NORMAN BLAKE

Event Information

Norman Blake will be making a rare solo live performance at FRETS on Saturday 19th October in the Strathaven Hotel. Best known as singer/guitarist in the magnificent Teenage Fanclub, Norman has previously performed sold-out concerts at FRETS with Euros Childs, then a brace of shows in cahoots with Bernard Butler and James Grant.

History:
Teenage Fanclub emerged from the Glasgow C86 scene. They formed following the break-up of The Boy Hairdressers, a band featuring Raymond McGinley, Norman Blake and Francis Macdonald. Following a brief period in which Blake was a member of BMX Bandits, the three former bandmates joined with Gerard Love to form Teenage Fanclub.

Originally a noisy and chaotic band, their first album A Catholic Education, released in 1990 on Paperhouse, is largely atypical of their later sound, with the possible exception of Everything Flows. Mostly written by Blake and McGinley, the record included several songs originally intended for The Boy Hairdressers. After recording his drum parts, Macdonald left the band to resume his university studies. They re-recorded several songs with Macdonald's replacement, Brendan O'Hare.

The band followed the album with the EP God Knows It's True before being signed by Creation Records. The King, their next album, was a semi-improvised collection recorded in a single day. Originally intended to be a very limited release, the record received critical reviews of its self-confessed shambolic guitar thrashes and a cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin".

Their next album, Bandwagonesque, released on Creation Records in the UK and Geffen in the US, brought Teenage Fanclub a measure of commercial success. Bandwagonesque was more deliberately constructed, the hooks became stronger, the guitar riffs were brought under control, and the harmony vocals took shape.

The subsequent, Thirteen, received mixed reviews on release. Brendan O'Hare left Teenage Fanclub during this period to be replaced by Paul Quinn (formerly of the Soup Dragons).

Grand Prix, Teenage Fanclub's fifth album, was both a critical and commercial success in the UK, becoming their first top ten album.

Songs from Northern Britain followed Grand Prix and built on the former's success. It became their highest-charting release in the UK and contained their biggest hit single to date, "Ain't That Enough".

The follow-up album, Howdy!, released on Columbia Records in the UK after the demise of Creation, continued the sound of Songs from Northern Britain. Francis Macdonald rejoined as the drummer in place of Quinn. ,

Their final release on a Sony label, Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub, collected the Fanclub's best songs along with three new songs (one from each member).

Their next album, Man-Made, was released on 2 May 2005, on the band's own PeMa label. Man-Made was recorded in Chicago in 2004, and produced by John McEntire of Tortoise.

The band began work on their ninth album in August 2008, the album was called Shadows (the first to involve keyboardist Dave McGowan as a full-time member), and was released on the band's own PeMa label.

Their tenth album, Here, was released in September 2016 and was Gerard Love's last with the group after which Euros Childs joined the band on keyboards and vocals, with Dave McGowan joining on bass.

A new album with this line-up, titled Endless Arcade, was released in April 2021, swiftly followed by their twelfth album Nothing Lasts Forever in September 2023.