How the Madchester mainstays hooked up with a local legend and scored a slot on Top Of The Pops, creating a moment in musical history

by Inspiral Carpets featuring Mark E Smith

IT was an unforgettable moment.

A staggering, swaying Mark E Smith, the enigmatic archbishop of anti-pop, on Top Of The Pops no less, reading from a sheet of paper he pulled out of his pocket mid-song and barking into the mic whenever the fancy struck him. “I Want You” was written and performed by the Inspiral Carpets but the Fall frontman, making his first appearance on Top Of The Pops, upstaged everybody – including fellow performers Morrissey, Elvis Costello and 2 Unlimited – as he terrorised the teatime audience.

Inspiral tribe: Tom Hingleyand ClintBoon in the ’90s

BRIANRASIC/GETTYIMAGES;JIMDYSON/GETTYIMAGES; ANT MULRYAN; IAN ROOK;TOM ROWLAND;PETER PAKVIS/REDFERNS

Masterof mayhem: Mark E Smith,1994

The Inspiral Carpets had initially recorded “I Want You” during sessions for their 1994 album Devil Hopping. It was a pivotal time for the band, who had enjoyed several hits since their breakthrough in the 1988 Madchester scene but needed to maintain momentum in the face of a new wave of British guitar bands – including one led by their former roadie, Noel Gallagher. “I Want You”, written by bassist Martyn Walsh, was identified as a possible hit, and the band perfected it in rehearsal in Manchester before recording the album version at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool. Then the band had the idea of collaborating on the track with Mark E Smith, perhaps for a B-side. Smith was a fan and so agreed, spending an eventful Friday night and Saturday morning in the studio laying down ad-libbed vocals.

While the original “I Want You” featured as the opening track on the album, the Mark E Smith version went out as a single in February 1994, despite the disapproval of Mute, the band’s label. Chaotic and exciting, it broke the Top 20, prompting an appearance on Top Of The Pops. The band had already recorded a video with Smith at Brixton Academy but Top Of The Pops was even wilder, as Smith had a row with Elvis Costello, shouted abuse at the EastEnders cast in the studio bar and then attacked keyboard player Clint Boon with a cigarette before hitting the stage to create an inspired and authentic moment of Manchester-led musical history. The Inspiral Carpets reformed in 2003 and “I Want You” remains part of the setlist, with Mark E Smith’s voice front and centre for three spellbinding minutes. “Nobody else is doing something where Mark’s voice is so prominent in a live setting,” says Boon. “It’s a very special moment. To press that button and hear Mark again is a real privilege.”