Product Description:
Teenage Fanclub: Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley (vocals, guitar); Gerald Love (vocals, bass); Paul Quinn (drums).
Additional personnel: David Bianco (vocals, guitar, piano); Jules Singleton, Sonia Slany (violin); Jocelyn Pook (viola); Dinah Beamish (cello); Nigel Hitchcock (alto saxophone); Jamie Talbot (tenor saxophone); Chris White (baritone saxophone); Steve Sidwell (trumpet); Dave Barker, Chas Banks, Jim Parsons (handclaps).
Recorded at The Manor, Shipton-on-Cherwell, England between September 5 and October 9, 1994.
The adorable Fannies are in danger of becoming a 'much-loved institution' like the Kinks and XTC: great for warm-hearted feelings, but lousy for record sales. Grand Prix breaks the band's Byrdsian mould slightly, but there are enough jangly G chords to satisfy everyone. Virtually every song is a flawless gem, complete with the most precise harmonies; each rolls into the next with love and care, played, sung and produced with supreme clarity. With the fantastic boon of possessing three talented songwriters, TFC offer plenty of variety; in particular, Gerard Love's irresistible 'Sparky's Dream' achieves classic pop song status, and his 'Don't Look Back' is this accomplished album's highlight.
Entertainment Reviews:
Q - 12/99, p.84
Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Q - 2/96, p.63
Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995.
Q - 6/00, p.64
Ranked #72 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"
Q - 7/95, p.131
4 Stars - Excellent - "...the band have honed a particularly agreeable sound, chimingly melodic guitar rock replete with history but thoroughly modern....saner folk will simply revel in the abundant tunefulness, zest and melancholy of a great band."
Alternative Press - 8/95, pp.99-100
"...a lovely record, beautifully textured, gentle, warm, and sad in turns, snatchingly humourous, engagingly derivative..."
NME (Magazine) - 12/23-30/95, pp.22-23
Ranked #5 in NME's 'Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "...simple, savoury, soul-tickling tunes and sweet melancholic harmonies. If the Beach Boys had been born in Glasgow they might...have sounded this great."
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