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Norman Blake | |
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Norman Blake Live 2003 | |
Background information | |
Born | Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland | 20 October 1965
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums |
Associated acts | Teenage Fanclub, Boy Hairdressers, The Clouds, BMX Bandits, Pretty Flowers, Jonny, The New Mendicants |
Norman Blake (born 20 October 1965, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the Glasgow based band Teenage Fanclub.
Blake and Sean Dickson (The Soup Dragons) were in The Faith Healers together, which also contained various members at different times Stevie Gray, Hugh McLaughlin, Brian Carson and Colin Murray to name but a few.
Blake was a member of the Glasgow group, The Pretty Flowers, with school friend Duglas T. Stewart, Frances McKee, Janice Cochrane and Sean Dickson. After the group split Blake formed the Boy Hairdressers in 1986, the original lineup being really just Blake assisted by Dickson and Stewart. Later Blake was joined by Joe McAlinden, Jim Lambie and three future members of Teenage Fanclub Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald and Paul Quinn (after Macdonald's departure) ( Brendan O’ Hare also in joined the group at this time) The group recorded one EP for 53rd and 3rd Records featuring three of Blake's compositions.
In 1986, Blake also joined BMX Bandits, originally on drums and later moving to guitar. Blake became a key songwriter for them, co-authoring some of their best-loved material including "Disco Girl", "Serious Drugs" and "Right Across the Street". Blake also joined Glasgow group The Clouds for a short stay, playing lead guitar on their single Get Out of My Dream. In 1989 Blake formed Teenage Fanclub with McGinley, later enlisting Francis Macdonald and Gerard Love to record their debut A Catholic Education.The album was primarily composed by Blake and included the anthemic "Everything Flows" (later covered by acts including Velvet Crush, Dinosaur Jr, Idlewild and Gallygows). The album was recorded in Glasgow back to back with the debut album of Blake's other group at that time, BMX Bandits, the ironically titled C86, which Blake also wrote much of the material for.
Blake officially left the Bandits in 1991 after their Star Wars album but continues to be an occasional contributor to their records. Blake has found international fame and acclaim with Teenage Fanclub for his songwriting talents and vocal abilities in both lead and harmony roles. Blake's songs are melodic and great, and an appreciation and understanding of many musical genres. His best loved songs for Teenage Fanclub include " Straight and Narrow ", "Alcoholiday", "Did I Say" and "Neil Jung".
Blake has continued to contribute to projects without his main band, including one-off collaborations with Eugene Kelly as The Famous Monsters, and Francis MacDonald as Frank Blake. More recently, Blake has recorded and co-written material with Euros Childs, forming the indie superduo Jonny. Blake has also appeared on recordings by The Trash Can Sinatras, The Pastels, Kevin Ayers, Bill Wells, The Reindeer Section, Snowgoose, Yeon Gene and The Pearlfishers. Blake has produced recordings for Speedboat (featuring Finlay MacDonald), The Pearlfishers and 1990s. Blake has solo recordings on the albums Caroline Now! (a tribute album to The Beach Boys) and Ballads of the Book .
In 2001, Blake stood down from being elected Rector of the University of Glasgow to make room for his friend, Belle and Sebastian's, Stuart Murdoch. [1]
In 2009, Blake moved to live with his Canadian wife in Kitchener, Ontario. [2] He is currently collaborating with Joe Pernice in The New Mendicants. Their debut album, Into the Lime, was released in January 2014. [3]
In 2014, Blake released How Many Glasgow, an album in collaboration with Jad Fair and Tenniscoats on the label Sweet Dreams Press. 2015 saw the release of the album Yes, a collaboration with Jad Fair as part of Fair's artist in residence project with Indianapolis label Joyful Noise Recordings. [4]
In 2018, Blake produced the debut (and only) album, Things That Roar, by Manchester band, The Beep Seals. The band was fronted by former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and Jack Cooper, who went on to form several bands including Ultimate Painting and Mazes.
Blake features prominently in the 2017 documentary Teenage Superstars . [5]
Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, all of whom shared lead vocals and songwriting duties until Love's departure in 2018. As of 2019, the band's lineup consists of Blake, McGinley, Francis Macdonald, Dave McGowan and Euros Childs.
The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scene in Glasgow. The group has had a number of members, but currently consists of Stephen McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, John Hogarty, Alison Mitchell and Suse Bear.
The Soup Dragons were a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song "I'm Free", which was a Top 5 hit in the United Kingdom in 1990; and "Divine Thing", a Top 40 hit in the United States in 1992.
Brendan O'Hare is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, who among other things has been the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai.
BMX Bandits are a Scottish guitar pop band formed in Bellshill in 1986. Led by songwriter and lead vocalist Duglas T. Stewart, their music is heavily influenced by 1960s pop. They have shared members with numerous other local bands, including Teenage Fanclub and the Soup Dragons. BMX Bandits were a favourite band of Kurt Cobain, who said "If I could be in any other band, it would be BMX Bandits". In 2011, they were the subject of the documentary Serious Drugs: A Film About BMX Bandits.
A Catholic Education is the debut album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1990.
Deep Fried Fanclub is a rarities compilation album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1995. It mostly features non-album singles and b-sides released through the band's association with Paperhouse and K Records.
Man-Made is the eighth album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 2005. It was released on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America.
Francis Macdonald drums with Teenage Fanclub. He makes music for filmmakers and TV and manages Camera Obscura and The Vaselines.
Words of Wisdom and Hope is an album produced in collaboration between Glasgow, Scotland's Teenage Fanclub and Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair.
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.
Duglas T. Stewart has been leader and the main composer of Glaswegian indie pop band BMX Bandits since they formed in 1985.
Cineplexx is an electronic musician from Argentina. He has released eight albums.
Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds - A Short Cut To Teenage Fanclub is a greatest hits album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 3 February 2003. The title refers to the album's total length, just 34 seconds short of the maximum running time possible on a single CD: as a consequence the track "My Uptight Life" was edited from its original version in order to fit on to the album.
Shadows is the ninth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 31 May 2010 on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America. It is the band's first new album release in five years. The album contains twelve songs: four written by Gerard Love, four by Norman Blake, and four by Raymond McGinley. Blake's "Baby Lee" was released as a single.
Jonny is a two-person band formed by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and Euros Childs of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The two bands toured together in 1997 and Blake contributed to the Gorky's Zygotic Mynci album How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart (2001).
Snowgoose is a Scottish, Glasgow-based folk rock band. The band was formed as a three-piece with Jim McCulloch on guitar, Dave McGowan on bass and Anna Sheard on vocals. Raymond McGinley and Stuart Kidd joined to make the band a five-piece. The debut album Harmony Springs was released on vinyl on 21 April 2012 as part of Record Store Day. A CD and download release followed on 12 November 2012. The album was recorded in Norfolk, and at McGinley's studio in Glasgow, and features guest appearances from Norman Blake, John McCusker, Dave McCluskey, and Peter Domberknowsky.
Here is the tenth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 9 September 2016 on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America. It was the band's final album to feature co-founder Gerard Love, who left the band in November 2018.
Teenage Superstars is a 2017 film about the Glasgow independent music scene between 1982 and 1992, focusing on the bands that emerged from in and around the city at this point including The Pastels, BMX Bandits, The Soup Dragons, Teenage Fanclub, The Vaselines, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. In doing so, the film also considers the early days of Creation Records and Stephen Pastel, David Keegan and Sandy McLean’s 53rd & 3rd record label. The film follows on chronologically from 2015's Big Gold Dream, also directed by Grant McPhee, with its title taken from The Vaselines song "Teenage Superstars".
Endless Arcade is the eleventh full studio album by Scottish band Teenage Fanclub. Released on 30 April 2021, it is the band's first record since the departure of co-founder Gerard Love in late 2018 and their first with former Gorky's Zygotic Mynci member Euros Childs. The album's title comes from co-founder Raymond McGinley's song of the same name, with McGinley envisioning an endless arcade as "a city that you can wander through, with a sense of mystery, an imaginary one that goes on forever. When it came to choosing an album title, it seemed to have something for this collection of songs."