space blues

The story of Felt is your typical tale of missed opportunity and glorious failure. The central character is Lawrence Hayward, Felt's wayward lead singer and pop obsessive. The world of indie is littered with stories about his eccentricity, his mania for cleanliness, sacking a bass player for having curly hair and seemingly deliberate hamstringing of his own career. You can read about this in David Cavanagh's excellent book 'My magpie eyes are hungry for the prize'. All good gossip I'm sure but what stands out for me is the unique music of Felt.

Felt- Crystal Ball


Crystal Ball always moves me. The standard Indie Velvets/NYC influences are obvious but there is a very English melancholy here. Lawrence sounds old before his time, resigned to his fate while Maurice Deebank's guitar scribbles across the song in constant flowing lines, it's a distinctly un-rock way of playing guitar. As far as I'm concerned this is their finest moment.

Felt- Fortune


Fortune again shows the doomed beauty that is typical of their music for Cherry Red. When they moved to Creation things got a little more gutsy especially when Martin Duffy brought his virtuoso Hammond playing to the band and Maurice Deebank had left under a cloud. Felt deserve your attention.

Buy 'My Magpie eyes are hungry for the prize' here

The best compilation of the Cherry Red period Felt that I have focused on here is 'Absolute Classic Masterpieces'

These songs are for everybody out there but especially for our friend Tim who has just returned from his overseas adventures, these are for you mate, just don't expect any Cure!