Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?: An Indie Odyssey

A unique journey into the legacy and afterlives of the artists who featured on the legendary NME C86 tape.

In 1986, the NME released a cassette that would shape music for years to come. A collection of 22 independently signed guitar-based bands, C86 was the sound and ethos that defined a generation. It was also arguably the point at which ’indie’ was born.

But what happened next to all those musical dreamers?

Some of the bands, like Primal Scream, went on to achieve global stardom; others, such as Half Man Half Biscuit and the Wedding Present, cultivated lifelong fanbases that still sustain their careers thirty-five years later. Then there were the rest, who ultimately imploded in a riot of paisley shirts, bad drugs, and general indifference from the record-buying public.

Now, for the first time, music journalist Nige Tassell tracks down the class of C86 and recounts their stories, both tragic and uplifting.

For the past twenty-five years, Nige Tassell has written about music, popular culture and sport for a range of titles, including The Word, The Guardian, the Sunday Times, The Independent, Q, Esquire, GQ, Rouleur, the New Statesman and The Blizzard. A highly experienced interviewer and author, Tassell has received admiration for his writing from the likes of Ian Rankin, Adam Buxton, Danny Baker, Steve Lamacq, Janice Long and Lucy Porter. Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? will be his eighth book.