Twistin My Melon, Man...

Playlist by Rich Pickings - 16th January 2008

It was over almost before it began, for most of it’s brief existence a movement with no name, it rolled down from provincial towns and back to backs, co-opting millions of to be dazed and confused with it's mercurial perspective rooted in live for the moment hedonism. Co-existing peacefully with metropolitan acid house and similarly fuelled by MDMA consumption, it’s patina was less rigid and insistent, inspired by sixties psychedelia and gritty seventies porn-funk. It made Manchester famous, but there dozens of other bands formed, spawned and split under the edifice of the "baggy" scene, never making it as far as Snub TV and dying from either lack of exposure or in the case of some lack of talent. Ripped apart in an instant by Kurt Cobain’s pretty/ junkie eyes, it was something of a mercy killing as in reality even the progenitors had been in a chaotic and disorderly creative retreat since Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches had defined an era. But for now, in the words of the not so famous Northside, Shall We Take A Trip?

Eskimos & Eygpt - G N R Lies (Unbelievable Compilation LP, 1991)

Dissing Axl Rose for his misogynistic turn on the Spaghetti Incident, rock/rave was born.

The Impossibles - Delphis (Single, 1991)

And from the other end of the scale, a pedestrian 303 piano motif shrouded in weird post psychedelic iconography. But in a good way.

Intastella - Century (Single, 1991)

Stella Grundy hisses her way across a lilting upward keyboard spiral made from dark matter.

The Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It (Turtle Soup, 1991)

Not even a betrayal of trust by way of big corporate sellout could take the sheen off this sweetshop candy.

Blur - There's No Other Way (Leisure, 1991)

Before creating Brit pop on Modern Life Is Rubbish, Blur’s first album Leisure was contemporary glide through the cheap psychedelic of the era.

EMF - Unbelieveable (Schubert Dip, 1990)

Unbelievable insomuch as it’s as such a song but a three note verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus-chorus…

Rain - Lemonstone Desired (Single, 1991)

Liverpool had it’s own sound too; more blues orientated and probably more authentic.

Ride - Twisterella (Going Blank Again , 1992)

There are fewer more cautionary tales of wasted opportunity than Ride’s collective failure to be U2 – after their initial shoegazing came this epic.

Northside - Take 5 (Chicken Rythms, 1991)

Far from prodigiously talented (As close as they came to famous was a dismissive James Dean Bradfield slagging in Melody Maker) but a flash of inspiration here.

Bradford - Adrift Again (Shouting Quietly, 1991)

From Blackburn, their ugly duckling rock struck a chord with Morrissey in his pre-Madstock days of credibility.

The Farm - Stepping Stone (Live, 1990)

A staple of their live set and a dozen times spunkier than the original, this almost makes up for the stomach churning faux Ecstacy induced camaraderie of Altogether Now.

The Bridewell Taxis - Honesty (Invisible To You, 1990)

Supposedly created from a Leeds United hooligan gang, Honesty is paper thin in form and concept but sung loudly it’s ten times the sum of it’s parts.

The Poppy Factory - Stars (Single, 1992)

Saccharine pop as pedestrian as it was workmanlike – but with a sheen of sparkle.

Inspiral Carpets - This Is How It Feels (Life, 1991)

For a while their “Cool as fuck” T-shirts (Extra large of course) became the must have parent baiter of 1990.

The High - Box Set Go (Somewhere Soon, 2008)

Who knew what the former Roses were on about. But it stuck.

The La's - There She Goes (The La's, 1991)

Much misunderstood, Lee Mavers continues to work on refining that snare sound. Probably.

World Of Twist - Sons Of The Stage (Quality Street, 1991)

More louche retro pool cleaning funk with extra whooshes than erudite flat capped indie, Tony Ogden & co. added a little much needed grotto glamour.

James - Sit Down (Gold Mother, 1989)

Clever DJ’s were known on occasion to segue into the Gap Band for extra irony.

Paris Angels - Perfume (Sundew, 1991)

They came. They dazzled us with Balearic dynamics, we fell in love with their guitars. They produced a magnificent album (Sundew) and then they got ditched.

The Real People - Wonderful (The Real People, 1991)

A major influence on Our kid, predictably they were as close to a direct link straight back to merseybeat as the scene ever had.

Top - No.1 Dominator (Emotion Lotion, 2008)

Probably the finest album of the era, Top’s Emotion Lotion was the epitome of the scouse strain of things – and disappeared without trace.

Flowered Up - Weekender (God Knows, 1990)

The sincerest form of flattery.

Primal Scream - Loaded (Screamadelica, 1991)

Along with Andy Wetherall’s remix of The Monday’s Wrote For Luck, the actual hybrid was birthed here.

Happy Mondays - Step On (Pills, Thrills & Bellyaches, 1991)

In truth sounds dated beyond nostalgia now, but if anything summed up their hooligan nonsense poetry and genre bending madness, it was this astounding choice of cover version.

The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection (The Stone Roses, 1989)

Amateurs frequently choose I Wanna Be Adored – this is the genuine dancefloor filling article, John Squire’s fret-wankery echoing Sly of ’70.