alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band formed in
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 to the southwest, Viewpark to the w ...
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 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 (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
This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise more specifi ...
in their songs.
Teenage Fanclub have had a succession of drummers, namely Francis Macdonald,
Brendan O'Hare
Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai.
Career
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 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
Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai.
Career
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 In the British English-speaking world, The King refers to:
* Charles III (born 1948), King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms since 2022
As a nickname
* Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer and pop icon, nicknamed "T ...
'', 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'', released on
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 ...
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 lamp Richard 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, ' ...
Loveless
Loveless may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Loveless'' (film), a 2017 Russian film
* ''The Loveless'', a 1982 film starring Willem Dafoe
* Dr. Loveless, a character in ''The Wild Wild West'' TV series and film adaptation
Literature
* ''Love ...
'', and R.E.M.'s '' Out of Time''.
The subsequent, '' Thirteen'', 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 ing ...
).
''
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
'', 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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
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 start ...
of labelmates
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentSongs 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
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
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
''Words of Wisdom and Hope'' is an album produced in collaboration between Glasgow, Scotland's Teenage Fanclub and Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair. It was released on 4 March 2002 on Domino's subsidiary label Geographic in Europe and on Alterna ...
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 professional ...
label, ''
Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub
''Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds - A Short Cut To Teenage Fanclub'' is a greatest hits album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 27 January 2003. The title refers to the album's total length, just ...
'', 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 nature, naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artific ...
'', 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
John McEntire (born April 9, 1970 in Portland, Oregon) is an American recording engineer, producer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist, based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of both Tortoise and the Sea and Cake.
McEntire started playing dr ...
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 ot ...
.
In 2006, the band held two special concerts (in London and Glasgow) playing their 1991 album '' Bandwagonesque'' 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'', 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 in North America on 8 June 2010.
In May 2015, Teenage Fanclub played support for the
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the Foo Fighters (album), epony ...
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 as ...
gig.
Their tenth album, '' Here'', was released on 9 September 2016.
The story of Teenage Fanclub's early days features in the 2017 documentary ''
Teenage Superstars
''Teenage Superstars'' is a 2017 film about the Glasgow independent music scene between 1982 and 1992, focusing on the bands that emerged from in and around the city at this point including The Pastels, BMX Bandits, The Soup Dragons, Teenage Fanc ...
''.
In August 2018 the band issued new versions of their five
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 ...
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, Euros Childs 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 identified ...
, 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 with Euros Childs. In 2012, Blake also formed a Canadian-based supergroup with Joe Pernice and
Mike Belitsky
Mike Belitsky is a Canadian musician. He has played drums for a number of bands, including Jellyfishbabies, Jale, Neko Case, and Pernice Brothers, and later The Sadies.
Early life
Belitsky was born in Toronto, Ontario. He attended Concordia Univ ...
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
Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...
'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 ...
n bands like
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
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 con ...
, and their seventies counterparts Big Star. Teenage Fanclub are influenced by Big Star 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 var ...
. They performed a cover of Orange Juice's " Rip It Up" with Edwyn Collins. 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
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
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 ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, 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 mu ...
,
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 ...
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 pu ...
, 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 covered the song "Cells" on her 2012 self-titled album.
The King In the British English-speaking world, The King refers to:
* Charles III (born 1948), King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms since 2022
As a nickname
* Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer and pop icon, nicknamed "T ...
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
Words of Wisdom and Hope
''Words of Wisdom and Hope'' is an album produced in collaboration between Glasgow, Scotland's Teenage Fanclub and Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair. It was released on 4 March 2002 on Domino's subsidiary label Geographic in Europe and on Alterna ...
Man-Made
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring nature, naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artific ...