When Madchester was at its peak in U.K. (roughly 1989 - 1991), I was just out of high school in Arizona, an unexpected place to attempt to monitor and participate in this very British phenomenon. The local independent record store carried dated copies of NME and Melody Maker, along with a spare selection of import CDs. I diligently bought these rags and scooped up any CDs I happened to find - a used copy of Pills `n' Thrills and Bellyaches, an import of The Stone Roses. A grungy little record shop near the University of Arizona sold me a Mondays T-Shirt, with "Call the Cops" printed in huge letters across the back. Being into these bands at the time didn't make me cool, it made me lonely.

The psychedelic fever of Madchester never spread to the scorched earth I called home, nor would it ever amount to much in the U.S. Soon the overpowering crunch of grunge would relegate Baggy to a multicolored, but minor footnote. I followed along with the scene for a while longer until the release of the Monday's abominable Yes Please extinguished all remaining interest. But now 15 years later, I find myself still fondly recalling those days and wondering what happened to bands like the Soup Dragons, New Fast Automatic Daffodils and yes, the Inspiral Carpets.

I remember The Inspiral Carpets for two things: Clint Boon's mop top and their irreverent slogan, "Cool as F*ck", which adorned t-shirts and got a kid arrested. If anything typified Baggy for me, an ignorant 20-year old, it was Clint Boon's hair. When I was a kid, we called it a bowl cut, i.e. put a bowl on your head and snip away the stray hairs hanging below the rim. Clint's look was signature, as was his instrument, a mighty Hammond organ that defined the band's psychedelic sound.

"Clint Boon seemed to know every f*cker in town," John Robb writes on the band's official site. "He's already been in bands with Mani [bassist for the Stone Roses], auditioned Ian Brown as a vocalist in a pre Inspiral project and was a shameless pop fanatic whose ambition was to be "as big as Elvis". Clint's keyboards gave the band a different edge, they made the jump from being a local band to being a pop band, it was the icing on the cake."

1989 was the epochal year for the Inspiral Carpets. Lineup changes brought them a new bassist, Marty Walsh and a singer Tom Hingley. The band formed its own label, Cow Records and released the acclaimed Trainsurfing EP. Three successful singles followed "Joe", "Find Out Why" and "Move", prompting Mute Records to sign the band. In 1990, they released their debut album, Life, and scored a modest U.S. Modern Rock radio hit with "This is How it Feels" (MP3). In preparation for their 1991 tour, the band hired future Oasis founder Noel Gallagher as a roadie, after they had turned him down for membership in the band.

With their second album, 1991's The Beast Inside, the Inspiral Carpets' popularity continued to grow. However, by 1992 the Madchester scene was in decline. The Carpets' third record, Revenge of the Goldfish, while producing the band's biggest single in the U.K. sold less than its predecessors. By 1995, the band had split.

Undaunted, Clint Boon continued to write music. He formed The Clint Boon Experience and released two albums, 1999's The Compact Guide to Pop Music and Space Travel and 2000's Life In Transition. Singer Tom Hingley went solo, releasing two albums under his own name before forming The Lovers.

In 2003, perhaps inspired by the success of 24 Hour Party People, the Inspiral Carpets reunited for a string of sell out concerts in the U.K.  "Too many British pop bands burn out before they get their pay day," writes Robb. "And if the band that taught their ex roadie Noel Gallagher the ins and outs of rock n roll can get deserved recognition for their angular pop, then it would be a mighty justice indeed."