Inspiral Carpets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Background information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Origin |  Oldham, England |
|
| Genre(s) | Rock Indie Madchester |
|
| Years active | 1986–present | |
| Label(s) | Mute Records | |
| Associated acts |
Tom Hingley and the Lovers The Clint Boon Experience Too Much Texas |
|
| Website | http://www.inspiralcarpets.com | |
| Members | ||
| Tom Hingley Clint Boon Graham Lambert Craig Gill Martyn Walsh |
||
| Former members | ||
| Stephen Holt David Swift |
||
The Inspiral Carpets is an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert in 1986.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Inspiral Carpets emerged, alongside bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, from the indie scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their sound is based around psychedelic keyboards and jangly guitars. The band were propelled to fame after being 'discovered' by the Radio 1 DJ John Peel and had their first chart success in the UK with a single entitled "This Is How It Feels", which is a song about loneliness and unemployment.
At the time of their initial success, the band earned some notoriety for their squiggly-eyed cow 'Cool as Fuck' T-shirts; a student at Oxford Polytechnic was prosecuted on obscenity charges for wearing one. One of their roadies, Noel Gallagher, who was rejected in an audition to be the band's vocalist, went on to great success with the band Oasis. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate.
They reworked their single "Find Out Why" as the theme tune to the 8:15 from Manchester.
After an amicable split in the mid-nineties they re-formed with their original line-up in 2001. This was backed with the release of a new single, a couple of sold-out tours and a number of new compilation records. They have toured sporadically since, reuniting yet again in 2007 to tour in support of an iTunes only compilation of their b-sides and rarities.
[edit] Members
[edit] Early line-up
- Stephen Holt - vocals
- Graham Lambert - guitars
- David Swift - bass
- Clint Boon - keyboards, vocals
- Craig Gill - drums
[edit] Height of success through to present day
- Tom Hingley - vocals (born Thomas Hingley, on 9 July 1965, in Abingdon)
- Graham Lambert - guitar - (born Graham Paul Lambert, on 10 July 1964, in Chadderton, Oldham)
- Martyn Walsh - bass - (born Martyn John Walsh, on 3 July 1968, in Rusholme, Manchester)
- Clint Boon - Farfisa organ, backing vocals (born Clinton David Boon, on 28 June 1959, in Oldham)
- Craig Gill - drums - (born Craig Douglas Gill on 5 December 1971, in Salford)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Life (1990) (UK Albums Chart #2)
- The Beast Inside (1991) (UK Albums Chart #5)
- Revenge Of The Goldfish (1992) (UK Albums Chart #17)
- Devil Hopping (1994) (UK Albums Chart #10)
[edit] Compilations
- The Singles (1995) (UK Albums Chart #17)
- Radio 1 Sessions (1996) (UK Album Chart N/A)
- Cool As (2003) (UK Albums Chart #65)
- Greatest Hits (2003) (UK Album Chart N/A)
- Keep the Circle (2007) (iTunes only download)
[edit] Video & DVD
- 21.7.90 (1990) [VHS]
- Inspiral Carpets The Singles (1995) [VHS]
- Live at Brixton Academy (2003) [DVD]
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
| UK Singles Chart | US Modern Rock | |||
| 1988 | Planecrash EP | N/A | N/A | N/A* |
| 1989 | Trainsurfing EP | N/A | N/A | N/A* |
| 1989 | "Joe" | N/A | N/A | N/A* |
| 1989 | "Find Out Why" | #90 | N/A | N/A* |
| 1989 | "Move" | #49 | N/A | Life* |
| 1990 | "Commercial Reign" | N/A | #27 | Life* |
| 1990* | "This Is How It Feels" | #14 | #22 | Life |
| 1990 | "She Comes in the Fall" | #27 | N/A | Life |
| 1990 | "Island Head EP" | #21 | N/A | N/A |
| 1991 | "Caravan" | #30 | #15 | Beast Inside |
| 1991 | "Please be Cruel" | #50 | N/A | Beast Inside |
| 1992 | "Dragging Me Down" | #12 | N/A | Revenge of the Goldfish |
| 1992 | "Two Worlds Collide" | #32 | N/A | Revenge of the Goldfish |
| 1992 | "Generations" | #28 | N/A | Revenge of the Goldfish |
| 1992 | "Bitches Brew" | #36 | N/A | Revenge of the Goldfish |
| 1993 | "How it Should Be" | #49 | N/A | N/A |
| 1994 | "Saturn 5" | #20 | N/A | Devil Hopping |
| 1994 | "I Want You" | #18 | N/A | Devil Hopping |
| 1994 | "Uniform" | #51 | N/A | Devil Hopping |
| 1995 | "Joe" | #37 | N/A | The Singles |
| 2003 | "Come Back Tomorrow" | #43 | N/A | Cool As |
* Commercial Reign did not appear on the UK release of Life. This is How it Feels was released in 1991 in the US.
[edit] Audio sample
- The Inspiral Carpets - Directing Traffik excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from Directing Traffik taken from the 1990 album Life
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] Trivia
- The guitarist for rock band, Oasis, Noel Gallagher, was originally a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets.
- Prior to their chart breakthrough with "This Is How It Feels", Inspiral Carpets were famous for selling more t-shirts than singles.
- Guitarist Graham Lambert states in an interview on the Cool As box set that the band had tried numerous bass players before settling on Martyn, who was their thirteenth bass player.
[edit] References
- Inspiral Carpets Biography. Mute Records. (Accessed 4 December 2005).
[edit] External links
- The Inspiral Carpets
- 8:15 from Manchester theme tune - WAV audio clip.
