21/11/2025
RIP Gary 'Mani' Mounfield – a huge loss, especially to Manchester, being a beloved son of the city. It’s going to be emotional at The Haçienda event on Saturday. As fate would have it, Primal Scream, who Mani joined post-Stone Roses, headline.
With that ‘one of the lads’ aura about him, people could relate to Mani - not only via his music, but because they identified with him. He never lost touch with his roots, which is why Manchester will take this hard.
As The Stone Roses' bassist, he was at the centre of the post-acid house Madchester hurricane, as the city became the coolest place on the planet in the late-‘80s.
That majestic self-titled Roses LP was what many of the ravers were listening to after the raves, evoking the spirit of 1967’s summer of love, as the ravers set about their own 'second summer of love', greedily spread over two years.
I was there at Spike Island, one of the key gatherings of that time. Despite sound issues hampering the band’s performance, it was a truly unique happening at which the baggy legions turned out in their hoards, and such an incredible ‘this is us’ moment (I was also at their infamous Manchester press conference the previous day – great fun!).
It took the Roses a number of years before they released their follow-up album, ‘Second Coming’, in 1994. I saw them holed up at Square One Studio in Bury, where I also did some recordings – it was clear they were struggling to find their muse. In the meantime, Madchester became Gunchester, and the vibe of the city completely changed. The band, no longer in step with the times, soon split up. Oasis, greatly inspired, took up the baton and would enjoy the mainstream success that eluded the Roses at the time.
We forget that when it was first released, their classic debut album stalled outside the UK top 30. Despite having a devoted following, not everyone initially latched onto what would subsequently be listed by music critics as one of the best LP’s of all-time.
As we know, they’d eventually reform in 2012 for a world tour that took in 100 dates, The Roses playing to massive audiences as they were greeted back as long lost prodigal sons – far far more universally known than in their late-‘80s heyday.
Between the demise of The Stone Roses and their revival, Mani didn’t hang about, but joined another seminal band of the period, Primal Scream.
He’d just added 30 dates to a conversational tour, reflecting on his career, having already done a similar amount in recent months. In his last social media post he said that he thought he was embarking on what could be his final road trip.
Mani died yesterday, four days after his 63rd birthday.
