Background information
Origin	Oldham, England
Genre(s)	Rock Indie Madchester
Years active	1986–present
Label(s)	Mute Records
Associated acts	Tom Hingley and the Lovers The Clint Boon Experience Too Much Texas
Website	http://www.inspiralcarpets.com
Members
Tom Hingley Clint Boon Graham Lambert Craig Gill Martyn Walsh
Former members
Stephen Holt David Swift Glen Chesworth

The Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert in 1986.

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 & DVD 4 Singles 5 Audio sample 6 Trivia 7 References 8 External links

History

The Inspiral Carpets emerged, alongside bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, from the indie scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their sound is based around psychedelic keyboards and jangly shaped guitars. The band were propelled to fame after being 'discovered' by the Radio 1 DJ John Peel and had their first chart success in the UK with a single entitled "This Is How It Feels", which is a song about unemployment and touches on themes of domestic violence.

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. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate.

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

After an amicable split in the mid-nineties they re-formed with their original line-up in 2001 (plus new recruit James Ellison on vibraphone). This was backed with the release of a new single, a couple of sold-out tours and a number of new compilation records. 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.

Members

Early line-up

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

Height of success through to present day

• 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)

Discography

Studio albums

• 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)

Compilations

• 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)

Video & DVD

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

Singles

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.

Audio sample