My Indie Beginnings

Musical preference is a funny old thing…it can bring you closer to people…it can ruin friendships before they have begun. I see my musical preference as something that is continuously pulsating and evolving. Just when i think my brain can’t take anymore new bands…something will blow me away from nowhere.

I must admit not many bands fall into that category but when they do it’s like an emotional rollercoaster ride…just like a marriage…you have to work at liking some bands…when others you will just click with…sometimes…if you’re lucky…they will be with you forever.

The Independent music scene from the late 80s to mid 90s has shaped my musical taste…and my hair style…you might say too much…but with my parents old 60s folk (Fairport Convention) and rock and roll (Beatles, Small Faces and The Doors) albums being played in the house when I was growing up along with the explosion that was acid house/trance (Guy Called Gerald, Hardfloor) and techno (Prodigy, 808 State and Orbital)…Hip Hop (De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and House of Pain)…my musical taste has remained quite wide and varied. Although if anyone ever asks I always say that i’m a 90s Indie boy.

Then there are the songs that I have had to sacrifice to the aftermath of a relationship that has ended badly and every song by a certain band remind you of her!!! Nearly lost Shed Seven forever in 1996…it was a close call…managed to sort that one with a trip up the A19 to Newcastle Uni to see them play a week after my birthday.

I have always been different when it comes to music…always strayed from the norm…school was a vision of musical hell for me as everyone seemed to be talking about how good Duran Duran were or if they had seen Phil Collins on Top Of The Pops. All I wanted to do was ask if anyone had heard the new Pixies album or did anyone know who the new Inspiral Carpets lead singer was. My older brother has been a massive influence on my music taste. He was at Uni in Liverpool when I was in the last year or so at school.

I’ll always remember the first time he came back for a mid-term break and he brought back some TDK D-90 tapes (remember them kids?) with quite amazing original names on them…New Fast Automatic Daffodils (New FADs), Inspiral Carpets, The Wedding Present and The Stone Roses! What was even better was that their music was as unique and original as their names.

The New Fast Automatic Daffodils

The New FADs were an indie band full of danceable guitar and bass riffs with some at times dark and bizarre vocal poetry. Although linked to the Madchester scene of the early 90s I think they were more of a dance fuelled bongo playing Joy Division. Songs like Fishes Eyes, Get Better and Big were like a slap in the face for me…a wake up call to stop listening to the chart dross that was on every corner.

The Inspiral Carpets

The Inspiral Carpets were a Hammond organ led baggy indie band that at my first listen had front man Stephen Holt singing with them. By this time i was listening to my parents Doors and Stranglers albums and i seemed to have a perfect connection with the Inspirals after the first listen. Although they would go on to use Tom Hingley (my own favourite Inspirals singer) for all of their popular hits, their first compilation of tracks on the classic Dung 4 EP really stood out as something beautiful and is today still quite special. Songs like Butterfly, Sun Don’t Shine and Garage Full Of Flowers were lyrically beautiful and related to most everyday things at the time.

The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present were the band that struck a cord most with me…not just their sound…not just what they were about…it was Dave Gedge’s lyrics…they meant so much…like he was talking about things that were happening in my life. The constant struggles I had with relationships, the break ups or the ones that never took off at all (my own personal favourite teen drama) and the emotional aftermath all rang true through his lyrics. Add to that the grumbling bass and the whirlwind guitars they were a firm favourite of mine and the legend that was the late John Peel championed them on his BBC radio programme saying that “The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!”…true praise indeed. Their debut album “George Best” was at the time one of the best debut albums of it’s genre and is one that I have on all musical formats. Songs like Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft, My Favourite Dress and Give My Love To Kevin were massive during my youth…I finally found a band that I could call mine…it would stay that way until I went to College…then I found kindred spirits.

The Stone Roses

The final tape needs no introduction…with the other three bands mentioned above some people might have heard about them…these four Mancunians everyone should have heard of!!! When I heard their debut album my life had changed by the time the tape ended…there was no going back…I couldn’t unhear what I had just heard…I certainly didn’t want to…I wanted more!!! From the moment Mani’s undulating bass and Squire’s ethereal guitar hit with Reni’s time keeping beat i was hooked…then Brown’s vocals “I don’t have to sell my soul…he’s already in me” nothing had effected me like this before in music. That’s when i discovered how powerful music could really be…I could understand why these four lads from Manchester were so confident about themselves…they could see what they were doing to the people they were playing in front of. I would like to name all the songs off this album as they are all classics…but if I was going to mention three then it would be I Am The Resurrection, Bye Bye Badman and Waterfall. Waterfall is one of my favourite songs ever..I love everything about it. It is like an emotional warm blanket in times of cold or sorrow yet it’s like a best friend that you have not seen for ages…I have nothing but happy memories whenever I hear it.

Now…anyone who knows me is by this point saying…”what about the Charlatans?…you f**kin’ love the Charlatans!!!” that is very true but my love for the Charlies evolved from the bands I have mentioned already. The undeniable hammond organ lead Charlatans had more of a 60s Doors feel to them than the Inspirals did…front man Tim Burgess had the swagger and the cheeky patter to match Ian Brown and his lyrics at times had the same loss, lust and regret like the Wedding Present all packed into a funky bass and drum beat. The thing is I might not have listened to the Charlatans if I hadn’t listened to my brothers tapes first.

The Chart Show on ITV was the first time I got to see my favourites on TV.

They had a different chart every week…either the Rock Chart, Dance Chart or Indie Chart. So if I missed out on the NME or Melody Maker then I could see what was going on in the Indie world. The main problem was that if Kylie or Erasure released things on an Independent label then they were thrust into the Indie Chart…this lead to many things being thrown at the TV screen…followed by the obligatory “if they are playing Kylie…I’m off”.

There are many other bands that I could mention here…Happy Mondays were a band I couldn’t have done without….Wrote For Luck and Rave On were stand out tunes when I needed them…other UK bands like…Ride, My Bloody Valentine and Northside all added to my ever growing taste…add to that the American bands…The Pixies, Beck, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam and I was 15 and about to start going to gigs…but that’s a story for another day.