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Few spectators to the British music scene would deny that the Stone Roses have been one of the most important and influential guitar bands of the last twenty years. They arrived at the centre of the "Madchester" explosion of the late 80's, alongside the likes of the Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and the Charlatans. Between them this wave of emerging talent captured the moment and the hearts of the British youth, and revitalised an industry grown stale. It was the Stone Roses who were to leave the biggest imprint. As important as their ability to write wonderful pop/rock songs was their effortless cool and unshakeable self-belief - often mistaken for arrogance at first, when asked a stupid question The Roses simply wouldn't bother answering. Despite producing only a limited amount of material during their 12 year history they became one of the most well loved and sorely missed groups of recent times. Ian Brown (20 February 1963) and John Squire (24 November 1962) met aged four in a local sandpit, however this was to be the first of many encounters since they lived on opposite sides of the street from one another on Sylvan Ave, Timperley. When John began to learn playing guitar the logical step of forming a band presented itself and he formed The Patrol with a group of other budding musicians in the area during the autumn of 1979. John encouraged Ian to come along to their rehearsals and he soon found himself playing bass in the band with Simon Wolstencroft (19 January 1963) on drums and Andy Couzens (15 July 1965) on vocals. They were never that serious, although they did play six youth-club gigs and record a two track demo. This band did not last long and after the Patrol fell apart the others took little interest in playing music for a long time. After a while the Waterfront was formed with Ian and John in central with a changing line-up including Pete Garner, Andy Couzens and Gary Mounfield. The Waterfront recorded a demo, but in late 1983 the band split. Upon leaving school both found themselves in jobs they didn't want (Ian washing dishes in a hotel and John working as a clay modeler for local animation company Cosgrove-Hall) and this led to their adoption of the band as a serious escape from the 9 to 5 drudgery of life in suburban Manchester. In the early months of 1984 Ian and Andy were talking about forming a band before they asked John Squire to join them. The band with Ian Brown now on vocals, John Squire and Andy Couzens on guitars, Pete Garner on bass and Simon Wolstencroft on drums. The original idea was to include art and wild sounds with attractive melodies. In February 1984 they chose the name the “Stone Roses”, because it reflected this contradiction. Once settled after recruiting Alan "Reni" Wren (10 April 1964) to replace Simon in August 1984, they played their first gig (an anti-heroin benefit staged by Pete Townshend) at The Moonlight in Hampstead, north London on 23 October 1984. Their notoriety grew when central Manchester woke one morning around this time to find 'The Stone Roses' spray painted over every available surface. The band have always denied responsibility but would never say who really did it. Ian, a self-confessed 'drifter', set off on a hitch-hiking trip around Europe. This was to benefit the band massively since it not only provided songwriting inspiration, but it also gave them their first real gigs after a few illegal after-hours warehouse parties in Manchester. A Swedish concert promoter Andreas Linkaard Ian had met during a holiday trip in Berlin had promised him a string of small gigs at some clubs in Sweden. They stayed in Sweden for a month and completed this low key series of gigs. Heading back to the UK with much needed confidence and experience, a platform which they used to gain a one single deal with Manchester's Thin Line indie label (formed by their first manager, Howard Jones, also the original manager of the Hacienda club in Manchester). The band entered Strawberry Studios in August 1985 with producer Martin Hannet and started working on an album of material. They aborted their recording sessions and did not release any further material from these sessions. In September 1985 they put out their poorly received (both critically and commercially) 12-inch debut single, the riff-heavy pairing "So Young". Shortly afterwards rhythm guitarist Andy Cousins left (going on to form The High). Having taken a sabbatical the band, now consisting of Ian, John, Pete and Reni, under the guidance of manager Gareth Evans - local businessman and owner of the Manchester International clubs - secured a one off deal with Black, a new imprint of indie label Revolver which led to the recording and release of the 1987 single "Sally Cinnamon". The single made minor ripples in the Manchester scene at the time and attracted the attention of a number of record labels including London Records and Jive Records subsidiary, Silvertone. Meanwhile, local bass player Gary "Mani" Mounfield (10 November 1962) who had previously played some jam sessions with the band, joined the band as replacement for the ousted Pete Garner and the “classic” Roses line-up was cemented. Silvertone Records won the bidding war, signing the band to an eight album deal and hastily arranging initial recording sessions, with New Order bass player Peter Hook in charge of production duties. The band's first choice of producer, John Leckie, was invited to remix the band's Peter Hook produced recording of "Elephant Stone" and the result became the band's first A-side for Silvertone. The single's release in October 1988 had a considerable impact on the local scene and heralded the band's arrival, but failed to repeat the success nationally. The sleeve for this and all their future releases featured artwork by John Squire, which soon became another unique Roses characteristic. The band embarks on first national tour in November 1988, which features spontaneous onstage dancing by former Happy Mondays roadie, Cressa. The release of "The Stone Roses" was met with fanatical praise from every quarter of the music media; it was seen as a new direction in contemporary guitar music - soaring highs, sweeping choruses and beautiful melodies. The album enters the UK chart, initially peaking at #32, but re-charting repeatedly as the band’s popularity grows - it later reaches #19 and saw the band emerge from cult status to gain the ubiquitous "next big thing" tag. They make the UK singles chart for the first time with "She Bangs The Drums". Despite the now-deafening buzz about the band in the media, it reaches only #36. It propelled the band even further and gave them the clout needed to abandon the standard touring circuit and instead stage 'events'. The first of these was their August the 12th appearance at the Empress Ballroom in popular English seaside resort Blackpool. More than 4000 fans made their way to what was to become one of the band's most celebrated gigs. Ian Brown declared “Manchester in the area” to the faithful, a blistering set of classics followed and the gig became the stuff of legend. The follow up trip to London's Alexandra Palace was pulled off with much less aplomb. The band had used the services of a friend as sound engineer, however he did not have experience with gigs of this size and consequently the PA was woefully inadequate and many fans were disappointed. Next came "Fools Gold", arguably the biggest moment in Stone Roses history, earning them legend status and the “future of rock'n'roll” tag from fans and journalists alike. It made the crossover from indie guitar pop to dance music in almost ten minutes of wah-wah laden grooves. It debuts at #13 and peaks a week later at #8 in a 14-week run in the Top 75 and the Roses were officially the most exciting band on the planet. Their debut album "The Stone Roses" enters the US Billboard 200 chart in January, climbing to #86 in a respectable 26-week run. On 30 January 1990 the Stone Roses were so incensed by FM Revolver re-releasing their 1987 single "Sally Cinnamon", and making a video for it without their participation or approval, that they carried out a “grudge attack” on FM Revolver's owner Paul Birch. The group poured paint over cars in the car park breaking the back window of one of them and causing damage to the offices with over £20,000 of damage. This resulted in a court appearance in March where the band were fined £3000 each. In May 1990 they enjoyed their most famous live event with more than 30,000 people cramming in to see them at Spike Island, Widnes. The Stone Roses play Glasgow Green in June, and it turns out to be their last gig in the UK for 5 years. A few months later they cancelled several venues in The States, with lead singer Ian Brown declaring “America doesn’t deserve us yet.” Thoughts shifted towards sessions for a second LP, the first fruits of which were the single "One Love", another drawn out track leaning back on rockier influences enters the chart at #4. Work finally began on what would become The Stone Roses "Second Coming", but the resulting court cases prevented the Stone Roses from focusing on their music for several years. Though the band themselves were fairly relaxed with the recording John Leckie was unsettled and quit, to be replaced by "Fools Gold"-producer Paul Schroeder, who himself quit six months later leaving engineer Simon Dawson to take over and finish the recording. Painstaking sessions with a series of producers finally saw the immodestly titled "Second Coming". It was announced in an exclusive interview given to The Big Issue, the UK magazine dedicated to helping the homeless, much to the chagrin of a slavering British music press. Comeback single "Love Spreads" was released in November 1994, surrounded by tight security to prevent it being reviewed or even played on the radio too soon. The song showed a shift in their influences, traces of Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page showing through in its thick, bluesy riffs. It entered the charts at number 2. "Second Coming" hit the shops in December debuting on the chart at #4 and received mixed greetings. Its change in sound and direction were best described later by Vox magazine as "from The Byrds to Led Zeppelin in one bound." Many of the fans who had waited so long were well pleased, but the press were outwardly disappointed and gave it only lukewarm reviews. Promotional gigs seemed less natural and relaxed than had previously been the case. In February “Second Coming” debuts in the US at #47 but never climbs higher, spending a total of 13 weeks in the Top 200 and the band embarked on a US radio tour to whip up enthusiasm for their new record. "Ten Storey Love Song" is released as second single, reaching #11 in the U.K. On March 22, the band announced that they would play the Liverpool State Ballroom on April 6, their first UK date for five years. Five more gigs were scheduled in mid-April, followed by a tour of Europe and Japan. Eight days later, the whole thing was cancelled again. This time because the details of the dates had been published in the music press. The only hope on the horizon lay in their scheduled appearance as the headline act for that year’s Glastonburry Festival. Their U.K. was postponed for a month, because John Squire had gone down with a vicious bout of pneumonia. News was also spreading of unrest within the band which was hotly denied until drummer Reni quit in March 1995. Reni’s reasons remained vague, there were rumours of his discontent that John Squire and Ian Brown earned more than Mani and himself, but also rumours about drug problems as well as musical differences. He was replaced within weeks of its release by Robbie Maddix, who had previously played with Manchester rapper Rebel MC. Their world tour kicked of in Scandinavia and they expanded to a 5-piece by the addition of Nigel Ipinson, who had contributed to their reworking of Love Spreads, recorded for the charity "Help" album. After John Squire breaks his collarbone in a biking accident in Marin County, California, on a day off after their 11-day US tour, they pull out of the scheduled appearance at the 25th anniversary Glastonbury Festival. The band had to concede that they would have to cancel their upcoming tour in Japan as well. With John Squire fully recovered after two months, they made a triumphant appearance in August at the Feile Festival in Cork. The band played Pilton Festival by way of an apology to Michael Eavis for dropping out of Glastonbury. In September Go! Discs' two-CD charity album “Help” released and it includes a live-in-the-studio version of Love Spreads, John Squire designs some of the album cover art and then a “Christmas card” to benefit the recipient charity, War Child. "Begging You" released as another single from Second Coming, sporting a remix by Carl Cox, charting at #15. After more rehearsal time, the band embarked on their much-delayed three-week tour of Japan where they were received rapturously and played well. They regained enough spirit to suggest that their re-vamped line-up might had a future after all, and they followed their succeses in the Far East with a brief Australian tour. In November a 19-date UK tour begins in Bridlington. Despite the five-year gap, the mixed reviews for "Second Coming", the cancelled gigs and the loss of one of their original members, interest in the band remained high, and all 53,000 tickets for the tour sold out within 24 hours. At Leeds Town And Country Club, Liverpool’s Royal Court, Manchester’s Apollo, Wembley Arena and Brixton Academy, the band gave one of the finest performances of their lives. In March 1996 their touring commitments ended and John Squire announced he was leaving, and his carefully worded official statement read: “It is with great regret that I feel compelled to announce my decision to leave. I believe all concerned will benefit from a parting of the ways at this point and I see this as the inevitable conclusion to the gradual social and musical separation we have undergone in the past few years. I wish them every success and hope they go on to greater things”. In their own statement, the remaining Stone Roses say: “We feel as cheated as everyone else who's heard the news. We are in the middle of recording the next LP. We're disgusted, yet feel strong and more optimistic than ever.” The Stone Roses seemed determined to deny that this was the end, and after a brief search recruited Manchester session man Aziz Ibrahim (19 March 1964) to replace John Squire. He had just enough time to practice with the band before their headlining show at the Reading festival in the summer of 1996. Aziz Ibrahim performed admirably, but reviews slated the overall performance. A final split seemed inevitable and in 29 October 1996 Ian Brown announced that the Stone Roses had parted for good in his statement: “Having spent the last ten years in the filthiest business in the universe it's a pleasure to announce the end of the Stone Roses. May god bless all who gave us their love and supported us throughout this time, special thanks to the people of Manchester who sent us on our way. Peace be upon you.” Where are they now?John Squire was quick to announce that he would continue working and started a new band, The Seahorses. His new band picked up where the last Stone Roses record left off, leaning toward traditional rock rather than the dance-influenced pop of the Stone Roses' heyday. In 1996, less than a year after the Stone Roses called it quits, Squire formed the Seahorses which, (Squire spent a lot of time denying any significance in “The Seahorses” being an anagram of “He hates Roses”) along with vocalist/guitarist Chris Helme, bassist Stuart Fletcher, and drummer Andy Watts. The Seahorses spent roughly 30 days in early 1997 recording “Do It Yourself” at North Hollywood's Royaltone studios with the legendary producer Tony Visconti. The album was received mixed reviews. After a world tour, including several dates with Oasis, the band hit the studio to record their second album, only to see Watts leave the group. He was quickly replaced, but after only one album, the group disbanded in February 1999 due to creative differences between Squire and Helme. An album's worth of material had been recorded, but never surfaced. A bootleg of this cd is now circulating on the internet as a bootleg. Helme continued to record as a solo artist, while Squire has just announced he’ll be releasing his debut solo album,“Times Changes Everything” on September 16th 2002. On these recordings, John for the first time takes centre stage as vocalist. He chose Glasgow to make his long awaited return on 11th of November 2002 to the live scene. He is to tour the U.K. and the Far East in January and February 2003. In February 2004 his new album Marshall's House is to be released combined with a small club-tour and an art-exhibition at the ICA... Mani joined Primal Scream as their bassist on 29 October 1996 and made his appearances on 2 songs of the 1997’s “Vanishing Point”. Mani’s bass lines also helped propel 2000's “XTRMNTR”, proving that, even with 15-plus years of performing behind him, he still had the ability to help create ultimately modern and important music. Primal Scream’s latest album “Evil Heat” has just been released. Now and then Mani appears as a support DJ for the tribute band “The Complete Stone Roses”. Mani has said on a few occasions he would like one last gig "to close the book" with the Stone Roses… Reni locked himself away from the spotlight and started to write songs. In the Autumn of 1999 he brought in Tom Evans to engineer and not wanting to be a one man band. Tom was recruited as bass player, and later that year, Reni was introduced to drummer Mik Grant. In the Spring of 2000 Tom was finding himself increasing drawn more to the engineering side of music and decided it was better to go then rather than later when the band would be working full on. May 2000 saw the arrival of Casey Fletcher, a singer/guitarist who was brought in to play rhythm guitar and for those all important harmonies. Spending a few months auditioning various people, Ian Nesmith (Nelly) auditioned in January 2001. Next move was gigging, and on the 13th March 2001 Bar Cuba hosted The Rub’s first gig, a warm-up for the tour which took them to Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield. Unfortunately, musical differences between Ian and the band were starting to show, and he promptly left after the Sheffield gig. They eventually decided to stay as a 3 piece. The Rub are currently writing new songs and are rehearsing full-time… Ian suffered a setback when in Manchester Airport he was charged with a public order offence following an incident on a flight from Paris on 13 February. He was given a 4 month custodial sentence following his conviction in October but was released in December. With a court case hanging over him, Brown released the follow-up singles "Corpses" (number 14, April 1998) and "Can't See Me" (number 21, June 1998) while “Unfinished Monkey Business” now hits gold in the UK. Upon his release, Ian appeared with guest vocals on U.N.K.L.E's single "Be There" which hits #8 in the UK. First results of new material appear with the release of the single "Love Like A Fountain", which charts at #23 in the UK in October 1999 Second solo album "Golden Greats", recorded at Metropolis Studios in London, is released in November 1999, with contributions by Ibrahim, Mathura, Arif Cousins of Chapter And Verse and ex-Fall drummer Simon Wolstencroft, a pre-Stone Roses collaborator. The album charts at #14, crashing to #52 in its second week and then disappearing. "Dolphins Were Monkeys" released as new single from Golden Greats in February, featuring Brown's version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" as an extra track. The single charts at #5, and sports a video shot in Mexico with director Juan Martin. The single's success gives something of a boost to Golden Greats, which is now certified silver, and returns to the lower reaches of the chart for four weeks, reaching #53 on February 26. "Golden Gaze" becomes the third single from Golden Greats in June, but spends only two weeks in the UK Top 75 after debuting at #29. In 2001, Ian was again back in the studios recording his new album "Music Of The Spheres" with it’s succesfull singles “F.E.A.R.” and “Whispers". "Remixes Of The Spheres" was released the same day as the "Very Best Of The Stone Roses" on 4th November 2002... |