The recent closure of Oldham’s Coliseum Theatre after almost 140 years and the imminent opening of a second twenty thousand seat arena just down the road in Manchester felt like symbiotic illustrations of how art and culture is increasingly owned by cities, and their deeper pockets.
Depending on how bigger fan of Barclay James Harvest you are, The Inspiral Carpets are Oldham’s biggest musical gift to the world, a band who found success initially during the Baggy era, one where there were fewer hang ups about style, or postcodes.
As soon as it was adopted Clint Boon’s Farfisa organ gave their music a feeling of sixties otherness that meant the songs gathered on The Complete Singles were recognisable anywhere, a quality which became both their greatest strength and biggest weakness.
What also surged through the best tunes of that era was a boundless kinetic energy, one replicated in the group’s live shows and early releases. This hedonistic vibe is best captured here on Joe, and by the time This Is What It Feels was released two years later they were on the verge of becoming household names. The latter’s small-town story of unfulfilled dreams, menopausal mums and teenage suicide was dark territory for Top of The Pops – but equally it showcased a depth that their pill popping contemporaries lacked.
As the air of optimism then faded in the rearview mirror the band’s response was to conjure up a string of harder edged but still darkly melodic treasures in Caravan, Dragging Me Down, Bitches Brew and How It Should Be, all psychedelic pop-noir bangers, even if the growth of their collective songwriting talents were it seemed progressively inverse to their hit making potential.
The signatures were now beginning to feel in need of an overhaul but there was still time for their final album, 1994’s Devil Hopping, to throw up a neo-classic duet with The Fall’s Mark E. Smith on I Want You, however the gimmicky Saturn 5 was more evidence that the formula was almost spent. After being dropped by their label Mute a split became inevitable.
There then followed almost a decade on hiatus and minus singer Tom Hingley – opinions on the how of that still vary – reformation and a self-titled fifth album arrived, one which is well represented here (Spitfire, You’re So Good for Me) although the John Cooper-Clarke alliance Let You Down remains as awkward as it did originally.
With this new collection released in anticipation of further touring, content-wise the group were rightly not satisfied to leave things at just that. The supplementary material on this 38-track odyssey consists of remixes underlining that the band’s greatest success was found in an era where dancing was all the same, whatever tune came on next.
Being objective about these differing takes is always a fools errand. But The Go! Team’s beat centric versioning of This Is How It Feels takes it somewhere other than the top estate, Caravan’s alternative lease of life is Weatherall-esque and ravey, whilst the audio shamans responsible for the treatment of Commercial Reign and Generations each lay their grooves down as reminders of a blinder.
Swallowed up by the city next door, the Inspiral Carpets spat out music that was set apart from nearly all of their peers. Always devoted to the power of the single, any summing up of theirs was always going to be bittersweet journey for band and fans. As expected there are standout memories for both here in abundance – and if nothing else, they’ll always have Oldham.
The Voice Of Unreason 