1989
JANUARY 30: Mancheste Hacienda. Filmed for BBC2's Snub TV. The same set
was played throughout this tour, with
occasional extras thrown in, like 'Mersey Paradise' and 'Going Down'. Interviewed
backstage, Reni reveals that "we just ignore the
rest of the world and concentrate on Manchester, because we want to be
the biggest band in our street."
FEBRUARY 17: Warrington Legends. Supported by the old lineup of the Charlatans,
with the little-feted Baz Kettley on vocals.
FEBRUARY 20: Sheffield University. Ian Brown's 26th birthday.
FEBRUARY 23: Middlesex Polytechnic.
FEBRUARY
28: Brighton Escape Club.
MARCH
1: Bradford Club Rio.
MARCH
2: Cardiff Venue
MARCH
3: Dudley JBs. Supported by the old lineup of The Charlatans, with Baz
once again at the mic.
MARCH
11: 'Made Of Stone' gets Single Of The Week in the NME - "Proof that everything's
coming up Stone Roses" declares their man.
MARCH
18: 'Made Of Stone' peaks at number 90.
APRIL
10: Reni's 25th birthday.
APRIL
28: Portsmouth South Parade Pier.
APRIL
29: Uxbridge Brunel University.
MAY
2: 'The Stone Roses' LP released. The press are unequivocal : "An aural
BigMac laced with psychedelic dill." (NME); "The
spacy
arrangements aligned to a fertile combination of melodies, harmonies and
guitars is genuinely heady stuff." (Q); "This is a
masterpiece."
(Sounds); "The sweet ache of poignancy." (Melody Maker); "Jangling in every
sense." (The Observer); "The Stone
Roses
are blooming in technicolor." (Rolling Stone); "Well worth tracking down."
(London Challenger).
MAY
4: Liverpool Polytechnic. A lemon is thrown onstage and the Waterfall design
t-shirt is available for 5 pounds. Two days
later
in Manchester, "inflation" takes the price up to ten pounds.
MAY
5: Widnes Queen's Hall.
MAY
6: Manchester International 2. Total mania. Ian Brown wanders onstage ringing
a bell. The bar has to be temporarily closed as the bar staff want to get
down
the
front.
MAY
7: Sheffield University.
MAY
8: Leeds Warehouse.
MAY
11: Trent Polytechnic. Supported by the old lineup of The Charlatans, with
Baz, thrillingly, still at the helm.
MAY
12: Dudley JBs.
MAY
13: Tunbridge Angel Centre.
MAY
15: London ICA.
MAY
17: Birmingham Edwards No 8.
MAY
19: Aberystwyth University.
MAY
22: London Camden Dingwalls.
MAY
24: Oxford Polytechnic.
MAY
25: Shrewsbury Fridge. Tickets sell so well for this that the venue is
moved to a glitzy nightclub, Park Lane. Tickets cost 2 pounds.
MAY
26: Milton Keynes Elektra. (Cancelled due to recording of B-sides for 'She
Bangs The Drums' at London's RAK Studios.)
MAY
27: St Helens Citadel. (Cancelled due to recording.)
MAY
30: Preston Guildhall Foyer.
JUNE
3: Walsall Junction 10.
JUNE
6: Reading Majestic.
JUNE
7: Leicester University.
JUNE
8: Lancaster University. [The VinylJunki was there!!]
JUNE 20: Newcastle Riverside.
JUNE 21: Edinburgh Venue.
JUNE 22: Glasgow Rooftops.
JUNE 23: Middlesbrough Town Hall.
JUNE 24: Northampton Roadmenders.
JUNE
25: Norwich Arts Centre.
JUNE
26: Bristol Bierkeller.
JUNE
27: Stratford-On-Avon Civic Hall.
JUNE
28: Birmingham Irish Centre.
JULY
13: 'She Bangs The Drums' is released.
JULY
27: Newcastle Riverside.
JULY
28: The Daily Mirror alleges that Bros have "begged chart newcomers The
Stone Roses to support them but the band has refused." Melody Maker runs
a
rumour
circulating at the time that the band are to play at "a film studio in
Kensington." This turns out to be the Alexandra Palace event.
AUGUST
5: 'She Bangs The Drums' peaks at number 36.
AUGUST
12: Empress Ballroom Blackpool. Manchester invades the coast for the day.
First mass spotting of 'Reni hats'. The band's arrival onstage is heralded
by
Ian
Brown strolling on with an electric yo-yo. The rest of the band throw ice
pops to the overheated crowd.
OCTOBER
12: Les Inrockuptibles Festival, Paris, playing with The La's and Felt.
Someone lets off a smoke bomb during the band's set.
NOVEMBER
1: 'Fool's Gold'/'What The World Is Waiting For' is released.
NOVEMBER
16: Mani's 27th birthday.
NOVEMBER
18: Alexandra Palace. In response to the 7000 crowd's chant of "Manchester,
la la la", Ian Brown delivers the now
famous
one-liner, "It's not where you're from, it's where you're at." The event
is recorded by Granada TV, but the Roses'
management
pull the plug on the proposed Great North Show documentary and the footage
languishes in the company's vaults.
The
post-gig party is in an old recording studio on London' Holloway Road.
NOVEMBER
21: The Late Show, BBC2. The Stone Roses' first live TV appearance. Forty
seconds into 'Made Of Stone', the
"limiter
switch" automatically cuts the powers as the volume exceeds BBC regulations.
The presenter hastily introduces a video of
'One
Love' while Ian Brown shouts "Amateurs! Amateurs!" at studio staff. "We're
wasting our time here, lads." he continues.
NOVEMBER
23: 'Fool's Gold' Top Of The Pops appearance with Happy Mondays. Both bands
are interviewed by Nick Kent for The Face. His piece, which
ends
with the words "Welcome to the No Power Generation" causes the Roses extreme
displeasure.
NOVEMBER
24: John Squire's 27th birthday.
DECEMBER
2: 'Fool's Gold' peaks at number 8.
DECEMBER
21: An application is made to Halton Borough Council to hold the Spike
Island event.
1990
JANUARY
10: Number One magazine reveal that 'Fool's Gold' was the best selling
indie single of 1989. 'The Stone Roses' was the best selling indie album.
JANUARY
30: The Stone Roses and their road manager Steve Adge drive up to Wolverhampton
from Rockfield Studios in South Wales, where they are recording
with
John Leckie, and visit their former record company, Revolver. Angry at
the label's re-release of their 1987 single 'Sally Cinnamon' - and specifically
its
accompanying
video - they throw blue and white paint over label boss Paul Birch and
his girlfriend Olivia Darling. Ian Brown puts a brick through Birch's 25000
pound
Mercedes. "The video was insulting", Brown said at the time. "Blokes selling
fruit, a few pigeons, some black woman holding a baby, a picture of me
on the
front
of The Face, a few people in flares... So we went and painted him."
JANUARY
31: The band and Steve Adge are arrested. Ian Brown, John Squire and Reni
are arrested in their hotel near the studio. Mani and Steve walk into
Monmouth
police station to give themselves up. All are taken to Wolverhampton. Steve
Adge is released without charge.
FEBRUARY
1: The Stone Roses are released on bail.
FEBRUARY
7: The Stone Roses serve a writ on Revolver to try to stop the video for
'Sally Cinnamon' being shown.
FEBRUARY
12: The 'Sally Cinnamon' hearing is adjourned for three weeks.
FEBRAURY
19: 'Elephant Stone', the band's 1988 debut single for Silvertone, is re-issued.
They begin two days of international interviews at London's Tara Hotel.
The
British press are not invited.
FEBRAURY
20: Ian Brown's 27th birthday.
FEBRUARY
26: 'Made Of Stone' re-issued.
MARCH 3: 'Elephant Stone' peaks at number 8.
MARCH 6: The Stone Roses appear at Wolverhampton Magistrate's Court charged
with criminal damage over the Revolver raid.
The case is adjourned when the defence and prosecution fail to agree on
a figure for damages. The entire hearing lasts for less than
60 seconds.
MARCH 10: The case is adjourned to give Revolver time to prepare their
defence. NME reports that the band have lost the initial
'Sally Cinnamon' injunction.
MARCH 17: 'Made Of Stone' peaks at number 20.
MARCH
31: The NME reports that Ian Brown was spotted in London's 'nitespot' Cafe
De Paris "holding an animated conversation with the entire Liverpool
football
team."
APRIL
10: Reni's 26th birthday.
APRIL
12: Wolverhampton Magistrate's Court. Adjourned until the 26th, and committed
to Crown Court.
APRIL
18: Ian Brown spotted in London's Charing Cross Road after coming down
with his father, Vincent, to see their team - Warrington - lose 36-14 to
Wigan in
the
Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.
APRIL
26: Wolverhampton Crown Court.
MAY
14: The Daily Mirror carries a showbiz report about a shooting at Manchester
International, the club previously managed by the Roses' manager, Gareth
Evans.
The Stone Roses are there, along with Tim Booth and Saul Davies from James.
MAY
15: Copenhagan.
MAY
16: Lund (Sweden). 'Sally Cinnamon' court case comes up again.
MAY
17: Stockholm.
MAY
19: Oslo.
MAY
26: At a pre Spike Island press conference in Manchester's Piccadilly Hotel,
the band successfully bait press from all around the world. Local journalist
based
in
US, Frank Owen says they're taking the piss and is attacked by a drunken
fan. "What will you be doing in five years?" asks the Daily Star. "What
a stupid
question"
retorts Ian Brown.
MAY
27: Spike Island. 28000 attend the all day concert on an island in the
Mersey Estuary. The Stone Roses are the only band to play - the rest of
the music is
provided
by DJs Frankie Knuckles, Gary Clail, Dave Haslam and Dave Booth. The band
perform 17 songs in 75 minutes, ending with a riotous 'I Am The
Resurrection'.
The weather is gloriously sunny and the vibe is generally excellent. But
the queue for alcohol is two hours long and cigarettes are unavailable.
Backstage,
journalists are appalled to learn that the only free drink on hand is Coca-Cola.
JUNE
2: Glasgow Green. 8000 people cram into a tent to witness The Stone Roses'
last live appearance. After the gig, the band return to the Sub Club, where
they
party
until 7.30am. Report in the NME that the release of the Roses' next single,
'One Love', is to be delayed, pending new cover art, because a swastika
could be
detected
in John Squire's original painting. "Anyone who knows us knows we're not
Nazis," explains Ian Brown in a Select interview, "but if some kid in Barcelona
goes
into a bar with a t-shirt on - Stone Roses, looking a bit like a swastika
- ends up gettng stabbed. How would we feel then?"
JUNE
3: Appearance at Feria De Nimes Festival in Spain cancelled because of
it's bull-fighting connections. "We don't want a ritual slaughter as a
support act," says
a
spokesman.
JUNE
18: Official release of 'One Love' is delayed. The official line is that
the cover art is not yet ready, although cynics believe that the band are
prolonging the
suspense
to guarantee chart entry at number one.
JUNE
21: Chicago (Cancelled) "America doesn't deserve us yet" - Ian Brown
JUNE
22: New York (Cancelled)
JUNE
25: 'One Love'/'Something's Burning' released.
JUNE
29: Hollywood High School Gymnasium (Cancelled)
JUNE
30: San Fransisco (Cancelled)
JULY
11: The band pull out of an appearance on Wogan after a dispute over the
length of their slot. The band want to be
interviewed
by Terry Wogan, but the BBC merely require a mimed performance of 'One
Love'. The band refuse to appear.
JULY
14: Sounds reports that rumours of the band trying to set up a gig in Beirut
are true, but according to a spokesman,
"logistically
improbable." 'One Love' peaks at number 4.
JULY
28: NME carries a picture of Mani with his new short haircut. Reni turns
upto the opening of Central Station Design's exhibition in Manchester Art
Gallery
wearing
a sou'wester and wading boots. Reports that he was armed with a chainsaw
are never confirmed.
AUGUST
22: The music press reports that Stone Roses have "left" their contract
with Silvertone - poached by an as yet unnamed company.
SEPTEMBER
15: Melody Maker reports that Silvertone have put an injunction on the
band, preventing them from recording for another label.
OCTOBER
5: Wolverhampton Crown Court. The Stone Roses are fined 3000 pounds each,
plus 95 pounds costs, for the Revolver paint-throwing incident.
Damages
are deferred. The band are described by their defence as "four young men
with an absessive regard for their music."
NOVEMBER
16: Mani's 28th birthday.
NOVEMBER
24: John Squire's 28th birthday.
DECEMBER
1: The Young Telegraph informs us that "those crazy Manchester lads The
Stone Roses have recently become golf addicts." The story is noticeably
absent
from other publications.
DECEMBER
15: It is reported that the band have been involved in a food fight with
The Mock Turtles at a festival in Spain. The chosen weapon? Squid.
1991
FEBRUARY
10: The Rumbelows League Cup semi-final first leg held played at Old Trafford.
As fiesty carrot-haired Leeds United midfielder Gordon Strachan
(formerly
of Manchester United) goes flying ove some advertising hoardings, a disillusioned
Mancunian fan in the crowd gobs at him. It is Mani - making an
unexpected
live TV comeback.
FEBRUARY
20: Ian Brown's 28th birthday.
FEBRUARY
23: The NME quotes insiders in The Stone Roses camp as saying the band
now have enough new material to fill two LPs.
MARCH
4-6: Silvertone try to have the 1988 contract with the band declared enforceable,
and seek an injunction to stop the group recording for any other
company.
The interim injunction stays in place pending the outcome of the case.
MARCH
18-22: The band appear in the Law Courts in The Strand, London, to hear
the testimony of Geoffrey Howard, their solicitor at the time of signing
the
Silvertone
deal. Later in the week, the band's lawyer, John Kennedy, reports that
they had been offered 4 million dollars to sign for Geffen Records. Rumours
of a
Roses
summer concert start.
MARCH
23: Melody Maker reports Ian Brown saying that if the case went against
them the band would give up music and go on the dole.
MARCH
25-26: The band appear in court in connection with the Silvertone contract
- although Reni is ill and can't attend. The reasons behind the band's
non-appearance
on Wogan in July '89 are discussed. It's revealed in court that Roses manager
Gareth Evans' real name is Ian Bromley. He changed it while working
at
Vidal Sassoon's in the '60s.
APRIL
10: Reni's 27th birthday.
Thanks to Mike Quinn for the original
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