Mani's funky bass taught indie kids how to dance

By any metric the rise of the Stone Roses was sudden and remarkable. At the start of 1989 they were just a local cause célèbre in Manchester, largely ignored by the traditional music media and barely able to fill small London venues.

- Alexis Petridis

But by November their single Fools Gold had reached No 8 and their performance was the big attraction on that week's Top of the Pops - a barely imaginable state of affairs for most indie bands in the late 80s.

In retrospect you can find any number of reasons why the Stone Roses attracted a bigger and broader audience than usually displayed an interest in alternative rock. They were set apart by their look - more aligned to the burgeoning acid house scene - their belligerent attitude, and their unashamedly virtuosic guitarist John Squire.