15 minutes with Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake: it all started on Blackpool Pier (aged two) …

Teenage Fanclub are touring the UK in November. Norman tells us here about some of the first and best shows he’s seen and played and life in the group's early days. Which involves …

… the band that made him want to start a band. 

… the Wombles at a YMCA when he was 12.

… selling a fridge and a washing machine to buy recording time.

… the bouncing balcony of the Glasgow Apollo when the Clash played in ‘78.

… having a wee next to Steve Cropper.

… the age at which audiences “appreciate having a seat”.

… busking etiquette.  

... his mum taking him to see the Kinks and Tom Jones.  

… serving John Martyn at McCormack’s Music Shop – “Thanks, wee man!"

… a sweet story about a trombone, Terry Hall and the Specials.

… Neil Young with Booker T & the MGs.

… the fine art of “sprinkling” new material in a set list.

… watching the Smiths play the greatest show he’s ever seen, “the stage strewn with flowers”.

Dates and tickets here …

 https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/teenage-fanclub-tickets/artist/736268

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