#creation records

But people in this fandom shudder about how fans survived running fan blogs in the breakup decade. And I really really feel that. Obviously I was also caught in the lurch of the "will-they, won't-they" of EVERY time Liam hinted they might and then Noel said don't be silly. But even more than that, I know that pain because I was for the longest time the only person in the Super Furry Animals tag.

10 long years they were split up. And the reunion was only a tour, sadly. It felt a bit similar to Oasis looking back only because as one of the Creation bands that came into existence around the time of the linking of rock music and football, they were also really closely associated with the sport. They'd sponsored Cardiff City FC for a brief spell (Creation money) and there are Cardiff City SFA shirts that are very rare.

They also split in 2009-10. After 7 long solo years, they reunited and their 2016 run of shows is forever linked in the minds of fans with Wales' dream 2016 Euro run, where the men's national team made it to the semi finals before crashing out. The SFA tour sort of followed the Wales team. Toulouse was magic. SFA were there in the stands of course, for when it all went down. Bing Bong was the official Wales football anthem for that tournament.

That's what it feels like right now for England. Wonderwall is unofficially becoming the anthem for England. In 2016, friends and fans banded together for the Wales cause. It felt like you didn't have to be Welsh to support Wales. Everyone wanted the Welsh team to do well and the Welsh fans to experience that elation. First time since 1958 or whatever.

It kind of feels like that for England right now. I've never seen this much goodwill for the English side. It's always been "anyone but England", especially for fans of the other three home nations of the UK plus Ireland. But people sort of are happy for English fans right now. I've not seen that sentiment in nearly 30 years. And it's all soundtracked by Wonderwall. I had to unfollow Gene Gallagher yesterday because ALL this guy had been posting for 24 HOURS was clips of the English team and fans singing Wonderwall in the stadium. Lmao. Even Noel, famously not an England football supporter, rather a Republic of Ireland supporter, said he's happy to see England win. For his kids' sake, but he's happy.

There is a rare moment when things just come together of their own accord and everything seems to go right and happen at once. I feel like Oasis are similarly at the tip of the blender, about to become everything to the nation, culturally again. You reckon there HAS to be another album in this light, surely the pull is too strong for Noel Gallagher to fight?

But I went on a football-music-culture tangent. To come back to the question I was answering. I was the only person in the SFA tag!! When fans ask what on earth was being posted by Oasis fans for 10+ years when nothing happened, you just had to make your own fun! You'd find some meaning in Noel albums but have learned that even his strongest nostalgic sentiments didn't necessarily mean a reunion. You'd read a Gruff Rhys interview saying he and the rest of the Furries were all very good friends and hung out, but this guy had a book, a film, an app and an album coming out at the same time (I'm not joking, this was just American Interior...) Where did he have time for a reunion.

After the 2016 reunion, nothing happened. Gruff went back to his solo work. Cian went back to scoring films. Hello? Album 10?

Noel Gallagher strongly vetoed a reunion for the first two album's 20-year anniversaries in 2014 and 2015. But he did say he wouldn't mind writing music for Liam. And then Liam disappeared from music. Hello?

Eventually Das Koolies formed, the techno side project of the Super Furries. It was Huw Bunford, Cian Cíaran, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce. It was all the techno edge of the Furries, but the melody seemed missing. Someone was missing (LISTEN I love DK.01 very much, just let me make my point without killing me okay).

Liam returned to music. Came out with Coldplay. Soared. Got to Glastonbury. Led a singalong of Don't Look Back In Anger. But he wasn't singing it himself, it was the crowd. Someone was missing.

Noel, will you ever reform Oasis? No. Too much has been said. It's in the past. Gruff, do you ever see yourself going back to Super Furry Animals? No, I feel too old for that music.

How glad I am to say they were both wrong.

They were labelmates with Oasis on Alan McGee's Creation Records. It's a shame the way they were forgotten in this whole Britpop thing when they were musically easily one of the best bands of the time.

Like just start here with this song. Demons, might be one of their best. They've got songs a bit more Beatlesey than this one, like If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You, or more pop ones like Juxtaposed With U or Hello Sunshine. If you like Champagne Supernova I think you'll like Mountain People (devastating commentary on being seen as the country bumpkins; also towards the end the song descends into a rave, yay, Oasis could never </3 though Noel may have been tempted to try on SOTSOG), more rock ones like Golden Retriever, more rave ones like Slow Life, punkier ones like God! Show Me Magic. Alt rock stone-cold classics like Ice Hockey Hair, Northern Lites, Hermann Loves Pauline, The Man Don't Give A Fuck. An entire universe of music that frankly I don't understand why never got as big as the rest of their Britpop compatriots.

Also flat out, I'm more excited to be going to the SFA reunion next year than I was even to be seeing Oasis. So there.

Slowdive - Pygmalion

We hired a van, put loads of people in it, we charged them money for the petrol. I said "you're paying money towards the petrol, we'll get you into the gig for free, we'll have a good night" and they said fine.

So we got to the gig after driving all day, and the promoter said "I've never heard of you, you not supposed to be playing here tonight, so you know, we not gonna let you play", so we sort of pointed out the fact to him that he had two security guards on the door and there were seventeen of us. I sorta stood there and said "so what you gonna do about that then?", and he said "ummmmm, well if you put it like that, I suppose I can give you sorta half an hour."

So we went on. When the doors opened, it was about half seven, started playing and unbeknown to us Alan McGee just missed his train back to London round the corner and he had an hour to kill for the next train and he just decided that he was going for drink in the club, walked in the door as we were going on stage, and someone said, he said "who's this band" and they said "oh there a bunch of guys who just threatened to smash the place if we didn't let them play" and he went "all right, they any good?"

They said "never heard of them, they're from Manchester aren't they, some lippy mancs. Bought a drink, watched us do the gig, came off stage, give us a six album deal.

3/7/26.

Don't waste your time doing a "Felt" search on this blog. Apparently I use the word "felt" quite a bit in these posts. Sometimes it's in reference to the band led in the 1980s by Lawrence, but most of the time, I'm using the emotional "felt".

Eric Janssen (The Lookyloos - among other bands) always proclaimed the greatness of the band, so I kept trying to like them. About 15 years ago it finally stuck. As I was ping-ponging around Bandcamp recently, I noticed that much of their catalogue is finally up.

So, I'll post the album that I inexplicably do not own, the jangly and beautiful "Forever Breathes the Lonely Word". In the 1980s, Lawrence (Hayward) set out to make 10 albums and 10 singles, which he did. These were released on Cherry Red and Creation. While this album is the first without Maurice Deebank, it also is Martin Duffy's true "coming-out-party" on the Hammond organ.