The Manchester beat
 

Okay, ya'll hinted you'd start this thread... but I'll do it!

What are your memories/experiences with the Manchester bands of the early 90's (Stone Roses in '89) ?

Stone Roses. Really great stuff. This might sound funny, but the first time I heard them I thought they were the Monkees sifted through 80's sounds. That beat, though... good stuff. Their second album was just average. Finally saw them in concert when it came out and it was nothing worth writing home about.

Inspiral Carpets. The song "Commercial Rain" blew me away. I couldn't get enough of it. Saw 'em in a small club. I put this disc on a few weeks okay and it doesn't sound very fresh anymore.

Happy Mondays. I really only like "Pills 'n Thrills", but even that disc sounds a bit moldy today. At the time, however, it was such a great sound. I remember going to see them in a packed club in Atlanta and I thought the 3rd floor of the concert hall was going to come crashing down due to the jumping crowd. The bit in "24 Hour Party People" where they are shown screwing up their last record is so Spinal Tap. It's a pathetic way to end a band.

Charlatans. At the time I wasn't particularly into these guys, but they might have released some of the better discs... at least music that still sounds pretty good today.

Ya know, I'm not even sure if other bands like the Farm or Soup Dragons were from Manchester, but they had that sound. The Farm had a few nice singles, but the Soup Dragons sucked bigtime.

My first contact was when my older brother bought the Stone Roses' first disc and I was blown away when I listened to it. To this day, that's one of my all time favorite records.

And "Step On" by the Happy Mondays has an excellent groove. I loooove the bassline. When I'm DJing I always try to slip it on just so I can hear it pumped loudly.

As for the Soup Dragons, they had one really good disc, IMO - Lovegod. I still listen to that one periodically.

Another band not mentioned is Northside. I think they only released one album, but their single "Take 5" is a doozy. I remember seeing the video for it late one night on cable and sought it out. I only found it a few years later in the used CD bin at a local record shop (ah, the pre-Internet days when you really had to look).

I've been meaning to make a comp of some quintessential "Madchester" songs. Any ideas of what the best in the genre would be?

I used to read NME cover to cover every week in the mid to late '80's. 'Nuff said about where I found out about 'em. Being a guitar player I was most attracted to Stone Roses, but all those bands were great. Fantastic scene...

DJLinus, I live in Columbus, too. We should get together and talk about your compilation - might be a lot of fun.

My faves would be the Vince Clarke mix of "Wrote For Luck", and "Kinky Afro"... (I think.)

Sorry I hadn't started the thread as I mentioned. I just got the 24 Hour Party People in the mail from NetFlix but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Have any of you seen it?

I was a big Inspiral Carpets fan and I hear the stuff is dated but I still have a soft spot for it.

Where did you see the band atlantamoi? My wife and I were visiting her relatives in NJ and went to see a band that we were friends with called Material Issue. They were playing Asbury Park and the Goo-Goo Dolls opened for them. We saw an ad on the wall saying the Carpets would be there in two weeks. We decided we had to see them or we'd probably never get another chance. So we drove 8 hours back to see them. The show was excellent and we had a great time. After the show we regretted not getting a t-shirt. They had already quit selling them but my wife said she'd get one. So she went up to the drummer who was standing outside the bus and asked him. He said he'd be happy to get her a shirt. He gave it to her and leaned forward like he expected a kiss. She said thanks my husband will be really happy. Poor guy.

As far as the other bands I did like the Soup Dragons too. Their first album sounded like the Buzzcocks. They were from Scotland.

DJLinus: where'd you get that Northside disc? I picked up a copy in a budget bin in Columbus. I believe the store was called Singing Dog or something like that. I remember it was on High Street on a southeast corner. Is the place still there?

The Charlatans aren't from Manchester, rather most are from Wolverhampton and Timmy being from Northwich.

That being said, The Stone Roses are probably one of the most underrated groups in a long time. I never was into the Shaun Ryder/Happy Mondays thing nor the Inspirals. I was more into The La's, Charlatans, Verve, Bluetones, Ride, Oasis, and a bunch of other bands that never really made it big here.

All this while djing hip hop at the local college radio station :)

Dek, yeah, the Charlatans weren't from Manchester, but were definitely influenced by that sound.

Buford T, I saw Inspiral Carpets here in Atlanta in a smallish club. I remember being very excited about it since I was really into their sound. I think it was '91. I saw the La's around the same time. A lot of bands I like seem to come and go rather abruptly!