="text-align:center;"|1992 |align="left"|"Raining All Over the World" | style="text-align:center;"|68 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- |rowspan="2"|''Lions and Tigers and Bears'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|1993 |align="left"|"Monday Monday" | style="text-align:center;"|83 | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|- | style="text-align:center;"|-

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p12146|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic overview of The Adventures] * {{Discogs artist}} * {{IMDb name|nm4815136}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures, The}} Category:Alternative rock groups from Northern Ireland Category:New wave musical groups from Northern Ireland Category:Musical groups from Belfast Category:Musical groups established in 1984 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Category:1984 establishments in Northern Ireland