The Boy Hairdressers

Blake, McGinley, Lambie, McDonald and McAlinden

The Boy Hairdressers were a short lived band from Glasgow who counted Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Francis McDonald (all Teenage Fanclub), Joe McAlinden (Superstar/Linden) and Jim Lambie (contemporary artist) as their members. Paul Quinn (Teenage Fanclub) also played some shows.

Blake, McDonald, McAlinden 

The band released their only recordings via Stephen Pastel's seminal 53rd and 3rd label in January 1988. The 3-track 12-inch consisted of A; Golden Shower, B; Tidalwave, B2; The Assumption As An Elevator.

The Boy Hairdressers and their sole release have taken on something as a cult status - given what the members went on to achieve. The recordings (rough and raw, but made with love) are a glimpse of a band developing - not really quite there with their sound/style.

Golden Shower is easily the best song on the record and was shown some love and appreciation when Teenage Fanclub covered/revisited the song when they played The Barrowland in 2022. High pitched harmonies over sparse acoustic guitar start the song. Then, after a brief pause, bass, drums and keys/vibrophone/flute bring things to life. I'm pretty sure Raymond used some of his guitar work in other songs. 

Tidal Wave is like a mock English folk song. I imagine it might sound better as an Irish folk song. Although under two-minutes long, I'm pretty glad when it's finished. I'm not a fan of this one.

On the final song, The Assumption As An Elevator, I find myself asking who is singing. Is it Norman? I like the outro, with some nice guitar noodling from Raymond, while Jim Lambie creates Velvets-y effects.

When you read some quotes from interviews Norman gave following the break up of The Boy Hairdressers, it's no surprise to find him highlighting his relief that his new band (Teenage Fanclub) is just me ... being me. 

Teenage Fanclub cover an 80's band at the Barrowland

Given that The Boy Hairdressers brief existence was in a pre-internet, pre-mobiles and pre (easily available/affordable) video camera era, there is extremely limited information about the band online.

However ... I did some digging and uncovered interviews, fanzines, photos, (hazy) fan memories and stories from band members, those around the band and fans who caught The Boy Hairdressers and very early Teenage Fanclub.

Photos by Andrew Turner

Horse & Groom pub, Bedford, 17th October 1987

Norman and Raymond were interviewed in a Pastelism fanzine just after they started Teenage Fanclub. Perhaps this section of the Q&A between Stephen and Norman speaks volumes about why Blake broke away with Raymond to form Teenage Fanclub

Patelism: It seems The Boy Hairdressers were just getting a fair amount of interest and then you split up. So what happened?

Norman: The thing about The Boy Hairdressers was that no-one was really motivated to do anything. We were very badly organised ... it ended up that only me and Raymond were putting any effort in. ...

Pastelism (on the song Golden Shower): Do you think it was all a bit naive, all that sex and smutty innuendo stuff? 

Norman: Aye, I'm a bit embarrassed by it now. It was a bit stupid.

Later in the interview;

Norman: ... the new stuff (TFC) reflects more of what we are really about. We feel much more comfortable with Teenage Fanclub ... it's just (me) being me.

In 2021, Raymond and Norman spoke with Ed Nash for a brilliant interview, in The Line Of Best Fit reflecting back on pivotal moments in Teenage Fanclub.

Here is what they had to say about The Boy Hairdressers;

Norman: The Boy Hairdressers had fizzled out and Raymond and myself were the two people left standing. We'd put out a 12 inch on Stephen Pastel's label (53rd & 3rd), so we'd had a taste of what that was like. We wanted to move on and put an album out as soon as we could.

Raymond: People knew who the band were, but it wasn't like we did a lot. We put out one single and played a handful of shows. We were really frustrated by that and once the Boy Hairdressers finished we had this idea that we wanted to make a record before we started talking about what the band was.

Norman: We had a number of songs we planned to work on and that we'd played at the latter end of the Boy Hairdressers. We wanted to do stuff rather than talk about it, so we thought 'Let's put an album out, let's just go for it,' but we couldn't afford to do that. Now you've got Pro Tools on a computer, but a Portastudio was state of the art then. The embryonic part of A Catholic Education was us sat in Raymond's flat recording these very basic demos on a Portastudio. That's where it all started for Teenage Fanclub.

Both of these interviews, although short, probably tell you all you need to know about The Boy Hairdressers. They had fun and a bit of a laugh, played a few gigs, got some attention, put out a record but didn't quite gel and different members of the band perhaps had other priorities/options. 

Raymond and Norman took a few songs into Teenage Fanclub, including Don't Need A Drum and Too Involved, with Raymond funding the recording of debut album A Catholic Education after being left some kitchen appliances (including a fridge) by a neighbour. Check a previous blog on the Fanclub debut HERE

You can listen to The Boy Hairdressers 4-track demo of Don't Need A Drum below. You can instantly hear the move away from the sound of the debut EP - this is cooler and more assured - even as a 4-track recording. This, as highlighted in Norman's interview above, is really a Teenage Fanclub demo. 

Other demos that fans have mentioned (but are currently unavailable online) include Saliva (that went on to become Too Involved) a song called either Flying Helmet or Magic Helmet and a Norman song that BMX Bandits recorded - Let Mother Nature Be Your Guide - LISTEN

I asked a few people in, involved with or around The Boy Hairdressers for some information and (hazy) memories. 

Photo by Kaori Laird

Paul Quinn: It wasn't until I turned up to do the first gig I played with them that I realised Joe McAlinden and Jim Lambie were also in the band! That show was at The Volcano at the bottom of Byres Road where the club scene was filmed for Trainspotting. The 2nd show was at Fury Murry's. After the show, I was asked by Raymond and Norman about what I was planning to do and I stupidly said I was going to continue playing with the guys from Bellshill I was in a band with. I had my reasons for that decision. However, it was a stupid decision as The Boy Hairdressers didn't last long after that. They both went on to form Teenage Fanclub. 

Andrew Turner: It was my brother Nigel who promoted the Bedford (photos from the Horse & Groom above) gig way back in 1987. Norman still remembers the occasion with a certain amount of fondness - he even held up a photo of said gig during the recent (August 2025) Teenage Fanclub show in Bedford.

Duncan Birrell

Pretty sure I caught them live, I think one time may have been on a two-night charity gig for Shelter in Glasgow around 1987 at the old Volcano, at the end of Byres Road. I think the Groovy Little Numbers and The Bandits played one of those nights too - using a lager can as a guitar slide. Heady days!

Joe McAlinden

A review from our first gig. Raymond hadn't joined but was watching in the audience.

Photos from Joe's personal collection

Kevin Francis

Saw them at ULU bottom of the bill below Dinosaur Jr and Primal Scream. All I remember is that someone was sitting down, possibly Norman and there was one song that started with A Capella Beach Boys style harmonies. I loved it!

Brendan O'Hare

They were all from another planet.

Kaori Laird: The voice saying Boy Hairdresser in Japanese at the beginning of the Teenage Fanclub song Speeder - is my voice! It was recorded at Norman's Granny's house. 

After Boy Hairdressers there were rumours circulating that Norman was already working on a new band - who would become Teenage Fanclub. I asked Norman what they would be called and he said Black Watch or Old Grandfather Clock. I knew he was not serious, but it was so Norman (isn't it?).

Fraser Gillespie

The Boy Hairdresser was a terrible novel by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. I saw them at least twice in Glasgow and also Norman's previous band The Faith Healers. Their keyboard player, Jim Lambie, did posters and filmed for Splash 1. He went on to become a very successful artist. I have a demo of Saliva which became the TFC song Too Involved - was that The Boy Hairdressers? I saw the very first TFC London gig at the Camden Falcon. It was obvious that they were going to be successful.

Graeme Williams

I saw them live supporting The Pastels at The Boardwalk in Manchester - was a great night, quite the shambolic gig to use a well worn trope, but you could tell they had something special. I have the ticket stub still somewhere.

Steph Wood

I put them on once and they slept on my floor - I still occasionally find one of those round blue Golden Showers stickers when I pull a random record out of it's sleeve ...

Antonio Navarro Ros

In Pastelism fanzine appears the first Teenage Fanclub interview ever and Norman and Raymond talk about the disband of The Boy Hairdressers. Here is the link (also see above)

80 minute Marvin Gaye mix

Marvin Gaye's I Don't Have To Get High To Do It is a relatively recent discovery of mine. If you dig into his back catalogue on Spotify (or a streaming/download platform of your choice) you'll find all kinds of deluxe edition albums that have demos, instrumentals and alternative takes.

It really is an absolute treasure trove of riches and I have found myself regularly coming back to Marvin's discography which has resulted in me compiling this 80-minute mix of blissed out instrumentals, alternative mixes, deep cuts, demos and ending with a pure classic and the sublime rhythm 'n' strings mix of What's Going On.

Check out some sensational soul jams with the Funk Brothers and the many incredible musicians Gaye was fortunate to work with. I previously blogged on Song #3  HERE back in 2019. The instrumental songs on the deluxe edition of Lets Get It On are absolutely out of this world, Perfection is aptly named!  

Search for 80-minute Marvin Gaye mix on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Tracklist

I Don't Have To Get High To Do It (instrumental)

I Want You - Jam - Alternate Mix

Song #1 - Instrumental

Song #3 - Instrumental

Song #4- Instrumental /partial vocal) 

Perfection (instrumental)

"T" Plays It Cool (soundtrack version)

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Detroit Mix

Right On - Detroit Mix

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) Detroit Mix

Falling In Love Again

Checking Out (Double Clutch)

What's Going On (instrumental)

Ego Tripping Out (instrumental)

I Love The Ground You Walk On - Instrumental

Symphony - Demo

I Want You - Intro Jam 2

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

What's Going On - Rhythm 'N' Strings Mix

10 from Oasis

For the latest in my semi-regular feature on 10 of my favourite songs by my favourite bands / artists, I've chose Oasis, a band I have blogged on and reminisced about quite a bit through the years.

There is a reason I keep going back to them. Oasis arrived at precisely the right time for me. I turned 18 in January 1994 and Oasis arrived shortly afterwards. Having been slightly too young to get into the Roses or The Charlatans when they were breaking, I'd been waiting for a band like this; the looks, the attitude, the songs, the work ethic, the humour, the honesty ...

As a religious reader of both the NME and Melody Maker I was on to Oasis from early reviews, so between 1994 and 1996 I went on a rollercoaster ride skywards to Knebworth via The Tramway, The Cathouse, a tent at T in the Park, the Barrowlands (twice), Sheffield Arena and Ingliston (Edinburgh).

8 incredible nights filled with an electric atmosphere that you were part of something important. 8-nights filled with songs, anthems, adrenaline, excitement and the pure rush of youth, culture and music combining.

Oasis were incredibly prolific, especially in the early days when a regular debate among fans would be on b-sides that should have been considered as either the a-side or for albums. Can you imagine Definitely Maybe with Fade Away in place of Digsy's Dinner and Listen Up instead of Shaker Maker? What about Morning Glory with Round Are Way instead of Hey Now? Not to mention The Masterplan!

Being an Oasis fan was wild and wonderful for those magical years mentioned above, it was never quite the same after that. 

Where were you while we were getting high? sang Liam. Maybe they got too high, they had to come down and at times they came crashing down; musically and with their behaviour, Liam started to become a bit of a caricature of himself for a while. So did some of the fans. 

Be Here Now was a major disappointment for me, starting with D'You Know What I Mean as the lead single. Yeah, Liam looked and sounded sensational, but it was (and is) a bit of a plod along, certainly in comparison to the skyscraping summer anthem Stay Young that was the b-side.

Media or the vast majority of the British public couldn't care, it was Oasis, they had barely been away, but they were back. Tills were ringing. Radio 1 played the song back-to-back.

Be Here Now had some moments, Don't Go Away is a gem for a start, but they were few and far between. I revisited the album for a blog back in 2016 and barely made it through. I haven't listened to it since.

Things got worse with the turgid Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants which should have been an EP. I still shudder at the thought of Put Yer Money Where Your Mouth Is, I Can See A Liar, Roll It Over ... By this stage the media needed Oasis more than Oasis needed the media - interviews with Liam and Noel added tens of thousands on to sales of newspapers or magazines.

Thankfully things picked up, the addition of Andy Bell and Gem Archer lifted the band massively for Heathen Chemistry in 2002, delivering a strong album with standout singles. Don't Believe The Truth in 2005 wasn't as good but there was still enough quality and fire in the belly. I caught the band at Benicassim in that year and they were outstanding.

By 2008's Dig Out Your Soul, although there were some gems like Liam's I'm Outta Time, it was clear Oasis were going through the motions and seeing them on tour that year was a little heartbreaking, it looked like Liam was the only person who wanted to be in Oasis. I blogged on their SECC show HERE.

So I wasn't hugely disappointed when Oasis broke up. It had been coming, it was time. 

Post Oasis, I've been hugely disappointed by Liam's musical output, first with Beady Eye and then his solo material, backed by an army of songwriters. I'd love to see him pick up the phone to the likes of Gerry Cinnamon, John Power, Andy Bell (on a roll with Ride and his solo material), Johnny Marr and Paul Weller who might write something that challenges him and has a little bit of soul. 

Noel still interests me. The eponymous High Flying Birds album was an incredibly strong collection of songs, Chasing Yesterday was the sound of someone enjoying stretching songs and playing in a way Oasis rarely achieved, while 2017's Who Built The Moon? was a very fluid album and Dead In The Water is as good a song as he has written. Noel has assembled a cracking band, he's pushing himself by working with the likes of David Holmes and he seems really happy with what he's doing.

I've thoroughly enjoyed delving back through the extensive Oasis back catalogue for this blog, there are so many wonderful songs from 1994 all the way through to 2008. I could easily have written a top 20 / 30 blog. Sad Song, Some Might Say, You've Got The Heart Of A Star, Cast No Shadow, Morning Glory, Rock n Roll Star, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Rockin' Chair, Don't Go Away or Half The World Away might well have been included on another day.

Here, at the time of writing, are what I consider to be my 10 favourite Oasis songs. 

Slide Away

All these years down the line, my spine still tingles when I listen to Slide Away. Noel's guitar is mesmerising, set for stun, playing a guitar given to him by Johnny Marr that had previously belonged to Pete Townsend, Noel has said that the song practically wrote itself when he picked the guitar up.

Written by Noel following the break up of a long term relationship, Slide Away is a heartfelt soul song of love, dreams, regret and just sliding away from it all.

 Liam, at the age of only 21, delivers an impeccable gut wrenching rock n roll vocal, packed and wracked with emotion. Noel is lyrically at his most open and romantic, Liam takes his brothers words and makes everyone feel it.

Flying through two chorus to a bridge where Liam sings the superb line together we'll fly, we're then straight into a double chorus that is truly skyscraping in its power.

Now that you're mine, we'll find a way of chasing the sun

Let me be the one, who shines with you

In the morning, we don't know what to do

We'll do what we can, we'll find a way of chasing the sun

Let me be the one, who shines with you

And we can slide away

Noel's guitar solo is as soulful as Liam's vocal, the rhythm section of Bonehead, Guigsy and Tony McCarroll crash beautifully together, allowing the brothers to work their magic.

Oasis would later become guilty of stretching songs out for far too long, but in the case of Slide Away every single second of the six minutes 31 seconds is absolutely vital. 

For me, this might be their greatest song.

Original

Live at the Chicago Metro, 1994

Live at Knebworth, Sunday night

Live Forever

Live Forever was an early indication of how good Oasis could be. This was a song mentioned regularly in early interviews an live reviews. Held back until their third single, it was the song that began to smash down doors on the back of the slightly throwaway Shaker Maker. 

Suddenly you could hear The Beatles instead of the Pistols or the Mondays. Noel Gallagher was a proper songwriter, this wasn't done it with a doctor, on a helicopter or Mr Clean and Mr Ben are living in my loft.

This was 'cause I just wanna fly, this was feeling the pain in the morning rain and being soaked to the bone, this was about being in love and seeing things the same way, different from everyone else, this was about feeling like you were in love and you were gonna live forever.

I think you're the same as me, we see things they'll never see

You and I are gonna live forever

This is classic Noel; romantic, melodic, euphoric, dreamy, egging himself on now's the time to find out why, the guitar solo is stunning, Gallagher has talked of how he sat for days working it out and by the time Liam repeatedly sings gonna live forever at the end, you believe him 100%.

The first of many hug your mates and punch the sky feel good anthems in the Oasis story.

Original video

Acoustic, MTV, 1994

Maine Road, 1996

Acquiesce

Oasis were on such a roll going into 1995 that they were confident enough to release this rip roaring anthem as a b-side to their first number 1 single - Some Might Say.

Liam flies through the verses and his brother Noel sings the chorus that was just absolutely perfect for the band, their media images as (sometimes) warring brothers and for their fans to sing. A stadium anthem, a chorus built for Knebworth.

Cause we need each other, we believe in on another

I know we're gonna uncover

What's sleeping in our soul

I remember Oasis performing this on Channel 4's The White Room and I was just blown away. Liam in in sensational form, his voice is so strong from a year of solid gigging in 1994. 

White Room, 1995

Live By The Sea, 1995

Fade Away

Fade Away (demo) was one of the first Oasis songs I heard, a demo version was given away in the spring of 1994 on a Select Magazine cassette. A burst of acoustic guitar leads into the song, Liam's voice is good, Noel harmonises with him beautifully on the chorus. But Liam's voice just hasn't quite got the punch that it has on the version released as a b-side to Cigarettes & Alcohol.

In this version everything seems louder, pacier and more urgent. The band are making a right punk racket, drums and cymbals are crashing, the guitars are relentless and Liam's totally on it.

While we're living, the dreams we have as children fade away

Fade Away is one of Noel's early songs where he just captures something; a realisation, an honesty ... soul. The band tear through it and could easily have stopped at 3-minutes, but they keep going and deliver one of my favourite Oasis outro's as Noel picks a riff for a full 40-seconds to close.

Oasis/Noel would revisit the song for the Help / Warchild album and Noel delivered a beautiful version at his Royal Albert Hall show, later released under The Dreams We Have As Children album.

Released version

Demo version 

Warchild version

Noel at the Royal Albert Hall version

Little By Little

Two years ago my brother managed to bag us tickets 4 rows from the front to see Noel Gallagher play Edinburgh Playhouse with his High Flying Birds band. It was the first time I had seen Noel in a decade and I absolutely loved it. His band were excellent, Noel was in top form and included a number of Oasis songs in the set.

One that took me slightly by surprise was Little By Little. It was utterly euphoric. Maybe I had kind of forgotten about it, but it was possibly my song of the night, the chorus nearly took the roof off the place! Since then it's become one of my most listened to Oasis songs.

Noel's melodic bridge beginning you know I didn't mean, what I just said lifts the song beautifully and quite dramatically from a short verse into the skyscraping chorus;

Little by little, we have you everything you ever dreamed of

Little by little, the wheels of your life have slowly fallen off

Little by little, you have to give it all in all your life

And all the time I just ask myself why you're really here?

After the second verse there is one of my favourite Oasis guitar breaks that builds into another euphoric chorus and a lovely psychedelic tinged outro.

Official video

Finsbury Park, 2002

Don't Look Back In Anger

When Noel wrote Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger he knew that he wanted to sing one of them. He may have guessed (or probably known) they would become Oasis anthems, but I don't think anyone (not even Noel) could have predicted or even dreamed of just how anthemic they would become.

Once my mates and I were out for a night out in neighbouring Wishaw and we couldn't get a taxi home, so we started walking. All of a sudden there was a group of lads running for us ... until they spotted my Oasis t-shirt ... after a brief tense but friendly exchange (thank god I didn't have a Blur t-shirt!) we were singing Wonderwall - mental!

I love Wonderwall, I love how the song has been transformed thanks to Ryan Adams covering it and Noel adding his own spin to that. But Don't Look Back In Anger is my favourite of the two, indeed, Wonderwall almost became a victim of its own success.

Meanwhile Don't Look Back In Anger has developed to become a real anthem with added poignancy after it was adopted by the people of Manchester after the 2017 bombing in the city.

Check the live version from Buenos Aires in Argentina to see how this song means something to people across the world. Listen to the huge crowd singing it so passionately. Noel looks genuinely taken aback at the end.

Why does it mean so much? Maybe it sounded instantly familiar to people, the borrowed Imagine chords at the start helped. Maybe it's Noel singing another line from his childhood that would resonate with others of his age - stand up beside the fireplace, take that look from off your face or maybe it's the soaring you ain't ever gonna burn my heart out that leads to the chorus.

Who was Sally? Who cares? 

Official video

Buenos Aires

Champagne Supernova

Champagne Supernova is utterly majestic. As psychedelic as Oasis got without trying too  hard; some of the lyrics are nonsense yet they came to make sense; slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball, others asked questions - where were you while we were getting high? , others made statements that likely stemmed from Noel's working class roots - cause people believe that they're gonna get away for the summer, a line that Liam really seemed to relish and attack when singing it live.

Elsewhere a dreamer dreams, she never dies is one of of my favourite Noe lyrics, swiftly followed by a line I'm sure a lot of people will have heard when they were kids wipe that tear away now from your eye.

What was a champagne supernova? Who cared? It sounded amazing, Liam's voice still sounds amazing, Noel's guitar sounds amazing and his mate Paul Weller guests on the track, John Squire would join the band on stage at Knebworth to play on it.

Listening back now, Champagne Supernova beautifully balances moments that blast towards the stars with moments of tender, melodic, melancholy. The way the song ebbs to conclusion with Liam repeatedly singing we were getting high, before the outro is lazily and beautifully allowed to drift to conclusion is stunning.

Official video

Earls Court

Knebworth, Saturday night

Round Are Way

A triumphant celebration of youth, optimism and sunshine. Oasis blast through this, sounding like they are having fun, loving life, as carefree as the lyrics suggest.

Round are way the birds are singing

Round are way the sun shines bright

Round are way the birds sing for ya

Cause they already know ya

The song features in the 1997 film A Life Less Ordinary starring Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. McGregor is walking in glorious sunshine singing the song, it is exactly that type of song! It's a feel-good, punch the sky romp, reminiscing about the simple pleasures of life - being a paperboy, lying to your teacher and my own favourite, playing football at the park until dark.

The game is kicking off around the park

It's 25-a-side and before it's dark

There's gonna be a loser and you know the next goal wins

Alongside She's Electric, Round Are Way perfectly captures the kind of council estate vibe that Oasis brought into the mainstream with their looks, attitude, humour and complete honesty. Straight from the off, Noel would talk lovingly of his Mum, of his abusive Dad. You didn't get anything like that in the NME or Melody Maker before Oasis! He felt real, he was real, he came from a scheme with a head full of dreams (great lyric for someone).

Official lyric video

White Room

Knebworth, Sunday night

Songbird

Coming in at only 2-minutes 8 seconds, Songbird is incredibly short for an Oasis song. And it's a Liam Gallagher penned song! Taken from 2002's Heathen Chemistry, this is a real gem of a song, Liam was head over heels in love with his fiance (at the time) Nicole Appleton and he pours his heart out in the song.

Talk of better days that are yet to come

I've never felt this love from anyone

She's not anyone

The harmonium, played by Gem Archer, adds a lot to the song, he plays it beautifully. The demo version of the song was released, it's more brashy and upbeat, complete with harmonica. I really like it, but the single version really captures the beauty of the song and Liam's voice is stunning.

Single/album version

Demo version

Manchester, 2005

The Masterplan

Two of the b-sides to Wonderwall (Round Are Way being the other) are in my top 10 favourite Oasis songs. Indeed, with Fade Away and Acquiesce, 4 out of my 10 are b-sides. 

With a heavy use of strings, it really felt like Oasis (or at least Noel) had grown up. Noel had certainly developed massively as a songwriter. If the aforementioned Live Forever set a bar, then the older Gallagher was regularly meeting it and at times he was setting new heights.

Noel had a masterplan with Oasis. He spoke of it in interviews. They would hammer it and release singles every few months like his heroes The Jam. 10 singles and 2 albums from April 1994 - February 1996 is astonishing, with the quality of b-sides highlighted in the compilation album - The Masterplan.

Noel is unrushed, the intro is extended, strings are at the heart of everything, there is that classic little Gallagher bridge that lifts into a chorus tumbles and flows.

Dance if you wanna dance, please brother take a chance

You know they're gonna go, which way they wanna go

All we know is that we don't, know how it's gonna be, please brother let it be

Life on the other hand, won't make us understand

We're all part of the masterplan

It's Noel at his best; meloic and beautifully mixing melancholic with euphoric.

Official video

Knebworth 1996

Normandy (On A Beach) by The Waterfront

The Waterfront, the band John Squire and Gary 'Mani' Mountfield were in before the Stone Roses, are receiving a vinyl release for Record Store Day.

The band never played any shows, but did come together in 1983 to cut two indie guitar gems that are closer in sound to post Sally Cinnamon Roses, rather than the early tracks accumulated on the early Roses Garage Flower compilation album (not released until 1996) including debut single So Young b/w Tell Me.

Normandy (On A Beach) b/w Where The Wind Blows will receive a limited edition 12-inch Record Store Day release with all proceeds going to The Christie in Manchester, the largest cancer centre in Europe.

The demos, long talked about among Roses fans, have been remastered and I for one will be trying to track down the 12-inch on 21st April.

The Waterfront consisted of John Squire (guitar), Mani (bass), Chris Goodwin (drums and later of Doves), Andy Couzens (guitar and laterly of early Stone Roses and The High) and David 'Kaiser' Karty on vocals.

Ian Brown was asked to join the band as a second vocalist; "John and I had an idea of having Ian and Kaiser at the front trying to do a counterpoint with one another. That's what we were trying to push, this question-and-answer thing with these two lads at the front singing sweet pop music." Andy Couzens told the bands biographer, Simon Pence.

Normandy (On A Beach) is definitely sweet guitar pop music with echoes of Orange Juice. Mani's bass grooves from the off and there are chiming guitars over a shuffling beat with vocals that could easily be mistaken for Ian Brown - that Manchester choir boy from a council estate kind that captivated so many hearts.

Where The Wind Blows is a little rougher round the edges, moving to the more brazen punkier side of The Roses that features on Garage Flower, the album they recorded with legendary Martin Hannett on production duties. The lovely guitar riff and bass breakdown after the early bizarre (whistling solo) are pure Roses.

The group seemed to just naturally fold almost as quickly as it came together. Mani tried to form a group with Brown and Clint Boon from the Inspiral Carpets but it never materialised.

Quite how Mani fell out of the picture as Squire and Brown formed the Roses without him isn't clear from any articles or books I have read on The Roses, but they got there in the end.

For me it sounds like the Roses almost took a step back from The Waterfront tracks to move forwards. There is no doubting the power and urgency of So Young and Tell Me, but much of the other Garage Flower era tracks leave no impression on me at all. The early version of This Is The One is raw yet still shines, Adored just doesn't contain the subtlety of the final version. There is no doubt that when the Roses classic line-up finally formed and they were matched with producer John Leckie, that is when things finally clicked into place. It was only in 1987, after the Garage Flower recordings and  fresh batch of Brown/Squire originals had been written that Mani joined the band and in Brown's own words "When Mani joined it almost changed overnight. It became a totally different groove...straightaway, everything just fell into place."

This Record Store Day release is sure to be much sought after by fellow fans of the Stone Roses.

Vigo Thieves - reasons to believe

Believe by Vigo Thieves was re-released recently to coincide with the song being chosen by the Scottish FA as then anthem for the nations Euro 16 campaign. It is the perfect choice - Strachan has restored the fire in the soul of the players and the supporters, people believe again.

I was delighted when I found out as the band are huge supporters of the national team. Barry follows the team home and away as a committed member of the Tartan Army and it was only last year that Gordon was creating a bubble bath in Trafalgar Square in London when down watching Scotland against the Auld Enemy!

Gordon Phipps - it's always the bass players that are the party animals!

The band are growing from strength to strength, a summer of festivals followed by an Autumn tour led to the offer of 4-dates with The Courteeners (including 2 at the Barrowlands) and Vigo Thieves will be rounding off 2014 in style with their second headline show at the ABC in December. It promises to be quite a party.

Vigo Thieves have worked hard to build a word of mouth following that will only grow - especially when they release their album. 2015 promises to be a big year for the band so I decided to look at a few of the many reasons why more and more people are believing in the Vigo Thieves.

Vigo Thieves at the SFA launch of Believe

REASONS TO BELIEVE

The songs
Vigo Thieves wouldn't have generated this much noise if they didn't have something about them but at the end of the day it all comes down to the songs. People are looking for songs to sing-a-long with, to dance to, to jump around to, to fall in love with, to look for hope in, or to soundtrack their nights and their life. This band have the songs to do that - attend any of their live shows and you'll see just what they mean to people.

Vigo Thieves have been building a top rate collection of songs over the last few years. More and more people are waking up to it - songs like Heartbeats, Forever, This Love, Believe and Steal Your Heart are festival and stadium anthems in the making - the hooks, riffs, refrains, beats, choruses are all there. People are already singing a-long to the hooks and riffs at the shows.

The enthusiastic responses at live shows and the growing scale of them has only encouraged Stevie Jukes to write bigger and better songs - anthems to be sung loud and heartily.

I'm fortunate to have heard some demos of songs that Vigo Thieves are working on in the studio and they sound incredible.

It isn't just the live environment that these songs work in, they sound incredible on the radio and their anthemic and cinematic nature has been picked up by the Scottish FA, it is surely only a matter of time before they are soundtracking games, adverts, films and shows.

The video of This Love displays the cinematic widescreen feeling of Vigo Thieves

2. Positivity
Vigo Thieves are all about heart and soul. They give it everything and the lyrics of Stevie Jukes highlight that. Examples?

Got to wake up, live for today
Stay young in your heart and young in your mind - Steal Your Heart

Love is the fire that's burning, when your heartbeats - Heartbeats

You're looking for the love to heal the pain from all the scars
So live for the moment and you'll shine like the stars - Steal Your Heart Pt II

Lets live forever, together we can stay young - Forever

It's not just the lyrics, Vigo Thieves are positive in everything they do - their live shows are a celebration, they are always looking to improve, develop and grow, their attitude and commitment is like no other I have experienced. Which leads on to...

Drummer Alan Jukes has the best seat in the house

3. Vision and leadership
Stevie Jukes had a clear vision for Vigo Thieves when he started out. 'Start with the end in mind' is one of his key philosophies and one that has served him and the band very well. Stevie has combined his talent for singing and songwriting with sheer hard work and resilience to get Vigo Thieves to where they are. He won't rest until he has taken them as far as he can possibly go - and that is all the way.

These qualities and more have helped drive the band forward more than anything else. I've never been anything less than impressed with Stevie, his natural charisma on stage and off has helped create opportunities and develop lasting relationships.

Stevie Jukes knows how to get a crowd on his side

4. A real band
Vigo Thieves didn't stick an advert in a magazine or online, they didn't come together through management or a record company, they are a true band. Stevie and drummer Alan are brothers, Gordon on bass and Barry on lead guitar are long term friends with the Jukes brothers. Chris Gorman on keys, synths and backing vocals joined after producing early demos and being the unofficial 5th member. Recognising his importance to the developing sound, Stevie likened him to 'playing piano like Elton John and having a voice like Jesus'.

The band gel superbly on and off stage, there is a real chemistry between them. Stevie singing his heart out, Alan a power house on drums, Gordon keeping the songs flowing on bass, Barry adding flourishes and riffs on guitar, Gorman helping to take them to the next level. Chris Cruickshanks joins the 5-piece on saxophone, creating a Springsteen feel to songs like This Love.

Vigo Thieves stripped back in session

5. The shows
I've mentioned the live shows turning into celebrations. I've witnessed incredible scenes at King Tut's, T in the Park, Wickerman, the Arches, the ABC, Barrowlands.... The momentum is with this band and the bigger the shows, the more they respond and the more they give.

For an unsigned band to have sold out the Arches and got over 1,000 people into the ABC is an incredible achievement - they still haven't released an album! The songs, the shows, airplay and word of mouth is generating something special and they won't be unsigned for much longer.

Vigo Thieves at the ABC in Glasgow earlier this year - a celebration

Get a ticket for Vigo Thieves at the ABC on 20th December. You won't regret it.