INTERVIEW WITH COLIN ZOBEL, 1990 TOUR PROGRAMME

Someone from Hazel Grove! There is someone famous from Hazel Grove! The suave Larry Gott is our saviour! I can't believe it: here I am, sat post-gig backstage in Liverpool, talking to the handsome guitarist who, it turns out, lives just around the corner from me!

"Was it you at Birmingham last night ?" asks the Great One. 

Was what me? 

"There was a big group at Birmingham last night chanting 'Hazel Grove! Hazel Grove! Hazel Grove!' At least that's what I think they were saying."

You mean we're talking about a new cult following here? By this time the rest of the band (minus Tim Booth, who was suffering badly from 'flu and had raced back home after a heroic performance!) were getting as bored as you are now. No, actually I'm lying: they were totally flaked out after a staggeringly energetic set.

James are a great live act, and - in the tradition of other Manchester bands - played sell-out gigs in their hometown, while remaining relatively little-known elsewhere. This is changing, with the help of Phonogram, after previous extensive record label problems. Those hassles have fuelled some of their songs. In 'Burned' they took a swipe back at the industry with some biting lyrics: 'If you don't look cool they won't look after you. But if your image is strong any song will do."

"That was quite tongue-in-cheek really," comments Tim "1989 was a great year for us, artistically and lyrically"

Their last two pre-Phonogram singles, 'Sit Down', and 'Come Home' (to be remixed and re-released this summer, rose briskly into the Top 75, the latter seeming to herald a new punchy style, far removed from their disjointed, earliest recordings.

Tim: "That early stuff varied wildly in pace, and I don't know why we don't do that anymore. It's different phases you go through." Newcomer Saul, the fiddler, spotted at have-a-go night at Band On The Wall by our man Larry, added: "With seven rather than the original four in the band there had to be a lot less from the drums. We couldn't play if all seven of us were going ape-shit; therefore the drumming has to be a lot more solid."

Mention James and the word 'bizarre' sometimes comes echoing back. James are clean-living, vegetarian, pinko lefties with odd lyrics And Morrissey is a die,hard fan. Or so you'll be told Such an image is partly their own fault in giving so few interviews tothe music press. So let's explode some myths. Take it away Tim.

"There was a certain period when we were clean-living, and there was a reason for that; a friend of ours ended up in a mental hospital and it taught us a lesson. But we've been more relaxed over the last two years. (He smiles). Every pop star has the right to go downhill at some time, if they want to"

Tell me about the lyrics. "I write most of the lyrics from the sound of words first! For the single 'What For' the original lyric was really embarrassing; "Bonjour, bouncy, bouncy bonjour!" The lads pleaded with me to keep it like that. In fact, there are odd bits of lyric on the new album that are just bits of sound, a kind of made-up language. It just meant I didn't have to work too hard at the lyric! "

This new album, Gold Mother, is beginning to sound intriguing. Where does the name come from? 

"Look over there" Tim's girlfriend Martine stands proudly in the corner, cuddling their first child, little Ben Daniel. Tim affectionately refers to him in the title track as a 'purple-headed alien' and 'water-logged old man'. Ahhh

"'Gold Mother' is to do with birth, which is not a particularly pleasant experience. Me and Larry were present when Martine gave birth, and we felt part of it all. The beat of the song is based on a series of contractions There! That'll sound pretentious!"

Larry; "Inspiral Carpets came in to do some backing, singing the 'Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold Mother; line, but they soon changed it to 'Cool, Cool, Cool, Cool Cool, Cool as Fuck .!' There was so much hysterical laughter going on, we couldn't really use it. But I suppose we could always have a novelty Cool as Fuck Mix on a CD or something"

The b-side of 'Come Home', 'Promised Land' caused quite a stir with its overtly political lyrics attacking Thatcher's less-than-caring attitude when they first started playing it at gigs; "It was amazing last year in Scotland when we performed that song. They were clapping and cheering so much Larry was in tears. "Generally we have been quite hard on our audiences" playing 60% new songs on our last tour" and 90% new songs before that. I think too many bands insult the intelligence of their audience and play all the songs that they know. If you're going to do that, the fans might as well be just be at home listening to the album."

So, the line-up has changed, the musics changed, the label's changed; have you changed as people? 

Larry; "Tim has certainly changed since he became a father. We were in a dressing room during the last tour and Tim had put Ben down on the floor to change his nappy when this promoter came in and nearly stepped on him. Now, normally he's never even angry, let alone aggressive, but Tim turned on him, and I thought he was going to hit him."

It's not the only time the lead singer has had a skirmish recently as Tim recalled, when he described an encounter with his hero Nick Cave

"I was such a fan I went to interview him as a journo, and it was at the time when he was still coming off heroin. He got quite aggressive when he was really out of it. It was pathetic really because in his state he wouldn't have been able to hurt a flea. I just told him what I thought of him and he went for me!"

Weeks later I catch up with Tim and Jim mesmerised by hundreds of people bopping their socks of to 'Come Home' in The Hacienda. Little do the enchanting kids realise that they'll be thumping their Timberlands and flailing their arms to the musical equivalent of Martine's contractions in the near future.

It doesn't matter really, so long as it puts Hazel Grove on the map. But I bet he moves out when he's famous, the bastard!