| It was the winter of 1997 in London, England. The city was in the thralls of Brit-pop fever, and The Verve, Oasis and Radiohead ruled the airwaves. I had taken the train all the way to Reading on a weeknight just to catch a glimpse of Ocean Colour Scene – the band that had taken over heavy rotation on my Discman. The Birmingham foursome’s throwback to classic rock did not disappoint live, yet despite their success, the British music press seemed to always hold them an arm’s length away.
Fast forward to the fall of 2003 in Calgary, and I have yet to hear anything by Ocean Colour Scene in North America, save from my personal collection. Every once in a while, I dust off my copies of Moseley Shoals (1996) and Marchin’ Already (1997), two of their best releases, and remember my time in England. When the opportunity arose to speak with Steve Cradock, lead guitarist for the band and creator of some of my favourite riffs, I jumped at the chance.
Their fifth and latest album, North Atlantic Drift, is classic Ocean Colour Scene – original rock music with catchy, creative hooks and tons of memorable rhythms. But it hasn’t been easy for the band to even get to a fifth album.
Ocean Colour Scene was first signed to the !Phfft label in 1991, only to have the label sold to Fontana Records shortly after work on their debut album began. The disruption caused the band to record the album three different times, only to have it fall flat once it was finally released to the public. The band eventually sued their way out of their contract with Fontana, leaving them broke and tossed aside by the fickle press.
"It totally ruined our momentum," laments Cradock. "We tried to leave the deal as soon as possible after that and we just sort of reverted back to this little sort of garage thing that we started recording demos on. And that became Mosely Shoals. The two years before that were just a nightmare."
But Ocean Colour Scene kept working on their music steadily, pumping any money they made back into the project. A series of good luck scenarios soon followed. First, the band got a gig opening for Cradock’s own hero, Paul Weller, then Noel Gallagher heard their tape and booked them to open for an Oasis tour, and finally, Radio 1 DJ Chris Evans declared their single "The Riverboat Song" the record of the week. But it has been Britain’s reluctance to acknowledge the band’s success publicly that has remained a thorn in Cradock’s side.
"We’re not even mentioned in the same sentence as Brit-pop by any English journalist," says Cradock bitterly. "And that’s really strange to us. Mosely Shoals was one of the biggest albums to do with Brit-pop and our next album, Marchin’ Already, knocked Oasis off number one. Fuck Brit-pop I think, at the end of the day."
The British music press have always been like a popular high school clique – cruel, ambivalent and oh-so fickle. When I ask Cradock if it matters what the press thinks when his band are obviously selling hundreds of thousands of records to loyal fans, it is obvious that is one goal he is having trouble giving up on.
"If you’re a critic’s choice," explains Cradock, "you end up selling more records. We’ve got a fantastic fan base in England and we’re lucky for that. At the same point, it would be good if we could reach more people because basically the press doesn’t even touch us in England. It’s a shame – I think we deserve more. We’ve had five Top 10 albums, and they don’t even mention us. If they do, it’s like, ‘Look at these retro wankers!’"
After years of the same treatment, Cradock is matter-of-fact about the situation and when I ask him his theory on the shutout, he most definitely has an answer.
"I think it’s ’cause we made it without them – we made it on our own accord without the fucking press." |
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