Sinister: Rough Guide

Sat Nov 1 21:22:23 GMT 1997

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 at mail.zynet.co.uk

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