Press
The Stone Roses
1988

Press article on the Stone Roses from M62 magazine, issue no.2, July/Aug 1988.

Ful text reads: MENTION 'THE STONE ROSES' AND BE MET WITH EITHER A CHORUS OF DREARY YAWNS OR AN ENTHUSIASTIC BURST OF PLEASURE. JUST WATCH FOR THE REACTION. FOR IT IS HERE THAT THE BANDS SIGNIFICANCE LIES. THE FACT THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO ATTRACT SUCH A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP, AND HIDDEN SOMEWHERE INSIDE THIS ANECDOTE IS THE ACTUAL RELEVANCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.

NOW THIS MAY SOUND CONFUSING BUT QUESTION ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AND YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT ANYTHING WORTH LIKING OR LOVING OR SIMPLY WRITING HOME ABOUT WILL INEVITABLY BE MET ALSO WITH A DEGREE OF DISAPPROVAL, CRITICISM AND DOWNRIGHT JELOUSY. AS IAN THE VOCALIST SAYS ‘PROGRESSION IS BASED ON HATE’ AND IRONIC AS THIS MAY SOUND, ITS TRUTH LIES FREQUENTLY IN ITS REALITY, IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ANYWAY.

NOW,'THE STONE ROSES' HAVE BEEN AROUND IN MANCHESTER FOR AGES AND ALTHOUGH SUCCESSFUL HAVE ALWAYS MANAGED TO REMAIN ON THE FRINGES OF THE MANCHESTER MUSIC SCENE.ALWAYS THERE BUT AT THE SAME TIME TENDING TO STEER CLEAR OF ALL THE SCAM THAT HAS GONE BEFORE IT. ‘WE DON'T ALINE OURSELVES WITH ANY PARTICULAR CLIQUES THAT HAVE ALREADY EXISTED’, OFFERS IAN IN EXPLANATION.

THEY GAVE US ‘SO YOUNG’ IN ONE HAND AND ‘SALLY CINNAMON’ IN THE OTHER AND LEFT US WITH THE QUESTION OF ITS CREDIBILITY. IS IT HIP ENOUGH? IS IT TRENDY ENOUGH? ARE THEY PRETTY ENOUGH? IN A WORD 'YES' AND WHERE 'SO YOUNG' WAS RAW AND AGGRESSIVE, 'SALLY CINNAMON' WAS ITS BETTER HALF, SWEETER, MELLOW AND TIMELESS.

NOW BOASTING AN EIGHT ALBUM DEAL WITH ‘JIVE’ THE STONE ROSES ARE AS AMBITIOUS AS EVER. THE RECENT CHANGE CAME WITH MANI ON BASE, THE FINAL PIECE OF 'THE ROSES' JIGSAW. THEIR SINGLE 'ELEPHANT STONE' WHICH WAS TO BE RELEASED ON ROUGH TRADE WILL NOW BE RELEASED, SHORTLY ON JIVE,(HENCE THE DELAY) AND WILL FEATURE A BACKWARDS VERSION ON SIDE B. FOLLOWING THIS , ANOTHER SINGLE, 'MADE OF STONE' WILL GO OUT, WITH AN OLDER SONG, 'I WANNA BE ADORED' BACKING IT. THEN THERE WILL BE AN L.P., ALTHOUGH A NAME IS YET UNDECIDED, ‘THE STONE ROSES ARE COMING’ REMAINS A POSSIBILITY, ‘FOR THIS WEEK ANYWAY’ ADDS IAN, EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ON A MAJOR. ‘IT'S 1988, WE'VE GOT TO GET IN THE MIDDLE OF BIG BUSINESS TO SHAKE IT UP, WE WANT TO BECOME HUGE POPSTARS AND SHAKE THINGS UP IN OUR OWN WAY’.

AND WHY DO THEY COME ACROSS IN INTERVIEWS AS REALLY AGGRESSIVE?

OFFERS IAN, ‘AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE HUMAN BEING IS TO HAVE AGGRESSION, YOU SHOULD BE ANGRY AND YOU SHOULD BE AGGRESSIVE", YOU SHOULD SAY WHAT YOU THINK’.

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I ASKED IF PLAYING LIVE IS WHERE THEY'LL WIN PEOPLE OVER. THE WAY THEY GO FOR IT ON STAGE. IAN GOING BERSERK. A REAL EXHIBITIONIST!

‘I JUST DO EVERYTHING TO ENTERTAIN MYSELF’, SAYS IAN. IF PEOPLE SAY, YEAH, IT WAS A GREAT GIG TONIGHT, IT'S BECAUSE THE AUDIENCE HAVE ENTERTAINED ME, SO I HAVE FELT LIKE ENTERTAINING BACK’.

AND WHAT ABOUT SONGS LIKE ‘WATERFALL’ AND ‘THIS IS THE ONE’ I PONDER, ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO RELEASE THESE AS SINGLES? 'YES, BUT WE HAVN'T PLANNED ANY FURTHER AHEAD. WE'LL JUST DO WHAT’S RIGHT AT THE TIME, BUT ‘WATERFALL’ WOULD MAKE A GOOD SINGLE’ ADDS IAN.

THESE ARE DEFINATE CLASSICS, BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND TIMELESS. THE THREE O’CLOCK'S ‘ARRIVE WITHOUT TRAVELLING’ ALBUM SPRINGS TO MIND.

ANYWAY IT SEEMS THAT IT'S FINALLY MOVING FOR 'THE STONE ROSES', WITH A NEW LABEL AND RECORDS ON THE WAY. GIGS FREQUENTLY PACKED AND WITH INTEREST RISING OUTSIDE OF MANCHESTER, THE REACTION IS OPTIMISTIC. CHIPS IN IAN, THE ORIGONAL GARAGE FLOWER, ‘THE ONLY REASON THE STONE ROSES EXIST IS BECAUSE PEOPLE DESERVE US’.

PERHAPS THEY'LL GET THEIR CASTLES IN RIO AFTER ALL.

THEY WILL GO FAR!

DEBI READ