The Groovy Little Numbers were an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

centred on former member of The Boy Hairdressers, and future BMX Bandits and

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

member Joe McAlinden.

History

Formed in the mid-1980s, multi-instrumentalist Joe McAlinden was joined by Catherine Steven (vocals) and

Gerard Love Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared l ...

(bass, vocals), with a brass section from the Motherwell Youth Orchestra comprising Colette Walsh (tenor saxophone), John McRorie (alto sax), Kevin McCarthy (baritone sax), Mairi Cameron (trumpet), and James Wood (trumpet).Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Groovy Little Numbers", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, Lazell, Barry (1997) "The Groovy Little Numbers", in ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, The band only released two EPs during their time together, both on 53rd & 3rd, the first of which, "You Make My Head Explode", reached number 25 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. The band also contributed a track ('Get it Together') to the Honey at the Core (Part 2) compilation cassette. The band split up, with McAlinden joining the BMX Bandits as guitarist in 1991. Love subsequently joined

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...

. McAlinden later formed a new band, Superstar, releasing five albums between 1992 and 2000, and later forming NOM with Sice from

The Boo Radleys The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums, singer/ guitarist Simon "Sice" Ro ...

.Sprague, David
Superstar
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

Discography

EPs

*"You Made My Head Explode" (1988) 53rd & 3rd (UK Indie #25) *"Happy Like Yesterday" (1988) 53rd & 3rd

Albums

*''The 53rd & 3rd Singles'' (1998) Avalanche

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groovy Little Numbers Scottish rock music groups