The Tansads were an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 band from Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 who were active during the 1990s. Playing a mix of folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and indie music they developed a strong following on the festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 circuit and on the crusty/traveller

New age travellers

New Age Travellers are groups of people who often espouse New Age or hippie beliefs and travel between music festivals and fairs in order to live in a community with others who hold similar beliefs. Their transport and homes consist of vans, lorries, buses, narrowboats and caravans converted into...

 scene but never managed to achieve a commercial breakthrough. Their ultimately unsuccessful career later became the subject of a book by former member Ed Jones.

History

The core members of the group throughout their career were vocalist Janet Anderton and the three Kettle brothers: John (guitarist and principal songwriter), Bob (mandolin, guitar and harmonica) and Andrew, sometimes credited simply as "Kek" (vocalist). Anderton had previously been in a band called The Bonny Saloons with John and Bob. The name "Tansad" came from a brand of child's pushchair. The band's style blended elements of folk, punk and indie with lyrics generally focusing on the vagaries of Northern working-class life. Anderton and Andrew Kettle shared lead vocals, with some tracks featuring one or other alone and others featuring the interplay of Anderton's clear voice with Kettle's raspy delivery.

The band achieved significant local success in their home town of Wigan, and in the early 1990s were supported by another local band, The Verve

The Verve

The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...

 (then simply Verve). At the time the two acts were seen as the two big names on the local Wigan scene. Other bands who supported the Tansads included Pulp

Pulp (band)

Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....

, Cast

Cast (band)

Cast are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split...

 and Kula Shaker

Kula Shaker

Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...

. In 1991 they released their debut album Shandyland on an independent label, its title track featuring a lyric (reproduced on the album's front cover) which summed up their vision of Northern life and people: "Chips and egg would make them high/But God has poked them in the eye".

Two years later they released Up the Shirkers on the more established MusiDisc label, which had previously released the debut album by The Levellers

The Levellers (band)

The Levellers are an English rock band, founded in 1988 and based in Brighton, England. Their musical style is said to be influenced by punk and traditional English music.-1988-1990:...

, a band to whom the Tansads were often compared. Their chaotic, frenetic live shows were generating much interest, but they also began a series of regular line-up changes, with only Anderton and the three Kettle brothers remaining constant members. Guy Keegan, formerly of The Railway Children

The Railway Children (band)

The Railway Children are a British alternative rock band, formed in Wigan in 1984, by Gary Newby , Brian Bateman , Guy Keegan , and Stephen Hull .-Career:...

, was a member for one album.

In 1994 they moved to Transatlantic Records

Transatlantic Records

Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...

 for the album Flock, from which the single Iron Man stalled just outside the top 75 of the UK singles chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, the closest they ever came to a commercial breakthrough.

Change of direction

After 1995's live album Drag Down the Moon, the band went on hiatus. Three years later they returned with a stripped-down line-up featuring only Anderton and John Kettle from their heyday and a new sound which dispensed with the folk elements in favour of a more conventional indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 sound. In March 1998, this line-up released the album Reason to Be on an independent label before disbanding. In 2001 there were reports that the band had reformed once again, with Anderton now replaced by a teenaged vocalist named Laura Follin, but no new recordings surfaced.

Post-split

Former bass player Ed Jones, who returned to journalism after leaving the band, wrote a book, This is Pop: The Life and Times of a Failed Rock Star, detailing his time in the band and the personality clashes which he felt caused their career to fail.

John Kettle works as a producer in his own studio called Jaraf House Studios and, along with producing songs for notable local talent ranging from Witness

Witness (UK band)

Witness were a British alternative rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1997. The band released two albums via Island Records between 1999 and 2001, before splitting up in 2004.-Formation:...

 to Moco, he has been working on new recordings with his brothers and former band members under the name "Merry Hell".

Reunion gigs

Following months of speculation on their Facebook page, the band announced on their official website that they would be playing two reunion gigs in July 2010 at The Citadel in St Helens, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first ever gigs. Shortly afterwards, a third date was added. Ten past members of the band appeared at the gigs.

Band personnel

Album	Line-up
Shandyland (1991)	Andrew Kettle - vocals Bob Kettle - harmonica, mandolin, guitar John Kettle - guitar Janet Anderton - vocals Ed Jones - bass "Cudo" (Paul McKeown) - percussion, vocals "Shrub" (David Atherton) - keyboards Dominic Lowe - accordion, trumpet "Bug" (Chris Atherton) - drums
Up the Shirkers (1993)	Andrew Kettle - vocals Bob Kettle - harmonica, mandolin, guitar John Kettle - guitar Janet Anderton - vocals Ed Jones - bass "Cudo" - percussion, keyboards, vocals Dominic Lowe - accordion, trumpet Chris Atherton - drums, programming,vocals
Flock (1994)	Andrew Kettle - vocals Bob Kettle - harmonica, mandolin, guitar John Kettle - guitar Janet Anderton - vocals Ed Jones - bass, vocals Lee Goulding - keyboards Guy Keegan - drums, percussion
Drag Down the Moon (1995)	Andrew Kettle - vocals Bob Kettle - harmonica, mandolin, guitar John Kettle - guitar Janet Anderton - vocals Robbie Ryan - bass, vocals Lee Goulding - keyboards Phillip Knight - drums
Reason to Be (1998)	John Kettle - guitar Janet Anderton - vocals Robbie Ryan - bass Tim Howard - guitar Andy Jones - drums

Albums

Shandyland (1991)

1. "Cobbly Back Yard"
2. "Wood in th' Hole"
3. "Right On"
4. "Big Wednesday"
5. "Feed Me"
6. "Horses"
7. "Shandylands"
8. "Juvenile"
9. "No More"
10. "London's Burning"
11. "Spirit Move"
12. "Big Bad Devil"

Up the Shirkers (1993)

1. "Eye of the Average"
2. "Camelot"
3. "Brian Kant (yeah-yeah-yo)"
4. "Zig Zag"
5. "Music Down"
6. "Waste of Space"
7. "Chip-Pan Ocean"
8. "The English Rover"
9. "John John"
10. "Reasons to Be"
11. "Turn On, Tune Up, Drop Out, Be Late"
12. "Up the Revolution"

Flock (1994)

1. "A Band On the Rainbow"
2. "Fear of Falling"
3. "She's Not Gone"
4. "God On a String"
5. "Iron Man"
6. "Waiting for the Big One"
7. "Dance"
8. "Sunlight In the Morning"
9. "G Man"
10. "Ship of Fools"
11. "I Know I Can (But I Won't)"
12. "Heading for the Heart"
13. "Separate Souls"

Drag Down the Moon (1995)

1. "Iron Man"
2. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"
3. "Up the Revolution"
4. "She's Not Gone"
5. "A Band On the Rainbow"
6. "John John"
7. "Turn On, Tune Up, Drop Out, Be Late"
8. "Spirit Move"
9. "Sunlight In the Morning"
10. "Reasons to Be"
11. "The English Rover"
12. "Waiting for the Big One"
13. "G Man"
14. "Fear of Falling"
15. "Eye of the Average"
16. "I Know I Can (But I Won't)"
17. "Drag Down the Moon"

Reason to Be (1998)

1. "Roll Away Your Stone"
2. "Higher Ground"
3. "All the Mad Men"
4. "Hello"
5. "Reason to Be"
6. "Sad Song"
7. "Jealousy"
8. "Middle of the Night"
9. "Julian"
10. "Miss the Bus"
11. "Burning Bridge"
12. "Drunken Serenade"

Singles

Brian Kant (yeah-yeah-yooh) (1992)

1. "Brian Kant (yeah-yeah-yooh)"
2. "Zig Zag"
3. "Fear of Falling"
4. "Set You Free"

Up the Revolution (1993)

1. "Up the Revolution" (radio edit)
2. "Up the Revolution" (album version)
3. "John John"
4. "Sun Golden Sun"

The English Rover (1993)

1. "The English Rover"
2. "Feed Me" (skiffle version)
3. "Four Leaf Clover"
4. "Girlfriend of the Free" (early demo)

Camelot (1993)

1. "Camelot"
2. "Gelignite"
3. "Satisfied"

Iron Man/A Band on the Rainbow (1994)

1. "Iron Man"
2. "A Band on the Rainbow"
3. "I Don't Know"

A Band on the Rainbow (1994)

1. "A Band on the Rainbow"
2. "The English Rover" (live)
3. "Cobbly Back Yard" (live)
4. "Thursday's Child"

I Know I Can (But I Won't) (1995)

1. "I Know I Can (But I Won't)"
2. "Drag Down the Moon"
3. "And Oh..."

Promo releases

Transatlantic Records sampler (1994)

1. "She's the One I Adore" - Energy Orchard
   Energy Orchard
   Energy Orchard were an Irish guitar-based rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s, from Belfast. Fronted by Bap Kennedy , their style drew heavily on the influence of Van Morrison and other R&B, but incorporated traditional elements of Irish folk music...
   
   
2. "Coming Through" - Energy Orchard
3. "Dear Jane" - The Dear Janes
4. "My Guilty Hand" - The Dear Janes
5. "Another Irish Rover" - Four Men and a Dog
   Four Men and a Dog
   Four Men and a Dog is an Irish traditional band that emerged in 1990 during the Belfast Folk Festival. The band plays Irish traditional music with a mixture of different other genres, including rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, swing, salsa, polka and even rap. They originally had their name because of...
   
   
6. "McFadden's Reels" - Four Men and a Dog
7. "Iron Man" - The Tansads
8. "Zig Zag" - The Tansads

(Released in the UK as a limited edition of 5000)

G-Man (1995)

1. "G-Man"
2. "I Know I Can"
3. "A Band on the Rainbow"

(Only released in France)

Where Have All the Flowers Gone (1995)

(Only ever released as a one-track demo CD)

Self-published tapes

Before the band recorded Shandyland, they recorded four cassette tapes

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

which were sold at gigs. They include early workings of songs which would later be re-recorded for the albums and B-sides, some of which vary quite markedly from the final versions. Most of the songs were released on a new album, Rough and Ready (The Early Tapes) to coincide with the reunion concerts in 2010.

The Den

1. "Fear of Falling"
2. "Father's Day"
3. "Say it with Flowers"
4. "Big Wednesday"
5. "25 Years"
6. "Sun Golden Sun"

Wayward & Wonderful

1. "Nursery Rhyme for 89"
2. "Set You Free"
3. "Big Bad Devil"
4. "Too Many Spots"
5. "I Can See You All"
6. "Diamonds in the Rain"

Big Wednesday

1. "Big Wednesday"
2. "England is My Girlfriend" (early version of "Girlfriend of the Free")
3. "Fit to Drop"
4. "I Close My Eyes"
5. "Fear of Falling"
6. "Pendle Hill"
7. "Parachute Song" (aka "Shine a Light")
8. "Watchful Stars"

Juvenile

1. "Shandyland"
2. "Big Sunrise"
3. "Jealousy"
4. "Fit to Drop"
5. "I Know I Can"
6. "Juvenile"

External links

• Bob Kettle's MySpace page
• The Tansads new incarnation