They were once called the ‘most popular band without a record out’ – and that has remained true until now
Joanna came and went in 1989 and 1990
Things could have been very different for local indie band Joanna. On the cusp of world dominance, the four-piece sensationally fell apart just after huge shows in Manchester.
The ¼-inch reel tapes of their unreleased debut album were left to sit idly by as the years went by- passing through both the city’s thriving Madchester scene and the rise of Oasis. Stored in the back of a Manchester loft collecting dust, they were discovered some 35 years after they had been recorded.
In 1989, as The Stone Roses rose to prominence and the Happy Mondays emerged as influential players, it had been hoped that Joanna would soon join them in the music ranks. Vocalist Neil Holliday and bassist Terry Lloyd, two work colleagues from Runcorn and Widnes, were joined by guitarist Tyrone Holt and drummer Carl Alty, who both studied at Leigh Music College at the time.
“Terry was already in a band when we left school,” Neil recalls to the Manchester Evening News. “I’d never really given it a second thought but he was trying to get another band together but it hadn’t worked out with their intended singer. I just said, oh, I’ll give it a go.
Joanna came and went in 1989 and 1990
“It was quite an exciting time. There was one venue, The Queen’s Hall, in Widnes which put on shows from the Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets all in the space of a few weeks. It really whet your appetite for wanting to be a part of the scene.”
At the time, Terry’s dad was able to get the band their earliest gigs. For reasons relatively hazy now, the band ended up finding their crowd in Manchester through regular gigs at venues like The Boardroom.
“They asked us to play there on the night it reopened,” Neil says. “It was a huge deal. It was a sold out house, people were ramming each other to try and get in.”
Whilst continuing to write and record their own music, which was largely recorded at Pentagon Studios in Widnes, the gigs kept getting bigger and bigger. In 1990, they supported Asia Fields at the 1,500-capacity Ritz in Manchester following a personal recommendation from Clint Boon.
Joanna were once described as ‘the most popular band without a record out’
“It’s crazy thinking back to that time,” Neil laughs. “All we had done was a demo. We had managed to get some free time at the studio and we were just messing about over a few weekends here and there.”
As momentum for the band grew, the band were interviewed on Kiss FM by Jon Ronson following a letter from then-producer Craig Cash, and also supported other acts like Shack, Dr Phibes and the House of Wax Equations, and Rig on tour. They were hailed by NME as the ‘most popular band without a record out’.
“When we went on Kiss, Craig basically told us that the songs were good but the quality was poor,” Neil explained. “They sounded rushed and, to be fair, he was right. So we decided to put some money together in order to do it properly.”
Joanna went back into the studio to make new music. The reaction didn’t go down too well – failing to properly match up to the gritty, unique sound from their demo sessions.
“People who had been initially encouraging of us were underwhelmed with what we had done,” Neil says. “So, Martin Royle, our manager, decided we’d go back to the original set, but I think the love for it had already started to fade away for us.”
But it was a London show, set to impress A&R bigwigs at the top record labels, which ultimately sealed their fate. An earlier sound check had set the precedent for the night when Neil bumped into a girl from school who had begun dating a guy and was starting to make a life for herself outside of the small town.
After a spiral of hiccups, the band left the gig without any interest from respected labels. The band grew weary of trying to make it, and it was decided shortly after that they would disband.
A ticket stub for Joanna’s show at Oldham venue Club 57
“I’d moved on from the training scheme and had picked up a job as a printer, and I just didn’t want to commit to having to give up more and more work each time,” Neil says. “And a couple of record labels started to tell us that the whole Manchester band thing had been and gone – even though we weren’t all from Manchester, we were associated as being because we were Northern and not from London.
“Things had just started to fizzle out. It just wasn’t the be all and end all for me, I had other things going on. It was sad at the time, you know, but the other three were serious musicians and I was just tagging along. They all went on to do big things. Carl toured with Jarvis Cocker and appeared on Top of the Pops, he was in Half Man Half Biscuit.
“Tyrone and Terry went on to appear in the band SuperGiant, who have featured on BBC Radio 6 Music. So, yeah, Joanna just came and went within the space of a little over a year, really. So, that’s why it’s a little bit mad that we’re at this moment where we are now.”
This moment, in particular, being the fact that Joanna’s debut album, Hello Flower, is set to be released in December. Made up of eight songs, the collection has been described as a time capsule of a Northern legacy which never came to be fully realised.
Joanna came and went but their music is now set to finally be released after more than 35 years
“We had just presumed these tapes had been lost,” Neil explains. “Nobody knew who might have them. It turns out, during lockdown, that an old friend of Tyrone’s was moving house and stumbled across them in his loft.
“They were in great condition, but needed a bit of love and care. We thought we’d get them mastered – just to revisit old times, really. One of Karl’s friends, Jesse from New York, found out what we were doing and said he’d love to release them on his record label. Now, the record has been pressed onto vinyl and the physical copies actually exist. It’s quite surreal.”
Asked what it was like hearing the songs again after 35 years, Neil said: “It was a proper flashback. And, you know what, they’re actually really good. I’m not just saying it but I think they stand up.
“I think a couple of them could quite easily be played on radio today because they sound really fresh. I feel they sit nicely alongside the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses.”
And, of course, as with all reunions, there will be a live show. To coincide with the album release, the band will play Low Four Studio in Deansgate on December 13. They are also contemplating more shows next year.
“It’s been a very wild journey,” Neil laughs. “We started the year not even remembering any of our old lyrics to having our own album on record with a gig lined up.”
Asked if the band is well and truly back, Neil says he has learnt to take things as they come for now. “The attitude is that we will go as far as we can with it,” he says. “It’s exciting.
“It’s worked out this way for whatever reason and I think, realistically, it’s the only way this could have ever happened. If someone had brought up the idea of reuniting, I don’t think we’d be as vigorous about it.”
Joanna’s Hello Flower can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp. You can follow the band on Facebook.