This Is The One: DENNIS MORRIS and THE STONE ROSES

July 5, 2012 | Author LDWT

St. Andrews, Scotland. Summer 1990. A tiny independent record shop. A Jackson Pollock-style record cover as the only object in its even tinier window, as if to say “this is the only record you need right now; this is the one”. To a teenager’s ears, to any teenager’s ears, there was no need for words.

The Stone Roses had it all: the simple yet enigmatic name, the effortlessly catchy melodies, the romantically stubborn attitude, the confidence, the swagger. And the songs. And what songs they were. Fusing the most traditional of guitar bands influences with a funk and post-punk sensibility, they stayed simple even at their most complex, constantly surprising event their most repetitive. It could be argued that “The Stone Roses” was not 1989’s best, or most forward thinking album. It was the year of Pixies’ “Doolittle”, Beastie Boys’ “Pauls Boutique”, Neneh Cherry’s “Raw Like Sushi” and AR Kane’s “I”, but “The Stone Roses” felt full of hope.

The past is yours, but the future’s mine.

A unifying hope, which feels even more evident now, 23 years later, on the return. And if rumours are true that Shane Meadows quit his production of This Is England ’90 to film their three homecoming shows at Heaton Park for a forthcoming movie, it’s because it is not an exercise in nostalgia. This still is England.

© Dennis Morris

You can now enjoy an exclusive glimpse into the inevitable rise the band experienced between 1989 and 1990 thanks to Dennis Morris’ This is The One, published by Who Said It Publishing. Morris, who had previously photographed some of the most iconic musicians of the time including Bob Marley and Public Image Limited, was introduced to the band via music producer, Martin Hannett, at a rehearsal in Manchester in 1985. Predicting their hugely successful future, the photographer remained in touch with Ian Brown and the band, although refusing to photograph them if not much later in their career.

“If I’m really into a band, I like to watch them as a fan first, to try and see how they click. To watch them on stage and see what they’re about.”

What they were actually about was to mark their time through two epic events, Glasgow Green and Spike Island, the latter of which, attended by 27,000 people, is considered the official start of the 90s in UK pop culture and the moment in which every Tom, Dick and Harry got familiar with the word Madchester. With over 250 never before seen images of the Stone Roses, This Is The One documents the hysteria of those two gigs but turns also for the intimate with behind the scenes photos and studio portraits.

Anytime you want it then it’s there/All you gotta do is stop it/On the corner and ask.

© Dennis Morris

An exhibition of images featured in the book will also be on display from July 11^th until July 19^th 2012 at Londonewcastle, 28 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DP.

This Is The One by Dennis Morris is available from Who Said It (Limited edition of 1000 books), accompanied by an individually signed print.