The Eratics

Even though they couldn't really play and never released anything besides one track on 'Bullshit Detector One', The Eratics (before that they were known as The Pox, The Dogclips, The Clones and some other names) were still a part of the 'Anarcho' punk scene with their intelligent ideas and connections with Crass. Formed somewhere around 1979, The Eratics were bassist Terence 'Stringy' Castle, guitarist Martin 'Snout' Seward and drummer Kevin 'Bondage' Lester on drums while they were all in school in Waltharn Cross. After seeing the first wave of punk play around the United Kingdom including Crass, it inspired them to get up and just start a band, no matter how bad some of them were at playing instruments. They played their first gig with The Epileptics, Urban Decay and Rubella Ballet on June 15th, 1979. Stringy played bass and sang, until they were joined by Mark 'Roper' Double on vocals. 

 
Roper played his first gig with The Eratics with The Sinyx at the Focus in Southend, a band the guys would become close friends with. At this point, Stringy was living on the streets, and moved into a squat full of hippies. The band used that squat as the 'old church' and arranged some gigs there thanks to other punks that moved in. Their second song was called 'Factory Floor' because some of the members left school at 15 and got dead end factory jobs to afford going to gigs and buying records. Their first song was called "Tablets", written by Stringy, and was about the drugs he had to take at a hospital after a car accident busted his leg. Urban Decay played that song and eventually released it as their own, but without crediting The Eratics. 

 
By 1981, the band had still not made an official recording, but did record a track onto a regular tape recorded named "National Service" in Sount's front room for Crass's first 'Bullshit Detector'. It was all about gigs for the band, they were too busy with that to ever record anything for a release. Unfortunately, the end came that same year after a violent gig in Walthamstow. Fortunately for Bondage, he didn't turn up, so the drummer of D&V filled in on drums. While they played, a bunch of people smashed in and started wrecking the place and beating people up, so the band had to make a run for it. 

 
Their last gig with Bondage was at the Stevenage Bowes Lyon House. However, no one really turned up, plus they felt they were playing like crap (and it was snowing). The Eratics were trying new experimental numbers, but Bondage couldn't manage to catch on because of his lack of experience on the drums. This might explain why he didn't show up at their last gig. After that last show were he didn't show up was over (from the violence), Bondage was never heard of again and the band called it a day. [SOURCE: LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND]