trawling through my files of 'pop' writing today i came across the following, penned as an introduction to the band for several year 11 kids who wanted tapes and badges... um, i've altered it a little for this. hope you enjoy it, even if it is a little wordy :-) keep the faith, duke --------------- Belle & Sebastian. A Pocket History. Stuart was a boy from Glasgow. He wrote songs and poems in his head about the people he saw in the city, and these songs and poems were Great. One day he played his songs for some underground pop stars at a party and the pop stars looked embarrassed. So he resolved to get some people to make a band to support him. He walked the streets of Glasgow and asked strangers to be in his band. Soon he was so notorious around the West End that people would cross the street when they saw him approaching. At this time too he wrote some stories about a boy called Sebastian, and a girl called Belle. He travelled in buses a lot. Glasgow is a good city to travel around by bus because it rains a lot. Eventually Stuart got fed up, and decided to enrol the first six people who came into the café which he used to frequent. Thus, the group that he would call Belle & Sebastian were formed. (This part of the myth of Belle & Sebastian is recorded in a very delightful cartoon.) When they had practised a bit, Belle & Sebastian played some shows in a recording studio. About four people watched them. Shortly after this they played regularly at the café at which they had met, and at the Art School, which welcomed them with open arms. Slowly, Glasgow started to realise that another gem was nestling in its grey streets. The first Belle & Sebastian record was made as part of Stuarts college course, and was released in early 1996. It was called Tigermilk and the cover showed a picture of a naked young lady, apparently breast-feeding a stuffed toy Tigger. Only 1000 records were made and they sold out very quickly thanks to them being asked onto the Radio One Mark Radcliffe show, for which they recorded some more songs. The Tigermilk record now sells for up to £250 a go. Which is stupid, but there you go. In November 1996 the band released their second LP, and its still available, on CD too! Called If Youre Feeling Sinister, it was the best record of the year for loads of people. Loads of people with taste, that is. The group started 1997 by playing sell out shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a couple in London. They released a single, Dog On Wheels in May, and it made the lower end of the Top 75. Then in July they released the excellent Lazy Line Painter Jane single, which entered the charts at 41. In July they also played the infamous Union Chapel show, a show which sold out several months before it happened and to which a throng of Popstars (stand up Jarvis Cocker!!) and media types flocked. The Big Serious newspapers were unanimous in their praise, and with Select magazine voting them into a close second place in the battle of Next Big Thing, everyone who knew what was what was suddenly saying the name Belle & Sebastian. In September they went to New York, where they recorded a TV show and played some sell out shows to great acclaim. More famous Popstars were seen at these shows (step up alternative rock stars Mark Eitzel and Pavement!), and the word is that all of New York was talking about them. Well they did get a good review in the New York Times, so thats something! They were described as being something like, or rather, totally NOT like Oasis, which is about as good as it gets, surely? An Evening Session show on Radio One was aired in late September, and the third single called 3 6 9 Seconds Of Light rocked the charts at number 32. As a result of this success the NME attempted to get an interview and were given amusingly short shrift. Their fans wonder if people in school will really like them or if theyll just say they sound like wimps. Secretly they hope theyll do both. Oh yeah, and the underground popstars who looked embarrassed when Stuart played his songs at their party now sell far fewer records than Belle & Sebastian, but pretend they have known and loved them from the start there may be a moral here but Im damned if I know what it is. -- Tangents On-Line http://www.virtual-pc.com/tangent/ Tangents On-Paper: PO Box 102, Exeter, EX2 4YL, UK tangent@mail.zynet.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------