Teenage Fanclub

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Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub.jpg
Teenage Fanclub's classic lineup, left to right:
Gerard Love, Brendan O’Hare, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley
Background information
Origin Bellshill, Scotland
Years active 1989 - present
Genre(s) Power pop, Alternative rock
Label(s) Paperhouse Records (1990-1990)
Creation Records (1991-1999)
Columbia (2000-2001)
Geographic Records (2002-2002)
PeMa Records (2004-present)
Website www.teenagefanclub.com
Current Members
Norman Blake
Raymond McGinley
Francis Macdonald
Dave McGowan
Euros Childs
Former Members
Brendan O'Hare
Paul Quinn
Finlay Macdonald
Gerard Love

Teenage Fanclub is a rock band from Scotland. Despite much critical acclaim, the band never quite broke big in the United States, and has had respectable, if not massive, success in their native UK.

Overview

After shuffling around in various bands in the late 80s, the core of Teenage Fanclub (or 'TFC' for short) came together in 1989. Initially regarded as just another 'shoegazing' Britpop band, the unit quickly began to earn the respect of the industry with well-written songs. Upon releasing their second album, 1991's critically-acclaimed Bandwagonesque, many thought the band's future was indeed quite bright; in fact, Rolling Stone chose the disc as the best of 1991 - above even REM's Out Of Time or Nirvana's Nevermind. After releasing two more modestly successful albums, 1993's Thirteen and 1995's Grand Prix, the band seemed to have been all but forgotten by the United States. They continue to record and tour to this day.

Personnel

The core of the band has always been guitarists Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley, and bassist Gerard Love, along with a revolving drum stool which has featured Francis MacDonald, Brenden O'Hare, and Paul Quinn (ex-Soup Dragons). What separates The Fannies (as they are affectionately known by fans) from many guitar-based pop bands is that while most feature a single primary songwriter and voice, the three core members all write songs in fairly equal numbers, and sing lead vocals on their respective compositions. This gives the band a much broader sound than they might otherwise have.

Musical style

The band's sound has evolved through, and flirted with, many styles of popular music such as shoegazer, Britpop, grunge, country, power pop, and adult contemporary pop. The members of TFC are big music fans themselves, and are not shy about letting their influences flow through to their music. These influences include, but are not limited to, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Big Star, and Neil Young. In fact, they've recorded many interesting covers for singles and compilations.

Relationship with Weezer

The band were once labelmates with Weezer on DGC, and the two groups co-headlined a label-backed tour (with That Dog) in 1995. They also appeared alongside Weezer on the 1994 compilation DGC Rarities, Vol. 1, contributing the lead track, "Mad Dog 20/20".

See Also