Teenage Fanclub

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Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared lead vocals and songwriting duties until Love's departure in 2018. As of 2023, the band's lineup consists of Blake, McGinley, Francis Macdonald (drums, vocals), Dave McGowan (bass, vocals) and Euros Childs (keyboards, vocals).<ref name=TFC>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

In concert the band usually alternate among its songwriters, giving equal playing time to each one's songs. Although often pegged as alternative rock, the group have incorporated a wide variety of elements from various music styles.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">Template:Cite book</ref>

Teenage Fanclub have had a succession of drummers, namely Francis Macdonald, Brendan O'Hare and Paul Quinn. Keyboardist Finlay Macdonald (no relation) has also been a member. As of 2023, the band have released 12 studio albums and two compilation albums.

History

Teenage Fanclub emerged from the Glasgow C86 scene. They formed following the break-up of the Boy Hairdressers, a band featuring Raymond McGinley, Norman Blake and Francis Macdonald.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Following a brief period in which Blake was a member of BMX Bandits, the three former bandmates joined with Gerard Love to form Teenage Fanclub.<ref name=":0" />

Originally a noisy and chaotic band, their first album A Catholic Education, released in 1990 on Paperhouse, is largely atypical of their later sound, with the possible exception of "Everything Flows". Mostly written by Blake and McGinley, the record included several songs originally intended for the Boy Hairdressers.<ref name=":0" /> After recording his drum parts, Macdonald left the band to resume his university studies. They re-recorded several songs with Macdonald's replacement, Brendan O'Hare, because they weren't satisfied with the results of the original recording sessions,<ref name="vice">Template:Cite web</ref> and because they wanted to involve O'Hare in the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The band followed the album with the EP God Knows It's True before being signed by Creation Records. The King, their next album, was a semi-improvised collection recorded in a single day.<ref name=":0" /> Originally intended to be a very limited release,<ref name="vice"/> the record received critical reviews of its self-confessed shambolic guitar thrashes and a cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" />

Their next album, Bandwagonesque, released on Creation Records in the UK and Geffen in the US, brought Teenage Fanclub a measure of commercial success. Bandwagonesque was more deliberately constructed, the hooks became stronger, the guitar riffs were brought under control, and the harmony vocals took shape.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> Bandwagonesque topped Spin magazine's 1991 end-of-year poll for best album,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> beating Nirvana's Nevermind, their Creation stablemates My Bloody Valentine's album Loveless, and R.E.M.'s Out of Time.

The subsequent, Thirteen, received mixed reviews on release. Brendan O'Hare left Teenage Fanclub during this period because of "musical differences", to be replaced by Paul Quinn (formerly of the Soup Dragons).<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

Grand Prix, Teenage Fanclub's fifth album, was both a critical and commercial success in the UK, becoming their first top ten album. In the United States however the band failed to regain the ground that Thirteen had lost them. Around this time Liam Gallagher of labelmates Oasis called the band "the second best band in the world" – second only to Oasis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Songs from Northern Britain followed Grand Prix and built on the former's success. It became their highest-charting release in the UK and contained their biggest hit single to date, "Ain't That Enough".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

The follow-up album, Howdy!, released on Columbia Records in the UK after the demise of Creation, continued the sound of Songs from Northern Britain. Francis Macdonald rejoined as the drummer in place of Quinn, who left the band after recording his parts for Howdy! and before its release due to personal difficulties within the band .<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Quinn went on to form the Primary 5.

In 2002, they released Words of Wisdom and Hope with Jad Fair of Half Japanese.

Their final release on a Sony label, Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub, collected the Fanclub's best songs along with three new songs (one from each member).

Their next album, Man-Made, was released on 2 May 2005, on the band's own PeMa label. Man-Made was recorded in Chicago in 2004, and produced by John McEntire of Tortoise.

In 2006, the band held two special concerts (in London and Glasgow) playing their 1991 album Bandwagonesque in its entirety.

The band began work on their ninth album in August 2008, booking an initial three weeks at Leeders Farm recording studio in Norfolk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album was called Shadows, the first to involve keyboardist Dave McGowan as a full-time member, and was released on the band's own PeMa label. It became available in Europe, Australasia and Japan on 31 May 2010, and was released by Merge Records in North America on 8 June 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2015, Teenage Fanclub supported the Foo Fighters at a concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

Their tenth album, Here, was released on 9 September 2016.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

The story of Teenage Fanclub's early days features in the 2017 documentary Teenage Superstars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2018, the band issued new versions of their five Creation Records era albums which had been remastered at Abbey Road Studios. To celebrate the reissues, the band also announced Songs from Teenage Fanclub: The Creation Records Years, a four-city UK tour during late October to mid-November in which they would play three nights each in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with each night's setlist covering different periods of the Creation-era discography,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and featuring former drummers Brendan O'Hare and Paul Quinn participating, in which both drummers would respectively perform the albums and B-sides they had originally recorded.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="glove">Template:Cite web</ref> These gigs would be Gerard Love's last with the group,<ref name="glove" /> as he separated from the band due to differences in opinion on their future touring plans, later revealed to be a reluctance to fly frequently around the world for live performances.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After Love's departure, Euros Childs joined the band on keyboards and vocals, with Dave McGowan switching over to bass and vocals.<ref name="TFC" /> A new album with this line-up, titled Endless Arcade, was recorded in early and late 2019. It was originally planned for release in October 2020 to coincide with a UK and Europe tour the following November and December.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the tour was rescheduled for April and May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the album's release date would eventually be set for 5 March 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album release date and tour would end up being rescheduled once again, with Endless Arcade coming out on 30 April 2021 and the tour dates postponed to September 2021 and April and May 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 23 May 2023, Teenage Fanclub announced the September release of their twelfth album, Nothing Lasts Forever.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other projects

Norman Blake formed the two-person band Jonny with Euros Childs. In 2012, Blake also formed a Canadian-based supergroup with Joe Pernice and Mike Belitsky called the New Mendicants.

Raymond McGinley joined Dave McGowan's folk group Snowgoose, whose debut album Harmony Springs was released in 2012.

After playing bass on Jonny's 2011 eponymous debut album, Dave McGowan became Belle and Sebastian's touring bassist in 2011, and appeared on their 2015 album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 3 November 2018, he became an official member of the band.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Gerard Love released his solo album Electric Cables in 2012 using the alias Lightships. The album also featured instrumental contributions from Dave McGowan and former Teenage Fanclub drummer Brendan O'Hare.

Francis Macdonald released an album of minimalist classical music, Music for String Quartet, Piano & Celeste, in 2015. Macdonald played piano and celeste, with strings by members of the Scottish Ensemble.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Paul Quinn released three self composed albums: North Pole on his own Bellbeat Music label; Go! on Re-Action Recordings, and High Five.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Quinn released a digital only release of demos before deciding to call time on the Primary 5.

Musical style and legacy

Their sound is reminiscent of Californian bands like the Beach Boys and the Byrds. Teenage Fanclub are influenced by Big Star and Orange Juice. They performed a cover of Orange Juice's "Rip It Up" with Edwyn Collins. In December 2010, at the ATP Bowlie 2 music festival, they performed as the backing band for Edwyn Collins.

Their musical style has been described as alternative rock,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> power pop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> indie rock,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> indie pop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> jangle pop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> noise pop,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> pop-punk,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and grunge (early).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Teenage Fanclub were regularly name-checked in interviews by Kurt Cobain, who described them as "the best band in the world".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band supported Nirvana on tour in the summer of 1992. Juliana Hatfield covered the song "Cells" on her 2012 self-titled album.

In 2017, Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie covered their album Bandwagonesque in its entirety, as a tribute to the band and its successful 1991 release.

Members

Current members

  • Norman Blake – co-lead vocals, guitar (1989–present)
  • Raymond McGinley – co-lead vocals, guitar (1989–present)
  • Francis Macdonald – drums (1989, 2000–present), backing vocals (2000–present)
  • Dave McGowan – keyboards, programming, guitar (2004–2018); bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
  • Euros Childs – keyboards, programming, backing vocals (2019–present)

Former members

  • Gerard Love – co-lead vocals, bass (1989–2018)
  • Brendan O'Hare – drums, backing vocals (1989–1994, 2018 live shows)
  • Paul Quinn – drums (1994–2000, 2018 live shows)
  • Finlay Macdonald – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, bass, programming (1997–2001)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:100 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1989 till:07/05/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = 

 id:LVocals             value:red     legend:Lead vocals
 id:BVocals             value:pink    legend:Backing vocals
 id:Guitars             value:green   legend:Guitar
 id:Bass                value:blue    legend:Bass
 id:Drums               value:orange  legend:Drums
 id:Keyboards           value:purple  legend:Keyboards,_programming
 id:Lines               value:black   legend:Studio albums
 id:bars                value:gray(0.85)

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 BackgroundColors = bars:bars ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1989 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1989

LineData = 

 at:06/11/1990 color:black layer:back 
 at:08/01/1991 color:black layer:back 
 at:11/19/1991 color:black layer:back 
 at:10/04/1993 color:black layer:back 
 at:05/29/1995 color:black layer:back 
 at:07/29/1997 color:black layer:back 
 at:10/01/2000 color:black layer:back 
 at:03/04/2002 color:black layer:back 
 at:05/01/2005 color:black layer:back 
 at:05/31/2010 color:black layer:back 
 at:09/09/2016 color:black layer:back
 at:04/30/2021 color:black layer:back
 at:09/22/2023 color:black layer:back

BarData = 

 bar:Blake text:"Norman Blake"
 bar:McGinley text:"Raymond McGinley"
 bar:Love text:"Gerard Love"
 bar:McDonald text:"Francis Macdonald"
 bar:O'Hare text:"Brendan O'Hare"
 bar:Quinn text:"Paul Quinn"
 bar:FinlayM text:"Finlay Macdonald"
 bar:McGowan text:"Dave McGowan"
 bar:Childs text:"Euros Childs"

PlotData= 

 width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Blake from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitars
 bar:McGinley from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitars
 bar:Love from:01/01/1989 till:11/15/2018 color:Bass
 bar:McDonald from:01/01/1989 till:06/01/1989 color:Drums
 bar:McDonald from:03/29/2000 till:end color:Drums
 bar:McGowan from:01/01/2004 till:11/15/2018 color:Keyboards
 bar:McGowan from:11/15/2018 till:end color:Bass
 bar:O'Hare from:06/01/1989 till:06/01/1994 color:Drums
 bar:O'Hare from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:Drums
 bar:Quinn from:06/02/1994 till:03/28/2000 color:Drums
 bar:Quinn from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:Drums
 bar:FinlayM from:10/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:Keyboards
 bar:FinlayM from:10/01/1997 till:03/28/2000 color:Bass width:5
 bar:Childs from:01/16/2019 till:end color:Keyboards
 
 width:3
 bar:Blake from:01/09/1989 till:end color:LVocals
 bar:McGinley from:01/01/1989 till:end color:LVocals
 bar:Love from:01/01/1989 till:11/15/2018 color:LVocals
 bar:McDonald from:03/29/2000 till:end color:BVocals
 bar:O'Hare from:04/09/1991 till:06/01/1994 color:BVocals
 bar:O'Hare from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:BVocals
 bar:Quinn from:07/01/1996 till:03/28/2000 color:BVocals
 bar:Quinn from:10/25/2018 till:11/15/2018 color:BVocals
 bar:FinlayM from:10/01/1997 till:06/01/2001 color:BVocals
 bar:McGowan from:01/01/2004 till:11/15/2018 color:Guitars
 bar:McGowan from:11/15/2018 till:end color:BVocals
 bar:Childs from:01/16/2019 till:end color:BVocals

 width:7
 bar:FinlayM from:10/01/1997 till:03/28/2000 color:Guitars

</timeline>

Discography

Template:Main Studio albums

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Teenage FanclubTemplate:Authority control

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