The Lost Masterpiece of Liverpool: A Tribute to 'HMS Fable'

In June 1999, Liverpool band Shack released an album that should have changed their fortunes. Michael and John Head had spent more than a decade making music together, surviving record-label problems, abandoned releases and personal difficulties along the way. There had been excellent songs, critical acclaim and several opportunities that never quite worked out, but their new album appeared to have everything in place.

'HMS Fable' contained twelve songs, reached number 25 in the UK Albums Chart and finished second in the end-of-year critics' polls published by both NME and Uncut. Michael Head appeared on the cover of NME, Noel Gallagher was among the band's admirers, and the record received some of the best reviews of 1999. For a musician who had been making records since the early 1980s, it must have felt like things were finally coming together.

Unfortunately, that wasn't quite how it worked out. 'HMS Fable' never became the commercial success many had predicted, although the people who discovered it continued to champion the album long after its release. More than twenty-five years later, it remains one of those records that makes you wonder how such good songs could have passed so many people by.

Liverpool's musical history hardly needs an introduction. The Beatles, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, The La's and The Coral have all contributed to the city's reputation for producing remarkable guitar bands. Shack deserve to be part of that conversation too. Their story begins long before 'HMS Fable', with a young Michael Head, his friend Chris McCaffrey and an obsession with an American band called Love.

The Pale Fountains and the beginnings of Michael Head

Michael Head grew up in Kensington, Liverpool, during a period when the city's music scene was changing considerably. Eric's had become an important venue for punk and post-punk, while Echo & the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes were beginning to attract attention beyond Merseyside. There was plenty happening around him, although Head's musical interests also stretched back towards the 1960s.

One record became particularly important. Love's 1967 album 'Forever Changes', written largely by Arthur Lee, was unlike much of the music being released in Britain during the late 1970s. Its mixture of folk, psychedelia, brass, strings and unusual arrangements made a lasting impression on Head. He discovered the album through Liverpool musician David 'Yorkie' Palmer before introducing it to his younger brother John.

The brothers had developed a habit of listening to records together and giving them marks out of ten. 'Forever Changes' was one of the few albums they both agreed deserved full marks, and its influence would remain with them throughout their careers.

Michael shared his enthusiasm for the record with Chris 'Biffa' McCaffrey, another young musician from Kensington. The pair became close friends and started making music together, eventually forming The Pale Fountains. Their earliest group had even been called The Love Fountains, which gives you some idea of how much Arthur Lee's music meant to them.

The Pale Fountains arrived during the early 1980s with a sound that differed from many of their contemporaries. While synthesiser-driven pop and post-punk were dominating much of British alternative music, Head was interested in Burt Bacharach, The Byrds, Love and the melodic songwriting of the 1960s. Alongside Head and McCaffrey, the group included drummer Thomas Whelan and trumpeter Andy Diagram, whose playing helped give their records a distinctive sound.

After releasing '(There's Always) Something on My Mind' in 1982, the band signed to Virgin Records, receiving a substantial advance and attracting considerable expectations. Their debut album, 'Pacific Street', arrived in 1984, combining acoustic guitars, brass and beautifully arranged pop songs. The following year's '...From Across the Kitchen Table' introduced a more direct guitar sound, although the songwriting retained much of what had made the debut so appealing.

Both records contained excellent material. 'Reach', 'Jean's Not Happening', 'Shelter' and 'Thank You' are reminders of what a talented band The Pale Fountains were, but their records struggled commercially. They developed a particularly devoted following in France, without achieving the wider British success that had been expected of them.

The band eventually dissolved in 1987, and two years later Head lost his closest friend when McCaffrey died from a brain tumour. They had grown up together, discovered music together and formed a band that had occupied much of their adult lives. By then, John Head had also become involved in The Pale Fountains, and the brothers were beginning a musical partnership that would continue for decades.

Shack, 'Zilch' and the album that almost disappeared

Shack formed in 1986, with Michael and John joined by bassist Pete Wilkinson and drummer Mick Hurst. Their debut album, 'Zilch', arrived two years later, moving towards a more conventional guitar sound than The Pale Fountains. There were promising songs, including 'Who Killed Clayton Square?' and 'High Rise Low Life', but the record never quite captured what the band were capable of, and commercial success proved elusive once again.

British guitar music was changing around them. The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays were introducing psychedelia to a new generation, while Liverpool was preparing to produce another remarkable songwriter in Lee Mavers and The La's. By 1991, there appeared to be a growing appetite for the sort of melodic guitar music Shack had been making for several years.

Working with producer Chris Allison, the band recorded their second album, 'Waterpistol'. It was an enormous improvement on 'Zilch', with brighter guitars, stronger melodies and a collection of songs that sounded much more confident. 'Sgt. Major', 'Dragonfly', 'Mood of the Morning' and 'Undecided' demonstrated the brothers' development as songwriters, while John's guitar playing became an increasingly important part of the music.

Everything appeared to be going well until a fire destroyed London's Star Street Studios, taking the album's master recordings with it. Fortunately, Allison had made a safety copy on digital audio tape. Unfortunately, he had left that copy in a hire car while travelling in America, unaware that it had suddenly become the only surviving recording of the entire album.

Allison eventually managed to track down the missing tape through the rental company, but Shack's problems were far from over. Their record label, Ghetto Recording Company, had collapsed, leaving the band with a completed album and nobody to release it. By the time the recordings were recovered, the group was already falling apart.

It is a ridiculous chain of events when you look back at it. The band had recorded their strongest album, lost the master tapes in a fire, recovered the only surviving copy from a hire car on the other side of the Atlantic and still couldn't get the record released.

'Waterpistol' was eventually released in October 1995 through German independent label Marina Records. By then, Oasis were one of the biggest bands in Britain, Blur had achieved mainstream success, and Britpop was everywhere. Shack had recorded an album in 1991 that belonged comfortably alongside much of the music becoming popular four years later, but the circumstances surrounding its release meant that very few people had heard it at the time.

The intervening years had been difficult. Pete Wilkinson joined Cast, the Liverpool band formed by former La's bassist John Power, while Michael and John continued writing amid increasingly serious struggles with addiction. Shack had effectively fallen apart, and the possibility of returning to the success they had hoped for during the 'Waterpistol' sessions seemed remote.

I've always thought 'Waterpistol' deserves to be discussed alongside the best British guitar albums of the early 1990s. There are moments that recall The Stone Roses and The La's, but Michael's melodies and John's guitar playing give the record its own character. Had it arrived in 1991, perhaps the band's career would have developed differently. Instead, the album became another record that people gradually discovered years after it had been made.

Arthur Lee, The Strands and another remarkable record

There was one particularly memorable experience for the Head brothers during the years surrounding 'Waterpistol'. Having grown up listening to 'Forever Changes', Michael and John were invited to perform alongside Arthur Lee himself.

Lee was preparing for a return to European stages and needed musicians who knew his songs. When his representatives contacted Michael to ask how much of Love's catalogue the brothers could play, the answer was practically everything. They had spent years learning those records, studying the guitar parts and arrangements, and now had an opportunity to play the music alongside the man who had written it.

During rehearsals in Paris, the brothers even helped Lee remember 'Your Mind and We Belong Together', one of Love's lesser-known late-1960s recordings. Michael and John knew the song well enough to help their musical hero work through his own arrangement. It must have been a surreal experience for two Liverpool musicians who had spent much of their youth listening to his records.

Around the same period, Michael began another project that would become an important part of his career. Working with John, Iain Templeton, Michelle Brown and flautist Les Roberts, he started recording under the name The Strands in 1993. French promoter Stéphane Bismuth helped finance the sessions, allowing the musicians to continue working despite their difficult personal circumstances.

The resulting album, 'The Magical World of the Strands', was eventually released in 1997. It was quite different from 'Waterpistol', moving towards acoustic guitars, folk influences and much more intimate arrangements. Songs such as 'Something Like You', 'Queen Matilda' and 'X Hits the Spot' gave Michael's songwriting room to breathe, while John's playing and the brothers' harmonies remained central to the music.

There is a beauty to 'The Magical World of the Strands' that makes it difficult to understand why the album remains relatively unknown. The influences of Love, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley are apparent, but the record never sounds like a collection of attempts to recreate somebody else's music. It also demonstrated that the Head brothers could make something special without the resources of a major record label.

By the end of the decade, Michael and John were ready to revive Shack. With Ren Parry on bass and Iain Templeton on drums, they began work on the album that would finally bring them the critical attention they had deserved for years.

'HMS Fable': Liverpool's forgotten masterpiece

By 1999, Britpop was no longer dominating British guitar music in quite the same way. Oasis had followed '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' with 'Be Here Now', Blur had moved away from their earlier records, and much of the music press was searching for something new. Shack returned with an album that drew on the same influences the brothers had loved since their teenage years, but sounded far more accomplished than anything they had previously recorded together.

'HMS Fable' arrived in June 1999 through Laurel/London Records. Hugh Jones and Youth handled production, alongside additional work from Hugo Nicolson, with sessions taking place across studios including Rockfield, Britannia Row, The Townhouse and Ridge Farm. The band were joined by several additional musicians, including Primal Scream's Martin Duffy, who played piano on 'Lend's Some Dough'.

There were also orchestral arrangements from Wil Malone, Nick Ingman and David Whitaker. Strings, trumpets, organs and carefully constructed harmonies appeared throughout the record, adding to the music without getting in the way of the songs. You can hear how much had changed since 'Zilch', particularly in the confidence of the arrangements and the space given to the brothers' songwriting.

The artwork was interesting too. Designed by Andy Huckle at Stylorouge, the sleeve borrowed from old-fashioned commercial packaging, using maritime imagery and typography that recalled an earlier period. Liverpool's history as a port provided an obvious connection, while the title itself came from 'Captain's Table', one of the songs on the record.

Its nautical imagery also suited a band whose influences had travelled across the Atlantic. Love, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield remained central to the brothers' musical tastes, alongside the songwriting traditions of Liverpool itself. Those references are easy to hear across 'HMS Fable', although the songs never feel as though Shack were trying to belong to another decade.

Opening track 'Natalie's Party' is a perfect introduction. The guitars are bright, the harmonies are beautifully arranged and the melody gets better as the song develops. It is one of those songs that sounds familiar almost immediately, which is something Michael Head has always been particularly good at. The influences of The Beatles and The Byrds are there, but the finished recording is unmistakably Shack.

'Comedy' follows with one of Michael's finest vocal performances. The arrangement moves between acoustic guitars and strings before opening into a much bigger chorus, and I think it remains one of the strongest examples of his songwriting. It isn't difficult to understand why the song was selected as a single. There is a warmth to the melody that stays with you long after it finishes.

Then there is 'Pull Together', which I have always thought should have been a much bigger song. Written by Michael and John, it has the sort of chorus that could have filled festival fields throughout the late 1990s. There are similarities to Oasis in the way the song builds, although Shack's melodies are generally gentler and their arrangements draw on a much wider collection of influences.

The album is much more than those opening songs, however. 'Lend's Some Dough' combines playful piano and bright guitars with lyrics about financial difficulties, while 'Captain's Table' moves towards folk and psychedelia. Both songs demonstrate how comfortably Head could move between different moods without the music becoming disconnected.

John's contribution deserves particular attention. He wrote 'Beautiful' and 'Cornish Town', as well as sharing the credit for 'Pull Together', and his guitar playing is an essential part of the album. Shack are so often discussed through Michael's songwriting and personal history that John's contribution can be overlooked. The two brothers brought different qualities to the band, and their music was stronger because of it.

'Reinstated' recalls the sophisticated arrangements of The Pale Fountains, bringing together horns, strings and organ, while 'Since I Met You' continues that approach with another wonderful melody. Closing track 'Daniella' returns to the influence of Love, something that feels particularly appropriate given the brothers' experience performing alongside Arthur Lee earlier in the decade.

I like that 'HMS Fable' never settles on one sound. There are straightforward guitar songs, psychedelic moments, orchestral arrangements and quieter passages that could almost have belonged on 'The Magical World of the Strands'. The Head brothers had spent years making music in several different forms, and much of that experience came together on this record.

Perhaps the song that best demonstrates the personal side of Michael's writing, however, is 'Streets of Kenny'.

'Streets of Kenny': A song about the city that shaped them

Kensington was where Michael Head grew up, where he met Chris McCaffrey and where many of the experiences that shaped his music took place. By the 1990s, parts of the area were struggling with poverty, unemployment and drug addiction. 'Streets of Kenny' addresses those circumstances directly, drawing on Head's own experiences with heroin dependency.

What I find particularly striking about the song is how beautiful the music is. The guitars and harmonies are warm and melodic, while the lyrics describe a much more difficult reality. Head doesn't attempt to make addiction sound romantic or glamorous. He writes about the routines and desperation surrounding it, using a place he knew intimately as the setting.

There is a tendency to romanticise musicians who have struggled with addiction, particularly when their records are as good as Shack's. Yet much of the band's history demonstrates how damaging those experiences were. Careers were interrupted, relationships suffered, and years were lost. The strength of 'Streets of Kenny' comes from Head's ability to describe those experiences in a song, not from the addiction itself.

It also makes 'HMS Fable' a distinctly Liverpool record. The city is more than somewhere the band happened to come from. Its streets, neighbourhoods and people appear in the songwriting, away from the more familiar stories usually associated with Merseyside music. There is a connection here with the work of Lee Mavers, another musician capable of making ordinary places and experiences sound extraordinary.

'Streets of Kenny' remains my favourite song on 'HMS Fable'. It is also one of the clearest examples of why Michael Head should be regarded as one of Liverpool's finest songwriters.

Critical acclaim, Noel Gallagher and another missed opportunity

The reaction to 'HMS Fable' was remarkable. NME awarded the album 9/10, and at the end of 1999 it finished second in both NME and Uncut's critics' polls, behind The Flaming Lips' 'The Soft Bulletin'. Head also appeared on the cover of NME, with the magazine presenting him as one of Britain's greatest songwriters.

The band returned to the stage, performing at Glastonbury in June 1999 before playing shows across Britain. They supported Beth Orton and Ocean Colour Scene, while Noel Gallagher attended their headline concert at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire that November. Gallagher had become an admirer of the brothers' songwriting, and several years later Shack would release an album through his Sour Mash label.

There was, however, a difference between the enthusiasm of the music press and the support Shack received elsewhere. In May 1999, NME reported that Radio 1 had declined to playlist the band because their music was apparently considered too traditional. Given the success of British guitar music throughout the preceding decade, it seems a strange explanation, particularly when songs such as 'Comedy' and 'Pull Together' were perfectly suited to radio.

'HMS Fable' entered the UK Albums Chart at number 25 and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks. That was a respectable result for a band with Shack's history, but not the breakthrough many had expected following the reviews. The album had been praised by critics, featured prominently in the music press and attracted the attention of some of Britain's best-known musicians, yet it struggled to reach beyond its existing audience.

The story continued into January 2000, when Shack joined the NME Premier Tour alongside Les Rythmes Digitales, Campag Velocet and a relatively unknown band called Coldplay. It is an interesting line-up to look back on, particularly knowing that Coldplay would release 'Parachutes' later that year and eventually become one of the biggest bands in the world.

At the tour's final concert at London's Astoria, Shack performed material from 'HMS Fable', 'Waterpistol' and 'The Magical World of the Strands'. They also covered Love's 'A House Is Not a Motel', returning to the music that had been part of the Head brothers' lives since their teenage years. Noel Gallagher, Mick Jones of The Clash and Ash frontman Tim Wheeler were among those in attendance.

By this point, Michael had spent almost twenty years releasing records, and his catalogue already included The Pale Fountains, Shack and The Strands. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why 'HMS Fable' never became more successful. The problems surrounding 'Waterpistol' had cost the band valuable years, addiction had interrupted their lives and the music industry was moving in several different directions. The lack of sustained radio support cannot have helped either.

What makes 'HMS Fable' unusual among so-called lost masterpieces is that plenty of people recognised its quality when it appeared. The record was acclaimed, discussed and celebrated. It simply never sold in the numbers that might have changed the band's future.

Shack, The Coral and the next generation of Liverpool music

Shack continued making music after 'HMS Fable', releasing 'Here's Tom with the Weather' in 2003. It was another excellent album, containing songs such as 'Byrds Turn to Stone', 'Soldier Man' and 'Miles Apart'. Three years later, the band released 'On the Corner of Miles and Gil' through Noel Gallagher's Sour Mash Records, before gradually moving into another period of inactivity.

Although Shack never achieved the commercial success of some of their contemporaries, their place in Liverpool's musical history extends beyond the records they released themselves. One of the most interesting connections involves The Coral, whose emergence during the early 2000s introduced another generation of musicians drawing on psychedelia, folk and the guitar music of the 1960s.

The Coral were discovered by Alan Wills, a former Shack drummer who became one of the most important figures in their early career. Wills first became interested in the young Hoylake band after seeing one of their unusual gig posters, featuring an illustration of a grandfather's head exploding. Curious about the artwork, he went to watch them perform and recognised their potential.

Wills went on to establish Deltasonic Records, signing The Coral and helping develop a band that would become one of the most successful British guitar groups of the following decade. The label also became home to The Zutons, The Dead 60s and several other Merseyside artists, giving a new generation of musicians the opportunity to make records.

There is a much longer musical connection here than you might initially expect. Wills had played with Shack before discovering The Coral, whose guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones would eventually produce Michael Head's later solo records. Before his death in 2014, Wills had also introduced James Skelly to a young Stockport band called Blossoms, with Skelly subsequently helping them develop their early recordings.

It is a fascinating collection of relationships between musicians from different generations, particularly when you consider how closely connected Liverpool's guitar music has remained over the years. Shack were part of the scene that preceded The Coral, while musicians associated with both bands helped shape some of the best British guitar music of the following two decades.

Michael Head continued writing during Shack's absence. He established The Red Elastic Band and released 'Adiós Señor Pussycat' in 2017, before working with Bill Ryder-Jones on 'Dear Scott' in 2022. The album reached number six in the UK Albums Chart, giving Head his first Top 10 record more than forty years after he began making music.

'Loophole' followed in 2024, continuing a particularly productive period for Michael. That same year, he published his autobiography, 'Ciao Ciao Bambino', recounting his Liverpool upbringing, the friendship with Chris McCaffrey, The Pale Fountains, Shack and his long struggles with addiction. It provided another perspective on a life that had often been discussed through the familiar stories of lost recordings and missed opportunities.

There was also renewed interest in Shack's catalogue. In October 2024, 'HMS Fable' was remastered and released on vinyl for the first time through the band's Shack Songs label, marking its 25th anniversary. The record had continued finding listeners since 1999, and the reissue gave another generation an opportunity to discover the music.

The possibility of Shack performing together again had become more complicated following the death of drummer Iain Templeton in December 2022. Templeton had played an important part in the band's history, particularly on 'Waterpistol' and 'HMS Fable', and the surviving members had initially been reluctant to consider continuing without him.

An invitation to perform a session for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on BBC Radio 6 Music eventually brought Michael and John back together. Former bassist Pete Wilkinson returned, alongside guitarist Nathaniel Laurence from Michael's Red Elastic Band. When plans developed for further live shows, The Coral's Ian Skelly joined on drums, with rehearsals taking place at The Coral Caves in Hoylake.

The connection between the bands had come full circle. More than twenty years after former Shack drummer Alan Wills had helped discover The Coral, their drummer was now playing alongside the Head brothers.

Shack returned to the stage at Liverpool's Olympia on 25 April 2025, performing their first full concert together in fifteen years. The show sold out rapidly, with further dates following in Glasgow, Manchester and London. The setlists included material from across their catalogue, with 'Sgt. Major', 'Pull Together', 'Comedy' and 'Streets of Kenny' among the songs returning to the stage.

There was something special about their return taking place in Liverpool. Shack had spent years making records that deserved more attention than they received, but the affection surrounding the reunion demonstrated just how much those songs still meant to people. Michael and John were performing together again, joined by musicians who understood the band's history and the importance of Iain Templeton's contribution.

The masterpiece that deserved more

Twenty-seven years after its release, 'HMS Fable' remains one of the finest records to emerge from Liverpool during the 1990s. The Head brothers had already experienced more than their fair share of difficulties by the time they recorded it, but the album contains some of their strongest songwriting. 'Natalie's Party', 'Comedy' and 'Pull Together' are songs I return to regularly, while 'Streets of Kenny' remains one of Michael Head's finest achievements.

I've always thought the album deserves to be discussed alongside Liverpool's best. There are obvious influences from The Beatles, Love and The Byrds, but the brothers were never simply recreating the music they grew up listening to. Michael's songwriting, John's guitar playing and the contributions of Ren Parry and Iain Templeton made 'HMS Fable' a record that could move between beautiful pop melodies and much more difficult subjects without either feeling out of place.

It is impossible to know whether Shack would have become a bigger band had 'Waterpistol' arrived in 1991 or 'HMS Fable' received more radio support. Perhaps things would have been different, but their catalogue is far too good to be remembered only for what might have happened. Michael and John continued making music, their records gradually reached new listeners and the 2025 reunion demonstrated that the songs were still important to a considerable number of people.

'HMS Fable' wasn't ignored when it arrived in 1999. It received wonderful reviews, attracted the admiration of other musicians and was recognised as one of the year's finest albums. The commercial success never followed, but its reputation has survived for more than a quarter of a century.

Fortunately, the record itself never disappeared. Anyone discovering Shack for the first time has the good fortune of hearing those songs without the disappointment, missed opportunities or expectations that accompanied them in 1999. They can simply put on 'HMS Fable' and hear one of Liverpool's great lost masterpieces. I urge you to go and listen to it.