If I were forced to sum up the 23-plus-year career of
The Charlatans in four words it would be this: "the last band standing."
Legal battles, member departures, arrests, death, distance, disease; these are
things that lead to the demise of most bands… but not Northwich’s Charlatans. Few bands in the annals of rock history
have faced, and successfully stared down, the challenges that The Charlatans
have, but then again, few bands have the tale to tell that they do either. The band has risen like a phoenix from
the ashes time and time again, always continuing to evolve and delight. It seems no matter what has been thrown
at The Charlatans; they have fought their way back, and maintained a steady workload
along the way. During the course
of their ongoing career, the band has become one of the most loved and influential
bands of their generation in their home country, and underrated cult-heroes
abroad.
Debuting in 1990, The Charlatans came up as
contemporaries of The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, taking flight during the
ecstasy-fueled Mad-chester scene.
Hitting listeners with a Hammond organ driven, groove based dance music;
the initial lineup consisted of Tim Burgess on vocals, Jon Baker on guitar,
Martin Blunt on bass, Rob Collins on organ and keyboards, and John Brooks on
drums and percussion. The band hit
early, their second single “The Only One I Know,” becoming a modern rock hit in
1990 on both sides of the Atlantic.
Shortly after the release, the band had to change their name in the U.S.
territories to The Charlatans UK, to avoid a legal conflict with a San
Francisco-based band from the late 60’s with the same name. Despite this confusion “The Only One I
Know” received airplay on MTV as well as alternative radio stateside, even
ending up on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's new faces issue in
1991. Their debut album, Some Friendly was released in October of
1990 and helped build the growing rave culture rising in northern England. The Charlatans energetic blend of
house-based funk and Collins’ distinct C-3 organ attack would set them apart
from their contemporaries, resulting in the only album from the Mad-chester
scene to make it to number one on the UK album chart. The album's closer, “Sproston Green,” has emerged as the
bands’ anthem, closing nearly every concert they have played for the last 23
years.
Jon Baker departed the band as they began recording the
second album, quickly being replaced by guitarist Mark Collins (no relation to
Rob Collins). Released in March
1992, Between 10th & 11th
featured the hit single “Weirdo,” but failed to achieve the success of its
predecessor. Produced by Flood,
known for his work with U2, Depeche Mode, and Nine Inch Nails, he gave the
album a sound that continues to stand as completely unique in the bands
catalog. Though the album was
considered to be a disappointment by many critics at the time, it contains a
subtlety that sets it apart from any other Charlatans album. Much of the band's songbook that
followed Between 10th & 11th
is based on the conventions of rock and soul music, with vocal melodies
following the instrumentation fairly closely; The Charlatans second album,
however, stands today as some of the most melodically complex and musically
experimental work of the band's career.
On the working-class anthem “The End Of Everything,” Burgess sings: “No
education I want besides the one that I’ve got / Divorce me from the zeroes,
what do they know? / Twentieth century cultureless stereotypes / Waving words
worth nothing to me now,” continuing the theme of blue-collar resistance
captured in much of the work of other North English bands. Elsewhere, Burgess’ voice dances and
skips gently over the music, weaving melodies that are almost contradictory to
the musical melody: “When honesty is mine to ride / A gem dissolving,
shadow-slide / Climb down, you better not drown / What are you gonna do when
your sky falls out on this word,” his voice bobbing and weaving through the
swirling, atmospherics of the band on the album's closer “(No One) Not Even the
Rain.”
As the band sought to shift musical direction going into
the sessions for their third album, 1994’s Up
To Our Hips, incorporating more melodic influences from The Beatles and
Mick Taylor-era Rolling Stones, as well as influence from hip-hop pioneers De
La Soul. The sessions for the
album got off to a rocky start when keyboardist Rob Collins, the band's primary
songwriter, was arrested and served a four month sentence for being an
accessory to armed robbery; however, his initial absence allowed the rhythm
section of Blunt and Brooks to come to the forefront of The Charlatans'
sound. The band continued its
earlier, groove-based explorations on the songs “Come In Number 21,” “Patrol,”
“Inside – Looking Out,” the instrumental “Feel Flows,” and the album’s title
track, while the album's singles, “Can’t Get Out Of Bed,” “Jesus Hairdo,” and
“I Never Want an Easy Life if me and he Were Ever to Get There” - showed the
band relying more on melodic hooks and choruses. In what would be an important development for the band’s
sound, “Autograph” featured the band's first song based on acoustic
instrumentation, a sound they would further explore on subsequent albums. The band also acquired the rights to
the name The Charlatans in the United States, allowing for the U.S. release to
be under the same band name as the international release (The Charlatans, as
opposed to The Charlatans UK). When Rob Collins rejoined the band after
completing his sentence, he returned to a band that was in a major musical
transition from the club-based grooves of its early work, to the Stones-like
swagger that would dominate its sound through the rest of the decade.
The band tried to regain their lost momentum, but faced
difficulties in the American markets, from relating to an American audience
during the popularity of the much more aggressive grunge movement, to being
constantly asked during promotional interviews if they were “…the same
Charlatans as The Charlatans UK.”
When the large portion of the North American tour for Up To Our Hips had to be cancelled due
to illness, the band made the decision to regroup back home and focus on
writing for their next album, rather than try to carrying on promoting their
third album. The
subsequent album, released in 1995, would return the band to their previous
levels of both critical and commercial success, and help usher in the sound
that would become known in the press as Britpop. The band sought to cut through
any lingering confusion by self-titling the album, accepting the UK moniker for
the American release, and including both the song titles and the band's photo
on the front cover, having not been pictured on one of their albums sleeves
since their debut album's digitally altered cover. The Charlatans found the band reveling in their love for The
Rolling Stones, with the album drawing comparisons to Exile On Main Street. The singles "Crashin' In" and
"Just Lookin'" found the band in full big organ rock mode, while
songs like "Tell Everyone" and the album's third single, "Just
When You're Thinking Things Over" continued the proliferation of the
warmer, more acoustic vibe introduced on the previous record. Elsewhere, the
band took their earlier groove-based song styling to heavier depths,
incorporating influences of electronic dance music on "Toothache,"
and The Charlatans opening and
closing tracks: "Nine Acre Court" and "Thank You."
Their fourth album had
returned The Charlatans to the stature they gained on their debut and the band
began sessions for the following album in early 1996. The band had set up a series of shows that summer supporting
Oasis, who were currently the darlings of the British music scene, culminating
in the pair playing at Knebworth, England at what was the fastest selling
concert ever at the legendary concert site, selling out two nights at 150,000
people per night. The Charlatans
had scheduled the release of the first single, “One To Another,” from their
forthcoming album to be released just prior to the concerts. The band was entering the final stages
of recording for the new album when they were dealt another tragic blow.
On July 22, 1996, Rob
Collins was killed in a car crash in Wales. He lost control of his BMW and was ejected through the
windshield, on the way to the recording studio after a night of drinking. The band had arrived at a crossroads,
and felt that “One To Another” should still be released as scheduled, standing
as a tribute to Collins. The band
also decided to keep the Knebworth dates, recruiting Primal Scream keyboardist
Martin Duffy for their first live performance on August 11, less than three
weeks after Collins’ death.
Following one of the fiercest sets of their career, the band convened to
complete the album, deciding that they would at least finish the record and
find a touring keyboard player to promote the album upon its release.
Tellin’ Stories was released on April 21, 1997 to rave reviews; the album was
simultaneously a lasting tribute to their fallen keyboard player, and defiant
statement about the future of the band.
“With No Shoes” opens the album with confidence, with driving blues
licks and punchy hooks; a trio of singles that would become staples of the band's
live repertoire to this day follows, with “North Country Boy,” the title track
“Tellin’ Stories,” and “One To Another” all being performed at nearly every
concert since 1997, and would become some of the band's highest charting
singles of their career. The album
shows the lasting glory of Rob Collins on the Hammond-driven instrumental “Area
51,” and the album's remaining single, “How High,” (also a live staple)
achieved the rock-star sneer and attitude that so many of the band's
contemporaries were shooting for.
The Bob Dylan inspired “Get On It” morphs from harmonica fueled rock
song to classic Charlatans organ driven funk.
As preparations for the
tour got under way, the band hired Tony Rogers to take over keyboard duties for
the tour, saying at the time that they would continue as a quartet, with Rob
Collins being irreplaceable. By
the end of the tour, however, Rogers' chemistry with the band had convinced
them that there was a future for The Charlatans, and Rogers was brought on as a
full member, as the band entered the studio in 1998 to work on their first
album without their primary songwriter.
As sessions for Us and Us Only got under way,
songwriting would become a more collaborative process for the group, and the
result would be one of the strongest albums of the band's career. Released in 1999, Us and Us Only would see the band develop every aspect of their
previous styles, with fully matured takes on their early sound in “Forever,” to
their Dylan-goes-Britpop song styling on “Impossible.” “Senses,” the album's enigmatic
centerpiece, slowly builds bass and piano lines with wailing harmonica, before
exploding into one of Burgess’ most desperate sounding odes to love.
As the band entered the
next century, they would experiment with different influences from album to
album, and they would continue to face bad luck and challenges along the
way. Burgess would move to the Los
Angeles area, bringing the band out to record their next album, the Curtis
Mayfield-inspired Wonderland. In timing typical of the band’s luck,
the album would be released in the United States on September 11, 2001, forcing
the cancelation of the beginning portions of the albums promotion.
As The Charlatans' record
contract expired, the next album, 2004’s Up
at the Lake would fail to get a U.S. release, but the band would sign with
Sanctuary Music Group to release their 2006 album, the dancehall reggae influenced
Simpatico; however, the record
company would file for bankruptcy before the band entered the studio to record
2008’s new-wave heavy You Cross My Path. Fresh off the heels of Radiohead’s “pay
what you like” internet release for their In
Rainbows album, The Charlatans
would release You Cross My Path for
free download via the internet three months before the physical version would
arrive in the shops. In
typical Charlatans fashion though, the U.S. tour dates would have to be
cancelled due to drummer Jon Brooks needing surgery for a shoulder condition
aggravated by drumming.
2010 found the band both
looking back and moving forward, releasing an expanded and re-mastered 20th
anniversary edition of their debut, Some
Friendly, as well a new album, Who We
Touch, the strongest collection of songs the band had released since 1999’s
Us and Us Only. The band returned to the United States
for the first time since 2006 in the fall of 2010 to promote the new record,
and drummer Jon Brooks collapsed on stage halfway through the band's set in
Philadelphia. After being rushed
to the hospital, Brooks was diagnosed with a brain tumor and flown home for
emergency surgery, forcing the band to cancel yet another North American
tour. The Charlatans would regroup
to promote the album in Europe with Peter Salisbury from The Verve filling in while
Brooks recovered. Brooks returned
to the drummer’s throne for the encore of the band's New Year’s show that
December.
The Charlatans are
currently readying their as-yet-untitled 12th studio album for release in late
2013, following a year of concerts celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Tellin’ Stories. The band is also set to release a
documentary, Mountain Picnic Blues: the
Making of Tellin’ Stories this spring. Whatever direction the band pursues on their forthcoming
effort, one thing is without question: after 23 years, The Charlatans stand as
one of the most dependably consistent and strongest live acts of their
generation, and deserve to be mentioned alongside the all-time greats of
British rock. They are the last
band standing from Mad-chester, the last band standing from Britpop, and they
show no signs of stopping anytime soon.
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