Background
Richard Oakes was born in Perivale, London, and grew up in the Parkstone area of Poole, Dorset, in the southwest of England.
Richard Oakes was born in Perivale, London, and grew up in the Parkstone area of Poole, Dorset, in the southwest of England.
The first gig Oakes attended was one of "s at the Poole Arts Centre in May 1993.
The album that initially influenced him to pursue a career in music was "The Story of the Clash, Volume 1", which he heard when he was 12. Prior to joing, Oakes played in a band called "TED" along with his friend, Peter. The band was actually originally titled "PIPATED" – "Plug in Peter and the Electric Daffodils".
Upon hearing that guitarist Bernard Butler had left the band and that the band were auditioning for a replacement, he recorded versions of songs and some of his own material on a 4 track recorder, which he sent to the band"s fanclub along with a note that read "Take me or leave medical " When drummer Simon Gilbert heard Anderson playing back the tape whilst going through audition tapes, he mistakenly believed it to be an early demo.
After the second audition Oakes was invited to join the band. At the age of 17, and after beating approximately five hundred candidates, Oakes officially joined on 17 September 1994 (exactly 2 weeks before his 18th birthday).
Oakes first public appearance with the band was on Top of the Pops, while his first full live appearance was at a secret fan club gig at London"s Raw Club on 10 October 1994. The first song he performed live, and the first video he appeared in, was "We are the Pigs".
His first co-writing credits were the B-sides of single "New Generation", "Together" and "Bentswood Boys".
Oakes went on to co-write many songs with Anderson on subsequent albums and B-side material, several of which went on to become hit singles in the United Kingdom. Oakes joined his former bandmates for three United Kingdom concerts in 2010, followed by a concert at London"s O2 Arena in December of that year, then festival appearances in Sweden, Hultsfredsfestivalen in July and Denmark and Norway in August. s"s reunion continued with their sixth album, Bloodsports, on which Oakes co-wrote all but two of the songs, released in March 2013. In 2008, singer, writer and producer Sean McGhee confirmed on his Myspace site that he and Oakes were working on new material together. In a March 2009, McGhee posted another blog entry confirming sessions were ongoing and that they had 11 songs written.
In 2009, Sean McGhee posted a blog entry saying that the duo now had 14 songs to date.
He disclosed 3 of the 14 songs" titles namely: "I Keep On Walking," "Forever In Negative" and "You". Sean McGhee confirmed on his Myspace blog that, despite the reunion, his project with Richard was still ongoing, and work would continue around "s schedule.
The duo confirmed in April 2010 that the project would be called Their debut European Parliament, "I Keep on Walking", was released on 23 May 2011, followed by a single, "Forever in Negative" on 25 June 2012. Their debut album, Become The One You Love, was released on 2 July 2012.
A further single, "Down in the River" followed on 21 October 2012.