Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream)

Bobby Gillespie, Scottish vocalist with Scottish alternative rock band, Primal Scream was born June 22nd 1962. Primal Scream were originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Martin Duffy (keyboards), and Darrin Mooney (drums). Barrie Cadogan has toured and recorded with the band since 2006 as a replacement after the departure of guitarist Robert “Throb” Young. Gillespie was originally the drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain before leaving to form Primal Scream and the band became a key part of the mid-1980s indie pop scene, but eventually moved away from their more jangly sound, taking on more psychedelic and then garage rock influences, before incorporating a dance music element to their sound. Their classic 1991 album Screamadelica was released in late 1991 and broke the band into the mainstream with songs like, “Loaded“, and “Come Together“, “Higher Than The Sun” and “Don’t Fight It, Feel It”, both .The band began work on their fourth album “Give out but Dont Give up” in Roundhouse Studios in London in September 1992.In March 1994, the first single from the new album, “Rocks”, was released. It was the band’s highest charting single to date, reaching number seven on the UK charts.

Two more singles were released from the album, “Jailbird” and “(I’m Gonna) Cry Myself Blind”, both of which charted progressively lower.After a short hiatus, the band returned with a new lineup. Gary “Mani” Mounfield, fresh from the well-publicised break-up of his previous band, The Stone Roses, was added as the band’s new bassist, and Paul Mulraney was added as their new drummer. The arrival of Mani revitalized the group, who were considering disbanding after the failure of Give Out but released a new album Vanishing Point which had a complex shoegazing dance/dub rhythm, harking back to the crossover success of Screamadelica, yet sounding significantly darker. Some songs on the album were inspired by cult 1971 film Vanishing Point; Gillespie said that they wanted to create an alternative soundtrack for the film. Other lyrics were inspired by the band’s past experiences with drug abuse.

Gillespie described the album as “an anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road movie record!” The first single released from the album, “Kowalski”, was released in May 1997, and reached number 8 on the British charts.the band’s sixth album XTRMNTR had a harsher and angrier musical direction. Many of the songs they wrote had overtly political lyrics, Gillespie said the band wished to convey “what it’s like to be in Britain in this day and age The album featured mulitiple guest appearances, including the Chemical Brothers, New Order’s Bernard Sumner, and former My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields, who had become a semi-permanent member. The first single from XTRMNTR, was entitled “Swastika Eyes. their seventh album, Evil Heat, was released in 2002. On the album Kate Moss sang professionally for the first time with single “Some Velvet Morning” and The album also featured another guest appearance, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant.

In 2003 the double CD album Dirty Hits was released containing the better known works and some previously unheard versions and remixes of those tunes. The next album Riot City Blues was said to contain “euphoric rock ‘n’ roll songs” which was intended to capture the energy of Primal Scream’s live performances.The album’s first single, “Country Girl”, was released on 22 May 2006. The album, Riot City Blues, was released in June and reached number five on the UK Album Charts. the band toured the UK, along with selected dates in Europe in support of the album and also released their first DVD, Riot City Blues Tour, which featured clips of the band’s performance in London, as well as all their music videos and an interview with Gillespie and Mani.

Primal Scream spent most of 2011 touring in support of 20th Anniversary of Screamadelica, on 18 October Mani revealed he had left the band to follow his dream due to the reformation of his original band The Stone Roses And Debbie Googe (of My Bloody Valentine) was announced as his replacement. Primal Scream supported The Stone Roses at their Heaton Park concert in Manchester on 29 June 2012. Primal Scream have also played at Glastonbury Festival and My Bloody Valentine have played at T in the Park numerous times. Primal Scream’s album Chaosmosis was released 2016.