The circular story of Teenage Fanclub, or, how to get ahead in the music business.

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Around lunchtime on Saturday the 15th of July 1989, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald and Gerard Love begin unpacking a white van in a wet courtyard in Maryhill in Glasgow. It doesn’t take long; there isn’t much to unpack - one set of drums, three guitars, two vintage amplifiers, a bag of leads and a tuner. After a couple of loud kicks a lock turns, a door gradually opens and ‘Teenage Fanclub’ effectively enter the studio for the first time. At this point they have been together for just over two months, there have been no live performances, five, maybe six, rehearsals, no blood, no sweat, no tears. The songs are written and the money saved, so, what the hell, they’re ready.

Over the course of the next seven days ten tracks are recorded, eight songs and two instrumentals, constituting the bulk of what will eventually become known as A Catholic Education, their debut LP. Throughout the past year, Norman and Raymond had been quietly demo-ing the ideas after the casual break-up of their former group, The Boy Hairdressers (which also briefly featured Francis). By some glorious twist of fate, Raymond’s neighbour leaves him a washing machine and a fridge in her will which he prudently decides to sell; the money is used to help finance this self-produced recording in Pet Sounds studios. A Catholic Education is raw and direct; its songs are melodic and hip.

At the end of the session Norman bags the master DAT and over the coming weeks begins distributing tapes to various friends, colleagues and record labels. One ally in particular, Stephen Pastel, of Glasgow group The Pastels, has contacts in relatively high places and the type of influence that could single-handedly cross the Atlantic.

Somewhat encouraged by the results of the July session and the response to the tape, the group decide that they want to take their relationship further and play some live shows. By chance, The Pastels have a prestigious London date at ULU on the calendar in November and invite the Fanclub along to open the show as special guests. The transition from studio to stage is made more complicated with Francis’s announcement that he needs to concentrate on his studies. Any spare time will be spent making music with his main focus, BMX Bandits. Enter Brendan O’Hare.

With Brendan, full-volume afternoon rehearsals begin in the unlikely setting of Norman’s bedroom in his Grandmother’s house in Bellshill and continue regularly until they feel about ready to exist in public. Throughout the practices Mrs Blake watches championship snooker on the television in between making the lads pots of tea.

After their debut set at ULU with The Pastels and further Scottish dates with Primal Scream, the group realise that time and experience have changed the manner in which some of the songs are played. They decide to revisit the Pet Sounds recordings in a four-day stint at Suite 16 studios in Rochdale, Lancashire. Lack of readies sees them walking 3 miles through Manchester each night to sleep in a friend’s converted attic sauna, which, sadly in December, is never warm.

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As a result of Stephen Pastel’s recommendation, Matador records in New York and Paperhouse records in London are both interested in releasing A Catholic Education. Matador is keen to issue Everybody’s Fool as a 45 in the US, while Dave Barker at Paperhouse earmarks Everything Flows for the debut UK release.

In the meantime the Fanclub take advantage of a growing public awareness by accepting more invitations to play. In the first half of 1990 they open for My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500, Ride and the Soup Dragons, as well as some top-of-the-bill-ma’ performances in the backrooms of a variety of London pubs. Gerard Cosloy at Matador arranges July shows in Boston, Providence and Philadelphia, as well as a showcase at the annual New Music Seminar in New York. Things are looking up. One week before they fly to the US the group pick up a whopping £13 for playing at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town.

Despite sleeping on the wooden floor at Matador’s office, washing in the public toilets and being given a stolen car as transport between cities, the US trip is a blast.

Highlights: watching the tarmac do 80 through a hole in the floor of the dilapidated '71 Oldsmobile Cutlass, playing in the window of an empty bar in Philadelphia with Uncle Tupelo, getting electric shocks at the Freak Show gig in Coney Island (after meeting Kim Rancourt of When People Were Shorter And Lived Near The Water), playing in an Indian restaurant in Cambridge, Mass, recording the God Knows it’s True single with Don Fleming, two gigs at CBGB’s, a trip to the cinema with Kim and Thurston from Sonic Youth, having absolutely nowhere to stay and consistently finding kind and decent people at every show.

Things go well, the word gets around and they return to the UK happy. Before too long the telephone starts ringing. Slowly, interviews are sought, photo sessions requested, agents, managers, record labels and publishers all begin to show interest. A Catholic Education is released to encouraging reviews. The group continue playing live; backing vocals are being experimented with and everyone is openly encouraged to submit ideas for new songs. Dates with Sonic Youth in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow are considered a treat and an honour. The first UK headline tour with Don Fleming’s Gumball kicks off in October in promotion of the God Knows it’s True single. Gumball’s energy, dedication and wit make a big impression. The first trip to Europe follows with some memorable moments: an eccentric double bill with tuneless US doom metallurgists St Vitus in Berlin, wall-to-wall feedback in a toilet-less gas tank in Switzerland (“too loud!”), being stalked by Dee Schneider’s twin in St Gallan, Euro-dancing through Germany, tequila shots on the Reeperbahn, seated baths and free food. The Fanclub’s friend, guru and record company exec Dave Barker is in attendance throughout this entire period. His mantra, “Think Beatles at all times” begins seeping through the collective psyche.

In December they take out a one-year lease on a property in Motherwell, buy some gear, and build a studio. It’s named Spaghetti Studios, because the leads are always tangled up together.

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The Gulf War starts in January 1991. In early February the group are on board an empty jumbo jet heading nervously for New York with the prospect of meetings with all of the US major labels. After much shaking of hands they prefer DGC (Geffen) for the sole reason that Sonic Youth are there, and Sonic Youth don’t make mistakes. Safely back in the UK it’s leaked through the grapevine that Alan McGee is interested in signing them to Creation records. By now Norman, Raymond, Gerard and Brendan are hanging out at Spaghetti almost every day, and in between rehearsing, recording, and concocting new ways to eat Pot Noodle, they begin planning the next LP. With the guarantee of Creation’s finances, Amazon Studios in Kirby, Liverpool is booked for four weeks in April/May and Don Fleming is offered the job as producer. With Don’s encouragement, a brighter, pop sound is pursued. Vocal harmony, double rock guitar solos, violins, drum machine and tape reversals are introduced to the mix and quickly Bandwagonesque is formed. As an antidote to the sweetness they improvise through four reels of tape and simultaneously produce The King, an altogether more twisted affair. All through the session they play ‘bar football’. Moom Rah wins the ‘Golden Boot’.

July sees Star Sign released as the first single, and in August Teenage Fanclub appear at the Reading Festival, crashing out in the campsite. The Concept is the next 45 in October with Bandwagonesque released on both sides of the Atlantic in November.

On the whole, the LP receives good reviews. A Glaswegian editor at Spin magazine in the US hails it as “the greatest album made by white people in ten years” (great Postcard humour!) In the UK, Paul Lester at Melody Maker suggests that it is a note-for-note replication of Radio City by Big Star (Duh!). With a newly acquired status they view the upcoming UK tour with different eyes - it’s time to get the shit together.

Chas Banks had been introduced to the guys by Alan McGee in June, when they opened for The Pixies in Glasgow. He and his wife Shirley are a tour managing couple, he has a tough but distinguished countenance and perfectly fits the bill. Once hired, Chas assembles a touring team around the Fanclub’s existing road duo of Paul and Mark, and, before the word “abso-f****n-lutely” is heard for the first time, they’ve made a great leap forward. The venues are bigger, the audiences noisier, there is laminates, catering, and hotel rooms every night. The first Bandwagonesque UK tour is with Velvet Crush and some nights people sing along.

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What you do to me is released as a single in January 1992, and DGC are keen to fly the group over to the US to capitalise on the media’s reaction to the album. As the label responsible for issuing Nirvana’s phenomenal Nevermind, the company’s executives are able to flex some muscle and broker a deal with the NBC network to have the Fanclub perform on Saturday Night Live at the start of their short tour. The tour itself gives the guys the chance to re-acquaint themselves with old 1990 friends Superchunk and Uncle Tupelo. Grunge-fever grips the world, hair gets longer, and the group return home to embark upon their second UK tour, this time with the West Coast inspirational pop group Redd Kross. The busy year continues with the offer to open for Nirvana in a series of massive European dates and festivals, an amazing experience that gives the Fanclub the opportunity to play in Spain and Scandinavia for the first time and to witness the Nirvana phenomenon at it’s height. An extensive coast to coast tour of the US with The Afghan Whigs follows, and then it’s back to Europe for more festival fun culminating in their second appearance at a rain-soaked, grungy Reading.

After a month’s rest, the guys regroup in October at Ca Va Studios in Glasgow to begin work on what will become Thirteen. The band are adamant they will self-produce and enlist Andy Macpherson as engineer and second opinion. They immediately begin laying down ideas. As the original nine-week session draws to a close, they find themselves in the position of having over thirty backing tracks and no completed songs. Another session is hastily booked for the New Year at Andy’s Revolution Studios in Cheshire.

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The first four months of 1993 are spent finishing the record they started. In general terms the sound is more rock than Bandwagonesque, the musical arrangements and chord structures are a little more ambitious. In the majority of songs two tape machines are used and every band of tape is filled. Bouzouki, mandola, dulcimer, flute, violin, cello and even pedal steel are all featured. Keyboards play a greater part than ever before, as does percussion. Walls of guitar are overdubbed along with layers of backing vocal and harmony which results, inevitably, in an expanded mixing session and numerous recalls. Eventually the LP is completed and compiled. The Atari Sensible Soccer league is sadly wrapped-up; Rasper Tadman is declared top goalscorer.

Radio has been chosen as the first single and is released one week before the group appear at the annual Glastonbury festival in June. In interviews the guys speak frankly about the protracted recording process and their disappointment in not nailing it sooner. This bursts the media’s bubble and Thirteen receives ‘mixed’ reviews on its November release. Hang On is used as a promo single in Europe and Norman 3 is chosen as the next UK 45. The proceeding tour takes them and the impressive Posies on a six week trip through the UK (with Superchunk), around Europe, and then back to the UK (with The Juliana Hatfield 3). Norman, Raymond, and Gerard then fly on to the US the day after the tour to participate in a series of acoustic ‘radio’ shows where, amongst other treats, the trio are handed the impossible task of following an explosive Tony Bennett in San Francisco. As December draws to a close, Brendan joins up with them in Chicago and they appear in the promo video for the song Fallin’, which they recorded with De La Soul at Andy Mac’s earlier that year.

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With January thawing outside, the Fanclub take their seats in First Class for their first trip to Japan and Australia. Japanese fans are every bit as gentle and strange as the group have come to expect. With Australia it’s love at first sight as they take part in the excellent travelling Big Day Out festival. From Sydney they travel on to Los Angeles to begin a coast to coast tour of the US with the fantastic Yo La Tengo.

The promotional period for Thirteen finally comes to an end in March 1994. In the post-album analysis it is accepted that the process involved in making the record was flawed and that a rethink is needed if the group is to make any progress. At this point Brendan is dismissed using the optional ‘musical differences’ card. Within a month Paul Quinn is recruited. Paul had been the drummer with The Soup Dragons and also, briefly, with The Boy Hairdressers; he is a fan of football and a tea-lover.

They set about preparing for the next LP with renewed vigour and determination. The first public test of the versatility of ‘New Fanclub’ comes in the shape of a Peel Session with the eccentric genius Frank Black, an unusual collaboration at first glance but look closer and the roots go all the way back to Glasgow in 1991 and Chas Banks.

Since then, Chas has gradually evolved from Teenage Fanclub’s ‘tour manager’ to ‘on-the-road-group-representative’ to ‘virtual manager’ as their trust and reliance upon him has strengthened. Any attempts through the years to appoint an ‘executive’ manager never really got further than the trial period. The relationship with Chas is informal and undefined and this is as perfect as they could possibly hope for.

After three months of preparation and a handful of live dates, Teenage Fanclub enter The Manor studio in Oxfordshire on September 25th to begin recording Grand Prix. The man given the responsibility of delivering the finished album is David Bianco, chosen by the group due to his stellar work in mixing the superb Frank Black LP Teenager of the Year. The session is more confident and more focussed than Thirteen; the arrangements are tighter and more economic. David encourages the group to play to its strengths and more track space is reserved for harmonies. In general terms, the sounds are more natural than anything they’ve done before: acoustic guitars, grand piano, a string quartet and a brass section are all featured, the simplicity of guitar-through-amplifier is favoured over the use of multi-layering and effects. The aim is total pop.

The record is mixed at Larrabee studios, Hollywood in December.

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In April 1995, Mellow Doubt is released as the first single from Grand Prix and the group kick off their UK tour with Royal Trux in the sleepy university town of St Andrew’s. European dates follow with Creation label-mates 18Wheeler. The LP is released in June and picks up mostly favourable reviews in the British media. ‘Britpop’ grips the nation for weeks and just as some journalists attempt to re-draw the nascent scene’s natural boundaries so as to include The Fanclub, Norman outwits them by growing a full ‘Dubliners’-style beard, and thus seals the group’s fate as perennial outsiders. (The Beard is later scathingly reviewed by disgusted Melody Maker hack, Neil Kulkarni, at a fun gig in Bristol). Sparky’s Dream is issued as the second 45 in May, and a seven-week ‘shed’ tour of the US ensues in July, opening for US label-mates Weezer. August then sees their 3rd appearance at the Reading Festival. In autumn, they enjoy a co-headline amble through Europe with the amiable Buffalo Tom. Neil Jung is the final recording from Grand Prix to be released as a single in November. In December the group return to enthusiastic Japan and excellent Australia. Two-Nil!

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The band open their 1996 account with the perfectly titled Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It; a selection of four gentle DIY acoustic reassessments of previously released favourites, recorded and mixed in Raymond’s living room in Glasgow and Johnny & Duncan’s Riverside Studio, in Clarkston. The EP is the sound of a group calmly turning its back on the competition and opting out of the race. Free and charming, it remains to this day one of their most satisfying recordings.

With a renewed sense of place, the group produce the brilliantly oddball Kickabout for the forthcoming Euro96 Football championship and get excited about football and technology

The offer of two gigs with friend and mentor Alex Chilton, at a week long festival in Glasgow's 13th Note Café, provides a welcome break from the Fanclub's leisurely rehearsal schedule.

In July, they once again enlist the services of David Bianco and, with a similar strategy to Grand Prix, head for the isolated Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey to begin recording Songs from Northern Britain. Although few of the songs have been completed beforehand, they begin laying down backing tracks upon their arrival. The experience of the Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It EP seems to have a tangible influence upon the proceedings; a generally softer sound is arranged using a blend of acoustic guitar and clean electric, linear organ drones, melodica pads and sustained piano, glockenspiel clicks and wall-to-wall harmonies. Pre-set and found sounds from recently acquired synthesisers are also thrown into the mix for good measure and a lush string section glides its way majestically through Planets. All in all, the recording session delivers an altogether richer sound than the ‘economic’ Grand Prix. However, with the Football Championships on the television every day, the completion of lyrics is delayed and the group are forced to use the allotted two-week mixing zone at the end of the session to finish recording the vocals.

In the last few days at Ridge Farm, Chas, who has been at the studio throughout the session, complains about feeling unwell. Once back in Glasgow, the guys receive a telephone call to say that he is in hospital in his hometown of Manchester and is paralysed from the neck down, the result of a viral infection in his spine (a form of poliomyelitis). In the coming months, through a mixture of intensive physiotherapy and good fortune, Chas battles back and regains his health, apart from the use of his legs. He is now in a wheelchair.

In late December after a couple of months off, the group enter Air Studios in London with mixing engineer George Shilling to record two new tracks. Impressed by the results and the seemingly relaxed environment they book some extra time in order to mix Songs from Northern Britain, and then fly home for Christmas.

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Halfway through the January session, the group arrive one morning at Air to find a clutch of photographers excitedly jostling for positions at the studio’s security entrance. Parked within the grounds is a line of empty Rolls Royce and Mercedes. Sitting around in Studio 1 are Oasis. Jose Carreras seems to be having some soup in the canteen while Sir George Martin is shaking hands in the corridor. The guys quickly go upstairs determined to finish mixing this one on time. One evening, Liam Gallagher invites the Fanclub downstairs, declares them to be the “second best band in the world” and then presents his new LP from start to finish, miming enthusiastically to the playback. Chas and Shirley make a welcome appearance on the last night.

In March, Teenage Fanclub sign a worlwide recording deal with Creation, who, as a result of Oasis’ phenomenal success and a subsequent increase in the investment by Sony, are in a glowing state of financial health.

Ain’t that enough is scheduled as the first 45 from Songs from Northern Britain and results in the group’s first Top of the Pops appearance in June. The LP is released two weeks later to warm reviews. As a result of the album’s extensive use of keyboards, the four-piece feel the need to augment their line up to five, and as they begin rehearsals for the upcoming tour period they find their man, Finlay Macdonald. Finlay was in BMX Bandits for several years and has his own group, Speedboat; he is probably the most laid-back man ever to have come from Twechar.

In July the five begin an easy six-week LA to NYC tour opening for the massive Radiohead. While in the US, golf fever unexpectedly grips a section of the Fanclub’s touring party and clubs are swung on every possible day-off. The next single, I Don’t Want Control Of You, is issued in August as the group return from the States to appear at the Phoenix festival. In September they tee off with the magnificent Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Cornershop on a tour around the UK. Start again is the third single from Songs from Northern Britain and is released in November. The group are invited to play some more easy shows with Radiohead in the UK, and then it’s off to mainland Europe. In December they take a long haul flight back to Japan where they take time to visit a couple of multi-storey driving ranges. In Australia they play real golf every day and in every city.

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1998 is the year of football for Teenage Fanclub.

For some reason Songs from Northern Britain is very popular in Norway and has also been well received in Spain. The first half of the year involves trips each month to both of these countries in order to play one-off gigs, festivals or to do television/radio shows. The highlight is undoubtedly August’s Benicassim festival in Spain. The second half of the year is taken up building a new studio, Up A Lane in Finnieston. Most of the time in between is spent playing football, watching football, making tea, drinking tea and talking about stuff: usually football. The group record Long Shot for World Cup98 and have what can now be regarded as a ‘lost year’. In France '98, Spain, like Scotland, fails to get beyond the first round. Norway is knocked out in the second round by Italy (1-0).

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Football, tea and rehearsing is the story of 1999 up until Belle & Sebastian invite the Fanclub to perform at April’s inaugural Bowlie Weekender, and, of course, to participate in the festival’s 5-a-side tournament. After being ejected on a dubious penalty decision in the first round, the group realise that they might actually be better at music and firmly decide to concentrate on making a new record. Whilst rehearsing new songs, an old friend, Jad Fair, arrives in Glasgow and stops by the studio. Within a matter of hours they agree to make a record together and within a matter of days it’s completed. Almost 10 years before, Jad recorded an EP with the Pastels at the Fanclub’s Spaghetti Studios in Motherwell. This time the record is made at Up A Lane and Johnny & Duncan’s Riverside Studio. Jad looks exactly the same.

In July the group play a couple of shows opening for the amazing REM and in August travel to South Wales to begin recording at Kingsley Ward’s Rockfield Studios. Once again the Fanclub decide to dispense with a producer and instead work directly with engineer Nick Brine, who, by sheer coincidence, was part of the Oasis LP session that night in Air Studios. In all previous LPs the recording process has involved one solid block dedicated solely to tracking. This time the plan is to have a series of smaller sessions, with daylight in between, in order to review progress and more importantly, to write lyrics. During one of these ‘windows’, they move from Up A Lane to their all-new studio venture Disco Citizen, located in a stylish grain laboratory overlooking the river Clyde.

Back in Wales, Howdy! slowly takes shape. Predictably, the completion of lyrics holds the process up, but this surprises no one. It would be true to say that the dynamics and arrangements of Howdy! are more ambitious than anything the Fanclub have attempted before; the slow, sustained, atmospheric movements in My Uptight Life juxtaposed with the headlong rush and staccato beats of Near You. The acoustic simplicity of If I Never See You Again clashing with the layered congestion of The Town and the City. From the traditional 4/4 all the way to the asymmetrical patterns of Dumb Dumb Dumb and Straight and Narrow, this is by far the most progressive pop record of their career.

In December, Creation records announce their imminent demise, Alan McGee visits the studio to assure the group that the session fee would be taken care of and that they would be found a home within the Sony network.

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In January 2000 they move to The Astoria studio at Henley-on-Thames to revisit some vocal takes and test-run a few mixes. They return to Rockfield in February to completely mix the LP.

At this point, with a show of the ‘personal differences’ card, Paul decides to leave the group and the Fanclub now find themselves in the position of having no drummer and no record label.

Eventually, Blair McDonald at Columbia (Sony) goes out on a limb and decides to adopt the Fanclub; he pencils in an October release date for I Need Direction, his choice for the first single. In the meantime the group have found a replacement for Paul: Francis Macdonald. Francis has finished his course of study and is now ready to commit to playing live. Having been in Teenage Fanclub over ten years ago, he now plays his first gig with the group in July at a festival in Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain; his second and third are in Japan later that month and his fourth is at Glasgow Green in August.

Howdy! is released to fairly decent reviews and the Fanclub are on the road again around the UK with fellow Glaswegians Suckle in November. Some dates in Spain with formative heroes The Go Betweens take place in December.

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2001 begins with a fifth trip to Japan, this time with Chris ‘Beans’ Geddes from Belle & Sebastian playing keyboards. Finlay has recently taken up a teaching-post at a college music course and, as a result, has limited time-off.

In March, Teenage Fanclub and Chas amicably go their separate ways. By now the group are confident that they can deal directly with the volume of business that comes their way.

In April, the group play a series of dates in London to promote Dumb Dumb Dumb, which is released six weeks later in June. In July, the Fanclub return to the US and Canada to play their first string of headline shows in seven years. In August, they make another appearance at the Reading Festival.

The group enter Parr St Studios in Liverpool in December with Nick Brine to begin recording three new songs for this compilation.

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The three new tracks are completed at Rockfield studios.

Stephen Pastel’s label Geographic releases Words of Wisdom and Hope, the collection of songs that the group recorded with Jad Fair back in 1999, to favourable reviews. In April, Jad and the Fanclub go on the road and have a fine old time.

Blair McDonald loses his job at Columbia in August as the music industry cuts back in financial crisis and turmoil.

Around lunchtime on Sunday the 22nd of September 2002, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, Finlay Macdonald, Francis Macdonald, Raymond McGinley, Brendan O’Hare and Paul Quinn assemble in Raymond’s back garden to take a snapshot for this collection. It is the first time all seven have ever been in the same place at the same time. They have a laugh.

Peter Mason - 22nd September 2002.