The Stone Roses emerged in Manchester during the early 1980s, when vocalist Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire recruited drummer, Reni (real name Alan Wren), bassist Pete Garner, and rhythm guitarist Andy Couzens to complete the original line-up. Brown and Squire were childhood friends who had attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys.

The Stone Roses played their first major gig in their home town, at Manchester University, on 2 October 1985.

The Stone Roses' influences ranged from The Clash and Sex Pistols to Manchester band Slaughter and the Dogs.

Publicity shots from around that time feature Squire in a bandanna and Brown wearing leather trousers.

In 1985 the Roses released their first single, the Martin Hannett-produced double A-side "So Young/Tell Me". It was largely unsuccessful and was later disowned by the band. At this point Brown had yet to develop his trademark cool delivery and had a shouty, aggressive style, and the rest of the band had not yet found the groove that was to characterise their best material.

By the time of their next single, "Sally Cinnamon", the Roses' sound had changed considerably. Released in 1987 on FM Revolver records, "Sally Cinnamon" contained chiming guitar hooks and a strong melody, and sounded more like The Byrds than the Sex Pistols. Brown had developed a new, softer singing style and Squire and Reni were becoming more confident and streamlined.

In late 1986 Andy Couzens left the band due to differences with manager Gareth Evans, and less than a year later, bassist Pete Garner left the band, in August 1987. The Roses then brought in bassist Mani (Gary Mounfield). With the definitive Roses line-up now complete, the band became much tighter as musicians, and developed a trademark visual style - baggy clothes and Jackson Pollock shirts, guitars and drums. A single, the psychedelic-tinged "Elephant Stone", followed, along with an album deal with Jive/Zomba offshoot Silvertone Records.

In 1989, The Stone Roses released their debut album, produced by John Leckie. The Stone Roses opened with "I Wanna Be Adored" and closed with "I Am the Resurrection" (or in America "Fools Gold"). Now considered a landmark in English rock, the album was well received by most of the music press.

The singles "Made Of Stone" and "She Bangs The Drums" followed to moderate success. Later that year the band released a double A-side single, "Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For", which charted in the UK at no. 8 in November 1989. Originally intended as a B-side, "Fools Gold" quickly became the Roses' most famous song and a performance of it on Top of the Pops cemented their national fame. It was also the band's most musically adventurous song yet: nine minutes, 53 seconds in length, it featured a wah-wah drenched guitar performance from John Squire over a beat resembling James Brown's "Funky Drummer".

Seemingly coming from nowhere, the Stone Roses appeared to be the right band at the right time. The Roses had a broad appeal too: their upbeat, danceable sound and positive outlook had much in common with the blossoming rave scene at the time, yet they also appealed to more traditional indie fans.

Following the band's success, their former label, FM Revolver, re-released the single "Sally Cinnamon" with an accompanying video. The Stone Roses were incensed by this, particularly what they described as a "third rate" video. They went to Revolver's offices on 30 January 1990 and after an argument with the label's boss, Paul Birch, threw paint over the offices, Birch himself and his girlfriend, and then vandalised two cars outside. They were subsequently arrested and tried, and in October they were found guilty and fined £3,000 each plus costs.[1]

In 1990 The Stone Roses decided to stage a huge outdoor gig at Spike Island in Widnes. The gig took place on 27 May 1990 and was attended by approximately 27,000 people. The event was considered a failure at the time due to sound problems and bad organisation, yet has become legendary over the years - a Woodstock for the baggy generation. The Roses followed Spike Island with another big gig at Glasgow Green, and by July had released their final single for Silvertone, "One Love".

"One Love" reached number 4 in the UK charts, the Roses' highest chart placing yet. After its release, things quickly began to unravel. It was to be the Roses' last original release for 4 years, as they entered a protracted legal battle to terminate their five year contract with Silvertone. Unable to do this, they were prevented from releasing any musical works as a band for the next four years and the band lost the momentum they had built up following their debut album, and disappeared out of public view.