Episode 14 - Ian McNabb - Songwriting for Songwriters Podcast

Songwriting For Songwriters

Episode 14 - Ian McNabb - Songwriting for Songwriters

Robert Ian McNabb was born in Liverpool on November 3rd 1960. An only child - the son of Patricia and Robert. He first picked up a guitar at the age of 12 after seeing Marc Bolan on Top Of The Pops.

Ian joined his first band, Young World, at the age of 15 ; They played the working men’s club circuit for a couple of years before Ian joined another band City Lights. This band again gigged extensively around the North of England cabaret circuit, but Ian grew tired of playing other peoples songs and decided that cabaret was not the way forward for him.

He had always written songs for fun but now he began to take it seriously.

In 1981 Ian formed The Icicle Works with Chris Sharrock (drums), and Chris Layhe (bass and vocals).

They quickly gained a following through their debut single release, Nirvana,and extensive live performances up and down the country.

The Icicle Works became part of the Liverpool renaissance movement of the eighties, alongside acts such as Echo And The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, WAH!, Heat, OMD, Black, Dead Or Alive, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Lotus Eaters, and China Crisis.

They signed to Beggar’s Banquet records, and under the guidance of Martin Mills scored a top 20 hit with Love Is A Wonderful Colour in the U.K ; and top 40 placings in the U.S, Canada, and Europe with Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream), with their eponymous debut album.

The Icicle Works achieved top 40 placings in the UK for all four of their albums - The Icicle Works, The Small Price Of A Bicycle, If You Want To Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Songs, and Blind - until they split up in 1988.

Muff Winwood signed Ian to Epic records in 1989, paying a buy-out fee to Beggar’s Banquet; but Muff’s insistence on using The Icicle Works name, (with new musicians Roy Corkill and Zak Starkey) when the original band had ceased to be, caused friction, and after one disappointingly received album, Permanent Damage, Ian was dropped from Epic’s roster.

Ian began a collaboration with his friend and previous Icicle Works producer, Ian Broudie - a number of songs featured on subsequent Lightning Seeds records, which became hugely successful.

Ian signed to Andrew Lauder’s new imprint, This Way Up, in 1992, which yielded 3 albums : Truth And Beauty (which Ian had recorded at his own expense by remortgaging his house), Head Like A Rock, which was recorded in part with Neil Young’s band Crazy Horse in L.A and subsequently nominated for a Mercury Music Prize in 1994, and Merseybeast - the latter 2 albums achieved top 30 placings; the first was heralded as “One of the best records released in Q magazine’s lifetime”.

This Way Up records ceased to be in 1997 and Ian found himself without a deal once more, so accepted an invitation to join his friend Mike Scott (The Waterboys) on bass guitar for a lengthy European and Japanese tour.

Ian self financed another record in 1998, A Party Political Broadcast On Behalf Of The Emotional Party, which featured Danny Thompson (John Martyn, Nick Drake amongst others) on upright bass. They toured together that Autumn to promote the record.

At the end of the decade Ian released the live disc Live at Life, recorded over two nights at Liverpool’s Life Cafe.

Ian then joined The Waterboys on keyboards for a European tour. When this was completed, Ian accepted Ian Broudie’s invitation to record on ‘The Barge’ - Pete Townshend’s studio which Broudie was currently renting, moored next to Pete’s Eel Pie complex. The resulting album - Ian McNabb- saw a return of Ian’s love of guitar driven pop/rock and was released on Sanctuary Records in 2001.

Ian briefly played bass guitar in Ringo Starr’s band in 2002.

Throughout the 00s Ian released a further 5 solo albums : Waifs And Strays, The Gentleman Adventurer, Before All Of This, How We Live, and Great Things -all self financed