The Charlatans Burgess was initially the lead singer in The Electric Crayons (named after the
psychedelic compilation album
The Electric Crayon Set, released on the Bam-Caruso record label), who released one single, "Hip Shake Junkie". Burgess then joined
the Charlatans, who were largely influenced by
acid house, 1960s-era
West Coast psychedelia and the
Syd Barrett era of
Pink Floyd. The Charlatans' debut single "Indian Rope" was successful, and the group subsequently signed to
Situation Two, an offshoot of the
Beggars Banquet label. In 1990 they released the single "
The Only One I Know" on the imprint, which charted in the
top 10 of the
UK Singles Chart. Burgess was living in
Los Angeles in the US, away from the other band members who were still based in England. He explained the band's process during that period in a 2012 interview: "I'm back in London now, but Mark and Tony enjoyed trips out to Los Angeles and we used Los Angeles as a writing tool. I loved the idea of incorporating a city into your music. We used LA quite a lot."
Solo Burgess's debut solo album,
I Believe, was released in Europe on 3 September 2003 and included the track "Oh My Corazon". Burgess's second solo album
Oh No I Love You was produced by Mark Nevers and recorded at his home in
Nashville,
Tennessee.
Oh No I Love You also features collaborations with
Factory Floor,
R. Stevie Moore and
My Morning Jacket, amongst others. The album was later nominated for the
Artrocker 'Album of the Year' award in 2012.
Collaborations Burgess contributed vocals to
Saint Etienne's 1993 song "I Was Born on Christmas Day", which appeared on the "Xmas 93" CD single. Burgess has twice contributed vocals to tracks by
the Chemical Brothers: 1995's "Life Is Sweet", taken from their debut album
Exit Planet Dust; and 2005's "The Boxer", from their
Push the Button album. Burgess is a member of
the Chavs, together with
Carl Barât (
the Libertines) and
Jamie Reynolds (
the Klaxons). In mid-2008, Burgess stated that the band planned to record their debut album in August of that year; however, as of July 2015, an album has yet to emerge. Burgess explained in a 2010 interview: "I think The Chavs have definitely got this mythical thing going on. They have existed and will exist again." Burgess remixed the
Robots in Disguise song "The Tears", which was released in 2008. In 2009, Burgess curated the Big Top stage at the
Isle of Wight Festival, with a line-up that included
Killing Joke and
the Horrors. Burgess later explained his reason for selecting The Horrors: "I really believed in them from the very first time I met them. It was at the time when their first album was released." Burgess contributed vocals to the song "You Don't Know This About Me" by
Freebass, the group featuring
New Order ex-member
Peter Hook and Gary "
Mani" Mounfield of
the Stone Roses. The song was released in 2010 as part of the band's debut EP
Two Worlds Collide. During his time in Los Angeles, Burgess collaborated with
Joaquin Phoenix on an album that Phoenix was recording at the time; however, in a 2012 interview, Burgess explained that he had not heard from Phoenix since his return to the UK: "I've not seen him for ages... I don't live in Los Angeles anymore. The time that we spent together was a really great moment. A really great couple of months for me really. He invited me into the recording studio to work on a record and we had a really great time. All relationships with people in bands or actors I've met along the way, you meet them, you're best friends for a minute and you just don't see them at all. If you just remember them as being really great friends and in a way they are. Even if you don't see someone, it's kind of better, 'cos you never get a chance to fall out!" Burgess collaborated with
Asia Argento on the song "Hours / Ours", which was released on Burgess's own record label O Genesis in 2014.
Other work In February 2013, Burgess replaced
BBC Radio 6 Music host
Lauren Laverne when she and other
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members engaged in strike action against the
BBC. In 2019, Burgess made his acting debut in the short film
The Bookshop as the protagonist Leonard. In March 2020, when the
COVID-19 pandemic resulted in most live music concerts being cancelled, Burgess started "Tim's Twitter Listening Party", where he would
tweet whilst listening to an
album with one or more guests, normally a member of the band, who would provide insights and anecdotes about the songs, recording the album or other associated items. Over 700 parties were held in the first year. On 31 August 2023, Burgess announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account that there would be no more additions of "Tim's Twitter Listening Party" but it would continue as a radio and podcast format. On 20 March 2023, it was announced that Burgess would present ''Tim's Listening Party
, a six-part radio and podcast series based on Tim's Twitter Listening Party'', which would air on Sunday nights on
Absolute Radio. The first series began on 26 March 2023 followed by a second series on 23 July 2023, which will have eight episodes. A third series began airing on 29 October 2023. A fourth series began on 14 April 2024. A fifth series began on 10 November 2024. ==Personal life==