FMB – JAMES (GOLDROCKER)
This was a very strange discovery on eBay. In the early nineties Channel Four had a TV series called The Next Big Thing which along with The Real World was one of the very first reality TV shows and this particular example followed an indie band called FMB when British indie was very much the kind of fraggle rock of Mega City Four and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (as your parents) that was very studenty and very grungy. This was an era in which indie bands did not appear to be afraid to make a noise and were genuinely an alternative music option, rightly disliked by parents and somewhat strangers to the Top 40 and mainstream pop coverage who would occasionally dent these media outlets in what would seem something of a victory to those not quite on the more popular rave ticket and likely to be frown upon and picked on by society in general. There was however strength in numbers attached to being part of this movement.
FMB were a fun band, too homely to really “make it” and gritty and real enough to appeal to the legions of indie fans often awkward and snobbish about their music selections. Unfortunately however in the industry nobody would touch the band as the TV series was seen as the kiss of death as it made them also appear slightly contrived, getting something of an undeserved leg up when at the time there were literally hundreds of bands that could be featuring on this new vehicle, TV show, bands that had already been slogging away for several years and to be honest more deserved such coverage. This was way before Simon Cowell and sunlight had yet to be let in on the magic of the music industry and such TV shows were not yet considered as corrupt as they are now.
So now over fifteen years later I discover that the band reformed and recorded their “hit” from the series with view to giving it “a second go.” My god this would appear to be an error of astronomical proportions. People have grown up, people have moved on.
Listening to FMB now is a weird experience. I must concede I thought the band were cool when I saw them on the show. This was about three years before we started Gringo Records so I didn’t really know the true/full ins and outs of independent music.
It is weird listening to this song now. I don’t recognise it. The rock is gone, the energy is gone but what remains is the chorus but the hook is now caked is overblown catastrophe. When stuck with me from the TV show was the NME review that ended “future mayhem beckons.” No it doesn’t. What instead occurs is a whitewash and a glib example of trying too hard. This is the sound of a band pandering. At their age they really should have known better.
Did they learn nothing with their previous adventures? Too little too late.
Thesaurus moment: recede.
FMB
This was a very strange discovery on eBay. In the early nineties Channel Four had a TV series called The Next Big Thing which along with The Real World was one of the very first reality TV shows and this particular example followed an indie band called FMB when British indie was very much the kind of fraggle rock of Mega City Four and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (as your parents) that was very studenty and very grungy. This was an era in which indie bands did not appear to be afraid to make a noise and were genuinely an alternative music option, rightly disliked by parents and somewhat strangers to the Top 40 and mainstream pop coverage who would occasionally dent these media outlets in what would seem something of a victory to those not quite on the more popular rave ticket and likely to be frown upon and picked on by society in general. There was however strength in numbers attached to being part of this movement.
FMB were a fun band, too homely to really “make it” and gritty and real enough to appeal to the legions of indie fans often awkward and snobbish about their music selections. Unfortunately however in the industry nobody would touch the band as the TV series was seen as the kiss of death as it made them also appear slightly contrived, getting something of an undeserved leg up when at the time there were literally hundreds of bands that could be featuring on this new vehicle, TV show, bands that had already been slogging away for several years and to be honest more deserved such coverage. This was way before Simon Cowell and sunlight had yet to be let in on the magic of the music industry and such TV shows were not yet considered as corrupt as they are now.
So now over fifteen years later I discover that the band reformed and recorded their “hit” from the series with view to giving it “a second go.” My god this would appear to be an error of astronomical proportions. People have grown up, people have moved on.
Listening to FMB now is a weird experience. I must concede I thought the band were cool when I saw them on the show. This was about three years before we started Gringo Records so I didn’t really know the true/full ins and outs of independent music.
It is weird listening to this song now. I don’t recognise it. The rock is gone, the energy is gone but what remains is the chorus but the hook is now caked is overblown catastrophe. When stuck with me from the TV show was the NME review that ended “future mayhem beckons.” No it doesn’t. What instead occurs is a whitewash and a glib example of trying too hard. This is the sound of a band pandering. At their age they really should have known better.
Did they learn nothing with their previous adventures? Too little too late.
Thesaurus moment: recede.
FMB
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