The Charlatans Between 10th And 11th
Ortiz Ullery
Between 10th and 11th is the second studio album by British rock band The Charlatans; it was released on 23 March 1992 through Situation Two, a subsidiary of Beggars Banquet Records. The Charlatans started writing new material shortly after the release of their debut studio album Some Friendly (1990). After some writing sessions in Birmingham and a tour of the United Kingdom, guitarist John Baker left the band and was replaced with Mark Collins of English indie band Candlestick Park. Bassist Martin Blunt went through a series of personal issues that led to his hospitalization in September 1991. The Charlatans began recording their next album at Rockfield Studios in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Following two weeks of work, producer Flood was brought in to produce the sessions. Flood encouraged the band to focus on live performances instead of recording one instrument at a time. Between 10th and 11th is a Madchester album whose lyrics deal with introspection and self-doubt, and were influenced by the works of E. E. Cummings and Bob Dylan. The Charlatans' lead singer Tim Burgess attributed some of the album's electronic textures to time he spent in New York City; some of the more-sparse song arrangements recall the work of Talk Talk.
The album's lead single "Weirdo" was released in February 1992 and was promoted with two shows in Glasgow. In April that year, The Charlatans embarked on a tour of the United States with Catherine Wheel and The Wolfgang Press, and a tour of mainland Europe the next month. They then went on a two-month US tour, which was cut short due to the birth of Blunt's child. In the middle of the tour, in July 1992, the album's second single "Tremelo Song" was released, and was promoted with a performance at Reading Festival and a tour of Japan in September the same year.
Between 10th and 11th received unfavourable reviews from music critics, many of whom criticized the band, especially Burgess, for being lazy. Burgess' lyrics and the album's artwork also drew negative comments. Retrospective reviews of the album were more favourable, and some called it an underrated release. The album peaked at number 21 in the UK and number 173 on the US Billboard 200. "Weirdo" charted at number 19 in the UK, number 22 in Ireland and number 67 in the Netherlands, while "Tremelo Song" charted at number 44 in the UK.
The Charlatans released their debut studio album Some Friendly in October 1990,[1] and promoted it with a tour of the UK and mainland Europe with support from Intastella until the end of the year.[1][2] During this tour, the band debuted a new song "Can't Even Be Bothered"[1] and between shows, they wrote new songs as a potential follow-up single.[3] While demoing material, Beggars Banquet Records asked them to write a song that resembled their hit single "The Only One I Know".[4] In February 1991, the band embarked on their first US tour, coinciding with the US release of "Sproston Green".[3] The band members were surprised when "Sproston Green" started gaining traction in the US, causing them to worry the tour would be extended and delay recording sessions.[5] While trying to gain popularity in the US, the Charlatans returned to the UK, marking the end of the band and the Madchester scene.[6]
Because Beggars Banquet wanted another single from the band for the UK market, the Extended Play (EP) Over Rising, which David M. Allen produced, was released on 25 February 1991.[7][8] The EP's music showed the band partly moving from the baggy sound of their previous work into psychedelia.[7] A month after the end of their US tour, the band toured Australia and New Zealand, and played three shows in Japan.[9][10] This brief tour was a culture shock for the band, who wanted to return to the UK as soon as possible.[10] The band had previously struggled to write new material while on tour, causing issues when they started writing shortly after the Japanese dates.[11] Writing sessions were held at Rich Bitch studios in Birmingham while the band were under pressure to deliver new material; they wanted their new album to be more electronic and experimental than their previous work.[12]
Guitarist John Baker felt insecure about the proceedings, realizing he was playing a reworking of the songs on Some Friendly. Baker found live performances joyless; between tours, he consumed alcohol and drugs.[11] In June 1991, the Charlatans toured the UK tour with support from Catherine Wheel, Johnny Male, Soul Family Sensation and New Fast Automatic Daffodils; during this tour, Baker considered leaving the band.[13][14] Following their performance in London, the band met with producer Scott Litt, who is known for his work with R.E.M., aiming to have Litt produce their next album.[12] Unbeknown to Baker, keyboardist Rob Collins told the other members he felt Baker was holding them back. Collins and bassist Martin Blunt later told Baker they wanted him to leave, and Baker agreed. At the end of June, Baker performed his last shows with the band at Roskilde Festival in Denmark and Belfort Festival in France.[11]
With Baker's departure, shows in the rest of mainland Europe were cancelled and plans to release a new album were postponed from September 1991 to early 1992.[15][16] Harrison said the band wanted to find someone who would contribute more to the writing; Baker is credited with only five of the songs on Some Friendly.[17] Harrison contacted Alison Martin, the band's former press agent, who was now working for radio promotion company Red Alert, about the situation.[18][19] Martin discussed this with Inspiral Carpets manager Anthony Bogianno, who suggested his band's roadie Noel Gallagher and their former van driver Mark Collins, who was now playing in his own band Candlestick Park.[20] Collins lurked near the offices of Red Alert in his spare time. Martin later put Collins in contact with The Charlatans, who he knew had been looking for another guitarist.[19] While this was occurring, The Charlatans had auditioned the guitarist from the Honey Turtles.[21] Blunt liked what he heard but upon leaving the room to smoke a cigarette, Rob Collins complained about the guitarist's height. Lead singer Tim Burgess had previously seen Mark Collins with his previous band The Waltones and decided to invite him to audition for the Charlatans.[22] Collins arrived at the rehearsal and was asked to join the band.[23]
Some associated told the Charlatans they should make a bigger departure from baggy and try not to alienate their existing fan base. Blunt felt Collins' initial writing contributions strayed from his vision of the band's future sound but coincided with what the other members' intentions.[24] By this point, the band had finished 18 songs for their next album, which had the potential of being a double album.[25] Manager Steve Harrison noted Blunt was undergoing personal issues, such as not easily accepting Baker's departure and loathing making the song "Me. In Time", wishing they had instead recorded "Weirdo". The other members were happy to consider Collins' writing ideas and outvoting Blunt on his objections. Blunt was aware of the critical backlash against Some Friendly, which their label was still asking the band to promote.[26] Alongside this, Blunt's relationship with his wife was deteriorating; as a result, Blunt developed paranoia and by September 1991, he had collapsed and was hospitalized.[27]
Blunt was diagnosed with clinical depression and told to rest for a fortnight.[28] During this time, the Madchester and baggy scenes had fallen out of popularity, and Nirvana had released Nevermind (1991), allowing for the success of grunge acts such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.[29][30] The Charlatans' contemporaries also faced problems; The Stone Roses were involved in a legal battle with their label and Happy Mondays experienced negative attention from press outlets.[31] The Charlatans had a self-imposed policy about releasing no more than one single from an album, which meant they released additional songs on the EP Over Rising and the forthcoming single "Me. In Time". They had only four unrecorded pre-Collins songs; "Weirdo", "Tremelo Song", "Can't Even Be Bothered" and "(No One) Not Even the Rain".[32]
The Charlatans travelled to Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales, to record at Rockfield Studios.[33] Hugh Jones produced "Me. In Time", which was released as a non-album single in October 1991.[24] The song reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart; the band deemed this a failure because a re-release of their debut single "Indian Rope" reached the top 60 without any promotion.[26] After working for two weeks at Rockfield, the band decided to bring in a producer; they were unsure who they wanted to work with, so Beggars Banquet sent them various CVs. The band found the Rich Bitch studio sessions to be fruitless so they wanted to work with someone who could encapsulate the band's spirit.[33] Chris Nagle, who had produced Some Friendly, was occupied with Inspiral Carpets and thus unavailable.[34] Someone at the band's music publisher Warner Chappell Music suggested Flood, who had worked with Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Itself.[35] Flood was eventually selected after Burgess showed the rest of the band Movement (1981) by New Order and This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! (1989) by Pop Will Eat Itself.[33][36]
Flood had remixed "Sproston Green" for the US market and the EP Over Rising. When the band contacted Flood, he had finished working on Achtung Baby (1991) by U2.[33] The members of The Charlatans were unaware he worked with U2; they were more familiar with his work with Depeche Mode and the Wolfgang Press.[34] Flood agreed to work with the band after learning that his girlfriend enjoyed Some Friendly.[37] After arriving at Rockfield, Flood scrapped all of the material The Charlatans had already recorded, leaving only six weeks to record and mix an album's worth of songs.[33] Paul Cobbold served as engineer; he and Flood were assisted by Daren Galer, Goetz Botenhart and Philip Ault.[38] Flood's method of working saw the band perform live together, break recording into portions, and construct songs with different rhythm parts and effects while keeping intact the melodies.[35] Nagle would have the band record to a click track, recording one instrument at a time over several weeks.[39] Flood preferred working intensely in short bursts of productivity; at one point, the band had completed eleven backing tracks in eight days.[33]
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