Album: Grand Prix
Year: 1995
. . .
A couple of things happened to Teenage Fanclub between 1993’s Thirteen and 1995’s Grand Prix. First off, drummer Brendan O’Hare left, to be replaced by Paul Quinn, and secondly, Norman Blake grew his hair out and a pretty thick beard, perhaps to make sure that nobody would mistake them for a Brit-pop band, despite the fact that no less a personage than Noel Gallagher was on record as well and truly loving them.
As for me, I was definitely interested in whether or not Grand Prix would be a comeback after the somewhat disappointing Thirteen, and the opening 10 seconds the first track, Raymond McGinley’s “About You” seemed to indicate that it was, as it opened with thick ringing guitar chords and fabulous harmonies.
I, I, I, I, I, I
Always knew the way about you
I, I, I, I, I, I
Always knew the way about you
As always, those harmonies — McGinley and Blake — jumped right out of the speakers, and if the guitars rang and shined rather than fuzzed and shimmered, it didn’t make the chorus any less irresistible every time it came about.
Always on my mind
Always take my time
Take my time and I can find my way
And as for Gerald Love, while he wasn’t singing, he contributed several great bass hooks throughout, especially during the guitar break, which featured both Blake and McGinley taking solos, and set up the back half of the song, which was basically the chorus repeated over and over and over, ending with absolutely glorious repetition of “take my time and I can find my way” which ended on with a Beatlesque turn on the last “wayyyyyyyyyyy.” Maybe it wasn’t Brit-pop, but Grand Prix was the Fannies first top ten U.K. album, topping out at #7, even if they still couldn’t get arrested here.
“About You”
“About You” Live 1995
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