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Following the footsteps of the Smiths'
Johnny Marr, John Squire established himself as the most talented
and influential guitarist/songwriter in late-'80s/early-'90s British
rock. Born in southwest Manchester, he grew up on the same street
as Ian Brown, and the two became fast friends while attending
Altrincham Grammar School. While Brown was outgoing and gregarious,
Squire was introverted and in some ways painfully shy, and their
polar-opposite personalities, along with a shared love of punk
and '60s rock (the Beatles, et al.), made them inseparable. Getting
his first guitar at age 15, Squire would spend the proverbial
hours in his bedroom practicing, as he also developed a love of
modern art. After attending South Trafford College, Squire became
a cartoon animator, working on such famed British cartoons as
Dangermouse and The Wind in the Willows.
But music remained another steadfast interest, and, in 1982, along
with Andy Couzens, Mani, and a scooter-boy named Kaiser on vocals,
Squire formed his first band, called the Waterfront. After persuading
Ian Brown to join the group, replacing Mani with Pete Garner (Mani
would re-join in 1987), sacking Kaiser, and then finding drummer
Reni through an advertisement, they changed their name first to
the Patrol and eventually to the Stone Roses in March 1984. Squire
shaped the band's sound through his co-songwriting with Ian Brown
and unmistakable skill on the guitar, which was virtuosic yet
always based around simple and memorable melodies, almost single-handedly
resurrecting British rock in the late '80s (and paving the way
for the Brit-pop explosion in the '90s). Squire's Jackson Pollock-esque
paintings and designs famously adorned all the band's artwork
and, furthermore, his shy personality developed into a cool and
detached persona, giving an air of quietly supreme confidence
and adding to the Stone Roses' mystique and following.
Unfortunately, by the early '90s, just as the Stone Roses sat
at the top of the ranks of British rock, Squire's detachment and
cocaine use began to isolate him from even his fellow bandmembers.
Following the acrimonious recording of Second Coming, on which
Squire wrested away much of the band's creative control (leading
them in a more hard rock, Led Zeppelin direction), Reni quit the
Stone Roses in 1995 due in large part to Squire's increasing difficulty
to work with. Later that year, after breaking his collarbone in
a bicycling accident and thus causing the band the cancel a headlining
spot at the Glastonbury festival, Squire took part in his last
tour with the band as he secretly began planning a new musical
project. After leaving the Stone Roses in April 1996, Squire announced
he had formed a new band called the Seahorses, who released a
generally mediocre debut in 1997, Do It Yourself, which nonetheless
received strong sales in the U.K. Despite this, Squire disbanded
the group the following year, citing artistic differences. Other
than occasional sightings, interviews, and a brief involvement
with what would become the Shining (which included ex-Verve members
Peter Salisbury and Simon Tong), Squire continued his insular
ways into the 2000s.
Squire suddenly reemerged with a solo album in 2002, titled Time
Changes Everything, which included songs such as "I Miss You,
clearly aimed at mending his still-broken relationship with Ian
Brown.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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