Rocks In The Attic #103: The Clint Boon Experience - ‘The Compact Guide To Pop Music & Space Travel’ (1999)

Ex-Inspiral Carpet and local boy done good Clint Boon started this band as I was playing in a band in Oldham at the same time. They even used to use the same rehearsal rooms as we did (but then again so did Thin Lizzy, but that’s a story for another day). Being the only venue in Oldham dedicated to Indie and Britpop, the band also used to come into 38 Bar / The Castle on weekends, where I would DJ. One such evening got me Clint’s autograph on this record.

I think I only bought this album on the strength of White No Sugar, which really is a decent tune (although the mix on the re-release version of the single is far superior to the mix on this album). The rest of the album isn’t that great - it’s exactly as you would imagine an organ-based Britpop album to sound like.

The most grating thing about this album is the opening track - an eight minute poem about Oldham recited by Boon’s American wife against a jazz inflected background. Sheer indulgence and a track that immediately turns you off the album as soon as you’ve turned it on.

I remember DJing once, and in the bar that night was Richard Stubbs - bass player in The Clint Boon Experience, and a bit of a prick thinking he was the local rock star (although I later found out that only Clint was signed to a record contract - the rest of the band was simply hired help). Stubbsy’s girlfriend walked over to my booth and asked me: “Can you play a song for Stubbsy. It’s his birthday. You know, Stubbsy - from The Clint Boon Experience.” “Who?” I replied, “Ken Boon? Never heard of him.”

Hit: White No Sugar

Hidden Gem: You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down