Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt were friends from their school days, and formed Inspiral Carpets in 1983, originally as a garage-rock and punk-inspired band. Manchester drummer Chris Goodwin and bassist Tony Welsh helped the band record a demo and play live in and around the Oldham area, but due to Goodwin's commitments the band recruited 14-year-old drummer Craig Gill in 1986. Welsh also had other music commitments and departed later that year, leaving the group to muddle through with a succession of bass players (Rick Garage, Mark Hughes, Scott Carey) before Dave Swift joined on bass, and organist Clint Boon was recruited, with this new line-up releasing two albums of demos in the 1980s, 'Waiting For Ours' and 'Songs Of Shallow Intensity', which including songs that would later be re-recorded for their official albums. Inspiral Carpets were a major part of the Madchaetser scene of the late 90's, alongside The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, and their first released recording was their song 'Garage Full Of Flowers', which was on a flexi-disc that was given away free with Manchester's Debris magazine in 1987. Their first proper release, the 'Cow' cassette, followed later that year, and in 1988 the 'Planecrash' EP on the Playtime label was their first vinyl release, receiving much airplay from DJ John Peel, who asked the band to record a session for his show. As the band's popularity grew, Playtime's distributor Red Rhino Records went bankrupt, leading Inspiral Carpets to form their own label, Cow Records, in March 1989. The label's first release was the 'Trainsurfing' EP, including the 16-minute 'Plane Crash', but with half of the first album written, Holt and Swift departed and formed the Rainkings. The band recruited Too Much Texas singer Tom Hingley and Martyn "Bungle" Walsh of The Next Step to replace them, with Walsh being the band's 13th bass player.
After a handful of singles and EPs on their own label, with 'Move' nearly reaching the UK top 40, the band signed a deal with Mute Records, and soon gained their first top-40 chart success in the UK with 'This Is How It Feels'. Their debut album 'Life' was released in 1990, to critical and commercial approval, and reached number 2 in the UK albums chart. The following year's 'The Beast Inside', however, was less well received by critics, but still achieved a top-5 album chart ranking. The 'Caravan' and 'Please Be Cruel' singles only reached No. 30 and No. 50 respectively, and an attempt to crack the American market largely failed, although the band did gain a strong following in Portugal, Germany and Argentina. Their third album 'Revenge Of The Goldfish' became their most successful record, only peaking at number 17 in the UK, but spawning four UK hit singles. The next album, 1994's 'Devil Hopping', performed better, reaching number 10 in the album chart, and 'Saturn 5' and 'I Want You' were both top-20 hits. However, the next single 'Uniform' stalled at No. 51 and in 1995, after the release of a singles collection, the band were dropped by Mute and split up soon afterwards. Hingley formed a new band, the Lovers, along with Jerry Kelly of the Lotus Eaters, while Boon formed the Clint Boon Experience, releasing a string of singles on the Artful label. Gill also formed a new band, Hustler, who eventually changed their name to Proud Mary and signed to Noel Gallagher's Big Brother label some years later, while Walsh moved into production. Inspiral Carpets reunited in 2003, playing to sell-out crowds on tour and releasing 'Come Back Tomorrow', a song recorded in 1995, as a single.
They gigged sporadically after that, with tours in 2007 and 2008, but in February 2011 it was revealed that Tom Hingley was no longer part of the group, with the circumstances of his departure being shrouded in mystery, and original singer Stephen Holt was brought back into the band. They recorded 'You're So Good For Me'/'Head For The Sun' as a 7" single for Record Store Day 2012, with the disc being sold and deleted on the same day, and for Record Store Day 2014 they re-released 'Dung 4' on vinyl and CD, which was previously a cassette-only collection of demos from 1987, and the tape of which remains a prized addition to my collection. In October 2014, they released an eponymous record on Cherry Red Records, being their first album in 20 years, and including a track featuring punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Inspiral Carpets are an important band in the whole Madchester scene, and released many non-album tracks over their career, which is pretty much split into two halves, with their first decade being the much more prolific, but with their re-union years also providing some excellent hidden gems. There are so many rarities from the group that this post is a four-disc set, but it's all well worth hearing, so dive in and enjoy some great music. And one piece of pub trivia that is often mentioned regarding the band is that two of their roadies enjoyed musical success themselves, with van driver Mark Collins joining the Charlatans in 1991, and drum technician Noel Gallagher later joining his brother's band Rain, and turning it into Oasis.
Track listing
Disc I - 1987-1989
01 Garage Full Of Flowers (split single with Metro-Trinity 1987)
02 Keep The Circle Around (from the 'Plane Crash' EP 1988)
03 Theme From Cow (from the 'Plane Crash' EP 1988)
04 Seeds Of Doubt (from the 'Plane Crash' EP 1988)
05 96 Tears (from the 'Plane Crash' EP 1988)
06 Joe (single 1989)
07 Commercial Mix (b-side of 'Joe')
08 Commercial Rain (b-side of 'Joe')
09 Butterfly (from the 'Trainsurfing' EP 1988)
10 Causeway (from the 'Trainsurfing' EP 1988)
11 You Can't Take The Truth (from the 'Trainsurfing' EP 1988)
12 Greek Wedding Song (from the 'Trainsurfing' EP 1988)
13 Find Out Why (single 1989)
14 So Far (b-side of 'Find Out Why')
15 Plane Crash (b-side of 'Find Out Why')
Disc II - 1989-1991
01 Out Of Time (b-side of 'Move' 1989)
02 Move In (b-side of 'Move' 1989)
03 Tune For A Family (b-side of 'This Is How It Feels' 1990)
04 Biggest Mountain (from the 'Island Head' EP 1990)
05 Gold Top (from the 'Island Head' EP 1990)
06 Weakness (from the 'Island Head' EP 1990)
07 I'll Keep It In Mind (from the 'Island Head' EP 1990)
08 Gimme Shelter (from the 'Peel Sessions' EP 1991)
09 Skidoo (b-side of 'Caravan' 1991)
10 St. Kilda (b-side of 'Please Be Cruel' 1991)
11 The Wind Is Calling Your Name (b-side of 'Please Be Cruel' 1991)
Disc III - 1992-1994
01 I Know I'm Losing You (b-side of 'Dragging Me Down' 1992)
02 Boomerang (b-side of 'Two Worlds Collide' 1992)
03 Generations (single 1992)
04 Lost In Space Again (b-side of 'Generations')
05 Tainted Love (b-side of 'Bitches Brew' 1992)
06 How It Should Be (single 1993)
07 It's Only A Paper Moon (b-side of 'How It Should Be')
08 I'm Alive (b-side of 'How It Should Be')
09 We Can Do Everything (b-side of 'I Want You' 1994)
10 Inside Of You (b-side of 'I Want You' 1994)
Disc IV - 1995-2015
01 Paranoid (b-side of 'Uniform' 1994)
02 Well Of Seven Heads (b-side of 'Saturn 5' 1994)
03 Two Cows (b-side of 'Saturn 5' 1994)
04 Going Down (b-side of 'Saturn 5' 1994)
05 Whiskey (b-side of 'Joe (acoustic)' 1995)
06 Come Back Tomorrow (single 2003)
07 Misbeliever (b-side of 'Come Back Tomorrow')
08 Breath To Sorrow (b-side of 'Come Back Tomorrow')
09 Head For The Sun (b-side of 'You're So Good For Me' 2012)
10 Fix Your Smile (single 2013)
11 Save Me (b-side of 'Fix Your Smile')
12 Controller (b-side of 'Spirfire' 2014)
13 It's A Good Job Baby (b-side of 'Let You Down' 2015)
