Menswear: 90-дардың британдық поп тобының тарихы

Britpop band

Menswear (sometimes styled Menswe@r) were a Britpop band formed in October 1994 from Camden in London. They released a number of singles and an album, Nuisance, on the short lived London Records subsidiary Laurel. A second album followed, which was released only in Japan; the group broke up in 1998. Menswear, made up of a new line up in addition to frontman Johnny Dean, played their first show in 15 years in August 2013. According to AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Menswear met with numerous detractors, being "charming, handsome young men that wanted to be in a pop group more than they wanted to play music". They nevertheless became "one of the most popular Brit pop bands of 1995".

The beginnings of the band were a feature in a Select article about a supposed London mod revival led by Graham Coxon. Two individuals closely associated with the burgeoning Britpop scene, Chris Gentry and Johnny Dean, made references to a "top new unsigned band" (Menswear), an act which did not yet exist. They later appeared on the cover of Melody Maker before they had released any material. Their dress sense was Mod (tight fitting suits etc.) whilst their music was influenced by both Blur's second album Modern Life Is Rubbish and Elastica. Their first single was "I'll Manage Somehow". Their second single "Daydreamer" peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, but saw the band accused of plagiarising Wire; AllMusic describes the track as sounding "more like Wire than Elastica, only funnier, even if it may be unintentional". The band released their debut album Nuisance in 1995, described by AllMusic as "the perfect product from a band that is better known for being seen than being heard". They played their last live show at London's Camden Palace the same year. Hints at causes towards the breakup have been mentioned in Johnny Dean's blog. Stuart Black formed a new band, Messiah, that lasted until 2000. Guitarist Chris Gentry went on to play with the band, Vatican DC. Simon White played as a touring and studio musician for various artists including Finley Quaye. After leaving in 1996, drummer Matt Everitt later joined The Montrose Avenue, Drummer Todd Parmenter left the band to play in his main band Heck. He went on to play with Lungleg, The Beal, Evan Dando and The Beatings. Stuart Black is now in the band Bella Echoes with former Messiah member Barnsey. Lead singer Johnny Dean was finally diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2008 and has started campaigning on behalf of the National Autistic Society. In recent interviews Dean has expressed the torment he experienced before his diagnosis and his desire to raise awareness of the Autistic syndrome spectrum. On Friday 7 June 2013 Dean made his first sold out live appearance in 15 years with the Nuis@nce Band performing the songs of David Bowie which raised thousands of pounds for The National Autistic Society in London.

A new Menswear line up played their first show in 15 years on 16 August 2013. Original member Johnny Dean was joined by members of The Nuisance Band as a different Menswear line up. The sold out event was in aid of the mental health charity PMA Sport's Academy and #TimeToChange campaign which Johnny Dean was invited to promote alongside The Saturdays' Frankie Sandford, Uri Geller and Ruby Wax. On 26 March 2014, the new line up of Menswear performed their first sold out gig at London's Bush Hall, debuting the new single "Crash '14" amongst the set list. It was released on 26 May that year via Nuisance Recordings & POST/POP Records on limited edition 7" single and cassette as well as download. Menswear played as part of the line up at the Shiiine On Weekender festival (6–9 November 2015), playing alongside acts such as Happy Mondays, Peter Hook, The Wedding Present, 808 State and The Orb. This was to be the last gig the revamped line up played, celebrating 20 years since the release of debut album Nuisance. A statement on the band's Twitter account in August 2016 announced there would be no more Menswear. In 2020, Dean disowned the new line up of Menswear, saying, "I was manipulated into something I wasn’t comfortable with by people who were being opportunistic. I thought it’d be fun, but it looked weird, as I’m not that same person."