Ian McNabb
Robert Ian McNabb (born 3 November 1960) is an English singer-songwriter and musician.[1] Previously the frontman of the Icicle Works, McNabb has since embarked on a solo career and performed with Ringo Starr, Neil Young/Crazy Horse,[2] Mike Scott (of the Waterboys), and Danny Thompson of folk band Pentangle.
This article is about the English musician. For the Scottish wood-engraver and painter, see Iain Macnab. For McNabb's eponymous fifth album, see Ian McNabb (album).
Ian McNabb
Robert Ian McNabb
Boots
3 November 1960
Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England
Musician, songwriter
Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
1980–present
Fairfield, This Way Up
McNabb's first book, an autobiography entitled Merseybeast, was published in October 2008.
Early life[edit]
Robert Ian McNabb was born in Lourdes Hospital (now Spire Liverpool Hospital) in Mossley Hill, Liverpool,[1] the first and only child of Patricia (née Forsyth) and Robert Gerard McNabb. At 18 months old he contracted pneumonia, leaving him with a damaged left lung.
He had a brief stint as a child model, and a resultant photo was later featured on the album art of Potency: The Best of Ian McNabb.
Following seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey as a child, McNabb has been an avid space-enthusiast. He has also been a supporter of Liverpool F.C. since childhood.
McNabb cites his earliest musical influences as being from watching T. Rex's "Born to Boogie" and That'll Be the Day starring David Essex at the age of 10. After this he began attending guitar and music theory lessons.
McNabb's first musical performance was playing "You're Sixteen" at Fairfield Conservative Club in Liverpool in 1974. In 1975, he auditioned and joined the young cabaret group Daybreak (Later renamed "Young World"). The group played at working men's clubs around the North-West of England during the mid-1970s. The group unsuccessfully auditioned for television talent show Opportunity Knocks. Chris Sharrock later joined the group, where McNabb first became friends with him, he would go on to drum for The Icicle Works. McNabb wrote his first song at age 15, titled "Apologise (I Will)".
McNabb quit Young World near the end of 1976 and joined an all-male teen cabaret group called City Lights. In 1977 the group auditioned for ITV's New Faces but were unsuccessful. McNabb began attending the Mabel Fletcher College of Music and Drama.
He quit City Lights in February 1980, having agreed to start a band with Chris Sharrock.
Collaborations with other artists[edit]
Around the time the "second generation" Icicle Works were winding down, McNabb became a de facto member of The Wild Swans, playing guitar and singing back-up vocals on their second studio album, 1990's Space Flower.
As well, he worked with Ian Broudie on Broudie's studio project The Lightning Seeds, providing backing vocals on the band's first three albums, released between 1990 and 1994. McNabb also co-wrote a total of two songs with Broudie that wound up on The Lightning Seeds' second and third albums, 1992's Sense and 1994's Jollification.
1998 saw McNabb as part of a touring band for Mike Scott and The Waterboys, playing bass and sometimes keyboards. He also had occasion to serve as a touring bassist for one of his heroes, Ringo Starr, whose son Zak Starkey had had an early music industry break in 1988 when McNabb hired him to be a member of a late-running version of The Icicle Works.
McNabb has also contributed guitar on Amsterdam's album The Journey (2005) and Gary Cooke's debut album Songs for Everyday Use (2006).