MOO-VING ON UP
AS THE INSPIRAL CARPETS PREPARE FOR AN EMOTIONAL FIRST TOUR SINCE THE TRAGIC DEATH OF DRUMMER CRAIG GILL IN 2016, THE BAND REVEAL ALL ABOUT THEIR DAYS AS OUTSIDERS IN THE HEDONISTIC MADCHESTER SCENE AND HOW THEY WERE ONCE HELD OFF THE NO.1 SPOT IN THE UK ALBUMS CHART BY THE CARPENTERS
JOHN EARLS
Cool As F**k: Inspiral Carpets back in their 1990s heyday
© Alamy
Although Inspiral Carpets were chart staples throughout the first half of the 90s, they were a band stood to the side of the scenes around them. Their first line-up, on debut album Life, represented a spikier garage rock offering than the baggy groove of their fellow Manchester bands. By the time the Inspirals split after 1994’s fourth album Devil Hopping, they had too much of an edge for the triumphant mood of Britpop.
“We were outsiders,” acknowledges Clint Boon, the cheery keyboard player who made a 60s Farfisa organ the centrepiece of the Inspirals’ headrush sound. “When we started doing gigs supporting Happy Mondays, James and The Stone Roses, I was aware that we were completely different: a psychedelic throwback, with an electric organ as our main instrument. But I appreciated being thrown in with Madchester because, even though we didn’t have any of that scene’s hallmarks, Madchester was colourful and it was our city.”
“When you’re on the outside of it, you can think: ‘Happy Mondays have done this, The Stone Roses have achieved that,’” admits equally affable guitarist Graham Lambert. “But if you’re content with what you’re doing yourself, you can only wish other bands all the best.”
“Britpop was weird for us,” considers Boon. “There was a strong mod element to our sound, a real Britishness. Britpop started off as kitchen-sink dramas, and we’d done that on songs like This Is How It Feels and Joe. We were definitely one of the bands to lay Britpop’s foundations.”
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