| The Stone Roses | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Madchester |
| Years active | 1983–1996, 2011–present |
| Labels | Black Records, Silvertone, Geffen, Columbia, Universal |
| Associated acts | The Patrol, The Waterfront, The High, The Seahorses, Primal Scream, The Rub, Freebass |
| Website | www.thestoneroses.org |
| Members | |
| Ian Brown John Squire Reni Mani |
|
| Past members | |
| Pete Garner Andy Couzens Simon Wolstencroft Rob Hampson Robbie Maddix Nigel Ippinson Aziz Ibrahim |
|
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's most successful lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield, and drummer Alan "Reni" Wren.
The band released their début album, The Stone Roses, in 1989. The album was a breakthrough success for the band. At this time the Stone Roses decided to capitalise on their success by signing to a major label; their current record label Silvertone would not let them out of their contract, which led to a long legal battle that culminated with the band signing with Geffen Records in 1991, and then releasing their second album Second Coming in 1994.[1] The group soon disbanded after several lineup changes throughout the supporting tour, which began with Reni first departing, followed by Squire.
Following media speculation,[2] it was announced on 18 October 2011 that the band had reunited for a world tour in 2012, starting with three homecoming shows in Manchester.[3][4] They also plan to record a third album in the future.[5]
Contents |
Ian Brown (at the time the bassist) and guitarist John Squire, who knew each other from Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, formed a short-lived Clash-inspired band called The Patrol in 1980 along with singer/guitarist Andy Couzens and drummer Simon Wolstencroft.[6][7] They played several gigs in 1980 and recorded a demo tape, but towards the end of that year decided on a change of direction.[8] Brown had got a taste of being a frontman during the last Patrol show, singing The Sweet's "Blockbuster" to close the set, with the band's friend/roadie Pete Garner standing in on bass, and Couzens wanted to concentrate on guitar.[8] The band members lost enthusiasm in 1981, Brown selling his bass guitar to buy a scooter, and Wolstencroft joined the pre-Smiths band The Freak Party.[9] Squire continued to practice guitar[7] while working as an animator for Cosgrove Hall during the day, while Brown ran a Northern soul night in a Salford club.
Squire and Couzens started a new band, The Fireside Chaps, with bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield, later recruiting a singer named Kaiser and drummer Chris Goodwin, and changing their name to The Waterfront (after the film On the Waterfront), their sound influenced by 1960s groups and contemporary bands such as Orange Juice.[7][10] Goodwin left before the band recorded their first demo and, shortly after the demo, Squire asked Brown to join as singer. A meeting with Geno Washington at a party at Brown's flat in Hulme, in which Washington told Brown that he would be a star and should be a singer, convinced Brown to take Squire up on his offer.[11] Brown joined The Waterfront in late 1983, for a time sharing vocals with Kaiser.[12]
Like the earlier attempts at bands, The Waterfront fizzled out, but in late 1983 Couzens decided to try again at starting a band, and approached Brown.[13] They decided on Wolstencroft (who had turned down the job of drummer in The Smiths) as drummer and Pete Garner as bassist (despite his admission that he couldn't play anything but "Blockbuster").[14] They also decided that they needed Squire in the band, and when he agreed the band's line-up was cemented.[14] Leaving their previous bands behind, they worked solely on new material. Brown's vocal limitations prompted him to take singing lessons for three weeks.[15] After rehearsing for some time without a band name, Squire came up with 'The Stone Roses'. Several stories later emerged suggesting that the band had initially been called 'English Rose' or that the name was somehow linked to The Rolling Stones, but these were untrue, Brown explaining "No, I don't know where that English Rose story came from. John thought up the name 'Stone Roses' - something with a contrast, two words that went against each other".[16] The band rehearsed for six months, during which time Wolstencroft had been auditioning for other bands, and he left to join Terry Hall's band The Colourfield.[17] They got Goodwin to rejoin, but he only lasted for one rehearsal, so they advertised for a replacement and began auditioning, eventually recruiting Alan Wren in May 1984.[18]
After rehearsing and writing songs over the summer, they recorded their first demo in late August, making 100 cassettes, with artwork by Squire, and set about trying to get gigs.[19] They played their first gig as the Stone Roses on 23 October 1984, supporting Pete Townshend at an anti-heroin concert at the Moonlight Club in London, Brown having sent the demo with an accompanying letter stating "I'm surrounded by skagheads, I wanna smash 'em. Can you give us a show?".[20] The show was seen by journalists including Sounds' Gary Johnson, who arranged to interview the band a few weeks later.[21] The band received management offers and more gigs soon followed.
Howard Jones, who had recently left his job as manager of The Haçienda, producer Martin Hannett, and Tim Chambers agreed to work with the band on an album, setting up Thin Line Records to release it, with Jones taking on management of the band, although they had already made a similar agreement with Caroline Reed in London.[22] The band got their first positive press in late December, with Johnson tipping them for success in 1985 in Sounds, with a feature on the band following in January.[23]
The band played their first headlining gig on 4 January 1985, supported by Last Party, after original headliners Mercenary Skank had pulled out.[24] The band had their first recording session with Hannett in January 1985 at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, aiming to record tracks for a debut single and an album.[25] Further sessions followed in March, during which they recorded their debut single, the double A-side "So Young"/"Tell Me".[26] The band were invited to play a live session on Piccadilly Radio in March, for which they premiered a new song, "I Wanna be Adored".[27] By this time they had started to build a sizeable following in Manchester, and their first gig in the North of England at Clouds in Preston attracted a large audience, but descended into a riot after technical problems and friction between the bands on the bill.[28]
The Roses embarked on a tour of Sweden in April, with their first gig in Manchester following on their return, at International 1, a venue run by future Stone Roses manager Gareth Evans.[29] A performance at a warehouse party on 20 July helped to build interest in the band, and in August they returned to the studio to record their debut album.[30] Unhappy with the results, and with the band's sound changing, it was shelved (it was later released as Garage Flower).[7] The "So Young"/"Tell Me" single, however, was released in September.
Frustrated with the lack of attention they were getting locally, they engaged in a graffiti campaign, with Brown and Wren spraying the band's name on walls from West Didsbury to the city centre.[31] It brought them much negative publicity, but added to their increasing notoriety. In 1986 they began working on new material, including "Sally Cinnamon", and the planned follow-up singles to "So Young" ("I Wanna Be Adored" and "This is the One") were shelved.[32] They parted company with Jones and took on Gareth Evans as manager, using Evans's International 1 venue as their new rehearsal space.[33]
As Brown and Squire began collaborating more closely on songwriting, they decided that they should take a larger slice of the money than the other band members; Couzens and Wren left the band in protest, although they soon returned, and Couzens played an ill-fated gig with the band at the end of May before being pushed out of the band by Evans after flying home alone while the rest of the band returned in their van.[34] Although they failed to achieve further success in 1986, their repertoire expanded to include songs such as "Sugar Spun Sister", taking on influences from bands such as The Jesus & Mary Chain and the indie-pop era Primal Scream ("Velocity Girl" being a major influence on "Made of Stone"), and they stopped playing the older songs.[35]
In December 1986 they recorded their first demo as a four-piece, including the first studio recordings of "Sugar Spun Sister" and "Elephant Stone".[36] In early 1987, Evans negotiated a deal with Revolver FM for a one-off release on the specially created Black Records label; by the time of the release of the single, "Sally Cinnamon", the group's sound had changed considerably, with chiming guitar hooks and a strong melody, alienating some of their old fans but attracting many new ones.[37] "Sally Cinnamon" sold out its 1,000-copy run, but failed to make the desired impact.
In June, Garner announced that he had decided to leave the band, although he stayed until they found a replacement, playing his final gig with the band at the 'Larks in the Park' festival in Liverpool.[38] Rob Hampson was Garner's replacement, with Garner teaching him the bass parts before leaving, although Hampson only lasted a week.[39] A more permanent replacement was found in the form of former-Waterfront bassist Mani (Gary Mounfield), who played his first gig with the band in November 1987.[39] Brown recalled, "When Mani joined it almost changed overnight. It became a totally different groove ... Straight away, everything just fell into place".[40]
In early 1988 the band played at Dingwalls in London, a show attended by representatives of Zomba and Rough Trade's Geoff Travis, and both subsequently wanted to sign the band, Rough Trade even funding studio time to record a single, "Elephant Stone", with Peter Hook producing.[41] Hook was considered to produce an album for the band but was unavailable due to commitments with New Order, so Travis suggested John Leckie.[42] In May the band played a high-profile concert at Manchester's International II with James organized by Dave Haslam to raise funds for a campaign against Clause 28.[43] The band attempted to usurp James by putting up posters around town listing The Stone Roses as headliners, and delaying their start time to get the headline time themselves and limit the time that James could play for.[44] In the audience was a sixteen year old Liam Gallagher, for whom it was the inspiration to form a band himself.[45] Also in the audience was Glaswegian Roddy McKenna (A+R Music executive Zomba Records), who later signed the band to Zomba Records. He asked if they could be transferred internally to Andrew Lauder's newly-created Guitar based Silvertone Records subsidiary. The band were signed to an eight-album deal, buying the "Elephant Stone" tapes from Rough Trade and releasing them as a single in October 1988.
In 1988 and early 1989 The Stone Roses recorded their debut album at Battery Studios and Konk Studios in London and Rockfield Studios in Wales, produced by Leckie.[7] The first single for Silvertone, "Elephant Stone", made little impact, and in early 1989 the band's performances outside the north-west were still attracting small audiences.[46] "Made of Stone" received more airplay and press attention, but peaked at number ninety on the UK Singles Chart. The Stone Roses was released in April[47][48] / May 1989,[49][50] initially to mostly positive[49] reviews, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 32 in mid-May, the highest position it would reach that year.[51][52] This was followed with the single "She Bangs the Drums", which gave them a top forty UK hit, and a number one on the UK Independent Chart, and by that point they were receiving much greater press attention and were selling out shows across the country.[53][54][55] The band gained widespread notoriety when, one minute into a live 1989 TV performance on the BBC's The Late Show, the power failed, prompting Ian Brown to repeatedly roar "Amateurs!" at Tracey MacLeod.[56] Later in 1989 the band released a double A-side single, "Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For", which reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in November.[57] Originally intended as a B-side, "Fools Gold" quickly became the Roses' most famous song and a performance of it on Top of the Pops cemented their national fame.[58] It gave them their first top ten hit and the album rose to number nineteen in the chart early the following year.
We're the most important group in the world, because we've got the best songs and we haven't even begun to show our potential yet.
The group won four NME Readers poll awards that year; Band of the Year, Best New Band, Single of the Year (for "Fools Gold") and Album of the Year (for their debut album).[60] The Stone Roses is now considered one of the great British albums,[61] although the band themselves were unhappy with the sound on the album, Squire describing it as "twee" and not "fat or hard enough".[62]
The Stone Roses' outdoor concert at Spike Island in Widnes on 27 May 1990 was attended by some 27,000 people. The event, considered a failure at the time due to sound problems and bad organisation, has become legendary over the years as a "Woodstock for the baggy generation".[63] In mid 2010 footage of the concert was published on Youtube. The Roses followed Spike Island with another big event, at Glasgow Green.
By July the band had released their final single for Silvertone, "One Love", which reached number four in the UK singles chart,[57] their highest placing yet. It was to be the Roses' last original release for four years as they entered a protracted legal battle to terminate their five-year contract with Silvertone, unhappy with how they had been paid by the label.[64][65] Silvertone owners Zomba Records took out an injunction against the band in September 1990 to prevent them from recording with any other label, but in May 1991 the court sided with the group, which was then released from its contract. The Stone Roses subsequently signed with Geffen Records (garnering a million-pound advance for their next record) and began work on their second album.[66] However, Silvertone appealed against the ruling, delaying the record for another year.[67]
Following the court case The Stone Roses separated themselves from Manchester's club culture and spent much of 1992 and 1993 travelling in Europe before starting work on their second album in mid-1993. Progess was slow, hampered by Brown's and Squire's new fatherhood and the death of several people close to the band. John Leckie ultimately left the project as the band would not sign a production contract. Afterwards The Stone Roses assumed production duties with engineer Simon Dawson at Rockfield Studios in Wales, where they spent 347 ten-hour days working on the album.[67]
The Stone Roses finally released the album, Second Coming, on 5 December 1994.[1][67] Mostly written by John Squire, the music now had a dark, heavy blues-rock sound. "Love Spreads" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.[57] Second Coming received a mixed reception from the British press, which music journalist Simon Reynolds attributed to "the resentment that the Roses, divorced from the cultural moment that gave them meaning, were now just another band".[67]
When Reni left the band in March 1995 with no real explanation given for his departure, a replacement drummer, Robbie Maddix, who had previously worked with Rebel MC,[68] was found. Also recruited around this time for the live shows was session-keyboardist/programmer Nigel Ippinson, who had previously played with the band on the re-working of "Begging You" for its release as a single. A secret "come-back" tour of the UK was planned for April 1995 but cancelled after the music press announced the dates. A major blow was the cancellation of their engagement at the Glastonbury Festival in June 1995. John Squire had suffered a mountain-biking accident in northern California just weeks before the show, breaking his collarbone.[64] The band finally organised a full UK tour for November and December 1995 and all dates sold out in a day.
John Squire left the band on 1 April 1996, releasing a statement describing his departure as "the inevitable conclusion to the gradual social and musical separation we have undergone in the past few years".[68] Former Simply Red session guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, a former classmate of Pete Garner's at Burnage High School, was recruited. The band persevered for another six months, but in performances at Benicassim Festival and the Reading Festival in August 1996 fans booed and threw objects at the stage and Brown's vocals were described as "so off-key it was excruciating to have to listen".[68] The music press was united in its criticism, the NME describing "I am the Resurrection" as "more like the eternal crucifixion".[69] Brown and Mani dissolved the group in October 1996.[68]
Ian Brown and John Squire have both had successful solo careers since the Roses' breakup. Squire formed The Seahorses, who released one album before breaking up, as well as releasing two solo albums. In 2007 he told a reporter that he was giving up music for good to focus on his career as a painter.[70] Brown has released six solo albums, all but one of which have charted in the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart.[71] A large number of these featured Aziz Ibrahim on guitar.
Neither Mani nor Reni have pursued solo careers. Mani joined Primal Scream as bassist in 1996 and has remained in the band. Reni has remained inactive for the most part since the Roses' breakup. He started a new band called The Rub in 1999, and played several gigs but nothing has been heard of The Rub since. In an interview in 2005 he said he was writing new songs to perform with Mani.[72]
Couzens joined Steve Diggle in Buzzcocks F.O.C. in 1986 and formed The High in 1989. Garner managed a record shop after leaving the band.[38]
The 20th-anniversary edition of the band's début album was released in August 2009, remastered by John Leckie and Ian Brown, including a collectors' box-set edition and the previously unreleased song 'Pearl Bastard'.[73]
Squire and Brown had both repeatedly denied any possibility of a reunion: the pair had not spoken since Squire resigned.[74] Squire, interviewed in May 2007, asserted that if Brown asked he would turn the offer down.[75]
A partial reunion took place on 30 March 2007 at former Smiths' bassist Andy Rourke's charity concert in aid of Manchester Versus Cancer. Ian Brown was joined by Mani and unofficial fifth member Cressa, along with Andy Rourke, Maka Simato and Steve White to perform "I Am the Resurrection". Reni was asked to play drums but declined.
After telling Tim Lovejoy that, if The Specials reformed, he would reunite the Stone Roses, Mani announced that he, Reni and John Squire wanted to reunite for the 20th anniversary of the debut album but that he needed to persuade Ian Brown. A spokesman for Squire stated in January 2009 that Squire "has no plans to return to music".[76]
The UK's Daily Mirror reported on 17 March 2009 that "sources" had confirmed that the band was to reform in 2009 for a 21-date tour. The report was given sufficient credence to be repeated on the New Musical Express's website[77] but John Squire and Ian Brown both denied it.
On 19 March 2009, it was reported that John Squire had created a piece of artwork depicting his less than positive views of the band reforming. The piece read "I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses 18.3.09", which strongly indicated that rumours of the band reforming were highly unlikely. In an interview on the BBC's Newsnight, Squire stated that he thought the reunion of the band would never happen even if Ian Brown and he were on speaking terms as he would refuse, not being interested in reforming the band. He said that he would be dedicating himself to his visual art work and that "music is a young man's game".
On 9 June 2009 Mani stated that the band would reform if they were offered enough money but admitted that he's "very nearly given up" on trying to orchestrate a reunion[78] and two months later told BBC Newsbeat how Ian Brown "isn't up for it at all".[79]
On 7 April 2011, it was reported that the Roses were set to reunite after an "emotional reunion" between Brown and Squire at the funeral of Mani's mother. Mani responded to these rumours with the comment "Two old friends meeting up after 15 years to pay their respects to my mother does not constitute the reformation of The Stone Roses. Please fuck off and leave it alone. It isn't true and isn't happening."[80]
On 26 May 2011, NME reported that, according to Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, a Stone Roses reunion was "definitely on the cards." Ryder said, "I think it'll happen, I really do. There is more of a chance now than ever of them getting back together. Ian's just split with his missus and I bet she's hit him for a few quid."[81] However, John Squire later turned down any notion of a potential reunion, saying, "When it's just a get-together for a big payday and everyone gets their old clothes out, that seems tragic to me".[82]
After the newspaper The Sun published a story on 14 October 2011 citing that the Roses had signed for a series of gigs across the UK,[83] rumours again began to circulate. The NME reported[2] that Alan 'Reni' Wren had responded to these rumours, contacting them with a cryptic message that read: "Not before 9T will I wear the hat 4 the Roses again". Interpreted first as a rebuttal of the rumours, with 9T referring to age 90, this turned out to be a red herring with the cryptic interpretation: "Not before 9 on Tuesday. I will wear the hat. The roses are 4 again." On 17 October, Dynamo told The Sun that Brown had confirmed the reunion by saying that the band were "ready to take the world by storm", and that Brown had sent him a text message with the words "It's happening".[2][84] A press conference scheduled for 18 October was described as "a special press conference for a very important announcement."[85][86] On 18 October 2011, The Stone Roses announced the end of a fifteen year split. The band are scheduled to play an "extensive" world tour starting with three shows at Heaton Park, Manchester, on 29, 30 June, 1 July 2012.[87][88][89] In a press conference interview, the members of the Stone Roses said that a new album is planned.[5] 150,000 tickets for the two shows sold out in 14 minutes, with the band announcing a third show on 1 July 2012.[90] They then announced a show would take place in Ireland, with Ian Brown saying "After Manchester, Ireland is always next on our list".[91][92]
On 2 December 2011 Ian Brown and John Squire performed together live for the first time since 1995.[93] They joined Mick Jones from The Clash, The Farm and Pete Wylie at the Manchester Ritz in aid of the Justice for Hillsborough campaign. They performed on versions of The Clash's 'Bankrobber' and 'Armagideon Time' as well as The Stone Roses' 'Elizabeth My Dear'.[94]
A documentary has been planned for the Stone Roses reunion. Film director Shane Meadows is planned to film it.[95][96][97]
The Stone Roses's influences included garage rock, Mod Revival,[98] Northern soul, punk rock, and artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, The Sex Pistols, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth and The Clash.
The band were part of the Madchester movement, a style of alternative rock that mixed acid house rhythms with guitar pop sounds.
During the band's time in the public eye their relationship with the mass media was vastly different to other self-endorsing bands. They would often display no interest in promoting themselves, and many journalists were confused, and sometimes angered, when their questions were met with complete silence from the four Stone Roses.
A typical example of their approach with dealing with the press is the Spike Island press conference (attended by the world's media) in 1990. This ended in chaos when the gathered journalists began a small riot, believing the band to be deliberately stonewalling them. As John Robb commented, "The Stone Roses would stonewall the journalist[s]. With shy guffaws, muttered asides, dispassionate staring, foot-shuffling silences and complete mind-numbing gaps, punctuated by the odd piece of incisive home-spun philosophy from Brown, who occasionally hinted at a well-read mind. There would be complete silence from John Squire, witty banter from Reni, and Mani spouting off if he let his guard drop."[99] However, Robb clarified they, "were no fools when it came to the media".[99] And that, "One feature of the band's career had been their ability to stay on the news pages of the rock press almost permanently for years on end, including the years when they did fuck all. And they did this by hardly saying anything at all."[99]
Before main lineup:
After main lineup:
|
||||||||||||||||||||