Thursday, April 7, 2011

Stone Roses to Reunite?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/music/3513586/Stone-Roses-resurrected.html

"The Sun", a UK tabloid owned by the Monty Burns-like Rupert Murdoch, brings us news that The Stone Roses, one of the most beloved British bands of 90s, have buried the axe and are gearing up for a reunion tour. Could it be? Those of us who missed them the first time around would love a second chance.... Their debut album was fantastic, as was the single "Fool's Gold" which is now often included on the first CD. After that came the lawsuits and hassles with their label which put them on hold during their prime, famously leading the squabbles between bandmembers, especially singer Ian Brown and guitarist extraordinaire John Squire, who hadn't spoken for years until, according the The Sun, it all came together recently at bassist Mani's mother's funeral in Manchester.

The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, etc. put Manchester back on the map in the 90s as "Madchester" became known suddenly, again, for producing the most cutting edge rock n roll, as well as a raging X-fueled club and dance scene. To London's eternal shame.

I happened to be in England around the time of Stone Roses fever in the early 90s and so I checked them out. I had these cassette singles and the album I played constantly. I never saw them in concert, but I was bummed when they broke up, and even before that, like many, I was disappointed by the "Second Coming" album.  Seems they were already basically broken up by then.

People in the band have had success with solo projects and other bands, but everyone has been hoping they would one day get back together. That seemed quite unlikely until this report came out. I hope it's not just some fantasy cooked up by some bored reporter, stringing together some rumors and anecdotes and gossip into a "news story".

No doubt a Stone Roses reunion tour would be lucrative and well-attended.

Ian's solo work has been excellent. I enjoyed 2007's "The World Is Yours" very much. It had UK chart success, but barely registered a blip on the American radar screen as far as I know. It's a shame that the album's anti-war duet between Ian and Sinead O'Connor, "Illegal Attacks" didn't get more airplay in the US. I saw Ian perform in Japan around that time and he was great. He did a nice mixture of new stuff, old stuff, and Stone Roses classics (which, of course, were the songs the crowd freaked out for most.

Well, I hope they tour and hopefully they make it to the US so I don't have to fly to England to see them, although I could try to see Pete Doherty/Libertines/Babyshambles on the same trip, as Pete still can't get an American visa (too many drug arrests and not enough lawyers apparently.... he flew to JFK last summer to do a one-off show with Sean Lennon but was turned away upon landing..... oh the indignity! Shame on you, America! The boy's a genius. So he's gotten in trouble a few times. Geniuses do that....)




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