NEWS: Tony Briggs book Behind The Scene

The 90’s work of Ocean Colour Scene comes hand in hand with the sensational work of photographer Tony Briggs. When you look at one of their albums sleeves you are immediately drawn to the iconic depiction of the band in various casual guises looking distinctly like the peak work of Gered Mankowitz, look again and you are drawn even further into the colourful world of the 90’s and this widely underrated band.

At the time of these albums the band were in a rich vein of form probably as a consequence of Steve Cradock being drafted in by Paul Weller to be his right hand man on stage and in the studio, which then lead to the inevitable move of the rest of the band; Paul Jones looka-a-like front man Simon Fowler, powerhouse drummer Oscar Harrison and soulful bassist Damon Minchella; being plucked from obscurity to play their part in the rise of the dreaded word ‘Britpop’.

Yes the band were at the forefront of this movement, appearing as festival headliners, chart parade darlings as well as the spritely Chris Evans using the bands comeback single The Riverboard song as the theme music to the hip and happening TFI Friday television program which would appear to be all outlined in this fabulous book by Briggs. From the latest mail out from Briggs he provides further exciting details:

‘Behind The Scene’ will be a look back at Ocean Colour Scene’s three big 90’s albums; Moseley Shoals, B Sides and Marchin Already, from 1995 to 1998, when I was lucky enough to work exclusively with OCS. Straight off the bat, this book’s production will aim high; it’s a large format, hardback art photography book, 240 pages minimum, beautifully printed on beautiful stock. It’s being designed by Pete Kelsey who designed the Marchin Already album and the singles, and will feature lots of new material as well as a foreword by Steve Cradock, commentary from the rest of the band and some of the other creatives involved ‘behind the scenes’ at the time.

Worth mentioning now that, through Kickstarter, I’m offering a commercial sponsorship of the project, with room in the design for branding and potentially a book launch event and exhibition.

For the first 20 book packages, I’m including one of 20 framed original Polaroids from the 90’s OCS photoshoots. These are the original Hasselblad Polaroids off the camera, genuine ‘one-off’ little slices of history, and I’ll share these on social and Kickstarter soon.

There’s also the opportunity to buy a direct involvement in the book, with a written credit, an OCS review or dedication or possibly even a photograph of you with the band or from an OCS gig in the 90’s.

And for the first 200 books, I’ll also include three limited edition signed art prints and a free hard copy or digital download of my 2017 film, “Scene”, price tbc.

I’ll try to make the book affordable but the limited edition run is Initially only 500, and the design, printing and shipping costs for a book like this are huge, and quality comes at a price. But I’m giving 25% of any profits to the International Rescue Committee www.rescue-uk.org responding to countries devastated by war.

There really has been a lack of content, written or on-screen, about OCS so I’m hoping to correct that. This book is a tribute to possibly the UK’s most underrated band and with your support, we can make a little bit of history.

I’ll be in touch soon with the Kickstarter link. Thanks again, keep the faith.’

For further details on the book please email Tony on the following link