Is this the most awkward Stone Roses interview ever?
Part of me wonders if the instability of the modern music industry has destroyed the art of ‘The Grumpy Interview’. Being hostile or non-communicative with journalists takes a certain level of confidence. You’ve got to feel sure that your records will sell regardless of what the critics think, which is a big ask in a world where people seem more interested in Finn Wolfhard’s bagel order than the state of contemporary music. As you can see from this painfully awkward interview from 1989, The Stone Roses had confidence coming out of the metaphorical wazoo.
It’s easy to see why. By 1989, The Stone Roses had gone from a little-known Manchester Band to the leaders of the UK’s hottest new musical movement. They’d certainly come on leaps and bounds since the mid-1980s when they’d engaged in an illegal graffiti campaign in a bid to gain publicity. This involved Ian Brown and Alan ‘Reni’ Wren spraypainting the band’s name on every wall from West Didsbury to the city centre. The stunt made them pretty unpopular with the local papers, but as the saying goes: there’s no such thing as bad press.
Around this time, the band began working on some of the material featured on their debut LP, including ‘Sally Cinnamon’, ‘This Is The One’ and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, having soaked up the influence of the house music coming from Manchester’s Hacienda Club. The Roses’ blend of baggy beats, psych-tinged guitar lines and genuinely captivating lyrics made them one of the most popular bands in a city fit to burst with creativity.
By 1989 and the release of their debut album, The Stone Roses were at the epicentre of the newly-coined Madchester scene. People travelled from all over the country to attend their gargantuan show in Blackpool’s packed Empress Ballroom, where they performed to 4,000 fans. That was small fry compared to the 7,000-strong crowd at London’s Alexandra Palace. By then, the group’s performance on Top Of The Pops alongside The Happy Mondays had solidified Manchester as an important cultural focal point.
In this footage, The Stone Roses genuinely look like they think they’re going to be the biggest band on the planet. While the interviewer presses them about their “struggle” – their early singles and sudden success, Ian and John can’t help but look a bit confused. “Are you bitter that journalists are falling over themselves to talk to you?” she asks at one point. “No, not bitter at all,” Ian replies after a long pause. “They’re on our case.”
Check out the full interview below.
