One of the best to ever come out of Scotland. I could say loads more, and may well do so in a future posting. But for now, here’s wiki:-
The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band, formed in Glasgow in 1986. Originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene’s brother Charlie Kelly on bass and drums respectively from the band Secession.
Originally intending to create a fanzine, Kelly and McKee decided to form a band instead. Stephen Pastel of The Pastels is credited with coming up with their name. After playing their first gigs, they signed to Pastel’s 53rd and 3rd label and recorded the Son of a Gun EP with him producing, released in summer 1987.
The EP featured a cover of Divine‘s “You Think You’re a Man” on its B-side. By late 1987, Eugene’s brother Charlie Kelly had joined on drums with James Seenan on bass. With this line-up and with Stephen Pastel producing again, they recorded the Dying for It EP, released in early 1988. It featured the songs “Molly’s Lips” and “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” both of which Nirvana would later cover. In June 1989 they released their first album, Dum-Dum, again on 53rd and 3rd but distributed by Rough Trade. The band broke up shortly after its release, due jointly to the dissolution of 53rd & 3rd and the end of Kelly and McKee’s romantic relationship. They briefly reformed in October 1990 to open for Nirvana when they played in Edinburgh.
Kelly went on to found the band Captain America (later renamed Eugenius after legal threats from Marvel Comics), supporting Nirvana on their UK tour. Following solo performances Kelly released the album Man Alive in 2004. McKee founded the bands Painkillers in 1994 and Suckle in 1997 before releasing her first solo album, Sunny Moon, in 2006.
In 1992, Sub Pop released The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History, a compilation that contained The Vaselines’ entire body of work at the time.
In the summer of 2006, McKee and Kelly took to the stage together for the first time since 1990 to perform a set of Vaselines songs, as part of a joint tour to promote their individual solo albums.
The Vaselines reformed (minus the old rhythm section) on 24 April 2008 for a charity show for the Malawi Orphan Support group at Glasgow’s MONO venue. Invitation was by word-of-mouth with no press announcements and the band played to a packed, enthusiastic audience.
The band then played their first-ever U.S. performance at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ on 9 July. The band also performed at Sub Pop Records’ 20th Anniversary SP20 music festival on 12 July at Marymoor Park just outside Seattle WA.
On 27 March 2009 they played their first London date in 20 years at the London Forum.
On 5 May 2009, Sub Pop released Enter the Vaselines. A deluxe-edition reissue of the 1992 Sub Pop release, it includes remastered versions of the band’s two EPs , and a remixed version of their sole album, as well as demos and live recordings from 1986 and 1988. The band toured the U.S. in May 2009, playing six dates, starting in Los Angeles on 10 May, then heading up the west coast to San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Dates for Chicago, IL and Brooklyn, NY would end the tour on 18 May. The band finished their May tour at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.
The Vaselines second studio album, Sex With an X, was released in September 2010.
The Vaselines announced their third studio album, V for Vaselines, in June 2014 which was released on 29 September 2014 on Rosary Music.
JC adds……..
They’re still very much on the go, and later this year will be going out on tour along with a reformed Soup Dragons. Can’t wait for that one.
mp3: The Vaselines – Teenage Superstars
From the Dying For It EP.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Ooft! Ooft! Ooft!
One of my favourite bands of ALL time. I recall in the late 80s attempting to get others interested to largely mild shrugs of indifference. Pre-Cobain/post-Cobain they shone bright. They shine bright. While the first blast was wholly exquisite the later LPs should be sought out too!
Love, love, love the Vaselines.
Joy!
The Vaselines are one of The Big Five of Scottish Indie Rock/Pop.
If I could take three compilations off my shelf to a desert island that I can never leave again, I would pick “Enter the Vaselines”, “Anthology” (The Clean) and of course “50,000 Fall Fans…”. I also love “Turn my Dial” by the Tangled Shoelaces, but I don’t have the record (although I did order it once).
In 1992 the Vaselines released “Teenage Jesus Superstar” on their first compilation. As far as I can see/hear it’s the same song.