If you are a British band that found success in the 1990s, and you are not named Oasis or Blur, many here in the U.S. might mistakenly put you in the one-hit wonder category. Like how “Bitter Sweet Symphony” became the one Richard Ashcroft song many Americans recognize if they are unfamiliar with The Verve’s masterpiece, Urban Hymns. (Or the bangers that came before it.)
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Consider this a public service announcement introducing you to yet another great Manchester band, James. We’ll begin with the tune you probably already know.
“Laid”
James didn’t think much of “Laid”. They thought it might be a B-side until Brian Eno set them straight. Released the year Britpop broke, “Laid” introduced the Mancunians to American audiences in 1993. The squares at MTV couldn’t handle its most famous line, forcing a lyrical tweak: “She only ‘sings’ when she’s on top.” Though James existed outside of Britpop, this folk-pop classic foreshadowed the ironic anthems of Pulp.
“Sit Down”
Before James reinvented themselves on Laid with Eno’s help, the band struggled for nearly a decade to find success. However, riding the Madchester wave of 1990, and armed with the “Big Music” hooks of The Waterboys, they landed a hit with “Sit Down”. It’s the kind of communal singalong the lads inside your nearest pub shout at the tops of their lungs. Singer Tim Booth wrote it as a thank-you note to British novelist Doris Lessing and punk poet Patti Smith, whose works he turned to when he felt lonely in his youth.
“Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)”
For Pleased To Meet You, James’s ninth album, Eno joined the band in a circle to record as a unit. It reawakened a spark after years of playing the hits as a legacy act. But once they began adding new songs to the set, something changed. “The gigs were fantastic,” Booth said, “and that gave us an extra level of self-belief to go into the studio and smash the songs up again and record them.” Though Eno helped James through a creative rebirth, “Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)” feels like the kind of festival chorus right at home among the older hits. If you’re sitting in a songwriting class, the teacher should just play this one and then send you home.
“Say Something”
“Say Something” echoes the jangly chords of Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner’s bleak riffs in Joy Division. James once opened for New Order at The Haçienda in Manchester, which led to a contract with Factory Records. Then they supported The Smiths on the Meat Is Murder tour. On the verge of stardom, but often left watching as their opening acts—such as Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses—passed them by. To me, “Say Something” is James revealing its Manchester roots.
“She’s A Star”
In 1994, James released an experimental album called Wah Wah. Eno wanted to capture the spirit of the band’s rehearsal jams, so adjacent to the Laid sessions, Eno and co-producer Markus Dravs recorded the improvisations. Then Dravs would edit the jams while Eno worked with the others on Laid. With the next release, Whiplash, James combined the electronic experiments of Wah Wah with the pop songs of Laid. “She’s A Star” blends ambient rock with Booth’s knack for soaring pop hooks.
Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns
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