Norman Blake is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based band

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...

. Blake and Sean Dickson (

The Soup Dragons The Soup Dragons are a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series ''Clangers'', the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song " I'm Fre ...

) were in The Faith Healers together, which also contained various members at different times: Stevie Gray, Hugh McLaughlin, Brian Carson and Colin Murray to name but a few. Blake was a member of Glasgow group The Pretty Flowers with school friend Duglas T. Stewart, Frances McKee, Janice Cochrane and Sean Dickson. After the group split, Blake formed the Boy Hairdressers in 1986, assisted in the original lineup by Dickson and Stewart. Later Blake was joined by Joe McAlinden, Jim Lambie and three future members of Teenage Fanclub, Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald and Paul Quinn (after Macdonald's departure; Brendan O’ Hare also joined the group at this time). The group recorded one EP for 53rd and 3rd Records featuring three of Blake's compositions. In 1986, Blake also joined BMX Bandits, originally on drums, later moving to guitar. He became a key songwriter for them, co-authoring some of their best-loved material including "Disco Girl", "Serious Drugs" and "Right Across the Street". Blake also joined Glasgow group The Clouds for a short stay, playing lead guitar on their single Get Out of My Dream. In 1989 he formed

with McGinley, later enlisting Francis Macdonald and Gerard Love to record their debut ''A Catholic Education''. The album was primarily composed by Blake and included the anthemic "Everything Flows" (later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by acts including Velvet Crush,

Dinosaur Jr Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, the band was forced to change their name because of legal issues. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter) ...

, Idlewild and Gallygows). The album was recorded in Glasgow back-to-back with the debut album of Blake's other group at that time, BMX Bandits, the ironically titled

C86 ''C86'' is a Audio cassette, cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, ''C86'' quickly evolved into shorthand for a g ...

, which Blake also wrote much of the material for. Blake officially left the Bandits in 1991 after their ''Star Wars'' album but continues to be an occasional contributor to their records. He has found international fame and acclaim with Teenage Fanclub for his songwriting talents and vocal abilities in both lead and harmony roles. Blake's songs reflect an appreciation and understanding of many musical genres, and his Teenage Fanclub songs include "Straight and Narrow", "Alcoholiday", "Did I Say" and "Neil Jung". Blake has continued to contribute to projects without his main band, including one-off collaborations with Eugene Kelly as The Famous Monsters, and Francis MacDonald as Frank Blake. More recently, he has recorded and co-written material with

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan C ...

, forming the indie superduo Jonny. Blake has also appeared on recordings by The Trash Can Sinatras,

The Pastels The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scen ...

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely asso ...

, Bill Wells, The Reindeer Section, Snowgoose, Yeon Gene and The Pearlfishers. Blake has produced recordings for Speedboat (featuring Finlay MacDonald), The Pearlfishers and

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

. He has solo recordings on the albums '' Caroline Now!'' (a tribute album to

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

) and '' Ballads of the Book''. In 2001, Blake stood down from being elected

Rector of the University of Glasgow The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...

to make room for his friend,

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

's Stuart Murdoch. In 2009, Blake moved with his Canadian wife to live in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

. He is currently collaborating with Joe Pernice in The New Mendicants. Their debut album, ''Into the Lime,'' was released in January 2014. In 2014, Blake released ''How Many Glasgow'', an album in collaboration with

Jad Fair Jadwin B. Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the ...

and Tenniscoats on the label Sweet Dreams Press. 2015 saw the release of the album ''Yes'', a collaboration with Jad Fair as part of Fair's artist in residence project with Indianapolis label Joyful Noise Recordings. In 2018, Blake produced the debut (and only) album, ''Things That Roar'', by Manchester band

The Beep Seals The Beep Seals were an English psychedelic music, psychedelic indie rock musical ensemble, band from Manchester. Career The Beep Seals were formed in 2006 by former Alfie (band), Alfie guitarist Ian Smith, Jack Cooper (English musician), Jack ...

. The band was fronted by former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and Jack Cooper, who went on to form several bands including Ultimate Painting and

Mazes A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

. Blake features prominently in the 2017 documentary '' Teenage Superstars''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Norman 1965 births Living people Musicians from Glasgow 21st-century Scottish male singers Scottish male songwriters British indie rock musicians Teenage Fanclub members Scottish emigrants to Canada 20th-century Scottish male singers British male songwriters