Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?: An Indie Odyssey

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As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. He even once formed a covers band – the C86 All Stars – to play the indie hits of the mid-to-late 80s. This is a very sympathetic account and is both a snapshot in time and an account of what happens after giving up on music. Some of the bands, like Primal Scream, went on to achieve global stardom; others, such as Half Man Half Biscuit and the Wedding Present, cultivated lifelong fanbases that still sustain their careers thirty-five years later. Twenty-two tales of youthful anger, innocence and indolence, filtered through almost forty years of regret, melancholy and, occasionally, dogged resistance.

Martin Whitehead, who ran Subway in the late 1980s, added a new political dimension to the importance of C86. But, thankfully, a fair proportion of the class of C86 had gone to ground, requiring an old-fashioned means of detection: trawling through phone directories.RICHARD OSMAN Shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize A Rough Trade Book of the Year A Resident Book of the Year A Monorail Book of the Year A Virgin Radio Book of the Year In 1986, the NME released a cassette that would shape music for years to come. There were many tales of “could haves” and “should haves”, of wrong turns taken in the flush of floppy-fringed youth. The C86 name was a play on the labelling and length of blank compact cassette, commonly C60, C90 and C120, combined with 1986. As detailed in the book it referred to a certain type of music; jangly guitars, played almost exclusively by young white males with bad haircuts.

Months later, famed independent label Rough Trade would press the compilation to vinyl to cement its legacy. However, the book is well written, has a deeply personal touch via interviews with as many members as the author could find. A highly experienced interviewer and author, Tassell has received admiration for his writing from the likes of Ian Rankin, Adam Buxton, Danny Baker, Steve Lamacq, Janice Long and Lucy Porter. Some didn’t even want to speak of their experience, whilst others were only too happy to reflect and then there were those who are no longer here. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting.

Nige Tassell tracks down band members from the 22 groups featured on the the NME's 1986 compilation tape C86. For me, the most interesting life stories are those former band members for whom music was just a side interest in life and the regrets they express for not being more serious. Jude Rogers 'Who, of a certain vintage and a certain propensity for hoarding things in lofts, including cassette-tape compilations sold via a weekly music publication, wouldn't want THIS BOOK?

Despite never having heard the original tape (I was a Melody Maker reader, and at the time I was mainly listening to pop), this was an interesting tour of life on the edges of the music industry. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK, [3] as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop.Compiled by NME staffers, the mixtape highlighted emerging bands with a common sound: breezy, sometimes sardonic, vocals backed by jangling guitars. I would have liked Nige to have asked Bobby Gillespie, of Primal Scream, about his recollections of the C86 version of the band, although I don’t think he’d have got a positive response!