Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar),

Raymond McGinley 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 ...

(vocals, lead guitar) 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 share ...

(vocals, bass), all of whom shared lead vocals and songwriting duties until Love's departure in 2018. As of 2019, the band's lineup consists of Blake, McGinley, Francis Macdonald (drums, vocals), Dave McGowan (bass, vocals) and

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan C ...

(keyboards, vocals). In concert, the band usually alternate among its songwriters, giving equal playing time to each one's songs. Although often pegged as alternative rock, the group have incorporated a wide variety of elements from various music styles in their songs. Teenage Fanclub have had a succession of drummers, namely Francis Macdonald, Brendan O'Hare and Paul Quinn. Keyboardist Finlay Macdonald (no relation) has also been a member. As of April 2021, the band have released eleven studio albums and two compilation albums.

History

Teenage Fanclub emerged from the Glasgow

C86 ''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine '' NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music g ...

scene. They formed in Bellshill in 1989 following the break-up of The Boy Hairdressers, a band featuring Raymond McGinley, Norman Blake, and Francis Macdonald. Following a brief period in which Blake was a member of BMX Bandits, the three former bandmates joined with Gerard Love to form Teenage Fanclub. Originally a noisy and chaotic band, their first album '' A Catholic Education'', released in 1990 on Paperhouse, is largely atypical of their later sound, with the possible exception of ''Everything Flows''. Mostly written by Blake and McGinley, the record included several songs originally intended for The Boy Hairdressers. After recording his drum parts, Macdonald left the band to resume his university studies. They re-recorded several songs with Macdonald's replacement, Brendan O'Hare, because they weren't satisfied with the results of the original recording sessions, and because they wanted to involve O'Hare in the album. The band followed the album with the EP ''God Knows It's True'' before being signed by

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

. '' The King'', their next album, was a semi-improvised collection recorded in a single day. Originally intended to be a very limited release, the record received critical reviews of its self-confessed shambolic guitar thrashes and a cover of Madonna's " Like a Virgin". Their next album, ''

Bandwagonesque ''Bandwagonesque'' is the third album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in November 1991 on Creation Records. The album gave the band substantial US success when the single "Star Sign" reached number four on the ''Billboa ...

'', released on

in the UK and Geffen in the US, brought Teenage Fanclub a measure of commercial success. ''Bandwagonesque'' was more deliberately constructed, the hooks became stronger, the guitar riffs were brought under control, and the harmony vocals took shape. ''Bandwagonesque'' topped '' Spin'' magazine's 1991 end-of-year poll for best album, beating

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

's ''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, '' ...

'', their Creation stablemates My Bloody Valentine's album '' Loveless'', and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

's '' Out of Time''. The subsequent, ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'', received mixed reviews on release. Brendan O'Hare left Teenage Fanclub during this period because of "musical differences", to be replaced by Paul Quinn (formerly of the

Soup Dragons Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ...

). '' Grand Prix'', Teenage Fanclub's fifth album, was both a critical and commercial success in the UK, becoming their first top ten album. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

however the band failed to regain the ground that ''Thirteen'' had lost them. Around this time

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...

of labelmates Oasis called the band "the second best band in the world" – second only to Oasis. '' Songs from Northern Britain'' followed ''Grand Prix'' and built on the former's success. It became their highest-charting release in the UK and contained their biggest hit single to date, "Ain't That Enough". The follow-up album, '' Howdy!'', released on Columbia Records in the UK after the demise of Creation, continued the sound of ''Songs from Northern Britain''. Francis Macdonald rejoined as the drummer in place of Quinn, who left the band after recording his parts for ''Howdy!'' and before its release in order to focus on his family. Quinn went on to form The Primary 5. In 2002, they released '' Words of Wisdom and Hope'' with

Jad Fair Jad Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the lo-f ...

Half Japanese Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair around 1975, sometime after the family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playi ...

. Their final release on a

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

label, '' Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub'', collected the Fanclub's best songs along with three new songs (one from each member). Their next album, ''

Man-Made Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity. Connotations Artificiality ...

'', was released on 2 May 2005, on the band's own ''PeMa'' label. ''Man-Made'' was recorded in Chicago in 2004, and produced by John McEntire of

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

. In 2006, the band held two special concerts (in London and Glasgow) playing their 1991 album ''

'' in its entirety. The band began work on their ninth album in August 2008, booking an initial three weeks at Leeders Farm recording studio in Norfolk. The album was called ''

Shadows A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

'', the first to involve keyboardist Dave McGowan as a full-time member, and was released on the band's own ''PeMa'' label. It became available in Europe, Australasia and Japan on 31 May 2010, and was released by

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

in North America on 8 June 2010. In May 2015, Teenage Fanclub played support for the Foo Fighters at their

Old Trafford Cricket Ground Old Trafford is a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club and has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864. From 2013 onwards it has been known a ...

gig. Their tenth album, ''

Here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

'', was released on 9 September 2016. The story of Teenage Fanclub's early days features in the 2017 documentary '' Teenage Superstars''. In August 2018 the band issued new versions of their five

era albums which had been remastered at Abbey Road Studios. To celebrate the reissues, the band also announced Songs from Teenage Fanclub: The Creation Records Years, a four-city UK tour during late October to mid-November in which they would play three nights each in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with each night's setlist covering different periods of the Creation-era discography, and featuring former drummers Brendan O'Hare and Paul Quinn participating, in which both drummers would respectively perform the albums and B-sides they had originally recorded. These gigs would be Gerard Love's last with the group, as he separated from the band due to differences in opinion on their future touring plans, later revealed to be a reluctance to fly frequently around the world for live performances. After Love's departure,

joined the band on keyboards and vocals, with Dave McGowan switching over to bass and vocals. A new album with this line-up, titled '' Endless Arcade'', was recorded in early and late 2019. It was originally planned for release in October 2020 to coincide with a UK and Europe tour the following November and December. However, the tour was rescheduled for April and May 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, and the album's release date would eventually be set for 5 March 2021. The album release date and tour would end up being rescheduled once again, with ''Endless Arcade'' coming out on 30 April 2021 and the tour dates postponed to September 2021 and April and May 2022.

Other projects

Norman Blake formed the two-person band

Jonny Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name * ...

with

. In 2012, Blake also formed a Canadian-based supergroup with Joe Pernice and Mike Belitsky called The New Mendicants. Raymond McGinley joined Dave McGowan's folk group Snowgoose, whose debut album ''Harmony Springs'' was released in 2012. After playing bass on Jonny's 2011 eponymous debut album, Dave McGowan became Belle and Sebastian's touring bassist in 2011, and appeared on their 2015 album '' Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance''. On 3 November 2018, he became an official member of the band. Gerard Love released his own solo album ''Electric Cables'' in 2012 using the alias Lightships. The album also featured instrumental contributions from Dave McGowan and former Teenage Fanclub drummer Brendan O'Hare. Francis Macdonald released an album of minimalist classical music, ''Music for String Quartet, Piano & Celeste'', in 2015. Macdonald played piano and celeste, with strings by members of the Scottish Ensemble.

Musical style and legacy

Their sound is reminiscent of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

n bands like

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

and

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, and their seventies counterparts Big Star. Teenage Fanclub are influenced by

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a ne ...

and

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as vari ...

. They performed a cover of Orange Juice's " Rip It Up" with

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...

. In December 2010, at the ATP Bowlie 2 music festival, they performed as the backing band for Edwyn Collins. Their musical style has been described as

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and c ...

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

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 su ...

jangle pop Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock or college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The term originated from Bob Dylan's song " Mr. Tambourine Man", whose 1965 rendition by the Byrds became considered one of the g ...

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoega ...

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

, and grunge (early). Teenage Fanclub were regularly name-checked in interviews by Kurt Cobain, who described them as "the best band in the world". The band would support Nirvana on tour in the summer of 1992.

Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. She also fronted her own band, The Juliana Hatfield Three, ...

covered the song "Cells" on her 2012 self-titled album.

Members

Current members

*Norman Blake – vocals, guitar (1989–present) *Raymond McGinley – vocals, guitar (1989–present) *Francis Macdonald – drums, vocals (1989, 2000–present) *Dave McGowan – keyboards, programming, guitar (2004–2018); bass, vocals (2019–present) *Euros Childs – keyboards, programming, vocals (2019–present)

Former members

*Gerard Love – vocals, bass (1989–2018) *Brendan O'Hare – drums, vocals (1989–1994, 2018 live shows) *Paul Quinn – drums (1994–2000, 2018 live shows) *Finlay Macdonald – keyboards, guitar, vocals, bass, programming (1997–2001)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1989 till:05/01/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:LVocals value:red legend:Lead Vocals id:BVocals value:pink legend:Backing Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Lines value:black legend:Studio albums id:bars value:gray(0.85) Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom BackgroundColors = bars:bars ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1989 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1989 LineData = at:06/11/1990 color:black layer:back at:08/01/1991 color:black layer:back at:11/19/1991 color:black layer:back at:10/04/1993 color:black layer:back at:05/29/1995 color:black layer:back at:07/29/1997 color:black layer:back at:10/01/2000 color:black layer:back at:03/04/2002 color:black layer:back at:05/01/2005 color:black layer:back at:05/31/2010 color:black layer:back at:09/09/2016 color:black layer:back at:04/30/2021 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Blake text:"Norman Blake" bar:McGinley text:"Raymond McGinley" bar:Love text:"Gerard Love" bar:McDonald text:"Francis Macdonald" bar:O'Hare text:"Brendan O'Hare" bar:Quinn text:"Paul Quinn" bar:FinlayM text:"Finlay Macdonald" bar:McGowan text:"Dave McGowan" bar:Childs text:"Euros Childs" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Blake from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitars bar:McGinley from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitars bar:Love from:01/01/1989 till:11/15/2018 color:Bass bar:McDonald from:01/01/1989 till:06/01/1989 color:Drums bar:McDonald from:03/29/2000 till:end color:Drums bar:McGowan from:01/01/2004 till:11/15/2018 color:Keyboards bar:McGowan from:11/15/2018 till:end color:Bass bar:O'Hare from:06/01/1989 till:06/01/1994 color:Drums bar:O'Hare from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:Drums bar:Quinn from:06/02/1994 till:03/28/2000 color:Drums bar:Quinn from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:Drums bar:FinlayM from:06/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:Keyboards bar:FinlayM from:06/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:Bass width:5 bar:Childs from:01/16/2019 till:end color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Blake from:01/09/1989 till:end color:LVocals bar:McGinley from:01/01/1989 till:end color:LVocals bar:Love from:01/01/1989 till:11/15/2018 color:LVocals bar:McDonald from:03/29/2000 till:end color:BVocals bar:O'Hare from:04/09/1991 till:06/01/1994 color:BVocals bar:O'Hare from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:BVocals bar:Quinn from:07/01/1996 till:03/28/2000 color:BVocals bar:Quinn from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:BVocals bar:FinlayM from:06/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:BVocals bar:McGowan from:01/01/2004 till:end color:BVocals bar:Childs from:01/16/2019 till:end color:BVocals width:7 bar:FinlayM from:06/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:Guitars bar:McGowan from:01/01/2004 till:11/15/2018 color:Guitars

Discography

Studio albums *'' A Catholic Education'' (1990) *'' The King'' (1991) *''

'' (1991) *''

'' (1993) *'' Grand Prix'' (1995) *'' Songs from Northern Britain'' (1997) *'' Howdy!'' (2000) *'' Words of Wisdom and Hope'' (2002) [with

] *''

'' (2005) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2016) *'' Endless Arcade'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1989 Scottish rock music groups Scottish alternative rock groups Scottish power pop groups Scottish indie rock groups British indie pop groups Jangle pop groups Noise pop musical groups Creation Records artists Matador Records artists Merge Records artists