Luke Michael Haines (born 7 October 1967) is an English musician, songwriter and author. He has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder. Career New Wave Haines formed numerous bands when he was at school. At college he joined The Servants who recorded two commercially unsuccessful albums. It was only when Haines formed The Auteurs with Glenn Collins and girlfriend Alice Readman, who had also been drafted into The Servants on occasion, in 1991, that he began to achieve some success. Regular gigging in London and an NME-sponsored gig brought them to the attention of Hut Records. They released their first single, "Showgirl" in 1993, and their debut album New Wave a month later. Haines claimed the album started Britpop, though he later showed disdain towards the movement. The album sold only 12,000 copies but was nominated for a Mercury Prize, although the eventual winners were Suede Brush with fame Their second album, Now I'm a Cowboy, (1994) featured "Lenny Valentino", which became one of their best-known songs. Soon after, Haines broke both of his ankles, resulting in the cancellation of much of their 1994 European tour. At the time he claimed "I jumped off a fifteen-foot wall[...]to finish the tour and get the insurance" but later, in the sleeve notes to greatest hits collection Das Capital, he denied that it was deliberate, writing "I merely drank too much wine and fell over." Confined to a wheelchair for most of 1995, Haines began writing the Auteurs' third album, After Murder Park. Bleaker and more introspective than previous albums, it was produced by Steve Albini and recorded at Abbey Road studios in North London. New projects The Auteurs recorded a session for John Peel on 20 February 1996. Soon after, Haines formed solo side project called Baader-Meinhof named after the German far-left terrorist group. The Auteurs briefly disbanded, only to reunite them back together again for their fourth album How I Learned to Love the Bootboys. Black Box Recorder Following the release of what turned out to be the final Auteurs record, Haines formed Black Box Recorder with John Moore (formerly of The Jesus and Mary Chain) and Sarah Nixey. The band produced three commercially successful albums, England Made Me, The Facts of Life, and Passionoia. There is also a B-sides collection, The Worst of Black Box Recorder. The Facts