Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor by Dave Haslam

Author:Dave Haslam [Haslam, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472127501
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2018-05-23T23:00:00+00:00

17

The Gig That Changed Liam’s Life

It takes years of hard work to become an overnight success. At the end of 1987 the Stone Roses were barely talked about. They had released ‘Sally Cinnamon’ on a small label based in Wolverhampton, but were looking to sign to an established indie or a major label. In this task, Gareth, their manager, was working alongside Tony Wilson’s first wife Lindsay Reade, but with Gareth’s idiosyncratic way of doing things, Lindsay’s life wasn’t easy.

Inspiral Carpets were very proactive; they never expected anything on a plate, so made things happen for themselves. When their guitarist Graham Lambert gave me a bootleg cassette of the Sonic Youth gig at the New Ardri, he’d surreptitiously put two Inspirals tunes at the end of the recording so I’d have to listen to what they were up to. During 1987, they distributed a proper cassette of their recordings, entitled Cow. In November 1987, they supported the Stone Roses at the International.

Nearly twenty-five years later, the Stone Roses sold 225,000 tickets for their reunion shows at Heaton Park, but back in November 1987 demand to see them and the Inspirals was so slack that Gareth gave out hundreds of free tickets to boost the audience at the International. It was a great gig, notable for being the first time Mani performed with the band; he’d recently replaced Pete Garner and brought a more explicit sense of a groove to the music. Thanks mainly to Lindsay Reade, an indie route was open to them; Rough Trade were in pole position to sign them. Gareth, however, had been pursuing his own leads, aiming for a major label deal. In the end, the band were picked up by A&R man Roddy McKenna from Zomba.

Early in 1988, I phoned Gareth as I had a favour to ask the band. Paul Cons and I were involved campaigning against Clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which set limits on the ability of schools to talk openly – let alone positively – about homosexuality, thus, in practical terms, demonising young gay people and sabotaging the ability of schools to give pastoral care and support to their students. Paul and I wanted to raise money for a new group then being set up, the North West Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Equality. I wanted to ask Gareth if we could use the International Two for the anti-Clause 28 concert, and also I was hoping the Stone Roses would join the bill. We set a date in May 1988, and agreed a hire fee of just £50.

I’d already asked James to headline, and they’d accepted. I knew James supported progressive causes; they had performed on Albert Square at the protest against Reagan bombing Libya. The Stone Roses were less of a student-friendly band and with no track record of performing at benefit gigs – but I knew the event would have more impact if I could involve someone unexpected. They accepted without hesitation. On the night, Ian Brown put down a heckler who questioned why they were onstage for a pro-gay cause like that.

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