Formed in Bellshill in 1989 by former members of little-known indie bands such as The Boy Hairdressers and BMX Bandits, Teenage Fanclub quickly signed to the tiny Paperhouse label, where they released their debut album A Catholic Education and a handful of singles including a shouty version of The Beatles' 'Ballad of John and Yoko', issued in November 1990 to mark what would have been John Lennon's 50th birthday.

The following year they were snapped up by Creation Records and made their first steps towards chart success with their album Bandwagonesque, which reached number 22 and spawned their first top 40 single, 'What You Do To Me'. The rest of 1992 was spent recording their third album, Thirteen, which reached number 14 in 1993. As the band's music became increasingly mellow, the music press began to pick up on the influence of The Byrds on their style, an influence which was conveniently signposted by the album's closing track, 'Gene Clark', named after the Byrds' frontman.

1994 was a quiet year, except for a one-off collaboration with US rappers De La Soul on the single 'Fallin'', which failed to trouble the top 40 despite both acts' chart history. After this relative failure, Teenage Fanclub returned to familiar territory the following year with their fourth album, Grand Prix, which gave them their first top 10 hit album and two top 40 singles, 'Mellow Doubt' and 'Sparky's Dream'. Riding the Britpop wave, they followed this in 1997 with Songs From Northern Britain, a number 3 hit album whose first single, 'Ain't That Enough', finally saw the band reach the top 20 and make their debut on Top Of The Pops. Strangely though, the album's other two singles were unable to maintain the momentum and failed to reach the top 40.

This was to be their last release of the 1990s, due in part to the collapse of Creation Records, but Teenage Fanclub returned in 2000, signing a new deal with Sony Music and releasing their sixth album, Howdy! Compared to previous releases, however, the album and its accompanying single 'I Need Direction' sold poorly and the Sony deal was swiftly terminated. Free of their corporate responsibilities, in 2002 the band teamed up with respected American musician Jad Fair to record an album, Words Of Wisdom And Hope, and completed their Sony contract with the release of a 'best of' compilation, the snappily titled Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds: A Shortcut to Teenage Fanclub.

It seems that, despite influencing more successful bands such as Travis, and counting Billy Connolly among their fans, Teenage Fanclub may be destined to remain one of Glasgow's most overlooked treasures.

UK Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs