The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses were one of the most influential bands to come out of Britain during the late 1980s and early '90s. Along with the Happy Mondays, they comprised the core of the Madchester Baggy scene, centered around Manchester, England, though purists would argue that "Madchester" happened around The Stone Roses without them being an active part of it. Certainly, they weren't a Factory Records band. Ian Brown hated the term "Madchester" and took offence with interviewers who referred to them as such.

Formed during the early-1980s from the remnants of a local Manchester band called 'The Patrol' among other early names. The line-up featured Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Gary Mounfield - "Mani" (bass), and Alan Wren - "Reni" (drums). Early members such as Andy Couzens and Pete Garner had a great influence on them, but aren't regarded as members of the band. They are considered to be one of the founders of the Britpop music genre (see Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead). Indeed, Liam Gallagher got his desire to be a rock star after he seeing a Stone Roses performance as part of the anti-Clause 28 concert at Manchester's International Two venue (May 30, 1988) and had been blown over by Ian's stage presence. Although Ian was a technically poor singer, he was a natural showman and held the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout. His style has also been mirrored in the likes of The Charlatans' frontman Tim Burgess and, in their early days, Blur's Damon Albarn.

They released a self-titled album in 1989 after five singles, "So Young/Tell Me", "Sally Cinnamon" (both with different labels) and the Silvertone singles "Elephant Stone", "Made Of Stone" and "She Bangs The Drums" followed to moderate success. Their double A side single originally titled 'What the World is Waiting For' but more famous for Fools Gold on the flip side charted in the UK at no. 8 in November 1989 - at the time a true rarity for an "indie" record, and is still regarded as a classic of the genre. A flood of re-issued singles followed during the next few years, as well as an extended legal battle with their record label, Silvertone (They were Silvertone's first signing, the label was created to get the "new rock beat" by Jive/Zomba, a profoundly dance and R&B label). The band failed to consult a specialist lawyer and so signed a contract which was a "restraint of trade", grossly favourable to Silvertone, and therefore illegal. They played several legendary live shows, including the 'Ally Pally' gig at North London's Alexandra Palace on November 25, 1989, and one on Spike Island in the middle of the River Mersey, surrounded by chemical plants, May 27, 1990.

Eventually they wrangled themselves out of their contract with Silvertone and signed a large contract with Geffen Records. In early 1995, the Stone Roses released their long-awaited follow-up album, Second Coming. The music was heavily influenced by John Squire's guitar, with a heavy rock sound reminiscent at times of Led Zeppelin. In the five year gap since The Stone Roses, expectations were high, and the album was seen as a let-down by much of the music press.

During the recording of Second Coming, their character showed if their music did not. During one session, they required a sample of breaking glass. Rather than throw a brick through the nearest studio window (which would have been quite acceptable), they brought along a pane of glass, a brick and a dustpan with brush.

The band began to dismantle with the departure of Reni, who was followed on 1 April 1996 by John Squire. The band persevered for another year before Ian Brown and Mani dissolved the group after a disastrous performance at the Reading Music Festival at which disappointed fans booed the band, and threw things at the stage.

John Squire formed the Seahorses, who released one album before breaking up. In 2002 Squire released his first solo album, Time Changes Everything and followed this up with 2004's Marshall's House. Mani joined indie-dance act Primal Scream as bassist. Ian Brown has released four solo albums to some success, and has regularly entertained crowds at some of Britain's biggest music festivals. Reni started a new band called The Rub in 1999, and played several gigs, the Manchester University concert the most notable as the band, including former Rose Pete Garner, was introduced by Mani. Nothing has been heard of The Rub since that tour, although in early 2004 John Squire claimed that Reni had recorded an "interesting" solo album.

In August 2004, Ian Brown surprised fans in Belfast and Surrey by playing sets consisting mainly of old Stone Roses numbers from the 1989-90 set. Brown followed this up by performing a mixture of Roses numbers and his own material on his UK tour later in the year. At his return gig in Manchester, not only did he perform seven Roses tracks, including "Waterfall", "I Wanna Be Adored" and "She Bangs The Drums," but was joined on stage for a bow by Mani, bringing the two former Roses members on stage together for the first time in over 8 years. Brown was also joined by Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher to perform the single they wrote together, "Keep What Ya Got," and DJ James Lavelle, whose group UNKLE released "Reign" featuring both Brown and Mani later in the year, reaching number 40 in the UK singles charts.

Personnel

Classic Line-up (November 1987 - March 1995)

• Ian Brown, lead vocals
• John Squire, guitar and backing vocals
• Mani (Gary Mounfield), bass
• Reni (Alan Wren), percussion, backing vocals

Other members

• Andy Couzens, guitarist. Left band in July 1986.
• Pete Garner, bass. (February 1984 to August 1987)
• Cressa, (Steve Cressa) unoffical 5th member of band and live guitar effects technician (1989-1990)
• Robbie Maddix, percussion. He replaced Reni in April 1995
• Nigel Ippison, keyboards. Performed keyboards with the band during the latter stages of the Second Coming tour from July 1995 onwards.
• Aziz Ibrahim, guitar. He replaced John Squire in April 1996.

Discography

Albums

• The Stone Roses (1989)
• Second Coming (1994)

Compilations

• Turns Into Stone (1992)
• The Complete Stone Roses (1995)
• Garage Flower (1996)
• Remixes (1996)
• The Very Best of The Stone Roses (2002)

Singles

• So Young (September 1985)
• Sally Cinammon (May 1987)
• Elephant Stone (October 1988)
• Made Of Stone (Feburary 1989)
• She Bangs The Drums (July 1989)
• Fools Gold/What The World Is Waiting For (November 1989)
• One Love (July 1990)
• I Wanna Be Adored (September 1991)
• Waterfall (January 1992)
• I Am The Resurrection (April 1992)
• Love Spreads (November 1994)
• Ten Storey Love Song (Feburary 1995)
• Begging You (November 1995)

Plaudits

The debut album has consistently performed well in critics' best album lists, eg:

• In 2003, the music magazine NME voted their debut album the #1 greatest album of all time, ahead of Pixies and The Beach Boys. [1] (http://www.rocklist.net/nmes_100_best_albums.htm)
• In June 2004, the British newspaper The Observer listed their debut album as the #1 best British album of all time (beating The Beatles and The Rolling Stones) after compiling the views of 100 newspaper staff and musicians. [2] (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,13887,1240034,00.html)