Sunday 29 May 2011

1st gig Menswe@r !.... The start of britpop




It was early 95 and myself and a group of mates went to see a little band called "Menswear".
Well that was it for me for the next 3 years, i slept, breathed and ate Britpop.
From that 1st gig i was a Cherry red Doctor Martin wearing Britpoper always searching record shops for that latest coloured vinyl.I remember Menswe@r was supported by either Thurman or Powder or i even think it was both!.Despite what has been said about Menswe@r i always have thought of them as a great band and have great memories of seeing them at the Cavern and then at the Glasto festival later in 95 (More about Glasto 95 to come).
I remember them on the front cover of Melody maker and they didnt even have a single out yet, the article was all about the start of the new mod movement which never really happened ( apart from bands like the weekenders and These animal men amongst others) and basically turned into Britpop.7 singles and 1 album later they disbanded at the same time the scene started to die.They did have a 2nd album in the pipeline which was never released (apart from i think in Japan) called "Hay Tiempo" which had a more trad rock sound to it!.


Ill always remember "Hollywood Girl" being belted in my ears by the huge speakers at the front of the stage and singing the words on the trip home to the train station.

One of the best bands of the era and to whom I dedicate this blog to.....

1 comment:

  1. this is a great blog, man. those were the best days of my life, musically speaking-----i was stuck in the USA obsessing over the NME which would arrive at the local bookstore----however we had a 2 week delay in getting them in Detroit. I remember when Menswear made the cover, i started calling every record store i could asking if they had anything by "Menswear" and they all said "WHO!?".....turns out they hadn't even released a single yet-----many months later, after being unsuccessful in finding "I'll Manage Somehow" (it was Ltd. Edition), i ended up getting the CD single for "Daydreamer".....the whole single was like 7 minutes long. But it was on repeat for weeks. haha. The artwork, the name, the style....it had everything.

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