Luke Haines's Memoir: Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part In Its Downfall

He's gonna play all the hits that we knew,
All of the new album too,
It's good to have something in these times to look forward to!

I'm reading the book at the moment... it is a barrel of laughs. I like how honest Haines is about what a total cockfarmer he is. There is a bit in particular where the band are flying back from a tour to Japan, on which Haines has been playing creepy mind games with them all, and his girlfriend and bass player breaks down into floods of tears... the others have loved ones to go back to and a life outside the band, but she is stuck with old Haines.

I find the idea of Haines marrying a music journalist amusing, given that he hates them.

I read this at the weekend. It was good. Martin Carr isn't going to enjoy it. I also hope that when the proof copy becomes an actual copy, no-one notices that he spells Mu-Ziq as Muzique several times

gah, this is isn't out til next year?

January I think

He seems very fond of Momus.

this is pretty good

Best bit so far when he tells the drummer they're supporting Suede..."Brilliant" he says "I love Slade"

UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE FACT: I went to Waterstones with the person who the starter of this thread ganked his username from, and he bought this book (and enjoyed it)

I like how he just refers to Banbury as "The Cellist" throughout

Also going to do a Palestinian terrorist themed photo shoot at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, and getting his stand-in drummer to wear a balaclava and a Direct Action Against Drugs t-shirt, on TV - guy was a real prick in the 90s huh

^^ spoilers.

i am reading it and it is good.

gah, this'll never come out in America, will it?

the exchange rate is in your favour.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/18/luke-haines-britpop-louise-wener

louise wener there, doing herself no favours

These days, she rarely does.

I dunno, I think she nailed it.

Oh, and

I was a doe-eyed siren who sang with my band Sleeper about sex and suburban angst.

That's Louise, not me.

although...

It's not the fact that he writes "difficult" songs with titles like Unsolved Child Murder that defeats him - it's the fact they aren't about anything.

Um, this is demonstrably untrue

I was a doe-eyed siren

so is this

he also says in the book that he liked Modern Life is Rubbish, and explains in punishing detail what many of his songs are "about"

Wener should be careful about using terms like "perennial underachiever." If she'd concentrated in the nineties on making decent music rather than giving "good" interviews to the music press perhaps her records wouldn't be cluttering up the racks of every charity shop in 2009.

Yeah, but she did have the chart run, right? Admittedly with the downward curve at the end, but still...

So did Robson & Jerome.

true, but you wouldn't call them undeerachievers either.

I'm anxious to find out who the 70's Cult Legend mentioned in the book is, anyone know?

I could only think of Kevin Ayers but I know that must be wrong.

I like how he just refers to Banbury as "The Cellist" throughout

The whole Cellist thing is weird... Haines just hates him for no obvious reason, and then at the end (spoiler) he seems to reconsider and start liking him. That was nice.

has anyone ever read any of Louise Wener's books?

I wonder has she learned a new facial expression.

My gf read her first. She said it was shit.

I remember a particularly bad article she wrote for the Guardian which pretty much said that she was the first woman ever to give birth.

The very definition of tl;dr

I wonder has she learned a new facial expression.

Gormless hamster has got her this far...

when i saw Sleeper she performed without wearing shoes, which led to me hating her forever until the end of time

Hating someone for not wearing shoes is rather bootless.

It shows a distinct lack of sole.

Hell regret claiming that.

doh HEEL!!! oh forget it...

the cellist bites back : http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jan/20/luke-haines-britpop

sorry meant to point to the comments section.

Good article. About time someone other than me stood up and said it.

Also reminds me that I need to sift through my two years of shitty unsellable promo singles to see if any of those pre-Hype Bands bands are in there on the offchance that some mong fancies paying me to let them own them

Well, the TingTings used to a portisheady type band called Eskimo buttox, or something. Their one and only single is going on ebay thesedays for, ooh, a fiver?

Dear Eskimo. I got a tenner for my copy.
Happy days.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dear-Eskimo-Be-Patient-EP-Ltd-Edition-The-Ting-Tings_W0QQitemZ330299311882QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CDsDVDs_CDs_CDs_GL?hash=item330299311882&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A13%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

happy days be over!

(for nonclickers... ep went for 99p)

Does he mention what band he's talking about in American Guitars?

Does he mention how fat he's got?

Does he mention what band he's talking about in American Guitars?

It's not about a band in particular, and I think he thinks everyone misinterpreted it. I'll elaborate later if no-one else has. Disappointing lack of explanation of Idiot Brother, which is about Clive Solomon I think?

Which is the band from this line-up http://www.last.fm/event/456266#lineup that travelled with the Auteurs, Oasis and (the) Verve?

An interesting thing I've noticed is bitter unsuccessful musicians (Haines, Paul Draper) using Bittersweet Symphony as some sort of pivotal 'what we were up against' thing, but either the Verve spent about 4 years working on it or people have poor memories.

Early 90s London is full of derivative charmless bands clogging up the live circuit. Everybody seems to be in thrall to the American bands on the ultra hip Sub Pop label, Tad and Mudhoney. Dinosaur Junior (sic)are lauded on a weekly basis. Nirvana's instant classic Nevermind is everywhere. I am working on a new song called 'American Guitars': part sarcastic riposte to British bands who cannot find their own voice, forever worshipping at the altar of US rock, part self-mythologising history of my fledgling band. Soon the British press will pick up on 'American Guitars', proclaiming it some sort of battle cry against the marauding Yanks. It won't be long before Britpop rears its ugly head, bobbing about on the perimeters, then brazenly cavorting around on centre stage like an attention-seeking moron.

Haines should have been in Singles.

ledge, capital lol

Which is the band from this line-up http://www.last.fm/event/456266#lineup that travelled with the Auteurs, Oasis and (the) Verve?

terrorvision.

Yeah, when I saw the line-up they jumped out immediately.

Another bit on American Guitars:
The other group was called the Auteurs. They were not as popular as the Suede group, although they had better songs. One of these songs was called 'American Guitars'. Some of the lance corporals of the kingdom of Britannia thought they heard a story in the song about an ancient mythical war between Britannia and the old kingdom of America. In their excitement the lance corporals hadn't listened to the words of the song properly. Nevertheless, it gave them an idea about a new kind of music for the children of Britannia. They announced their idea in Select magazine in April 193.

Luke Haines is such a country singer name.

now i'm a cowboy

always wers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FasitDgQfCk

can't get excited about it

god now i'm a cowboy is phenomenal. it has this sinister undercurrent--i think it's just the cello--that makes me feel all kinds of things. it's also a very nostalgic album for me. on the other hand, this new song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEqRi5AFimI

why do all his new songs sound the same? i can't put my finger on it.