‘My Madchester phase was born and raised in Glasgow,’ says Burgess
He defined one of the most pivotal movements in British culture in the late ’80s and early ’90s, an icon whose style and sound were at the vanguard of what became known as the “Madchester” scene.
But Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess says the togs and tunes he helped shape an era with in the North of England came straight from the streets of Glasgow. The singer, who will return to the city which shaped his cultural identity as a young man tonight with a gig at Queen’s Park, was set on his pre-fame path by Scots bands such as The Pastels, Primal Scream and Aztec Camera.
“I felt like the youngest of a generation of brilliant new bands with a Scottish haircut,” said Tim. “My hair was just like Stephen Pastel’s. I was a big fan of Primal Scream and Bobby Gillespie, too. At that time, I was a kid working in ICI, listening to a lot of music. I couldn’t afford a pair of leather trousers, but I had imitation ones, a big anorak and a Stephen Pastel haircut. I was like that in my hometown of Northwich in 1986 and people thought I was a right freak.
“Even before that, it was stuff like Aztec Camera, Edwyn Collins, and Josef K. I saw Orange Juice at the Hacienda. I still play all those records now. It was all such a big influence on me, and Stephen Pastel should get a lot of credit for that.”
The songwriter also has fond memories of penning songs in the heart of what was once the city’s indie scene.
“I wrote a lot of the lyrics to our album Up To Our Hips in a flat in Glasgow in the 1990s,” he said. “I was going out with a girl called Chloe whose mum had a flat on Byres Road. When our single Crashing In was released, I got to HMV in Sauchiehall Street to make sure it was there, and was happy to find there were only a couple left.”
His Charlatans career has spanned four decades, resulting in 13 albums and an international following with hits like The Only One I Know, North Country Boy and Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over.
Now a 57-year-old dad, he’s still a hugely influential figure to the massive fanbase the band has maintained since the days in the very late ’80s when a legion of teenagers wore baggy jeans, with bowl cuts and Paisley-pattern hoodies.
“It was hard for me to ignore,” said Tim about his early impact. “I was on the cover of every magazine when our debut album came out. But I felt I had been building up to the moment all my life. I was quite happy to take on the role of cultural icon at the tender age of 23.”
The late ’80s indie scene and the impact and legacy of two of its key bands could have been very different, though, had Tim got his timings right.
“I went to audition for the Inspiral Carpets but I turned up a day late. I had ummed and ahhed about it, wondering if I was happy just working at ICI and listening to music all day. It took me a couple of days to work up to it and by the time I decided to go for it, I turned up and was too late. Most people don’t know that. I don’t think Inspiral Carpets even know.
“At that moment, I decided never to second guess things again, and always just go for it. A couple of weeks later Martin Blunt and Robb Collins decided they wanted me in their band. All of a sudden there was this mad revolution. It was great.”
While other acts from the Madchester scene such as The Stone Roses have faltered, his band endured, albeit bearing the scars of time with the death of members Rob Collins in 1996 and Jon Brookes in 2013.
He said: “We make records that help us as a natural way of moving forward. In the past we’ve made a record quickly because a member of the band was going to jail, or because a member of the band was coming out of jail, or with the keyboard player from Primal Scream because our keyboard player died. So we’ve made records in every scenario.”
After four decades as an indie enigma, Tim crossed into the mainstream by inadvertently providing distraction therapy during the pandemic, with his Twitter Listening Parties, which did deep dives of full albums by hundreds of bands.
He said: “Everybody tells me the listening parties were important for their mental health during those dark evenings of Covid. But they really helped me as well.”