Stone Roses

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The Stone Roses were an English rock band from Manchester that formed in 1984. The Stone Roses 1989 eponymous debut album quickly achieved the status of a classic in the UK, and topped NME's list of the Greatest British Albums of All Time. The Stone Roses released a second album, Second Coming, in 1994 and split in 1996.

The Stone Roses emerged in Manchester during the early 1980s, when vocalist Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire recruited drummer, Reni (real name Alan Wren), bassist Pete Garner, and rhythm guitarist Andy Couzens to complete the original line-up. Brown and Squire were childhood friends who had attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys.

The Stone Roses played their first major gig in their home town, at Manchester University, on 2 October 1985.

The Stone Roses' influences ranged from The Clash and The Sex Pistols to Manchester band Slaughter and the Dogs. Another band that helped shape The Stone Roses unique sound and lyrics was The Jesus and Mary Chain, with Squire stating "It changed the way I thought about writing songs."

The Stone Roses had a dedicated following in Manchester, but were considered unfashionable and somewhat uncouth by the local music scene at the time, which was dominated by Factory Records and Tony Wilson. Publicity shots from around that time feature Squire in a bandanna and Brown wearing leather trousers.

In 1985 The Stone Roses released their first single, the Martin Hannett-produced double A-side "So Young/Tell Me". It was largely unsuccessful and was later disowned by The Stone Roses. At this point Brown had yet to develop his trademark cool delivery and had a shouty, aggressive style, and the rest of The Stone Roses had not yet found the groove that was to characterise their best material.

By the time of their next single, "Sally Cinnamon", The Stone Roses sound had changed considerably. Released in 1987 on FM Revolver records, "Sally Cinnamon" contained chiming guitar hooks and a strong melody, and sounded more like The Byrds than the Sex Pistols. Brown had developed a new, softer singing style and Squire and Reni were becoming more confident and streamlined.

In late 1986 Andy Couzens left The Stone Roses due to differences with manager Gareth Evans, and less than a year later, bassist Pete Garner left The Stone Roses , in August 1987. The Stone Roses then brought in bassist Mani (Gary Mounfield). With the definitive Stone Roses line-up now complete, The Stone Roses became much tighter as musicians, and developed a trademark visual style - baggy clothes and Jackson Pollock shirts, guitars and drums. A single, the psychedelic-tinged "Elephant Stone", followed, along with an album deal with Jive/Zomba offshoot Silvertone Records.

In 1989, The Stone Roses released their debut album, produced by John Leckie. The Stone Roses opened with "I Wanna Be Adored" and closed with "I Am the Resurrection" (or in America "Fools Gold"). Now considered a landmark in English rock, the album was well received by most of the music press.

The singles "Made Of Stone" and "She Bangs The Drums" followed to moderate success. Later that year The Stone Roses  released a double A-side single, "Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For", which charted in the UK at no. 8 in November 1989. Originally intended as a B-side, "Fools Gold" quickly became The Stone Roses most famous song and a performance of it on Top Of The Pops cemented their national fame. It was also The Stone Roses most musically adventurous song yet: nine minutes, 53 seconds in length, it featured a virtuoso wah-wah drenched guitar performance from John Squire over a beat resembling James Brown's "Funky Drummer".

Seemingly coming from nowhere, the Stone Roses appeared to be the right band at the right time. Like their peers Happy Mondays they had an arrogant swagger and streetwise attitude reminiscent of The Rolling Stones in their pomp. The Stone Roses had a broad appeal too: their upbeat, danceable sound and positive outlook had much in common with the blossoming rave scene at the time, yet The Stone Roses also appealed to more traditional indie fans.

Following The Stone Roses success, their former label, FM Revolver, re-released the single "Sally Cinnamon" with an accompanying video. The Stone Roses were incensed by this, particularly what they described as a "third rate" video. The Stone Roses went to Revolver's offices on 30 January 1990 and after an argument with the label's boss, Paul Birch, threw paint over the offices, Birch himself and his girlfriend, and then vandalised two cars outside. They were subsequently arrested and tried, and in October they were found guilty and fined £3,000 each plus costs.

In 1990 The Stone Roses decided to stage a huge outdoor gig at Spike Island in Widnes. The gig took place on 27 May 1990 and was attended by approximately 27,000 people. The event at the time was considered a failure due to sound problems and bad organisation, yet has become legendary over the years - a Woodstock for the baggy generation. The Stone Roses followed Spike Island with another big gig at Glasgow Green, and by July had released their final single for Silvertone, "One Love".

"One Love" reached number 4 in the UK charts, The Stone Roses highest chart placing yet. After its release, things quickly began to unravel. It was to be The Stone Roses last original release for 4 years, as they entered a protracted legal battle to terminate their five year contract with Silvertone. Unable to do this, The Stone Roses were prevented from releasing any musical works as a band for the next four years and The Stone Roses lost the momentum they had built up following their debut album, and disappeared out of public view.


Eventually The Stone Roses wrangled themselves out of their contract with Silvertone and signed a lucrative contract with Geffen Records. In late 1994, a full five years after their debut, the Stone Roses released their follow-up album, Second Coming. Mostly written by John Squire, the music now had a dark, heavy blues-rock sound.

The album was seen as a let-down by much of the music press. However, some felt that songs such as "Ten Storey Love Song", "Begging You" and "Love Spreads" (the latter reaching #2 in the UK charts) showed the Roses could still conjure up their old magic. Second Coming is a mix of 1970s hard rock, folk rock ("Your Star Will Shine", "Tightrope") and techno ("Begging You"), with "Ten Storey Love Song" the closest to Byrds-tinged songs such as "Sally Cinnamon".

During their absence The Stone Roses had left a huge gap in the music scene and they returned to find a new wave of soundalike bands had taken their place. The Britpop scene had arrived and The Stone Roses, along with The Smiths, The Jam, The Kinks and The Beatles, were hailed as founding fathers. The Stone Roses were mostly positive about Oasis (who John Squire joined on stage at Knebworth in 1996 to play "Champagne Supernova") but held most of the scene in contempt, Squire describing it as comprising "Kensington art-wankers".

In March 1995 Reni left The Stone Roses, and this marked the beginning of the end of The Stone Roses. The Stone Roses, which had never been particularly media friendly, gave no real explanation for his departure. A replacement drummer, Robbie Maddix, who had previously worked with Rebel MC, was found, and The Stone Roses soldiered on. Also recruited around this time for the live shows was session-keyboardist/programmer Nigel Ippinson, who had previously played with The Stone Roses on the re-working of "Begging You" for its release as a single.

A secret comeback tour of the UK in April 1995 was planned, but this was cancelled after the music press announced the dates. A major blow to The Stone Roses status was the cancellation of their planned UK comeback performance at the Glastonbury Festival in June 1995. John Squire had suffered a mountain biking accident in Northern California just weeks before the show, breaking his collar bone. The Stone Roses finally booked a full UK tour for November and December 1995 and all dates sold out in a day.

John Squire left The Stone Roses on 1 April 1996, to the anger of the remaining members, particularly Ian Brown, who stated that Squire had locked himself away from other band members and frequently used cocaine. Eventually, former Asia and Simply Red session guitarist Aziz Ibrahim was recruited to fill Squire's shoes. The Stone Roses persevered for another six months before Brown and Mani dissolved The Stone Roses after a disastrous performance at the Reading Festival in August 1996 at which disappointed fans booed and threw objects at the stage.

In 1998 John Robb wrote a best-selling book on the band, The Stone Roses And the Resurrection Of British Pop, detailing The Stone Roses rise and fall and the culture that grew around them.

from Wikipedia licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Ian Brown