Melody Maker 14th February 1998 Issue



IAN BROWN
Chimp And Cheerful



IAN BROWN returned to public life last Wednesday (February 4) by giving Virgin Megastore "one of the biggest personnal appearances we've ever had" at their branch in London's Oxford Street.

One member of staff described the scenes as "just insane" as more than 500 people from all over the country strained for the first glimpse of Brown.

The queue was spiralling around the entire ground floor and down the stairs into the basement by the time Brown took his place in a glass booth upstairs.

There, from midday, he spent about half an hour chatting to instore DJ Claire Kember about his debut solo album, "Unfinished Monkey Business", which had been released two days earlier.

As staff wondered whether or not to close the queue to avoid having to disappoint anybody, Kember played three tracks from the album, and Brown flexed his DJ muscle with some of his own turntable favourites. These included tracks by Ethiopia's up-and-coming reggae star Sizzla, Buju Banton, Curtis Mayfield, Genius, Audioweb and a Shabba Ranks song which jumped more than it played.

Asked about his favourite tracks from "Unfinished Monkey Business", Brown said he liked them all equally and that "they all make me feel happy, delighted".

"Is there a real feeling of satisfaction?" inquired Claire, to which Brown retorted: "No, satisfaction can lead to complacency, which is dangerous."

There were questions about John Squire and the suspected references to him in Brown's lyrics.

Ian answered: "There's a couple of tunes where maybe he's mentioned, almost... A lot of people wrote a lot of things, you know... They keep carrying on about coke. It [the album] isn't about cocaine and it isn't about John Squire... Some people get in too deep."

Kember played Brown's album track "Lions", which features Denise Johnson, and mentioned its reviews: "This track either instils hatred or absolute love... what do you think about that?"

Brown replied: "It's like the Roses, y'know, they either loved us or hated us."

Asked about his favourite UK or Irish artists and people he felt were "doing something good" at the moment, Brown enthused about Moke, Finley Quaye and Audioweb, before playing Audioweb's forthcoming single, "Policeman Skank", to be released in April.

The session finished with a Bob Marley track and Brown's declaration that of the five records he would take to a desert island, Marley's would account for three.

Elizabeth Martin, 16, from Orpington, Kent, had earlier told us: "He's just brilliant. I loved The Stone Roses and I think the album is excellent. I've brought a copy for him to sign... I just wannna meet him, I think he's an excellent bloke and he's just The Man. It's my brother's birthday and I'm gonna get me album signed for him."

Stephen Befrage, also 16, from Aylesbury, Bucks, said: "We went down to HMV first, cos we thought it was there, and we were really gutted. Then we came down here and saw loads of baggy people... As long as I see him, that's all that really matters.

He's King Monkey, he's down-to-earth and original. He's come back and he's beat The Seahorses. It [the new LP] easily beats The Seahorses - they are basically Ocean Colour Scene... I reckon the album will swift into number One probably, or definitely the Top Five. I hope he'll even play some festivals."

Stephen added, in a reference to The Stone Roses' disasterous last performance, at Reading Festival: "Maybe his voice will be better this time!"

Scott Debenham, 25, from Carshalton, Surrey, said of the long queue to meet Brown: "Anything from them is worth the wait. If it was any of The Stone Roses, I would come. The album is brilliant, excellent. I've waited eight or nine years to meet him, so it was worth it."





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