How I stopped worrying and learned to love Ocean Colour Scene

If you've followed the links back you'll have realised that I don't just spend all day thinking about pop music, but I also played bass in what AC/DC would have referred to as a "97 decibel rockin' band". We just called ourselves Onionhead though as it fitted on the posters better.

In the early days the paths of Ocean Colour Scene and Onionhead crossed frequently. After they became more successful than us, I suffered a medical condition commonly known as "jealous as Fuck". Pre becoming OCS they were called The Fanatics and specialised in Beatley,Velvety Undergoundy type songs. While the Velvet's Mo Tucker had shades,The Fanatics female drummer had a penchant for Mickey Mouse sweatshirts...and drumming. The guitarist was known to one and all (well, us mainly) as Moonfaced Paul Wilkes (on account of his Moon face andthe fact that he was called Paul Wilkes) and he'd got a few George Harrisontricks up his sleeve. Even at this stage Simon Fowler was obviously massively talented and a really engaging front man. Damian's appalling zippy boots also had stage presence of their own....but not in a good way. The only original members who would make it through to the OCS stages then were Simon and Damian.

The first time we played with them was summer 88 at Birmingham Irish Centre, where Steve Craddock was also playing guitarwith his band The Boys. In fact with me looking at it as an outsider it was probably Craddock that made the difference to OCS not just through his excellent playng but his persisitence. After a reviewer had said The Boyswere shit, Steve phoned him up to ask how they could be better. The usual answer to that is..."Don't be shit". He also persisted with Paul Weller, got paid and yet persisted some more with OCS. I thought that was admirable, as I'd always known that I'd do anything to keep my band going.

We played with them about 10 times in 1988. They put a single out which included Suburban Lovesongs and My Brother Sarah which I don't remember as being particuarly well recorded. We still lolloped enthusiasticly after them though as at that time they were the only other band we knew. The band made a huge leap when Steve Craddock joined. Jules (Onionhead's singer) saw them at Birmingham Poly 89ish shortly after Steve had joined and had raved about the new guitarist and the sounds he was teasing out. Later, while we were recording our own songs soon after, we listened to the tracks they'd recorded earlier at the same studio. OCS weren'thappy with them though and were coming back to redo it. Beatles Revolver era but sounded good to us.

They'd got caught up in the whole baggy Madchester sound though and through a mixture of disinterest and jealousy I stopped paying any attention. The first lp came out...I didn't listen to it. They played to packed venues and indeed our friends Karen and Kate went to more of their gigs than the band's van driver (so girls must have liked them) but the press were suspicious, the snidey reviews started and they were soon filed and tagged as dull jobsworths who were boringly good at playing their instruments. A label they're still living with. I didn't pay attention again until saw them twice in 94 in Brirmingham at the Jug of Ale and Edwards when they were fantastic. They had a really powerful chunky Small Faces sound and did a terrific version of If I Were A Carpenter with stop start powerchord guitar.

By now they'd been dropped bytheir label, the big tours had been toured. Ed (Onionhead's guitar wrestler) played football with them occasionally and Simon, althoughreguarly spotted out and about in Moseley, was incapable of speech but an expert at druggy incoherence.. At this point they were cooking up what would be Moseley Shoals with the money from Steve Craddocks paper round wthPaul Weller.

When they came back it was 86, I was working night shifts in a care home and doing a comedy walk in tracky bottoms after a plum pounding motorbike crash. My game plan had been for either Onionhead or Tenderloin to take me on a rock 'n' rollercoaster ride playing great music to an eager world. Care homes in Smethwick didn't come into it. I was hounded by theRiverboat Song (which I dislike today as much as I did then.....like an antichrist Hovis advert) but cheered by You've Got It Bad, The Day We Caught The Train and The Circle. It actually took me 7 years to buy Moseley Shoals despite liking so many of the songs and I didn't buy any of the subsequent ones or see them again after those gigs in 94. They were excellent at those two gigs....of course 10 years on I can't remember what they played, it was probably all the songs I didn't think I liked or wouldn't have liked if I 'd heard them on the radio. I played MoseleyShoals again last night and it's got some really good, well arranged and played songs on it. Last night it was Get Away that stood out. Ultimately though the band are too reverential about the music and it feels like the songs are assembled from the best bits of the best bands they like. Get Away has got a Who bit followed by a Led Zep bit.

So OCS were never going to challenge preconceptions or change the way people thought about music,but then how many bands do? I don't listen to Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu (and I don't go near blether and squawk free jazz) as often as I listen to Gram parsons or southern style country soul with aching brass parts, warm electric piano sound, and a twangy guitar. Sometimes you just want to hear music that's "right". That "rightness" is probably what OCS thought they were doing. So what...It ends up reverential. We did the same as Onionhead/Tenderloin.

And I'm not jealous as Fuck anymore.