LISTEN-IN REVIEWS

 

C88 – CD RELEASED IN 2017

C88 – This is another Cherry Red celebration of the Eighties Indie scene, documenting a golden era when tuneful guitar-based bands made records on shoestring budgets, often issued on small labels with hand-made artwork, with little hope of mainstream exposure.

Disc 1 is devoted to artists who haven’t previously graced this series, who – for the most part – first made an impact in 1988. The Stone Roses, Pale Saints and The Mock Turtles would all enjoy mainstream success. Others like The Pooh Sticks, The Man From Delmonte, Bridewell Taxis were cult indie favourites.

Sarah Records – which came to epitomise a certain type of Indie Pop – are represented by The Orchids, Another Sunny Day, The Sea Urchins and The Poppyheads (whose ‘Cremation Town’ debuts on CD here). Other key indie labels also figure, such as Creation (Apple Boutique, Pacific, The House Of Love, Emily), 53rd & 3rd (The Groovy Little Numbers, The Vaselines) and The Subway Organization (The Clouds, Rodney Allen, The Flatmates, Bubblegum Splash, etc.).

Disc 2 revisits many of the bands who appeared on C87 with later singles or B-sides, such as the likes of Bob, Cud, The Darling Buds, Kitchens Of Distinction, The Shamen, The Heart Throbs, The Bachelor Pad and other staples of the late 80s Indie scene.

New names to the series who appear on C88 include Choo Choo Train, Moss Poles, The Snapdragons, The Wilderness Children, Fat Tulips, Annie & The Aeroplanes, Thrilled Skinny, Murrumbidgee Whalers and many others. Numerous tracks have never been on CD before.

The deluxe clamshell package includes a weighty booklet full of illustrations, with an 9,000 word sleeve-note and band-by-band biographies by C86 co-compiler Neil Taylor.

my thoughts:

Cherry Red have produced their usual first-rate CD box, they are the Premier re-issue label around. There is no denying this. Everything is beautifully created, from the CD sleeve artwork, the booklet which is laden with facts and information and of course their meticulous eye for detail for the scene they’re covering here.

Back in 1988 I was aware of most of the bands highlighted inside the C88 box but at the time I just wasn’t interested in contemporary groups and scenes, unless they were a garage band.

I spent my dole money on ’60s records, Pebbles and Bam Caruso compilations, The Byrds, Love and The Doors in particular. Around this time I was also involved (in a small way) with the underground UK garage punk scene, creating graphics and posters for my mates group The Mourning After.

There was an alternative universe in 1988. A World-Wide spawn of long-haired freaks in Beatle boots were writing their fanzines and distributing demo-tapes. Some records were released by combos like The Thanes, The Off-Hooks, The Stomachmouths, The Stepford Husbands, The Cynics . . . The Fuzztones were still going.

Disc One and Disc Two have their moments and there are some great little numbers among the bits and bobs floating around in the toilet. I’ve listed the stand-out records below, but take your own pick.

I was mostly bored by everything on Disc Three, Cherry Red (as with C87) left most of the drab and dreary records for the final C88 blast. Most of the bands appeared to be desperately wanting to sound like early Orange Juice with their spiky guitars and jagged rhythms.

Sadly, most of the numbers went up blind alleys and were for the most part melody free and tuneless. Also the drum production on most of the tracks was evil and too modern & gated. Not my bag at all.

The Fizzbombs “Surfaround” is a fierce burst of energy though and I want to investigate them for sure!

Most of the numbers I’m attracted to on this C88 release are by those bands who played fast, loud, crude and occasionally inept. Any record with a synthetic and gated drum-sound should be thrown in the bin and burned.

Colin Mason

TAND-OUT RECORDS WERE:

• The Pooh Sticks – “On Tape”

• The Charlottes – “Are You Happy Now?”

• The Driscolls – “Julie Christie”

• Thrilled Skinny – “So Happy To Be Alive”

• Apple Boutique – “The Ballad Of Jet Harris”

• The Sea Urchins – “Please Rain Fall”

• The Darling Buds – “Shame On You”

• The Bachelor Pad – “Do It For Fun”

• Murrumbidgee Whalers – “Giving Way To Trains”

• The Flatmates – “Heaven Knows”

• The Wilderness Children – “Mrs Susan Spence”

• The Nivens – “Yesterday”

• Bubblegum Splash – “The 18:10 To Yeovil Junction”

• Inspiral Carpets – “Theme From Cow”

• The Fizzbombs – “Surfaround”

• Holydaymakers – “Cincinnati”

THE DOVERS – “I COULD BE HAPPY” / “PEOPLE ASK ME WHY” (REPRISE 0439) NOV 1965

The Dovers “People Ask Me Why” – They were from Santa Barbara and virtually ignored back in the mid ’60s. Their fragile sounding folk rock was probably never heard by anyone except their loyal fan base (if they had one). Lack of any promotion and decent gigs meant that The Dovers’ perfect moody teen jangle wouldn’t even be a footnote in the history books.

This twin spin, recorded at the famous Gold Star Studios was first released on the tiny Miramar label based in Hollywood. It was released on Reprise some weeks later.

Front man and songwriter Tim Granada had the talent and his band of Dovers had thee sound but it seems that Los Angeles and the important movers and shakers in the record industry were oblivious.

THE HOUSE OF LOVE – “BEST OF” (FONTANA 558 323-2) 1998

Thankfully this was a cheap second hand CD costing no more than a small bag of pink lady apples cos I’d be rather disappointed If I’d forked out for an expensive new copy (if it’s still in print).

The selection is mostly made up of their inferior Fontana recordings, there are a couple of tracks from their Creation label days, “Shine On”and “Destroy The Heart” but they’re both re-recordings and are not a patch on the quickly recorded and mastered indie performances. “Christine” even sounds different and probably re-mixed and tweaked for this CD release.

The selections are all quite safe and radio friendly tunes for the masses with gated drum rhythms which I despise and go nowhere fast. I think there are some pretty songs here but they’re destroyed by the modern beats.

John Peel, who hailed The House Of Love in 1987/88 wouldn’t have gone anywhere near this risk-free major label type of music, that’s for sure.

I’ll stick with the first album on Creation.

THE HOUSE OF LOVE – “BUTTERFLY” (FONTANA 842 293-2) JULY 1990

The second House Of Love album was released around the period of the Italian World Cup during the summer of 1990. I was completely ignorant of any House Of Love releases during this period. I had stopped listening to contemporary music and no longer bought any music press.

I highly rate their debut album on the Creation label. The songs on this 1988 epic are memorable and instantaneous. The subtle production is a delight and the music pours over me like opulent daydreams.

“The Butterfly Album” or as sometimes known “The Fontana Album” is a huge disappointment. The biggest let down is the horrible drum sound throughout. They’re mixed way too loud, and sound over-processed, lifeless and clinical. Have a listen to the track “In A Room” for an example of what I’m banging on about. The drum sound is gated and the tedious backbeat is dull and monotonous.

I really have a huge problem with music if the drums sound all wrong to my particular taste. Modern day compressed and echoed drum production is the reason why I submerged myself in primitive ’60s garage punk records for decades.

The House Of Love, as a band, were going through huge personal problems, certain band-members were living a hedonist lifestyle, the lead guitarist became bored and withdrawn. It’s obvious that the song material just wasn’t strong enough.

Two singles taken from the album, “Never” and “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” were flops. A re-recording of their indie hit “Shine” was then released, which was a small hit. This version of “Shine” is over-produced and inferior.

I recently posted a vintage NME interview with band leader Guy Chadwick. This February 1990 article gives details, his hopes and aspirations for the year ahead.

AIR BALLOON ROAD: “A SARAH COMPILATION” (SARAH 545) APRIL 1990

This CD is quite rare and sought after because it collects the early single sides, EPs and the occasional 10″s released on the collectable Sarah Records label.

One look on eBay and Discogs and you can perhaps see why having these precious slabs of jangle indie pop on one handy CD is a worthy investment. The singles sell regularly for high amounts. I was shocked to learn, for instance, that the first record released on Sarah, “Pristine Christine” by The Sea Urchins is valued at around £300.

There wasn’t much effort went into this CD release if truth be told. One single glossy piece of paper for the front cover, the other side is white with no photos, no writing, no information about the track selection . . . a beyond basic attempt at an early 90s CD.

Thankfully the sound quality of the compact disc is excellent throughout and the sound is full, vibrant and detailed.

Air Balloon Road (SARAH 545) is a collection of songs originally released by Sarah Records on early singles and albums which had never been previously available on CD because CDs were really expensive in those days. It was designed to be listened to on board the 545 from Hanham into central Bristol, which ran along Air Balloon Road in St George, though only in the evenings and on Sundays.

tracklist:

01 ORCHIDS – “It’s Only Obvious”
02 ANOTHER SUNNY DAY – “I’m In Love With A Girl Who Doesn’t Know I Exist”
03 SEA ORCHIDS – “Please Rain Fall”
04 FIELD MICE – “If You Need Someone”
05 ORCHIDS – “Underneath The Window, Underneath The Sink”
06 St. CHRISTOPHER – “You Deserve More Than A Maybe”
07 FIELD MICE – “End Of The Affair”
08 GENTLE DESPITE – “Darkest Blue”
09 GOLDEN DAWN – “George Hamilton’s Dead”
10 FIELD MICE – “Sensitive”
11 WAKE – “Carbrain”
12 BRIGHTER – “I Don’t Think It Matters”
13 SEA URCHINS – “Pristine Christine”
14 14 ICED BEARS – “Come Get Me”
15 GOLDEN DAWN – “My Secret World”
16 SPRINGFIELDS – “Sunflower”
17 ANOTHER SUNNY DAY – “You Should All Be Murdered”
18 St. CHRISTOPHER – “All Of A Tremble”
19 ACTION PAINTING! – “These Things Happen”
20 POPPYHEADS – “Dreamabout”
21 ANOTHER SUNNY DAY – “Green”
22 ORCHIDS – “Blue Light”
23 BRIGHTER – “Noah’s Ark”

THE HOUSE OF LOVE – “HOUSE OF LOVE” (CREATION CRE LP 34) MAY 1988

The yawn turns to a smile. You told me they were like the Bunnymen, Velvets, Doors, Mary Chain, Lemon Drops, and the entire Creation back-catalogue. I cried, ‘Not another crew of Parisien bathtub corpses in leather troos with pisshole-in-the-snow eyes!’

Well, the name does seem to spring from Morrison’s “The Spy”, and they do have a song called “Touch Me”. What do you expect?

Trouble is, when you whack on ‘The House Of Love‘ you’re thrown mercilessly into the single “Christine” – ‘chaos with a capital C’ – and fall in love with this gravelsome voice of calm, while all around lose their heads. And soon you realise that they’re not just JAMC without feedback or Bunnymen with revived desire.

Sure, they’re guitar-fired and Velvet-inspired and all those other tired cliches we use to excuse anything remotely pre-Rap and Rockist, but they also peddle a fine line in melodies, harmonies, lyrics, Passion.

Their songs build and form in a predictable yet beautiful way, leaving us waiting and wanting more, intoxicated – as with Astor’s Weather Prophets – by the balance of controlled sensitive vocals against the dark wild inventiveness of these Housemates; eg. when they scream like vivisected Monkees, or tear off into “Happy”.

“It’s perverted and spiritual”, admits “Hope”, appropriately. For they paddle in both religion and debauchery and are thus caught up in all the contradictions and uncertainties that face West-is-best Christians. “I believe in Jesus, I just don’t have belief” and “protect me through my sleep” goes “Fisherman’s Tale”; “Jesus where does the time go?” asks “Man To Child”. Like Morrison’s “Spy” they seem to intimate our deepest secret fears.

Yet there’s nothing crude or ugly or controversial about The House Of Love: instead they prefer to speak of sex and God (the West’s incontrovertible opposites) in a mature, intelligent way – “Love In My Car”, for example, works itself into a bawdy sweat without generating the stench of pure Dick.

No, The House Of Love steal and replenish, and exist surely between the Devil and the deep blue sea – really they are the next gods of guitar rock and Guy Chadwick has the haircut, heart and horns of its new messiah.

(Len Brown – NME, 21/05/88)

THE PRIMITIVES - "LOVELY" (RCA PD 71688) MARCH 1988

For every one of us who cares enough to herald “Crash” as galloping perfection, there is someone else who cares enough to flinch, to hear only “99 Red Balloons” where we hear a gleam approaching paradise at gorgeous velocity. And, wriggling around with “Lovely”, it’s understandable why not everyone’s cocking their party hats at funny angles and grinning inanely.

There are some downright frustrating moments on “Lovely”, some lapses from pure nectar into lollypopland. When Tracy Tracy says she has “Nothing Left To Say” we’re hoping for Betty Boop in the blank generation but she’s too Piglet and Pooh, too Sooty’s Soo, too cute by half, too lovely dove coo. You miss the razor in the compact which would niggle until “I’ll stick With You” carried an itch of threat inside the promise.

When Tracy sings the word “cosy” and rhymes “serene” with “scream”, you can see why Morrissey championed the Primitives and propers awhile. They both inhabit a tiny world but, whereas he conspires to create “Cancer Ward” from “The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole” through a prissily absurd process of mythologising, The Prims are too concerned with getting from A to B as swiftly as possible with all senses intact to elevate wet summer hols and soggy sandwiches into “Paradise Lost”.

Tumbling through the druggy reveries of “Out Of Reach” – Paul Simon’s “Me And Julio Back In The Schoolyard” incidentally – or puffing up pillows in slow motion to “Ocean Blue” – The Cocteaus caressing the Velvets – you can only agree with P J O’Rourke’s insistence that halucenogenics ain’t what they used to be.

For a drug record – and that’s what “Lovely” is, from the obvious “Thru The Flowers” to the dippy “Spacehead” – it’s extraordinarily safe and secure. They “Don’t Want Anything To Change”, as their song says, and even the psychedelic raga “Shadow”, with all its head references, is an exercise rather than an experience.

Compared to, say, All About Eve and their implicit plea for a better way of life, The Prims abdicate all responsibility, “Hope they get it right someday” and opt for a mild hedonism – to the brink of Hades and back in time for tea.

Still, apart from the Flintstone folly of “Buzz Buzz Buzz”, “Lovely” is candyfloss and pastel-coloured enough to turn you into a daydream believer. “Carry Me Home” is a caps in the air and somersaults on the beach Monkees B-side, “Run Baby Run” skips along merrily with its socks round its ankles and “Stop Killing Me” is abrasive enough to suggest that the blotters sometimes do more than make the walls go all funny.

Perhaps its unfair to rebuke the Prims for cowardice in the face of the cosmos. Perhaps we should laud them, instead, for sneaking little parcels of naughty noise into the classroom when the BPI’s back is turned.

Maybe the meek shall inherit the earth and maybe we’ll still be singing “Crash” when something weird like “Birthday” is gathering dust in the trunk in the attic. Still, I was looking for bolder strokes and I’m surprised (not shocked) how easy it is to retain your balance travelling at the speed of light.

(Steve Sutherland – Melody Maker, 26/03/88)

Ah, my babies. Paul Court looks so gorgeous onstage in his Beatles wig tonight that I decide I must have him scrubbed and sent to my tent at once. But when I go on a reconnaissance to the toilets the graffiti is queuing up for a wee, and it says “I walk and shake my head, I’m cool till I’m dead, nothing more can be said.”

So I get distracted, as one would. A lot of people are distracted in Manchester tonight and most of them are here. Prim Fever is pouring from the chandeliers. The group of the year in the year of the kitten are number five in the hit parade and I am laughing a lot. The crowd are saying “Ouch” for me. The start is delayed by an hour.

The first half of the set all you can see is a line of giant bouncers and all you can hear is brave Tracy chiming “Can you move back a bit please people are getting squashed” in between every line.

Under preposterous conditions (I think Bellia is still down there somewhere; perhaps I should notify his family and a trowel), The Primitives rush and tingle through their perfect, strawberry, Arson-In-Toyland hits. It’s like Noddy’s little car winning Death Race 2000. I pine for “Shadow”, but “Dream Walk Baby” fires me up like a chimp in a space rocket saying “Hold on, I’ve got an advert to do.”

This week’s ‘sort of warm-up tour’ is really, however, about those moments in pop history I always promised you, nights to remember, deceptively dangerous beauty, the purity of conception and the chaos of execution. Anyone with a glimmer of intelligence and zest who doesn’t appreciate that The Primitives are the luckiest devine accident to prop pop’s weary eyelids open with ivory toothpicks in, 153 years, has leased that glimmer out to big business (or small potatoes with weevils in.)

By existing like a steamy iceberg, looking like honey and sounding like the first black sheep of spring, they sort the wheat from the chaff, the sweet from the naff, the replete from the daft, and some kind of justice is done. Oh, and the next single will be “Out Of Reach”.

Actually tonight there’s such mayhem that they are a bit early Mary Chain (RIP), which is odd because they never had been before, and won’t be again. Eva Peron gatecrashing Lord Snowdon’s aviary, yes, but . . .

After the anthelminthic, eponymous-to-the-drama-of-life “Everything Shining Bright”, there’s this goddish encore of “Ticket To Ride”, “Stop Killing Me”, and “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, which is, to put it plainly, apocalypse, puckered lips, total eclipse, and here are the pips.

At which point they quit while I still have a head, babbling now and speechless, pink as the day I was born. Pink as yesterday and ripe for tomorrow. Tracy’s voice is angels with quick, knowing sorrying glances and the devils with the tunes take you dancing awkward dump steps a stone’s throw from the rapture of heartbreak. Lovely lovely lovely.

(Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 26/03/88)

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN AT ROCK CITY, NOTTINGHAM, SEPTEMBER 1987

Once in a while, a band produce a performance that glows with pop’s heady desire, thrills to the core and makes you reconsider all your old prejudices. While the lucky bastards were off to see that, I had to go and watch The Jesus and Mary Chain instead.

First thing to know is that “Jesus And” has been dispatched from the grubby consciousness of the even grubbier audience (I’m sure I smiled at least once when I was 18). These days it’s Mary Chain, as in Mary Peters or Mary Hopkins, the band pursuing a similar sense of tawdry careerism in the face of the mass misinterpretation. The Jesus And Mary Chain were never meant to trudge around the middle ground. They had to be volatile and tiny or seductively massive, NEVER EVER gratuitously mediocre. Tonight it’s impossible to tell the songs apart, for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe they had to sign a contract ensuring that they’d play a set that lasted well over three-quarters of an hour, maybe they just like dry wanks. Whatever the case, they trudged well past their sell-by date long before the set spluttered to a close.

I’m sick of defending them, of excusing their slow motion, piano downbangs. I’m sick of pretending that what I’ve always wanted most in the world is 1987 surf rock with designer feedback. I’m sick of pretending they’re important. The Jesus And Mary Chain might as well be The Bunnymen for all I, or sadly they, care.

“In A Hole” is mishapen, potted neatly into a scrunchy sandcastle, a mile away from the pneumatic assault of old. Likewise “You Trip Me Up” and “Never Understand”, both doing EXACTLY what you expect, concealing invention and extremity behind leather petticoats.

The new songs come wrapped up in names like “9 Million Rainy Days” and “Taste Of Cindy”, or perhaps that’s the old songs staggering in for a rebound. Truly, tonight, there was little sense of anything other than dull meandering.

Saddest of all, I didn’t feel cheated, betrayed or particularly sad. Just interested in the way that the Emporer’s clothes slip quietly away once you put your glasses on. Jesus And Mary Chain are dead. Dance on their graves but don’t give the digger 10 pence for the bus home.

(Paul Mathur – Melody Maker, 19/09/87)

C87 – RE-PRESS: CD ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 2016

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of C86, Cherry Red released a sequel in the shape of C87! Imagine if the NME had reconvened a year on from their original compilation? Well, that’s the inspiration for another 70+ tracks, ranging from well-known Indie names to obscurities making their debut on CD.

• Back in May/June 1986, the New Musical Express released their latest mail-order cassette, C86. Aside from a few ‘name’ indie bands (The Pastels, Primal Scream, The Wedding Present), most acts were relatively unknown beyond the back pages and gig listings of the weekly music press. Nevertheless, C86 slowly sold an estimated 40,000 copies, and would come to embody a whole musical style and era.

• In 2014, Cherry Red reissued C86 as a deluxe expanded edition, adding 50 bonus tracks to the original 22. The box set was curated by original compiler Neil Taylor and had the endorsement of the NME. And once again, the package was extremely well-received and sold handsomely.

• None of the selections on C87 had been available on any of Cherry Red’s recent compilations (e.g. Scared To Get Happy). All tracks were recorded and/or released in the year or so following C86 (i.e. summer 1986 to the end of 1987).

• Disc One boasts bands whose first recordings were made in 1986/87. Some of them – The House Of Love, The Shamen, The Darling Buds, The Inspiral Carpets, Cud, etc. – later enjoyed chart success. Others have since enjoyed cult status. Examples include Kitchens Of Distinction, whose debut B-side ‘Escape!’ appears here for the first time; The Boy Hairdressers, who would soon evolve into Teenage Fanclub; The Vaselines, who were covered by Nirvana; and The Sea Urchins, who christened Sarah Records with the classic ‘Pristine Christine’.

• Discs Two and Three revisit many of the bands who graced the original C86 cassette, checking in on later recordings by the likes of The Bodines, The Wedding Present, Miaow, The Servants, The Wolfhounds, Mighty Mighty and McCarthy.

• The original C86 cassette also boasted a clutch of recordings of a more angular, abrasive nature from the Ron Johnson stable. These more ‘difficult’ bands are congregated early on Disc 3.

• Once again, original C86 compiler Neil Taylor has contributed exhaustive sleeve-notes, with a substantial booklet featuring period illustrations of original record sleeves, flyers, fanzines, photos, etc.

I use CD compilations like these to sample bands, if I dig their sound and they dress well I will investigate them further.

As I waded my way through this cheap CD Box-set of 1987 Indie-label bands, I quickly began to realise that the combos I connected with the most were those who all dressed like they were in the Velvet Underground circa 1967, mostly all played with 12-string guitars, bashed tambourines till they smashed and had a drummer who rattled the tea pots like he/she was Keith Moon.

MBE’s awarded to everyone responsible in The Sea Urchins for their perfect soaring melodies and chiming janglin’ guitar on “Pristine Christine”  5-star brilliance.

Other stand-out performers were:

• The Nivens – “Room Without A View”

• Blow-Up – “Good For Me”

• Hangmen’s Beautiful Daughters – “Don’t Ask My Name”

• I, Ludicrous – “My Baby’s Got Jet Lag”

• The Primitives – “We Found A Way To The Sun”

• Talulah Gosh – “Talulah Gosh”

• Rosemary’s Children – “Southern Fields”

• Jesse Garon & The Desperados – “I’m Up Here”

• The Wishing Stones – “Beat Girl”

Most of CD3 is a complete and utter write-off for me. The opening eight tracks are especially nauseating and if I had a spade handy I’d have dug a big hole in my garden and thrown the fucker away. These bands should have been no-where near a recording studio:

• Dog Faced Hermans

• Stump

• Gaye Bykers On Acid

• Bog Shed

• A Witness

• Mackenzies

• The Shrubs

• Stiched-Back Foot Airman

THE SOUND REASONS –  “TILL THE END OF TIME” / “IF I CARED” (GROOVIE RECORDS GROO110EP) DECEMBER 2013

Back in 2013 Los Angeles based outfit The Sound Reasons unleashed their debut 45 on Portuguese label Groovie Records.

On the flip of the single is “If I Cared”, a battering-ram of unhinged fuzztoned guitar and quick / slow tempo changes.

It’s an authentic sounding ’66 garage punk raver and a number that has earned its right to be included within “The Crypt”.

The Sound Reasons released their album “Walk With My Shadow” in 2018 and it’s a slab of wax that I’ve not yet heard.

If the material is as strong and soaked in primordial fuzz like the gem “If I Cared” then it’s sure gonna be a mind wrecking trip when I finally get to hear it!

THE MOURNING AFTER – “GOODNIGHT GOD BLESS” / “AIN’T MY WOMAN” (CHAPUTA! CHR 7029) APRIL 2021

The Mourning After are an enduring and much admired garage band from Sheffield. After years of inactivity they’ve recently started gigging and creating music again.

Some of their home-studio recordings from “The Purple Pit” have recently surfaced on limited 45 pressings and this powerful two-sider on Chaputa! Records is one of their best ever.

“Goodnight God Bless” has insidious fuzz and tremolo effects throughout underpinned by the snaking Seeds like repetitive keyboard riff.

Vocals are crisp and clear, the drummer batters away at his kit effectively and the production is intentionally raw and uncluttered culminating in a garage punk sound that is impossible to ignore.

THE MAGGIE’S MARSHMALLOWS – “COME ALONG” / “BORN LOSER” (GET HIP GH-261) SEPTEMBER 2014

The Maggie’s Marshmallows “Come Along” – I’m a bit late discovering this potent teenage drama-rama garage punk 45. But it’s better late than never!

Maggie’s Marshmallows hail from Prague in the Czech Republic, not a country usually associated with fuzztoned wanton mayhem.

However, this disc contains the perfect type of garage punk that I have loved for decades. Simple, straight-forward, uncomplicated and a nasty noise created by young outsider punks with enough fuzz and moodiness to stop rampaging elephants in their tracks.

The lead singer / bass player hides her face behind long hair and plays barefoot, the drummer lays down a glorious primitive beat and the lead guitarist is tall, lean, even mysterious and dressed to kill.

A perfectly formed fuzzy disturbance and a disc richly deserving its place in “Thee Crypt”.

Their Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2018 so it appears all over for this Prague outfit.

THE COURETTES – “HOP THE TWIG” / “ONLY HAPPY WHEN YOU’RE GONE” (DAMAGED GOODS RECORDS 555) APRIL 2021

The Courettes “Hop The Twig” – The latest 45 from The Courettes also makes it into “Thee Crypt” and it’s a richly deserved entry.

“Hop The Twig” is not an instantly memorable number like “Want You! Like A Cigarette” purely because this cut is a lot harder edged, however, one can’t help but fall for the spirited Duane Eddy inspired reverb ‘n’ twang thrill of the opening guitar riff.

Pure dynamite and it’s this rock-a-beat rhythm pulse, along with the period style echoed drum pounding that gives “Hop The Twig” long-lasting reACTION!

Stir into this potent mix some ’50s style rock ‘n’ roll piano along with thee cavegirl screams from the exceptional Flávia Couri and we have another untamed hot disc.

THE COURETTES – “WANT YOU! LIKE A CIGARETTE” / “NIGHT TIME (THE BOY OF MINE)” (DAMAGED GOODS RECORDS 530) JULY 2020

The Courettes “Want You! Like A Cigarette” – they are a new band on the scene, a duo with Brazil / Denmark connections, who’ve released a handful of records and are regarded as one of the most exciting outfits creating thee garage trash sonics for years. 

Their sound is fresh, stirring, thrilling and laden with punk rock attitude, harking back to the early ’60s Beat era for energy and skillful MONOphonic production values.

“Want You! Like A Cigarette” is a beautifully created, commercially enriching fuzz cruncher. The band utilise vintage instruments, Trixon drums, Vox, Selmer, tambourines, hand-claps, there’s even a mellotron in the mix.

It’s one of those perfect 45s that comes around every so often. BUY it! Their two-pronged live shows of caveman drums and fuzz guitar attack are also a righteous unholy racket.

TERMINAL CRASH FEAR

The Primitives – That woman looks just like my mum. Same unfloppable hairstyle, same geometrically precise eyebrows, I bet you even her bikini-line’s been waxed to the same level. Christ you’d have thought beauticians would have some imagination with their clients and not just turned out a conveyor belt loaded with designer sex kittens.

But gamour suits Tracy Tracy, a girlie saved from being the last member of the Beki Bondage fan club, by bouffanting her hair, tucking her bottom in and pushing her breasts out.

Apart from looking like every backing vocalist who ever failed, TT glimmers and glides with a new-found confidence. Bought through a knowledge of manipulating men, the pencil skirt and stilettos are employed at the sacrifice of any real development of an individual identity.

Seeing the turn of new-found professionalism and group-togetherness, implemented by not playing at a breakneck speed that tangles their fingers, The (rest of the) Primitives still look as shabby as Kings Cross tramps, even if Tracy Tracy’s taught them to apply eye-liner. She should have started the grooming process by combing their hair.

Musically they’re perfect. A safe adventure in re-writing a seminal classic from every decade, starting with Simon & Garfunkel, working through The Beatles, and by some infernally brilliant logic creating a cocktail of Blondie, The Monkees and The Velvet Underground. That’s panache for you.

What The Primitives shouldn’t do now is press the self-destruct button. The stage is strewn with nose-dived vintage cars and debris, the clutter of a crash. They shouldn’t be so eager to tempt fate and become last year’s models.

(Helen Mead – NME, 21/05/88)

SARAH RECORDS – A RADIANT JEWEL

Sarah Records – Look at it this way: if popular music was a tower-block, the likes of WEA and CBS might be up in the penthouse suites, Demon and New Rose on the first floor, Vinyl Solution and Reckless would be at street level and down in the third sub-basement, behind the water-pipes you’d find Sarah Records, small but snug.
(Bucketfull Of Brains, Issue #29 April 1989)

THE SEERS – “FLYAWAY” (BOB 18) MARCH 1988

The Seers “Flyaway” – Inside ‘Bucketfull Of Brains, Issue #24 was a two-song flexi-disc featuring Gene Clark and The Seers. Here’s what BOB said about the track “Flyaway”.

The second track on this issue’s flexi-disc is “Flyaway” by The Seers. Since we last covered this band (in issue #22), they’ve already been signed to Rough Trade. Their first release is “Lightning Strikes” – a great pop-rock reworking of the old Johnny-goes-off-to-war chestnut carried off with blazing guitars and razor sharp vocal hooks and a nod to the Clash’s “Tommy Gun” at the end.

Our track “Flyaway” isn’t available elsewhere and will give you some idea of what The Seers are about – the NME compared this to the Jesus And Mary Chain’s “Some Candy Talking” – what do you think? (Bucketfull Of Brains)

THE ELEVENTH DREAM DAY – “AWAKE I LIE” (BOB 23) APRIL 1989

The Eleventh Dream Day “Awake I Lie” – When I spoke to New Rose recently, they told me that in response to the massive acclaim the band have received in Europe they are keen that the Eleventh Dream Day should tour in a few month’s time.

The label will also be issuing the band’s hard-to-find debut mini-LP “Eleventh Dream Day” soon. In the meantime a three track EP has just been issued – running to over 15 minutes the EP includes “Southern Pacific” (possibly the same recording as the “Howl” version) and “Tenth Leaving Train” plus one new band composition called “Go”

The EP will appear on both Ameoba and New Rose).

After hearing the Eleventh Dream Day’s track, “Awake I Lie”, on this issue’s free single you should need no further prompting to scarf up the band’s other records – you will not be disappointed! (Bucketfull Of Brains)

THE CHEMISTRY SET – “SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN” (BOB 29) APRIL 1989

The Chemistry Set “Some People Never Learn” – This flexi-disc was given away in ‘Bucketfull Of Brains” issue #29: There was no feature on the band, just the flexi and according to the editorial the number is a cut from their forthcoming album, “Sounds Like Painting” on Semaphore (presumably a 1989 release).

The album never came out though and no one else has ever bothered to create a YouTube video for the unreleased “Some People Never Learn”. (so I have done the honours).
Curiously though, inside the magazine there is a review of the album, and a very positive one too! Therefore promo tapes were in circulation.

“Some People Never Learn” is a hard-driving psychedelic rocker, the rhythm section is tight and the production sounds modern and of it’s time. Clearly, The Chemistry Set weren’t interested in trying to create 1967 in 1989.

I was a bit curious as to why the album never materialised and found an online interview from 2008. The link is from Terrascope

So tell us about ‘Sounds Like Painting’. Why was it never released?

Dave McLean: You don’t take any prisoners, do you?! You have just made me have to go and make an appointment with my psychologist. I thought I had recovered and now you go and mention ‘Sounds Like Painting’. Noooo! The horror!

It’s January 1989. Four boys go off to a residential 24-track studio on a farm in Norwich and record what had been in their heads for the last 12 months. Result: a reasonably good record.

Next thing was, we sent out a couple of hundred promos to record companies, radio stations, fanzines and magazines and get a fantastic response. A number of European and American indie labels wanted to bite our hands off to release it but… being young and big-headed we thought we could get a bigger and better record deal.

But guess what? A bigger deal never came along (a useful lesson for all young bands to learn). We were stubborn and we wanted to wait. But we waited too long. We did record and release lots of other stuff but as time wore on, ‘Sounds Like Painting’ just sat on the shelf.

It’s a bit of a myth. I had a re-listen to it recently and it sounds very dated and distinctly 80’s, and the drums sound truly appalling (not the performance!). I appreciate that some people get off on it and that people love an unreleased record, but the new songs are ten times better.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK & PETER BUCK – “FLESH NO. 1” (BOB 17) DECEMBER 1987

Robyn Hitchcock & Peter Buck “Flesh No.1” – With the Soft Boys and R.E.M. so heavily featured in ‘Bucketfull Of Brains’ – Issue #23, I’m delighted to be able to include a flexi featuring the first fruits of the collaboration between Robyn Hitchcock and Peter Buck.

“Flesh No.1” (the original version of a track that will appear on Robyn’s forthcoming “Globe Of Frogs”, his first album for A&M records).

For the record, it’s Robyn on guitar and vocals, Peter Buck on 12-string guitar and Chris Cox on bass.

PETER CASE – “STEEL STRINGS” (BOB 12) OCTOBER 1986

Peter Case “Steel Strings” – This issue’s flexi-disc is the original acoustic version of “Steel strings” (a tribute to both head Flamin’ Groovie, Cyril Jordan and The Plimsouls).

Previously commercially unavailable and different to the version on the ‘Peter Case’ album on Geffen records.

Particular thanks are due to Peter Case and Geffen Records for kindly allowing us to include “Steel Strings” on the flexi – also to Frank Beeson for arranging the details and Gail Miller and Teresa Ensenat (at Geffen in L.A. for sorting out the rest). (Bucketfull Of Brains, Issue 18)

THE SPINNING WIGHATS – “ENCORE FROM HELL” / “10/05/60” (BOB 11) 1986

The Spinning Wighats “10/05/60” – The long arm of “Bucketfull Of Brains2 has failed, I can’t apologise enough but we are totally unable to pin down the legendary Spinning Wighats and grill ’em in the usual “B.O.B.” fashion.

In mitigation, this mysterious combo hardly ever surface for live gigs (though luckily their onstage raver, “Encore From Hell” / “10/05/60” is captured for all eternity on this issue’s flexi, having been recorded at London’s Mean Fiddler in 1985) and have, up until now, released only a limited edition flexi which appeared around last Christmas although rumours persist that a record of cover versions of Gram Parsons’ songs, by the Wighats, was spotted in a deletion bin somewhere in Kentucky!

Apart from these titbits and halftruths the band remain obscure and shy away from publicity. A concrete fact is that a further Spinning Wighats track will shortly be released on a forthcoming compilation album from the UK’s “What A Nice Way To Turn 17” magazine (write to them at: 4 Conniston Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6PG)

It will become immediately apparent, on playing the enclosed flexi-disc, that the spinning Wighats are well into the sound of the Long Ryders, in fact the casual listener might conclude that the two bands are one and the same, such is their copycat style!

In this light, and due to the appalling lack of dirt on the Wighats, I’m going to fill this page with some photos of said Ryders (there are, of course, no pictures of the Wighats in existence).

If, perchance, you’re partial to the Long Ryders yourself, you may like to know that Issue 2 of Glen Minderman’s excellent “Long Wryter” magazine is now available (the scope has been broadened this time to include an interview with the Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn and Paul B. Cutler) and full of essential stuff for fans (live tape reviews, discography, etc, etc)

The 36 page A5 magazine costs £1.50 inc p&p though non UK readers should write with an IRC or two for price details to: The Long Wryter, Nachtwachtlaan 345, 1058 EM Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

LET’S ACTIVE – “I FEEL FUNNY” / “WILD WILD WOMEN” (BOB 10) 1986

Let’s Active “I Feel Funny” – Thanks to Mitch Easter’s and IRS’s kindness I’m able to include a two track flexi-disc to further enliven your reading. “I Feel Funny” was recorded as a possibility for the “Big Plans For Everybody” album (IRS-5703) but eventually omitted.

As you’ll hear, it’s an excellent number and well up to Let’s Active’s high standards. Mitch plays all the instruments and is aided by Angie Carlson on additional vocals, the track was recorded in October 1985.

Secondly there’s a brand new recording, a cover version of Johnny Carroll’s “Wild Wild Women” recorded live at Drive-In Studios, April 1986 with Mitch on guitar and vocals, Angie on guitar and Eric Marshall on drums. (Bucketfull Of Brains – Issue 16)

THE CHURCH – “WARM SPELL” (BOB 9) MARCH 1986

The Church “Warm Spell” – I was a huge fan of The Church in the eighties and their early records still hold up well apart from those recordings from around “Seance” LP onwards. There is just way too much in the way for my ears nowadays, over-produced sounds, synth keyboards wrecking some tunes and the over-use of gated and synthetic drums.

“Warm Spell” is a bouncy pop excursion, especially the intro where the rhythms and jangle remind me of Postcard era Orange Juice. The Church turning Indie? No chance. After ‘Under The Milky Way’ was a semi-hit in America they kind of went mainstream and my ‘fanship’ waved goodbye.

This flexi-disc is very noisy and crackles like bacon in a frying pan, but I’ve filtered the FLAC through iZotope and it’s come out decent. I never use ‘de-noiser’ because that sucks the life out of a music file.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK – “HAPPY THE GOLDEN PRINCE” (BOB 8) 1986

Robyn Hitchcock “Happy The Golden Prince” – This song was given away with ‘Bucketfull Of Brains’ Issue 14, well, when I say song I’m thinking more along the lines of a six minute surreal tale to tell a bad tempered kid at bed time. This will calm the little bugger down.

Softly spoken words of nothingness over a plaintive electric guitar takes the listener on a journey of wonder. Is this eccentric genius or psychedelic twaddle?

According to the short write-up in the ‘zine this (at the time) was previously unreleased. Robyn is aided by Mathew Seligman. The track was recorded during the ‘Black Snake Diamond Role’ sessions, in 1981.

THE BARRACUDAS – “VERY LAST DAY” / “THERE’S A WORLD OUT THERE” (BOB 7) 1985

The Barracudas “Very Last Day” – two sides from a respected group, although by the time this material came out on the ‘Bucketfull’ flexi-disc they had already split-up.

“Very Last Day” is a decent stab at the folk number made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary in 1964. The Hollies also recorded a rendition as well as numerous European Beat bands during the mid-sixties.

The other tune is a Robin Wills original, again in the folk-rock vein. This sounds like a demo to my ears, the vocals are hesitant and the background harmonies are all over the place. Still though, can’t complain too much, it was a freebie. The songs hinted at the direction The Barracudas were probably going to take before the break-up.

PLASTICLAND – “THE LADY IS NO LADY” (BOB 6) 1985

Plasticland “The Lady Is No Lady” – Here it is again, another regular ‘Bucketfull’! I hope you all enjoyed the R.E.M. flexi-disc with the last issue, this time around I’m pleased to be able to include Plasticland’s “The Lady Is No Lady” (plus two sound collages as well).

Thanks are due to Nigel Cross for arranging it with the band and also for the in depth feature on them in this issue. Thanks also to Plasticland themselves and in particular to Glenn Rehse (who Nigel and I had the pleasure of meeting here in London recently) for getting the master tape to us so speedily.

Look out for a new Plasticland 45 on Midnite Records which is due around August. (BOB)

“THE LADY IS NO LADY”

Somewhere hereabouts you’ll find a flexi-disc, the main thrust of which is a ditty which boasts the title above. It’s a rare treat, particularly the undiluted blast of Frankovic’s superlative clipped bass playing, somewhere between Andy ‘Soft Boy’ Metcalfe’s well rolled meatballs and the more synthetic dance stance of deutsche bands like Neu and Kraftwerk, whom we’ll get to in a moment.

Glenn’s vocals are at their snotty best but the sharpest prong of this tune has to be the lyrics, which canonise their then current drummer.

Glenn Rehse: The story of the Lady Dublonet. In 1981 before we recorded ‘Color Appreciation’ and right after the release of ‘Vibrasonics’ we were doing promotional dates around the Mid West for the EP and we had a seven hour ride from Milwaukee to Minneapolis.

We were doing a show with X. We were in very close quarters in the van, there were five people and barely room to sit. Of course we were all perspiring and there was this particular aroma that emitted from the Lady!

Brian Ritchie blurted out “The lady is no lady”. We decided to compose a song about the Lady, commemorating the odour that was less than enjoyed on the long ride. The Lady was notorious for always having a pint of anything with alcohol in it. The Lady, she’s also known as Debbie Harry, Blondie, the Blond One, Dublon, and Brian used to room together. We were all good friends. Brian grew up in the same neighbourhood as John and I did.

We used to get together to go shopping for records and clothes in secondhand stores. That’s how I met Brian and he introduced me to the Lady. She really was a good drummer but in order for her to work up into a frame of mind where she felt confident on stage, she had to consume a lot of intoxicants.

R.E.M. – “TIGHTEN UP” (BOB 5) FEBRUARY 1985

R.E.M. “Tighten Up” – Here’s a funky soul jam from R.E.M. that is nothing like their usual work, maybe they performed this number at gigs and it came off so well that they decided to record it. This is presumably an earlier version of “Tighten Up” given away as a flexi-disc with ‘Bucketfull Of Brains’ Issue #11.

The song was originally released by Archie Bell & the Drells in 1968. R.E.M.’s studio version can be found on their 1984 album ‘Reckoning’.

Here’s what the Editor of ‘Bucketfull of Brains’ had to say about this freebie:

R.E.M. played some of the best shows its been my privilege to witness during their two visits here last year and their records are all firm favourites. So I’m thrilled to be in a position to be able to make available this previously unreleased recording inside the covers of ‘B.O.B.’

Michael, Peter, Mike and Bill are joined by Mitch Easter, on vibes, and many thanks are due to them, manager Jefferson Holt who kindly fixed up the details, and IRS Records for allowing it to happen.

THE RAIN PARADE – “SAD EYES KILL” (BOB 4) 1984

The Rain Parade “Sad Eyes Kill” – Part of the so-called Los Angeles ‘Paisley Underground’ they signed to a major label and released a so-so album ‘Crashing Dream’ but before all that they were promoted extensively in ‘Bucketfull Of Brains’.

Issue 10 gave away a flexi-disc of “Sad Eyes Kill”, this was way before the number was released on their Island Records LP and is most likely an earlier version. The flexi-disc is very cheaply made and translucent. Hold this up to the sun and you’re likely to burn you eyes out, it’s that thin!

The sound quality is also atrocious but I’ve done my best, remastering the sound file, in this case a stereo FLAC, using iZotope RX7, audio editing software. Better than nothing I suppose!

The Rain Parade were a fabulous band, their early recordings are premier league guitar psychedelia. They were perhaps the very best combo from the short-lived Paisley Underground scene and the languid “Sad Eyes Kill” demonstrates why I thought so highly of them in the mid eighties.

ECTOMORPH – ‘GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS” (HEMP RECORDS 1) 1988

Ectomorph “Garden Of Earthly Delights” – Another flexi-disc was given away with ‘Freakbeat’ fanzine, Issue #5 back in 1988. This time around the sound quality was far superior than the one they gave away in Issue #4.

Four bands donated a song and my pick of the crop is “Garden Of Earthly Delights” by the strangely named Ectomorph. Frustratingly I can’t find my copy of ‘Freakbeat’ but have done a little research on the internet and can confirm the following:

Ectomorph were from the UK and released an album in 1991 titled ‘The Furious Sleeper’ on the Woronzow label. I’m not familiar with their recordings or the hippie Woronzow label. I have always been put off by those long-haired hippie type scenes with the extended psychedelic jams that go on a lifetime.

“Garden Of Earthly Delights” seemingly catches the band mixing their LSD with speed because it’s a lively affair with a quick tempo and female lead vocals. It reminds me of late ’60s psychedelic rock bands like The Yankee Dollar or The Neighb’rhood Childr’n.

BEVIS FROND – “AFRICAN VIOLETS” (HELP RECORDS F101) 1987

Bevis Frond “African Violets” – I’m not very familiar with Bevis Frond‘s recorded material and since the eighties they didn’t register with me at all. I’ve heard the odd song here and there but they were way too long, I’ve never appreciated lengthy guitar jams.

“African Violets” was released by ‘Freakbeat’ magazine as a flexi-disc in ’87. Perhaps this is the first time I’ve ever played Nick Soloman’s side today! The number gets into it’s stride with a raga-rock intro before the vocals kick in and then a psych lead guitar bursts into action.

Quite a compelling sound and not as long as I thought it would be. Maybe I’m now mature enough to listen to psychedelic jams which meander on for a decade or more. But perhaps I’m just more suited to short and snappy garage punk and indie janglers? Check it out for yourself.

THE STEPPES – “HISTORY HATES NO MAN” (HELP RECORDS F101) 1987

The Steppes “History Hates No Man” – I have dozens of ‘Bucketfull of Brains’ and ‘Freakbeat’ fanzines from the mid to late eighties, most of them came with a free flexi-disc of unreleased music at that time.

My plan (I’m full of plans) will be to remaster some of these flexi-discs, create music files and share them here on “Yellow Paper Suns” – the first flimsy noisy piece of plastic to make it’s way to my turntable is a freebie from ‘Freakbeat’ fanzine Number 4, published in 1987.

The Steppes track ‘History Hates No Man’ is an extended version, lasting just over seven minutes. It’s a piece of mind-wrecked deranged acid madness. Can’t say I know what the hell it all means but I enjoy the sprawling lysergic sound they’ve created.

The number was recorded at Mystic Studios in Hollywood, sometime in 1985.

CLASSIC 1988 DEBUT ALBUM 30TH ANNIVERSARY 5 X CD DELUXE EDITION

The House Of Love – I suppose it was meant to be in the end. I’m talking about my discovery of The House Of Love, whose music is an utter revelation to me some thirty three years after the event.

I have always known about the band but at the time they were releasing records and becoming the darlings of the British music press, I was just so utterly preoccupied and obsessed with obscure ’60s garage punk from America and mind-bending psychedelia and freakbeat from Britain.

So, The House Of Love came and went in my world without even a glance, I never bothered reading any reviews or articles about them in the numerous magazines I’d buy back in the day. I’d flick through their records and CDs in shops and Record Fairs while thinking that the cover looked a bit naff, two faces engulfing the whole of the cover, no words, no smiles, no interest!

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I see their debut album in my local ‘British Heart Foundation’ for £10. It was an original pressing in very decent shape. Go on then, I’ll take a chance on it. At least my money will be going to charity if nothing else.

Back home, I cue the turntable needle onto the first track “Christine” and play the album. Wow, this is beautiful music with each number being at least as good as the opener. “Hope” followed, then “Road”, next up “Sulphur” . . . . at this point my whole mind is fully engaged and I’m totally mesmerised by the sounds and shapes now buried deep in my head . . . . . Side One of the record comes to it’s conclusion with “Man To Child” and I’m now completely hooked by The House Of Love and their fan for life.

I now wanted to know everything about this band. I’ve spent hours watching videos and documentaries on YouTube, I’ve raided eBay and bought some vintage NME’s just because they contain their interviews.

The spokesman of the group is Guy Chadwick, he speaks candidly, he’s fully focussed and in charge. His vision is clear and he’s determined, very determined. Back to the music and a huge plus point; he sings with the same dark tones and delivery of Lou Reed, Steve Kilbey and Ian McCulloch. There appears to be quite a lot of the Velvet Underground, The Church and Echo & the Bunnymen burned deep into the grooves of the debut LP.

This new package is said to offer the band’s complete Creation recordings from 1987-1988, together with a raft of rarities and previously unissued bonus material – 84 tracks in total.

The CD album is re-mastered from the original quarter-inch tapes. The second and third CDs combine the non-album tracks with numerous demos and early mixes, CD 4 includes various BBC radio sessions for John Peel and the final disc delivers mostly unissued live tracks from various shows. This has been for sale since September 2018 and is still easy to obtain at a reasonable price. Go buy it everyone! It’s beautiful sonic treasure for your mind and soul.

DISC ONE
THE ALBUM
1. CHRISTINE
2. HOPE
3. ROAD
4. SULPHUR
5. MAN TO CHILD
6. SALOME
7. LOVE IN A CAR
8. HAPPY
9. FISHERMAN’S TALE
10. TOUCH ME

BONUS TRACKS
11. SHINE ON (Demo – LP Bonus 7”)
12. CHRISTINE (Demo – LP Bonus 7”)

DISC TWO
SINGLES DEMOS & RARITIES
1. SHINE ON
2. LOVE
3. FLOW
4. REAL ANIMAL
5. PLASTIC
6. NOTHING TO ME
7. THE HILL
8. LONELINESS IS A GUN
9. THE HEDONIST
10. WELT
11. DESTROY THE HEART
12. BLIND
13. MR. JO
14. SHINE ON (Guy Chadwick Demo)
15. REAL ANIMAL (Demo)
16. TOUCH ME (Demo)
17. HAPPY (Demo)
18. ROAD (Early Mix)
19. SALOME (Early Mix)
20. FISHERMAN’S TALE (Early Mix)
21. DESTROY THE HEART (Demo)
22. SHINE ON (Fuck Version) (Flexidisc)

DISC THREE:
DEMOS AND EARLY MIXES
1. ROAD (Longer Early Mix) *
2. SULPHUR (Early Mix) *
3. HAPPY (Early Mix) *
4. FISHERMAN’S TALE (Early Mix) *
5. TOUCH ME (Early Mix) *
6. SALOME (Early Mix) *
7. SHINE ON (Band Demo)
8. REAL ANIMAL (16 Track Demo)
9. CHRISTINE (16 Track Demo)
10. HOLD ON ME (16 Track Demo)
11. HOPE (Early Mix)
12. MAN TO CHILD (Early Mix)
13. LOVE IN A CAR (Early Mix)
14. MODERN WORLD (Welt) (Demo)
15. LITTLE GIRL (Mr Jo) (Early Mix)
16. SULPHUR (Early Mix)
17. HAPPY (Early Mix)
18. TOUCH ME (Early Mix)
19. SHINE ON (Early Mix) *
20. REAL ANIMAL (Early Mix) *
21. DESTROY THE HEART (Early Version – No Guitar) *
* previously unissued

DISC FOUR
JOHN PEEL SESSIONS
1. DESTROY THE HEART
2. NOTHING TO ME
3. PLASTIC
4. BLIND
5. THE HEDONIST
6. DON’T TURN BLUE
7. SAFE
8. LOVE IN A CAR
9. IN A ROOM
10. THE BEATLES AND THESTONES
11. CHRISTINE
12. LONELINESS IS A GUN

DISC FIVE
IN CONCERT
VREDENBURG, UTRECHT, HOLLAND
1. CHRISTINE *
2. MAN TO CHILD *
3. ROAD *
4. SHINE ON *

GRONINGEN, HOLLAND
5. PLASTIC *
6. SULPHUR *
7. TOUCH ME *
8. NOTHING TO ME *
9. I DON’T KNOW WHY I LOVE YOU BUT I DO

TOP RANK, BRIGHTON
10. NEVER *
11. SE DEST *
12. THE HEDONIST *
13. SOFT AS FIRE *

LA CIGALE, PARIS, FRANCE
14. FISHERMAN’S TALE *
15. HAPPY *
16. LOVE IN A CAR
17. DESTROY THE HEART
18. I WANNA BE YOUR DOG

• previously unissued

JACK BARRON STEPS ON THE THIRD RAIL TO SHOWER PRAISE ON RAIN PARADE: SOUNDS, 1ST JUNE 1985

The Rain Parade – The only kind of sex I can imagine performing to the exquisite, perfumed garden noise of Rain Parade is tender. Maybe this is why Matt Piucci is looking a trifle worried by the dominatrix with the riding crop in Hamburg’s Reeperbahn.

INDEPENDENT LABELS, SHOEGAZE, DREAM POP AND PSYCHEDELIA

It‘s time to Dream Gaze – I now feel the need to invest my time, money, effort and change my blog’s direction with a focus on various genres of the late eighties underground such as Dream Pop, Indie-Jangle, Shoegaze and Psychedelia.

A relevant starting point for me is at around the time The Jesus & Mary Chain released their incredible first single during November 1984. This record foreshadowed the energy and creation to come and influenced hundreds of like-minded, long-haired outsider types who formed bands and went crazy with guitar distortion and fuzz pedals.

Some of the groups who will have their records investigated are listed below. My cut-off point is 1993, just before the so-called Brit Pop scene raided the mainstream.

• Telescopes

• Loop

• Pooh Sticks

• Hangman’s Beautiful Daughters

• Primitives

• Spacemen 3

• Sun Dial

• My Bloody Valentine

• Ride

• Slowdive

• House Of Love

• Chapterhouse

• Sea Urchins

• Opal

• Jesus & Mary Chain

• Teenage Fanclub

• See See Rider

• Ultra Vivid Scene

LAST OF THE BOHEMIANS

Nico, ironic death – high priestess of teutonic angst, died in Ibiza last Monday night of a brain haemorrhage. She was found unconscious by the side of her push bike and taken to Cannes Nisto hospital, where she died at 8:00pm.

For two years, the German chanteuse had been on a methadone maintenance programme and had taken up a keep fit regime that included a lot of cycling.

Alan Wise, her close friend and manager for the past seven years, said: “It’s quite ironic really, because we thought if she’d go at all it would be in some dark place, surrounded by something miserable, instead of the height of summer on a sunny day.”

Nico, born in 1938 as Christina Paffgen in Cologne, Germany, was no stranger to dark and miserable places. A self confessed nihilist, she went from high fashion modelling to method acting school to Andy Warhol’s Factory, where she met the Velvet Underground and recorded the classic LP “The Velvet Underground And Nico”.

In 1968 she launched her solo career with ‘Chelsea Girl’, singing Jackson Browne, Lou Reed and John Cale compositions in the deep narcotic monotone that was to become one of her trademarks. Her low moans, high cheekbones and heavy make-up characterised the bleak Euro chic; the style was resurrected by the goths, who anticipated the Nico From The Grave look a good six years before the striking artist met her untimely demise.

In her solo performances, Nico would accompany herself on an Indian pump organ epitomising the hippie dirge sound that came in to its own as ‘performance art’ in later years. Warhol’s legacy to Nico and the New York sub-culture made it perfectly acceptable to abuse art and drugs at the same time; a star was born and so was a habit.

In 1985, Nico told NME: “I would rather take drugs than be in a nuthouse.” she had just recorded the ‘Camera Obscura’ LP with John Cale and reissued the funereal single ‘My Funny Valentine’.

Touring England and Europe with Wise, Nico became famous for her bizarre interpretations of ‘Deutschland Uber Alles’ and ‘The End’.

When asked if there was any hope of a Velvet’s reunion Nico told a VU fanzine that she would never record with Lou Reed again. “I think it’s because I’m German. He doesn’t trust the Germans because of what happened in the Second World War.”

Ironically, Nico played her last concert in Berlin before returning home to Manchester. From there, she flew to Ibiza with her son Ari.

“She went at the exact opposite of what we would have considered the appropriate moment to shuffle off this mortal coil,” said Wise. “We suspected she’d end up some cranky woman in a home, outliving all of us.”

Nico was the last of the Bohemians.

(published in NME, 30/07/88)

THE RECORDS – “HEARTS IN HER EYES” / “SO SORRY” (VIRGIN VS 330) MAY 1980

The Records “Hearts In Her Eyes” – This band passed me by when I was a kid and too preoccupied with The Jam. They released a couple of albums and a handful of singles that received critical acclaim but didn’t chart.

“Hearts In Her Eyes” was written with The Searchers in mind. The latter had recently reformed and were looking for material to record and this number is just so perfect for the old-time jangle beat band.

The Searchers version was released during October 1979 but The Records took a full six months to release their recording, although it was on their album “Crashes”. The other side “So Sorry” is none LP and is a good enough reason to be on the look out for this single.

The Records material was produced and engineered by the in-demand Mick Glossop who worked with several other Virgin label bands such as The Ruts, The Skids and Public Image Ltd.

THE SEARCHERS – “HEARTS IN HER EYES” / DON’T HANG ON” (SIRE SIR 4026) OCTOBER 1979

The Searchers “Hearts In Her Eyes” – ’60s relics The Searchers never really went away and continued to release ignored singles long after their heyday of 1963 – 1965.
But by the late seventies they must have all got together in a pub, played some darts and dominoes and possibly decided to re-form and make records again.

They signed to Sire, home of The Ramones and The Undertones. They were even given a song, written by Will Birch and John Wicks, who were creating waves with their own band The Records.

“Hearts In Her Eyes” was a song perfect for The Searchers who added their usual jangle guitar and harmonies. It has a good tempo with ‘hit’ written all over it. Alas, I don’t think the record did much in Britain despite positive music press reviews and plays on the radio.

It had greater appeal in Europe and The Searchers were invited to perform the number on a West German TV show called “Klimbim”. The clip is beyond embarrassing with two dancers parading their ‘disco dancing’ on stage with the band. What were they thinking?

MAGAZINE – “TOUCH AND GO” / “GOLDFINGER” (VIRGIN VS 207) APRIL 1978

Magazine “Touch And Go” – Sorry to Devoto, it’s quite a good single but I was expecting better (oh wow!), it’s just that my cars are on a go-slow. Admittedly very catchy (as was the plague), perhaps it grows on you (as do boils), and once Magazine have bitten (as do bugs) the results are probably incurable (as is rigormortis). Next please . . . . (Record Mirror, 15/04/78)

BUZZCOCKS – “ORGASM ADDICT” / “WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO?” (UNITED ARTISTS UP 36316) NOVEMBER 1977

Buzzcocks “Orgasm Addict” – I sympathise with lyricist Howard Devoto’s decision to leave this group because no-one could hear his words. he wrote this song, and the words are inaudible beyond the title refrain, which, considering its inanity, may or may not be a good thing.

Whatever, the Buzzcocks seem to have arrived on United Artists, who seem to think they did something right when they put The stranglers in T.W. studios with martin Rushent and hope to repeat the formula here.

Not great, not much more than mediocre, but compulsive and frantic enough. (NME, 12/11/77)

After their appearance on The Clash’s ‘White Riot’ tour, Buzzcocks were courted by all the majors. Andrew Lauder’s United Artists imprint won out. sessions began in late July 1977 at Indigo studios in Manchester, though the spumatic single version of ‘Orgasm Addict’ wasn’t nailed until September, when Martin Rushent recorded the band at T.W. Studios, Fulham.

The song – a joyous paean to masterbation written in the summer of ’76 – was primarily Pete Shelley’s, though Howard Devoto penned most of the verses, the “woman who put the robins on the Christmas cake” referring to a job he’d had at a bakery.

Its wonderfully smutty subject matter made it a brave but commercially suicidal release; its opening couplet “You tried it only once and found it alright for kicks,
Now you’ve found out that it’s a habit that sticks.” is simply genius. (Mojo)

Sorry, we’re completely unshockable by now and that’s about the only thing this single could have going for it. As a song it stinks, it has only one line to hold up the entire effort.

The singer sounds less like he’s having an orgasm and more like he has a bad attack of asthma. (Record Mirror, 05/11/77)

THE JAM – “ALL AROUND THE WORLD” / “CARNABY STREET” (POLYDOR 2058 903) JULY 1977

The Jam “All Around The World” – If one song crystallised the confusion surrounding the idea of a cohesive punk ideology, ‘All Around The World’ was it.

The Jam’s second single, it saw Weller flick the Vs at the Pistols movement with a cauterising Mod-rock anthem that casually dismissed Lydon and co’s faux nihilism:

“What’s the point in saying destroy?
We want a new life for everyone.”

Weller outraged punk’s elite by scheduling pro-Jubilee gigs and threatening to vote Tory. The sense of a cantankerous Weller distancing himself from punk’s armchair anarchism was clear, but the idea of The Jam as narrow-minded Little Englander’s lingered in the public mind. Not that it distracted from the pleasure of this single, a blazing New Wave classic. (Mojo)

Paul Weller’s latest ’70s mod anthem leaves me cold. Allegedly Weller leads the progressive punk faction and his boys play all night but the music is nothin’ new. Reminds me of Love’s ‘My Flash On You’ in fact.

Glossy production and cover work, they even tell you who cuts their hair! and there staring you in the face is the message, Direction, Reaction, Creation.

Owes a lot to The Who of course, too much to be truly original. I’m still no clearer as to where The Jam’s intentions really lie. (NME, 09/07/77)

I was hoping for ‘Modern World’ as the new single from The Jam. I love them. Seen them play about 15 times. But this is no disappointment.

In fact they make records that sound like anthems, Paul Weller’s guitar explosion in the middle is like a quick journey to the centre of the earth.

A number one. ‘Carnaby Street’ is on the B side. (Record Mirror, 16/07/77)

THE RADIATORS FROM SPACE – “TELEVISION SCREEN” / “LOVE DETECTIVE” (CHISWICK S10) APRIL 1977

The Radiators From Space “Television Screen” – It begins with a musical quote from B. Bumble & The Stingers’ Nut Rocker – the only way that guitarist Chevron could get everyone else to come in on time.

Producer Roger Armstrong’s London-based Chiswick Records signed the band on the strength of a demo that Eamon Carr of Horslips had played them.

Recorded at Dublin’s Trend Studios, the fuzzed-up and furious pub R&B of ‘Television Screen’ is served superbly by Armstrong’s trebly, guitar heavy treatment. Future Pogue Chevron remembers throwing every rock ‘n’ roll guitar style into his 10-second solo as if it were his vinyl last will and testament. (Mojo)

Crash, bang, thud, wallop. More forgettable punk. (Record Mirror, 07/05/77)

ANGELIC UPSTARTS – “THE MURDER OF LIDDLE TOWERS” / “POLICE OPPRESSION” (ROUGH TRADE / SMALL WONDER 001) SEPTEMBER 1978

Angelic Upstarts “The Murder Of Liddle Towers” – they were one of those punk bands that I was always aware of but somehow never got around to buying any of their records. That changed a couple of years ago when I decided to end my wait with a copy of their debut disc from 1978. It was originally released in a run of 500 on the indie label Small Wonder but heavy sales and a need for more issues led to a re-issue of sorts and a joint enterprise with Rough Trade.

This punk group were from my neck of the woods, Tyne and Wear. They were well known in the South Shields / Sunderland area and had a huge following even before this first record came out in the middle of 1978. Both sides are anti Police rants of controlled anger and aggression. I must say that I’m impressed not only by the sparse production but also the lead guitar playing especially.

Both sides are in my opinion classic street punk. ”The Murder Of Liddle Towers” is a about an incident in 1976 when local hard man Liddle Towers was arrested outside a Night Club in Birtley, beaten up by the Police and taken to the nick in Gateshead. It was here that he was beaten up again in his cell and died from his injuries. After an initial verdict of ’justifiable homicide’ the case was re-examined following an Appeal and changed to ’death by misadventure’

The number is a slow brooding lament with whispered and wailing punk vocals. It’s certainly the real deal and a spectacular first record by Angelic Upstarts. (EXPO67)

Liddle Towers was a Geordie hard-man arrested for drunkeness who ended up, the coroner opined, looking like he’d been in a head-on car crash.

Ex-miner – and Clash devotee – Thomas ‘Mensi’ Mensforth remembers, as a kid, hearing The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ in a documentary about skinheads. He told guitarist Mond he wanted a similar feel for his ode to Liddle.

Self-financed and locally recorded (Wallsend’s Impulse studio), 500 copies were pressed. Rough Trade quickly reissued this slow, grinding lament, topped with whispered vocals and delicate-to-disonant rock guitar.

Mensi philosophises “I went down the King’s Road when it all started but that wasn’t for me.” This is the real punk-from-the-streets deal. (Mojo)

THE STARJETS – “WAR STORIES” / “DO THE PUSH” (EPIC S EPC 7770) AUGUST 1979

The Starjets “War Stories” – The record that was almost a hit for The Starjets but despite an appearance on Top Of The Pops and Juke Box Jury (where the panel voted it a hit) nothing major happened.

Around the same time their album was released to mixed reviews and schoolgirl magazine “My Guy” featured them a couple of times with pin-up posters. In hindsight, “War Stories” is commercial pop and perhaps should have done better. The other side “Do The Push” is quite forgettable Bay City Rollers sounding fodder for pre-teens everywhere.

THE STARJETS – “RUN WITH THE PACK” / “WATCH OUT” (EPIC S EPC 7123) MARCH 1979

The Starjets “Run With The Pack” – This was the second single by a young Northern Irish band, who came over to live and gig in London during the late ’70s. Despite some decent airplay, “Run With The Pack” didn’t have any chart action.

Built on a Chuck Berry rock ‘n’ roll guitar riff, it’s a fast paced new wave number with catchy surf-style background harmonies. The sound was right for the time but the kids just didn’t spend their pocket-money on the record.

The tight and economical production from Pip Williams is excellent and this combined with the pop hooks should have at the very least pushed the record into the top forty. Oh well, better luck next time, Starjets.

The flip, “Watch Out” is none-album and another worthy rock ‘n’ roll number.

THE ELECTRIC CHAIRS – “FUCK OFF” / “ON THE CREST” (SWEET FA WC 1) NOVEMBER 1977

The Electric Chairs “Fuck Off” – Inspired by the Bessie Smith blues he was listening to, London-based New Yorker County originally wrote ‘Fuck Off’ (as Put Out Or Get Out) around 1975, an ironic riposte to “all the prick-teasers who use their sexuality to take advantage of you”.

By 1977 it was established as the living embodiment of the tabloid media’s most virulent nightmare, potty-mouthed punk at its most scatologically prurient, threatening to warp the fragile sensibilities of an entire generation of innocent children.

Chain stores raced to outlaw the single, while the law sprang into action, pre-empting the Pistol’s Bollocks scandal by arresting a fan wearing her If You Don’t Want To Fuck Me . . . badge in public.

Still, ‘Fuck Off’ topped the indie charts, and Elton John told Creem magazine it was his favourite punk single ever. (Mojo)

Wayne County and friends mouthing obscenities around a varied musical background. Clever change of pace half way through. Doubt it’ll make Tony Blackburn’s record of the week.
(Record Mirror, 26/11/77)

ALTERNATIVE TV – “ACTION TIME VISION” / “ANOTHER COKE” (DEPTFORD FUN CITY RECORDS DFC07) AUGUST 1978

Alternative TV “Action Time Vision” – “We’re aiming to go in another direction,” claimed Sniffin’ Glue editor Mark Perry in March 1977, as he announced that he was about to take his own infamous punk advice and form a band.

Experimental, ramshackle and just occasionally anthemic, Alternative TV dismantled punk orthodoxy to such an extent that the movement’s first cheerleader often enraged his own audience.

‘Action Time Vision’, ATV’s third and most successful single, placated them all. “It was probably the best song I wrote with Alex Ferguson (their original guitarist), says Perry, “and it sounded so positive and direct that, even now, people think it’s a mod 45.”

This punk land-mark has been covered by Billy Childish (twice), Sham 69 and Menace – and re-covered by Perry and ATV. (Mojo)

NOT THE NINE O’CLOCK NEWS – “THE AYATOLLAH SONG” / “GOB ON YOU” (BBC RECORDS RESL 88) DECEMBER 1980

Not The Nine O’Clock News “Gob On You” – Thee Comedy team of the late ’70s and early ’80s with their punk parody ‘Gob On You’ – Mel Smith dressed like a punk-come-metal-head belting out an angst ridden number of gobbing on anyone and everything that gets in his way.

The normally sexily-clad Pamela Stevenson has been styled as an androgynous trouble-maker, her golden locks have been lopped off and she’s completely bald as she fiercely thumps her keyboard, (in the video) as shown in the TV series.

I remember this clearly when I watched it as a kid. The things on YouTube nowadays is mind blowing. “Gob On You” was recorded in 1979 and previously released as the single B-side of “Oh Bosanquet”.

“Gob on you cos I hate your guts,
Gob on you, kick you in the nuts.
Gob on you, you’re a stupid old git
Gob on you cos you’re full of shit.”

Mel Smith

THE SKIDS – “WOMAN IN WINTER” / “WORKING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR” (VIRGIN VSK 101) NOVEMBER 1980

The Skids “Woman In Winter” – This is my favourite live band (and Jobbo’s your favourite live lodger) and one of the best of their new songs. It’s also suitably charty for Christmas. Great stuff, lads, but get yourselves a decent producer.

The record comes in a comic-book package which is completely pointless but fun if that kind of thing amuses you. (Record Mirror 29/11/80)

THE CLASH – “COMPLETE CONTROL” / “CITY OF THE DEAD” (CBS 5664) SEPTEMBER 1977

The Clash “Complete Control” – They have famed JA studio hotshot Lee Perry producing their single. Now live, The Clash are OK, the filthy rough edge of Strummer’s coarse vocal and lumbering instrumentals communicate fine.

On the other gland, as recording stars they are the most overrated band in Britain. The album pretty much stunk except for ‘Police and Thieves’ and ‘Janie Jones’, ‘Complete Control’ rates as the worst thing they’ve ever done – typically indistinguishable lyrics, standard, gutless guitar solo. (Record Mirror, 24/09/77)

Groups sing about being in groups at their peril – and yet, given that their tussling with CBS was the punk jihad in microcosm, The Clash made a virtue of it.

‘Complete Control’ is a counterblast to the unauthorised May ’77 release of ‘Remote Control’. It was released just as punk began to morph into New Wave and the dream of emancipation died.

Thanks to Perry’s echo-laden production, it oozes all the drama of a news bulletin. (Mojo)

“I don’t trust YEW! Why do YEW trust ME? Huuuhhh?” scratch City Rocker benefiting immeasurably from Lee Perry’s J.A. connection, The Upsetter sharing production credits with the Boy Wonder Producer Mickey Foote, sound-scourge of the studio / workshop Rehearsals, Rehearsals.

The allegiance was forged when Lee Perry spent some time in the studio with the Clash a few weeks back – mutual respect blossoming when he heard the band’s worthy version of the Perry / Junior Murvin classic ‘Police And Thieves’.

It’s a protest song, of course, concerning the friction between punks and business men after they’ve legally agreed to use each other. High Finance Capitalism opens its jaws to feed and if you think it wants to kiss you on the mouth you run the risk of getting chewed and swallowed.

Clipped chord-change dynamics open the song, redolent of ‘Pretty Vacant’ and the best of their album’s material, and Joe snarls the story of The Single That Should Have Been.

“They said that, ‘It’s Remote Control’
We didn’t want it on the lay-hey-bel!”

Nemesis for making The Sound Of The Westway blush with humiliation, People LAAAAARFED! The Press went MAAAAAD!

On the road hassled at every Holiday Inn where they found shelter, a weak album track was pushed out by CBS for product to follow-up the ‘White Riot’ single. “Oooooo-oooh, someone’s REALLY SMART, ‘Complete Control’, you just had to LAAARF!”

There’s stunning plectrum fluidity by Mick Jones, and Joe flexing his sense of humour / sharing a tender moment with the guitarist as he shouts out, “You’re MY guitar-hero!” But the solo’s too Lofgren-length for comfort – put it down to a Poodle-Cut. A barricade of sound assaults the record company offices. The rivvum section of Topper and Paul are offbeat and in their element.

“They said we’d be artistically free,
That was just a bit of paper, they meant,
“WE’LL MAKE YOU LOTS OF MON-EEE!
WORRY ABOUT IT LATER!”

There’s a quasi-Jon Landau sense of The Epic to the climax of the tirade, the harmonies still terraces-derived, but far off and spiritual, like those New York Dolls ripped off The Herd’s ‘From The Underworld’ hit single for their own ‘trash’.

“TOTAL! C-O-N-T-R-O-L!
TOTAL! C-O-N-T-R-O-L!
TOTAL! C-O-N-T-R-O-L!
This is The Punk Rockers!”

Even paranoids got enemies.

(NME, 24/09/77)

THE USERS – “SICK OF YOU” / “(I’M) IN LOVE WITH TODAY” (RAW RECORDS 1) MAY 1977

The Users “Sick Of You” – Opening with a corrosive riff – an unholy hybrid of the Dolls’ Personality Crisis and The Stooges’ Search And Destroy’ – The Users’ single spews forth on a jet of sneering nihilistic bile.

That such a racket should originate from genteel Cambridge was the ultimate punk paradox. The Users also recorded as The Acme Sewage Company – an apt moniker in the circumstances.

While James Haight spits out “When we meet you’re like a bitch on heat”, Free’s paint-stripping guitar sends the needle into red, the maelstrom capped by a “Sick of you, like I’ve never been sick before” pay-off chorus.

In many ways, the single came a year too late, prompting ‘punk pretenders’ charges. (Mojo)

The first ever release on the newly formed Raw Records label was by this group of teenagers from Cambridge calling themselves The Users. Both sides are energetic punk rock with the top side ’Sick Of You’ considered a classic of the genre, complete with adolescent lines like:

”When we meet, you’re like a bitch on heat.”

The Stooges were obviously an influence on The Users, both songs display a hybrid of Iggy’s group and maybe early New York Dolls. The group released other records but I’ve never even heard those, I only got this record of theirs during my teenage years. (EXPO67)

Sweet meet punk and the result is not pleasant. (Record Mirror, 07/05/77)

IAN DURY – “SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL” / “RAZZLE IN MY POCKET” (STIFF SRS 510.032) AUGUST 1977

Ian Dury “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” – here’s an enigma: a title that’s passed into common parlance but which was never a hit; a tribute to rock ‘n’ roll built on a jazz riff; a catch-phrase taken to celebrate dumb hedonism but behind which lie lyrics of restraint and wit.

At 35 (McCartney’s age) in 1977, Ian Dury was no young punk, but embodied the era’s gritty, outsider spirit. His first single for Stiff, and the first fruit of his collaboration with Chas Jankel, Sex & Drugs was as much sly comment on the music biz as a call to party.

Built on a lick hijacked from Ornette Coleman’s Ramblin’, it gently refuted grey conformation, celebrated personal tailoring and proferred “a small slice of the cake of liberty”.

It added up to an instant, and widely ignored, masterpiece and served notice of Dury’s rebirth from pub-rocker to people’s poet. (Mojo)

I thought it was dreadful: an updated version of Mike Sarne’s ‘Come Outside’ using the same idea of half-spoken vocals over the music. It might have been a good idea but it didn’t come off.
(Record Mirror, 17/09/77)

JILTED JOHN – “JILTED JOHN” / “GOING STEADY” (EMI INTERNATIONAL INT 567) AUGUST 1978

Jilted John “Jilted John” – Started life as an unpromising demo tape until Rabid Records’ Tosh Ryan and John Scott shoved actor Graham Fellows into the studio with production genius Martin Hannett.

Given a edgy guitar riff and a monotone vocal, this shaggy dog story of unrequited love became the cuddly face of punk with it’s memorable refrain of “Gordon is a moron”.

In fact, Jilted John was perhaps the turning point for the movement in the public’s consciousness – once those intimidating, angular guitar sounds had been married to an amusing novelty hit, there didn’t seem to be much of a threat any more.

Fellows’ Jilted John album flopped; he re-appeared 15 years later as John Shuttleworth. (Mojo)

Bleating about the bush in the self-righteous, self-important, self-indulgent moniker of such worthy crusades as bitterness, vengeance AND obsessive disgust with his lot, King Elvis took two albums to tell Elvis Costello that he’s a victim not a lover.

At first he was OK. Then you twigged the cloned riffs, that the American accent he cultivated wasn’t High satire and by the time one finally realised that carping and moaning were all one’d known since one’d known El, WELL! Quite frankly, for me he was getting to be a pain in the calf.

But now the maladjusted misfit who WILL Be King skulks from the seamy underbelly of chip shops, bus shelters and baby-sitting settees in last year’s Akron, Ohio – Manchester . . . all ripe for rejection and a couple of covers.

“I was so upset that I cried all the way to the chip-shop,
when I came out there was Gordon standing at the bus stop.
and guess who was with him?
Yeah, Julie – and they were both laughing at me
oh, she is cruel and heartless to pack me for Gordon.
Just coz he’s better looking than me,
just coz he’s cool and trendy.
But I know he’s a moron, GORDON IS A MORON,
I know he’s a moron
GORDON IS A MORON.”

Jilted John

Jilted John is destined to become to the ’80s (only 18 shopping months to go, kidz) what Presley, Rutles and Rotten were to their respective decades, and that’s an understatement. The maestro adopts his alter-ego alias of mild-mannered 18 year old drama sponge Graham Fellows between telephone booths and he’s touched by genius (her name is Sharon) (NME, 27/05/78)

It was only a matter of time before punk rock went novelty and ’Jilted John’ may have been the first ’tongue in cheek’ song with the 1978 punk rock sound. The single was released on Rabid Records, a small indie label back in April, then was quickly snapped up by EMI for national release. They obviously sensed that the time was right for a novelty punk rock act and so they were proved right as the single went top 5.

I remember hearing ’Jilted John’ loads of times on Radio 1. One time was on the car radio when we were being driven back from a football match in 1978. We had just played for Newbottle Community Centre Under 15s at East Herrington when this came on the radio. I just wish we had a lad called Gordon in our team but sadly we didn’t. That didn’t stop us all joining in with the chorus of ’Gordon is a moron’.

I wonder where my old football mates are nowadays? Never seen any of them since the early 80s….Bamba, Moffy, Parkin, Tucker and Hoody….this one’s for you. (EXPO67)

SECRET AFFAIR – “GLORY BOYS” (I-SPY RECORDS 1) NOVEMBER 1979

Secret Affair “Glory Boys” – Do yourself a favour. No matter how trivial this year’s revival might seem, don’t let it cloud judgement of a fine modern pop album.

In other words, forget the absurd Mod vs The World Berate (not debate) and face the music. Of course there are likely distractions. Like the sleeve. Even the lettering is ludicrously sixties-style, though I doubt if 15 years ago anyone would have dared substitute ‘o’s for Mandies. But then that’s Secret Affair’s Ian Page to a T, picking established sounds, attitudes, etc. stamping them with his own individuality and just about getting away with it.

A case in point is the line column of trash poetry which appears alongside the ‘Ready Steady Go’ photo of the group. The street poem gives us a certain amount of insight into the whole Glory Boys lark.

The fact of the matter is, the singer and the mouthpiece for the band was determined to court kids-like-you-and-me following from the start. That the kids wound up as mods was purely incidental.

Regarding the songs themselves, most significantly the important cuts are not necessarily the best or most memorable. And since the likes of ‘Glory Boys’, ‘Time For Action’ and ‘New Dance’ are intended as rallying cries, surely this would have been the object of the exercise.

No matter. As individual tunes they work out fine: mobile, uncluttered and presumably most essentially good to dance to. The lyrics aren’t bad either – sharp, concise, unpretentious and an all-round reflection of Page’s personality and present pre-occupations.

Musically, there’s muscle to spare, if nothing very original. Seb Shelton’s drums resound high into the mix, counterpointing the razor licks and brief power-chords of guitarist Dave Cairns.

As for Page, apart from lead vocals he also tries his hand at keyboards and trumpet, but brings in a sax player for funky bits like the extended section on ‘I’m Not Free (But I’m Cheap)’.

Listen carefully and you’ll be shot at from all sides by echoes of the sixties. an exception is the superb soul-buster, ‘Shake & Shout’, where for once the pose is left in the wardrobe and Ian sounds as if he is genuinely enjoying himself. In comparison, ‘Let Your Heart Dance’ sounds well contrived, but then right now it’s singer must be the least relaxed kid in town.

He’s worked himself into the unenviable position of spokesman for a movement. ‘I’m Not Free’ etc is an indication of the paranoia this type of situation can bring, though he does seem fairly well in control. “I shout smart-assed one liners to critics all day, cos I’m a superstar with nothing to say.”

An unusual piece of self-description, particularly on a debut, but then Secret Affair are going places fast. (Record Mirror, 24/11/79)

SPIZZENERGI – “WHERE’S CAPTAIN KIRK?” / “AMNESIA” (ROUGH TRADE RTSO 4) DECEMBER 1979

Spizzenergi “Where’s Captain Kirk?” – Two of my favourite things as a young teenager in the ’70s were Star Trek and punk, combine the two and you’ve got something more toxic than creosote (the tar based chemical everyone in the 70s painted their fences with).

It’s either truth but more likely fiction that William Shatner refused a photo shoot with Spizzenergi at the UK premiere of ’Star Trek The Motion Picture’. Good story though. (EXPO67)

It happened, in fact, while he was on the bus, on his way home from a band rehearsal in Solihull. Keyboard player Mark Coalfield had delivered a fine new tune which was ill-suited to the industrial-nightmare lyrics he’d written for the singer.

Spizz came up with his fine novelty words, and even mimicked the theme tune’s spooky ‘oo-ooooo’ bits in the studio. Still, William Shatner refused a photo op with him at the premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Perhaps he’d heard one of the first 10,000 copies, which featured some helium-voiced dialogue in the run-out groove from Spizz and new drummer Hero Shima.

Spizz thought his quids were in when, in 1992, R.E.M. filed for clearance to do a cover. Tragically, it was destined for a 6,000 pressing Christmas freebie fan club single. (Mojo)

THE REZILLOS – “I CAN’T STAND MY BABY” / “I WANNA BE YOUR MAN” (SENSIBLE RECORDS FAB 1) AUGUST 1977

The Rezillos “I Can’t Stand My Baby” – The Rezillos were closer in spirit to the trash aesthetic world of plastic clothing, ’60s bubblegum and comic books than nihilistic punk.

Fronted by the knockabout tag-team vocals of Fife and Reynolds, they were Edinburgh’s Day-Glo, showbiz punk super-heroes. Tiring of covers (Batman, Have I the Right, Stupid Cupid), guitarist Callis penned this minimalist, amusingly dismissive romp with a sly, understated sense of craft and a keen understanding of the appeal of his frontpersons. (Mojo)

This was The Rezillos first single, recorded at Barclay Towers, Edinburgh and released during August 1977. The cover was green for the original. This is a re-issue of sorts due to demand and came housed in an orange sleeve with their logo in green!

“I Can’t Stand My Baby” is a fast paced number with some neat sounding guitar. Vocals by Fay Fife. The back of the sleeve shows seven members in their line-up and a motley bunch they look too. The punks wearing shades and the others looking like they’re from Fleetwood Mac. I suppose 1977 was effectively the transition year from long haired hippie types to short haired outsiders.

The other side is a great punk version of The Beatles number ”I Wanna Be Your Man” (EXPO67)

Scotland’s leading new wavers with a fast-selling double ‘B’ side, one from the Lennon and McCartney stable, one from their own. Sounds exciting with a pounding beat throughout. Their music, while being raw, has a certain urgency about it. They are currently playing a number of London dates.
(Record Mirror, 06/08/77)

THE LURKERS – “JUST THIRTEEN” / “COUNTDOWN” (BEGGARS BANQUET BEG 14) JANUARY 1979

The Lurkers “Just Thirteen” – Uxbridge’s answer to The Ramones emerged in early ’77 on indie Beggars Banquet. Their sound was muscular yet accessible enough to bring them to the fringes of national chart action.

And that Ramones comparison wasn’t entirely fatuous, guitarist Stride’s two-minute punk-pop vignettes being similarly melodic by the standards of the times, and singer Wall’s vocals are garbled yet plaintive as the Blessed Joey’s.

‘Just Thirteen’ was a typically glorious slab of aching teen-pop angst funnelled through a punk sensibility. But their lack of image and their genuine suburban unpretentiousness came across as less glamorous than the affected inner-city swagger of The Clash and their acolytes. (Mojo)

CHELSEA – “RIGHT TO WORK” / “THE LONER” (STEP FORWARD SF 2) JUNE 1977

Chelsea “Right To Work” – Chelsea are Gene October vocalist, James Stevenson guitar, Henry Daze bass and Carey Fortune drums.

More commercial than ‘Fascist Dictator’ by The Cortinas (their label mates) and almost assured of chart action with it’s arrowhead chorus, “We have the right to work” and hydro-power Stevenson guitar.

“I don’t know what tomorrow may bring, let me tell ya having no future is a terrible thing.”

Could reach anthem proportions. (Record Mirror, 11/06/77)

It looked all over for vocalist Gene October’s Chelsea when Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe ran off to form Generation X. Undeterred, October penned ‘Right To Work’ the next day, and after a further two line-up changes recorded the track for Miles Copeland’s Step Forward label.

A sub three-minute vitriolic blast powered by October’s aggressive vocal, ‘Right To Work’ soon became a working-class anthem. Seen at the time as an attack on rising unemployment levels, the lyrical assault was ironically aimed at trade union closed shop policy.

This went largely unnoticed at the time and Chelsea quickly gained a reputation for being the other punk band with a political conscience. (Mojo)

THE CORTINAS – “FASCIST DICTATOR” / “TELEVISION FAMILIES” (STEP FORWARD SF 1) JUNE 1977

The Cortinas “Fascist Dictator” – “I’m a fascist dictator, yeah that’s what I am, I’m a fascist dictator. I ain’t like no other man.”

Not a right-wing politician’s rant but a bully’s twisted declaration of love. Crafted by arty teenage Bristolians – average age 17 – the single was stuffed with the certainty of youth and savage guitars, and crept close to being punk parody.

Created in two and a half takes at Polydor’s studios just off Oxford Street, where the concrete floor had previously helped Slade establish their percussive drum sound, ‘Fascist Dictator’ was very much of its moment – inspired by London’s miserabilists and indebted to The Ramones.

Nick Sheppard went on to join the five-man Clash MkII, Valentine is now a philosophy lecturer in Edinburgh, Dalwood’s paintings are collected by Charles Saatchi. (Mojo)

The Cortinas are Jeremy Valentine vocals, Dexter Delwood bass, Nick Sheppard guitar, Mike Fewins lead guitar and Daniel Swan, drums.

Quick-silver riff introducing suitably derisive vocals. “I’m a fascist dictator, I ain’t like no other man.” Successful hall of mirrors production. Irrepressibly good. (Record Mirror, 11/06/77)

ADAM AND THE ANTS – “ZEROX” / “WHIP IN MY VALISE” (DO IT DUN 8) JULY 1979

Adam and the Ants “Zerox” – Adam Ant experienced his punk epiphany when The Sex Pistols supported his group Bazooka Joe. Boasting punk face Jordan as manager and an authentic S&M image, ‘Zerox’, Adam And The Ants’ second single refined their mix of intricate arrangements and pseudo-intellectual lyrics.

With a nervy, staccato guitar riff and vocals that owe a debt to Marc Bolan, the song is a futurist nightmare of a semi-human plagiarising machine.

Eighteen months later, this sparse, complex Antmusic had been replaced by Burundi rhythms and ‘Zerox’ found itself in the charts. Many fans remained oblivious to the tale of masochism on the flip, ‘Whip In My Valise’. (Mojo)

MAGAZINE – “SHOT BY BOTH SIDES” / “MY MIND AIN’T SO OPEN” (VIRGIN VS 200) JANUARY 1978

Magazine “Shot By Both Sides” – having departed from Buzzcocks early in ’77, Howard Devoto stayed in touch with Pete Shelley, and on one occasion was shown some chords by Shelley who played a lead line on top.

Howard was gobsmacked. “OK,” said Pete, “you have it.” Devoto played around with Shelley’s Television-style ascending guitar idea with John McGeoch.

As the title shows, Devoto was entering far graver existential territory as a writer, exploring aspects of performance, paradox and paranoia that went far beyond simple punk philosophies.

For the version on their debut LP, ‘Real Life’, the band had intended just to graft on keyboards from band member Dave Formula, but were forced to re-record it entirely when Virgin lost the multi-track. (Mojo)

This makes single of the week. It’s a relief to find out that there is at least one single out this week worth going mad about. It’s fast, manic and completely controlled.

The bass and drums provide one of the best examples of cohesive playing I’ve heard in weeks. They’re not exactly new wave and they’re not exactly pop. Just bloody good rock ‘n’ roll and the future of rock until at least next Friday. (Record Mirror, 21/01/78)

SUBWAY SECT – “AMBITION” / “DIFFERENT STORY” (ROUGH TRADE RT007) NOVEMBER 1978

Subway Sect “Ambition” – Subway Sect had a strong link with The Clash as they were both managed by Bernie Rhodes and this 45 was produced by Mickey Foote who handled the controls on the eponymous debut album by the The Clash.

’Ambition’ is a peculiar record and maybe even ahead of it’s time. It has that late 70s punk guitar but incorporates some cheapo sounding organ and waves of strange noises over the top of the rhythm section.

I’ve read elsewhere that those strange noises are sounds from an arcade game that were overdubbed in the studio without permission of singer songwriter Vic Godard.

In it’s strange way I think this production trick enhanced the song and made it sound unique, although Godard seemingly didn’t think so. (EXPO67)

Pop music discovers Vic Godard and has a definite Hit on his hands, the satirical stain of which will not wash off at all easily. If we accept that Tom Verlaine is the missing link between Bob Dylan and Vic Godard then ‘Ambition’ is no surprise.

Or maybe just slightly – who’d have thought it would be this good? We all knew Subway Sect would hop onto a Pop spot, but with such confidence?

Don’t wait to be told how Important Godard is (definitely on of the people: Lydon, Devoto, Perry, Shelley), just marvel at his mixture of Peter Noone and Kafka. Come on, hurry up!
(NME, 18/11/78)

From the opening electronic bleeps, it was clear that Subway Sect were the odd boys out. Vic Godard would take the punk template and shape it into something completely different, influenced more by old Francoise Hardy records than a feeling of urban anger.

The band’s debut LP was supervised by Clash manager Bernie Rhodes, although 1978’s ‘Ambition’ would be the only offering culled from the aborted six song session.

The track’s ’60s bubble-gum keyboard riff (hated by Godard) sat alongside the sound of bouncing table-tennis balls crudely recorded from an arcade games machine.

Two years later Godard would be found supporting Siouxsie & the Banshees dressed in a tuxedo and playing a sophisticated brand of northern soul. (Mojo)

The voice of avant garde . . . . Vic Godard (any relation of Jean-Luc?) does Tom Verlaine impersonation over flat instrumental silt. “You need two A levels to understand this” says the man who brought it in. “I got ’em and it still stinks,” I replies, (later) (Record Mirror 04/11/78)

RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS – “BLANK GENERATION” (SIRE RECORDS) SEPTEMBER 1977

Richard Hell & the Voidoids “Blank Generation” – Remember an early Stiff single by this guy called ‘Another World’? Yeah . . . . it was pretty good, at the time of release Hell seemed to be quite an impressive character on the scene.

Then we heard talk of Tom Verlaine’s disagreements with him in Television and after that another release. This time a cut on the ‘New Wave’ album ‘Love Comes In Spurts’, which in comparison seemed weaker.

This album is the last in the trilogy and sadly follows suit. It is definitely poor in contrast with the early single. Hell has obviously been writing this kind of material for a few years and it is a shame that he could not find stronger songs to put on his first solo attempt.

The two cuts ‘Blank Generation’ and ‘Another World’ are featured, but unfortunately, even those cannot drag this album out of it’s insipidness.

Backed by his Voidoids (Robert Quine, Ivan Julian and Marc Bell) the sound is flat, flawed and basically uninspiring. It’s surprising to find the production is handled by Richard Gottehrer too, because he has worked wonders on some artists’ albums (notably Blondie, Dirty Angels and Robert Gorden).

I’m sorry to criticize an album which people have waited for but if Hell can only write thin songs like ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Club’ then I think I’m justified.

(Record Mirror, 08/10/77)

PUNCH-UPS AND DUFF RECORD LABELS FAILED TO STOP THE JAGS

Take an alarming succession of drummers, and an even more frightening line of producers, add the fact that most people dismiss them as another Costello sound-alike, and you probably have the best recipe for failure.

Wrong. The Jags know exactly what they are doing, which has contributed to the many setbacks they’ve experienced since they were formed in early 1978.

“Because we’ve always had this clear idea of what we want to sound like and what we want to do it’s led to innumerable clashes,” says singer Nick Watkinson. “Most of the producers we’ve dealt with have had no idea of what we’re trying to achieve and instead have tried to force their ideas on us. They weren’t prepared to collaborate.

Even the single ‘Back Of My Hand’ went through several drastic changes as we switched producer. We’ve got four versions of that on tape and you can barely recognise it as the same song,” he added with more than a hint of distaste. “The actual single doesn’t even sound the way I wanted it, but it had taken so long already that we just put it out.”

“It’s a constant problem knowing what we want to sound like and trying to reproduce that on record.”

Nick Watkinson

However, now that Andy Summers of the Police has agreed to produce the next EP, that problem will soon be rectified. “Andy understands us perfectly and is constantly coming up with fresh ideas and inspiration.”

So, after some 18 months the Jags look as though they’re going to pass GO, but they weren’t joking when they talked about personality clashes. A typical example is a gig way back in February when Chris Blackwell of Island Records flew from his home in Nassau to see the band he’d just signed.

You’d think the implications would make any band eager to do their best, but it didn’t prevent the drummer pushing over his kit in a fit of rage before biffing Nick and knocking him off stage. An event which made the rest of the band think they’d blown it completely – but luckily it was overlooked and the drummer retired the next day.

Several more drummers have come between that one and Alex Baird, “who has been the only one to fit in straight away”. To say he has had a wide and varied career would be an understatement.

The fact that he was once with the medieval folk group, Gryphon, should cause some raised eyebrows. Still, a brief word about his early career won’t go amiss. After drumming with the Glasgow band Stumble which also boasted Midge Ure (pre Salvation, pre Rich Kids, pre Thin Lizzy, pre Ultravox), Alex joined Contraband, which won the Melody Maker talent competition, resulting in a contract with Transatlantic Records.

“They flew us down to London, found us a flat, and that was that.” Alex said, warming up to a good old slag (most of which is deleted as it is rather repetitive). “No promotion, no constructive advice, nothing. A total waste of time.

“Mind you, I’m still in the same flat, which is pretty good at that,” he reflected, as an afterthought. “But I’m glad Transatlantic is no more, because they deserved to crumble away – after all, they never did anything did they?”

After that came the aforementioned Gryphon, “who had dropped all the medieval bit before I came along. I did one album with them which flopped miserably before doing a stint with The Banned.” Needless to say the Banned didn’t jump to massive fame either.

Nick and John Alder form the songwriting part of the group, and of the Costello comparisons, they say that they’ve been writing together since they were 15 and have always sounded similar to the way they do now, long before they’d even heard Costello.

Unlike Alex, who recognises it was the MM competition that turned him pro, Nick and John knew the only job for them was in a band.

“I still went ahead with a diploma in photography for the traditional something to fall back on.” says Nick, “and John worked in a local Scarborough ironmongery before arriving in London as soon as I finished college. After that all our energies went into forming a band.”

They added Steve Prudence on bass, had a lot of frustration tearing through drummers and producers – “No we don’t like that model, send it back” – and now we’re back to where you came in.

Whether ‘Back Of My Hand’ will be a hit remains to be seen. I like it a lot, but think it’s too similar to Elvis Costello to get to the top. However, I’ll wait till I hear the Andy Summers produced EP before passing final judgement.

They’re just starting a British tour and after that they’re hoping to get Andy to produce their first LP. And then they’re setting their sights on America in the new year. “We’ve got to make it over there before Costello does, and then everybody will say he’s copying us!”

(Record Mirror – 29/09/79)

45 Discography:

• “Back Of My Hand” / “Double Vision” (Island WIP 6501) 06/79

• “Woman’s World” / “Dumb Blonde” (Island WIP 6531) 01/80

• “Party Games” / “She’s So Considerate” (Island WIP 6587) 05/80

• “I Never Was A Beach Boy” / “Tune Into Heaven” (Island WIP 6666) 01/81

• “The Sound Of G-O-O-D-B-Y-E” / “The Hurt” (Island WIP 6683) 04/81

Albums:

• “Evening Standards” (Island ILPS 9603) 01/80

• “No Tie Like A Present” (Island ILPS 9655) 05/81

THE STARJETS – “GOD BLESS STARJETS” (EPIC 83534) JULY 1979

The Starjets “God Bless Starjets” – Here’s an interesting album from a little known Northern Irish group that almost had a hit record in 1979 but the single in question, “War Stories” never quite managed to break into the Top 50 despite an appearance on ‘Top Of The Pops’ and ‘Juke-Box Jury’.

They’re also a band I was unfamiliar with before I started my website but had my interest tweaked by the mostly positive record reviews in the music press and teen magazines.

‘God Bless Starjets’ is a pleasant enough listening experience, nothing that is too demanding with a sound very much with an emphasis on pop. These guys obviously wanted to sell records and were aiming at chart success.

Side One is especially good with songs laden with hooks, solid musicianship and power-pop tunes all created from guitar, bass and drums. No ‘trendy’ synths or keyboards here. All classy rock & roll without any frills. Which is my kinda scene.

All songs on side one (except ‘Run With The Pack’) were produced by the Starjets themselves and Rhett Davies who around this time was also working with Brian Eno and Brian Ferry. It’s clear that the band themselves were making those important decisions about song flow, structure and being technical leaders because the songs sound tighter and more potent than those produced by Pip Williams, on side two.

“Run With The Pack” is melodically memorable with a catchy chorus and surf-style harmonies. It was an early single but somehow missed the charts entirely. Promotion neglect or lack of radio airplay was probably to blame because it’s a great number.

The other stand out for me is “What A Life”, a powerful rocker with searing lead guitar, plenty of “Oh – Oh – Oh’s in the chorus and perhaps their fastest song. I have no doubt that this was even quicker at gigs.

By comparison, side two is a real let-down and disappointment. Too many lame songs and new wave production stylings. I’m sure I can hear synthetic drums on a few tracks. The drums don’t sound the same, the lead guitar has been somehow suppressed in the mix and comes over dull and lifeless.

I doubt renowned producer Pip Williams could have done much with the material The Starjets presented him if truth be told. Apart from “War Stories” (which he didn’t produce anyway) the numbers verge on poor to awful, especially the lounge / easy listening fodder like “I’m So Glad”.

SONGS ON THE ALBUM:

• Schooldays

• Any Danger Love

• Ten Years

• Run With The Pack

• What A Life

• Smart Boys

• It’s A Shame

• I’m So Glad

• War Is Over

• War Stories

• Sitting On Top Of The World

Halfway between Stiff Little Fingers’ urgency and The Undertones’ simple poppiness come Ulster’s Starjets.

Potentially nifty tunes, but let down by directionless energy and toothless arrangements. Starjets really shine best when most adventurous, witness “Smart Boys”, which certainly deserves to be No.1.

Best trax: “Smart Boys”, “I’m So Glad”. (Smash Hits, 23/08/79)

My copy of The Starjets album came with a little bit of teenage history hidden inside the cover. The album had been won by a kid after entering a competition held in ‘My Guy’ magazine back in 1979.

I have uploaded a scan of the letter of congratulations.

THE DRONES – “JUST WANT TO BE MYSELF” / “BONE IDOL” (VALER RECORDS VRS-1) SEPTEMBER 1977

The Drones “Bone Idol” – Starting off as Manchester pub band Rockslide, The Drones reinvented themselves as punks following the Pistols’ epochal visit to the city in 1976.

Their second 45, ‘Bone Idol’, bears traces of the band’s R&B heritage with some complex riffing and a sturdy bass line, but still hits punk paydirt with a high-speed football terrace chorus.

Stylistically similar to fellow Mancunians Slaughter And The Dogs, The Drones were later managed by NME scribe Paul Morley and signed to Island subsidiary, Fabulous.

However, after sessions for a follow-up to 1977’s Further Temptations came to nothing, they split in 1979, only to reform recently, issuing their second LP, Sorted, last year. (Mojo)

EDDIE & THE HOT RODS – “LIVE AT THE MARQUEE” (ISLAND IEP-2) JULY 1976

Eddie & the Hot Rods EP – The Feelgoods were all fine and dandy, but they were a bit, well, old. The answer was a new generation of Essex tearaways who took their inspiration from original American punks like The Seeds.

There wasn’t an agenda, or even a movement, but when the Hot Rods started playing London with the likes of Joe Strummer’s 101ers there was suddenly a young, rabid audience for whom a dangerously revved-up version of Bob Seger’s ‘Get Out Of Denver’ (the other tracks in the EP were ’96 Tears’ and Medley: ‘Gloria / Satisfaction’) was as potent an anthem as you could get.

All through that long hot summer of ’76 the Hot Rods rocked Wardour Street. In a few short weeks the Pistols, Damned and Clash would cruise past them but just for a while, Eddie & the Hot Rods were the most exhilarating band in Britain. This is the sweat-stained proof. (Mojo)

KLEENEX – AIN’T YOU” / “HEDI’S HEAD” (ROUGH TRADE RT009) DECEMBER 1978

Kleenex “Hedi’s Head” – Gripped by violent riots triggered by increasing ignorance by authority towards the needs of the young, late ’70s Zurich possessed a revolutionary outfit – female four-piece Kleenex.

The group’s self-financed four track EP soon became the subject of a UK label race between Rough Trade and Stiff, and Hedi’s Head – a mix of child-like mantra and staccato vocal experiments which swung between Swiss-German and English, rearranging words to create mischievous new meanings – became a John Peel favourite.

Although the vocal stylings echoed those of Slits vocalist Ari Up, the metallic guitar sound and hypnotic rhythms inhabited the same sonic territory as US girl band ESG.

Due to the swift intervention of a certain toilet tissue manufacturer the band would quickly become LiliPUT, but the two Kleenex singles (follow-up ‘You’) were popular in the UK. (Mojo)

KLEENEX: “WE ARE NOT THE SWISS SLITS”

Regula swigs petulantly from a bottle of Benelyn expectorant and considers the question. Is it possible for punk rock to exist among the gentle tinkle of cowbells and cuckoo clocks in her alpine homeland?

She giggles. Her cohorts giggle. Kleenex are taking the writer to the cleaners.

Kleenex are four girls from Zurich, Switzerland, pioneers in a land where la punque is greeted with incomprehension.

Most incomprehensible of all is vocaliste Regular Sing, a lady given to alternating a mangling Germanic warble with a series of glass shattering squeaks – a style of chanson which must be as acceptable as a three pound note to the fathers of Europe’s most respectable city. Her colleagues accompany these heavenly utterances with a rough, raw, invigorating basic thrash. Genteel they are not.

So: what price punk rock in the land of gruyere, digital gnomes and numbered bank accounts?

Regula swigs on the Benelyn again and thinks about it. The others – guitarist Marlene Marder, bassist Klaudia Schiff and drummer Lislot Ha – set about translating our intercourse via the common tongue.

Eventually it becomes apparent that Marlene and Lislet have some command of English. It is also obvious that Kleenex take themselves and their mission, to drag Swiss rock tastes into line with the liberated world, extremely seriously. I’m impressed.

They describe the music as “a rebellion against boredom of comfortable bourgeois values. This is a bit opposite to English punk. Swiss parents give their kids so much money they don’t have to work; if they do, the possibilities aren’t good.”

Rough Trade brought Kleenex to London last month to record their second single with Mayo Thompson, father figure and inspirational producer, at the helm. It’s the same combination that delivered a well-timed middle finger at the majors when Stiff Little Fingers exploded into the album charts.

Thompson, to whom I owe an apology for my ill-considered review of the first Red Crayola record last year, has obtained for Kleenex brighter textures and cleaner punk metallic breaks that their debut home-produced single, “Ain’t You”.

The new record is called “U” (with an umlaut) – the angry side – and “You”, the friendly side. Regular explains: “I sing my song about factories, the same work in the same factory, it could be anywhere.”

Noting my expression of cynicism, Marlene intervenes: “I have worked in a factory, now I work in a bank.” The others are, variously, a temp, a shop assistant and a cashier.

Lislot and Marlene confer before delivering their next explanation of workings of Swiss society. There is nowhere for a punk band to play and the Kleenex gender is another hindrance: “We aren’t accepted, because we’re women and because punk isn’t taken seriously. There is one hour a day of mixed music on the radio but it’s all yodeling and disco.”

“The only places for us to play are the Club Hae and restaurants; even the police stop you at 11pm. Zurich is so small and so conservative.”

After muted sighing they look on the bright side:

“Everyday younger punks come out of the suburbs – farmers, factory workers.”

Visions of solitary punks skiing into town turn out to be correct: “On skis and on the bus, more young faces every week.”

Few, surely, can be as original as Kleenex. At present their sound is unsophisticated and brash – in direct contrast to the band, the sexiest thing on eight legs since Helen Wheels. It would be pointless to pretend Kleenex weren’t aware of that sexuality either, though they project an image of fun cool without simpering or posing.

Kleenex look pretty but they sound mean – and they have no intentions of drawing comparisons with other all-girl outfits. “We aren’t the Swiss Slits,” they assure me.

The era of Swiss neutrality is finally knocked on the head by this remarkably soft, strong and absorbent band. (NME, 1978)

THE RAMONES – “SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER” / “COMMANDO” (SIRE RAM 001) MAY 1977

The Ramones “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” – Special limited edition of 12,000 12-inchers. Taken from the ‘Ramones Leave Home’ album. Solid punk rock. (Record Mirror)

The first hit for the Ramones and the first really pop-punk hit of any kind, ‘Sheena’ was recorded between their second and third albums, part produced by Tommy Ramone under his real name T. Erdelyi.

Like everything good about the band – not just the songs but the clothes, haircuts and interviews too – its hesitatingly Spectorised guitar thrash treads an indecipherable line between idiocy and knowingness. Manhattan was suddenly embellished by many girls named Sheena. (Mojo)

Look, all the Ramones songs sound like hit singles and then don’t sell, but this song is so flat-out delightful that not even the nasty boring dull-as-bleedin’ ditchwater Britpublic will be able to resist it.

The sheer charm and essential niceness of Dolly Ramone’s four horrible sons is gonna win out.
(NME, 28/05/77)

THE DAMNED – “NEAT NEAT NEAT” / “STAB YOUR BACK” (STIFF RECORDS BUY 10) FEBRUARY 1977

The Damned “Neat Neat Neat” – This band is really kicking on every detail of its presentation. ‘Damned Damned Damned’ is too monochrome for me, but this demented Chuck Berry-goes-hooligan on a ‘Summertime’ riff makes an explosive two minutes.

Brilliant Nick Lowe production, more accessible than “New Rose”, with a bonus dub version(!) of the album’s dreary “Stab Your Back” on the flip. (NME, 05/03/77)

Nine months old, with an acclaimed single under their belts, The Damned released first LP ‘Damned, Damned, Damned’ and a similarly three worded 45.

“Neat Neat Neat” was recorded in the frenzied one-day session that produced their entire 11-song debut. In the best DIY punk fashion, Nick Lowe, recording over Elvis Costello’s demo tapes – “In between the songs you could hear this little acoustic guitar and voice,” says Dave Vanian – customised the ancient 8-track mixing desk with a bunch of lolly-sticks tied onto the switches with elastic bands so he was able to shift four at one go.

“Compared with the Pistols album, which was very polished,” says Captain Sensible who was frequently sent to the shop to buy more lollies, “ours was gnarled and beaten up. To me, it was the punk sound.”

The Damned “just banged the whole set down”, says Brian James. Hence Neat Neat Neat’s ragged glory – frenetic garage rock pandemonium with a gob of glam, like a speed-fuelled, UK New York Dolls.

It pretty much describes what each member was into: you had Brian – your typical Johnny Thunders guitar hero, sloppy but brilliant, and Captain had his hand-made bass cabinet knocked together out of plywood with a big 18-inch speaker that was broken and made that great farty sound.

“The sound on that record is fantastic,” says Vanian “Raw, abrasive but very musical.”

But though “much loved”, it didn’t chart, despite being the first Stiff record distributed via its new deal with Island. The album, however, went Top 40. (Mojo)

A coupla cutz from their latest best selling LP plus a delightful selection of Third World War tunes on ‘Singalonga Scabies’. letz ‘ear it for de boize. (Record Mirror)

THE JAM – “IN THE CITY” / “TAKIN’ MY LOVE” (POLYDOR 2058 866) APRIL 1977

The Jam “In The City – Originally titled ‘In The City There’s A Thousand Things I Want To Say To You’, The Jam’s debut single acts as a compact manifesto.

Characterised by Weller’s London-crazed emphasis on what Julie Birchill called Capitalism, and its advocacy of “the young idea” – in verse two, with the scythe-like certainty of late adolescence, a line of generational conflict is drawn at 25.

‘In The City’ is so perfectly arranged as to be little short of dizzying from Weller’s ragged guitar intro, through that glorious bass line, to the main body of the song, it vibrates with the same righteousness as the lyric.

Indeed, so convinced was its author of its brilliance that he made a badge featuring the opening line and wore it to his local pub.

As far more inspirational sources are concerned, as with much early Jam music one can easily discern the imprint of The Who (the title, in fact, is shared with the B-side of 1966’s ‘I’m A Boy’).

The song’s central riff, however, seems to be copped from The Clash’s ‘White Riot’, following the melody of the “they don’t mind throwing a brick” / “teach you how to be thick” lines.

Whatever, ‘In The City’ managed to teleport Weller out of suburbia and place him squarely in the midst of capital-centered developments. Instant proof came in October ’77, when the riff baton was passed on yet again and ‘In The City’s intro was stolen by Steve Jones for the Pistols’ ‘Holiday’s In The Sun’. (Mojo)

First release from the New Wave’s finest band. The Jam, and the title cut from their soon to be released album. ‘In The City’ is the most convincing British penned teenage anthem I’ve heard in a Very Long Time – perhaps since the halcyon days of the ’60s.

The song shows The Jam to have been influenced by The Who, and the Townshendesque power chords Paul Weller wrenches from his Rickenbacker back up the impression. But that’s like saying The Beatles were never influenced by Motown. – everyone has to start somewhere – and The Who never played with the same urgency as this.

A huge hit and a record those narrow minded reactionaries who control our radio will have to play.
(NME, 23/04/77)

Debut 45 by Woking’s finest is a Who influenced celebration of British life and in particular the growing punk movement in London during 1976. Paul Weller was still a teenager when this single was released and the energetic gig performances probably propelled the record to #40 in the Charts.

’In The City’ has instant appeal with it’s opening three chord guitar riff and the descending bass runs from Bruce Foxton. Now that guy doesn’t get enough credit for his inventive bass playing. Rick Buckler adds to the sheer energy and attitude of the song with his opening snare drum roll and his aggressive punk drums throughout. (EXPO67)

Sure proof that high energy doesn’t mean low mentality. Surging 1977 metropolitan blues with rumbling bass, shuffling skins, tough licks and quick-speak chorus. Be there or be square. (Record Mirror)

THE CLASH – “WHITE RIOT” / “1977” (CBS S CBS 5058) MARCH 1977

The Clash “White Riot” – Last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words wait for another voice. Look out, listen, can you hear it?

It’s pointless to categories this with the other records: “White Riot” isn’t a poxy single of the week, it’s the first meaningful event all year. Try and discount it. Go on, say they sold out to the enemy at CBS, say it’s another idle London fad irrelevant to the lives of working people, say it’s all clever hype that’s conned everyone, say it’s just the ’60s rehashed an’ you can’t make out the words.

Say what you like, you still can’t discount it coz Clash aren’t just a band, and this is more than just a single. There’s a book written by a trad fan in 1963 saying how shoddy The Beatles were, how they ripped off from R&B, how they could never last in the world of Tin Pan Alley. They didn’t last in it, they took it to pieces.

Whatever your standpoint everyone basically agrees there are two sides. You know it’s coming, we know it’s coming and they know it’s coming. Clash are the writing on their wall. The recorded version of “White Riot” is one minute 58 seconds of buzzsaw guitars, Simonson’s pumping offbeat bass, an insolent slurred vocal and sheer musical aggro.

Won’t pick up much airplay coz you can’t make out the words – it’d pick up much less if you could:

“Black men gotta lotta problems,
But they don’t mind throwin’ a brick.
White people go to school,
Where they teach you how to be thick.
. . . White Riot, wanna riot of my own . . . “

Joe Strummer ‘White Riot’

Flip is “1977”, already well known to those in the know: “No Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones in 1977.”

Hmm, so how come the riff is pure Kinks? No matter – forget the medium, and massage you can get from any other single in the shops. This one has the message. Blag it, steal it, borrow it, tape it off the radio if they play it. Buy it an’ you’re a wimp, miss it and you’re a real turkey. (NME, 19/03/77)

In August 1976, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon were caught up in serious rioting at the Notting Hill Carnival, London’s annual Afro-Caribbean festival.

Ever the political romantic, Strummer went home to his squat and wrote a lyric calling for a ‘white riot’. The song, premiered at the 100 Club festival, patented the group’s Baader-Meinhoff street-guerrilla pose and corrosive early sound: terrace-chant chorus, high-velocity riffing and deceptively creative bass / guitar arrangements.

The irony of such a revolutionary clarion appearing on an American owned corporate behemoth wasn’t lost on fans or band – the former crying “sell-out” and the latter embarking on a symbolic war of attrition with their employers.

The version of “White Riot” recorded for their debut 45 (with defibrilating cop-siren intro, fire alarm and tighter middle-eight) is far superior to the later first-album take, while the ‘police-raid’ B&W picture sleeve blueprinted the generic punks-versus-cops cover design. (Mojo)

More energetic, simple new wave material. Could be a big one. Hope it is. Nice ‘n’ noisy too.
(Record Mirror)

THE ONLY ONES – “ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET” / “SPECIAL VIEW” (CBS S CBS 6228) APRIL 1978

The Only Ones “Another Girl, Another Planet” – Unlike their contemporaries, the Only Ones happily paraded their ’60s baggage: Mike Kellie had been in Spooky Tooth, while John Perry was an accomplice of both Hawkwind and The Dead.

The group brought a musicality to Perrett’s Dolls-ish songs that ran startingly counter to the contemporary grain. Recorded in Escape Studios, Kent prior to their CBS deal, ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ was as immediate as it sounds – a one-take affair.

One of the all-time great intros builds up the drama: a damped guitar, a loping bass, galloping drums before a screech announces Perry’s incendiary solo. Perrett’s narcoleptic, nasal whine evinces equal parts ennui and emotion. Later in the covers repertoire of any self respecting US indie act. (Mojo)

Enter, roll of drums, melody jump about . . . another time / another place? Ties with The Police ‘Roxanne’ for star-rating on potential. lots of interesting voices on vinyl nowadays.

Very simple, but there again so are eggs (huh?) . . . all in all, a very saleable commodity. Tastefully off the over-beaten pop track. Interesting to see them live. (first review in Record Mirror)

This was one of the few tracks I liked on their album. Usually Peter Perret’s nasal voice irritates me beyond belief, but I can cope with the peculiarity on this song, mainly because it is the song that’s so strong. The guitar work matches it in standard which gives it a higher than average chance of being a hit. (Record Mirror, 02/09/78)

Somehow, The Only Ones never rose above cult status in England and the achingly brilliant new wave blast of ’Another Girl, Another Planet’ didn’t even dent the Charts. Quite why this was allowed to happen is anyone’s guess, but at the time guitarist John Perry blamed it on lack of promotion by CBS.

‘Another Girl’ has one of the all time great intros with it’s sinister bass rhythms and piercing lead guitar frills building this highly influential three minute aural drama.. The song deals with drugs, love and death.

Some group members had a 60s pedigree. Bassist Alan Mair was a member of The Beatstalkers and drummer Mike Kellie banged the skins for Spooky Tooth. (EXPO67)

GENERATION X – “WILD YOUTH” / “WILD DUB” (VERSION) (CHRYSALIS CHS 2189) NOVEMBER 1977

New Wave refined and watered down so that it sounds like a younger, faster version of Slade. Good piece of stomperama. (Record Mirror)

The second of Generation X’s magnificent triumvirate of Chinn-Chapman singles, ‘Wild Youth’ barely scraped the charts.

It also did little to eliminate suspicions generated by the band’s well-scrubbed appearance and ‘controversial’ use of pop producers. Yet it’s simple teen lyrics and euphoric power chords marked it as probably the last great single of ’77.

Generation X were the most non-conformist of punks, suffused with a cartoon poppiness more reminiscent of the Glitter Band. ‘Wild youth’ derived from a typically naive fan outing, as Tony James and Billy Idol went in search of the Mayfair phonebox where David Bowie had posed as Ziggy Stardust:

“As we turned the corner we saw someone had sprayed ‘youth!’ on the wall, and I said, I’ve got a great idea for a song! So we stopped in a nearby cafe and Billy hummed out a tune and I scribbled lyrics on a paper napkin, a song literally about walking down the street and having people stare at these two spiky-haired youths . . . . it became an anthem for us.”

Tony James

PENETRATION – “DON’T DICTATE” / “MONEY TALKS” (VIRGIN VS 192) NOVEMBER 1977

Penetration “Don’t Dictate” – Though primarily inspired (like everyone else in 1976) by the Pistols, Pauline Murray’s impassioned indignation on Penetration’s debut single owed more to Patti Smith’s life-affirming defiance than to the first wave of ’70s bile-boys.

With their singer marked out as one of punk’s genuinely thoughtful voices, the band from Ferryhill, County Durham released two more singles and a debut album – 1979’s ‘Moving Targets’ – but none really lived up to the promise of ‘Don’t Dictate’.

Feeling chewed-up and spat out by the London based recording industry, Penetration announced their split on home turf at Newcastle City Hall on October 14, 1979, following a hurried and disappointing second album, ‘Coming Up For Air’.

Pauline later hooked up with Martin Hannett as the much underrated Invisible Girls. (Mojo)

Listen, so many of the punk records out this week sound unreal that I’m seriously beginning to wonder how many of them are real punk records and how many are gangs of jaded session men gathered together for a laugh.

This one, happily, sounds properly authentic and it’s by far the best thing of its ilk this week. Set to a wild mutation of Alex Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” riff, singer Pauline Murray howls defiance in a suitably spikey / sensitive manner.

On the basis of this and their So It Goes performance, Penetration have a degree of klass which, if there’s any justice, is going to whisk them out of Punk Division 4 limbo and into the genuinely-ahem-creative situation.

One of the week’s better small ones. (NME, 19/11/77)

Penetration were a punk group from Ferryhill, a small town in County Durham. Not that far away from where I live as it happens. The group formed after some of them witnessed The Sex Pistols causing chaos at one of their gigs in Manchester.

They took their name from a Stooges song found on their ’Raw Power’ album and were fronted by a female singer called Pauline Murray who also co-wrote the very basic but memorable ’Don’t Dictate’, now considered to be a ’70s punk classic.

I’ve always raised a smirk with the fact that the group are called Penetration and they’re on the Virgin label. Penetrating a virgin.

Despite coming from a small town in the North East of England, Penetration were one of the first punk groups to play at London’s Roxy Club in ’77 supporting Generation X. (EXPO67)

“Don’t tell me what to do” etc. Haven’t we heard all this before. Still, the lady does have a voice like Sonja Kristina of Curved Air. Remember them? (Record Mirror)

THE DAMNED – “NEW ROSE” / “HELP” (STIFF RECORDS BUY 6) OCTOBER 1976

The Damned “New Rose” – shows that if you got what it takes you can work on a low budget and still whip ass. I wish that Nick Lowe – who produced this – had done for the Hot Rods.

The song ain’t great shakes, but the band sound very good – I really dig the absurdist version of ‘Help’ on the B-side, by the way – and they can only improve with practice. (NME, 06/11/76)

Recorded at London’s Pathway studios – a space so small only one band member at a time could fit into the control room – ‘New Rose’ came out of high-speed sessions for The Damned, Damned, Damned album.

Vanian’s New York Dolls-style leader-of-the-pack pastiche was added on the spot before crashing into one of the most infectious intros ever, Scabies’ urgent pounding setting the pace for a breakneck surf-ride to a heart-stopping crescendo.

“It’s not like it’s very complicated or anything,” Vanian points out. “Like early rock ‘n’ roll tracks, a big beat with simple wild guitars.”

The single, backed with a cover of The Beatles ‘Help!’, was widely regarded as the first-ever UK punk release. It failed to chart, but was Stiff’s biggest seller to date, helping the label to secure a major distribution deal. (Mojo)

The obvious place to start my new styled blog is with the very first punk rock single released in England during the back end of 1976.

The Damned hailed from London and were named by guitarist Brian James after a 1969 movie of the same name. both sides of this disc were recorded in a day during September ’76 at London’s Pathway Studios and produced by Nick Lowe who had been a member of 60s psych outfit Kippington Lodge then ended up forming Rockpile with Dave Edmunds.

’New Rose’ is a blistering punk attack with drummer Rat Scabies’ skins pummeling setting the pace for a breakneck surge of adolescent mayhem. Captain Sensible was once quoted as saying that ’New Rose’ was recorded purely on speed and cider.

The flip is a rapid take of The Beatles hit ’Help’ but about twice as fast as the original. (EXPO67)

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS – “SUSPECT DEVICE” / “WASTED LIFE” (ROUGH TRADE RT 006) OCTOBER 1978

Stiff little Fingers “Suspect Device” – After seeing The Clash in Belfast, local hard-rock covers band Highway Star renamed themselves after a Vibrators song and swore into the faith.

Journalist Gordon Ogilvie had attended a couple of their gigs, and handed Jake the lyrics to Suspect Device over a drink in the pub.

Recorded in Downtown Radio’s jingles studio, the track showcases Burns’ fiery, plaintive bark set to an accelerated Gloria-style chord sequence. A mere 350 copies were released on St Patrick’s Day 1978, John Peel became a big fan, and a dose of real danger was injected into the punk body politic. (Mojo)

THE RUTS – “BABYLON’S BURNING” / “SOCIETY” (VIRGIN VS 271) JUNE 1979

The Ruts “Babylon’s Burning” – It was clear from the heavily rotated John Peel sessions in early ’79 that The Ruts were a band whose musical prowess set them apart from all other second generation punks.

Politically fuelled and equally adept at blistering rock and elegant reggae, second single ‘Babylon’s Burning’ – which was inspired by the political and racial tension of the times – was based on a chugging, explosive guitar riff supporting Malcolm Owen’s snarling vocals; punk had never sounded so dangerous, or so organised.

When it hit the charts, The Ruts looked like being a major band of their time, though Owen’s chronic heroin addiction contributed to their erratic development – and his overdose in July ’80 to their eventual demise. (Mojo)

Good one! The Sound Of The suburbs (SW London Division) comes up with another winner, a zestful mid-to-fast temp rocker in the mould not entirely dissimilar to ‘In A Rut’.

“Babylon’s burning with anxiety”: the lyric, if not sentiment veers at times towards the clumsily hackneyed but any doubts are rendered well-nigh voided by the relish of the playing and the slightly camp force of Mal Owen’s vocal sneer (you remember sneers, dontcha?)

Mike Glossop’s mainstream ‘rock’ production – something akin to Pearlman’s job on the second Clash album – and Virgin’s track record with this sort of thing (viz Members, Skids) should see it safely into at least the lower reaches of the Top 30.

The Ruts on Top Of The Pops? Don’t argue! (NME)

OK then, I’ll kick off my walk down teenage memory lane with this single by The Ruts from 1979

It’s a powerful punk rock effort from yet another London band. Seems that the best punk rock bands emerged from the Capital.’Babylon’s Burning’ was The Ruts second 45 and was a big hit in England reaching No7. The flip ’Society’ is far too fast for it’s own good.

Less than a year after this record singer Malcolm Owen would be dead as a result of an accidental heroin overdose. (EXPO67)

SUICIDE – “CHEREE” / “I REMEMBER” (BRONZE BRO 57) MAY 1978

Suicide “Cheree” – Recorded over one weekend at New York’s Ultimate Sound, Suicide’s eponymous debut album, was dismissed by Rolling stone as “absolute puerile”.

It effectively invented industrial thrash, with Vega’s voice swamped in echo and delay. ‘Cheree’ was the first single from that album. Musically, the simplest of synth riffs is infused with grinding Stooges-like-sexuality, but lyrically, it’s a hymn to lust, with Vega intoning, “Cheree, Cheree, oh baby, oh baby, I love you.”

That lyrical content provided the bridge between Kraftwerk’s dehumanised robot songs and the Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby?’

When they toured the UK supporting The Clash in 1978, there, in the maw of punk, stood the seeds of the future – two alienated guys and their keyboards, proto-types for Soft Cell, Erasure, OMD, Pet Shop Boys, Tears For Fears, KLF and others. (Mojo)

RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS – “THE BLANK GENERATION” / “LIARS BEWARE” (SIRE 6078 608) NOVEMBER 1977

RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS “The Blank Generation” – Delaware boarding-school boys Richard Meyers and Tom Miller grew up to be Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine, prime movers in New York’s ’70s punk scene.

The pair formed the Neon Boys, then Television, for whom Blank Generation was written. The title parodied Rod McKuen’s poem I Belong To The Best Generation, but the song was Hell’s attempt to craft something which defined the style of his generation.

It was first demo’d in 1975 during Brian Eno produced sessions, but when Verlaine refused to perform any other Hell songs, the partnership ended. Hell recorded the definitive version with his new band The Voidoids in June ’76 for US indie Ork Records.

The angular, staccato guitars of Robert Quine and Ivan Julian sparked like lightening around Hell’s jerky bass and sneering, whining vocal. Though it all ran an almost free-jazz feel, sharply at odds with the arch simplicity of other contemporary NY New Wavers.

Released by Ork in November 1976, it was re-recorded in mid ’77 for Hell’s Sire debut album. Hell intended the title to be understood as “I belong to the ___ generation”, leaving listeners to fill in the blank, but it was constantly misinterpreted to imply a generation of blank kids.

It was this, plus Hell’s look – spiky hair, ripped T-shirt / safety pins – that Malcolm McLaren exported to London as the basis for the Sex Pistols and the whole UK punk scene. (Mojo)

Richard Hell is a controversial figure in the Record Mirror office, certain members of staff being convinced that he is (to put it as politely as possible) lacking in a certain amount of talent.

And I must admit I’m instantly suspicious about anyone who professes to be one of the blank generation (what a stupid expression). But nevertheless this is a great pop record, with Richard’s whiney vocals, lots of crashing guitar noises and an insistent, irresistible beat. Great stuff. (Record Mirror)

After the Voidoids’ spectacularly mis-co-ordinated intro it’s a wonder they all come together on the same note, but they do, and Richard spits “I was saying ‘let me out of here’ before I was even born” with a delivery the line deserves, while the band coalesce for a display of New York electrotherapy.

Guitars strain at the leash, begging for the twice-given chance to hit that primal Fender scream, and the vocals walk a tight line between cool nerve and nervous camp.

Handled badly ‘Blank Generation’ could have been simply a camp throwaway, but Hell transcends the joke by singing the thing like he means it.

This gives the song a neat double edge. After all, if he really did belong to the blank generation it would preclude him voicing the fact with such enthusiasm.

Unlimited, un-numbered edition, no pic-sleeve, no special B-side, no collectability. Only playability. (NME)

THE DAMNED – “DAMNED, DAMNED, DAMNED” (STIFF RECORDS SEEZ 1 ) FEBRUARY 1977

Ladies and Gentlemen – welcome to the world’s first 78 rpm album. At last, a recording that gives credence to the claim that punk dos have a place in the hierarchical structure of contemporary music – at the top.

Sorry, change that to hieranarchical. The Damned are guitarist Brian James, drummer Rat Scabies, bassist Captain Sensible and singer Dave Vanian. The victory goes that Dave, a retired gravedigger, was spotted in a Sex Pistols audience by the rest of the band and asked to join because he “looked like a singer”.

He wasn’t but it didn’t seem to matter. The stuff that legends are made of. Superlatives are superfluous. Suffice it so say that ‘Damned, Damned, Damned’ lifts punk out of the dole queue (an unfortunate misnomer) and gives it a position in the logical progression of rock.

Just listen to ‘Feel The Pain’ and then try and tell me The Damned and their ilk are purveyors of frantic, hollow fabrications. Just listen to ‘New Rose’ (clap, clap) and try and tell me punk lacks humour. Just listen to ‘1 Of The 2″ and try and tell me this music ain’t got guts.

Like the guy says “I was born to kill”. They’re dancing on the grave of the seventies. Stiff are going places.

(Record Mirror, 19/02/77)

It’s time to pay off. No more time for talking about the old farts in The Rock Establishment, no more time for talking about Princess Margaret and backstage cocktails with the Stones, no more time for talking about Townshend singing that he hopes he dies before 40 . . .

The recording contracts, the studio time and all the rest are here at long last and it’s time for every New Wave band to put up or shut up. The Damned have delivered the goods.

Nick Lowe’s superb production has harnessed the essential good-time raw power that The Damned are all about – and why they are less than popular with the more politically minded New Wave combos – and channelled it into the 12 songs that make up the album.

Most of them performed better than I’ve ever heard them before, convincing me that The Damned will (with Lowe producing) have no trouble retaining the excitement of their live act on cold black vinyl in much the same way that their last Roundhouse gig proved to me that they could transcend the small club circuit into the larger halls without losing their guts, their spirit, and yeah, their energy.

That’s very important: there’s no point having the energy of a dexie addict who has been listening to far too many Stooges, Dolls and MC5 albums only to be at a loose end what to do with said energy.

On the album The Damned show that they know exactly what to do with it. They don’t spill a drop.

‘Neat, Neat, Neat’ is the opening cut, a wise choice for the new single, another Brian James song (he will collect songwriting cheques for 10 out of the 12 tracks on the album), the song falls somewhere between the cacophonic teenage wasteland noise of two New York Dolls songs, namely ‘Pills’ and ‘Trash’, and the chanted hookline psychosis of the Stooges’ ‘Now I Wanna Be Your Dog’.

Musicianship on this cut and throughout the album is superb: James’ guitar playing a healthy blend of incessant Keef-riffs and screeching solos, Rat Scabies trashing hell out of his kit in the donner and blitzen style that has endeared him to such luminaries as Phil Lynott and Robert Plant, and Captain Sensible’s bass line proving that he’s really not as dumb as he looks. (Anyway, nobody could be that dumb)

Dave “Tombstone Eyes” Vanian’s vocal is his usual distinct deadpan, but it’s a drag that the lyrics will be mostly unintelligible to those not cognisant with the bands repertoire because it’s one of the best songs James has written.

The second cut, however, is the best song penned by The Damned. It’s called ‘Fan Club’ and is one of the most perceptive songs written this decade about the dressing-room-camp-follower-females that another generation knew as groupies.

You can hear all the words on this one, great lyrics that will prevent it being played on Radio 1. All about waiting in the pouring rain, just another one night stand, and feeling sad as hell because you can’t figure out who’s using who.

‘Born to Kill’ is the malevolent vehicle for Vanian to work out his Hammer Horror persona, one of the best live numbers, and ‘Stab Your Back’ is the extremely short Rat Scabies-penned song, or rather chant, that could well turn into a North Bank favourite.

‘See Her Tonight’ is an urban love song, and the last track of the album is without doubt the finest, a superlative, relentless interpretation of The Stooges’ ‘I Feel Alright’. Iggy never had a finer tribute to him than this.

If you buy this album your parents will undoubtedly tell you to turn it down because “we’re trying to watch the telly down here.”

That’s because The Damned’s music is as provocative as the cover that depicts them smeared with cream, jam, baked beans and other nameless gunge all over their faces.

You are forced into either taking them to your heart or turning away repulsed. The choice is yours. I’ve made mine.

(NME, 19/02/77)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “KALEIDOSCOPE” (POLYDOR 2442 177) AUGUST 1980

Siouxsie – and whoever happens to be in the current incarnation of the Banshees – don’t invoke an immediate positive reaction among many of the people I know. Maybe it’s because Siouxsie herself doesn’t come across as the stereotyped female singer (hooray!); she’s not overtly “soft” or “feminine”, in the present acceptance of the terms.

In fact, she can seem quite cold, sharp and suspicious. Her defences (if that’s what they are, which I doubt) have formed her stage persona and public image. All of this would possibly be accepted by the male audience prepared to overlook these peculiarities, if she at least sang songs that fitted the preconception of the norm (and that you could sing along to).

But she doesn’t conform there either. I admit it’s not easy growing to love some of the band’s songs. It’s taken me six hours listening (not all at once) to come to terms with some of this album.

Of the songs that reached me first, “Happy House” is the most obvious, flirting with the commercially acceptable and coming through unscathed. It’s one of the least fragmented songs on the album, held by a galloping bass line (by Budgie, who will be joining the band more or less permanently) and the nearest they get to a full sound.

Their hallmark is a bleak sparseness of instruments, so for Siouxsie & the Banshees this is quite a full production.

“Tenant” begins the surreal stage of the album, but is not one of my chosen tracks. Following, is “Hybrid”, which is. It’s the vocals that make this such a startling song: anyone who thought Siouxsie had the emotional warmth of an iceberg can hear themselves being proved wrong.

HER VOICE HAS JUST GOT BETTER – SOMETIMES SOUNDING A BIT LIKE GRACE SLICK – AND FAR FROM BEING CHILLY, IT’S CLEAR AND COOL.

From there, “Clockface” enters almost at a rock trot, aided and abetted by Steve Jones on guitar. His contribution isn’t a flash of thunder and a hail of fireworks, but I don’t suppose he was meant to stand out like a beacon.

Next on, “Lunar Camel” is another of the standouts. It has that eerie quality that haunts almost all of the album. The lyrics aren’t Poet Laureate standard but maybe Sir J Betjeman doesn’t have Dali-esque nightmares. It’s (again), underpinned this time by a deep church organ sound (described as “dromaderian” by its operative – Siouxsie).

You’ve probably heard “Christine” already, as it’s a chart song, so there’s no point in going into great detail – an accessible song, in spite of the story it tells.

John McGeoch, ex of Magazine, makes a considerable contribution to “Desert Kisses”, providing guitar, sitar and string synth, but despite it all, the song didn’t make a very strong impression on me.

“Red Light” had more of a crackle, punctuated by the whine of a shutter sliding on a camera. Severin uses synthesisers and a rhythm box for this track, adding to the mechanical mood. They haven’t gone overboard on the synth sound; just used enough to supplement the shards of their style.

That jagged approach comes across (at first) as pretty hostile, but the more you listen to it, the more you feel at ease with it.

“Paradise Place” didn’t dent me as much as “Skin”. That’s a rare, direct reference to current affairs from Siouxsie and Severin, condemning the cull of animals whose skins are sought for the glorification of rich bitches. As well as the sentiment expressed, it’s a fine song.

Well, it took me a while – and a stiff neck – to appreciate this album. If you want to read the lyrics, you’ll need a neck that rotates through 360 degrees, like Linda Blair’s in ‘The Exorcist’, as all the words are laid out like tracks on the turntable. but you never thought this was going to be easy, did you?

(Record Mirror, 26/07/80)

Not a significant move in any direction and so should satisfy their fans. The distinctive Banshees sound is still there – soaring Siouxsie vocals and air of modern mystery – with the exceptions of “Red Light” which uses drum machine and clicking camera to great effect.

Both recent singles are included and side two is excellent. A fair album by their own standards, good by anyone else’s, but where do they go from here?

(Smash Hits, August 1980)

THE UNDERTONES – “BEAUTIFUL FRIEND” / “LIFE’S TOO EASY” (ARDECK ARDS 10) FEBRUARY 1982

The Undertones “Beautiful Friend” – Delicate-sounding but tough underneath; a pleasure to listen to, but unlikely to set the charts alight. “Julie Ocean” didn’t, after all, and that was a stronger (in fact, a classic) song. (Record Mirror)

Another fine record that’s not an obvious single. Difficult to shake after a few plays but possibly too subtle for its own good, this has Feargal warbling gently over a neat synth riff, good bass and nice guitar colouring with strong Teardrop influence from producer David Balfe. Fingers crossed for the charts. (Smash Hits)

THE SKIDS – “SWEET SUBURBIA” / “OPEN SOUND” (VIRGIN VS 227) SEPTEMBER 1978

THE SKIDS “Sweet Suburbia” – I haven’t been able to find any vintage music press reviews for this single so I’ll write my own. “Sweet Suburbia” was actually a debut single (on Virgin) hit record, reaching a decent #10 in the charts during autumn of 1978. It’s a record I can’t remember being played on the radio at the time but it must have been on Radio One’s playlist. John Peel rated it.

It’s not a bad tune I suppose but doesn’t really do much for me to be honest. Quite tame, straight-forward rock music. Actually, the number sounds not unlike early Big Country, which was a surprise, because I don’t think other Skids music sounds much like them.

Clearly Stuart Adamson’s guitar sound has its own way of being the insidious force of both bands.

THE BUZZCOCKS – “WHAT DO I GET” / “OH SHIT” (UNITED ARTISTS UP 36348) JANUARY 1978

The Buzzcocks “What Do I Get” – Simple song – melodic even, side one, but those repetitive lyrics . . . “What do I get . . . What do I get? . . . repeated ad infinitum tends to grind.

Art? No, shit for shit’s sake. (Record Mirror)

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD – “FLOWERS OF ROMANCE” / “HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS” (VIRGIN VS 397) MARCH 1981

Public Image ltd “Flowers Of Romance” – A new line-up for the consistently inventive outfit which now departs the four piece rock structure. A mistake. It’s either Indian bagpipes or a thin cat being dragged backwards through the Blackwell tunnel.

Off key singing can get a little tedious at times, you know (Record Mirror)

You could never accuse these jokers of squandering their scarce resources. This is certainly economic, if nothing else. Out goes the dentists’ drill guitar and in comes a new emphasis on the bare bones of the rhythm section.

Rotten has pared down his vocal style to just two notes, both flat. If this is the sound of the future let’s hope that it can somehow be averted. (Smash Hits)

THE STRANGLERS – “DON’T BRING HARRY” / “WIRED” (UNITED ARTISTS STR 1) NOVEMBER 1979

The Stranglers “Don’t Bring Harry” – A bid for festive financial aid from the men you’d most like to beat you up for Christmas, a cursory listen informs me that this – like ‘The Raven’ – is not one of the Strangling Ones’ best but rather a gesture for the Xmas shoppers with things like Crabs’ (live from the Ronnie Gurr kid-napping at Hemel Hempstead) and ‘In The Shadows’ cluttering the other side.

I should just hold on to ‘Black And White’ if I were you. (Record Mirror)

Slow, dreamy tune that has the advantage of not sounding remotely like The Stranglers. “Harry” is the lead track of an EP which features selections from Cornwell and Burnel’s solo efforts plus a live version of “In The Shadows” from back in 1977. (Smash Hits)

TWENTY YEARS AGO, MOJO MAGAZINE (ISSUE 95 – OCTOBER 2001) REFERENCED ONE HUNDRED SINGLES AS THE GREATEST OF THE PUNK ERA – SEPTEMBER 1975 TO DECEMBER 1979. THESE DISCS WERE VOTED FOR BY THE MOJO TEAM.

I have listed each record below and will make it my mission to add each and every one to my archive over the coming months / years. I probably own roughly three quarters already. My assignment has been agreed.

01 SEX PISTOLS – “God Save The Queen” (Virgin) May 1977
02 RAMONES – “Blitzkrieg Bop” (Sire) July 1976
03 DAMNED – “Neat Neat Neat” (Stiff) February 1977
04 JAM – “In The City” (Polydor) April 1977
05 CLASH – “White Riot” (CBS) March 1977
06 RICHARD HELL – “Blank Generation” (CBS) November 1976
07 SAINTS – “(I’m) Stranded” (Power Exchange) December 1976
08 PATTI SMITH – “Gloria” (Arista) April 1976
09 X-RAY SPEX – “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” (Virgin) October 1977
10 GANG OF FOUR – “Damaged Goods” (Fast) October 1978
11 BUZZCOCKS – “Boredom” (New Hormones) February 1977
12 ADVERTS – “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” (Anchor) August 1977
13 SEX PISTOLS – “Holidays In The Sun” (Virgin) October 1977
14 SAINTS – “This Perfect Day” (Harvest) July 1977
15 SHAM 69 – “Borstal Breakout” (Polydor) January 1978
16 DEAD KENNEDYS – “California Uber Alles” (Alternative Tentacles) October 1979
17 UNDERTONES – “Teenage Kicks” (Sire) September 1978
18 RAMONES – “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” (Sire) May 1977
19 ONLY ONES – “Another Girl, Another Planet” (CBS) April 1978
20 GENERATION X – “Wild Youth” (Chrysalis) December 1977
21 BLONDIE -“X-Offender” (Private Stock) December 1976
22 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS – “Suspect Device” (Rigit Digits) March 1978
23 PENETRATION – “Don’t Dictate” (Virgin) November 1977
24 RUTS – “Babylon’s Burning” (Virgin) June 1979
25 MEMBERS – “The Sound Of The Suburbs” (Virgin) January 1979
26 DAMNED – “New Rose” (Stiff) November 1976
27 PERE UBU – “Street Waves” (Hearthan) October 1976
28 TELEVISION – “Little Johnny Jewel” (Ork) September 1975
29 SPIZZENERGI – “Where’s Captain Kirk?” (Rough Trade) December 1979
30 IAN DURY – “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” (Stiff) August 1977
31 ALTERNATIVE TV – “Action Time Vision” (Deptford Fun City) May 1978
32 UNDERTONES – “Get Over You” (Sire) January 1979
33 POP GROUP – “We Are All Prostitutes” (Rough Trade) December 1979
34 SIOUXSIE & the BANSHEES – “Hong Kong Garden” (Polydor) August 1978
35 PERE UBU – “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” (Hearthan) December 1975
36 WRECKLESS ERIC – “Whole Wide World” (Stiff) August 1977
37 CLASH – “Complete Control” (CBS) September 1977
38 RAINCOATS – “Fairytail In The Supermarket” (Rough Trade) April 1979
39 SLITS – “Typical Girls” (Island) October 1979
40 FALL – “Rowche Rumble” (Step Forward) July 1979
41 DEAD BOYS – “Sonic Reducer” (Sire) December 1977
42 SLAUGHTER & the DOGS – “Cranked Up Really High” (Rabid) May 1977
43 SUBWAY SECT – “Nobody’s Scared” (Braik) March 1978
44 SEX PISTOLS – “Anarchy In The UK” (EMI) December 1976
45 WIRE – “12XU” (Harvest) November 1977
46 JOHNNY THUNDERS – “Can’t Put Your Arms Round A Memory” (Real) October 1978
47 USERS – “Sick Of You” (Raw) August 1977
48 UK SUBS – “CID” EP (City) December 1977
49 TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – “Part-Time Punks” (King’s Road) November 1978
50 TALKING HEADS – “Psycho Killer” (Sire) December 1977
51 PUBLIC IMAGE LTD – “Public Image” (Virgin) October 1978
52 JILTED JOHN – “Jilted John” (Rabid) August 1978
53 HEARTBREAKERS – “Chinese Rocks” (Track) May 1977
54 WAYNE COUNTRY & the ELECTRIC CHAIRS – “Fuck Off” (Sweet FA) November 1977
55 JOY DIVISION – “An Ideal For Living” EP (Enigma) June 1978
56 SUICIDE – “Cheree” (Red Star) December 1977
57 REZILLOS – “Can’t Stand My Baby” (Sensible Records) July 1977
58 NOSEBLEEDS – “Ain’t Bin To No Music School” (Rabid) September 1977
59 LURKERS – “Just Thirteen” (Beggars Banquet) January 1979
60 JOHN COOPER CLARKE & the CURIOUS YELLOWS – “Psycle Sluts” (Rabid) October 1977
61 CURE – “Killing An Arab” (Small Wonder) December 1978
62 CHELSEA – “Right To Work” (Step Forward) June 1977
63 RUTS – “In A Rut” (People Unite) November 1978
64 CORTINAS – “Fascist Dictator” (Step Forward) August 1977
65 PLASTIC BERTRAND – “Ca Plane Pour Moi” (Sire) October 1977
66 GERMS – “Forming” (What) Spring 1977
67 CRIME – “Hot Wire My Heart” (Crime Music) November 1976
68 AVENGERS – “Car Crash” (Dangerhouse) Late 1977
69 TOM ROBINSON BAND – “Up Against The Wall” (EMI) May 1978
70 ADAM & the ANTS – “Zerox” (Do It) July 1979
71 WEIRDOS – “We Got The Neutron Bomb” (Dangerhouse) Spring 1978
72 STRANGLERS – “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” (United Artists) February 1977
73 ZEROS – “Wild Weekend” (Bomp) Summer 1978
74 RESIDENTS – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (Ralph) September 1976
75 MEKONS – “Where Were You?” (Fast) November 1978
76 RICH KIDS – “Ghosts Of Princess In Towers” (EMI) August 1978
77 MARTIN & the BROWNSHIRTS – “Taxi Driver” (Lightning) March 1978
78 MAGAZINE – “Shot By Both Sides” (Virgin) February 1978
79 BUZZCOCKS – “Orgasm Addict” (United Artists) October 1977
80 JAM – “All Around The World” (Polydor) July 1977
81 EATER – “Thinking Of The U.S.A.” (The Label) July 1977
82 DEVO – “Jocko Homo” (Stiff) February 1978
83 BLACK FLAG – “Nervous Breakdown” EP (SST) December 1978
84 SWELL MAPS – “Read About Seymour” (Rough Trade) December 1977
85 SNATCH – “I.R.T. & Stanley” (Bomp) February 1977
86 RIFF RAFF – “I Wanna Be A Cosmonaut” (Chiswick) April 1978
87 RADIATORS FROM SPACE – “Television Screen” (Chiswick) April 1977
88 VIBRATORS – “Judy Says (Knock You In The Head)” (Epic) May 1978
89 NIPS – “Gabrielle” (Chiswick) October 1979
90 KLEENEX – “Hedi’s Head” (Rough Trade) December 1978
91 SUBWAY SECT – “Ambition” (Rough Trade) December 1978
92 DICKIES – “Banana Splits” (A&M) April 1979
93 KILLJOYS – “Johnny Won’t Get To Heaven” (Raw) November 1977
94 FLYS – “Love And A Molotov Cocktail” (EMI) January 1978
95 DRONES – “Bone Idol” (Valer) October 1977
96 DILS – “I Hate The Rich” (What Records) Summer 1977
97 SEX PISTOLS – “My Way” (Virgin) July 1978
98 999 – “Emergency” (United Artists) January 1978
99 ANGELIC UPSTARTS – “The Murder Of Liddle Towers” (Dead Records) June 1978
100 EDDIE & the HOT RODS – “Marquee” EP (Island) August 1976

THE STRANGLERS – “SKIN DEEP” / “HERE AND THERE” (EPIC A 4738) SEPTEMBER 1984

The Stranglers “Skin Deep” – This single was the last truly great single from the original line-up and I kind of gave up on the Stranglers after it. Weak and tedious cover versions of “96 Tears” and “All Day And All Of The Night” followed but they won’t be under the spotlight here.

“Skin Deep” is an exceptional piece of music, all four musicians are for perhaps the last time working as a unit / team and with this disc were serious chart contenders, even without much publicity. No studio production nonsense of gated drums and over-the-top ’80s Roland synths evident on this recording, the latter combination of hideousness wrecked so many records back then.

I have been unable to locate any period music press record reviews but have unearthed an interview Hugh Cornwell gave to Smash Hits magazine, published in October 1984. A brief excerpt below:

. . . . . But just as suddenly they were out of favour again. The moment the 2-Tone bandwagon pulled into view, everyone turned their attention to groups like The Specials, Madness and The Selecter, and The Stranglers began to seem rather old-fashioned and a bit tame.

And by the time Duran Duran, Visage and Spandau Ballet arrived in 1981, The Stranglers had disappeared abroad and were making new friends in places like Australia and Japan.

Which was probably not a bad thing for all concerned, as Hugh declares the entire frilly blouse and lipstick movement to have been “a bit airy-fairy, wimpy and shmaltzy”.

And he’s not a lot kinder about the charts in 1984.

“People are attending more to the glamour of it all that to the content. They’re forgetting what they originally used synthesisers for – which was to compliment the song. The song is becoming the reason for the synthesisers in the same way as the video is becoming the excuse for the song.”

About all he has time for is Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “they’ve got balls” – and, perhaps more surprisingly, Culture Club.

“I was amazed a transvestite character could get on the cover of Woman magazine. That’s great. If you can’t take yourself lightly you’ve got no future at all. But the more you dress things up, the more drab it becomes. People end up being ‘skin deep’ without meaning to be.” he adds, a reference to the group’s current single.

“Skin Deep” is about, yes, superficiality. You encounter The Skin Deep in every walk of life.”

And the prime examples of ‘The Skin Deep’ for The Stranglers are, quite clearly, the poor souls who get sent to interview them, though Hugh admits he’s grown a little softer over the years.

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS – “SILVER LINING” / “SAFE AS HOUSES” (CHRYSALIS CHS 2517) MAY 1981

Stiff Little Fingers “Silver Lining” – Unlike most people, Jake Burns hasn’t got a throat between his head and shoulders. He’s got a rusty drainpipe. Which is all very well for shouting up a storm about Alternative Ulster or sounding breathless as he did on the previous SLF single.

But for soul pastiche – with the added flavour of the Q-Tips horns – such as this, he would be very well advised to acquire that normal piece of anatomy. (Smash Hits)

SLF still manage to sound passionate and concerned despite their latter day sophistication. Not as strong as their last offering “Just Fade Away” – the number which promptly did just that after I made it single of the week – but there’s enough grit and whisky toned energy to simply blow the posers away. (Record Mirror)

THE RECORDS – “TEENARAMA” / “HELD UP HIGH” (VIRGIN VS 250) MAY 1979

The Records “Teenarama” – Dunno whether it’s just my lack of imagination but this fast-improving, fast-rising quartet also remind me of the Mop Tops – particularly their vocal harmonies.

A fine, unpretentious rock ‘n’ pop disc about the effect teenage girls can have on older fellas. Say no more Cliff, say no more. (Smash Hits)

X-RAY SPEX – “THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO” / “IAMA POSEUR” (EMI INTERNATIONAL INT 553) APRIL 1978

X-ray Spex “The Day The World Turned Day-Glo” – Still Polly carries on about how we’re all turning into a plastic society. Her usual verbal attack on the microphone slightly outmatched by the pits playing of the band. New record company but no change. (Record Mirror)

Predictably, Poly Styrene has been the object of numerous vitriolic attacks by a threatened coterie of male writers with chronic deficiency in the (among others) critical faculties department – simply because they’re the type who seethe at the sight of a girl on stage who declines to be a brainless Barbie Doll flashing her cami-knickers.

Quit quaking, GANG. Pyrotechnist Poly’s scalpel is strictly lyrical, you’ll go home intact, if that’s how you came.

This here is another incisive Bird’s Eye view of our omnipresent consumer society, a Yellow-Paged, orange-vinyled trade-name travelogue.

“I clambered over mounds and mounds of Polystyrene foam
Then fell into a swimming pool filled with Fairy Snow.
And watched the world turn Day-Glo, you know.
I wrenched the nylon curtains back as far as they would go,
Then peered through perspex window panes at the acrylic road.
I drove my polypropylene car on wheels of sponge,
Then pulled into a Wimpy Bar to have a rubber bun.
The x-rays were penetrating through the latex breeze.
Synthetic fibre see through leaves fell from the rayon trees.
The day the world turned Day-Glo, you know , you know.

Poly Styrene

Man made urban neurosis? Envisioned Neutron Bomb nemesis? Obsessive Green Shields fixation? Vintage Roxy Music tripping through rush-hour Tesco’s??? Whatever, Poly’s verbal acidity makes Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan and Arthur “Yus, My Dear” Rimbaud look like Ed Hollis, and her voice is as powerful as that of the very redoubtable Tina Turner.

The disc-of-many-colours is (as we say in the trade) b/w ‘Iama Poseur’, indisputable proof that Poly’s song-writing talent on her newer stuff has not lost one iota of the potency on ‘Identity’, ‘I Live Off You’ or ‘Obsessed With You’.

(NME, 22/04/78)

GENERATION X – “FRIDAYS ANGELS” / “TRYING FOR KICKS” (CHRYSALIS CHS A 2330) JUNE 1979

Generation X “Friday’s Angels” – Not one of their strongest singles, the normally expressive lead vocals from Idol sound subdued to say the least, coming across like he’s singing from a quickly penned sheet of lyrics while laying down his parts, automaton style.

They all sound bored on this record, it’s as if they created this number in a downcast state while they were in the studio.

The background vocals and lead guitar break make this one just about passable but never a hit in a million years. No hook, no excitement, nothing there really.

The flip is MUCH better, “Trying For Kicks” is a short and snappy number, fast paced, teen appeal for sure. The other track on the B-side is a rather clumsy affair with plodding vocals, bass and drums. Only the lead guitar stands out from the pack. (EXPO67)

SPIZZENERGI – “SOLDIER SOLDIER” / “VIRGINIA PLAIN” (ROUGH TRADE RTSO 3) SEPTEMBER 1979

Spizzenergi “Virginia Plain” – Infinitely more pleasurable that the not-enough maligned, Spizz live but really what is the point? It’ll sell 250 (and Spizz will promptly write me a nasty letter saying it has sold a 1,000 already)

For those who were watching television when ’76 happened. (Record Mirror)

ROUGH TRADE PRESS RELEASE:

Spizz started off solo at a Barbarella’s Punk Festival on 29th August 1977. He improvised material on a borrowed guitar, prompting a local fanzine to hail the arrival of an “ultra-minimilist star”.

October 1977 saw several appearances by Spizz and Pete Petrol at London’s Vortex Club, billed as “Spizz 77” the duo played short and spontaneous one-off improvisations, old Bowie numbers, and an audience participation number called “I’ve Been Switched Off”.

By 1978 the name Spizz Oil was coined, inspired by the extensive coverage of North Sea Oil in the media. The duo played a series of odd gigs culminating at the Roundhouse in July, when they played with Siouxsie & the Banshees.

The consequences of this gig were an invitation to do a session for the John Peel show, and a spot on the Siouxsie & the Banshees tour that autumn.

That October, Rough Trade released Spizzoil’s first single, “6,000 Crazy”, which appeared in alternative charts and still continues to be a popular number.

In February of 1979 a follow-up single “Cold City” was released.

Spizzoil split in December 1978, as Spizz felt that the duo had achieved all that they had set out to do. Spizz met three ex-members of the wildly unorthodox ‘Ha-Ha Germs’. The new band was then named Spizz Energi, with the line-up now including Mark Coalfield on piano, Jim Solar on bass, and Pete Hyde on guitar, who left during rehearsals to form a new band called The Techniques.

Following a John Peel session in March 1979, and the arrival and departure of three more guitarists, the band accepted a spot on tour being organised by Rough Trade, along with The Raincoats and Kleenex.

Pete Petrol returned for this tour, and subsequently played with the band when they went into the studio soon after the end of the tour to record their current single “Soldier Soldier” / “Virginia Plain”

999 – “ME AND MY DESIRE” / “CRAZY” (UNITED ARTISTS UP 36376) APRIL 1978

999 “Me And My Desire” – Liked the guitar break anyway. Actually, for awhile, the vocals even had me quite captivated, but pretty soon the strength began to fade.

Patronisingly, I could say it’s a step in the right direction. (Record Mirror)

THE SPECIALS – “GHOST TOWN” / “WHY?” (TWO-TONE CHS TT17) JUNE 1981

The Specials “Ghost Town” – Stylised cowboy film soundtrack or misguided genius? I can’t decide whether Dammers is taking the piss or if he actually means it.

The Specials are no longer the force they were, which in a way makes it easier to assess them objectively. Objectivity/ Soddit, let’s dance.

On the flip, Lynval Golding’s “Why?” poses the questions for which no one has the answer. “Friday Night, Saturday Morning” gives vent to Terry Hall’s irony: “Wish I had lipstick on my shirt, instead of piss stains on my shoes.” (Record Mirror)

A tune full of Eastern promise about towns that are going west, due to the current rate of unemployment. But you don’t have to live in Corby or Telford to appreciate Jerry Dammers’ increasing brilliance or Rico’s flair for jazz licks or the ritzy kind on this ace 12-incher, which also include Lynval Golding’s emotive “Why?” and Terry Hall’s humourously descriptive “Friday Night, Saturday Morning”. (Smash Hits)

WITH “WAR STORIES” THE STARJETS HAD A HIT ON THEIR HANDS, ’TIL MIKE NICHOLLS MET THEM AND IT SLUMPED. WOULDN’T YA JUST KNOW IT?

Do you really believe in the luck of the Irish, or do you think that notwithstanding generations of Irish jokes, they’re really quite a bright bunch after all? Look, I’m not even gonna mention Van The Man, Lizzy, The Undertones . . . Rats! – too late – yeah, but them as well, though what we’re concerned with here are The Starjets, the group who hit England too late, but who left Ireland too early.

Take it away, Liam L’Estrange: “Aye, yeah.” he begins, not unusually for a drummer. “Y’see, we never thought it could be done from Belfast, ‘cos two years ago there was nothing happening there. So we came here only to find it was all Elvis Costello and powerpop. Woodenyajustknowit?”

“Then six months later, what happens?” asks a seemingly still incredulous Paul Bowen, rhetorically, and ridden with angst, “Good Vibrations comes on the scene and The Undertones get a bloody hit!”

Which calls for a sympathetic shout of “shucks!”, especially since the Starjets seem to be full of praise for Derry’s finest even if it is tinged with a streak of envy.

“Who would have thought that five fellas that don’t look like anything could suddenly start writing and playing?” Paul wonders aloud, presumably not for the first time. “But new wave threw open the doors,” he continues, “Look at us! Top Of The Pops!” he shrieks, referring to his band’s appearance on that programme. That was a couple of weeks ago, when, reaching Number 51, “War Stories” looked set for a spell of healthy chart action. But . . . well, we won’t go into that, let’s talk about those doors instead. Starjets weren’t exactly slow to make an entrance, were they? A spot of band-wagonning, what?

“Oh no!” replies t’other guitarist, Terry Sharpe, with ingenious ingenuousness, “the other bands just moved us to write our own songs.”

Woodenyajustknowit? Whatever, bands like the Sex Pistols, The Jam and The Stranglers inspired Paul to get a group together while he was at London University. Like all good punks that used to clock the new bands Upstairs At Ronnie’s in those days, he was studying Chemistry and Philosophy at Kings’ College.

And like all good street-credible musicians, Liam and Sean were by day Civil Servants and by night players in a bar frequenting shabby and illegal drinking clubs. This they were not too keen on.

“In fact it was so bad, I used to end up doing Dylan impersonations,” admits the unabashed bassist, Sean Martin. “Must have been the rebel in me somewhere.”

Er, yes. In fact all four Starjets would quite readily answer to charges of rebelliousness. After a recent Music Machine gig, wasn’t there a bit of a barney in the dressing room?

“Sure,” replies their manager, a long-suffering Englishman who answers to the name of Hawkins, “they beat the hell out of one another. But then they often do. Quite therapeutic, really.”

Fine, fine. Anyway. Paul closed ranks with Sean the part-time rebel and his pals, and arriving in London at the wrong time didn’t prevent them securing a contract with CBS. The first company to approach them, and the last, since they signed on the spot.

“Great label,” one of them opines, “they bought us return ‘plane tickets the other week when we only needed one-way. The left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing!”

That’s as maybe, but the fact remains that it did manage to put out the band’s first album, and a tasty affair it is, too – or at least half of it. It transpires that four out of my five favourite tracks were produced by David Bachelor, or the band themselves. The contribution by Quo producer Pip Williams on the other six was not appreciated by The Starjets.

“Run With The Pack” should have sounded like 120 mph.” offers Paul by way of example. His earnestness is maintained for a brief discourse on the importance of rock in Northern Ireland, with Paul considering it as youth’s alternative to violent sectarianism.

“If there’s one thing the new wave has done, it’s that,” he reckons. “It might only have a small effect on the overall population, it’s a grass roots movement. The answer to the problems, “he continues, “does not lie in a political solution, but in youth. People ask us why we don’t write more political songs, but that’s not the answer. The answer is in the country growing up and the young replacing the old. It might sound corny, but there’s hope.” he concludes emphatically.

Indeed, and who better to express such an opinion than one, who, like the rest of the band, was brought up amidst the well-publicised turmoil of the Falls Road?

Incidentally, lads, one of my best ever friends lived round there. A chap called Kavanagh.

“Niall Kavanagh?” blusters the ever ebullient Paul, “I went to school with him!

(Record Mirror, 13/10/79)

THE STARJETS DISCOGRAPHY

“It Really Doesn’t Matter” / “Schooldays” (Epic S EPC 6968) 12/78
“Run With The Pack” / “Watch Out” (Epic S EPC 7123) 3/79
“Ten Years” / “One More Word” (S EPC 7417) 6/79
“War Stories” / “Do The Push” (Epic S EPC 7770) 8/79
“Schooldays” / “What A Life” (Epic S EPC 7986) 11/79
“Shiraleo” / “Standby 19” (Epic S EPC 8276) 3/80
“Donegal” / “In Vain” (Epic S EPC 9391) 1/81 (under the name Tango Brigade)

“God Bless Starjets” LP (Epic S EPC 83534) 7/79

THE SKIDS – “GOODBYE CIVILIAN” / “MONKEY MCGUIRE MEETS SPECKY POTTER BEHIND LOCHORE INSTITUTE” (VIRGIN VS 373) OCTOBER 1980

The Skids “Goodbye Civilian” – Isn’t this just a trifle limp-wristed. Sounds like fairies dancing in the dell, goodness – maybe I’m not really with it – oh dear! I’m afraid it just doesn’t move me – like the Beach Boys sans surf. (Record Mirror)

THINGS ARE CERTAINLY LOOKING UP

The myth of London as the cradle of Britain’s rock culture has crumbled dramatically in recent years. it began with Birmingham’s 2-Tone label, then Factory emerged from Manchester, and Zoo and Inevitable from Liverpool.

And if any confirmation was needed that London no longer dominated the Industry, it’s come this month with a fierce onslaught on the big city from a surge of genuinely exciting new talent from Scotland.

The Scots resurgence has been engineered by the fierce independence of boy genius (and world musical authority) Alan Horne, who founded Postcard Records in Glasgow, while Fast Product supremo Bob Last gave Edinburgh a second David to attack Goliath-Pop: Aural.

While some bands, like the Scars, still looked to London for their fortune, the bands fostered by Horne and Last determinedly made their records north of the border, and left the kilts to Spandau Ballet. The result is a new belief and commitment in Scots rock, and a new incentive for local bands who suddenly saw that they could flourish beyond the jaded circuits and played-out rituals of the Southern metropolis.

Yet, unlike 2-Tone and Factory, the new Scottish labels are not in pursuit of some special and ultimately inhibiting “sound” of their own, as this month’s invasion by Pop: Aural’s Fire Engines and Postcard’s Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, and Josef K has so clearly proved.

So what of the other? Is Aztec’s Roddy Frame really Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney rolled into one? Do the Fire Engines dress up in silly uniforms? And how existentialist can Josef K get?

You may not find all the answers here, but it’ll be as near as dammit.

AZTEC CAMERA

East Kilbride, Glasgow’s overspill satellite, is the home of Scotland’s brightest pearl, Aztec Camera. Down it’s cold, grey streets lives an unassuming trio whose music will break the meanest heart of stone. Armed with only their hopes and songs, they came to London for the first time ever this month to play just their third show of the year, and held The Venue’s normally blase audience in rapt attention for over an hour.

They were hauled back for a triumphant encore, and were paid one of the largest fees in their short career – £125. As 17-year-old Roddy Frame, the group’s singer, writer and guitarist, said afterwards. “It was a great gig – we don’t usually react with an audience like that. We’re usually very shy!”

Having only heard, and loved, their first single “Just Like Gold” / “We Could Send Letters”, the depth and relaxed confidence of their performance came like a revelation, giving credence to the ravings of Postcard’s Alan Horne.

Persuaded by Josef K’s Malcolm Ross to see the Aztec’s support The Rezillos. Horne was sufficiently moved to write later: “It was like stumbling into Max’s to find The Velvet Underground, but this Lou Reed was 16 and the audience were 61. We had all been proven wrong; there was another group in Glasgow apart from Orange Juice.”

Apart from their youthful charm, Aztec Camera are distinguished by Roddy Frame’s gift for singing and writing songs that are driven by the most exquisite, twisting melodies, and sculpted into dynamics subtle enough to be called serene.

It was back in 1979 that Roddy formed the group with drummer Dave Mulholland and bassist Welsh, since departed and replaced by Campbell Owens. “David and I were in a group called Neutral Blue.” Roddy told me. “I was the lead guitarist and we used to do stuff like “White Riot.”

Prophetic stuff, perhaps, though today they choose one of The Clash’s milder statements of early intent, “Garageland” is more a happy coincidence than a rediscovered paean to forgotten principles.

“We were practicsing in a friend’s garage and someone suggested we do it as a joke. I suppose we are a bit of a garage band, though, but that’s because we haven’t got anywhere else to practice, so if anybody’s got any offers!”

The unaffected maturity in Roddy’s latest songs could not be further from the three-chord thrash that would later mutate into the wonders of Oi, but in the beginning things were quite different.

“All the early stuff I wrote was very punk,” Roddy admits, nervously glancing at the floor. “I try and concentrate more on melody and chords now – there’s hardly any lead guitar in the songs either.”

Two characteristics seem to be especially outstanding in his work: the unusual, almost jazzy chord progressions exemplified by a new gem called “The Spirit Shows”, and the searingly poignant, emotional lyrics, a sample of which run:

“You said you’re free, for me that says it all,
You’re free to push me and I’m free to fall.
So if we weaken we can call it stress,
You’ve got my trust; I’ve got your home address.
And now the only chance that we can take
Is the chance that someone else won’t make it all come true.”

from ‘We Could Send Letters’

It makes sense to discover, then, that Roddy’s current heroes are more likely to be Wes Montgomery and Django Rheinhardt than Magazine or The Clash, and that instead of lyrically aping The Damned’s “New Rose” he says his approach is “much more upfront these days.”

“I can only do songs that really mean something to me these days,” he says. “I try and capture the feeling I had when I wrote the song when I’m singing it as well. That way it always works better.”

Living in East Kilbride, a town equivalent to England’s Milton Keynes, seems to have nurtured the group’s endearing sense of survival humour, and while they all see it as “rather dull and drab”, they say there’s nowhere they would particularly prefer to live. Going into town with their mates on Saturday afternoon and sipping the occasional carry-out at home are high spots in their dizzy social life.

At first this helped to give Roddy a “bleak outlook on life”, but this, he adds, faded. so what happened? “Aw, the sun came out.” was his smirking reply.

Small gigs like their recent stint in the Glasgow Spaghetti Factory are their life blood, with intimacy high on the list of priorities. “I just couldn’t believe how many people were at The Venue,” Campbell recalls in awe. “There were 957! I know because I counted their legs and divided by two!”

Likewise, the thought of signing with a major record company terrifies them. Roddy: “I’d hate to be with a big company. I don’t want anyone pressurising us to come up with material or to do it a certain way. I’d rather take three years to do an album that I really like – every song has to be a good one. I don’t want an LP with any fillers on it like so many others.”

In fact they aren’t far short of having enough original songs (leaving out the singles, including the latest, “Mattress Of Wire”) for an album that will hopefully be recorded in the autumn, which goes under the provisional title of “Green Jacket Grey”.

Even for this they don’t intend to expand their line-up, preferring to push to the frontiers of their present possibilities. “I think it’s interesting to see what we can do as a three-piece,” says Roddy, who has only recently acquired a proper semi-acoustic jazz guitar. “I think we can do a lot within the framework we’ve got.”

On this point nobody’s arguing, and when I urge them to summarise their style, the effervescent Campbell comes to the rescue: “Unique, that’s the word you’re looking for.”

Magic? You better believe it.

THE FIRE ENGINES

Break up, not down! Their music is made of shattered surfaces, broken moods and shredded images. Such linear agility allows spiritual appearances by Beefheart and T Rex in any typically segmented composition.

Facts: The Fire Engines are (from Scotland): David Henderson on guitar and vocals; Russell Burn on drums; Murray Slade on guitar. Records released on Bob Last’s Pop:Aural label, based in the group’s home town of Edinburgh, are: Singles: “Get Up And Use Me”, “Candy Skin”. LPs: Lubricate Your Living Room. Speakers for the group are David and Murray. Subjects are:

Venues: Prior to their Heaven show, with first-time live backing singers and strings, the largest London date was the Lyceum.

David: “Most people missed us at the Lyceum because we were on first. Heaven was much more exciting, very fast. It was quite interesting because that’s the first time we’ve played in front of an audience for about three months – we had a big break while Murray was at college.”

Packaging: With Fast Product, Bob Last made pure packages available that contained little except more packages. The Engine’s new compilation LP for the American market bears the message “Ready Packed For Action Fun.”

David: “I think it’s important that things have a label as such but the people concerned should get the chance to label themselves. We designed the cover of our album, but I feel we’re just a group. We never saw ourselves as an Edinburgh group.”

By showing multiple aspects at once, The Fire Engines establish themselves as the true futurists. Uninterrupted motion is conveyed through a grand musical transparency of overlapping styles.

Indies: Though “Candy Skin” came near to making the national charts their real success has been mainly visible in the so-called independent charts, with both singles and album enjoying long stays at the top.

David: “The Rough Trade attitude makes me puke. That independent bullshit! They don’t want any stars or superstars – that’s disgusting. We want to get across to as many people as possible, so we will use all the aspects of the business around us to our own advantage.”

It’s common knowledge among the cognoscenti that the Fire Engines only came down to play at Heaven so they could see the royal wedding on the cheap.

Media: Their contributions to other popular expressions include writing the music for a fringe play called Why Won’t The Pope Come To Glasgow, which they describe as “very Brechtian”, and a cowboy film made on Super 8.

David: “The printed word is dead. It’s so outmoded now. Journalists are generally very irresponsible. I mean, most of the music press is not worth getting your fingers dirty for.”

“I admit the build-up has helped a lot. There probably wouldn’t have been so many people at Heaven if it wasn’t for the coverage we’ve got. It’s given us a lot of access to things we needed – it has ts good points.”

“Generally though, I don’t like the music press. They’re so limited and sterile. The layouts are so old-fashioned for a start. They never change from week to week. The only thing that makes them change is when new groups come along and do things themselves. I love television, but there’s no control over it. We should have more access.”

The New Pop: Murray: “I think it’s just coincidence, any similarity to The Fall, though there is that kind of Northern thing in our music as well. There’s something ancient there – something to do with King Arthur. I dinnae ken what it is though. On the other hand, I quite like listening to some disco stuff.”

David: “We all listen to so many different things, but I don’t hear much that is really new. First it was rockabilly, now it’s funk. People are falling back on old styles to cover their lack of ideas and relax in the security of the past.”

Scotland: David: “Most people who work in the music business in Scotland are assholes. They’re all cokeheads totally interested in making money and nothing else.”

Murray: “We’ve known Bob Last for years now and he’s one of the few people who are alright. He just showed an interest. He’s out to make money alright, but not at our expense.”

Listen to The Fire Engines. They could jar you into REACTING, THINKING, MOVING! Their dance is Break Up! The message to Wake Up!

JOSEF K

Don’t stop, don’t even pause. Go head over heels to Josef K on their staccato rush, their burning iridescence, above all their terrible urgency demands immediate attention.

Forgive an unpredictability that springs from untamed spirits. Ignore diversionary production diatribes in misleading reviews, they have made one of this year’s most haunting LPs – suitably named and lovingly played, The Only Fun In Town.

A timeless collection of immaculate songs, Fun . . . represents the group’s second attempt at 33 rpm perfection. guitarist Malcolm Ross explains: “We scrapped the first LP because we simply didn’t like the results. I think we rushed into it really. Alan Horne just started Postcard and he decided it ought to make some money, so he suggested we make an LP just because he knew if Orange Juice made one they wouldn’t be happy with it, but he thought we would be satisfied with what we could do at the time.”

“Looking back, I don’t think we really gave it enough thought. We just went, ‘Oh we’ve got enough songs, we can do an LP.”

Recorded at the 24-track Castle Sound Studios on the fringes of their native Edinburgh, the final results came nowhere near the sound and feel they hoped to capture.

“I must admit it turned out really bad. We put in too many things – to many gimmicky things: slamming doors and background shouts, that sort of thing.”

Still on the dole, yet realising starting afresh meant a straight loss of two grand, they unanimously agreed to go back to square one – dedication, as you can see, sometimes costs are more blood, sweat and tears.

Brushing aside this setback, Josef K have an unshakeable confidence in their music which has nothing to do with shallow bravado, and they started the ominous year of ’81 playing on the same bill as Orange Juice in Brussels’ Plan K, a vast converted sugar refinery split into five floors of freaks. films and transvestites.

The force behind Les Disques Du Crepuscule and Factory Benelux, the enigmatic Annik and Michel, suggested the group recorded a single (“Sorry For Laughing” / “Revelation”) at a tiny garage studio before departing. Vindicating their earlier decision, it was happily realised that at last a place had been found which allowed their energy to come through.

Imagine their chagrin in discovering that nearly every reviewer saw the resulting unorthodox production (a group effort) as sadly misconceived. Crackling with rough exuberance, the treble-high guitars and unusually delicate bass-drums axis proved too much of a culture shock, while the mixed-down vocals were decidedly out of order for those unfortunate souls addicted to the sterility of high-tech attack.

It’s not as if they came near to the neo-Luddite style of early Fall. Never slipping into excessive opulence of new psychedelia, they achieve a satisfying clarity without sacrificing the subtle tensions and fierce exigency that is so close to the soul of Josef K.

There are, it seems, no regrets from the group. “We’re all very happy with the LP,” Malcolm says in whispery Scottish tones. “We wanted to sound hard and aggressive but not heavy. In fact we used to be a lot more trebly – we’ve mellowed a bit!”

“Besides,” adds bassist David Weddel, “I’m not sure what difference all the reviews and hype make anyway. I mean, The Fire Engines album sold 11,000 while the Scars, who have a huge promo campaign behind them compared to The Fire Engines, sold 12,000. We’ve already sold 10,000,” he announces triumphantly, “and that was just in the first two days!”

Josef K all met each other at school in Edinburgh. Paul Haig, the group’s singer, lyricist and second guitarist, started the nucleus with his then next-door neighbour, drummer Ronnie Torrance. Later joined by Malcolm, they made they first stage appearance as TV Art at the Pollock Halls in Edinburgh. The departure of their bass player Gary McCormack left a space for David, who gave up his role as roadie / manager, marking the beginning of a harsher and more personal group style that would eventually evolve into their special mix of oblique melodies over brittle, angular guitars.

During those formative days their inspirations were closer to the surface, and TV Art were seen as a kind of mutant cross between Lou Reed, Television and The Only Ones. Wunderkind Alan Horne remembers them as being “very half-baked. Malcolm was playing Steve Cropper’s part from ‘Dock Of The Bay’ at the soundcheck and I thought, ‘Oh God.’ They did have one song that stood out though, called ‘Chance Meeting’.”

This was to become the first Josef K single on Absolute Records. Only 1,000 were pressed, backed by a song called “Romance”.

Dipping into Subway Sect, they continued to move on, releasing three further singles, “Radio Drill Time”, “It’s Kinda Funny” and “Sorry For Laughing” as well as recording the lost LP. 10 copies of which were retained for posterity.

Along the way they collected a reputation for erratic but sometimes electric stage shows – an image unbroken by their recent appearance at London’s Venue, where they failed to realise their full potential.

Imagine an unholy cross between Lou Reed and Frank Sinatra singing “sometimes I know it’s crazy to exist” against a wall of shrill, razory guitars and you have the sound of Josef K.

This, as Paul would say, is “intensity – that’s what I think we achieve, intensity.

(Melody Maker, 22/08/81)

THE SAINTS – “(I’M) STRANDED” (EMI EMC 2570) MARCH 1977

A definite burn yer arse off job. Hot. As hot as hell. And Aussie too.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll is meant to be revolutionary, aggression is always there. We’re just opening up. We’re not a punk rock band nor are we into glorifying violence. But we are realists.” Guitarist Ed Kuepper said that. He’s a saint. “And them downtown boys sure talk gritty. It’s so hard to be a saint in the city.”

The band live in Brisbane which can be described as a huge, sprawling Kings Cross with its winos and railway yards. They formed four years ago and last year recorded and pressed 500 copies of their song ‘(I’m) Stranded’.

Some ended up in this country and it was promptly voted single of the year by a rock paper. And now their first album.

Disobeying all recording techniques and rules ‘(I’m) Stranded’ hits way below the belt. Kuepper, tossing eclecticism out of the grooves, attacks his guitar with pristine arrogance. Singer Chris Bailey hacks away at each number like some crazed lumberjack.

Together they write most of the material, ‘Erotic Neurotic’, ‘Messin’ With The Kid’, ‘Nights In Venice’, all showing razor-sharp insight.

Like the way asterisks against some numbers represent “Australian compositions”. And with songs like this The Saints are liable to push a majority of the bands on the scene today way down under.

(Record Mirror, 12/03/77)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “THE SCREAM” LP (POLYDOR POLD 5009) NOVEMBER 1978

And after the misdirected swastika flaunts, the “sign Siouxsie” jaunts, the periods of ‘apparent’ record company disinterest after the sign-up hassles, Polydor’s victory, after the single . . . The Album . . . The Banshees Album.

The months have not diluted the energy and vitality of this music; nor have they blunted the obvious enthusiasm. All that has been retained, and the band have been allowed to develop as musicians, they are now a finely honed unit. They could stand ground with ANYONE.

And Siouxsie. One of the more individual girl singers of the new age, she establishes herself as the premier female vocalist this decade, no trouble.

The material. Probably just the tip of a gargantuan creative iceberg. there are 10 porky-prime-cuts from an irrepressible Siouxsie & the Banshees repertoire, landed with perfect production. The overall feel is clean, lively, electric, professional.

So: Siouxsie & the Banshees and the songs and the sound. Insuperable formula, great album. For a debut – a murderer. A trendsetter – maybe not, but it attains new standards. It is an important record, of there’s little doubt.

HIGHLY DISTINCTIVE

Of the goods, there’s at least one fully-fledged masterstroke, plus a whole troupe of fine and vital rock and roll moments, all delivered within the highly distinctive and stylistic framework that IS Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Into the maelstrom ‘Pure’ is the curtain raiser, a succinct blow to the world of instrumental atmospherics, Siouxsie’s considerable voice is utilised not as a lyrical mouthpiece but as part of the musical subsoil. Also, it tends to reflect the downer overtones present elsewhere on the album, as evidenced by ‘Suburban Relapse’, the mock sadism of ‘carcass’, and the always ominous ‘Helter Skelter’.

This opening cut gives way to a chugging and insistent bass and drum rumble, and as McKay’s guitar joins in the action, the Banshees lurch full tilt into a desperate holocaustic ‘Jigsaw Feeling’ . . . . and proceedings are underway.

“One day I feel in total
The next I split in two.
My eyes are doing somersaults
Staring at my shoe”

from Jigsaw Feeling

Lyrically, this is a scene setter, and the whole album’s preoccupation with spiritual, mental and physical breakdown is so intense, it could well be viewed as a loose concept or project album.

The theme is developed by ‘Nicotine Stain’, which views the dreaded weed from two contrasting and thoughtfully conceived angles: as an aid to mental stability (never soother) . . . and as the procurer of health disease.

“It’s just a habit
When I reach to the packet for my last cigarette
Till the day breaks
~Then my hand shakes.”

from Nicotine Stain

The violent repercussions of this downer concept are examined in ‘Carcass’ (which I suspect, is tongue-in-cheek) and ‘Helter Skelter’. The latter clambers from the discordant axe-slash intro to a rampant, stampeding creature which recaptures the frenzied essence of the original Beatles; memories of the Manson campaign are still painfully vivid.

The final excesses of claustrophobic depression are the ‘Suburban Relapse’ and then to the album’s masterwork, ‘Switch’.

Unlike so many of her contemporaries, Sioux has a voice which she USES. On ‘The Scream’ she excels herself . . . and she wipes the floor with all competitors.

Also, The Banshees are working to the hilt: the arrangement on this finale is, at the very least, breathtaking, as it drifts through a legion of phases and tempos without ever sounding fragmented.

The album’s lyrical frame of mind is perfectly reflected in the work of McKay, Severin and Morris; constantly shifting, restless, controlled aggression, they are as essential as Siouxsie.

‘Switch’ is an acute and bitter observation of the final process.

This is side-swiping, poignant social comment. Even taken at its most basic level, ‘The Scream’ is stirring rock and roll which draws from the past but points to the future, REAL music for the new age. It’s a mature and polished work. It is vital, it’s moving, it’s a landmark.

But hell, for a while there it seemed The Banshees were never gonna hit vinyl, and suddenly . . . Hey-ho the album. Vinyl salvation. So buy it, nick it, borrow it, tape it, hear it. Christ, what else could you do with that four quid? Save it for a rainy day?

(Record Mirror 14/10/78)

ORANGE JUICE – “BLUE BOY” / “LOVE SICK” (POSTCARD 80-2) AUGUST 1980

Orange Juice “Blue Boy” – A waspish, curling twirling treat of a single. Orange Juice make me think of good times and good Teardrop and the best uncluttered, unfettered, great ignored music like Tim Buckley.

‘Blue Boy’ is sung by Edwin Collins and played with the sort of blood and guts conviction that you could use as a good bet character test for anybody you want to know about in the way of ‘do they FEEL rock ‘n’ roll music?

Orange Juice come from a mysterious line; longer and more spooky than they think, ranging from early blues, jazz and beat music. More than anything else, Orange Juice are right in the middle of the present true rock ‘n’ roll soul; they’re an effective pop eclectic focal point (and perhaps the incipient Sound are too).

Orange Juice should be enormous and on Stiff and plastered across bedroom walls. but then the world ain’t like that. (Sounds)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “DEAR PRUDENCE” / “TATTOO” (WONDERLAND SHE 4) SEPTEMBER 1983

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Dear Prudence” – Siouxsie’s always had a bit of the old Alice In Wonderland about her and it’s not surprising that she should choose to revive a Beatles song from their whimsical period.

She’s even kept the phasing. But does she know that it was originally written for actress Mia Farrow’s sister? Thought not. (Smash Hits)

This 45 was an unexpected foray into psychedelia by a band more associated with the 70s punk rock scene in England, but by 1983 they had developed a more complex sound and had undergone a few personnel changes.

One such change was the introduction of Robert Smith from The Cure on lead guitar. He took over duties from John McGeogh and persuaded the band to record The Beatles classic ’Dear Prudence’.

The Siouxsie and the Banshees version is a much quicker assault with Robert Smith’s guitar to the fore. During this period he was solely using a Vox Teardrop Mark VI. Producer Mike Hodges also uses the technique of phasing or ’skying’ as it’s sometimes known to create that otherworldly soundscape. (EXPO67)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “FIREWORKS” / “COAL MIND” (POLYDOR POSP 450) MAY 1982

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Fireworks” – Strip away the inimitable hoarse straining of the vocals and their rather ponderously applied strings, and underneath is what sounds curiously like a U2 song.

Coincidence, perhaps, but there it is. Since I’ve given up hoping that the Banshees will make another single as good as ‘Israel’ or better, this highly commercial piece must suffice, although those strings really do sound wretchedly uncomfortable. (Record Mirror)

Starts with an orchestra tuning up and ends with the sound of some fairly expensive rockets going off. In between you get the usual swirling Siouxsie sound, long on repetition but short on tune, eminently suitable for haunting houses etc.

Probably recorded in a bell tower. Quite likeable really. (Smash Hits)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “ARABIAN KNIGHTS” / “SUPERNATURAL THING” (POLYDOR POSP 309) JULY 1981

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Arabian Knights” – Blimey, this week’s singles are hard work. Oh, for something bright and cheerful. But you’d hardly look to the Banshees for that, and sure enough here they are glooming away as ever.

This is taken from the LP. It’s not bad, but they still haven’t managed to better the glorious ‘Israel’. (Record Mirror)

More menacing childhood memories dredged up and dressed up in tired old riffs and jaded Banshee dynamics. Siouxsie sounds jaded, disinterested; McGeogh is typically vague, wrenching out the standard guitar atmospherics. Thin, brittle, forgettable; no push, no magic; keep away from this voodoo. (Melody Maker)

You certainly know that London has gone funk berserk when the news has got through the permafrost to reach the ears of Siouxsie. So she drops everything and gallops out to cover Ben E. King’s “Supernatural Thing” on the 12″ version of this here, dishing it up with all the rollicking good humour we’ve come to expect of her.

The title track is more the ticket; The Banshees swirl and shimmer like Bunnymen, but still she sings in that tone of voice that most people reserve for complaining about dry cleaning. (Smash Hits)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “SPELLBOUND” / “FOLLOW THE SUN” (POLYDOR POSP 273) MAY 1981

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Spellbound” – Their songs can be attractive and melodic, but they still lack the commercial edge that produces hits. I wonder how long they’ll keep on trying? (Record Mirror)

A winner despite Siouxsie’s arch vocals, now all part of the rent-an-actress scene foisted on a gullible public, brain-numbed by TV commercials and memories of “Rock Follies”.

Compensation comes in the form of an enthralling 12-string gallup that encompasses high hurdles and water-jumps, keeping listeners on the edge of their shooting sticks till the post is reached. Sorta spellbound, in fact! (Smash Hits)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “ISRAEL” / “RED OVER WHITE” (POLYDOR POSP 205) NOVEMBER 1980

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Israel” – This is my joint record of the week. If something has to be sung about Christmas I’d much rather it was this. Not as instant as ‘Christine’, but with far more depth.

Beautiful haunting refrain, echoey guitar, very atmospheric. The more I listen to it, the more I admire it. Puts everything else to shame. (Record Mirror)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “CHRISTINE” / “EVE WHITE EVE BLACK” (POLYDOR 2059 249) MAY 1980

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Christine” – How to think aloud and sound like an underground American band while saddled with your own Bromley accent, your own band and a hell of a reputation in London in 1980.

‘Christine’ virtually floats along, more haze than haughtiness, and ends up sounding sweet and meaningful; presumably the intention? Time and the endless plays this will get will tell if the velvet has hard core underneath it. (Record Mirror)

Barely recognisable as the Banshees. They’ve left behind their previous stark, plodding death-warmed up arrangements and have produced a much lighter, freer-flowing affair this time, though their taste for the bizarre and melodramatic remains.

Listening carefully however, the style is familiar in part, Severin’s deep booming bass, Budgie’s insistent supportive drumming – but Siouxsie is completely transformed. Her voice is still enough to chill the bone, but containing more feeling and conviction, as if she is really relating to the song this time. (Smash Hits)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “HAPPY HOUSE” / “DROP DEAD/CELEBRATION” (POLYDOR POSP 117) MARCH 1980

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Siouxsie & the Banshees “Happy House” – And so . . . after the holocaust Siouxsie unfastens another button of the raincoat, concentrates on cooling out, takes stock of the situation and not least of all secures the sterling services of Magazine’s John McGeogh to succeed where Messrs McKay and Smith merely stylised.

Actually, this isn’t so different from its predecessors, particularly with regard to its reference to recreational pursuits. In the same way as sinister circumstances surrounded the playground, I’ve a feeling the house isn’t as happy as it first appears.

Musically, the structure is more relaxed, the rhythm section left to its own devices beneath a flurry of melodic chords and bitter – sweet vocals, ever-so-slightly-redolent of Ferry in nostalgic frame of mind. (Record Mirror)

Despite the trauma of being split down the middle, the Banshees have bounced back with a vengeance. This is their best since “Hong Kong Garden”, and their most commercial venture thus far.

The song’s uncharacteristically bouncy, but with a hidden menace (the Happy House in question is a Funny Farm). There’s still a trace of the swooping, stark style of Siouxsie of old, but here she exhibits a vocal sensitivity that hasn’t been displayed before.

Magazine’s John McGeogh deserves more credit than he’s given on the sleeve for his versatile lead guitar which lends the song a rich variety of textures.

Whether this is a new direction for Siouxsie and the lads is dubious, as the B-side “Drop Dead”, is not surprisingly, a doom and despair scream a minute horror song. (Sounds)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “LOVE IN A VOID” / “MITTAGEISEN (METAL POSTCARD)” (POLYDOR 2059 151) SEPTEMBER 1979

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Love In A Void” – By popular request . . . that foreign animal. I find Siouxsie and her decimated Banshees intensely depressing in English, but in German, well, the sky’s the limit.

But it slots into place in their row of this and has biggish heaps of aggression. A heavy metal postcard, in fact. (Record Mirror)

This double A-sided single from Siouxsie & the Banshees got a UK release based on the high amount of import sales of the original German release. It’s also the place to find the punk rocker ’Love In A Void’, one of the first Banshees songs ever written (back in 1977) but never cut in the studio until April 1979.


’Mittageisen’ or ‘Metal Postcard’ as it’s also known was a homage to anti Nazi photomontage artist of the Twenties/Thirties, John Heartfield. The chorus is taken from one of Goerring’s speeches during the Second World War. (EXPO67)

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – “PLAYGROUND TWIST” / “PULL TO BITS” (POLYDOR POSP 59) JUNE 1979

Siouxsie & the Banshees “Playground Twist” – With each successive release, these misguided souls seem to be regressing back into the casualty ward that houses late-’60s brain-damaged cases.

They must be on a macrobiotic diet – or something. I haven’t got a clue what this is all about; it’s just tuneless waves of sound that could be emanating from synthesizers, guitars or fluff on a stylus, within which a distant Siouxsie appears to be auditioning for the part of Second Witch in Macbeth.

I will pass no comment on the fact that their publishing is called Pure Noise. (Smash Hits)

The unique sounding and loner type Banshees served up the song ’Playground Twist’ in the Summer of ’79 tackling the subject of child cruelty and looking at life in general as a playground. This completely uncommercial single crept into the Top 30 which was a good achievement bearing in mind that daytime radio wouldn’t have touched this at all.

The record was housed in a picture sleeve drawn by a handicapped kid from Kuwait. Another bold move by The Banshees who despised the record industry and refused to ’play along’ with their rules. (EXPO67)

If Ingmar Bergman produced records, they might sound like this remarkable performance which terrifyingly creates a mood of uncontrollable child madness. The listener is immediately engulfed in a maelstrom of whirling sound frequently punctuated by the ominous tolling of church bells, phased guitars, thundering percussion, a surreal alto sax and the wall of Siouxsie’s voice.

It’s a record that demands to be repeatedly played (preferably on cans to get full effect) at threshold-of-pain volume to illicit the nightmarish quality of the experience. (NME)

JEAN-JACQUES BURNEL – “EUROMAN COMETH” LP (UNITED ARTISTS UAG 30214) APRIL 1979

Jean-Jacques Burnel “Euroman Cometh” – This was the 1979 debut solo album by the Stranglers’ bassist J. J. Burnel. Musically, it was an attempt at incorporating electronic sounds into rock. Lyrically, it evolved around the idea of a United States of Europe in the context of the Cold War.

“A Europe riddled with American values and soviet subversion is a diseased sycophantic old whore: a Europe strong, united and independent is a child of the future”, states Burnel on the inner sleeve.

Guest musicians were Peter Howells of The Drones (drums on tracks three, five and six), track nine featured Brian James of The Damned (guitar), Lew Lewis (harmonica) and Carey Fortune of Chelsea (drums). All other instruments were played by Burnel.

The album reached number 40 in the UK Albums Chart in April 1979. The track “Freddie Laker” was released as a single on 13 April 1979, backed with the non-album track “Ozymandias”.

Printed on the sleeve is a tribute to the Meriden Motorcycle Co-operative that manufactured Triumph motorcycles between 1976 and 1983. The tribute reads, “The Triumph Workers Co-operative at Meriden have proved that personally motivated enterprise coupled with group interest is a necessary ingredient in successful socialism and the sham they call nationalisation could only be suggested and perpetrated by enemies of the people.”

The engine of Burnel’s 750cc Triumph Bonneville T140, manufactured by the Meriden Co-operative, is heard during the track “Triumph (Of the Good City)”.

SHAM 69 – “TELL US THE TRUTH” LP (POLYDOR 2383491) FEBRUARY 1978

Sham 69 “Tell Us The Truth” – A giggle in the night. And I thought punk was kaput, finito, a bubble in the Alka Seltzer – but maybe that’s because I’m a Londoner.

Sham 69 fulfills a 16-year-old’s notion of gutter grit instability (ie) a Saturday night knees-up, a Saturday night piss-up, a Saturday night punch-up.

They’re a good time band with a neat line in social sophistry. Not that kids take too much notice of what’s being said. No, they’re preoccupied with being performers themselves. Extrovert Esso blues wiv boots and astronaut crops enjoying the hospitality of muvver Brown.

Sham’s songs aren’t particularly deep, significant or dotted with politico palpitations. They simply appeal to the susceptible – and that could be you or me.

Jimmy Pursey plays on people’s restricted emotions – and he’ll be the first to admit that. He plays upon them in such a mundane, North Bank way that the crowd can’t fail to find it strangely heroic. Pursey is a hero in the same way as Peter Storey was a hero or Ron Harris.

AND WE’D ALL LIKE TO BE HEROES.

Sham are often accused of being a good live. They’re a great live band and this album also confirms that they a decent studio band – though you only get one side of that on ‘Tell Us The Truth’.

The rest is an expletives deleted some holds barred live show with all the faves – ‘Rip Off’, ‘Ulster’, George Davis is Innocent’ etc which gives the uninitiated some idea of what the band is all about, or, more exactly, what the band’s audience is all about.

‘Tell Us The Truth’, or ‘Sham 69’s Greatest Hits’ could well be an epitaph of ’77. The dilemma is – how can they follow that?

I sincerely hope the words Sham 69 won’t be added to the ever increasing list of defunct ’77 misfits. That would be a tragedy.

Record Mirror, February 1978

Really, it all depends on how much trust you’re willing to invest. If all you want from a record is leisure listening which does little to reinforce a cosy rut, read no further. Sham 69 will be anathema. They will make incensed jackals sound like puppies who do naughty things with toilet rolls. And that would be a criminal shame.

Even the title and cover throw a battered brick through the window. The four Sham men stand pinioned in the corner of a kind of interrogation room / detention centre, fists clenched and snarling at an accusing finger that emerges from a pin-striped sleeve. Maybe you think the image is simplistic and naive. But it also sums up what the band are all about: fierce commitment and honesty.

Therein lies the contradictions of head person Jimmy Pursey. Above all, he wants to entertain; but to achieve that end, he has to act directly from his own experience. That means looking directly at his home life in Hersham, where his dad was a plumber and his mam a cleaner, his long periods of truancy from school, Saturday afternoons at football and dead-end jobs.

This isn’t supposed to be some dewy-eyed, patronising, working-class flag day appeal; it’s simply what happened. All the frustration, disillusion, anger, fear, confusion and (don’t ever forget, as a lot of people seem to) the laughs. The band’s enjoyment is the result of the audience’s enjoyment, though the process is fraught.

It comes through loud and clear on the live first side. The more an audience enjoys itself, the more it jostles for a part of the action, and as the dedication indicates (“special thanks to all our mates who appear on this side”), they virtually get equal billing. The side ends with a football chant of “Knees Up Mother Brown”. Once involvement is endured, then questioning can follow. The lyrics are of paramount importance, and though Jimmy has tried to mix them up as far as possible, they are still annoyingly cloudy in too many instances.

They are straightforward catchphrases from off the street:

“Everything we say and do
So many people laugh at you.
You never had no pity
Cos you always take the mickey.”

Out of context, you may think the sentiments are pathetically innocent, but they are applicable as they are vulnerable.

Like the portrait of the kid in “Ulster” who throws potties and ends up in hospital; like the barking sensation in “George Davis Is Innocent”; like the fury behind “They Don’t Understand”.

Naturally, the sound is raw; it would be stupid to expect anything else. The same feelings (a sustained, breeze-block onslaught is the key) carry over to the second studio side, where Sham indicate their willingness, albeit stumbling at times, to experiment. “Family Life” starts off with a typical tussle between mam and son: “Your dinner’s burnt and you’ll stay in till your father comes home.”

Kitchen sink, but the exchange is real. Out of interest, compare it with The Ramones’ “We’re A Happy Family”, and note that Dave Parsons stretches out more.

The most surprising track, however, is “Whose Generation!”. Sham used to do a version of Townshend’s indestructible song, but the kinship between the two is now very distant. It opens with a type of heartbeat bass-line, which is then joined by what sounds like phased vocal cross-currents, grinding feedback, air-raid siren effects and, finally, three ominous tolling bells.

The significance? Your guess is as good as mine. Ringing out the old generation and ushering in the new? Closing the chapter on this phase of Sham? I don’t know.

Tell Us The Truth is bludgeoning and, in the words of Tom Robinson, won’t take no for an answer. Put aside the notions that Jimmy cannot sing in any conventional manner and the band aren’t “properly” accomplished. What matters here is the effect and the excitement.

Anyway, it contains a live version of one of the best punk singles this year, “Borstal Breakout”. The lock’s been picked and they are looking over your shoulder.

(NME, March 1978)

THE STRANGLERS – “LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY” / “VIETNAMERICA” (LIBERTY BP 405) OCTOBER 1981

The Stranglers “Let Me Introduce You To The Family” – Before the multitudes arise, howling “ohmigod, not another old group going funk”, it seems only fair to point out that this is a less radical departure for the Meninblack (oops, sorry: are we trying to live that one down?).

The earlier ‘Bear Cage’ and long-ago Devo-ish ‘Rok It’ pointed in this direction. ‘Family’ works pretty well; yes, it is funkoid, but only as far as the Stranglers’ inimitable style will allow.

If limitation means prevention of a too drastic step in a foreign direction, then perhaps it’s a useful asset.

Be that as it may, the other side is ‘Vietnamerica’, a lush, melodic treat, very Doors but so good that the debt doesn’t matter. (Record Mirror)

HUGH CORWELL & ROBERT WILLIAMS – “WHITE ROOM” / “LOSERS IN A LOST LAND” (UNITED ARTISTS BP 320) NOVEMBER 1979

Hugh Cornwell “White Room” – Since Cornwell’s already said this liaison with Captain Beefheart drummer was “very creative” I can only presume that this taster for ‘Nosferatu’ is serious, it certainly doesn’t sound like it.

The art school dance goes on forever (for Hugh at least) as Peter Brown – who co-wrote the song with Jack Bruce – would say. (Record Mirror)

THE SKIDS – “CIRCUS GAMES” / “ONE DECREE” (VIRGIN VS 359) JULY 1980

The Skids “Circus Games” – Strange how Scotland’s finest viz The Skids and Simple Minds have, with their third albums, reached crucial points in their careers. From the forthcoming third album this resorts to the grandiose reliance of slab guitar work that was strongly felt to be wrong on the first David Batchelor produced album.

Enigmatic huh? The hook, and this will be the winner here, is sung by children with false teeth or perhaps they are merely playing castanets.

Good solid single though. On one brief listen I feel certain the album has stronger stuff on it. Hopefully we’ll see the band live and quick.

Great sleeve (Manray ballet dancer cum trapeze artist and shadows that opens into a lavish poster that fans will lap up). Classy and no surprise. (Record Mirror)

SHAM 69 – “IF THE KIDS ARE UNITED” / “SUNDAY MORNING NIGHTMARE” (POLYDOR 2059 050) JULY 1978

Sham 69 “If The Kids Are United” – In which Jimmy dons his rose coloured spex and dishes out an appropriate lecture to his quarrelsome fans. Lots of powerful guitar to drive the message home, but I’m not too keen on the ‘United’ chant at the end.

It’s beginning to sound a bit contrived. To be honest, despite the worthy sentiments, I much prefer the B-side – aptly named ‘Sunday Morning Nightmare’, it’s a hilarious catalogue of woes resulting from the fever of the night before. Irresistible. (Record Mirror)

THEE FOURGIVEN – GARAGE PUNK OUTSIDERS FROM LOS ANGELES, USA

Thee Fourgiven hailed from Los Angeles and stuck around long enough to release a couple of albums and some singles. They were Rich Coffee, Ray Flores IV and Matthew Roberts, a kind of power trio in the old sense of the word.

Claim to fame and the reason why they’ve been allocated “Garage Punk Outsiders” status is the fact that these three musicians were the rhythm section of the wonderful Unclaimed and it was these men who laid down the fuzz foundations of the Unclaimed’s imperious “Primordial Ooze Flavored” mini-LP, which preceded this album by a few years.

I listened to Thee Fourgiven every now and again back in the mid-eighties and was always under-whelmed. I expected so much better considering their regal past.

Half of the songs are quite one dimensional, a bit on the samey side, lacking in memorable hooks and the lead vocals are hit or miss. Having said that the sound in parts is fierce and worthy of praise, especially when they let loose with the reverb guitar and speed things up to a hectic pace and become garage cave men.

Some of the numbers remind me of The Miracle Workers when they moved on from their garage punk phase.

I have selected six numbers to represent their music from the 1985 album “It Ain’t Pretty Down Here” on Dionysus Records.

Thee Fourgiven – songs from “It Ain’t Pretty Down Here”

• “Don’t Be Afraid (To Be Young)”

• “Lost In The Beat”

• “Anything”

• “The Reason Why”

• “You Surprised Me”

• “Ain’t That Mad”

Meet the band:
Rich Coffee (guitar, vocals)
Ray Flores IV (Mosrite bass, vocals, percussion)
Matthew Roberts (drums, percussion)

SHAM 69 – “YOU’RE A BETTER MAN THAN I” / “GIVE A DOG A BONE” (POLYDOR POSP 82) OCTOBER 1979

SHAM 69 “You’re A Better Man Than I” – The follow-up single to the hit single “Hersham Boys” was a puzzling one. This is a straight ahead and faithful cover version of the number made famous in the mid sixties by The Yardbirds.

There’s nothing here to demonstrate that Sham 69 were moving forwards and discovering new ground like many of their contemporaries were doing during 1979. Recycling old sixties classics wasn’t new of course. The Jam had a semi-hit with The Kinks’ “David Watts”.

Perhaps the well was dry and Jimmy Pursey didn’t have anything else strong enough worthy of single material.

The B-side “Give A Dog A Bone” is much more exciting. Fast pace throughout, frantic drum work, a keen and scruffy punk guitar break and of course Pursey spitting out his message in his usual manner. Should have been the top side! (EXPO67)

They’re dead but they won’t lie down, or something like that. From the ‘Hersham Boys’ farewell epic, this is Pursey the Preacher once again, but on an almost folky, certainly quiet and acoustic number.

Never understood why, if Jimbo is sincere as I know he is – it’s more apparent from these lyrics than ever before – he has to affect an American accent. Part of the ‘biz’, I guess – but doesn’t he despise that?

Anyway, something different from Sham, for which much thanks. (Record Mirror, 20/10/79)

MYSTIC EYES – GARAGE PUNK OUTSIDERS FROM BUFFALO, NY, USA

Mystic Eyes “Our Time To Leave!” – When you’re all alone and lonely, don’t reach for this and that. Come and hear the songs of these here mystic eyes.

If they can’t see what it is Turn, Turn, Turn away from them. Dig this sound. Dig this. Dig what is now and forever. Walk through, past the eagles and flies, past those unfeeling, half-living.

From out of the window come these here mystic eyes. Tears that you still feel. Shakes and no reasons to complain. Feeling tore down and out here THAT’S INSIDE THESE MYSTIC, MYSTIC EYES. (Bernard Kugel)

Yeah!! This is it. After tempting the world at large with a song on a compilation here and a compilation there, Mystic Eyes have unleashed their first full-length long player.

Hey, these guys sure ain’t pretty, but this is no beauty contest . . . . this is rock ‘n’ roll . . . the real thing. I’m supposed to be too old to remember, but I’m really too young to forget the sounds I need to hear.

The “faithfull” need to hear it, too (you know who you are) So, like, why are ya wasting precious time reading this drivel . . . slap this thing on your music box and get it all first hand by MYSTIC EYES.
C’mon, get outta my way. (“Mad” Louie)

Mystic Eyes hailed from Buffalo, NY in the good old USA. Yeah, it was good in USA if you knew where to look for the underground garage punk records. Led by Bernie Kugel, he gathered together a band of other misfit square lookin’ blokes and they started making a garage noise but with a difference. They combined elements of folk-rock jangle with the primitive “Back From The Grave” inspired style.

Their album on Get Hip Records, released during 1988, contains plenty of inspired cover versions of numbers by The Magic Plants, The Alarm Clocks, The Human Expression and The Young Monkey Men.

My mix of Mystic Eyes concentrates wholly on the original compositions by leader and vocalist Bernard Kugel. They all demonstrate Bernie’s skill for creating catchy folk-punk tunes, most of them love songs. It seems that poor Bernie was a love-sick old dog in need for some lovin’ hands. (EXPO67)

Mystic Eyes – songs from the LP “Our Time To Leave!”

• “She Don’t Cry No More”

• “I Lost My World””

• “Baby, We’re Free”

• “My Time To Leave”

• “Judy”

• “I Have”

• “I’m Glad I Walked Out That Door”

• “I Thought I Saw A Tear”

Meet the band:
Bernard Kugel (lead vocals & guitar)
Eric Lubstorf (6 & 12 string guitar)
Scott Davison (drums)
Craig Davison (bass, organ & guitar)

SHAM 69 – “ANGLES WITH DIRTY FACES” / “THE COCKNEY KIDS ARE INNOCENT” (POLYDOR 2059 023) APRIL 1978

SHAM 69 “Angels With Dirty Faces” – Jimmy Pursey deserves a lot of credit for his obvious charisma and sincerity, but I’m a bit concerned about his ability to actually compose a decent pop chune. This boisterous, rough and ready assault on our consciousness isn’t exactly exploding at the seams with melody.

Frankly, it sounds like last year’s thing or should I say model? (NME)

Let’s analyze this record. Technically, it’s no great shakes. Lyrically, it’s not very original. Musically, it’s at best, basic. But . . . I LIKE IT! Why? Listen to the poem that came with it, from Master Pursey himself,

“OK, you dirty rats
If you don’t like this masterpiece
You’re just a bunch of prats.”

Jimmy Pursey

That’s why. Charm. He has it, this record has it. By the bucketful. Cheek and charm and humour. I’ll take that before genius any old day.

PS. I love the way they’ve changed the words of ‘George Davis is innocent’ to ‘Cockney Kids’. Smart move, BOYS! (Record Mirror)

THE OUTTA PLACE – GARAGE PUNK OUTSIDERS FROM NEW YORK, USA

The Outta Place “We’re Outta Place” (Midnight Records 103) was the first record to ever come out of the N.Y.C. garage psych punk scene. It preceded The Vipers and Fuzztones singles by nine months, and created quite a stir from those more mature garage bands who could not understand why the “cave teens” had been elected and selected first.

The answer to those questions came soon with world-wide acclaim. The mini-LP immediately hit number 1 in the alternative charts in Italy, France, Holland, and received rave reviews in the U.K., U.S. and Canada.

Chandler’s vocals and The Outta Place’s straight fresh delivery will probably never be equaled or surpassed. This second LP, “Outta Two!!” (Midnight Records 129) is the last of The Outta Place legacy.

All the instrumental tracks were recorded prior to Chandler’s final move to The Raunch Hands. Chandler cut the vocal tracks after he left the band, through persuasion from room mate and band cohort Jordan.

The vocals were recorded in their apartment one night despite Chandler’s drunken state of mind, his growing disgust with psychedelic punk, and against peer pressure.

Well, we’re glad he did it anyway ’cause this is quite a record and one can only wonder what The Outta Place would be now if they had not broken up in 1984.

What exactly is TRASH? knowing what fabulous things can be pulled out of dustbins after dark, on New York streets, we know that TRASH is pure serendipity, an unexpected fast thrill, that more often than not climbs back onto the garbage heap after blowing its energy on being enjoyed, only to be retrieved by yet another willing victim.

The TRASH of Outta Place sits in the garage, fermenting in the darkness. They’re very hot. They give in completely to their teen energy without apology or any form of explanation.

Yeah! The loud and fast of them doesn’t reach out and hit you in the face as much as create its own energy generator, fueling the dancers around the stage, like electrons spinning off an atom.

MEET THE BAND

Singer Mike Chandler is like Batman on speed, like the key got wound up too tight behind the shades, making him sing / scream / speak faster than humanly possible.

He digs down right to the pit of the song, and when he sings ‘Steppin’ Stone’, he’s not just pissed off or just carrying on. He’s going for more, sneering like the jester making a fool of the king.

Jordan Tarlow, guitarist, says when he gets onstage he “tells his fingers to move fast”, and they do. The clarity of each note comes through loud open and honest, but with that foot-to-the-floor feeling that it’s gonna let loose at any moment.

Orin Portnoy backs up that energy with a driven locomotive bassline, and they both look the part, wild and wooly, a bit too young and approving of the groove to step one foot out of the guts of garage.

Shari, on electric organ is a cool Mata Hari, an iron fist in a velvet glove cooly backing up the vocals like a Dragon girl and is a great contrast with the rest of the group.

The sight of Andrea bashing wildly with abandon on her kit long locks flying and shades set on doing it for all it’s worth, completes the group perfectly.

Outta Place is the spirit of garage for all it’s worth and when any group can keep every tack down and yet go for more, they’re not just a group to watch but to be infected by.

This TRASH, to the dump in the land of bland, shall never go.

Outta Place – “Outta Too!!”

• Outta Tree

• They Prefer Blondes

• Thoughts Of A Madman

• No Good Woman

• Hey Little Girl

• Why

• Wrong Tyme

SHAM 69 – “BORSTAL BREAKOUT” / “HEY LITTLE RICH BOY” (POLYDOR 2058 966) JANUARY 1978

Sham 69 “Borstal Breakout” – It wasn’t exactly Jailhouse Rock, but Sham 69’s major label debut, inspired by real-life absconders at nearby Feltham Borstal, was as close as Hersham, Surrey resident Jimmy Pursey was ever going to get.

Originally pencilled in for a John Cale production, the recording was eventually over-seen by Pursey himself, who created this Ramones-like burst of ramalama punk simplicity.

‘Borstal Breakout’ may have lacked the chart success of later working class yoof anthems like ‘If The Kids Are United’ and ‘Hersham Boys’, but it stands out as more spontaneous and less knowingly rabble-rousing, while also quite innocently predicting the aggressive proletarian punk-noise of Oi! music. (Mojo)

Surely, after all the suffering Pursey has handled at the scaly hands of the fans, he should be a little more aware how ’60s it is to go rabbling on in terms of the generation gap.

I can understand how he wants ‘If The Kids Are United’ to be recognised as the greatest youth anthem of all time – Scott McKenzie probably feels the same way about ‘If You’re Going To San Francisco’, Thunderclap Newman probably wants ‘Something In The Air’ to be taken up by Brutus Jeans or British Leyland for some TV advertising jingle – and does that make it less valid? I’ll say not!

“Hersham boys, Hersham boys
Laced up boots and corduroys.”

Jimmy Pursey

A self-conscious little barn-dance, the most strained good-time on any record heard this week. “They call us the Cockney Cowboys”. They do? Who? SURREY? COCKNEYS? It must have been a strong downwind in London the day the sound of the Bow Bells carried down to SURREY. (NME)

Boring is such a boring word to use when describing a single but I can’t think of anything else that would fit so well apart from zzzzzzzz (Record Mirror)

THE OFFHOOKS – GARAGE PUNK OUTSIDERS FROM EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Here’s a regular project I’ll be doing here on “Yellow Paper Suns” and one which I hope readers will enjoy. There were so many fabulous garage bands around the world during the eighties that were probably known in their own town but no where else.

Some of these garage punk outsiders even released records. Many of which were sadly ignored at the time. And as the decades have passed, these precious slabs of primitive rock ‘n’ roll have invariably been forgotten about . . . . perhaps even ‘buried and dead’ . . . . until NOW!

I’ll start my series of “Garage Punk Outsiders” with The Offhooks and their intense and sometimes moody six-track mini-album “Off The Hook” on (DDT Records DISPLP 18) released at the back end of 1988.

I SPENT THE TURGID ’80S LISTENING TO HUNDREDS OF 60S GARAGE COMPS AND TURNING MY MIND ONTO THE (IN SOME CIRCLES) MUCH MALIGNED NEO-GARAGE REVIVAL GROUPS.

I was just in the right place at the right time to be hip to some of the better groups of the day. No hilariously BAD hair metal groups or goth rockers for me, hell no, it was the ’underground’ garage combos that filled my airwaves such as The Offhooks from Edinburgh.

Check out their superb moody 12 string jangler ”No More Tears” written by John Robb from indie group Jesse Garon & the Desperados…… harmonizing too, there weren’t enough groups doing this in the 80s.

The location of the cover photo is at Edinburgh University, Potter Row Facility.

Recorded in June 1988 and produced by Jamie Watson at Chamber Studios, Edinburgh.

line-up:
Calvin Burt (lead vocals)
Clive Fenton (guitar, harmonica, tambourine, vocals)
John Robb (guitar, vocals)
Andy Learmonth (bass)
Lenny Helsing (drums, vocals)

THE OFFHOOKS – “Off The Hook” (mini album recorded, June 1988)
24Bit stereo remaster MP3 @ 320mpbs

• Greed

• I’m A Nothing (Magic Plants cover version)

• Hearbreaking Girl

• No More Tears

• Got No Lovin’

• I Can Take It (Blue Stars cover version)

“STRANGLERS IV (RATTUS NORVEGICUS” (UNITED ARTISTS UAG 30045) APRIL 1977

The Stranglers “Rattus Norvegicus” – Just about the only predictable thing about rock is that as soon as something new comes along, there’s always someone willing to jump on the bandwagon. Even more predictable is that punk rock / new wave is going to get more than its fair share of these jerks, simply because it is a genre without rules and regulations.

The Stranglers strike me as one such group attempting to cash in. On the face of it, they’ve got all the punk credentials: the name, the musical incompetence, even a gig supporting Patti Smith. But one look at this album is enough to let you know where The Stranglers are at – or, perhaps, where their record company would like them to be at.

There’s a beautifully designed sleeve and inner sleeve, a special label with The Stranglers’ rat logo even – try and hide the groans – a free single. ELP should be so lucky! As a special bonus for us lucky reviewers, there’s a bundle of press cuttings, fax, pix and info, a press release that’s magnificently mistyped and – here comes the real killer – a card from their press-and-public-relations consultant.

This is the music of disaffected youth, struggling against a hard business that won’t give them a break? Smells more like hype to me. The music on the album confirms that The Stranglers have little or nothing to offer.

They’re singularly lacking in all of the virtues that new-wave bands like The Clash, The Damned and the Pistols have as their saving grace; they’re about as energetic as a slug, and their lyrics, far from providing an outlet for the frustrations of today’s young, are the same old tripe used by most of the bands the punks love to hate – but with a few naughty swear words thrown in.

Here’s an example of the wit and wisdom of The Stranglers from “Peaches”

“Strolling along, minding my own business
Well there goes a girl now
Hi, she’s got me going up and down
She’s got me going up and down
Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches.
Well I’ve got the notion girl that you’ve got some suntan lotion in that bottle of yours
Spread it all over my peeling skin, baby, that feels real good.
All the skirts lapping up the sun, lap me up.”

“Peaches”

All this delivered in the usual arrogant tone, as though it was something momentous, and over a stunningly boring keyboard-dominated riff. It has been suggested that The Stranglers resemble The Doors: an insult if I ever heard one. It’s true that the opening cut, “Sometimes”, sounds like it’s based on the “Light My Fire” organ solo; yet they are more akin to a late-’60s Detroit band, SRC, through their use of keyboards, but without half the Americans’ style in exploiting doom-laden chords, nor even anything as remotely cheeky as combining “Hall Of The Mountain King” with “Beck’s Bolero”.

In truth, The Stranglers are no more than a cut-rate version of ’60s American punk bands, but with none of the fizz that made that music so enjoyable. About the only thing they do well is write the titles to their songs; “Grip”, “Down In The Sewer” and “Ugly” promise something more interesting than a succession of deadening riffs and a noticeable lack of ideas. The only sense in which The Stranglers could be considered new wave is that no one has had the gall to palm off this rubbish before.

(Melody Maker, 23/04/77)

How three blind mice musicians are led Indian file style into a drainy abyss by the loneliness is such a drag voice of Hugh Cornwell. Hot rats in every way. See, the Stranglers have this cold cream foundation of sound with Cornwell’s storm-trooper tones pushing up through the white mass like a sore.

He’s the street corner spiv with a suitcase, whispering in your ear “I’ve got something ‘ere that might interest you” – viz ‘Peaches’, a package holiday song. But what really sets them apart from the new rave bands is Dave Greenfield’s slicing keyboard work – ‘Sometimes’, ‘Goodbye Toulouse’ with its Pink Floyd ‘Welcome To The Machine’ fade out and ‘Grip’, the single.

Hence a Velvet Underground with balls tag – an understatement. Bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel, noted for his rodent-like stage movements, has a pretty fair voice himself, exemplified on ‘London Lady’, and Jet Black is a powerhouse drummer. Cornwell’s guitar work occasionally sounds like Television’s Tom Verlaine – on ‘Princess In The Streets’, the best track on an initial hearing, and ‘Hanging Around’ – and that can’t be bad.

Oh and the final ‘Down In The Sewer’ suite, always effective live, comes off well on vinyl. Criticism? Shoddy production on one or two tracks and the annoying inclusion of a ‘limited edition’ single, one side of which was recorded live at the Nashville. But apart from that +++++

(Record Mirror, 23/04/77)

THE CLASH’S JOE STRUMMER PUTS DOWN BOB GELDOF, THE POLICE AND THE CURRENT CROP OF NEW BANDS BUT SAYS THINGS WILL GET BETTER

Joe Strummer sups his pint and collects his thoughts. The gruff, livewire Clash vocalist is sitting opposite me in a poky public bar no more than a stone’s throw away from the band’s current rehearsal room.

Shrouded in battered Crombie overcoat and a jacket at least two sizes too small, he blends unnoticed with the early evening boozers.

Joe obviously enjoys the fame he has found via The Clash. But, paradoxically, he also revels in the anonymity he acquires in this dismal south London pub. As he readily points out, if Jimmy Pursey, Bob Geldof or any other new recruit to the Blankety-Blank Generation were sitting where he is, heads would turn.

In shying away from the cheap publicity that has made the likes of Pursey, Geldof and even Lydon household names, Joe Strummer has retained not only his dignity but also his perspective. He still sees things from a streetwise, almost worms-eye point of view.

Joe Strummer is one of those rare types who can win you over by sheer force of character. In the space of a C60 Philips cassette, he shows glimpses of anger, passion, dismay and cruel wit. He also remains as fiercely committed to The Clash as when they played their first gig, supporting The Sex Pistols over three years ago at Islington’s Screen On The Green cinema in London.

The fact that The Clash still survive where so many of their contemporaries have gone under or lost all sense of purpose, Joe attributes to the thrill of discovering new sounds. The Clash, despite continually looking to be on the verge of splitting up, are still very much alive.

“These guys are the only people I could ever play with now,” Joe says over the pub din. “If we had a big bust up tomorrow, I don’t see the point of finding anybody else to play with.

“I don’t see the point of being Steve Jones and Paul Cook and going around doing a bit of this and a bit of that. They come up with something strong as a group but, from there on, it’s mediocrity all the way.”

But not for The Clash. Their latest masterpiece, “London Calling”, a double album that retails for the price of one – shows a distinct change of direction. As Joe puts it, they’ve gone Motown – but not in the crass and blatant manner of, say, Secret Affair.

“We’re still digging our reggae ditch but what we’ve added to that is Motown. It’s that kind of thing, but as a simple four piece group plus two tablespoons of organ and half a pint of horn. To me, it’s a feeling that just comes out naturally, so you try to choke it off a bit and tense it up so it comes out sounding even harder.

“To me, music is a feeling, the best there is. The reason I’m in it is ’cause I believe we can get the best feelings and I believe in the people I work with.”

Not surprisingly, Joe still sees The Clash, perhaps childishly, as a great quest, something akin to Journey To The Centre Of The Earth in 3-D with a soundtrack by Chuck Berry.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m really into the whole grandeur thing. I don’t like doing things by half. We really like to get going. It helps to build up morale and keep thing exciting. Like, if someone comes up with a wild idea, it’s immediately recognised for what it is and not disregarded. You have to crank yourself up like that.”

“London Calling”, according to Joe, is far and away the best Clash record ever. And he picks out a couple of rather strange reasons as to why.

First, the tension between the four individual members of the band – Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones in particular – was at fever pitch when the songs were being written.

“That’s had a really good effect on the music. When you’re playing for your life, it makes for a good record.”

Secondly, Joe subscribes to the unusual theory that subjecting yourself to mediocrity sparks off the creative powers. The mediocrity in question is none other than the great blandness of British radio.

Sneers Joe: “I subject myself to the radio all the time. I must be a masochist or something, but I force myself to listen to it just for the annoyance, the irritation.”

The two biggest offenders in Joe’s books are Messrs Geldof and Sting.

“If there is anyone left in Britain who can stand that bloke’s voice – PC Sting – they should get a medal or telegram from the Queen.“

Joe Strummer talking about Sting

“And the same goes for Bob Geldof. I just can’t stand that smart-alec, gubbering, twittering – while – you’re – desperately – hamming – it – up – with – the – old – cliches – against – a Bruce Springsteen – piano – intro. I just can’t stand the way it comes out of the radio every five seconds.

“But,” Joe continues, “Every time Bob Geldof comes out with that emotionless eunoch’s voice, it boosts me ten times in the soul, just for the irritation. In fact, if you sat down in the corner with ‘Diamond Smiles’ playing on a loop through stereo headphones, you’d get up and write the sequel to ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, I swear you would.”

As if to push the point home, Joe tells me about a mate of his who wrote a great song after spending an hour at the piano trying to learn a Mozart ditty note by painstaking note, before chucking the book over his shoulder in disgust.

The Clash have spent a sizeable chunk of this year in America on an exhausting coast-to-coast trek, a venture which left a decidedly mixed impression on the band. Strummer, for example, claims to love New York and the redneck Deep South, but moans about the narrow-mindedness of the American audiences.

The States, however, did provide The Clash with the chance to work a host of new songs into their act and, in fact, totally re-vamp their live show. Paul Simonon now takes over lead vocals on one song, “Guns Of Brixton”, with Joe switching from rhythm guitar to reggae bass.

The new material previewed by The Clash on their American jaunt crops up on the new album – self-penned songs along with a couple of covers: Willie Williams’, “Armegideon Time” and The Rulers’ “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”.

“With some of those songs, the Americans didn’t have a clue what we were playing,” explains Joe as he swirls a glass of lager perilously close to my non-beer-proof cassette recorder.

“And we did a lot of the new stuff on that tour so it was quite funny to see their reaction. Like when we did our Clashified version of “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”, none of them had a clue what was hitting them.

“We tried a lot of new things over in America because we resented the way a lot of them treated us. They talked about us as ‘The Clash – currently the best available live adrenalin rush in town!’ They talk of you in terms of drug effects, not as musicians.”

“Obviously, we resented that, so to be contrary we’d do things like playing an acoustic song in the middle of the set, just to get up their noses. I think you have to do things like that just to keep awake.”

Getting up people’s noses is something The Clash can do pretty well, whether they are biting off more than they can chew, and consequently falling flat on their faces, or haranguing an apathetic audience. One of Strummer’s hobbyhorses in the States was the typical American rock fan’s ignorance of rock ‘n’ roll’s black roots.

“All day over there, the kids are worshipping those blokes in tight trousers and black heeled boots. And what they’ve forgotten is that it all comes from the blacks.

“It struck me the other day,” Joe offers, “if there hadn’t been any slavery, there wouldn’t be any rock ‘n’ roll.

“Like, the southern American blacks were singing all about putting on drape coats and brothel creepers and doing the Hugga-Hugga in 1948, six years before the Memphis Sun Studios did it! All (producer) Sam Phillips did was watch to switch a white man for the black singer and hey presto – rock ‘n’ roll, six years later!”

Talk of Sun Studios and Elvis P reminds Joe of a story passed onto him by an old guy he stumbled across on one of The Clash’s Yankee dates. The missing link in rock ‘n’ roll history, no less.

“This is the actual story he told me,” babbles an excited Strummer. “Rock ‘n’ roll was discovered in a coffee break! Back in Sam Phillips’ studio, Elvis and his band had about 17 takes of some old country song so Sam Phillips goes ‘Take Five!’ which means coffee break.

“So they take five and Bill Black puts down his bass, Scotty Moore puts down his guitar, and DJ Fontana chucks down his brushes. Then just to pass the time, Elvis starts singing this Big Boy Cruddop song “That’s Alright Mama” that this black guy had taught him.

“He was strumming it out in the coffee break ’cause he didn’t want to waste valuable studio time. Meanwhile, Sam Phillips’ eyes were popping out! He reached straight for the record button and from then on they concentrated on rock ‘n’ roll. The country stuff went out of the window!”

Moving a little more up to date, Joe is pessimistic about the current crop of British bands. The only groups that kindle his interest are the 2-Tone groups, namely The Specials, Madness and The Selector, and even then Joe has his reservations, mostly concerning their dependence on cover versions instead of original material.

“I used to love going to gigs. My whole ideal of living is to put on some natty dread clothes, go along to a show, have a beer and dig the show. But I can’t stand what’s on show at the moment. Every week I scan the sheets, look at the bills and reject them.”

But Joe finishes on a message of hope.

“It’s going to be better. The harder Margaret Thatcher sets in, the more benefits you’ll see for rock ‘n’ roll.”

Not to mention Bob Geldof or The Police.

Smash Hits, December 1979

LIFE’S A RAT’S LIFE IN THE DAMNED

Boys! Lack confidence when girls are around? Your tongue gets twisted when you stumble up to her in a disco? All your buddies seem to pull but you can never get past sticky stutter syndrome?

There is a solution y’know. Join The Damned! (It’s a man’s life etc.)

See, Rat Scabies was just like you. Listen . . .

“I used to go to discos, meet a bird and ask her for a dance. They’d usually say no or have one dance and then sneak off. I never went out with a girl. But now . . . . “

Now Rat ‘meets’ girls all the time. He’s got a neat line in introductions – “‘Ullo, my name’s Rat, ‘oo are you?” Either their hearts flutter and melt, or they snigger and spurn his advances. Usually they melt.

“Did you see those badges they had made up,” inquires Rat, “They were called ‘I’ve Had Scabies’.”

The Damned were front runners in the old days. The first punk outfit to release a single, ‘New Rose’ on Stiff, the first independent; It was Rat who instigated the break up when he quit after the band had released their second album, “Music For Pleasure”.

“I got bored with it all and I certainly wasn’t happy with the situation. Oh sure, it was great being a pop star at first – but it ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. It got to the stage where I couldn’t go out in public.

“In fact, it all got so violent I wasn’t even able to go down my local boozer. I took a girlfriend down the Hope and Anchor one night and she got glassed in the face by someone who had a grudge against me.

“And I got beaten up twice through no fault of my own. But I was drunk both times, so maybe it was my fault. I can’t remember now.”

Good enough reasons to opt out – but there was more to it than cuts and bruises.

“The songs were rotten too,” he moans. Brian James, who wrote most of the songs, had achieved his aim and, in my mind, dried up. We seemed to have gone as far as we could musically. After all, you can only take a nurse’s uniform so far,” (referring to Captain Sensible’s taste in fancy dress).

“And our reputations were getting out of hand. I was being accused of the most ridiculous things, like blowing up entire audiences.”

So Rat left a seemingly doomed Damned in search of individual fame. For three months he was holed up in a hallway in a mate’s flat. But Rat passed the time sensibly by learning to play guitar.

“I needed to get completely away from the rock world. I thought I was gonna have a nervous breakdown. My whole personal defence mechanism decided it was time for me to call it a day.”

But as time passed Rat found it increasingly difficult to ignore the call of the wild. So one morning he walked down the hall and formed Whitecats. Short lived, they finally went kaput around the same time as one Captain Sensible lifted a telephone receiver somewhere in London and dialled Rat’s number.

“He had this band called King but that wasn’t working out either. So he had decided he wanted to work with me again. He came down, we had a walk around the block and agreed to do a tour.

“The only problem was – who could we get as a singer? We looked around, but came to the conclusion that the best we could get was Dave Vanian.”

You remember Vanian – the white faced, the black suited warrior who prowled in front of the original Damned like a rabid Count Dracula. And with the addition of ex-Saints bassist Alisdair Ward, the new, improved Damned or Doomed as they called themselves, were formed.

The name Doomed was quickly dropped and to celebrate their rebirth a single ‘Love Song’ was released on a new label (Chiswick) and it proved to be The Damned’s biggest hit to date.

“We then toured the States and in New York played a disco, which was gay to boot! But we packed it out every night.”

Now the band have just finished recording an album and the new single, ‘Smash It Up’, has just been released.

Although Rat didn’t have a hand in writing the single its title is an appropriate description of one side of his character. He thinks nothing of smashing up his most prized possessions when the mood takes him.

“When I split up with my girlfriend I threw all the chairs in the living room through the window. You can always put in a new window but you can’t put in a new face – that’s why I seldom give vent to my anger on people.

“I like breaking up things that mean the most to me, especially when they cost a lot of money.

“I ripped apart stereos, TV’s, guitars. The other week I set fire to my publicist’s office. I guess I must have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage over the years.”

Rat doesn’t miss his girlfriend now.

“I got over it in a week. It’s great now cos it’s just like being on tour all the time. There’s none of that worrying when you’re drunk having to face the missus when you get home. There’s nobody to moan at you and ask what you’ve been up to.

“I’ve been getting drunk a lot recently. It’s getting bad cos I wake up in the morning’s feeling really bad.

“But that won’t last long. Next week I’ll be wearing a kaftan and eating health food. I’m sampling everything that comes along.”

Isn’t Rat worried that it all might get too much for him like it did before?

“You get to know the dangers and when they’re near, like when you start shaking in the morning. My attitude has changed now. You get used to people staring at you. You stay in the places where you’re known. Take things in your stride.

“I’m not going to fall into the old rock star’s trap, y’know, here’s yer big house, yer chauffeur, yer drugs. See, I never forget I’m just a product. I regard myself as being throwaway. Pop music is a product like toilet rolls, it’s here today and gone tomorrow.

“But don’t get me wrong. I sincerely believe in what I and The Damned are doing. The band’s machine gun etiquette will never die.

“We have got a lot to say – and we say it fast.”

Smash Hits, October 1979

SMASH HITS MEETS SECRET AFFAIR

“You lookin’ at me boy
You tryin’ to match my stare
Don’t you know I’m a glory boy
I could cut you down by combing my hair”

Ian Page

So sings Ian Page of Secret Affair. cool, huh? In fact about the coolest, neatest way of winning a teenage street corner confrontation you could possibly imagine. A clean KO without even loosening your tie. Great.

Of course that’s not the way things really happen for you and me, but Secret Affair have that quality shared by the best pop groups of being able to put their finger on the pulse of your dreams. For three minutes life is that slick and you are the youth with the 007 comb.

Yes, Secret Affair have that mystery ingredient ‘style’. But it’s a style that might come as a surprise following a decade of denim and a couple of years of bondage pants. Smart suits in the forefront of youth culture and rebellion???

Yet mod seems to be happening and, on the basis of a sensational gig at Canvey Island in Essex and an irresistible single in “Time For Action”, I’m convinced Secret Affair are hot, no matter what becomes of the rest of the mod bands.

Perhaps it’s like this. The punk followers made a lot of extravagant claims and wore wild clothes but when the excitement died down not all that much had changed except, significantly, the rise of independent labels. But the powerful people were still the businessmen in suits. So maybe this time if you take over their clothes . . .

Secret Affair are certainly that serious about mod. Fierce independence has been their theme since Ian, 19, and guitarist Dave Cairns, 20, formed the band by advertising in the music press for a drummer and bassist who “must have a grudge against the music business”.

Seb Shelton (drums) and Dennis Smith (bass), who’d had unhappy and unsuccessful experiences with the Young Bucks and Advertising respectively, filled the bill with their ability to turn bitterness into positive action.

Ian and Dave’s past horror stories are from the New Hearts, their first ever group. Though barely out of their nappies musically speaking, they were signed up by CBS and got as far as releasing a couple of singles and touring as support to The Jam.

But that was more frustration than glory. Dave lamented: “We got involved with the wrong manager, the wrong deals, wrong everything.”

Ian: “There we were in our neat ’60s clothes knocking out Who-type numbers but we got pushed into powerpop, which was solely a creation of the record companies, not the fans, and that lost us credibility. It finished us.”

Back home in Ilford for a year while getting out of various contracts, they re-thought their whole approach and became the hard-nosed operators frowning across the Canvey dressing-room. They decided on self-management. They launched their own label, I-Spy, linking it with Arista for marketing and distribution only.

Ian: “It means they can’t choose what we release or when we release it. We paid all the recording costs ourselves rather than asking a company for a big advance which would take ages to pay back. We got a loan from our publisher on the understanding that if we didn’t return it in 60 days he’d sue us. We took the gamble because we knew ‘Time For Action’ was good.”

TIME FOR ACTION

Dave: “Managing yourself is quite easy so far. When it gets heavy we’ll pay people to look after various aspects of it. But we’re not going to give away 25 per cent of all our earnings and our creative control into the bargain the way we did before.”

They are so sure of themselves that they have now signed another mod band, Squire, to I-Spy and financed their first single. In fact the interview was interrupted by a five-minute commercial break while Dave gave me the full sales talk about his proteges like any other eager-beaver young businessman.

All very impressive up to a point but it makes you wonder whether their long-term aims are entries in the Top Twenty or the Financial Times.

However, Secret Affair emphasise that the business side was just a necessary chore.

Ian: “We want to create music you could dance to without losing the . . . aggression is too rough a word. It’s commitment. Our music is ordered. A Tamla dance beat with contemporary lyrics and guitar sound.”

Dave: “It’s cool, precise, good pop.”

Ian: “Mod isn’t stopping anyone being angry but there are different ways of expressing it. You can rant and rave like punk or you can make thoughtful comments and hopefully be understood better.

“You can be much more sussed. Not ‘no future’ but ‘no future unless we do something about it’. The most important thing about mod is individuality. We aren’t saying you can beat the system: no-one can. But you can change your own world within it.”

Having said that, Secret Affair made further contradictions by denying any connections between Secret Affair and politics, and then claiming that they function as some kind of mouthpiece for working-class youth.

As Ian sees it: “One of the things about a movement like this is that the kids who follow it are working-class. They can’t say what they want always, but we can express it for them. Really, we write our songs because they live their lives.”

Phew! This from lads who left school at 16, mind.

“We are rejecting imposed values. So that a kid whose school won’t train him for anything but bricklaying might decide he will do something different. Then on stage we celebrate one another’s ideas, us and the audience. That’s why there’s no class division in mod. We are unified. The suits take away the difference between kids.”

Eh? What about your important individualism then?

“We still aim to look better than each other, better than everybody else.”

Er, so you can have ‘unity’ in competition, even though it means the majority inevitably end up losing? To have some looking sharp means others looking blunt by contrast surely . . . but maybe I was letting Secret Affair’s intensity draw me into treating their opinions as if they were a party manifesto.

Ian quoted a Who song: “I have to be careful not to preach, I can’t pretend that we can teach.”

Secret Affair’s best arguments are stated on stage and in musical form. They talk the way they talk, tough and bolshie, because they got messed about at school (they wouldn’t let Ian study music) and they got messed about in their first bands. What’s more, Ian was trying to give up smoking which may have deepened the frown.

They’ve all been through failure and a spell on the breadline. Now they are bursting with a lust for achievement – an album in October, a tour with Squire to follow, more hits and a second album already partly written and planned to show much more of the musical breadth (Ian and Dave can add brass and keyboards to their current stock-in-trade).

You wanna know what I think, he said boldly as if he was a glory boy himself, Secret Affair will be as big as Boomtown Rats by next year – that’s what

(Smash Hits, September 1979)

DAVID HEPWORTH MEETS PAUL, RICK AND BRUCE

It’s August 1979 and this is The Modern World. The Who are back in action for the first time in years, their films are on release, and Modrophenia has taken over the capital.

Crop-haired boys in parkas, Fred Perry shirts and target designs weave reconditioned scooters in and out of the London traffic in hot pursuit of ska and The Specials, R&B and The Little Roosters, hard pop and The Chords, and anything sharp in the clothes line.

They plan bank holiday weekends at the coast, they watch old swinging ’60s movies on the box late at night.

Just ask any of these young men in a hurry who they really rate and it’s an expensive three-piece made-to-measure mohair suit to a discarded Clash tee-shirt that’ll fix you with eyes wide with reverence and say, “Paul Weller . . . The Jam!”

It’s common knowledge these days that the current mod mania grew from a hardcore of The Jam’s keenest fans who got together to travel to Paris to see their idols, and discovered a shared enthusiasm for all things mid-’60s.

When The Jam played at the London Rainbow a few months back, The Chords were among the support bands, when they had previously been among the audience, and the place was packed to the roof with reborn mods. They seemed to have appeared from nowhere to form a ready made cult.

Paul Weller sits high above London in the Polydor building listening to a test press of the band’s new single, “When You’re Young”.

He is wary, a mite suspicious of interviews although not unfriendly.

His suit, his shoes, his feathery haircut, they’re all very neat indeed. Just so. The Godfather of the New Mod muses on the time four years back when he first connected with the style of dress and life.

“Course, I don’t remember the original mods at all. I was much too young when all that happened. I suppose I was just attracted to the style of it all.”

So it was just the clothes, was it?

“That was part of it, but there was the music as well, ” offers Bruce Foxton.

The music that they actually connected with came from old Who, Small Faces and Kinks singles, as well as the thousands of old soul singles on the Tamla Motown and Stax labels.

Paul and Bruce reminisce about the old Woking days before they broke into the London circuit, when they would do the rounds of the working men’s clubs and lunchtime pubs playing old soul standards, Motown dance numbers, anything that could earn them a few quid.

The audiences weren’t in the least interested, so they didn’t complain when Weller started to throw in more and more of his own songs.

But the obsession with mod music didn’t fizzle out there. The band’s first album included their version of “Batman”, a song The Who had once recorded, while Wilson Pickett’s soul classic, “In The Midnight Hour”, found its way on to the album, “This Is The Modern World”.

Unlike many established outfits, who see all new acts as competition, The Jam haven’t forgotten how hard it was for them when they started. They take pains to encourage new bands, even those who blatantly rip off their own style, material and approach.

I ask Weller what he thinks of the recent spate of mod bands and Jam lookalikes.

“I like some of them. There’s some really good bands around, but it’s pointless calling them mods or anything else.”

I ask them to name names. Paul expresses admiration for The Specials, but both slither out of nominating further examples, not wishing to see any band get tagged as “Jam proteges”.

(A few nights later I walked into The Music Machine and saw Bruce mixing the sound for a excellent young band called The Vapors. Nothing escapes my eagle eye.)

“I like nearly all the new bands,” says Paul Weller generously. “I like it all except all this electronic lot. Can’t bear all that stuff.”

I switch the tape machine off briefly while they discuss their opinions of Tubeway Army. Suffice to say that they’re not Gary Numan’s biggest fans.

Rick Buckler arrives, unzips a can of beer and conversation wanders back to their early involvement in the hard core punk scene.

Smash Hits has, in recent issues, carried interviews with John Lydon and Jimmy Pursey, both of them full of fury about their differing views of the sad state of the “scene”.

Do The Jam feel particularly disillusioned about the present state of affairs?

Weller gets nearly angry: “We never really thought of ourselves as part of any movement, the punk thing or anything else. We played The Roxy a couple of times in the old days and it was just full of posers drinking halves of lager at forty five pence and hanging around the bar looking at each other.

“But the thing is that the people who moan about the death of it all are the same ones who never do any gigs, who never do anything. All they do is sit around and moan. Now, we’ve just had about a month off and that’s been our first break for well over a year.”

The Jam’s schedule starts again in earnest soon. Back into the studio to cut a fourth album, then another major tour in order to play to the paying public like they always promised they would do.

They’re all concerned about the increasing difficulty of finding venues of a reasonable size where the audience can stand and dance without fear of bouncers.

Although they’ve already played a couple of large scale festivals, they’re determined not to repeat the experience, even going as far as to turn down a very lucrative offer to support The Who at Wembley Stadium.

“These sort of things,” says Weller emphatically, “are just run in the old ways and they’ve just got to change. You can’t do those things anymore.”

Rick Buckler admits that closing your eyes to the problems of being an in-demand live act isn’t going to make them go away. “In this country you can keep the lid on it by playing a lot. On the other hand you can say ‘we’re not going to work’, and then when you do play there’s so many people who want to see you that you have to stick ’em in a field and play to them all at once.

“See, on the last tour we tried to do all stand-up gigs and so we went to the universities, and that didn’t work because half the kids couldn’t get in because they weren’t students.”

There seems to be a solid core of principle in The Jam. They’re unlikely to spin you a controversial line in order to pick up a load of publicity.

They have their own circle of trusted associates. Their manager is Paul’s father John (“the thing about having your family involved is that at least you can trust them”), their fan club is run by his sister Nicky, and there don’t appear to be any music business smoothies in their entourage.

They currently have the germ of an idea for a label of their own, a label which will give opportunities to new bands that they particularly like. They politely fend off any attempts to find out who those bands might be.

“We want to do it properly and so there’s no point in us saying anything about it until we’re ready to get on with it,” argues Bruce. “We don’t want to do it like Pursey.”

That’s right. Being The Jam, I expect they’ll take care of business first.

Smash Hits, August 1979

JIMMY PURSEY TALKS TO SMASH HITS

Jimmy Pursey has a word for it. Actually he’s got a great many words to say about everything, most of them unprintable, but the particular word I mean is “Diddle-o”.

You won’t find it in a dictionary. Instead, the good book will probably come up with something like, “Confused: thrown into disorder, mixed up.” That’s diddle-o.

If you ever stop to think about anything at all seriously then you’re almost bound to go diddle-o from time to time. And although he didn’t admit it in his interview with Danny Baker in last issue’s Smash Hits, it seems obvious to me that John Lydon is as diddle-o as any of us.

So let’s all unite for once in our diddle-o-ness and try to sort something out. Like, for instance, why is it that two of the most prominent characters to emerge out of the punk movement can’t seem to agree about anything and invariably attack one another in print?

And why it is that Jimmy ‘If The Kids Are United’ Sham has his most loyal following amongst lunkhead lurchers who hate, as in HATE, nearly everybody except themselves.

The only thing a certain section of Sham fans seem to want to unite is their boot with somebody else’s head. It’s that kind of moronic stupidity that starts Jim’s head reeling.

“The more you believe in something,” Pursey says, “the more chance there is of you either going nuts or killing yourself. Because you think you can change something and the odds are you can’t. Not quickly, anyway. Half the time, the opposite happens.

“That time I took all those drugs, I was chasing myself, running round in circles thinking WHY WON’T PEOPLE LISTEN!!! I was going diddle-o. I couldn’t stand it any more. I was so close to death that time, I said to myself, never, ever again will I go through that.

“Also, what a lot of people don’t understand, I was having a bad time in myself. I’ve never actually spoken about this before but my insides ain’t all that good. That’s why I’m so skinny. I’ve been cut up,” he explained, baring a scarred belly for inspection.

“Me whatsit burst and blew me guts apart,” he continued. “I’ve got a load of ulcers in there and I still get terrible pains sometimes. But the kids don’t see that side of you, they just see a cardboard cut-out, not a human being.

“But anyway, that was another aggravation on top of all the berks who don’t listen to a word you’re saying. That’s why I’ve tried to step back and be a bit calmer.

“Most people walk out of rock ‘n’ roll either skint, pilled up to the eyeballs or nutty as a fruitcake. I want to walk out with a few bob in me pocket, sane, and still a human being. That’s the most important thing.”

Jimmy Pursey

There are several people around who will tell you that Jimmy Pursey has never been sane in his life and is still running around in circles going diddle-o, among them, it would seem, the aforementioned John Lydon.

The week before I interviewed Jimmy Pursey, John and his new cronies had publicly sneered at him in an interview in NME, then of course in last issue’s Smash Hits interview he had another go, saying, “Groups like Sham 69 are so well liked because they just fulfil their ‘rebel’ role . . . that’s no threat.”

Jimmy had already answered that particular remark before it was ever made.

“You know why they’re mouthing off about me, doncha? he grinned. “they’re as jealous as fuck, that’s why. Because I did the ultimate. I came across with what punk was supposed to be about and they didn’t. Punk is a positive force, not a threat? I don’t want to be a threat to anybody. Why should I be a threat? We’ve all got too many people threatening us every day of the week already.

“Punk is about cutting down barriers, not threatening people. I wanna bring the kids together. I have only ever said ‘kids UNITE’.

“Let’s bring the disco kids with the Zeppelin kids with the skinheads with the Hell’s Angels . . . let’s all get together. That’s punk.

“But if you listen to that shit (Lydon), he’ll say he’s a punk rocker one day, then next thing he’s saying it’s a load of shit, rock ‘n’ roll’s dead, disco music is best. Now what is ‘e trying to cause? Eh? Is he trying to set one lot of kids against another? He’s all full of shit.”

Now let’s stop and consider for a minute. On the one hand we have Jimmy Pursey, Esq. Jimmy’s got a lot of mouth (the few quotes here are just a tiny part of a non-stop, two hour rap) and, by his own admission, nearly every time he opens it he makes an idiot of himself.

That’s because he’s honest and, like most of us, he’s no genius and he’s naive about a lot of things. But then, as another gent recently observed, it’s better to be mugs than smug. Probably.

Jimmy has also got a lot of bottle, a lot of heart and he’s absolutely sincere in his determination to carry on the punk ethic, which he sees as basic, spontaneous rock ‘n’ roll by “the kids”, for “the kids”.

Unfortunately, nearly every time he presses button A, up pops reaction B. When he can’t understand why, it hurts.

Now on the other hand we have John Lydon, Esq. According to Danny Baker, John – or rather, Public Image as a whole – have “brains, humour and integrity.” Fine. Except that when you read what John has to say for himself he comes across as a cynic with no great intellectual capacity than the average wally, and his track record to date suggests nothing more than an undying commitment to himself.

He was in The Sex Pistols for laughs: he thinks that rock ‘n’ roll has been dead for years; he has more or less disassociated himself from anything to do with punk; and he’s now in a group that makes obscure music for itself and self alone.

Perversely, there’s a lot to be said for that attitude as well. The more you play something for laughs, the less likely you are to go round the twist; the more you disassociate yourself from causes, the less likely you are to find yourself being hailed as some kind of guru; the more selfish you are, whether musically or any other way, the less likely you are to be trapped by convention.

But take it too far and you might as well give up pretending that you’re part of the human race.

Verdict? It wouldn’t do either of them any harm to stop bitching and learn something from one another.

I’ll leave it to your imagination what John might learn from Jimmy. As for Jimmy learning something from John, well, despite what he said about stepping back and being a bit calmer, Mr P has still got a very heavy schedule ahead of him – involving his JP Production work with numerous protege groups, his newly formed alliance with Paul Cook and Steve Jones, and his intense desire to see some changes made.

Perhaps too intense. Ease up, Jimmy. One thing at a time and don’t expect miracles. Folk don’t take too kindly to being preached at. They tend to either ignore what you say or go and do the exact opposite. It’s enough to send you diddle-o

Smash Hits, August 1979

SMASH HITS CHECK OUT THE GREAT PRETENDERS

Thirty five feet above London’s Floral Street – where Pan’s People used to rehearse – the Great Pretender, Chrissie Hynde, is checking out her more off-beat fan letters.

“A really good record,” says one fan, in a spidery scrawl completely devoid of punctuation, “it’s s good song and it has a really good beat . . . “

Chrissie winces and mutters a curse when the fan tells her that she has “lovely eyes”, that her lips are “nice” and that, in his opinion, she has “tender hands”.

More to the point: “I like very much the tight fitting black trousers you wore, they were so nice, so neat, you dress neatly. I think you’re really nice and a sexy today girl.”

Interesting – the observation about tight fitting black trousers. Ms Hynde does plan her wardrobe carefully. (She is wearing these same black trousers today. They are plastic and split about the knees.)

Her stage ‘costume’ reflects her fascination with jockeys. (As a kid, Chrissie was horse mad and still dreams of getting her own horse somebody.)

“I always thought jockeys had a certain style,” she explains. “They just look great, they dress real good. So I like, chose some colours and traditional designs and had them made up into jockey shirts . . . “

Her stage outfit also includes the jockey cap – the removal of which, part way through The Pretenders set, reveals an attractive head of hair which Chrissie always cuts herself.

“I just wash my hair and leave it,” she says. “I don’t even dry it with a dryer. The other guys do, though!”

Pete Farndon, the bass player, even uses an iron when out on the road – or so he claims!

Chrissie, however, is the only one in the band who wears make-up: “Just the bare minimum, ya know – even when going down the postbox!”

The Pretenders had just completed the fourth date on their current British tour; audiences so far – at that point they had only played the North – have been small but delirious. Chrissie relishes relating particular incidents.

“I TRIED TO KICK HIM IN THE HEAD”

“One gig we played, I had this guy ‘gobbing’ – or, as I prefer to call it, ‘spitting’ – at me. I asked him to stop it, but he didn’t so I tried to kick him in the head. He grabbed me by the boot and pulled me into the audience . . .

“But I kept playing on – I didn’t stop playing.

“I eventually made my way back up on stage and we finished the set; he was removed from the premises after Pete had jumped off stage and given him a few wacks with his bass.”

Farndon, who’d just rolled up on his Triumph Bonneville motorbike, entered and, pulling up a chair, added dryly: “I went walkabout in the audience!”

Ah! Life on the road.

Backstage after a show the fans are pretty shy when they get to meet the band face to face.

“Most of the time we have to think of things to say to get any conversation going,” Farndon explains, adding that, to date, in the way of presents, he has received a pint of beer; “while on stage it was thrown all over me.”

Meanwhile Chrissie got given a whole bottle of vodka the other night – not to mention a book on The Kinks!

“Also I met a girl the other day who came backstage, she told me her brother was a jockey and also that she would send me her rosettes from showjumping which she had won.” Chrissie was obviously pleased by this so I hope she gets those rosettes!

When they’re travelling between gigs – in a Transit minibus – the band have a kind of running battle about who gets to play what on the cassette machine. Chrissie herself doesn’t care much either way – preferring to close herself off behind a detective novel.

James Honeyman-Scott, the guitarist, listens to Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds non-stop, while Pete Farndon opts for his own compilation cassettes of old singles so that he can pretend he’s listening to the radio and fall asleep dreaming he’s back in 1964.

Time for a little ‘background’ though. Pete Farndon (bass), James Honeyman-Scott (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Martin Chambers (drums) are all from Hereford.

Chrissie Hynde, on the other hand, is American. She hails from Akron, Ohio – home of Devo, Rachel Sweet and the American rubber industry.

She came here in 1974 and, after working as a rock journalist for a while, became involved in a series of short-lived bands with folks like Mick Jones of The Clash, some of The Damned, and, it has been claimed elsewhere, the Pistols . . . having decided upon a musical career at the tender age of three.

She subsequently helped out as a backup vocalist on sessions for Chris (“Motor Bikin”) Spedding and Johnny Thunders (of Heartbreakers fame.)

Originally, back in 1974, Nick Lowe had wanted to take her out on tour with him as an extra guitarist and backup vocalist, but she’d been unable to do so because of an earlier contract.

Instead, Lowe ended up producing The Pretenders’ debut hit single “Stop Your Sobbing” – a 1964 Ray Davies (of The Kinks) composition.

The current single, “Kid” (a Chrissie Hynde composition) and a forthcoming album are produced by Roxy Music and Pistols maestro Chris Thomas.

Despite Cliff White’s somewhat sour review of “Kid”, we at Smash Hits add our good wishes to those of the aforementioned ‘tight trouser’ fan:

“I wish you good luck with your future records and dates.”

Even though, with The Pretenders’ talent and sharp wits, we don’t reckon they’ll be needing it much.

Smash Hits, August 1979

Siouxsie & the Banshees

IN WHICH IAN CRANNA TRIES TO FATHOM

“I became more positive when I was in a band towards what I wanted to do, which was to be a singer and writer. Before I was in a band, I knew what I didn’t want to do – which was everything offered to me, that was available to me. And then the band just happened.”

The husky tones voicing the frustrations of so many kids these days belongs to Siouxsie of Siouxsie & the Banshees.

They’re an odd lot, that bunch, and I never know quite what to make of them. On one hand, I respect their distaste for the music business “establishment”. I also greatly admire the way they try to control as much as possible, from artwork to security at gigs.

On the other hand, I sometimes share the impression of people like our very own Cliff White that their music – however well intentioned – seems misguided, more a question of artificial form rather than heart-and-soul content. But then again, I found “The Scream” a strangely compelling album that I went back to over and over again.

Siouxsie, Steve Severin and myself are sitting in the interview room in the London offices of Polydor Records. As four strong contributing individuals, the band like to do interviews together but Kenny Morris and John Mackay haven’t turned up. Siouxsie and Steve are polite but distant, difficult to assess as they give nothing away nor make any attempt to be friendly.

They view the music press as elitist, pompous and pretentious and, to quote Siouxsie “just worms in the earth”. (An understandable point of view, I admit, though with their professed respect for the individual, I do think they might make some attempt to distinguish the good writers from the bad!)

You probably know their history by now – how the band just “happened”, to quote Siouxsie again, one night at the 100 Club in London in 1976. The much publicised Bromley Contingent, however, is dismissed by Siouxsie as a creation of the press. “It was just some friends that knew each other really,” she says, “that went to gigs together because they lived near each other.”

Was the beginning of the band really that spontaneous?

“The first gig, yeah,” Siouxsie replies. “A one-off, without really thinking of the future or anything, just of the time – which is still the same. I mean, people say what are you going to be doing in two years time, and where are you going to march off to? We don’t know – we only know what we’re doing at the moment.”

With one subsequent personnel change – John Mackay replacing P.T. Fenton – the band stuck together, bonded by a common idea of trying to use the music business without being affected by it. A worthy aim, you might think, but not all of the early publicity was favourable. There was, for instance, much written about wearing of the swastika by Siouxsie.

Determined as ever, Siouxsie still denies she regrets wearing it, ” . . . because I wore it to show the thing up and not support it, and it was very much a shock tactic.

“And to an extent,” she continues, “the swastika was – as I said I was very negative and knew what I didn’t want to do, and now I’m more positive and I don’t feel the need to wear a swastika any more.”

Personally I still think that wearing the swastika – the dreadful symbol of the murder of millions of Jews, gays and other minorities as well as the deaths of countless other innocents in the war – is repulsive and just plain irresponsible. But whatever, the band successfully survived the unwelcome publicity to reward their faithful following with a hit single in the form of ‘Hong Kong Garden.’ An impressive debut album in ‘The Scream’ followed shortly after. Siouxsie & the Banshees had arrived.

The direct opposite of self-proclaimed “good time” bands like The Damned, Siouxsie & the Banshees collective refusal to commit themselves to anything that they regard as shallow has earned them a strong image as loners and outsiders. Was this deliberate?

“No!” chorus Siouxsie and Steve in protest. “We haven’t put across what we feel,” Siouxsie claims.

“We’re always getting tagged as being bleak and dismal,” Siouxsie complains.

“You should hear ‘Jigsaw’ on the disco,” Steve comments. “It’s hardly dismal.”

Dismal or not, Siouxsie and the Banshees have found their uncompromising attitude also has its price tag. They’ve been banned, for example, from venues in Newcastle and Middlesbrough for trying to protect their fans from unnecessary attentions of bouncers.

The band also claim they’ve been blacklisted from Radio One’s “Round Table” programme after Siouxsie had made some outspoken remarks on it.

Another area of controversy where the band have encountered opposition has been their decision to release a German lyric version of ‘Mittageisen’ (the album track) as a single in Germany.

‘Mittageisen’ was inspired by the photographs of anti-Nazi propagandist John Heartfield – one of which has been used as the sleeve for the single – and the war is still a very sensitive topic in Germany. This single has already cost the band one TV appearance in Germany.

Undeterred, the band have gone ahead with the single, using an old recording of ‘Love In A Void’ as the ‘B’ side. Initially it will only be available in this country as an import, though Siouxsie tells us that Polydor will be releasing it here later in the year.

Meanwhile the band have of course a new single released in this country. Already in the charts, ‘Playground Twist’ has lyrics by Siouxsie and, according to her, is a song about looking at life in general as a playground. The ‘B’ side, by the way, is called ‘Pulled To Bits’ and not ‘Pull To Bits’ as on the label.

The single’s distinctive sleeve, incidentally, is a painting of a playground done by a mentally handicapped child from Kuwait. The band borrowed it from a London exhibition. (They’ve also recently done a fund raising concert for the mentally handicapped.)

Still on the subject of vinyl, the band have also finished recording their new album ‘Join Hands’. The tracks include ‘Regal Zone’, ‘Poppy Days’, ‘Placebo Effect’, ‘Icon’, ‘Playground Twist’, ‘Mother’ ‘Premature Burial’ and a 13 minute version of their live show highlight, ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.

With artwork by a friend of Kenny’s, the album will be released around the middle of August.

“Four individuals making one unit. Which is not just four individuals doing what they want without regard for anything else that’s in the band, it’s four individuals doing what they want with regard.” That’s how Siouxsie defines Siouxsie & the Banshees. Strangely strange but oddly normal.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to go and play ‘The Scream’ again . . .

Smash Hits, July 1979

Poly Styrene

SMASH HITS MEET POLY STYRENE

Like a lot of females on the scene, Poly Styrene seems to be known less for her music and more for her offstage activities. When X-Ray Spex broke out of the punk pack in 1978, largely by dint of their leading lady’s very special talent, Poly became something of an overnight celebrity.

Poly’s pictures, Poly’s opinions, Poly’s fashions have turned up in numerous publications. Earlier this year, the BBC made her the subject of an hour-long TV documentary.

It’s common knowledge that all that sudden fame, and the pressures that came with it, caused her to suffer some kind of nervous breakdown.

She’s yet to live down stories that appeared in the press at the time when she said she’d been visited by pink flying saucers.

Then at Christmas the NME dug up an old publicity shot of her from 1976 when she was signed to GTO Records, the people who brought you The Dooleys among others. It showed her with a more wholesome-looking pop image (without the famous braces), publicising a slight little pop ditty called ‘Silly Billy’. She was known then by her real name, Mari(on) Elliott.

Seems that everywhere Poly turns these days, the past is eagerly trying to catch up with her.

Yet in person she seems relaxed about most things. Talking to Poly is a bit like watching someone who isn’t really hungry pick their way through a meal. She listens as you talk about music or image, and then just adds a few words here and there.

She says now that she hasn’t any earthshaking theories to pass on. She seems to be having enough trouble talking about herself. On the subject of her breakdown and stories that still circulate, she sighs.

“It’s just me growing up isn’t it. It’s me going from 17 to 21. Everyone does some funny things then. It’s just made more difficult by having every thought you think written down and printed in a newspaper. I’d rather be home alone all day trying to write a song than sitting here where I feel self-conscious about every word I say.”

PIANO LESSONS

Writing songs is predominantly what Poly has been up to in recent weeks. She’s been taking formal piano lessons to enable her to read and write music properly. This won’t affect how she teaches the band her songs. It will not even affect what she writes.

It just makes things easier. I pointed out to her that some songwriters, like Paul McCartney, don’t want to learn to read or write music in case it changes what they create.

“It’s not a case of learning what’s right or wrong to play, being able to write the notes down just takes up less time. It’s coming to me quite readily. But also, I think there’s a difference between having to learn to do something when you’re a kid, and wanting to learn something when you’re older.”

Poly says she’s fairly lazy, so she has deliberately set aside time where she just plops herself down at a piano.

She’s made it clear to all that her music will change from album to album. Though she’s now outgrown the plastic obsessions that came through songs like ‘The Day The World Turned Dayglo’ and ‘Identity’, she finds it difficult to pinpoint exactly what sound she’s creating at the moment.

“Visual words . . . she says quietly, that’s the best way to describe the new songs. I’m stringing together groups of words that sound quite nice together. They create a picture.”

Do the songs tell a story or make sense in a conventional manner?

“No, not really. But, I know what you’re getting at.” She continues, “The new songs are not totally abstract. I’ll admit that there are a few which will probably only make sense to me. But I want to leave a kind of feeling of mystery. It’s more important to me that you find what you want in my songs rather than me telling you exactly what is what.”

Despite her image, which seems to preoccupy most writers, Poly feels that music is more effective in the long run.

“I STILL LOVE THE BEATLES”

“I grew up with a radio long before I went to concerts. I didn’t know what half the groups looked like. I didn’t always remember the names of the groups who did the songs I liked. But you quickly recognised something you liked, by the sound. I still love The Beatles.

“These days, when I’m writing, I tend to get up at mid-day. I play music for whatever mood I’m in. At the moment, my favourites are The Beach Boys and a very old Aretha Franklin album from when she was about 18.

“Sometimes I buy records when a weird sleeve catches my eye, but usually you lose out on those. I like buying old records.”

Poly doesn’t envisage doing too much promotion on the new X-Ray Spex single ‘Highly Inflammable’. touring is not her favourite pastime.

“It really can get to you sometime when you sense that all the audience wants is the same heavy rhythm over and over again.

“The new stuff I’m writing is more relaxed, which may come off better on an album than live. I get more pleasure from writing than seeing a roomful of boys jumping up and down.”

She shies away from questions about her private life. “I always think most performers lead boring private lives and therefore they are best kept private.” she sighs without mentioning whether she includes herself in this generalization.

These days, she’s given up the flat she shared with a friend in Chelsea. After a period living back home with her mum in Brixton, she now lives in the basement flat in Fulham of her manager Falcon Stuart.

We moved into the silly queries division. Is that her real hair? At first she looks stunned at the question. Then she laughs. “Why would anyone think it isn’t.”

When are the braces coming off? “May 4th or so”, she comments emotionlessly.

I point out that some people will be devastated.

Seeing that the questions have slowed to a natural stop, she sums herself up with a casual shrug of the shoulders, “I’m so uninteresting.”

Okay, she may not be a glamorous poseur when it comes to musical small talk, but when it comes to social observation in musical rhyme, Ms Metalmouth still says a masterful mouthful.

Smash Hits, April 1979

The Undertones

IF THIS IS TUESDAY, IT MUST BE BLACKBURN

Dressing rooms look the same everywhere. Basement or attic, broom cupboard or spacious suite, they may try but they never manage to look clean. The Wolverhampton Civic Hall on a Monday night is no exception.

Fluorescent tubes throw a dingy light over the room and its contents – a table with half eaten sandwiches and flat beer, guitars on top of their cases, this morning’s papers, some dogeared paperbacks and Feargal Sharkey, Mickey Bradley, Billy Doherty, Damian O’Neill and his brother John, otherwise known as The Undertones, one of the great white hopes of rock and roll.

Only this morning the band were in Derry, savouring the last hours of a few days rest. The Undertones are not fond of touring.

The steady boom from the hall below indicates that The Killermeters are still on stage. As the noise finally subsides, Feargal changes into his stage clothes. He puts his cigarette down, peels off his bright red polo neck to reveal a Clash T-shirt washed out of shape, and sits down again. Ready.

Over in the corner Damian and John plug their guitars into a small practice amp and tune up, ending ears close to the speaker. Billy taps his sticks on the back of a chair while Mickey picks out the bass line of Gary Glitter’s ‘Rock And Roll’, one of tonight’s planned encores.

Feargal recalls a night in New York the other week when they wound up doing a whole hour of oldies – Slade songs, T. Rex song, Stones songs.

Andy, their manager, is concerned that they’re going on stage too early. “You’ll be finished by half past nine,” he points out. John looks up from his guitar and announces that he wants to watch ‘Film ’79’ on TV later on. Feargal pours himself a large glass of orange juice, heads for the door, shouts “Tally-ho!” and exits. The rest follow.

On their way down the stairs Mickey fools around with the echo, yodelling “rock and ro-oll, rock and roll, rock and ro-oll . . . ” until they arrive in the darkness backstage. The audience out in the black murmur like an animal.

THE NEW NUMBERS ARE SIMPLE AND DIRECT

The band stride on stage without any announcement and half the hall seems less cold. The Undertones’ “act” is so simple it’s almost revolutionary. Four people play, one person sings and runs about. It’s as easy as that. It’s very rare.

As a journalist, I suppose I should be asking John O’Neill how he writes songs like ‘Teenage Kicks’ and ‘You’ve Got My Number’. but what’s the point? If he tried to explain it to himself he’d probably stop doing it. He just does it naturally.

The new numbers like ‘The Way Girls Talk’ are as simple and direct as ever but much better, more substantial and memorable. Feargal approaches each one as if it were to be his last. The Clash T-shirt has been thrown aside by the second number.

At one point about a dozen fools try to get on stage with the band. Feargal spends a good deal of time persuading them back off again while Mickey settles for advancing towards them with his bass. Damian is concentrating too hard to take much notice while John just retreats to the drum kit.

Then there’s the stupid spitting. Feargal is covered in the stuff. You wonder if the people who do that sort of thing would like to be spat at in the course of earning their living. Feargal is just resigned to it. Experience has taught him that asking people to stop only makes it worse. It’s very sad.

The show over and the spit wiped off, Feargal signs a few autographs, then slings his possessions into the army kit bag and heads outside for the van to go back to the hotel. As any band will tell you, it’s not the playing that wears you down on tour. It’s the endless hanging around, the hours spent in the back of cold vans, the sound checks in empty halls, the hotels where you can’t get a sandwich after midnight, the constant feeling of being temporary.

The band finish work at eleven at night just when most towns are closing down. Mickey, John and Billy watch TV for a while and then hit the sack. Damian and Feargal sit in the hotel bar with the road crew, indulging in the usual chronic schoolboy humour and friendly backbiting that you find among any band on tour.

Tuesday morning. The band gather for breakfast and argue about who’s stealing whose toast.

The whole rock and roll week revolves around Tuesday morning, the day the new chart positions are revealed. A high new entry and everyone feels great; a low entry or, worse, none at all., and the trip to the next gig seems miles further. This week should see ‘You’ve Got My Number’ making its first impression and so everybody’s tense.

“TOP OF THE POPS” BECKONS

Round about 10:15am various band members drift into manager Andy’s room as he makes calls to London trying to drum up some news. Various guesses and predictions are thrown around. If it hits Top Forty they should be in with a chance of a Top Of The Pops slot.

The phone rings. It’s not good news. Number sixty-four. Half-hearted curses are muttered. Damian takes it more to heart than anybody. He drops his head and mutters about it being “finished”. He’s just talking about that one single although you could be excused for thinking he’s ready to chuck it in and get a steady job.

They write off the possibility of Top Of The Pops and check out the other new entries. The Damned have gone at number forty-three. The rest of the band are not pleased; Is their single in the shops? Is it on the radio? What can be done? Meanwhile Damian just sits there and stares. He’s also got toothache.

Ten minutes later the phone rings again. Top Of The Pops do want them on the show after all. Can they make it? Damian lights up like someone just put a new battery in him and the rest allow themselves little whoops.

This now means that they’ll have to be down in London for the following day and night. Problems. It’s Blackburn tonight and Bradford tomorrow; ticket sales for the latter have been some of the best on the tour.

They just have to postpone Bradford or else risk a flop record. Top Of The Pops is the most important exposure any record can get.

Now the phones really start buzzing. Is there any way they can fit both gig and TV show in? Maybe they could fly back? Hire a plane? Too expensive. The postponement is going to cost enough money as it is.

Can the date be fitted in later on the tour? The promoter is on the phone to the agent. They manage to provisionally slot it in for the end of the tour.

Now then – can they book a studio to re-record the backing track for the show? Can Billy get the drumkit he wants? Can they drive down after tonight’s gig? They need a hotel in London. Cancel the hotel for tonight.

Mickey, weary of all this madness going on around him, lies face down on his bed, head covered by a pillow, and says, “Wake me up when it’s number one.” Billy amuses himself by throwing things at Mickey.

Wednesday sees the band at Television Centre in West London. They’ve driven through the night from Blackburn, checked into their hotel, raced to the recording studios to re-cut the track and then arrived at the BBC.

There they spend hours being shunted around while technicians check lights and angles and work out whether Lena Martell is going to stand over here or there and will The Undertones be able to change places with Sad Cafe while they run the Abba film.

If anything is guaranteed to bring a rock and roll band down to size, to convince them that they’re just another bunch of entertainers trying to make a buck, it’s the way Top Of The Pops treats them.

Upstairs in the bar before the actual taping of the show, Mickey lies down again, on a couch this time.

They all agree that TV is just about the most boring work anybody can do. Ninety nine per cent of the time is passed just hanging around, shifting your weight from foot to foot as people fuss around you. For the sake of a three minute spot they have to put in around ten hours waiting.

Down in the studio, all the groups gather near the door as the studio audience, some 50 teenagers in their Sunday best, are put through their paces by the floor manager and Dave Lee Travis. They’re told to smile and dance and clap when they’re told and to be careful not to get run over by the cameras.

The fierce competitive element that runs through the music business is spotlighted by the way groups all stand around and carefully ignore each other as if they were unaware of who the other band were.

The Undertones mooch around while Suzi Quatro, New Musik and Sad Cafe go through their paces. When it’s their turn, they mount one of the tiny stages and try to make their miming look convincing.

Suddenly everything stops. Technical hitches. Everything must go again, “from the top” as they say.

“Is this what I pay my TV licence for?” complains Feargal.

During the half hour break that follows, a few of the more confident girls from the studio audience roam around snapping up autographs. One of them approaches Feargal, obviously with no clear idea of who he is. She holds out her book and he signs.

“Are you the singer?” she enquires, “No,” he says deadpan, “I’m the drummer. There’s the singer.” He indicates the manager. she giggles and retreats

The manager, who’s been left to hold the guitars, gazes round the studio and remarks that all the other acts seem to be dressed exactly the same. They’re all sporting fashionable sports jackets and narrow ties.

JOE STRUMMER ADVICE

His charges, however, mooch around in their usual shapeless sweaters and rolled up Levi’s as if they were on their way to a kickabout in the park. Feargal’s hacking jacket and bright red polo neck are the only concessions made to “being on the telly”

Touring America recently with The Clash, they received some advice from Joe Strummer: “Get an image together. Get some clothes some clothes, y’know.”

Feargal laughs. But even he would have to admit that he’s in the business of being a pop star.

The Undertones have everything else they might need to see them through The Eighties; talent, imagination, enormous spirit. But they’re going to need to grow up just a little, if only in order to protect themselves.

John had spent some of the morning discussing publishing deals with his manager. You could tell that he found it all ridiculously complicated and confusing. He just wanted everybody to get what money was coming in. He didn’t really want any more than anybody else even though he does write the majority of the songs.

But there’s been many a band who’ve been dazzled by small success during the early part of their career only to wake up some years later and find that somebody else had got the money that should have been theirs.

You’ve got to deal with percentages, taxes, record companies, contracts and people, and you’ve got to do it at the same time as you’re trying to stop people spitting at you on a Tuesday night in some Civic Hall. And you’ve also got to be good.

Then you can have the money, wealth and fame. I can’t think of five guys who deserve it more than The Undertones. I also can’t think of five guys who could use it less.

As the band left for Derby, I remembered what Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks had said about life on the road. “The worst thing about touring,” he decided, “is you can never make yourself a cup of tea.”

Smash Hits, November 1979

THE ONLY NOTES THAT COUNT ARE THE ONES THAT COME FROM WILTS

It’s a Wednesday afternoon and XTC are up in London from their home town of Swindon in Wiltshire recording their slot for Top Of The Pops.

There’s a break in proceedings so they pass the time by hanging round their record company offices, all except new guitarist Dave Gregory who stuck around at the studios ‘to ogle Legs And Co’.

The lady from Virgin Records is about to take bassist Colin Moulding out to buy him a new jacket for the occasion.

“You can have anything so long as it’s red,” she says. Colin turns his nose up.

Drummer Terry Chambers, he of the dry wit and colourful language, occupies a sofa and explains his plans to use giant oil containers instead of drums. He allows himself a private smile at the thought of the confusion this will cause among certain BBC employees, then launches into a hilarious impression of an effeminate floor manager trying to restore order.

“DESTROY” T SHIRT

They shouldn’t really have to do this at all. They’ve already made two videos for ‘Making Plans For Nigel’. They weren’t very happy with the first one however. The director had hired an actor to play Nigel and dressed him up in leathers and a “Destroy” T shirt.

“Looked more like a bloody UK Subs roadie than Nigel,” comments Andy Partridge, adjusting his rather strange sunglasses on the end of his nose.

This is the second time that XTC have claimed a spot on the box’s most influential pop show. ‘Life Begins At The Hop’ was their previous stab at a hit.

It made the lower reaches of the Top 50 before sliding back into the void. The fact that nobody played it on the radio didn’t help matters. They have however managed an appearance on the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test”.

“Have you ever stood near Anne Nightingale?” enquires Andy. “You ought to smell her perfume. Talk about smellyvision!”

A hit single at this point is top priority in the XTC camp. As Terry explains it. “We’ve got about thirty two or three thousand ardent XTC fans who buy our albums and, unless we penetrate the singles market, I can’t see us gathering any more who are prepared to spend a fiver on a record.”

I put it to him that such calculated pursuit of a hit might smack of selling out to some of their fans. The new album ‘Drums And Wires’, is undoubtedly their most commercial to date.

“When a group gets signed by a record company they have to be a bit fashionable or a little bit ‘next year’s thing’, otherwise the record company won’t touch ’em. If you just stick like that . . . if, you don’t progress with the times, then you become a bit of a dinosaur. Like Budgie or something.”

It’s true that at the time of their initial emergence in 1977 they were in danger of becoming rather too remote; their music was full of sudden stops and swerves and bursting at the seams with literary trickery. When set against most of the more basic things going on at the time, they were almost “arty”.

“I think it was the fact that we were based in Swindon,” explains Andy. “We weren’t fashion conscious. If we’d been based in London we might have got swept along by the punk thing.”

“Yeah,” interrupts Terry, “we had to make our own entertainment, like during the war. See, at the time there used to be no more than two name bands visiting Swindon in any given year. If we ever wanted to see a group we had to go to Bristol or Oxford.”

So, who were their influences? The Velvet Underground, Marc Bolan, The Glitter Band, Mozart?

“In the beginning it was The Stones and The Beatles,” Colin explains, “and all the big groups. But gradually, when you get playing together and you’re doing it yourself, you don’t feel so much like watching other bands and you take on your own identity.

“All of a sudden the people around you, like Andy and Terry in my case, influence you more than the bands you hear.”

Andy just reckons that “initially we were trying to avoid all the old cliches like the guitar solos and things.”

However, they do admit that about a year ago they were in danger of falling under the spell of some different cliches – their own.

The toy organ sound that Barry Andrews had pioneered was being taken up by any number of new bands plus XTC’s own tendency to make their own material too complicated was adding up to a loss of direction.

“We were trying to be a dance band and we thought, this can hardly be dance music if it keeps stopping and starting here and there,” Terry recalls.

The result of all this soul searching was the departure of organist Barry Andrews to pursue his own career (currently playing with Iggy Pop) and the drafting in of van driver Dave Gregory with his guitar. Barry had apparently been unhappy for a while.

“There just wasn’t room for me and Andy and Barry to write songs,” says Colin,. “There just wasn’t an outlet for him. And he got fed up with the fact that most of his songs ended up as outtakes.”

Things have been definitely looking up of late. Their last album and recent stage shows have been well received. most people seem to welcome their simpler arrangements and the way the songs are less flimsy and a mite more human than before.

WE HAVE THIS URGE TO BE INTERESTING

“We just have this basic need to be interesting,” offers Colin, “but not to be so different as to be out of the game. We’re trying to do things that are interesting to ourselves; things with a bit of a tune, a bit of a melody. Just . . . interesting.

“I look at it from the point of view that if we don’t succeed on a mass scale then at least it’s better than working. It’s better than going back to a day job. We’re one up from there.”

Most of Colin’s day jobs before the formation of XTC were out of doors. Groundsman was a favourite. Terry worked for a printers while Andy designed posters for a department store. All of them left school at fifteen, disgusted with the shortcomings of conventional secondary education.

“They’re teaching people the wrong subjects,” Andy reckons. “They’re not preparing them for the outside world. You leave school and it’s a big shock. I spent years learning about ore deposits in Peru. Now, I’d much rather learn how to drive a car.”

It’s a point of view that finds an echo in Colin’s lyrics for ‘Nigel’, the weak character who’s pushed around by people who think they know what’s good for him and who’s pushed into a slot regardless of his own wishes.

XTC have a strong streak of individuality and independence which, with their realistic sense of their own capabilities, should see them through. They can make plans with confidence.

Smash Hits, November 1979

THE SKIDS’ RICHARD JOBSON LEARNS THE HARD WAY

“The only thing I have learned from the whole of the new wave is that I hate rock ‘n’ roll; and although I know that it looks as if i love the idea, I don’t want to be a rock ‘n’ roll star either. What I do want to be is a successful writer.”

The person behind their crushing words is, surprisingly, Richard Jobson, singer and lyricist with The Skids. What is so surprising about his statement is that The Skids are one of the few new wave bands who are still on their way up, and are still constantly changing, rather than doing one simple formula to death.

What is also unusual, is that these words come from a man who seems to have all the qualifications to become a star. He’s just 19, he has talent, looks, and the ability to adapt while still keeping his individuality.

“I suppose everybody outside of the band did try to put me into the role of leader / spokesman for a while,” he says, sprawling across his hotel bed.

“I am the most talkative, but it was getting to the stage where I had to decide whether I really wanted to end up like a Bob Geldof or a Jimmy Pursey and have everyone know who I am when I walk down the street. I decided that I didn’t want to end up a household name.

“Even the things that were going down I didn’t like that much. everywhere you saw Richard says this, Richard says that, followed by an ‘in-depth’ study of my character which always ended up making me look like some ignorant yob.

“I felt like an advert on the back of a cornflake packet – collect four tokens and send off for your free life size cardboard cut-out.”

As you can see, despite his obvious pride in the new Skids album, Richard’s dislike of the music business in all its aspects has only increased.

“It’s all so traditional,” explodes Richard. “The record companies and newspapers haven’t changed the system at all in the past twenty years! You still just hope to get over to America and then if you hit it off you’ve really made it – which means you become comfortable tax exiles.

“Bands are forever saying that they can break the system and they never do – they just become parodies of the people that they despise.

“I think the real meaning of the words ‘music business’ is compromise,” he continues. “there’s just no place for art in rock ‘n’ roll because everything is measured in terms of commercial gain, and art will always come bottom of that list.

“Sometimes I even think that the lyrics I write could be damaging to what The Skids are doing because the kids just aren’t interested, and if you don’t get commercial success, you’ve had it.”

I suggest at the moment they do seem to be getting their own way – experimenting and changing, yet without losing the commercial aspects of their sound.

“Not necessarily,” Richard argues.

WE DIDN’T WANT ‘CHARADE’ RELEASED AS A SINGLE

“Take ‘Charade’ for instance – we (the band) didn’t want that song to be put out as a single. it was the first one that was released without any kind of hype to help it along, like the way we had used white vinyl or a limited edition of two singles for the price of one, as we did on ‘Masquerade’,” he says bluntly.

“The band had wanted its follow-up to be either ‘Animation’ or a five minute version of ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’. And as ‘Charade’ was by their standards a commercial failure, we could have been right,” he adds dryly.

Though Richard’s outlook seems distinctly pessimistic, ‘Days In Europe’ is one thing which he is more than happy with; and if he was talkative before, his urge to let words flow now is positively unstoppable!

“I’ve used the battle theme throughout,” he enthuses, “I had used it in the past but not very well so that it ended up very mixed up. I was still scared to do it directly – but everybody does know what is behind the general feel.”

The album in fact centres around the theme of a soldier and an athlete in those sensitive years immediately before World War 2. The cover is actually an adapted poster from the Olympics of 1936, held in Hitlerite Germany.

In the ensuing conversation up popped the question of Nazism, and the accusations that The Skids are merely glorifying it – one which they vigorously deny.

“Everybody had told me that it’s a dangerous climate to come up with an album like this, but I just said forget it. The climate means nothing to me. I just tried to project an image that was in my mind and as far as I’m concerned I did it.

“There’s just one song that is about an Aryan (the Nazi ideal of a super race), the title track, but even then there seemed to be so much pressure on me that I changed it to Ariean. It may not seem a great change but it was still a compromise, and though I made the decision I think now that it was a mistake.

“I’m not prepared to accept any criticism for encouraging Nazism because what I’ve done gives no glory to it – because I’m totally indifferent about the whole affair.”

Richard admits he didn’t research the subject – he just used what he’d read and heard and seen.

“The songs don’t really need research anyway as they’re not factual and just rely on general atmosphere for effect.

“People are forever complaining that they cannot understand my lyrics,” he continues, anticipating the next question.

“It’s because the songs don’t have a direct objective to find and work from, and they simply haven’t been taught to understand anything like that. It is exactly the same with writing, which is what I intend to end up doing with my life.”

Another criticism levelled at the album is that there is an unhealthy obsession with Death and Glory – something which Richard sees in a different light.

“It’s not so much death and glory as survival that I’m writing about – and that’s something which everyone in the world is fighting for. I just chose a soldier and an athlete as two vivid examples.

“The track ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est (Pro Patria Mori’) (it is fitting and honourable to die for one’s country) is a look at the apathy of a soldier.

“I took a fellow who was shell shocked in the trenches and had him seeing two ballet dances in the distance – to make the whole thing look romantic. At the time of the World Wars everything was made to look as if it was romantic to go and fight for the country. It was only when they had actually gone that the people realised the horror of it all.”

Live, The Skids’ show has become far more impressive. On this tour they’re using a back slide projection unit (the same one as used by Pink Floyd) on stages which are large enough and an improved lighting display.

Though the new numbers feature prominently in the show, they do on the whole take a couple of listens to really hit home – and though the show was very good, the fans were still reserved about the new material.

“I often feel that any hostility the crowd feel about a new sound, or old favourites being nudged out to make way for new numbers is directed at me, with a kind of ‘He’s the cause of this, everything was alright until he turned up’ kind of attitude,” says Alastair Moore, the new permanent addition to the Skids’ line-up.

He’s another lad from Fife, and he’s known the others since he was at school with them. The current line-up is brought up to strength by Rusty Egan, who has been guesting since original drummer Tom Kellichan left.

Though for the past few years Alastair has been training and performing as a classical musician, he does possess what seems to be a fundamental qualification for joining The Skids – a deep admiration for Bill Nelson!

“Bill is the greatest influence I’ve ever had,” claims Richard. “Not so much as a musician, because he’s a guitarist and I’m not – my little bit on stage is more of a pose than anything – but because he’s got so many more sides to him than immediately show through.

“It’s his intelligence I have been feeding off. He’s been slowly giving me his knowledge and I’ve been taking all I can get!

“He forms a great part of what I’m striving for right now. I’ve given up drinking and smoking and I’m trying to get myself both physically and mentally fit because,” he pauses, “I honestly want to be one better than everybody else.

“It’s not because I’ve found any kind of religion, unless you say it’s my own religion, and I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you’re intelligent but not one-dimensional you can command respect, and respect is the biggest thing in the world.

“I don’t want to respect fools and I never have done – but that’s what you often get by being in a rock an’ roll band. You get a bunch of fools respecting you for what – for jumping around for an hour while they call out to hear ‘Albert Tatlock’!

“Even that song,” he continues, still firing out words at machine gun pace, “was a humorous song – to show that you should never become too absorbed in anything so that it becomes an obsession – which is what people had thought had happened to me with the death line.

“I wrote a totally ridiculous lyric just to show that I wasn’t the abominable nutcase that they thought I was. Again it was a compromise to prove that just because people say I’m something, it doesn’t mean that they are right, and now I hate myself for doing it!

“But then,” he finishes, calming down, “I don’t think that anybody will reach a stage in the music business where they don’t have to compromise or to prove themselves the whole time. You’re just playing a role – an idol of some kind, a character that doesn’t really exist to hundreds of people.

“It’s just that when you let the dream take over the reality you can end up destroying yourself – and that’s something I’m never intending to let happen . . . “

Smash Hits, November 1979

JOHN PEEL TALKS TO SMASH HITS

John peel was born John Ravenscroft on Merseyside forty years ago. Skipping over his childhood and adolescence for decency’s sake, we find our man, strange to relate, in Texas.

It’s the middle of the sixties and our hero has persuaded the powers that be at a small Texan radio station that they ought to unleash him on the great Texan Public with nothing but a microphone, a pair of turntables and a Liverpool accent you could cut with a knife, slice into small portions and sell to Beatle-stuck young Texans.

During this period Englishmen in The States were highly prized commodities, and Englishmen who could prove that they actually came from the home of Merseybeat were just too good to miss.

He stuck this out as long as any sane person possibly could before returning to Britain with a head full of ideas and a sack full of records by some of the American bands starting to break through over there.

He found employment in the blossoming pirate radio scene with Radio London, operating on the fringes of the law from the Thames Estuary, who gave him the late night spot.

This was 1967 and his understated, dry, radio manner and astute choice of exotic, adventurous rock made his show, ‘The Perfumed Garden’, essential listening for anyone in the South of England who pretended to take rock music seriously.

When the government finally put the pirates out of business, he was offered work with the then new Radio One. Twelve years or so later he’s still there. Still dry, still understated, still knocking it out every night. Almost, whisper it, an institution.

I’ve lost count, and I’m sure he has too, of the number of bands and great records that have received their first, and sometimes their only, airing on his evening show.

In the early days, John Peel was the definition of hip. He refers to this period nowadays as his ‘King Of The Hippies’ phase. And even with the growth of commercial radio, it’s only Peel who takes risks, goes out on a limb for some sound that would have most radio people running miles in the opposite direction.

I’D BEEN BORED FOR THREE YEARS

When punk came along, he took an enormous risk in programming bands like The Sex Pistols when his audience were probably quite happy with endless Genesis and Led Zeppelin. He traces the change back to the first Ramones album in 1976.

“I hadn’t realised that I’d been bored for three or four years but I had. It’s like banging your head against a wall – you don’t know how good it feels until you stop.”

After an initial dicey period, during which he received his share of abusive mail, the change of direction has been proven right, with listening figures up threefold this year and the average age of listeners dropping from the pre-punk level of 26 to the current 17. In ten years or so just about every British band worth the name has recorded for the show.

“You can’t afford to be so obscure that you lose your audience if there’s nothing in there that they like. We occasionally play a track from a new Yes album.” he grins, “more as a dreadful warning than anything else.”

He still gets the odd outraged letter from people who think he’s let down the cause of ‘serious’ rock music, the cause he seemed to once support so doggedly.

“People buy those records because they know they’re going to sound like the last one and there doesn’t seem to me to be much point in playing them on the radio.”

New Wave seems to be something like his element and he’s genuinely overcome by the number of interesting new bands who sprout up weekly.

“The only thing I do worry about it that there’s an ‘artiness’ creeping back in, which I don’t like because that leads to audiences sitting down on the ground and listening to the music. And I speak as a bloke who at one time encouraged that kind of thing.”

I remember him playing sitar instrumentals that meandered on for half an hour, and ‘Tubular Bells’ was premiered on the Peel show.

These days, however, his tastes couldn’t be further from that kind of thing. He names The Undertones as his ideal band, and was instrumental in bringing them to the attention of public and record company alike.

Like everybody else who had anything to do with Feargal and co, he’s grown to like them immensely as people.

“I spoke to one of their Dads once and he said (adopts Ulster brogue), Mr Peel, it’s fantastic to speak to you – I watch your programme every night.” He said it with such sincerity that I thought, ‘I bet he does!’

They just represent everything that I would like a band to be. They are just genuinely nice lads. You wouldn’t think they were in a band at all. There’s some of the punk stars who are just as tiresome in their way as some of the established rock stars living in Hollywood, except they don’t live in Hollywood . . . yet.

THE UNDERTONES MAKE ME CRY

“In a strange way, The Undertones make me cry. They make such ridiculously good records that sometimes when I play them on the radio I get quite choked about them, because I think how tremendous it is for somebody at my terrible enormous age to be so knocked out with records, to be a fan. If you’re going to do my job, you’ve got to be a fan.”

Even though much of his inspiration, and most of his show, comes these days from young, new bands, there are a certain number of artists in whom he has never lost faith through long drawn out periods of self-indulgence.

“There are people who can still get it right. Like Neil Young . . . Kevin Coyne . . . Captain Beefheart, he’s a man who may make mistakes, but I don’t trust people who don’t make mistakes. The Eagles don’t make mistakes, Genesis don’t make mistakes and I don’t want to listen to either of them again.”

There have been periods, like the early storm of controversy that greeted punk, when his relationship with the powers at the BBC have been a little shakey, but most of the time they’ve been impressed by his personal standing with his audience and have been reluctant to interfere.

“They leave you to get on with it. I’m paid money by the BBC not to go off and work for a commercial radio station but, to be quite honest with you, no commercial radio station has ever offered me a job. Nor would they and I wouldn’t want to go to one anyway, because they wouldn’t let me do what the BBC let me do.”

“Obviously, there are areas that I think Radio One should cover more. I think the daytime programming should be rather less conservative than it is. A lot of the time they seem to be duplicating the function of Radio Two. I think there should be more time given to the harder disco stuff. More time should be given to reggae and more time to bands like Rush, because there are people who want to hear all that.”

John Peel has lived for many years now in the countryside of East Anglia with his wife (affectionately referred to as “The Pig”) and family, commuting into town four days a week. (one show a week is pre-recorded). When he goes to gigs, he tends to get out of London in order to keep more closely in touch with national tastes, rather than get caught up in the deceptive centre of the London scene.

He has few friends in the music business except his large, eloquent producer John Walters (a former member of The Alan Price Set). When he does his live gigs, he finds himself treated as a minor celebrity, being asked for autographs and locks of hair. This worries him a little.

“I don’t want to be a minor celebrity. I do this job because I like getting the records. When I was a kid I used to collect records and I used to think how great it would be to get a job on the radio playing them and I did.

“I don’t like signing autographs. I don’t think it’s right. That’s not what I do it for.”

Smash Hits, October 1979

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS HAVE IT. IAN CRANNA EXPLAINS WHAT IT IS

The average looking young man on the other side of the tape recorder in the interview room of Chrysalis Records is altogether a very likeable character.

He’s friendly and chatty with a nice line in gently self-mocking humour, modest and genuine enough to say thanks (and mean it) when you compliment the band he’s in, open and generous enough to refuse to hold any grudge against bonehead skinheads who tried to disrupt a recent London gig.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same young guy who commands your attention on stage – leather jacket open over bare chest, barking out hard, uncompromising lyrics over blazing guitar, and – with his three companions – creating an atmosphere that’s positively electric with energy and passion . . .

Stiff Little Fingers were born alive and kicking in Belfast in midsummer 1977. They rose from the ashes of a band called Highway Star who played all old heavy metal rock standards since there was nothing better to play, and consisted of: Jake Burns – the young man mentioned above; Henry Clunie – a superb rhythm guitarist who’s now being asked to play sessions in Jamaica by several reggae big names (now there’s a compliment for you); bassist Gordon Blair; and drummer Brian Falloon.

Gordon quit the band for the poppier surroundings of Rudi when the others did find something better to play in the form of punk classics like ‘Anarchy’ which they’d heard on John Peel’s programme. He was replaced by Ali McMordie who, as one lady fanzine writer noted appreciatively, “has a lean and hungry look and a nice bum.”

According to Jake, however, Ali was recruited because he could play three notes in tune in a row!

Later on (November 1978) drummer Brian Falloon left to settle down in Belfast, and the present line-up was completed by the excellent Jimmy Reilly – he of the pork pie hat and outsize grin – who’d previously been a window cleaner in Sheffield just to get away from Belfast.

The band’s name, by the way, comes from a Vibrators’ album track and is a good indication of Stiff Little Fingers’ fierce independence of mind. They chose it because The Vibrators were getting knocked for being older and having been in other bands – the Fingers too had had long hair and been in other bands!

Since Belfast is no easier than most other cities for a young band to find a place to play, stiff Little Fingers’ earliest gigs were do-it-yourself affairs in the function room of a local hotel.

“Function room?” Jake rolls his eyes to heaven. “It was a stable, that’s what it was! It was terrible – the roof was leaking, puddles all over the floor!

“We used to hire that for eleven quid a night and play in it. You weren’t allowed to charge money on the door because you’d just hired it for a party – that was the only way you could get it. So what we used to do was stand out in the car park and collect money from the people as they arrived – sell them an invite to the party!”

Rough as they were, Jake remembers the earlier days with a smile.

SUMMER OF ’78

“Summer ’78 was the time everything was coming together. Everybody from there started to get their faces in Sounds. You got half-page interviews and suddenly you were a pop star – everybody taking the piss out of you on Saturday afternoons!

“Suddenly it seemed to be a good idea – everybody went and made a record. Then John Peel started to play them, and it used to be a big thing to see how often John Peel played your band’s records – ‘played ours last night and didn’t play yours’ – it was great fun!”

With help and encouragement from a journalist friend, co-lyric writer and eventual manager, Gordon Ogilvie, the band put out their first single on their own Rigid Digits label – this was ‘Suspect Device’, which has now sold over 30,000 copies.

The second single ‘Alternative Ulster’, which was originally intended as a freebie for the fanzine of the same name. That too went on to achieve healthy sales.

“That song was written because there were a lot of kids in Belfast claiming that they’d nothing to do and nowhere to go, but they weren’t doing anything about it. They were just moaning about it.

“We were saying – OK, we’re doing something different – we’re in a band. we’re playing the type of music we wanna hear. OK, it may be the only way we get to hear it,” the familiar Jake Burns grin appears again, “but at least we’re hearing it. And if you really want something to change, you’re going to have to do it yourself because nobody else is going to do it for you.”

Things looked to be going really well for them when a contract was hammered out with Island Records but the deal was called off at the last minute, leaving a bitter and disappointed band in the lurch.

Nothing daunted, however, the band then put out their own album – the highly successful ‘Inflammable Material’ – again on rigid Digits. despite the business handicap of being on an independent label (distributed by the equally independent Rough trade) the album reached No 14 in the LP charts and has now passed Silver album status (sales over 50,000) – a tribute to the band’s power to inspire their audience.

After a third fine single in the simple but effective ‘Gotta Get Away’, Stiff Little Fingers have now signed their Rigid Digits operation to Chrysalis, but it’s a deal that literally does give the band complete control.

However, unlike other bands with own label deals – like The Specials and Secret Affair – Stiff Little Fingers have decided against signing other bands, genuinely concerned that they wouldn’t be able to look after these acts properly.

So here are Stiff Little Fingers, now with both business and personal London addresses to their names, although Henry does go home all the time, according to Jake, to be man about the house – “lies on the settee and watches television, has his mum do all the cooking for him – that sort of thing!”

(if you’re wondering where the other Fingers are, by the way, Jake’s opinion was that lunchtime would be too early for them to be up! And Jake, it seems, does most of the band’s talking anyway.)

I DON’T MISS POLICEMEN WITH MACHINE GUNS

Does he miss Belfast himself?

Jake hesitates, “In a way, yes, and in a way, no. Obviously I miss all my friends back there and I miss my family – sometimes, not always but sometimes! But at the same time, it’s nice to be able to go out at night and not be looking over your shoulder when somebody new comes into the pub, which is the way you were back there. If you see a bag lying in a corner of a pub, you’d be sitting there going, ‘I wonder who owns that?’ I don’t miss that, I don’t miss that at all. I don’t miss being searched every five minutes going through the town, I don’t miss policemen with machine guns under their arms . . .

“It’s really very weird,” he pauses, “and it’s very hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know the place, but though all you ever see on the news here is people in Belfast and Northern Ireland killing each other – they really are the friendliest people in the world, they really are.”

Forceful and tuneful as the Fingers’ music is in its own right, there’s just no way you can ignore those powerful lyrics. What with Rock Against Racism gigs and Tom Robinson Band tours, do Stiff Little Fingers find themselves looked on as politicians more than musicians?

“Yeah,” Jake agrees reluctantly. “It’s a thing we always try to play down because we don’t see ourselves as politicians at all. Because right from the start we always said we don’t have any solutions to what’s happening over there.

“As far as I can see, all we’re doing is just singing about what’s happening around us. It’s like what happened at school – I was always, always taught that the best English language essays always come from writing from experience and I always found that it did. So when it came to writing songs, it was the most natural thing on earth for me to write songs about what was happening around me, rather than sit down and write ten minute epics about demons in the sky or whatever.”

All Stiff Little Fingers are doing, Jake insists, is describing the way things are and letting others make up their own minds.

“We’re not blowing anything out of proportion. We haven’t written anything that hasn’t happened to us, so therefore we’re not taking anything out of context. A lot of people say you’re cashing in on it. The easy answer to that is how the hell can we? We lived through it. how can you cash in on your own life?

“I don’t think we’re politicians,” he continues. “It doesn’t really annoy me that people think we are, because if it’s one way to make people pay attention to what’s happening over there, then fair enough.

“I don’t know how to finish it but I know that sitting there saying, ‘well, it’s not gonna change,’ isn’t the way to help anybody.”

“I’m not at all suspicious of interviews. I mean, I enjoy doing them. It’s a way of getting to the people who buy your records.”

Apart from being such unpretentious and genuine people themselves, there can be few bands who really care about their fans as much as Stiff Little Fingers. They even have it written into their new contract that for an hour after the band says so, any Fingers fan that wants to can come backstage and meet the band.

“There’s no point I can see,” Jake affirms, “in doing the Rod Stewart bit – careering around the country, arriving out the car, rushing straight on stage, doing the show, straight off, straight into the car, back into the hotel without seeing anyone . . .

“What is the point of going on tour if not to meet the people who buy your records? I sometimes think that our shows are just like a ritual that the audience has to go through before they can actually talk to us!

“But still,” the amiable Jake grin spreads again, “it’s good fun to play. as soon as it stops being fun, I think we’ll stop.”

Smash Hits, October 1979

DANNY BAKER WENT TO BURY PUBLIC IMAGE BUT CAME BACK TO PRAISE THEM

At the point of my meeting with Public Image Ltd I was less than a fan. I considered them a dirge, a racket, a puffed up pack of non-starters cruising on praise dribbled by those too scared to decry the king’s new clothes. I jumped at the chance of locking jaws and exposing their pose.

Let me tell you how wrong folk can be. We faced each other across the stifling sterility of a record company office, four strangers suddenly forced to strike up conversation.

In the red corner sat Keith Levine, the slight, blond haired guitarist of the outfit; Richard Dudanski, a tall, smart, well-spoken drummer; and finally the nation’s most adjectived pop star, Johnny Rotten.

Since his split with the Sex Pistols, John has been known under his proper handle, John Lydon, though he claims it was a decision made for him by the newspapers. The trio – bass man Jah Wobble has yet to arrive – swallowed can after can of lager and for the first 20 minutes they performed as brochure and according to their public image.

Each question I posed was returned sharply or sarcastically, mainly by Lydon. If this was the way the afternoon was to continue what was the point, I asked.

“Well,” began John, “we imagine that you were sent to do us for a good juicy slag off – some ‘good copy’ it’s called, I believe. We thought It’d be funny.”

If I wanted to discover Public Image, I concluded, I and they had better leave our preconceptions in that office and begin talking like people. Besides, it was by now 5:30 and everybody could hear the bolts being slid off the alehouse doors. Across the road the worlds started to flow.

I WONDERED HOW THEY FELT ABOUT THEIR OWN REPUTATION.

John Lydon: “Just because we don’t act like the business puppets that all other bands are, we are reckoned as kind of suspicious. Y’know, it’d be very easy for us to pose for all Virgin’s silly cardboard cut out stunts, be outrageous and obnoxious and churn out the same old lalala hard rock ‘n’ roll that’s as dead as a door-nail anyway, and then we could earn lots of money and be good little pop star rebels.

“But that’s just what the company wants. That’s why groups like Sham 69 are so well liked, because they just fulfil their ‘rebel’ roles for Polydor. That’s no threat – that just makes good advertising for Polydor. But I’m sorry – I’ve done my share of being manipulated thank you, and now I’m afraid we’re going to have to be spoilsports and just be ourselves.”

Keith Levin: “It’s like everyone thinks that we’ve been inactive for a long while, which isn’t true at all. What they mean is that we haven’t sent out any handy little press handouts keeping you all informed. Y’see we just get on with it and work. No gimmicks, we just keep working at our studio.”

John: “And they say you are moody because you want privacy. Look, If I go drinking in a pub. I’m just like anyone else in that I don’t like to be pestered. Signing autographs is embarrassing for everyone.

By now we had broken a great deal of the ice and began to talk about non-business related matters. Wobble had arrived and, despite his legend of being a crazed psychopath, we rabbit about football and whatnot and he shows himself to be a sharp, funny bloke.

Every objection I had formed as to why they were rubbish melted one by one with their simple, unpretentious answers. But there was still my indifference to PIL’s music. It seemed such a lazy thrash, although I must admit that once, in a club, the LP track ‘Annalisa’ knocked me cold with its excellent jabs of rhythm.

Wobble: “Well, that’s it. People bought our album and sat down and said, ‘entertain me’. You can’t do that with our music. It’s basically dance music. You’ve gotta bang it up loud and get involved with it. Really feel those bass lines.”

John: “Y’know a lot of people expected some sort of message from us. Oh no. They shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking I’m special BECAUSE I’M NOT! Honestly, I’m just a member of a group who has the freedom to record just what we feel like, and what we enjoy most. I feel we’re closer to disco than anything right now. Certainly not rock music. God, rock is so awful! It’s been dead for years but no one wants to accept that. Disco and loads and loads of reggae is all that I think is worth listening to now.”

AND DEAR OLD PUNK ROCK?

“Well I get blamed for starting that! All I did was open the door, mate. I thought the idea was to start up a million different groups, not a million groups all playing the same decaying, feeble rock. I was in that band for the laughs. When the laughs stopped I got out.”

What about the records that get released now under the name ‘Sex Pistols’?

“Oh, Ugh, please . . . . don’t depress me. The worst thing is some people might think all that crap is what the group’s always been about. That’s terrible.”

And all the ‘Sid Vicious Hero’ industry?

“Well, I was so angry when he died. They’re your animals with all their stupid T-shirts. I know he’d be as sick as me about all this junk. They literally exploited him to death, poor sod had no hope . . . “

I suppose it must be a drag having to talk about ‘the old days’ so often.

“It’s like having to re-live your schooldays every day. Let me make it clear. I am just one member of this group. There’s nothing sinister or mythical about us. People will have to take us as we are . . . “

Wobble: “A lot of our songs are really funny. It’s not half as straight faced as you think. Play that LP and just accept it as a bunch of rhythms you can move to. A lot of people get put off by his voice. Well, that’s great ‘cos if they want us to be singalong complacent they’ve got the total wrong idea. We expect the listener to work too . . . “

John: “Nobody ever uses those bass and treble knobs on their players. But that’s what they’re for! Mess about with them during our stuff, make your own sound and that.”

We drank and talked on for the rest of the day and most of the night. I was completely turned around.

Public Image have brains, humour and integrity. They’ll intrigue you and inspire you to make you dance.

John Lydon has been through the whole star trip in double quick time and he knows how worthless it is to sell yourself for a headline. He knows that if you want to play pretend at burning down the nation there are a thousand bands only too willing to act out your fantasy whilst keeping one eye on their bosses reaction. Public Image are their own bosses.

Believe me – I was their hardest critic and now I’m their most vocal supporter. And it wasn’t just because they’re ‘OK blokes’. That a band like Public Image can succeed is important to the health of modern music.

Smash Hits, July 1979