A gifted songwriter whose style is informed by playful eccentricity as well as "regular guy from the pub" wisdom, Wreckless Eric first earned recognition as part of Stiff Records' willfully quirky roster of punk and new wave artists during the late '70s. Early on, Eric bashed out a series of ragged, three-chord punk-pop singles driven by his pent-up energy and a knack for melodic pop hooks. Tunes like "Whole Wide World," "Semaphore Signals," and "Take the Cash (K.A.S.H.)" made him a cult hero because of his engaging sense of humor and fondness for simple rock & roll. After parting ways with Stiff in the early '80s, Eric scaled back on performing and recording, releasing material under the group names The Len Bright Combo and The Hitsville Houseband while unveiling just three solo efforts between 1980 and 2000. Eric returned to duty in 2004 with 'Bungalow Hi', and in 2008, he cut the first of two albums with Amy Rigby before kicking off a return to serious productivity with 2015's 'AmERICa', revealing a greater lyrical maturity along with his trademark melodic sense. Eric kept this revival running into the 2020s, when he released the evocative 'Leisureland'.
Born Eric Goulden in Newhaven, Sussex, England, Wreckless Eric became interested in music through the pub rock scene of the mid-'70s. Once punk emerged in the late '70s, he became attracted to its amateurish sense of freedom, and his music soon reflected this influence. Stiff Records signed him in 1977 and had Nick Lowe produce Eric's debut single, 'Whole Wide World / Semaphore Signals'. (In addition to producing, Lowe played most of the instruments.) "Whole Wide World" received positive reviews and became a moderate hit in the punk underground (it would later be covered by The Proclaimers, Mental as Anything, Paul Westerberg, and Will Ferrell in the movie "Stranger Than Fiction"), but what made Wreckless Eric infamous were his performances on the Live Stiffs package tours. On both of the Live Stiff tours, Eric earned headlines in the U.K. press for his drunken antics, both on-stage and behind the scenes.
His 1978 eponymous debut had the same boozy sense of charm, but his second album, 'The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric' (1979), demonstrated a previously unknown musical versatility. However, the album didn't receive much attention after its release, primarily because Stiff was concentrating its efforts on Ian Dury and Madness, as well as a variety of half-baked marketing schemes. Wreckless Eric fashioned his third album, 'Big Smash', as a commercial breakthrough, but the record was poorly received and neglected by Stiff, prompting him to quit the music industry in the early '80s.
After spending several years in retirement, Wreckless Eric returned to music in 1985 with Captains of Industry, a group he formed with several former members of Ian Dury's Blockheads. The group released a record called 'A Roomful of Monkeys' on Go! Discs before disbanding. The following year, Eric formed The Len Bright Combo with bassist Russ Wilkins and drummer Bruce Brand, who had both played with Thee Milkshakes. The Len Bright Combo released two albums in 1986 before disbanding.
Shortly after the group's breakup, Eric moved to France, where he released 'Le Beat Group Electrique' in 1989. By the early '80s, Wreckless Eric had developed a more subdued pop sensibility that was often compared to that of Jonathan Richman. Throughout the '90s and into the new millennium, he released records and performed in France, occasionally venturing to England and other parts of Europe; he also published an autobiography, "A Dysfunctional Success: The Wreckless Eric Manual".
By 2008, Eric had formed a duo with singer/songwriter Amy Rigby and returned to Stiff Records, which released the 'Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby' CD in September of that year. Amy and Eric recorded and released a set of covers, 'Two-Way Family Favourites', in 2010, and followed with a new set of originals, 'A Working Museum', in 2012. In 2013, Fire Records reissued the two Len Bright Combo albums, and the trio staged a one-night-only reunion show in London; Fire also returned 'Le Beat Group Electrique' to print in 2014.
By 2015, Eric and Rigby had left France and relocated to New York State. Once settled in their new home, Eric cut his first solo album since 2004, which was also his first album recorded in the United States; the set, suitably enough, was titled 'America' (or to use his preferred spelling, 'amERICa'). For 2018's 'Construction Time and Demolition', Eric switched up his songwriting routine, working on a piano rather than guitar, and he gave the album relatively lush arrangements, punctuated with horns and backing vocalists. On a productive streak, Eric delivered another album just 13 months later, 2019's 'Transience', a more straightforward collection that still found room for sonic experimentation.
After surviving a rough bout with COVID-19 during the pandemic of the early 2020s, Wreckless Eric returned in 2023 with 'Leisureland', a partially instrumental portrait of decaying English seaside towns. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Formed in Austria by Günther Esser and Walter Michelson, Je & Ill played partly theatrical lo-fi country, distantly reminiscent of Tav Falco's Panther Burns. Je + Ill released the album 'The Sound Of Lunch' on their own label in 1989, a single for the renowned label Sympathy For The Record Industry and two singles for the german Buback imprint as well as a contribution to the sampler 'Love Is My Only Crime' (1993, Veracity/IRS). [SOURCE: WEB ARCHIVE]
T. Tex Edwards is an unsung pioneer of cowpunk and honky tonk murder ballads who started out in the '70s with the punk band Nervebreakers. Thom "Tex" Edwards' whiskey-soaked vocals already had a slight country twang to them back in 1978 even as the band performed their goofy anthems while supporting TheSex Pistols in Dallas. Drawing influence from The Flamin' Groovies and The Cramps rather than the more political end of the punk spectrum, Nervebreakers were equally at home lampooning "You're the One That I Want" from "Grease" as they were playing it straight (relatively) with The Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." Their original material was rousing and funny, and "My Girlfriend Is a Rock" was even a minor hit in San Francisco. The band never released a full-length record in their lifetime, even though they had an almost legendary local reputation. A live performance of them backing Roky Erickson at the Dallas Palladium in 1979 was released in 1992, and a posthumous CD recorded in 1980, 'We Want Everything', was finally released by Get Hip in 2000.
Edwards' first post-Nervebreakers outfit, Tex & the Saddle Tramps, left scarce but vital documentation, such as the churlish rocker "Move It!" that later would appear on The Loafin' Hyenas record and be covered by LeRoi Brothers. Still most of the T. Tex legend from the early to mid-'80s remains only in the recollections of those fortunate enough to catch him performing his offbeat brand of incorrigible country live. His growling redneck delivery is at times unhinged, but it's instantly recognizable, highly addictive, and consistently manages to hit the narrow margin between parody and reverence, often accomplishing both.
He formed Out on Parole in Austin in 1984, and Loafin' Hyenas in Hollywood in 1986, but it took until 1989 before things finally started moving forward. His first solo album -as T. Tex Edwards and Out on Parole- was a stroke of demented genius that caused a stir when cult label Sympathy for the Record Industry released it yet proved more an inspiration than the chart-topper it should have been. 'Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill' was a collection of "psycho-country" covers done with a relatively straight face and high musical pedigree -LeRoi Brothers/Fabulous Thunderbirds alumni Mike Buck was the driving force behind the album. It's not only Johnny Cash who wrote dark country and western songs of adultery and murder; 'Pardon Me' collects obscure, nutty gems from the likes of Johnny Paycheck (the title song), Porter Wagoner ("Rubber Room"), and Lee Hazlewood ("Girl on Death Row"), not to mention the twisted genius of Leon Payne's "Psycho." The same ground would be covered in the following decade, sometimes with song selections oddly similar to 'Pardon Me', but rarely with the same gravelly brilliance.
The 1990 release of the Loafin' Hyenas' only LP was mostly ignored despite strong original material and another killer band. Songs like "Can't Find the Door Knob" and "Scratchin' Fleas" utilized Tex's distinctive vocals perfectly, and the drunken abandon of the band was captured, bottled, and released only in France and Japan. Further recordings followed under various guises and numerous small labels. T. Tex and the Big "D" Ramblers, DisGraceland, and T. Tex and the Sickoids were a few that made it to record, and one-off projects like 1999's 18-song 'Texicated Tape' were mostly circulated among the faithful.
After a long silence, the full-length 'Up Against the Floor' was released in 2007. The Swingin' Kornflake Killers backed a slightly toned-down Edwards on a selection of offbeat covers (David Bowie's "Black Country Rock" and Conway Twitty's "Lonely Blue Boy") as well as equally memorable originals like the instant standard "Ain't No Bars in Heaven." A while later Nervebreakers announced they were regrouping after their "slight" 27-year hiatus. T. Tex remains a pioneering, under-appreciated, and often neglected chronicler of the offbeat and eccentric traditions of country rock & roll. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Few figures in the history of British rock have created a body of work as bold and unique as Billy Childish, and practically none have been as prolific. Between his many projects, Childish has released over 150 albums and even more singles since 1977, all dominated by the passionate, reedy bark of his vocals, the dirty, Link Wray-inspired roar of his guitar work, and a lyrical perspective that's a crazy quilt of deeply personal self-expression, pastiches of pop culture, pointed observations on the world around him, and tunes about good (and bad) times with the opposite sex. Childish is far more concerned with inspiration than artifice in rock & roll, and he prefers rough, lo-fi recording techniques utilizing vintage gear over clean, state of the art audio, for reasons both financial and aesthetic. His tireless output as a musician is even more remarkable given that he also has thriving careers as a poet, novelist, and visual artist. Musicians as diverse as Mudhoney and Kylie Minogue have cited Childish as an influence and he's built an international following despite stubbornly avoiding major record labels and following his own path. Along with releasing the occasional solo album, he's recorded with a variety of combos over the years, including The Milkshakes (1984's 'Thee Knights of Trashe'), Thee Headcoats (1990's 'The Earls of Suavedom'), The Buff Medways (2002's 'Steady the Buffs'), and Wild Billy Childish & CTMF (2023's 'Failure Not Success').
Billy Childish was born Steven John Hamper on December 1, 1959. He was raised in Chatham, Kent, England. He had a difficult childhood; his father was violent and often absent, he had a combative relationship with his brother, his undiagnosed dyslexia hobbled his efforts in school, and he was sexually abused by a family friend when he was nine years old. Despite -or perhaps because of- his challenging circumstances, Childish became passionately devoted to creative self-expression. He took up painting, writing poetry and fiction, and making music. The themes that connected his work were startling honesty, especially when discussing his own life, and an embrace of rough surfaces and spontaneous creation, emphasizing passion and impact over refined technique. At 16, Childish quit school and attempted to enroll at a local art college, which promptly rejected his application. Taking a job as an apprentice stonemason at the Chatham dockyards, he devoted his spare time to drawing and completed 600 sketches in six months. The strength of his work earned him entry into Saint Martin's School of Art in 1978, though he quit after only a month. Saint Martin's welcomed him back in 1980, but his iconoclastic ideas about art and the graphic details of some of his poems disturbed both students and faculty, and he was asked to leave. With few qualifications for conventional employment, Childish subsisted on dole money for the next 15 years.
While his career in art ran into roadblocks, Childish was faring somewhat better in music. A devotee of raw, no-frills rock & roll of the '50s and '60s, as well as deep blues and American folk music, he was emboldened by the rise of punk rock, and in 1977, he formed a band called The Pop Rivets, taking the lead vocal spot alongside Will Power on guitar, Big Russ (aka Russell Wilkins) on bass, and Little Russ (aka Russell Lax) on drums. Adopting the D.I.Y. approach that became his lifelong modus operandi, The Pop Rivets played as many low-budget gigs as they could land, and after pooling their resources and borrowing 300 pounds from a friend, they cut their debut album, 'Greatest Hits', and released it on their own Hipocrite Music label. The group would tour in Germany and Switzerland and bring out a second LP, 1979's 'Empty Sounds from Anarchy Ranch', before breaking up in 1980.
Childish learned to play guitar, and his rough but energetic sound was front and center in his next group, Thee Milkshakes, whose approach owed no small debt to rock and pop sounds of the '50s and '60s as well as the British Invasion. Joining Childish in the combo were Mickey Hampshire on guitar, Russell Wilkins on bass, and Bruce Brand on drums. Their first album, 'Talking 'Bout ... Milkshakes', arrived in 1981, and they would issue eight more before folding in 1984, with two more albums following after their breakup. Near the end of Thee Milkshakes' run, an offshoot group, The Delmonas, made their debut, with Childish and friends backing a trio of female vocalists. While Thee Milkshakes earned an audience in the U.K., it was Childish's next project, Thee Mighty Caesars, that was the foundation of his cult following in the United States. Thee Milkshakes' 'They Came, They Saw, They Conquered' was briefly issued in America by Enigma Records' garage/psychedelic imprint Pink Dust, but the outspoken American garage rock label Crypt Records issued three Mighty Caesars albums in the United States (1989's 'John Lennon's Corpse Revisited' and the collections 'English Punk Rock Explosion!!' and 'Surely They Were the Sons of God'), and they spread the word about Childish and his band to punk and garage rock fans across North America. Between 1985 and 1989, Thee Mighty Caesars (with Childish on guitar and vocals, John Agnew on bass, and Graham Day on drums) produced eight albums, and while they never officially announced a breakup, in 1989 Childish unveiled a new group, Thee Headcoats, which included Allan Crockford on bass and Bruce Brand on drums. (During this period, Childish also cut the first of several collaborations with artist and poet Sexton Ming, 1987's 'Which Dead Donkey Daddy?'). Thee Headcoats, with all its members wearing deerstalker hats as a visual trademark, would become Childish's most productive act, making their debut with the albums 'The Earls of Suavedom' and 'Headcoats Down!', and soon bands like The Mummies, Mudhoney, and Nirvana were singing Childish's praises. The endorsement of the latter two acts would in part lead to Sub Pop Records issuing the third Headcoats album, 1990's 'Heavens to Murgatroyd, Even! It's Thee Headcoats! (Already)', as well as the 1991 compilation 'I Am the Billy Childish', which included one song each off the 50 albums Childish had released with his various projects. In addition, Sub Pop would put out 1992's 'The Original Chatham Jack', an LP from his short-lived blues and calypso project Billy Childish & the Blackhands.
Thee Headcoats would record 19 albums and more than twice as many singles between 1989 and 1999, and spawned another offshoot girl group, Thee Headcoatees, featuring Holly Golightly, Ludella Black, Kyra LaRubia, and Bongo Debbie. Childish also teamed up with Don Craine of U.K. R&B cult heroes The Downliners Sect to create the collaborative band Thee Headcoats Sect, whose first album, 'Deerstalking Men', arrived in 1996. Childish retired Thee Headcoats banner in 1999, and launched yet another new group, The Buff Medways (abbreviated from Wild Billy Childish & the Friends of the Buff Medway Fanciers Association), the name inspired by a breed of chicken native to Kent and the surrounding Medway area. The group (which included Graham Day, Wolf Howard, and Johnny Barker) gave Childish an unusual degree of mainstream visibility when Graham Coxon of Blur, who was a fan of his work, released a pair of Buff Medways albums on his Transcopic label, 'Steady the Buffs' (2002) and '1914' (2003).
By this time, Childish had also gained more recognition for his work outside music. He had been publishing poetry collections and chapbooks through his own Hangman Books since 1981, and in 1996, he unveiled his debut novel, "My Fault", which dealt with the abuse he suffered as a child. The novel received positive reviews, and he'd published five more by 2015. He continued to create visual art, exhibiting works in a variety of media (woodcuts, collage, sketching, oil painting, and pinhole photography), and his art was exhibited in galleries in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. In the '80s, Childish was romantically involved with Tracey Emin, who would go on to become a celebrated conceptual artist. In 1995, she created an installation she titled "Everyone I Have Ever Slept with 1963-1995", which was a tent with a large number of names embroidered inside, including Billy Childish in especially large letters.
In 2005, The Buff Medways brought out their final album, 'Medway Wheelers', and with a new wave of garage punk acts hitting the charts, Childish found himself namechecked in the press by The Hives and The White Stripes, though Jack White would later engage in a war of words in the press after Childish told a reporter, when asked about The White Stripes, "I can't listen to that stuff. They don’t have a good sound." The year 2006 saw Childish back in action with another combo, Wild Billy Childish & the Musicians of the British Empire, alongside Wolf Howard and Childish's wife Julie Hamper, aka Nurse Julie. The MBE's sound and attitude were lean and more informed by punk than garage rock, and their debut album, 'Punk Rock at the British Legion Hall', hit the streets in 2007. Neil Palmer, of the garage/psych group Fire Dept., collaborated with the MBE to form The Vermin Poets, who issued 'The Poets of England' in 2010; the following year they reworked the lineup into The Spartan Dreggs, who generated four albums and seven singles between 2011 and 2012. Childish, Howard, and Julie reconfigured themselves again into a trio titled CTMF; Childish has suggested the name could mean Chatham Forts, Copyright TerMination Front, or Clarity Through Fuzz. They introduced themselves to the world with the 2013 LP 'All Our Forts Are with You'. Childish took a fresh look at his passion for the blues with his combo Wild Billy Childish & the Chatham Singers, who blended the traditions of acoustic country-blues with the electrified report of post-war Chicago styles. They made their debut with 2020's 'Kings of the Medway Delta'. Childish was an admirer and occasional collaborator with The Singing Loins, another Medway group who played a raw, impassioned version of acoustic folk and blues. Following the death of their lead singer, Chris Broderick, in January 2022, The Singing Loins joined forces with Childish to cut an album to honor his memory. The result, 'The Fighting Temeraire' by Wild Billy Childish & the Singing Loins, was issued by Damaged Goods in November 2022. Childish was back to his trademark brand of no-nonsense rock & roll on 'Failure Not Success', recorded with his band Wild Billy Childish & CTMF and released in February 2023. The album featured a batch of fresh songs, re-recorded versions of "Come Into My Life" and "Bob Dylan's Got a Lot to Answer For," and covers of classic tunes by Richard Hell and Jimi Hendrix. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Stormtrooper formed at the bar in the Marquee Club by British front man Nigel Hutchings and American bassist Jeff Piccinini, who recruited John Pilka on guitar and Mike Lee on drums. They recorded a 4 song demo in August 1975, then signed with Corruption Management on the Portobello Road for a couple of pints and some distant promises. The band's career was short. By Christmas 1975 Stormtrooper ceased to exist.
However deciding that their music had something in common with the new punk style they cut a single from their demo of 1975 'I'm A Mess / Its Not Me' (1977, Solent Records). The record sold 3,000 copies, a lot of which were sold in London.
Interesting historically, the single sounds like The Who circa 'Live at Leeds' but with sort of weak punky lyrics / themes. You'll either think it was ahead of its time and good, or just bad heavy rock. Take your pick. The single was sold with a badge. Sid Vicious wore his badge on the Sex Pistols American tour, and on a Wreckless Eric sleeve, Wreckless Eric is pictured wearing his.
Somewhere in this history bassist Geoff Myles also fits who at some stage was in the band and went on to become a staple in the reformed Chelsea line up of late 1977. [SOURCE: PUNK 77]
There appeared to be no shortage of people to hitch a ride on the Sex Pistols gravy train and in particular Sid and his death and the Cash Pussies single was no exception. However it's not the worst by a long chalk. Unsurprisingly with Dave Goodman as producer it seems to sound remarkably like a the Sex Pistols riff and production on "99% Is Shit". Not bad female vocals from Diana Rich and a little parodying of "Belsen Was A Gas" in the line 'London Town where the Jews all pray.' The B side is weaker with a more kind of folk style vocal.
So how did someone have the bright idea to release clips of an interview by Sid Vicious over a backing track on an independent label that would be guaranteed to sell absolutely zilch.
The Cash Pussies were the brainchild of husband wife team Fred and Judy Vermorel. Fred had encountered Malcolm McLaren, the Pistols manager, in 1965 at the Harrow School of Art. In August 1977, Fred and Judy were commissioned to write the first book on the Sex Pistols. The book, "The Inside Story", was completed in three months, and published by Star Books in January 1978. It featured in the main the diaries of Sophie Richmond who worked for the Sex Pistols and interviews with the Pistols and relatives.
In mid 1978 they begin writing a script for a film called "Millions Like Us" with Throbbing Gristle to provide the music. They in turn contacted Alex Fergusson, now out of ATV, to help out. Fred Vermorel would also write text which Alex would edit into song verse.
By late November, Throbbing Gristle had left the project and Alex started working on Vermorel`s new project The Cash Pussies.
In December they played a benefit gig for Nancy Spungeon (recently deceased) downstairs at the Bedford Corner Hotel. The band, described as a sort of Sex Pistols meets Abba, featured Sarah Osborne and Jan Parker on vocals, Alex Fergusson on guitar and the bassist and drummer from Security Risk. In December The Cash Pussies headlined at Les Bains Douche's opening night in Paris.
The line up doesn't last long
In April 1979, after Sid was dead and cremated, the single was released on Dave Goodman's (himself no stranger to exploiting the Sex Pistols) 'The Label' but featuring model Diana Rich not only singing on the B side but inexplicably with her face in cheesy close up on the back cover. The single was reviewed in Sounds and NME but did nothing. The A side had the audio of Sid from one of the interviews the Vermorels used for the "The Inside Story".
The band comprised Diana Rich, Alex Fergusson, Alan Gruner and Ray Weston. Fred and Judy Vermorel were described grandiosely as executive producers. The cover also had the following cryptic declaration.
"From the forthcoming Millions Like Us Cash Pussies: "They wanted to destroy show biz...wring the neck of entertainment...".
There was one further gig in June 1979 then nothing. No film no more music no more Cash Pussies. [SOURCE: PUNK 77]
Fly On The Wall
was a Punk band from North Devon, UK, and formed by members Tug Tantan (vocals), Bunker Brazier (vocals and guitar, and also co-producer of the first single of the devon punk band The Cult Maniax), Lynton Garner (bass) and Tony Martin (drums). They only released the 7"
'Devon Dumb E.P.' in 1980 on the Next Wave Records label.
F-X first appeared on the circuit in April 1980 and played around London for about a year, more a pop rock act than punk they played the same sort of venues as Case and Fruit Eating Bears, starting off with numerous support slots at the 101 Club in Clapham, also the Kings Head, Acton, The Trafalgar in Shepherds Bush, Starlight club in West Hampstead, The Kensington, West London, and the Rock Garden in Covent Garden. By the spring of 81 they had graduated to headline those same venues as well as the White Hart Acton, Clarendon Basement Bar in Hammersmith, Windsor Castle in Harrow and Ronnie Scotts in Soho. After their first out of town dates (Manchester and Chester) in May 1981 they appear to have disappeared, only to briefly resurface in February 1982 playing back at the 101 Club in Clapham as the support act (although maybe they split in may 81 and this was a different line up). Their only claim to fame seems to have been supporting The Meteors at the 101 club. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]
The Pathetix was a Nelson, Lancashire band, formed as early as 1976, initially by Andrew Nicholson and Philip Husband. Nicholson, now a producer for the BBC, had first chanced upon punk while doing his paper round. The band played a lot of gigs during the summer of 1978. However, the major labels were not beating a path to their door. The 'Aleister Crowley' EP was duly released on their own No Records label, and its drunken séance diorama seemed to hit a chord, which was more than some of their peers were capable of at this stage. Both Giovanni Dadomo at Sounds and Mark Perry of Sniffing Glue were impressed. The good press saw them reach the Top 10 of the (then unofficial) Independent Charts after the single was picked up for distribution by Rough Trade.
After a further batch of gigs they signed with Manchester’s TJM label. A further single emerged. ’Love in Decay’ should have been great but Tony Davidson from TJM wouldn't pay for a producer and just when they should have been sounding better and getting a push there was a big nothing. TJM did at least organise a package tour for them. It included a band called The Frantic Elevators with a flame-haired eejit as vocalist. His name was Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), and alsoa big fan of the Pathetix’s "Don’t Let The Bastards Grind You Down", and once sang it back to its co-author verbatim in a drunken moment while doing an interview for Music Box.
TJM’s only saving grace, apparently, was its rehearsal studio.
Thereafter the line-up of The Pathetix shuffled. Gary Brown (bass) left to join the Notsensibles and Pete Leeper (saxophone) became an actor, appearing as Malcolm Parrot on "Grange Hill". But the band weren’t satisfied that TJM were delivering on their promises and promoting their single nationally, and instead signed a deal with French independent (with Mancunian connections) Sordide Sentimental. They ground to a halt soon after, though they were joined for a while by keyboard player John Finch. They’d also grown a bit tired of punk’s self-regulation. There were a further cassette and a single as Citizen UK while Husband and Nicholson were also involved in the punk-hip-hop hybrid Trash Culture. And as the man says, that was that. All over. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]
Time for a history lesson. Most likely you have never heard of Kevin Short and His Privates. Back in 1978, the band produced what was considered a parody punk single entitled "Punk Strut" which details a hot new punk rock dance. This is a classic 1977 pogo punk style song if there ever was one. Kevin begins singing "Double Strut, Double Strut, Strut Two Three Four" to set the tone of the song. This upbeat single contains a moving bassline underneath all of the fun. "Short Cut" is the B-Side of the original "Punk Strut" single. This track takes more of a garage rock approach. This autobiographical song features amazing backing vocals. You will be singing "Long Long Lonely Roads Are Not For Me" in no time. [SOURCE: PUNKNEWS.ORG]
Spitfire Boys formed some 6 weeks after meeting The Heartbreakers and finding they needed a support band for an upcoming gig. Originally called The Blackmailers their new name came courtesy of Wayne County.
Part of the Liverpool scene based around Eric's night club -along with bands like Big In Japan, The Mutants and Berlin-, The Spitfire Boys were without doubt Liverpool's finest punk band and produced its finest slice of punk vinyl -'British Refugee / Mein Kampf'.
Playing London venues like The Vortex, supporting their friends The Slits and the releasing of British Refugee meant nothing without strong management and sadly the band folded. One more single followed (over a year later) -'Funtime'- with David Littler (Jones) being the only original Spitfire Boy present and that was it. The classic line up was
Maggot (Paul Rutherford, vocals), Blister(Peter Clarke, drums), Jones (David Littler, guitar), and Zero (Peter Griffiths, bass).
However fame was to come at a later date albeit in a different form for some members of the band. Blister was better known as Budgie, later to join The Slits and Siouxsie & The Banshees; Maggot, as Paul Rutherford, later became famous as backing singer / dancer in Frankie Goes To Hollywood. David Littler was co writer with Steve Strange of songs as "Mind Of A Toy" and "Tar" which Mr. Strange would eventually use for Visage.
The Spitfire Boys influence perhaps goes a lot further than that. Friends of the band at the time included Pete Burns, Julian Cope, Ian Broudie and Pete Wylie, all of whom were to play an important part in the Liverpool scene of the early eighties. [SOURCE: PUNK 77]
Psykik Volts were an original New Wave band formed in 1978, inspired/influenced by bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, etc. All members aged around 18 at the time of releasing their self-financed single 'Totally Useless / Horror Stories #5' (1979), they considered themselves more "new wave" than "punk" at the time as the initial wave of punk bands had died down by then. A very DIY band, they designed the picture sleeve, had it printed and stuck them all together their selves. They were from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire which is near Leeds.
John Peel played the single quite a lot on Radio 1, and it was subsequently repressed on the MHG label after the initial 1000 copies had sold. The band got signed shortly afterwards to Graduate Records, who recorded 3 songs but never released them. They split at the end of 1979. Guitarist Vik Vendetta and drummer Mick Reed then got signed to Rockburgh Records in 1980/81 and released a single called ‘Wooden Heart’, calling themselves Pop-Tones (after the PiL song). [SOURCE: DAMAGED GOODS]
Having witnessed the 1976 Anarchy In The UK tour, five teenagers from West Yorkshire met in a dilapidated garage and plugged in to create their own blend of noise, attitude and disturbance. This garage produced The Jerks, Yorkshire’s most successful punk rock band who outsold Abba in that part of the world and entered the top 100 with their debut single ‘Get Your Woofing Dog Off Me‘, (definitely one of punk’s best debut records, released on their own Underground Records). To this day it remains one of the fastest records ever recorded.
Now selling for considerable sums of money, the tracks have been included on many of the legitimate and bootleg compilations from the era, the front cover of the single being used for one of the early volumes of 'Killed By Death'.
The success of the single ensured gigs were plentiful and tours followed with Penetration, Generation X, XTC, The Adverts and Sham 69.
Their increasing profile bought them to the attention of Lightning Records who promptly signed them while the major labels deliberated, this deal saw the release of their second single ‘Cool‘ in 1978, produced by ex-Rolling Stones producers Bill Farley and Dave Hunt.
Lightning developed into Laser under the wing of Warner Brothers. The Jerks relocated to London and recorded their third and final single ‘Come Back Bogart‘ in January 1980. Despite good reviews and Radio 1 play the single failed to sell, so in the spring of 1980 the band decided to call it a day.
The Jerks exemplified British punk rock: raw, urgent, fast and provocative. A strong visual image and no shortage of potential hit songs. With more vigorous marketing and a larger slice of luck, the ending could have been a lot. [SOURCE: WIPE OUT MUSIC]
The Users were from Cambridge and formed in September 1976. Their sound was a mixture of The Stooges, New York Dolls, Rolling Stones and The Sex Pistols. The band had only done two gigs when the first single 'Sick Of You / In Love With Today' was released mid '77 but what a cracker.
By early '78 they had still only done 11 gigs, two of them still held day jobs and they still had no equipment. They had lost the original bassist Bobby Kwok and had Pete Bevington on Bass.
Undetered they released a second single 'Kicks In Style / Dead On Arrival' on their own Warped label before eventually calling it a day though not before losing Pete Bevington and getting in Alvin Gibbs on bass.
The Users were fantastic but located in Cambridge and having no equipment did for them. If they could have got down to London, played the Roxy & Vortex and got management mid '77 then who knows what could have happened. By the time they were gigging in London around May 1979 supporting bands like Chelsea at The Music Machine their time had gone. What a waste.
The fact that they got two classic singles out is testament both to the bands spirit and to the spirit of punk rock in that anyone could do it. [SOURCE: PUNK 77]
The Rivals were an English punk rock band from Ramsgate, Kent, England. Mark Edwards and Paul Leinster were boyhood friends. Tired of playing air guitar to the likes of 'Diamond Dogs' and "20th Century Boy", the teenaged Edwards bought a real guitar, a Les Paul copy, in 1976. After seeing The Sex Pistols on "So It Goes", Leinster wanted to play, too, and he duly received a bass guitar for Christmas. The Rivals' first practice was on Boxing Day.
The two, like other early punks, saw shows by many of the seminal, though then mostly unhailed, giants of the nascent punk scene: The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, The Slits, Gang of Four, and The Clash. A skinny little Herbert named Marc Hebden joined Edwards and Leinster on drums; they rehearsed at his house as there was more room. The Rivals played shows in and around Ramsgate, and gigged enough to be able to afford a studio session. The result, in 1979, was 'Future Rights', and it was well received. Indeed, it was possible for one punk zine from Canterbury to report that, at this time, The Rivals had 'something of a hardcore following'. There was, however, no national recognition.
Personal differences led to the replacement of Marc Hebden on drums. Paul Daley (later to form Leftfield and top the British charts), a schoolfriend of Paul Leinster, joined. The band indicated that they had 'plans to release a golden oldie for a follow-up' to their first single. Another studio session, in 1980, produced "Here Comes the Night", partnered by "Both Sides" as the B-side. Edwards suggested that The Rivals cover the song after hearing it on David Bowie's 'Pin Ups'. Being stupid enough not to realise it wasn’t even Bowie’s song, that it was a Them song, the band produced a blistering, punked-up version of the bluesy hit. The record received airplay from Paul Burnett, Mike Read, and John Peel, the last of whom played the original and The Rivals' version back-to-back at the end of one of his programmes to show how superior he thought the Ramsgate lads' take was.
Unfortunately, The Rivals were unable to capitalise on the positive exposure. Oakwood Records only pressed a few thousand, and, though at least one major label was interested in taking over the distribution, Oakwood, for reasons that are still unknown, refused. 'Here Comes the Night' was the single of the week in Record Mirror, but, without national distribution, the chance for chart success had gone. Citing musical differences, Paul Daley left the band (with Edwards telling him, ironically, 'you'll never make it with that attitude'). Stan Gretsch (real name Ralph Littlejohn) proved to be The Rivals' final drummer. With Gretsch's death in a car accident (in a stolen car) in 1981, and Edwards' move to Naughty Thoughts, The Rivals dissolved. With the resurgence of interest in first wave punk that began in the mid-1990s, it was probably inevitable that a Rivals' collection would be produced. A twenty-track compilation album called 'If Only' came out in 2007. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
The Blanks were formed sometime between the of summer 1977 and 1978. The band had close links with The Destructors, who rose to prominence in the early 1980s as part of the UK82 mob. Andrew Jackson (guitar), Andrew Butler (drums) and Allen Adams (bass) had all played in The Destructors between 1977 and 1978, and when that band split the trio formed The Blanks with singer Neil Singleton. This new band debuted with a support slot to The Damned at the Wirrina in Peterborough.
In 1979 they recorded the topical 'Northern Ripper' single in the back room of a pub. It was a classic single, totally lo-fi and charming. The single earned them some infamy because some
idiots thought the Yorkshire Ripper might have been a member. That’s
what happens when you start your single with a sample of the suspected
Ripper (recorded off a help line the police had set up), and also dress
like him on the cover of it. Bass guitarist Allen Adams was actually interviewed by the local newspaper and even the police.
They plugged away for another year, and played their last gig in May 1980 supporting rising stars Discharge. After this Adams and Andy McDonald (drums, who’d joined in 1980), re-formed The Destructors. [SOURCE: THEY PLAYED PETERBOROUGH]
UK Pop-punk band The Stiffs formed in 1977, as a bunch of 15 year old schoolkids.
Their first single 'Standard English' was released in early 1979 on their own Dork Records label.
The much more impressive follow up 'Inside Out/Kids on the Street' was also released on Dork Records in December 1979 and both sides became instant favourites of BBC Radio One`s John Peel, who was quoted as saying on air that it was 'the finest record in the entire history of the universe'! EMI quickly snapped the band up and re-issued 'Inside Out' on their Zonophone subsidiary in early 1980.
The single 'Volume Control' was released by Zonophone in November 1980 but it`s lack of chart success prompted EMI to release the band from their contract and cancel plans for an album.
The Stiffs signed to Stiff Records in January 1981 for a one-off single 'Goodbye My Love' (a cover of the 1975 UK hit by The Glitter Band), whilst the band went out on a UK tour with the U.K.Subs. Despite massive radio airplay 'Goodbye My Love' failed to hit the Top 50 and the band were once again without a record deal.
Several line-up changes ensued, but The Stiffs didn`t release another single until 1985 with 'The Young Guitars' 12" single, once again on their own Dork Records.
After incessant touring the band folded in 1988, leaving behind a fairly large legacy of unissued material.
In 1999, Captain Oi! Records put together 'The Stiffs-The Punk Collection', an album featuring the bands singles plus the best of The Stiffs` previously unreleased material.
A live reunion of the original line-up in July 1999 spawned the 'Volume Control - Live' album, released by Receiver Records in 2000. Several festival appearances followed.
2001 saw two further compilation albums appear. 'Innocent Bystanders' on EMI covered the band`s early period, whilst the 'Stiffology' album (Angel Air Records) filled in the gaps in the band`s fragmented career between 1981 to 1988.
Phil Hendriks toured Japan with a revamped Stiffs line-up in 2002 to promote the re-issue of two of the band`s singles by 1977 Records and recorded a brand new Japan-only single, 'Four Winds'.
The original line-up reconvened in November 2005 and the reunion show was filmed and recorded for the 'Let`s Activate' DVD, released on Dork Records in August 2006. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Inspired by The Clash, The Damned and the Ramones, the Pseudo Existors formed in Lincoln in April 1978. The band played only one gig before entering a recording studio for the first time in February 1979.
Described by the engineer as “the most amateurish band he’d ever worked with”, the sessions yielded 4-tracks of stunning belligerent punk rock with a total who gives a fuck? attitude. The tracks were soon picked up by Dead Good Records.
Supported by John Peel radio play the 7″ sells 500 in the first week and enters the indie charts at No.6, eventually selling 7000 copies. It is now a collectors’ item.
Prestigious gigs followed supporting the Angelic Upstarts and Punishment of Luxury amongst others and in July 1979 they again enter the recording studio and record 4 more stunning tracks. Two appear on the Dead Good compilation album ‘East’, the other two remain unreleased.
Shortly after recording these tracks, the band ran out of steam and called it a day, disappearing forever into punk rock folklore. [SOURCE: OVERGROUND RECORDS]
The Art Attacks were a short-lived post-punk band from Britain that combined the talents of drummer J.D. Haney, guitarist Steve Spear, bassist M.S., and vocalist Edwin Pouncey (aka the cartoonist Savage Pencil). The band cut their teeth by playing London's Vortex frequently; in fact, their second recorded appearance was on 1977's 'Live at the Vortex' compilation. (Their first appearance was on Beggars Banquet's 'Streets' package.) Pouncey was out of the band by the end of 1977, and the group continued for less than a month until opting to cease operations. Oddly enough, the band released their only single posthumously; the 'I Am a Dalek' single was issued on Albatross in April of 1978, and they made another compilation appearance on Fresh's 'A Fresh Selection', which was released in 1982. Haney later joined The Monochrome Set. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
