Teenage Fanclub is a Scottish alternative rock band from Bellshill Glasgow, formed in 1989. They are well known for their devotion to chiming, Byrds-esque guitars and harmony vocals. They have two generally known humorous nicknames "The Fannies" and "The Bellshill Beach Boys"
Song-writing duties are shared between the three permanent members of the group: Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, and Gerard Love.
Each writer has a distinct style within that of Teenage Fanclub as a whole and often fans will favour one songwriter more than the others. Within the band Gerry Love seems to be the most popular, based on the evidence of lead (1st) singles from their albums.
Live they usually alternate pretty strictly between the three songwriters (who all sing lead vocals on their own songs). Despite the prevalence of harmony vocals on the album versions of songs, only Norm sings harmony in concert except for maybe the occasional track.
There have been a succession of drummers, including: Francis MacDonald (a prime-mover in the C86 scene, later of the BMX Bandits), the drummer in the original lineup, and in a later period Brendan O’Hare (later of the Telstar Ponies and Mogwai), and Paul Quinn, who was later replaced by the returning Francis MacDonald.
Keyboardist Finlay MacDonald (no relation to Francis MacDonald) has also been a member.
Teenage Fanclub emerged from the Glasgow C86 scene. Their sound is reminiscent of West Coast bands like the Beach Boys and Byrds, and their seventies counterparts Big Star. Originally a noisy and chaotic band, their first album A Catholic Education is largely atypical of their later sound, with the possible exception of "Everything Flows". The King, their next album, was widely panned; it consists of a number of self-confessedly shambolic guitar thrashes and an ironic cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" (also demolished by Sonic Youth in their Ciccione Youth guise). The album was produced at great speed in order to fulfil the terms (although not the spirit) of an existing American record deal with Matador Records.
