The Stone Roses
I BOUGHT IT AT HMV IN EDINBURGH in 1989, I was 23 and it felt like a declaration of independence. Up until then, everything I thought was great - Bowie, the Banshees, the Pixies - had been recommended by older friends. With the Roses I knew I'd followed my own heart. I'd cut out a picture of Ian Brown to keep in my wallet. He was the most beautiful boy-child I'd ever seen.
At the time I was still in (late '80's Edinburgh glam-shammers) Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. I'd recorded the album onto a cassette to play in our Ford Transit, forcing the band to listen to it repeatedly. The cover art really impressed me. It was the last record I bought where I wanted to put the sleeve on my wall. I loved I Wanna Be Adored and She Bangs The Drums - the arrogance of that line which goes, 'The past was yours but the future's mine.' It's pertinent today too, because I'm aware that there are a million people jostling at my back (and) you have to accept that you will eventually be replaced.
True, Ian's not the greatest singer, but he has soul. He sang in a soft, beautiful, almost girlish way, but his attitude was very male. It was great that you could hear his Mancunian accent, too. I saw the Roses as a Northern act of defiance against London - and as a girl in an Edinburgh band, that appealed.
The record ran parallel with the rise of ecstasy and listening to the Roses in that context felt like some kind of movement, a rock band (who) could infiltrate dance culture. I remember a girlfriend and I seeing them in Glasgow just as they were getting big. We got insanely high on it, screaming like teenagers, crying from the minute they came on. That night, we couldn't sleep. We got out of our beds about 4am, still wearing our Roses T-shirts with the lemons on. We played the records and started bouncing up and down on our beds until we were dizzy with excitement. It was sad, but gloriously so.
About a month ago, at The Pepsi Chart Show, I met Ian Brown for the first time. Without thinking I screamed, "Oh, my God ! I love you !" He gave me a kiss and a hug, and I was able to tell him how much he's meant to me.
Every now and again I channel his spirit when I'm singing live. I used to impersonate, and to this day I've seen everybody from Liam Gallagher to Bono ripping off his moves. This LP is still something I'll play at night when I'm getting ramped up to go out. Part of me is way smarter now, but another part is still an idiot with plenty to learn. I'd still bounce on my bed wearing the T-shirt of a band I love."
James McNair
Recorded: June - August 1988 at Battery Studios, London; January 1989 at Rockfield Studios, Wales and Konk Studios, London
Released: April 1989
Chart Peak: UK Number 19, US Number 86
Personnel: Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Gary 'Mani' Mounfield (bass), Alan 'Reni' Wren (drums)
Tracks: I Wanna Be Adored / She Bangs The Drums / Waterfall / Don't Stop / Bye Bye Badman / Elizabeth My Dear / (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister / Made Of Stone / Shoot You Down / This Is The One / I Am The Resurrection
The Roses' generation-defining debut album caught the Manchester band at their peak. In the charts for 48 weeks, it won Mick Jagger's heart, who offered the Roses a support slot on a US Stones tour. They declined, headlining their own gigs in Blackpool and London.
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