Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?: An Indie Odyssey

Product Information

Reynolds, Simon Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 (Faber and Faber, 2005) ISBN 0-571-21569-6

Rather brilliant ... in the stories of many of these C86 kids are reminders of the power of optimism. If we can, we should guard against losing our belief in possibility.' -- The Scotsman If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us

In 1986, the NME released a cassette that would shape music for years to come. A collection of twenty-two independently signed guitar-based bands, C86 was the sound and ethos that defined a generation. It was also arguably the point at which 'indie' was born. But what happened next to all those musical dreamers? Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

Very few still make a living from music and the range of jobs they now have is the result of a careers officer having several strong coffees and randomly shouting titles from a work For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. NME promoted the tape in conjunction with London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, who staged a week of gigs, [7] in July 1986 which featured most of the acts on the compilation. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.

More than simply the tale of the tape, Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? is an exploration of C86's wide-reaching and often surprising legacy. There were, though, no sirens trying to lure me to my death through song. The nearest I came was when sitting in on the first rehearsal since pre-pandemic times of the Birmingham five-piece Mighty Mighty, reconvened to play to an audience of just me. But five follicly challenged men on, or just over, the brink of turning 60 do not seductive sirens make. Still, they sounded just as sprightly and glorious as they had several decades earlier, even if they now needed to take fistfuls of painkillers afterwards to ward off the effects of a four-hour rehearsal. The C86 comp is a legendary document in indie history, more influential as a one-off than most of the featured bands individually.

C86 has been much-maligned over the year, a short-hand insult for fey white boys with floppy fringes and over-strenuous strumming playing shambling indie numbers. In truth, it was always waaay more diverse than that. Bogshed and A Witness were probably closer to The Fall and Stump...well they were just Stump! And believe it or not, whilst admittedly outnumbered, females were also present. In 2022, journalist Nige Tassell published the book Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?: An Indie Odyssey, based on interviews with members of all 22 bands that had appeared on the cassette. It outlines the "many and varied paths through life" these musicians took over a period of more than three decades. [22] Follow-ups [ edit ] Some of the bands, like Primal Scream, went on to achieve global stardom; others, such as Half Man Half Biscuit and the Wedding Present, cultivated lifelong fanbases that still sustain their careers thirty-five years later. Then there were the rest, who ultimately imploded in a riot of paisley shirts, bad drugs and general indifference from the record-buying public. The 30-year anniversary of C86 saw the original compilation issued in a deluxe gatefold sleeved double- LP edition for Record Store Day 2016. [29] Twenty-two tales of youthful anger, innocence and indolence, filtered through almost forty years of regret, melancholy and, occasionally, dogged resistance. Nige Tassell succinctly and sweetly conjures up an era when groups could form in Glossop, Hebden Bridge or Whitstable and - for a few months, at least - become national heroes via the patronage of John Peel and the weekly music press. He spins gold from their grab-bag of agendas, musical politics and effects pedals and creates something that is frequently more impressive, entertaining and enjoyable than the music itself.' -- Bob StanleyHitting play on a piece of music is an act of magic. The noise may be entering your own space and filling up your ears, but in fact it’s the other way around; it drags you, willing or otherwise, to a world usually much more interesting than your own. Over a quarter-of-a-century on, pressing play on the C86 mixtape still has that transporting impact – it opens up a portal to a different world. Home | Institute of Contemporary Arts". Ica.org.uk. 2015-04-22. Archived from the original on 2006-12-03 . Retrieved 2015-06-11. About the Author: Nige Tassell is a music journalist whose writing has appeared in The Word, Q, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and New Statesman among others. He lives with his family in the Mendip Hills in Somerset. Mr Gig is his first book. Google Books There was an upside as well as a downside,” concludes Stephen McRobbie, of the Pastels. “There’s no doubt that it helped us to reach a larger audience. We probably benefited. But it became more of a signifier than any of us imagined … ”

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. ( June 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) One by one they agreed to be interviewed. Invariably, they would ask who else had confirmed. If, say, members of the Pastels or Age of Chance or the Mighty Lemon Drops were on board, that was enough for them. Some would tender old phone numbers of their former bandmates, keen for each of these missing persons cases to be solved. In the end, no band wanted to be left out, for their story not to be told. When I secured an interview with the drummer from the 22nd and last band to respond, I punched the air in delight. Relief, too.From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: Some ended up in the arts and academia others found themselves in retail or the corporate world, and a few are still playing to this day. Some are embarrassed by their connection and others incredibly proud. Some didn’t even want to speak of their experience, whilst others were only too happy to reflect and then there were those who are no longer here. Ex- NME writer Andrew Collins summed up C86 by dubbing it "the most indie thing to have ever existed". [16] Bob Stanley, a Melody Maker journalist in the late 1980s and founding member of pop band Saint Etienne, similarly said in a 2006 interview that C86 represented: In 1986 I was the tender age of 15 & had zero knowledge of the C86 cassette, but by ‘87 I started really getting into the independent music scene & became aware of the term C86. As detailed in the book it referred to a certain type of music; jangly guitars, played almost exclusively by young white males with bad haircuts. I think it was meant to be an insult, but I absolutely loved these bands & as a result was aware of the musical artefact they had appeared on. I think I still own records (up in the loft) of at least half the bands mentioned. I started reading NME in the late ‘90s, so this era of bands is before my time, but this book is just brilliant. First band is Primal Scream who are a favourite of mine, and having just read Gillespies Tenement Kid it leads on nicely.