Wrexham session, Strawberry mix, Situation Two hit
On 14 May 1990, Situation Two released The Only One I Know, the second single by The Charlatans. The Northwich band (Tim Burgess on vocals, Martin Blunt on bass, Jon Brookes on drums, John Baker on guitar, Rob Collins on keyboards) cut the track in March 1990 at The Winding Studios in Wrexham, Wales. Chris Nagle produced and mixed; further mixing followed at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. The song later sat on the debut album Some Friendly, released that October on the Beggars Banquet family of labels.
Beggars Banquet A&R and a friend of Burgess pushed the band to record this song instead of other candidates such as Polar Bear. Burgess later said the construction still confuses him: the title hook lives in the verse, while the long intro gives dancers time to reach the floor before the main body hits. Blunt’s bass breakdown after the second verse nodded toward funk and southern soul. Collins’ organ line, bright and circling, is what most listeners remember first, sitting over Brookes’ steady drums and Baker’s guitar.
The single reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 11 in Ireland, and No. 5 on the US Modern Rock chart. It was the highest-charting cut from Some Friendly, an album that entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. The video, directed by Kim Peters in her first directing job, shows the band playing in a Sandbach warehouse with friends watching. Police who arrived thinking a rave was underway briefly appear in the finished clip after short negotiations.
I’m still not sure which bit is the chorus. The title and main hook is in the verse, but the intro, before the main song crashes in, gives people just enough time to get on the dancefloor.
(Tim Burgess, on the song’s construction)
That chart run fixed The Charlatans inside the Madchester / baggy moment without reducing them to a one-song novelty. Burgess has described the lyric as teenage feeling: liking someone who does not like you back, written when he was still in his early twenties. Live, the song still works as a set marker: organ entrance, bass drop, then the floor fills. Later line-ups kept it in the set long after Baker left and Mark Collins joined.
Play The Only One I Know as the 1990 single first, then hear it inside Some Friendly. Same recording, two frames: a Situation Two 45 that climbed to No. 9, and the centerpiece of a debut that opened at the top of the UK album chart. The organ figure and Burgess’ vocal remain the shortest way into that first Charlatans era.
Anne | 12 October 2026
|
Opened the article, heard the riff in my head before the embed loaded. Classic. Coffee got cold while I finished the article. Acceptable.
Sofi | 12 October 2026
|
People sleep on how weird The Only One I Know actually is. This article gets it. Might be recency bias but I do not care today. I am biased and fine with it.
François | 12 October 2026
|
Anyone else think the live versions of The Only One I Know are better? Studio still wins for me though. Might be recency bias but I do not care today. I am biased and fine with it.
Ben | 13 October 2026
|
Solid chronicle. I forgot how sharp The Charlatans sounded on this one. Sharing this in the group chat. Expect chaos.
Greg | 14 October 2026
|
Lol fair. Yeah.
Olivier | 14 October 2026
|
I never knew that detail about the session. Changes how I hear the intro.
Kofi | 15 October 2026
|
This is the track I put on to test new speakers. The Charlatans never lies.
Diego | 15 October 2026
|
I always skip to The Only One I Know on the album. Guilty. Also the comments section on old forums was wild about this. Needed that.
Dan | 15 October 2026
|
I came for The Charlatans, stayed for how clean this write-up is. The Only One I Know hits different after reading. I told my coworker and they shrugged. Their loss.