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Inspiral Carpets
Origin	Oldham, England
Genre(s)	Rock Indie Madchester
Years active	1986-1995, 2003-present
Label(s)	Mute / Elektra
Associated acts	Tom Hingley and the Lovers The Clint Boon Experience Too Much Texas The Rainkings
Website	www.inspiralcarpets.com
Members
Tom Hingley Clint Boon Graham Lambert Craig Gill Martyn Walsh
Former members
Stephen Holt David Swift Glenn Chesworth

Inspiral Carpets are an indie rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1986. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate. Their sound is based around psychedelic keyboards and jangly shaped guitars.

Contents 1 History 2 Members 2.1 Early line-up 2.2 Height of success through to present day 3 Discography 3.1 Studio albums 3.2 Compilations 3.3 Video 4 Singles 5 Audio sample 6 References 7 External links

Schoolfriends Lambert and Holt recruited drummer Craig Gill, and after various other members had come and gone, they were joined by bassist David Swift and organist Clint Boon (whose Ashton-under-Lyne studio the band had been using for rehearsals).^[1] They came to prominence, alongside bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, in the 'Madchester' scene of the late 1980s. After a flexi-disc featuring Garage Full Of Flowers given free with Manchester's Debris magazine in 1987, their first release proper, the 1988 "Planecrash" EP on the Playtime label received much airplay from Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who asked the band to record a session for his show. As their popularity grew, Playtime's distributor Red Rhino Records went bust, leading the band to form their own label, Cow Records in 1989. In the same year, Holt and Swift departed to form The Rainkings, with the band recruiting Too Much Texas singer Tom Hingley and Martin Walsh of The Next Step to replace them. After a handful of singles on their own label, the last of which, Move, came close to the UK top 40, they signed a deal with Mute Records, and immediately had their first chart success in the UK with "This Is How It Feels", which is a song about unemployment and touches on themes of domestic violence. The single reached #14 in the singles chart, and debut album "Life" reached #2 in the album chart, both in 1990.

The following year's "The Beast Inside" was less well-received by critics,^[2] but still achieved a top 5 album chart placing. Despite waning interest in the 'Madchester' scene, Inspiral Carpets enjoyed chart success for the next four years, before being dropped by Mute in late 1994, with the band splitting in 1995.

They re-formed with in 2001, releasing a new single "Come Back Tomorrow" (recorded in 1995), a couple of sold-out tours and a number of new compilation records, most notably the "Cool As" box set. They have toured sporadically since, reuniting yet again in 2007 to tour in support of an iTunes only compilation of their b-sides and rarities. They have already announced dates for 2008 and have announced that their own Cow Records label is to be revived.

At the time of their initial success, the band earned some notoriety for their squiggly-eyed cow 'Cool as Fuck' T-shirts; a student at Oxford Polytechnic was prosecuted on obscenity charges for wearing one. One of their roadies, Noel Gallagher, who was rejected in an audition to be the band's vocalist, went on to great success with the band Oasis.

They reworked their single "Find Out Why" as the theme tune to the 8:15 from Manchester.

• Stephen Holt - vocals
• Graham Lambert - guitars
• David Swift - bass
• Clint Boon - keyboards, vocals
• Craig Gill - drums

• Tom Hingley - vocals (born Thomas Hingley, on 9 July 1965, in Abingdon)
• Graham Lambert - guitar - (born Graham Paul Lambert, on 10 July 1964, in Chadderton, Oldham)
• Martyn Walsh - bass - (born Martyn John Walsh, on 3 July 1968, in Rusholme, Manchester)
• Clint Boon - Farfisa organ, backing vocals (born Clinton David Boon, on 28 June 1959, in Oldham)
• Craig Gill - drums - (born Craig Douglas Gill on 5 December 1971, in Salford)

Guitarist Graham Lambert states in an interview on the Cool As box set that the band had tried numerous bass players before settling on Martyn Walsh, who was their thirteenth bass player.

• Life (1990) (UK Albums Chart #2)
• The Beast Inside (1991) (UK Albums Chart #5)
• Revenge Of The Goldfish (1992) (UK Albums Chart #17)
• Devil Hopping (1994) (UK Albums Chart #10)

• The Singles (1995) (UK Albums Chart #17)
• Radio 1 Sessions (1996) (UK Album Chart N/A)
• Cool As (2003) (UK Albums Chart #65)
• Greatest Hits (2003) (UK Album Chart N/A)
• Keep the Circle (2007) (iTunes only download)

• 21.7.90 (1990) [VHS]
• Inspiral Carpets The Singles (1995) [VHS]
• Live at Brixton Academy (2003) [DVD]

Year	Title	Chart positions		Album
		UK Singles Chart	US Modern Rock
1988	Planecrash EP	N/A	N/A	N/A*
1989	Trainsurfing EP	N/A	N/A	N/A*
1989	"Joe"	N/A	N/A	N/A*
1989	"Find Out Why"	#90	N/A	N/A*
1989	"Move"	#49	N/A	Life*
1990	"Commercial Reign"	N/A	#27	Life*
1990*	"This Is How It Feels"	#14	#22	Life
1990	"She Comes in the Fall"	#27	N/A	Life
1990	"Island Head EP"	#21	N/A	N/A
1991	"Caravan"	#30	#15	Beast Inside
1991	"Please be Cruel"	#50	N/A	Beast Inside
1992	"Dragging Me Down"	#12	N/A	Revenge of the Goldfish
1992	"Two Worlds Collide"	#32	N/A	Revenge of the Goldfish
1992	"Generations"	#28	N/A	Revenge of the Goldfish
1992	"Bitches Brew"	#36	N/A	Revenge of the Goldfish
1993	"How it Should Be"	#49	N/A	N/A
1994	"Saturn 5"	#20	N/A	Devil Hopping
1994	"I Want You"	#18	N/A	Devil Hopping
1994	"Uniform"	#51	N/A	Devil Hopping
1995	"Joe"	#37	N/A	The Singles
2003	"Come Back Tomorrow"	#43	N/A	Cool As

^* Commercial Reign did not appear on the UK release of Life. This is How it Feels was released in 1991 in the US.

• Inspiral Carpets Biography. Mute Records. (Accessed 4 December 2005).

• The Inspiral Carpets - official site
• Inspiral Carpets at MySpace
• Inspiral Carpets at All Music Guide
• 8:15 from Manchester theme tune - WAV audio clip.