The Wendys

The Wendys launched their first album at precisely the wrong moment, mere months ahead of the demise of Factory, the influential U.K. independent label. John Renton handled vocals, Ian White played guitar, Johnny MacArthur sat behind the drums, and Arthur Renton anchored the bass. Emerging from Edinburgh, Scotland, in the early 1990s, the quartet drew widespread critical praise together with the customary promotional push supplied by Factory’s Tony Wilson. Once the frenzy around the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays subsided, the Wendys were anointed the next major act. Ian Broudie, the celebrated producer, oversaw their 1991 debut Gobbledygook, which earned strong reviews yet found little public traction. Factory’s collapse swept the band along with it, and as grunge seized control of the airwaves, their Madchester-inspired guitar pop had nowhere left to go. Starshaped finally put out the long-awaited follow-up Sixfootwingspan in 1999.