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Ocean Colour Scene: the band whose chief crime was being too normal

Nostalgia aside, 20 years since the release of Moseley Shoals seems an apt time to undo years of undeserved flak and celebrate this hardy indie rock group

A few important things happened in Britain in the summer of 1996. Dolly the Sheep was born, leading to global debate about the ethics of cloning. The Spice Girls released Wannabe , leading to global debate about who wanted to be Baby Spice. England got to the semi-finals of the European Championships , still their best performance in half a century. And a band from the Birmingham suburb of Moseley reached the top 10 with an album that combined cord-clad 60s nostalgia and northern soul influences with robust, melodic Britpop songcraft.

Today marks 20 years since Ocean Colour Scene’s Moseley Shoals entered the British charts. It was the band’s second stab at success: their self-titled 1992 debut had sunk without trace and they’d been honing the follow-up for four penniless years. “We knew it was good,” said guitarist Steve Cradock. “We spent a lot of time working on it.” Championed by Radio 1’s Chris Evans – who loved The Riverboat Song so much he made it the theme tune to TFI Friday – it screamed into the charts at No 2 and stayed in the top 10 all summer, buoyed by support from Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher . The real reason for its success, though, was simpler: it was an absolute gem of a record, by a brilliant group of musicians.

Admiration for OCS is not so common in contemporary media; in fact, it’s hard to think of a serious band who have inspired more contempt over the years. They have been called “painfully mundane”, “workmanlike” and laddish, accused of playing dad-rock at gigs “more akin to a beery football match than a rave”. There was a nickname: Ocean Duller Scene. The NME, after initial enthusiasm, went on the attack, branding them “out-of-time 60s freaks” and disparaging release after release. “Ten albums in and they’ve never stopped living in the past,” it croaked in 2013 .

As a teenager in the 90s, listening to the band on repeat, I couldn’t have cared less. Moseley Shoals was one of the albums I knew best, back in the days when you really got to know albums. My mates and I could replicate every line, every drum fill, every guitar lick. We made the requisite fashion decisions. Chances are, if you were an OCS fan, you’ve got a train-driver hat stashed at the bottom of a cupboard somewhere and you once really wanted a Lambretta . Chances are you find yourself, from time to time, drifting into certain boutiques, hesitating over the leather satchel with the Ministry of Defence target on, leafing through the Ben Shermans on the rack. It’s OK – there are more of us than you think. The boutiques wouldn’t exist if there weren’t.

Nostalgia aside, though, how does Moseley Shoals stand up in 2016? Playing it again, I found the answer was: actually surprisingly well. There are a few obvious flaws. Some tracks, such as bangy piano rocker 40 Past Midnight, feel like filler, and I’ve never liked the droney You’ve Got It Bad . Then there are the lyrics, which – thanks to frontman Simon Fowler’s writing method of improvising into a cassette player – can be cryptic, to say the least. “Like a king who stalks the wings and shoots a dove and frees an eagle instead,” he sings on Riverboat. Quite. When the lines do make sense, they tend to reach for the regulation Britpop imagery of suns, shadows, shoes and roads. (Just thankfully no keys to any doors.)

Musically, the album still prompts an all-out assault on nearby drummable surfaces. The Riverboat Song’s scalding riff – “It came from me being really pissed off one day,” says Cradock – still makes me lip-bite embarrassingly and reach for my air Gibson. The Circle is a flat-out masterpiece, all the way from its feedback fade-in to its lovely, shredding outro, and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise. There’s depth, too: beyond encore favourite The Day We Caught the Train there’s the sorrowing One for the Road , the sweetly complex It’s My Shadow and the drifting, dreamlike The Downstream. Fowler’s aching, tuneful croon is light years ahead of anything his contemporaries offered: less laddy than Liam, less hammy than Damon, more genuine than Jarvis. This is still, I realise, an album I’d sooner put on than many of the others I loved in that era, including Different Class , Expecting to Fly , All Change , and even possibly Definitely Maybe maybe.

In July this year, the band’s now middle-aged members will head out at Birmingham’s Moseley Park to play the album for a crowd of 2,000. The dad-rockers are quite literally dads, and the cords are finally age-appropriate. It’s hardly Knebworth, where 125,000 once shouted back the choruses, but for a group who called their greatest hits collection Songs for the Front Row, it fits. “Someone thought it would be nice for us to play the kinds of venue we were playing when Moseley Shoals came out,” Fowler said . Meanwhile, the fans continue to make their appreciation felt: in 2014, OCS came fourth in a poll of Birmingham’s best ever bands .

On the 20th anniversary of this excellent album, it seems a perfect time to pay tribute to a group who took more flak than they really deserved, and whose chief crime was probably that they were a bit too normal. “There is an edge missing from the band’s material that could perhaps be provided if these four unassuming guys hated each other more, or were suffering a bit more,” wrote one Telegraph journalist in 1998. Mmm-hm. By way of contrast, I’ll leave you with a comment from a YouTube user, Andy, who wrote under the video for The Circle: “Brilliant song. Nothing fancy. Nothing pretentious. Nothing over the top. Just simple, beautiful music with lyrics that conjure up a thousand thoughts and situations. Love it. Had forgotten how much I liked it.”

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Why Ocean Colour Scene’s Moseley Shoals album is so iconic

8 April 2021, 13:05 | Updated: 6 April 2023, 15:58

By Jenny Mensah

As the Birmingham band's seminal album turns 25, we delve into its' name, artwork and biggest singles.

This week sees Ocean Colour Scene's Moseley Shoals album celebrate 27 years since it was released.

Unleashed on the world on 8th April 1996 , the album featured singles in the likes of The Riverboat Song , The Circle and The Day We Caught the Train , but how much do you really know about the album and its creation? And what makes it so iconic?

Get our facts on the Birmingham band's seminal release here.

READ MORE: The story behind The Verve's classic Urban Hymns album

Moseley Shoals was Ocean Colour Scene's second album

It might be the band's most famous album, but it was actually their second studio release and the follow-up to their eponymous 1992 debut.

The title is inspired by their local area

Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, where the band formed in 1989.

The title is also a pun on Muscle Shoals

Moseley Shoals is a pun on Muscle Shoals , Alabama - a city which was famous for its studios that recorded various 1960s soul acts such as Percy Sledge , Aretha Franklin , Otis Reading and Wilson Pickett .

The band also recorded the album in their own studio of the same name.

Moseley Shoals was Ocean Colour Scene's second highest scoring album

Moseley Shoals reached number two on the UK album chart, which no doubt helped them achieve a success when scoring a No.1 with their 1997 Marchin' Already album.

The album gave them their highest scoring single

The Day We Caught The Train scored a No.4 on the UK singles chart - their highest chart position to date.

Hundred Mile High City , which is taken from the band's third studio album Marchin' Already also scored a No.4.

The Riverboat Song single featured on TFI Friday

The first single taken from the album was The Riverboat Song . Despite only reaching No.15 on the UK single charts, the song is much-loved and well-known for featuring in Chris Evans' famous '90s weekly entertainment show when he introduced guests.

Natalie Imbruglia - Interview on TFI Friday 2000

The album cover artwork is taken in Leamington Spa

The memorial which the band can be seen standing in front of in the album artwork is The Jephson Memorial in The Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa.

It's not the first time the Warwickshire park has made its way onto an album cover either. Leamington Spa punk band The Shapes featured the park's Underpass on their 1998 Songs For Sensible People album.

READ MORE: 10 Facts About Oasis At Knebworth, 1996

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Riverboat Song

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The Riverboat Song Lyrics as written by Oscar Lloyd Harrison Damon Minchella

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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It could mean: I see two riverboats ( parts of yourself )...is where the river runs red (you’re just hurting yourself if you keep on separate these parts of yourself). “Anyway for all the things you know tell me why does the river not flow Anyway for all the things you said tell me why does the river run red Anyway for all the things you've seen tell me when will the river run green” You should understand/tell me why does the river not flow/runs red before you can make that river run green. If you don’t try to cope the reason why you’re doing this to yourself (I see double) you’ll found out to be what you promised yourself you’ll never be (that’s my trouble). It reminds me of J.S.Mill “..Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

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This song became famous when used as the theme song for Chris evan's TFI Friday. Its a superb song but i always feel a bit sick when i hear it as i remember this was their opening song when i saw them live at a festival, i got so badly crushed by all the crazy fans that i was in tears. It was great fun though!!!

Why is no one posting about this song?!! Its AMAZING!! havent got a clue wot it means tho, only bad thing is most people associate with chris evans now! GIIINNNNNGGGEEEERRRR!!!!

I'm with scouseluke, awesome band and a great riff.

I reckon this band singer thinks he's Lennon, fair bit of similarity in voice and singing styles. Pretty cool band.

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TFI Friday: Where are they now? Chris Evans and stars of live show nearly 20 years on

Chris Evans, Will Macdonald, Andrew the Barman - almost 20 years on what are the stars of episode one doing now?

• 19:35, 12 Jun 2015
• Updated 21:08, 12 Jun 2015

TFI Friday is back!

As the live show that tore up the rule book, only to replace it with rebellious and innovative ideas from the minds of Danny Baker, Chris Evans and Will Macdonald, the Channel 4 programme is making a welcomed return.

When it was officially announced back in February that

, hilarious memories came flooding back.

Looking back at the first episode, which aired back on 9 February 1996, it's clear to see the stars have come a long, long way since then.

Modelled on David Letterman's friendly style of interviewing, Evans presented a shambolic live show that often saw him forced to apologise for the conduct of guests.

Nothing encapsulated the post-Madchester Britpop era quite like the opening strains of Ocean Colour Scene's Riverboat Song as a guest made their way through the audience in a pub style set.

Where are the guests from the first episode now?

For all of the latest updates and reactions from TFI Friday LIVE - click here.

Chris evans.

Fortunately for fans Chris Evans stayed in the media business and is back to present the show.

Plans for the special programme were kept under wraps, but Evans said last year that TV bosses had approached him about doing the show.

He said: “Channel 4 have asked us to do a TFI Friday 20th anniversary show and/or run next year.

"I was completely bang up for it until I did the maths last week and had to phone them and say it’s only 19 years next year, it’s actually 20 years the year after.

"I think they still want to go for it and just hope no-one notices.”

Now you'll hear Chris' voice on BBC Radio 2 on the Breakfast Show weekdays from 6.30am - 9.30am.

You'll also see him topless from time-to-time as presenter of BBC One's The One Show, alongside Alex Jones and Matt Baker.

Will Macdonald

Producer-sidekick Will ‘Wiiiiil’ Macdonald will return for the revival of the show.

Speaking of his fondest TFI moments, last month Wiiiiil, said: "Memory’s quite strange when it comes to TFI Friday. Right now, there are lots of people around the office watching old tapes and there’s a whole bunch of stuff I can’t recall at all.

"Apparently I laid in a bath of hot water for an entire episode but have no recollection of it whatsoever. We were in such a bubble, it all came thick and fast and was fuelled by alcohol, so there’s a startling amount I can’t remember. It’s a bit like childbirth - you look back and have fond memories but conveniently forget the pain involved."

Since the show, Will went on to be executive producer for ABC's My Kind of Town, Jo Joyner-starring Swinging and more recently Made in Chelsea.

Danny Baker

English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ, screenwriter and all around funny guy Danny Baker was and still is one of the driving forces behind the show.

Since TFI, Baker has turned his hand to a number of projects from Comic Relief sketches to TV movies. His latest venture is alongside Peter Kay is Cradle to Grave.

Set in 1974, the series follows the real life events of Danny and his family and is due for broadcast on BBC Two later this year.

Peter Kay and Danny Baker and also of Peter, Danny and Laurie who is playing 15 year old Danny. ( Image: BBC)

Ocean colour scene.

A snippet of The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene forms the theme tune to TFI Friday.

The band, formed in Moseley, Birmingham, in 1989, were championed by Evans and were the very first act to play on the show.

Much like Evans, Macdonald and Baker they are very much still going.

Andrew the Barman

How brilliant was Andrew the Barman?

It was reported that 'Andrew the Barman' aka Andrew Carey sold his pub in north London for an alleged £2MILLION in 2012.

Late in 2012, when rumours of a TFI return were going around, Carey told the Irish Post, that the programme coming back was a 'great idea'.

Speaking from his home in Camden, Mr Carey, he said: “I think it’s a great idea. I’d love to do it if I was asked back and they were re-enacting the old show but with inflation you’d be looking for a few extra noughts to your fee,” he laughed."

Skunk Anansie

Skunk Anansie appeared twice on the very first episode, including a performance of their hit single Weak.

After forming in March 1994, they broke up in 2001 and reformed in 2009.

Remember this?

How he convinced her, we’re not sure, but for this send-up Chris was in bed reading the papers with a hugely bouffant-haired Cher .

At one point he asks “Chezza” if she ever gets jealous of Tina Turner...

Guests and acts of the first show also included Kathy Lloyd, Dawn French, Count Indigo, Shed Seven, The Circle and late great Ronald Fraser, who passed away in 1997.

Fraser was the The Lord of Love on the very first show.

MORE ON TFI Friday Skunk Anansie Kathy Lloyd Ronald Fraser Danny Baker David Letterman Chris Evans

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Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! – Ocean Colour Scene

In Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!, we quiz an artist on their own career to see how much they can remember – and find out if the booze, loud music and/or tour sweeties has knocked the knowledge out of them. This week: frontman Simon Fowler takes the test

1 ‘The Riverboat Song’ was famously used to introduce guests on TFI Friday . But how many appearances did Ocean Colour Scene make on the Chris Evans-presented show?

“Blimey! Is it 10 or 12?”

“How disappointing! We did the TFI Friday pilot, which is when Chris Evans asked us to if he could use ‘The Riverboat Song’ as the walk-on music. He was the Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter at the time, and made the song Record of the Week for two weeks in a row. Suddenly it’s at Number 15 in the charts and our album, ‘Moseley Shoals’, went in at Number Twi, so much of our success is because of Chris Evans.

“On Friday afternoons, I used to go down to TFI Friday even when we weren’t on to hang out with Chris Evans and Danny Baker. I became good drinking mates with Chris during that era, We killed some brain cells together, that’s for sure! We’d see him in his car and kidnap him and take him to the Met Bar [in central London] where you suddenly felt like a pop star, which was never on the cards for us. I remember Boy George once coming up to me there and going: ‘I know all about you! ’ [ l aughs ]”

2 In 2013, Ocean Colour Scene were joined live onstage by actor James Buckley on guitar. Which character did he play in The Inbetweeners ?

“He played Jay .”

“I loved The  Inbetweeners . He became good mates with Steve [Cradock, OCS guitarist]. James is an absolute mod to his fingertips. He turned up to play with us wearing a parka, a suit and bowling shoes. I thought: Fuck me, is it 1964?! He’s a quiet guy and nothing like Jay from The Inbetweeners . In fact, Steve and I played Ocean Colour Scene songs at his wedding in a Scottish castle in 2012. Danny Dyer was there.”

3 You were part of England United who recorded ‘(How Does it Feel to Be) on Top of the World’, England’s official theme for the 1998 World Cup. But which member of its supergroup line-up did you once turn down a date with?

“Ahh yes! Scary Spice .”

“She said to me: [ Fowler imitates Mel B’s broad Leeds accent ]: ‘You got a girlfriend?’. I replied: ‘No’. She said: ‘Do you want one?’ Geri [Horner] told her: ‘Well, I think you’ll find he bats for the other team’. This is all happening when we’re soundchecking at TFI Friday , so Mel B goes up to the microphone and loudly announces: ‘ Is he gay? Is he gay? ’ to everybody assembled in the room. I thought: ‘Christ!’. [ Laughing ] Eddie Murphy was her second choice after me.”

You were bizarrely ‘outed’ as gay by The Sun in 1998. Did your fans care at the time?

“No, I don’t think it was a big deal. It was noticeable that our third album [1997’s] ‘Marchin’ Already’ went to Number One and knocked Oasis ’ ‘ Be Here Now ’ off the top spot – which is when Noel Gallagher sent us a plaque: ‘Congratulations to the second greatest band in the world’. But the album didn’t end up selling anywhere near as much as its predecessor, ‘Moseley Shoals’, overall. Whether that [ The Sun’ s outing] had anything to do with it, I don’t know. I suspect it didn’t. It certainly didn’t affect our concerts.”

“Looking back now, it seems absurd – and I don’t think anybody gave a toss even then. In fact, when it happened, the first thing Liam Gallagher did was come up and kiss me on the lips! [ Laughs ] Everybody knew – apart from my parents. But now, I’ve been with my partner, Robert, for 34 years, and my parents have accepted him into the family.”

What was recording ‘(How Does it Feel to Be) on Top of the World’ like?

“ Ian McCulloch [ Echo and the Bunnymen frontman] had become a good pal of ours, and I went to Liverpool to record it with him and Tommy [Scott] from Space. Then the Spice Girls came in and totally took over. The two in charge were definitely Scary and Geri. Ian turned to me and said [ Adopts McCulloch’s Liverpudlian brogue ]: ‘Eeeh, they’re like a proper group’. [ Laughs ] I said: ‘Fuck off!’. And then I accidentally said ‘Hello Victoria !’ to Mel C and she snapped back: ‘I know your name – learn mine!’. So that set the tone!”

You haven’t had much luck with the Spice Girls …

“No!  I later met Victoria [Beckham] again when we were both performing at an event and went up to her and said, ‘Hello. Remember me?’, and she snarled: ‘Piss off! You were pissed last time I met you and you’re pissed now!’ [ Laughs ]”

4 What are the three B-sides accompanying CD2 of Ocean Colour Scene’s 1996 single ‘The Circle’?

“Absolutely no idea! [ Laughs ] Is one of them ‘ Robin Hood ’?”

WRONG. The B-sides are: ‘ Chelsea Walk’ , ‘ Alibis ’ and a cover of The Beatles ’ ‘Day Tripper’ featuring Liam and Noel Gallagher.

“Oh right! I had no idea! I remember ‘Day Tripper’ was recorded at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.”

What are your favourite moments of supporting Oasis on their 1995 tour?

“None that I could tell you that your lawyers wouldn’t take out! [ Laughs ] It was just as you’d imagine. I don’t know why we bothered to order bedrooms because I don’t think anyone went to bed for about five years. They were fantastic. When it was the two of them friendly to each other together, they were hilarious and had a banter relationship that only brothers can have and it’s a bloody shame – in my book – that they had the world at their feet and scored an own-goal. I think: I wish I could have had that with my brother.”

Talking of Beatles covers:  in 1995, you recorded ‘ Come Together ’ with Paul McCartney as the Smokin’ Mojo Filters….

“It was Noel [Gallagher], Paul Weller, and Steve [Cradock] recording with Paul McCartney for [the charity] War Child. I went along and sang the chorus with Linda McCartney, who was lovely and we both bonded over being fans of Neil Young. I remember Johnny Depp was there dressed as a tramp, collecting cigarette butts in the turn-ups of his jeans, along with Kate Moss. I regaled him, off my face, about the nature of stardom. He thought I was a pain in the arse – which I was! [ Laughs ] Macca came up to me at the end of the evening and said [impersonates Macca ], ‘Ey – look after yourself’, looking straight into my enormous eyes. I think he was trying to tell me to calm down a bit.”

5 Which pop star included “Ocean Colour Scene (Apart from that one song…Hang on nah not even that song)” on his 2013 list of ‘quarter-decent three chord knobheads [who] could and did get a deal in the ‘90s’?

“I’ve got no idea! [ Laughs ]”

WRONG. It was Robbie Williams , who posted the blog in response to a Brett Anderson quote about “crap boybands in the ‘90s”. Aside from OCS and myriad others, his list included Echobelly , Menswear , Sleeper ,   Salad and “ Geneva (Sub- Suede -Can you imagine?)”.

“Do you have his number?! [Laughs ] That’s a shame because I had a few drinks with Robbie Williams when he was trying to become Liam and Noel’s friends. Liam told him to sling his hook. Good judge of character, is Liam! [ Laughs ] Right: well I won’t be buying any more of Robbie Williams’ B-sides albums! Best of luck to him.”

6 Ocean Colour Scene’s 2007 Paul Weller-written song ‘For Dancers Only’ was reworked and released by Weller and Graham Coxon later that year under which different title?

“I had no idea that Paul and Graham Coxon did it as well. Was it under the title ‘The Miserable Gits’? [ Laughs ]”

WRONG. Sadly not! It’s the more mundane moniker ‘This Old Town’.

“I should add Paul Weller’s not a miserable git, by the way!”

You’ve collaborated with Weller numerous times over the years (and Steve Cradock is a member of Weller’s band)…

“He was in my hotel room once having a quiet drink and Steve was jumping up and down on my bed and nearly jumped out of the seventh floor window of the hotel. He smashed his head on the window, hit the floor, glass everywhere, so the three of us had a conference the next day where we decided we needed to change our ways a little. That was bloody scary. It could have been a tragedy, but it wasn’t. We’re the band with 10 lives!

“We first met Paul Weller at his studio, Solid Bond, in Marble Arch. We partly recorded our first [1992 self-titled] album there. Steve hit it off with Paul – he’d gone down to Solid Bond a few times when he was a kid and been chased out by big Kenny Wheeler who was Paul’s minder. Paul liked a song by us called ‘ Sway ’, so we ended up at the studio. Then Steve joined Paul’s band in ’93, which was great for him because he was a huge The Jam fan as a teenager.”

7 Which two bands did Ocean Colour Scene play between at Glastonbury 2000?

“Were The Bootleg Beatles on? I think they were on our day because one of them wanted my autograph for his son. John Lennon asking me for my autograph made my day!  Were Cast on? I can’t remember much about Knebworth [Oasis’ record-breaking 1996 gigs, which OCS supported them at] other than being terrified and seeing all the hands in the air when we were doing ‘ The Day We Caught the Train ’. I don’t even remember if we even watched Oasis because I was [ Imitates The Fast Show ’s Drunk Guy ] vehhrry drunk . I think we sodded off early.”

WRONG. At Glastonbury, you were sandwiched between Coldplay and Pet Shop Boys .

“ Oh, at Glastonbury! Sorry I thought you meant Knebworth! Although I don’t remember Glastonbury either! [Laughs]”

Apparently you helped calm down Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant, who predicted a hostile reception for his band…

“I do remember speaking to Neil Tennant at that. He thought they weren’t Glastonbury material, but I reassured him that they’ve got so many big songs that even if the audience aren’t wearing their T-shirts, they’ll go: ‘Oh, I know this song!’”

8 Name all the songs on your pre-Ocean Colour Scene band The Fanatics’ four-track ‘Suburban Love Songs’ EP.

“Bloody hell! ‘ My Brother Sarah ’, ‘ Suburban Love Songs ’, ‘Tight Rope’ and … I don’t know the name of the other one!”

WRONG. You missed out the track: ‘ 1,2,3,4 ’.”

“’1,2,3,4’ was a total rip-off of ‘ Foggy Notion ’ by The Velvet Underground , who I was completely obsessed with. Lou Reed once said: One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz” – which feels like the perfect retort to Robbie Williams!”

9 Which Ocean Colour Scene track have you performed live with both (separately) Pete Doherty and Carl Barât?

“’Robin Hood’”.

“ Pete and Carl were fans of the band. Carl’s was a better version of ‘Robin Hood’, shall we say! Pete had been a little bit, er, thirsty that afternoon. It’s all that jumping around onstage!”

10 At a 2011 gig in the University of Anglia, OCS were joined by former footballer Dion Dublin playing percussion on which instrument that he had invented?

“ The Dube .”

“It’s like a percussive cube and each side has got a different tone. He used to live near me and we became friends. Dion once took us to a nightclub with another ex-Norwich player Darren Huckerby who warned us: ‘Listen, what happens on tour, stays on tour. I said: Dion, you’re talking to a band !”  

Tell us about your forthcoming (Dube-free) Ocean Colour Scene acoustic tour…

“Well, it’s 25 gigs. I can’t remember the last time we did that so I’m slightly apprehensive concerning my voice, but at least we get to sit down!”

The verdict: 4/10 

“That’s appalling! Halfway through a live radio interview once, Adrian Chiles said to me: ‘You’re a rubbish guest – you can’t remember a thing!'”

– ‘An Evening With Simon and Oscar of Ocean Colour Scene’ tours nationwide from April 29 to June 2

• Related Topics
• Does Rock 'N' Roll Kill Braincells?
• Ocean Colour Scene

• Chris Evans as Himself [ episodes 1 - 176 ]
• Will Macdonald as Himself [ episodes ? - ? ]
• Andrew Carey as Himself (barman) [ 1996-2000 ]
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• Cedric as Himself [ episodes ? - 183 ]
• Johnny Boy Revell as Himself [ episodes ? - ? ]
• Main theme: Man in a Suitcase from the series of the same name.
• Guests' theme: The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene .
• It's Your Letters theme: Place Your Hands by Reef .

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Riverboat Song

Ocean colour scene.

About Riverboat Song

"The Riverboat Song" is a song by British band Ocean Colour Scene. The song is heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin's "Four Sticks", from which it takes its main riff and a number of lyrics. The song is notable in that it is in 6/8 swing time, and not the more common 4/4 time normally used in rock music. The song was popularised by Radio 1 DJ Chris Evans, who played it frequently on his radio shows and to introduce guests on his television programme TFI Friday. As a result, having been released in February 1996, it reached number 15 in the UK Singles Chart, paving the way for the success of the next two singles, "You've Got It Bad" (7) and "The Day We Caught the Train" (4) and the album Moseley Shoals.   more »

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Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date. more »

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Written by: DAMON MINCHELLA, OSCAR LLOYD HARRISON, SIMON FOWLER, STEPHEN CRADOCK

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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• #2 Dub Be Good to Me
• #3 There's Nothing Like This
• #4 Waterfalls
• #6 Confide in Me
• #7 Little Time
• #8 There She Goes
• #9 Tom's Diner
• #10 You're Not Alone
• #11 Summertime
• #12 Apparently Nothing
• #13 Love Thy Will Be Done
• #14 One of Us
• #16 Show Me Heaven
• #17 Love is All Around
• #18 Common People
• #20 Finetime
• #21 What's Up
• #23 Shy Guy
• #24 Breakfast at Tiffany's
• #25 Man I Feel Like a Woman
• #27 Ride on Time
• #28 Gypsy Woman
• #30 It's Like That
• #31 This Is How We Do It
• #32 Freak Me
• #33 Tease Me
• #34 Here Comes the Hotstepper
• #35 Dance the Night Away
• #37 Turn on Tune in Cop Out
• #38 How Bizarre
• #39 Mr Vain
• #40 Two Can Play That Game
• #41 Where Love Lives
• #42 Hideaway
• #43 All That She Wants
• #44 Finally
• #45 I Love Your Smile
• #46 I Want It That Way
• #47 Hangin' Tough
• #48 Place Your Hands
• #49 Riverboat Song
• #50 Good Enough
• #51 Ce'st La Vie
• #53 Sit Down

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