Teenage Fanclub: A Short History
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- Опубліковано 19 лют 2021
- The Glasgow indie band Teenage Fanclub signed to Creation Records in 1991, instantly winning hearts with their tuneful and emotional pop songs, which drew on influences such as Big Star and The Byrds. Their most famous records are nineties classics, but their catalogue extends well beyond that decade. In this video I show my collection of Fannies CDs and offer a quick historical snapshot of the band's career to date.
Enjoy!
Suggested Playlist of Teenage Fanclub Songs for the Uninitiated:
Starsign:
• Teenage Fanclub - Star...
Sparky's Dream:
• TEENAGE FANCLUB - Spar...
Winter:
• TEENAGE FANCLUB - Spar...
The Town and the City:
• The Town and the City
Only With You:
• Teenage Fanclub - Only...
While I Still Have Thee:
• Teenage Fanclub - When...
Connected to Life:
• Connected To Life
Huge fan in America, I never understood why they didn’t get as much attention here. Bandwagonesque is a phenomenal album from start to finish!
Agreed! Thanks for watching.
They did for a minute, basically temporarily finding an alternative audience on the coattails of Nirvana and grunge simply due to the distorted guitars being in vogue and being on Geffen
Really can't say enough about how good and hooky these songs were.
Teenage Fanclubs harmonies and jingley guitars led me down a path of discovery to the best 60s and 70s music and artists. To me The Fannies made near perfect pop.
Agree!
Samee
Yep agree. Amazing rock album. Cool flicking rock roll songs here. The best songs I had heard during this time in my life.
Superb overview James. You really deliver these band profiles enjoyably professional. Fanclub deserved a lot more attention in America. I was doing an alternative radio show at Stonehill College in 1991 and 92. I think it was the week after BWesque came out. I closed the show with The Concept and I actually got three phone calls. That was rare. On any given day if you got two phone requests you knew that someone was actually listening. {smile} I was surprised to hear that Gerald left the band. Mega talented. Sending lots of love from snowy New England James. Enjoy your Sunday and hope to see you again soon~
Rob/Boston
As a fellow Scotsman Teenage Fan club have been one of my favourite ever bands. Very underrated. Great video mate 👍
Thank you kindly!
This is great!! Discovered Teenage Fanclub recently and as a huge fan of melodic, hooky guitar songs I can’t believe I hadn’t heard them before, but I’m so thankful that I did!
Great band. Thanks for watching!
Great video mate. I’m telling you though, give A Catholic Education a real listen. Everything about what they became is buried in those songs, and it’s what made Bandwagonesque seem all the more brilliant. They seemed to all of a sudden focus the songwriting, melodies and harmonies to something so sharp. The fact they still close out all live shows with everything flows says it all. Seeing them in those early days in London where they would blow the bands off stage that they were opening for (like the soup dragons!) it was clear they were going to be special.
Cheers Andrew. I have heard A Catholic Education, need to get a copy though.
Catholic education is like the stone roses album in a sense-you don't really tune into it immediately-but it sinks in after a few listens-my favourite of theirs by far
Great video about one of my favourite bands of all time.
My fav British band of the 90's.
Gerard Love was the soul of TF.
Great overview! We share a lot of the same thoughts. Gerard Love's songs are my favorites as well. Surprised you didn't mention "Don't Look Back". It may be my favorite TF song. Anyway, thanks for this!
Love this band... my teenage days biggest love.. & my band back then, from Singapore, used to cover December.
Thanks!
James - a great overview of a great Scottish band. I saw them a good few years ago at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen- it was a great gig. Cheers Bill
Great video, thank you very much! ‚Bandwagonesque‘ is one of my all-time favourite albums. Brilliant to give us this overview, cheers!
Cheers Nick, glad you enjoyed it.
Hi James, wonderful insight on TF mate! There such a special band! Pretty consistent too. It took a couple of albums to climb up the ladder, but when they did, WOW! Some truly fantastic albums! ‘Bandwagonesque’ is my intro to them and got an original copy last year, but ‘Grand Prix’ is definitely my fav of theirs! ‘Going Places’ is my fav track on there, such a beautiful melodic number. ‘Songs From Northern Britain’ is superb too!
I look forward to their brand new album in April, got to pre-order it soon. Take care buddy and you got a fantastic channel.
Cheers Sam. I've tried to stay strong when it comes to picking up the albums on vinyl, trying to stick to my rule that if I own something on CD, that's enough! Glad to hear you're a fan.
Thirteen was hard to get into, agreed. but man after repeated listens it clicked and it is hands down my favorite sing along CD still to this day... The Chords of Fame man!
Great video… totally agree with your view on Gerry leaving the band… hard to believe at first, as i always felt his music was the most soulful & magical. A real shame x
It's a shame about Gerald for sure.
Bandwagonesque is in my all-time top 5. Like all their music but that album is such a great guitar pop collection of songs, and soundtracked my summer of 1992. There's a John Peel ep that includes some rougher versions of some of the tracks
The day I heard Bandwagon and shortly after, Songs from North Britain, I was hooked immediately.
Yeah, they are a very instant kind of band.
Hi James - I’m quite a fan of TF, was thrilled to see you’ve done this! 😎
Cheers Jeff, glad to be of service!
Great video James.
I really liked Teenage Fanclub and bought Bandwagonesque, on the strength of The Concept, but also because my brother and I were huge Big Star fans.( I think Teenage Fanclub regularly covered September Gurls at their gigs) and played a big part in revitalizing their career.
I used to find it odd that the music press couldn't talk about Teenage Fanclub without mentioning Alex Chilton and Big Star in the same breath.I guess it all helped to bolster both their careers.
Don't know why I never bought the follow up or Grand Prix, they just slipped off my radar.
Thanks for this James, you're descriptions have definitely inspired me to check out their back catalogue.
All the best.😉👍
Thanks Rob. You're in for a treat if you haven't heard Grand Prix....it's like discovering a second volume of Bandwagonesque. 'Songs from Northern Britain' is very bit as good as well. I remember getting the first Big Star album after reading all the critics saying that Teenage Fanclub sounded like them, and I could kind of hear it in some of the cadences and vocal arrangements, but not overly so. For some reason I think they are a band which slipped off the radars of a lot of listeners...probably a result of them arriving right at the very start of the nineties, which turned out to be a rather busy musical decade. Not long after Bandwagonesque, the whole Britpop thing exploded...and the rest is history!
Teenage Fanclub = worlds most tragically overlooked, underestimated, and under appreciated band ever . Yet somehow they still come up wae the goods ,still making great records.
Man Made and Shadows are my favorite. Grand Prix, Songs from Northern Britain and Bandwagonesque are great also but just a different vibe. There is just something magical happening in Man Made and Shadows that sets them apart. Kind of like how you describe Gerard Love's song writing. These two albums just carry that vibe throughout. More autumnal and introspective but still so catchy and pleasing. I agree about 13 being a bit disappointing but Radio... this and Sparky's Dream are Gerry's early masterpieces.
TFC our favorite band ever ! Thank you !
You're very welcome Jeff!
spot on history! loved this. love these guys. still sad gerry left.
Agreed - silly reason he left too. Thanks for watching!
This was fantastic James. I've only heard a couple of their records, but this makes me want to hear the later stuff. The Town and The City was the name of Jack Kerouac's first book, but as far as I can tell the TF song has nothing to do with it. Great overview of this bands.
HI Randy, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching. Good info about the Kerouac book, I didn't know that. I've only read 'On the Road', and that was many years ago.
Awesome video. I'm a huge fan of crazy extreme metal, but TF were always a great band to relax to. I scored the vinyl for Bandwagonesque last week.
Glad you enjoyed it! I need to get hold of Bandwagonesque on vinyl.
Nice short history of the band. Totally agree that Bandwagonesque, Grand Prix & Songs From Northern Britain are especially wonderful. Shouldn't make any difference to the listening experience but they always seem such nice, cool, down to earth and humorous guys.
Yeah, that's the impression I've always got as well. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I think you could definitely say Teenage Fanclub are a pop band for pop nuts! Some fantastic music they've written.
Agreed!
Great Video , Really Loved it , You are so right, the song Sometimes I don't believe in anything is a Top 5 All Time Jangle Pop Gem !! Give The band, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart a listen, Great songs , Higher than the stars, Everything with you , Heart in your Heartbreak ,Believe, A teenager in Love, Young adult Fiction, .. Also Band Called Buffalo Tom, songs like Larry, Summer, Mineral, Crutch, Sodajerk, Tree House, Wiser, Sparklers , Cruler .... Just an Amazing Band.. Cheers Sir
Hi Lawrence, thanks for checking out the video, glad you enjoyed it!
Thx James I knew Neil Jung single version And Sparkys dream but just listened to Songs from Northern Britain after hearing this. Wow it’s amazing I’ll buy this ASAP
Cheers Warren...it's comments like yours that make me feel this video-making lark is actually worth doing.
Hey James, Quite interesting and totally new to me. Sounds nice what I heard here at the end, and the one with Jad Fair piques my interest a bit since I like what I've heard of him. As always, enjoy your stories and your relationship to all these. Thanks for sharing. -Carm
Thanks Carm. I think you would genuinely enjoy some of Teenage Fanclub's later work. There is a mellow vibe to a lot of their songs, and the vocals are never too 'in your face' - more wrapped up into the textures of the music. The song 'Connected to Life' from the playlist would be a good example of that. Thanks for dropping in, hope you, the Director and Producer enjoy your Saturday evening!
Words of Wisdom and Hope (TFC with Jad Fair) is a ‘must have’ album. I seen them perform it live on a docked ferry boat in Glasgow, circa 2002, I think. One of the best gigs of my life. Seen countless gigs with them on their own in Glasgow since.
Discovered them as a scruffy teenager when I went to see Nirvana at Reading. Blew my mind along wih the rest of the crowd. Loved them ever since.
Nice one, thanks for watching the video!
Kurt Cobain loved Teenage Fanclub . Kurt was clearly a man with very discerning taste in music.
@@neilmccormick2064 They were the best that day. competing with the man and L7, Mudhoney, Nick Cave.
Hi James I’ve liked teenage fan club since 92. But I’ve never connected with them the way you have I just preferred other bands at the time . Sometimes it amazes me that there’s music fans that have never heard them before . I’ve quite a lot of vinyl records by them and I spin them when I’m in the indie mood songs from northern Britain is my favourite by them it’s in my top 10 albums of the 90s .. cheered James
Cheers Rob. I don't know why I connected with Teenage Fanclub as much as I did...I think sometimes you can fall into following a band almost by accident.
Hi James. Great video, made my weekend! Teenage Fanclub is one of my top bands. Hard to pick a favorite album but most days I’d go with Grand Prix. Sorry to see Gerard Love leave the band, his songs are my favorites as well. Check out his solo project Lightships and Paul Quinn’s band Primary 5. It’ll be interesting to hear what the new album sounds like without Gerry. Cheers! /Matt
Cheers Matt, glad you enjoyed it. I will definitely check out the Love/Quinn record.
Grand Prix for me too
I always preferred Grand Prix to the other albums, it was thr most mature imo, I also always couldn't understand why many more Australian's didn't like the Fannies, it was difficult obtaining records from there iny experience.
Love the band, any song brings sentimental emotions.
Thanks Robert. Think 'Grand Prix is probably my fave.
Loved this. A few comments from a somewhat new fan. The drums on Radio are the best of any of their songs. I initially thought bandwagonesque was the clear best of theirs, but over time, SFNB took over. Finally, I am a bigger fan of Gerard than Norman. I probably go 90/10 on their songs.
I like Teenage Fanclub a lot James. Was aware of them in the nineties. One of my Brothers had the 'Bandwagonesque' album on CD I think? I then heard a track on a free CD I got with a magazine 'What You Do To Me' from aforementioned album which I liked. A bit later on up the track I heard the song 'Radio' on the radio (!!!) no less and liked that one too. Later on in the decade I got a free CD one week with the NME which had 'Mellow Doubt' on it (probably one of my favourites by them). I then bought the best of CD (I forget the title of it) which came out around 2002 (at a guess?) and it's only in the last 10 years or so that I've finally picked up that run of albums from 'Bandwagonesque' to 'Howdy!'. I've not got any of the later stuff but will pick them up if I see them for cheap. I'm surprised that Shannon is not more aware of them as they would be right up her alley so to speak? Thanks for posting this James. Cheers for now.
Cheers Neil, good to hear you like the Fannies. They're a band with a long history and a rich catalogue. Looking forward to the new record, though I wish Gerard was still in the line-up.
Great video 👍
Cheers!
A fantastic band,, saw them live in Belgrade back in 2010. Start Again, one of the best opening tracks ever.
Thanks for the comment. Wish I'd seen them live back in the day.
Pretty much everything you said in the opening applies to me, also...just swap out the location to Toronto, and it came out in my first year...
The Legacy reissues were great.
I have blown many minds by playing Neil Jung at stupidly high volume.
Hi James,
Teenage fan club where also one of my favourite bands from the 90s,I saw them live a few times but remember seeing them supporting Neil Young at Finsbury Park in London also on the bill was Pearl jam,James and 4 non blondes what a day that was,went with my Dad who got pushed into the mosh pit,i think my favourite album has to be Grand Prix.
Cheers Russell. I would have loved to have seen the band live back in the day, heaven only knows why I didn't.
First comment! Always wanted to say that lol. Now I'm not hugely familiar with TF - certainly had no idea they had such a considerable catalogue - I want to say I have at least one early CD by them about but I can't say with certainty which sort of doesn't bode well for having made a lasting impression, may have to have a trawl through the collection and pay more attention next time I see them somewhere. That's quite a democratic approach, having multiple songwriters and trying to give each an equal spotlight. Another in depth spotlight on a band I don't know a great deal about, cheers James!
Congratulations Doug...I always like being the first commenter also but it seldom happens! I tend to answer my comments in reverse order though, so the first person comes in last place. I'm curious now as to which of the band's albums you may have lurking in your collection. I would say their later work falls more into the category of 'grower'-type music rather than something of instant appeal. Cheers!
@@jamesgriffithsmusic Thirteen looks familiar...had a look in the CD bins just now, Teenage Head are there but no Fanclub so they may have fallen prey to a purge...
@@FatCityVinyl If Thirteen was the only one you had, you didn't hear them at their best. It is highly regarded in some quarters, but I always found it rather impenetrable.
Nice retrospective. I picked up most of their albums really cheap over here. They didn't make much of a dent. Have you seen Sam the Vinyl Douche's Teenage Fanclub video? He does a best to worst breakdown.
Hi, no don't think I saw Sam's vid. I'll check it out, thanks.
All I have by the band are Grand Prix and Songs.. which were released together in a slip case. I don't recall why, or where I may have heard them initially as I would probably have just dismissed them at the time as another indie band. But I really enjoyed those two albums, but for some reason never explored their music further. Will have to dig out the CDs and give them a listen. All the best, Pete.
Thanks Pete, glad to hear you'll be given your Fannies a dusting down!
@@jamesgriffithsmusic 🤣😂🤣
I love Teenage Fanclub....seen them several times and, because Norman Blake married a Canadian, he actually lives, maybe an hour away from me, so I've met him and he's such a genuinely nice human being. I started with Bandwagonesque like many, but my actual favourite albums are Grand Prix, Songs From Northern Britain and, believe it or not, Man Made (which I think was just the vibe I needed at that time). Sparky's Dream is one of the greatest power pop songs ever recorded, in my opinion. I'm very curious about the new album. Looking forward to it. ~ Bobby B
Hi Bobby. Wow, very cool living just up the road from Norman. I've never lived near any rock or pop stars I don't think, though my parents had friends who lived near Gerry Marsden back in the day(!) Man Made has grown on me as an album, I like its more relaxed and mellow vibe. Hope you are doing well, speak soon I hope.
Sorry to disappoint but we have him back in Scotland now. I was born and raised in the same small town as Norman (Bellshill). I think he and his wife split up and he lives with his parents at the moment.
@@vaguemartin Yah I just heard about him living back home with this parents. A recent interview in April with Magnet magazine seems to indicate that he and his wife are still married though and they've moved back because their daughter is going to college in Glasgow. They're probably just staying with the parents until the covid situation dies down and then maybe finding a place of their own. What do I know though haha?
@@thevinylvagabond Oh yeah, I’m not saying they won’t get back together or haven’t already. He just hasn’t explicitly said so. And I knew his daughter goes to uni here but I’ve heard him mention the split in a few interviews on the radio and on youtube recently. He also mentioned going for nature walks near where his parents live (in a newspaper interview), so I assume he’s still in Scotland at the moment. My aunt used to work in his parents’ corner shop when I was growing up so I met them many times as well and he would often autograph the new Teenage Fanclub albums for me :)
When TFC Bandwagon came out the press hyped it up to god like levels. I bought the CD and was totally underwhelmed. I could not see what the fuss was about. Blur had my attention, loved that group but I just did not get into them. I need to buy the CDs again and just take time with it. We all hear something different don’t we. I also was Blur over Oasis though I had a lot of CDs from both of them. Totally enjoyed your overview James, well done. Steve
Hi Steve. It's funny, but even though I know I'd started reading the music papers in '92, I can't remember what actually inspired me to buy Bandwagonesque. I don't remember any hype particularly, but it was definitely something new and different for me at the time. I'd certainly never heard Big Star at this point, though later when I did I could hear the resemblance. I found Teenage Fanclub more warmer and more likeable than either Blur or Oasis.
Nice Teenage Fanclub overview! Just discovered your site by way of Listography. I wonder if you have checked out former TF drummer Paul Quinn's band The Primary 5? Quality melodic pop in TF tradition. You might enjoy it. --- Stuart
Hi thanks for dropping in. No, I didn't know about Quinn's band, I will check them out!
@@jamesgriffithsmusic To me "What Am I Supposed to Do" and "I Wonder Why" sound like they could be straight off a Teenage Fanclub album. BTW, I'm really enjoying discovering your posts. Beyond just your knowledge and taste in music, you've come up with terrific ideas on how to go about talking about the music. Congrats!
Hi James. If they are one of your favorite bands, I know that I need to get on the bandwagon. I have known about the band for some time but for some reason I never explored their catalog. I will definitely check out your posted checklist. Thanks for the overview. Cheers. --Randy
Thanks Randy, hope you find something to enjoy in the play-list.
Hiya James, had to circle back, watch again and finally leave a comment on this fantastic video of yours. For all the great band discographies you show, I feel like not many of them are bands you directly 'grew' with in real time. I hope that's fair to say? I identify with that though - there aren't many bands I have stuck the distance with and pick up albums more or less as they are released. I find it very hard to disagree with anything you've said here about the Fannies though. ( I realise that nickname probably isn't used in America for them!)
Bandwagonesque in my top 100, that perfect balance of noise and melody. Great point on Brendan O'Hare's drumming style. In all honesty though, I haven't heard 'Songs From Northern Britain' as a whole, only have their '4766 seconds' best of covering that album and Howdy. And their indie label albums i've honestly only streamed rather than bought. That said I've seen them two or perhaps three times live. One of those bands where every set feels like a greatest hits set.
Glad you point out the three writers and their distinct styles; funny how fans tend to have their own fave songwriter. And overall they have an incredible consistency and quality across their albums. Re: Gerard Love, he was newly absent from the band when I last saw them live. My friend was umm-ing and ahhh-inh on going, knowing Gerard wasn't onboard. I convinced him to; sad to say but my friend was right - the band needed Gerard's voice in there; the band mostly skirted around playing his songs so the set suffered as well. Still good, just not one where I felt empowered enough to yell 'fannies!!' drunkenly after every third song. Thanks again for this, really enjoyed and I hope you opened a few other ears to this minor treasure of a band. Cheers- Dean
Hi Dean, apologies for late reply, I've only just seen your comment. Great that you got to see the Fannies, and it's interesting (though a bit depressing) to hear that they do indeed miss the talents of Gerard. I couldn't remember if I'd seen you talk about Teenage Fanclub (I'll have to revisit your top 100) but I guessed they would be up your street, coming up when they did and with that hazy shimmer to the guitars. I've seen from the comments on this video that one or two people have switched onto the band after watching, so mission accomplished. Cheers.
As I understand it, the band actually recorded ‘the King’ in one or two days as a cheeky way to fulfil their contract with Matador.
Thirteen is a very enjoyable 'lost' album of its era.
I always thought they sounded like the Partridge Family, in a good way!
Good point!
Howdy is one of my favorites
Good album!
Hello! It's funny, when I first heard Bandwagonesque I found the guitars far too loud. I think that goes to show you were I was back then. I thought Teenage Fanclub were really heavy and thrashy! I grew up with folk, jazz and classical music, it would take me years to embrace rock music.
I remember buying the CD single of Mellow Doubt in a shop in Oban. Well they are a Scottish band.
I've only got Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix on vinyl and Songs From Northern Britain on CD. I must see If I can pick up some more, at some point.
Have you got any BMX Bandits? Similar sound and I believe Norman Blake played with them for a time.
Hed
The guitar sound on Bandwagonesque was pretty bracing. Oasis clearly spotted the potential in it. I think it's good that the Fannies gradually phased it out over subsequent albums. I do remember BMX Bandits but I can't recall any of their songs...I have a feeling Graeme once made a video about them? Thanks for watching, Hedley.
Thirteen is underated
I've just put my cassette copy of Thirteen on ebay today. I so much wanted to like them in my indie heydey but they never did click with me unfortunately. I also have Grand Prix on CD in "the vault". I do enjoy these band histories.
we're they really known as the "Fannies"?!
@@metalmogul Yep!
Ironically, TF were pretty much the only nineties indie band I got heavily into. I've got a couple of other nineties band 'biopics' in the pipeline, but of bands from over t'pond.
Fab james a band that passed me by a bit. Got their 2nd lp recently for rsd day probably not the best lp to buy first. Great video.
Hi George. I didn't actually know that second album was available. Check out Bandwagonesque, it's a Scottish power-pop milestone of a record. It was reissued on vinyl a couple of years ago.
@@jamesgriffithsmusic will do james. I should have more of them thanks.
The story about The King isn’t correct. Apparently they still had studio time after finishing Bandwagonesque so they quickly bashed out some loose weirdness and a few covers and used it as a way to try to fulfill their contract with Matador so they could then put Bandwagonesque on Geffen without penalty. Matador declined to release it, but they let Creation release it for a day as a limited edition.
Dark clouds is a Norman Blake song
Great band. My favorite of theirs is Grand Prix most definitely. Bandwagonesque is a little overrated, especially by SPIN Magazine lol
I had a friend who owned a record store where I stopped in to say hello just before Christmas in 1991 and he was playing Bandwagonesque when I walked in his shop. As we talked the CD played through the album which I liked immediately, he pulled it our and started another handing me the CD. The next CD he played was Strange Free World by Kitchens of Distinction which I also ended up getting that day and both have been two of my favorite 90s release since. I've always been surprised by how popular Teenage Fanclub became but Kitchens of Distinction are just a slight blimp in time, I love both bands equally.
Cool story.
You need to give Catholic Education another chance! Every Picture That I Paint, Eternal Light, Don't need a drum, too involved... great songs under all that noise!
You're right Phil, I do need to!
I couldn’t watch beyond the point you said The Concept was an instrumental.
You never made a mistake in your life? Meant to say 'Satan'.
Thirteen is my favorite....The King is a bucket full of noise...nobody needs to hear it.
You mean Screamadelica by Andrew Weatherall because that band were hurtling headfirst into anonymity and oblivion until Weatherall wised them up re acid house . Jesus, Gillespie was havering shite in the NME about " makin a biker album " whatever the hell that means ,clad in leather f'ckin trousers looking like a zombified jim Morrison ffs .
Great comment Neil. I've just been reading Bobby's book actually. It's quite good fun but I know what you mean about him and The Scream.
@jamesgriffithsmusic My apologies for the rant James, but Gillespie has always struck me as a pretty pretentious,shallow type. His music was very derivative, nothing very original about it . What I love about bands like Teenage Fanclub is they have their influences like everyone does, but their sound was very much their own . Bobby was the opposite of that imo .
Million times better than Oasis .
Totally agree!