658 Hello Ride - Ride EP

Chart  entered :  27 January  1990

Chart  peak : 71

Number  of  hits : 10

I  don't  think  any  one  makes  great  claims  for  this  lot  but  they  did  lay  a  trail  for  others  who  came  later  in  the  decade.

Mark  Gardener  and  Andy  Bell  were  old  school  friends  at  Cheney  School  in  Oxford. In  1988  they  both  moved  to  Banbury  to  do  an  Art  &  Design  course. There  they  met  drummer  Lauence  Colbert  and  decided  to  form  a  band. Mark  and  Andy  sang  and  played  the  guitar  , the  latter  bringing  in  another  Cheney  alumnus,  Steve  Querratt  to  play  bass. They  had  played  together  in  an  obscure  reggae  band, Big  Spiderback. After  some  deliberation  they  chose  the  name  Ride  and  played  their  first  gig  at  Christmas  1988. In  1989  they  started  sending  demo  tapes  out. Jim  Reid  of  JAMC  heard   one  and  recommended  them  to  Alan  McGee. They   signed  for  Creation  before  the  year  was  out.

This  was  their  first  release  and  the  first  hit  for  the  Creation  label. They  are  normally  lumped  in  with  the  "shoegazing"  scene  which  we'll  look  at  in  a  future  post  because  I  don't  think  these  guys  fit  the  mould , at  least  not  at  this  point. The  EP  comprises  four  tracks. There  only  seems  to  be  a  video  for  "Chelsea  Girl"  so  I  presume  that  was  the  lead  track. Nothing  to  do  with  the  Simple  Minds  song  of  the  same  name, it's a  noisy slab  of  pyschedelia-influenced  guitar  rock  with  breezy  vocals. It's  not  bad  but  could  do  with  a  chorus. "Drive  Blind"  has  a  slower  tempo  with  an  opening  riff  that's  similar  to  Quo's  Pictures  of  Matchstick  Men  and  a  vehicular  suicide  conceit  borrowed  from  The  Smiths' There  Is  A  Light  That  Never  Goes  Out.  Mark  and  Andy  harmonise  their  vocals  on  "All  I  Can  See"  sounding  a  bit  like  early  Squeeze  and  it's  got  the  best  guitar  work  on  the  record. Only  "Close  My  Eyes"  a  tale  of  ( possibly  narcotic )  hangover  has  a  shoegaze   tempo  but  with  its  grinding  riff  and  feeback  howls  it  sounds  more  like  Andy's  future  employers  than  Spiritualised, The  overall  impression  is  of  a  good  sound  waiting  for  some  songs.