THIS IS A TOTAL HISTORY OF THE BAND


This information is taken from the book "The Verve : mad urban soul"...

Introduction





CONSIDER, if you will, the perceived nature of life ooop narrrrth. For decades, theea sandwhiched between Scotland amd the Midlands has consistently been berated and crammed into whippet-rearing, tripe-eating stereotypes, as befits the whim or snide amusement of the Non-Northeners who delight in peddling such easy trivia.

It is typified by cliched songs such as 'Life In A Northern Town' by the once great Dream Academy, led by the equally great but dishevelled Nick Laird-Clowes, an enforced (and perhaps not ideal) ambassador for the region. It has its roots firmly set in bleak 1960's films such as 'A Taste Of Honey' and 'This Sproting Life'. The later is a perticularly gritty portrayal of life in a grim Northern setting, featuring Richard Harris as an uncompromising young coal miner who tries to better himself by becoming a proffesional rogky player, whi;st becoming involvred in a temtestuous affair with his dowdily-attired landlady.

Such extreme characterisation may or may not wholly translate into the reality of Northern culture (or any culture, come to that), but the rugby theme is an example where places like the representative town of Wigan have shone over recent years (aficionado's will point to a particular chappie called Offiah). Significantly, it is not the only thing that Wigan is renowned for. It just happens to be the birthplace of The Verve, emaciated purverors of sinous, acid-flavoured epics and string-tinged balladry, and in truth the unlikeliest candidates ever to even consider gracing a rugby field.



chapter one


grimly beautiful awakenings





WIGAN, 1984, and Richard Ashcroft is 13. Even then, he ahs decided that he wants to be the singer in a band. He tells his careers teacher so. And even this early on, he is experimenting with the gamut of different haircuts (easy when his mother was a hairdresser). One minute his hair would be bleached blonde, the next it would be a dyed black quiff complemented by sideburns down to his chin. It was easy to find the spark - in 1982, the sudden death fo his father Frank, from a blood clot on the brain, aroused the sensibilities of the young Ashcroft, triggering a reaction in him to do something; the sharp realisation of mortality may have surfaced at the forefront of his mind, but it was never likely to burn negative, wallowing holes in his psyche.

At school he is charmingly rgarded as "the cancer of the class" (his own words), and is seen as an outsider for whom his teachers have no time. During a philosophy and religion exam, Ashcroft decides enough is enough and walks out. it is a gloriously sunny day and if he is honest, he couldnt give two hoots about the exam. The school became so concerned for his general welfare that, at one stage, they considered dredging the canal in the belief that he had killed himself, unaware that he was sunbathing on a nearby hill, innocently basking in the warmth of the day.



The rest of this book will be posted here soon but it takes so long to type...sorry to cause ant inconvenience.