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)

A Catholic Education

The run of Teenage Fanclub shows at the end of 2019 where they played their Creation Records albums over 3-nights will live long in my memory. The bands rich back catalogue from 1991-2000 was rolled out in all its glory. Songs were dusted off, from Sidewinder to Near You, with the likes of Tears Are Cool, Discolite and Winter in between. Not to mention some impeccable b-sides, including a sublime and very moving Broken, and rarities from the era.

The shows brought immense joy but they were also tinged by sadness with the news that Gerry Love was leaving the band. It could have been worse, the band could have broken up. Thankfully everything was amicable and everything has gone well since.

Teenage Fanclub have brought long term friend Euros Childs in on keyboards and Dave has gone to bass, they have released a new single and blazed a trail across the world from January through to July.

This is a brand new era for the Fanclub and ahead of the bands Scottish summer shows at Kelvingrove Bandstand, scene of a triumphant show in 2014, and Leith Theatre, I thought I'd take a look back all the way to A Catholic Education their debut LP, released 29-years ago in 1990, recorded 30-years ago in July 1989.

The studio time for A Catholic Education was funded when Raymond McGinley's neighbour passed away and left him a couple of kitchen appliances, including a fridge. They were duly sold to fund recordings of songs Raymond had been writing with his friend Norman Blake following the demise of their band The Boy Hairdressers.

Along with drummer Francis MacDonald, also formerly of The Boy Hairdressers, the trio recruited bassist Gerry Love in May of 1989 and by July Teenage Fanclub began recording after only a few rehearsals.

Blake and McGinley didn't want to hang around with their new band and the  melodic, grungy, and heartfelt songs on A Catholic Education have a rawness, energy, innocence and purity to them that has helped the album age well.

Not many bands capture their developing sound on vinyl, most wait until they are fully formed and polished. Digging into A Catholic Education for the first time in a while, it is evident that the Fanclub were capturing something pretty special.

On songs like the spellbinding Everything Flows there is a sense that everything is coming together, on the title track and Too Involved it sounds like everything could also easily fall apart.

early Teenage Fanclub

The sense of humour and fun that the band clearly display in interviews and onstage to this day is also all over the album, beginning with the instrumental opener Heavy Metal. It's not, it's simply a  jam but it somehow feels like a perfect opener.

And then we have the majestic Everything Flows, the song that this blog takes its name from. The guitars are glorious, sounding as if the band might have been listening to some Neil Young, the lyrics  have a perspective and maturity beyond Norman Blake's (then) 24 years of age.

We get older every day

But you don't change

Or I don't notice you changing

Released as the bands debut single, Everything Flows is a song that generates goosebumps and tingles for fans across the world and remains a staple, often as set closer, in the bands live sets to this day. It drives on, you don't want it to end.  The song is like a fine wine, getting better and more meaningful with age.

Live from Reading - Everything Flows

Catholic Education has the rawness and sense that it could fall apart that I wrote about above, the band crash through riffs, the drumming is ferocious and Blake simply sings You wanna turn your back on everything, You wanna turn your back on everyone, Well I try before the song descends into a fun jam and it's over in under two and a half minutes.

I love the warm guitars in Too Involved, I love the lazy intro to Don't Need A Drum and Raymond riffing along before taking on a solo.

Crticial Mass is an unpolished gem featuring early use of harmonies on the chorus. The guitars are gloriously raw.

When I switched off my feelings is when I lost control

Couldn't say what I was needing

Something I didn't know 

Heavy Metal II is another jam before the band absolutely tear through a reprise of Catholic Education. 

There is a song I had forgotten from the album, Eternal Light. There is a ring of The Byrds in the opening guitars and the song has a loving shambolic flow to it.

Every Picture I Paint is a favourite of mine. I've always loved the guitars, Norman's voice, the way the song hangs together, the band tear through it and the chorus forced home,

It takes a hundred thousand colours just to paint you

And every picture that I paint doesn't capture you

The album ends with Everybody's Fool, another loose romp. The band find a melody and groove with ease and the recording sounds raw, live and spontaneous.

As much as I enjoy A Catholic Education, it barely sets the scene for what was to come from Bandwagonesque onwards and in a way that is what makes it special. For me, A Catholic Education, is a glimpse of a band (a gang) forming, in progress, sounding raw, stoned and/or pissed, live, spontaneous and full of fun.

Teenage Fanclub Peel Sessions

You may have gathered that I'm a Teenage Fanclub fan. I'm particularly proud to be a member of the Teenage Fanclub Fanclub. An online community that becomes reality when the Fanclub play live. I've met some great people from the Teenage Fanclub forum and Teenage Fanclub Fanclub Facebook page over the years and had great fun.

Jeez how many times did I mention Fanclub in that first paragraph!

Someone recently posted a link to the Fanclub Peel session, a record I own on 12-inch but I haven't dug it out in a long, long time. I stuck my headphones on and was transported back to my youth. 

John Peel was a legendary DJ who gave airtime and live sessions to many an up and coming artist over decades at Radio 1. His endorsement carried huge weight and could catapult bands to record deals or add tens of thousands to sales figures.

In a pre-internet era there was so much more excitement about the release of a record, or catching it on radio or on TV to hear what it was like.  If it wasn't on the playlist then it might only be played once on Peel. So you could blink and miss it. Sometimes you took a punt on something just because you read a good review in the NME or Melody Maker - you couldn't search on bandcamp, soundcloud, YouTube or whatever. You had to hunt and you had to build an element of trust in labels, DJ's and journalists. 

The late great John Peel

Peel could certainly play some weird shit. But he also played some good shit, some interesting shit and some great shit. Most people trusted his taste and passion - they knew he would come up with the goods.

So back to the Fanclub Peel session. It was recorded on 28/08/90 and aired on 30/09/90, later released on a 12-inch by the marvellous Strange Fruit Records, a label formed by Peel and his friend Clive Selwood to release the incredible catalogue of sessions in the BBC archives.

TFC circa 1990

The warm guitars that usher in God Knows It's True are like a cuddle from your best friend and the  rhythms are spliced and spiced with delicious fuzzy riffs throughout. Much of the joy that this song offers comes from the fact that it sounds like the band are really into it, really feeling it. The Peel Session version is superior (in my opinion) to the original version - just listen to Brendan's ferocious drumming after the second chorus - is it a guitar solo or a drum solo? Its both combined and the Fannies make a gorgeous racket.

The Fanclub were prolific back in 1990; releasing several singles (including debut Everything Flows), debut LP A Catholic Education and they also released the God Knows It's True EP - essentially (for me) a double-a-side with So Far Gone for the 7-inch, padded out with a couple of crazier tunes more suited to The King LP.

So Far Gone is classic Gerry Love, the song bursts into life with Brendan O'Hare's drumming as furious as the duelling guitars.

Could you be the one, the one to turn me into something new?

And the chorus

So far gone, so far gone

I'd love to turn you on

It's a little over 3-minutes of flowing punky guitar pop brilliance. The energy on the Peel session is captured perfectly on vinyl for prosperity. Oh how I would have loved to have seen TFC back in August 1990. This is what they sounded like live - fun, ferocious and brilliant.

One of the beautiful things about the Peel Sessions EP is that it catches the band at an incredible moment - when they have just released their debut album and are brimming with confidence and songs - all written for Bandwagonesque, or for b-sides and EP's.

Alcoholiday is one of my all-time favourite Fanclub songs. The Peel session version again captures the glorious noise Blake, McGinley, Love and O'Hare could create. Driving guitars, furious drumming and innocent lyrics.

There are things I want to do

But I don't know if they will be with you

The Peel session version ends with the closing mantra fading out. I wonder how long they actually went on for in the session. Does an extended version exist anywhere?

All I know, is all I know

What I've done I'll leave behind me

I don't want my soul to find me

The EP closes with Long Hair, another of my all-time favourite Fanclub songs, tucked away on the b-side of The Concept. I just love the whole feel and flow to this Gerry Love number. The band fly through it, sounding super tight; rhythm, lead, bass and drums. It is a joy to listen to this EP again - I hope you enjoy it too.

I believe in everything I see

Why believe in everything you hear?