The Deltones were an eleven piece ska/bluebeat outfit formed in London back in the early/mid 80’s, and they featured former members of The Bodysnatchers. They were an all female band, apart from the drummer who was a male. The group also recorded a Peel Session for Radio 1 and a session for Capital Radio during the late eighties, and they were well known on the London gig circuit. They were also extremely popular in France, and they also appeared on Saturday morning TV in Britain performing the single, Stay Where You Are. The group decided to call it a day in the mid nineties, but by this time the line – up had changed considerably and they had moved on to playing pop – indie music rather than ska , although some of their ska tunes where performed during their set list at their latter concerts.
Peel first saw the band in 1986 when they performed in Soho to celebrate 6 years of Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues night at the Gossip’s nightcluv. He mentioned seeing them in the Observer, published on 4th May 1986 and described that he was a fan when they first struck up:
“From the moment they struck up I was a fan. Since a typically untidy adolescence, I have suspected that women know something we men do not, that they can have an understanding and co-operative spirit that combative men can rarely, if ever, match. I’m limping through minefields here, I know, but I cannot imagine 11 men playing together on stage with the sense of community radiated by the Deltones.” [1]
A month later, the band did a session for Peel’s show, despite not having a record deal at that time and in the late 80’s, when the group were signed to an indie label, he played some tracks from the band’s only solo album, Nana Choc Choc In Paris, on his programmes.
NOW BOOKING: THE LEGENDARY ETHIOPIANS: PIONEERS IN SKA, ROCKSTEADY & CLASSIC ROOTS REGGAE Entertainment with Ethiopian Music Production “The Ethiopians” (Originally “The Ethiopian Children”) were one of Jamaica’s most influential vocal groups during the golden age of Jamaican music, not only did the original quartet (Leonard Dillon, Wally Booker, Harold Bishop & Neville Duncan) spearhead the transition between Ska and Rocksteady, Dillon’s heavily Rastafarian lyrics also paved the way for the socially conscious Roots Reggae era that was to come. Neville Duncan was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica August 5, 1949. It was during his High School years that he met Harold Bishop (aka Junior). His uncle Arbry Walters (aka Tony Valdes) had a dance group called Tony Valdes and Company. This group consisted of the late Alva Watts, keyboardist and professor of music the late Prof. Rex Nettleford, Neville Black, the late Cedrick Brooks, Abnor Horn and many more singers and Ballet dancers. From the age of seven Neville started traveling around Jamaica with his uncle’s dance company. In 1962 Neville Performed at the Jamaica Independence Celebration in Port Antonio with the dance company for the first time. In 1963 Neville Duncan’s uncle (Tony Valdes) put on a concert, this is where Neville met Leonard Dillon (aka Sparrow) and Wally Bucker (aka Wally B). They all sang covers as well as originals. After the concert Wally Bucker suggested they form a singing group called “Ethiopian Children”. The new group performed every where Neville’s uncle promoted a show, In 1966 the group name was changed to The Ethiopians.
Three classic songs from the group which ironically became huge hits after Neville left the group for the first time. “Everything crash”, “Bad to worse” and “Owner fi di yard” were written by Neville Duncan, Leonard Dillon and Harold Bishop. There were giants in the earth in those early days of SKA, Monty Morris, The Ethiopians, Ska-talites, Drumbago, Millie Smalls, Prince Buster, Stranger Cole, Doreen Shaffer; and also after that, when the sons & daughters of Ska came in unto the sons & daughters of Rocksteady, and they bore children: Classic Roots, Culture Reggae, Lovers Rock, Dub, Dancehall, Hip- hop, Reggaeton, Bluebeat and Dubstep unto to them, the same became mighty music which were descended from of old, music of renown. Incredibly today some of these legendary giants still walk the earth, such as Neville “Ethiopian” Duncan, his musical career encompasses the entire history of reggae from SKA, ROCKSTEADY to CLASSIC ROOTS REGGAE through a genuine and DIRECT MUSICAL LINEAGE. NEVILLE “ETHIOPIAN” DUNCAN is one of the ORIGINAL FOUNDING MEMBERS of the ETHIOPIANS,
As with many early Reggae artists uneducated in the skullduggery world of music. Writers were very often left off of the credits, and therefore been buried in time and no records or royalties paid.
He is now the current lead vocalist via direct MUSICAL SUCCESSION through the late great LEONARD “SPARROW” DILLON. The Ethiopians are connected to a DIRECT MUSICAL LINEAGE that goes back to LEONARD DILLON, MILLIE SMALLS, DRUMBAGO, JAH JERRY, TOMMY MCcCOOK, PRINCE BUSTER, SKA-TALITES, STRANGER COLE, ERNIE RANGLIN, DERRICK MORGAN, JIMMY CLIFF, THEOPHILIUS BECKFORD, ROLAND ALPHONSO, DON DRUMMONDS, LLOYED BREVETT, THE WAILERS, TOOTS & THE MAYTALS, JOHNNY MOORE, BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES, LLOYD KNIBBS and many more! Booking Agent subcultz@gmail.com +447-733-096571(Symond Lawes) Ethiopians
The Jam 1982 is written by Buckler and Zoë Howe and, in full color, glossy format, tells the eye-witness account of the band’s epic last year together, featuring previously unseen images from Buckler’s own collection. A strictly limited edition, signed hardback of the volume, including an exclusive print, will be available on the same day, and can be pre-ordered here.
The book also includes contributions from key members of those in and around the ever-influential band at the time, including DJ Gary Crowley, producer Peter Wilson, A&R manager Dennis Munday, photographer Neil “Twink” Tinning, Jennie Matthias (the member of chart group the Belle Stars who sang on “The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow”), and touring musicians Jamie Telford and Steve Nichol. Other friends and acolytes sharing their tales of 1982 include Eddie Piller, Paolo Hewitt, and Mat Osman.
Beat Surrender
“From the moment I teamed up with Paul [Weller] at school to start a band, everything else became secondary,” says Buckler. “We started out as a three piece with Steve Brookes on lead guitar and vocals, Paul on his prized Hofner violin bass and backing vocals, and myself on drums. We also had a name – not a very good name we thought – but it would do until we thought of a better one: The Jam. Dave Waller joined on rhythm guitar, learning to play on the way.
“Rehearsing in Paul’s bedroom,” he continues, “we got together a set of sixties covers and put on an hour of music as we worked towards our first gigs in Sheerwater Youth Club, county fairs, and anywhere around the Woking area we could secure a booking. Dave soon dropped out and in the meantime we continued to go out as a three piece, improving our set and adding in some rather dodgy self-penned love songs along the way.”
Bucker concludes: “Forty years after the split of The Jam, the real inside story hasn’t been fully told. The Jam still means a great deal to me and to so many others. I have always thought it was a great shame that we did not take it as far as we should.”
There’s been quite a few books written about The Jam, who still hold a huge fanbase world wide. Most mod and scooter events will have covers bands and memorabilia, why not get this book to add to your collection.
The Pyramids aka Symarip are a ska and reggae band from the United Kingdom, originating in the early 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band’s name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word pyramids. Consisting of members of West Indian Jamaican immigrants to London, Simaryp is widely marked as the first skinhead reggae bands, to target skinheads as an audience, after playing backing band with Laurel Aitkin started to witness a growing Skinhead following. Their hits included “Skinhead Girl”, “Skinhead Jamboree” and “Skinhead Moonstomp”, the latter of which was based on the Derrick Morgan song, “Moon Hop”. After the release of Skinhead Moonstomp album in 1970 and a sell out gig at wembley marred with teenage violence. Reggae was deemed too dangerous for the Conservative Britain of the time, so the band were sent to Europe to spread the Ska and Reggae music on the mainland. The band officially split in 1985 after releasing the album Drunk & Disorderly as The Pyramids. In April 2008, they headlined the Ska Splash Festival in Lincolnshire as Symarip, and later performed at the Endorse-It and Fordham Festivals. Since 2019 they are back and playing as The Pyramids across the world to mark 50+ years of Trojan records.
This event is to raise money for some of our girls trapped in Ukraine as the city came under attack. A few of the girls have escaped with just a bag of clothing, kids and a baby. Now homeless in mainland Europe, with an ever changing situation, we will be taking a van out to Europe directly after the event with much needed aid, size 8 girls clothes and meduim plus children and other essentials, please come to this event, have fun and do something, £10 tickets plus any donations you can do. This is very genuine i spoke to the girls as they were making their way to Romania with children and babies, they abandoned anything they couldnt carry and went by foot over the border to escape war. , bring along any donations of clothes, she asked for size 8 and medium, but all sizes will be donated to other girls. medical stuff, womens sanitary and animal supplies, everything is needed
when i spoke to Samira last week she was being bombed as she was trying to escape Kyiv with some other girls, children and babies. for four days the girls struggled to make their way to the Romainian border. Some of the girls are still missing. We have arranged accomodation in Germany for the girls temporarily and hope to get them to UK. We at Subcultz were asked to be the agent for the previous Ska band the girls had formed, but had broken up prior to the war outbreak, we now plan to work with Samira to persue her singing career with UK musicians
IF YOU WISH TO DONATE MONEY YOU CAN USE FRIENDS AND FAMILY OPTION ON PAYPAL TO SUBCULTZ@GMAIL.COM (PLEASE PUT A NOTE -(UKRAINIAN CRISIS FUND). BANK TRANSFER PLEASE EMAIL US FOR DETAILS. IF YOU WISH TO DONATE CLOTHING MEDICAL, WOMENS AND BABIES PRODUCTS, ANIMAL FOOD PLEASE EMAIL SUBCULTZ@GMAIL.COM AND WE WILL LET YOU KNOW A COLLECTION DELIVERY POINT. ONCE THE VAN IS FULL WE LEAVE. PLEASE DROP PARCELS TO 131 VALLEY ROAD , PORTSLADE BN412TN IF YOU ARE IN UK. EUROPEAN PICK UP POINTS TO BE CONFIRMED
The girls and children sheltering under a road bridge from Russian bombers during the invasion of Kyiv
Some of the girls are still missing in Ukraine
This is the items badly needed, having spoken the Red Cross
Canned food – Pot noodles – Powder soup – Baby food – Nappies – Sanitary Products – Soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste – Power Banks and batteries – Small compact sleeping bags – PPE (overall, goggles, gloves, etc) – First Aid Kits. Women and childrens clothing, small toys, sweets, pushchairs, shampoos.
Please bring any of these items to our fundraising event or post/deliver to
Angie Larter 131 Valley Road, Portslade, Brighton, BN41 2TN
Symarip (also known at various stages of their career as The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba) were a British ska and reggaeband, originating in the late 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band’s name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word pyramids. Consisting of members from West Indies , Home of the legends of Jamaican Reggae Simaryp is widely marked as one of the first skinhead reggae bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audience. Their hits included “Skinhead Girl”, “Skinhead Jamboree” and “Skinhead Moonstomp“, the latter based on the Derrick Morgan song, “Moon Hop“.[2]
Symarip Pyramid Ltd edition 7″ Vinyl released on Subcultz Records
Landing as young immigrants into London from Jamaica in 1962 joining into the growing South London Reggae culture, spearheading the blending of black migrant and white London youth. Mods being the subculture of the time who followed RnB American Modern Jazz before the Skinheads replaced them towards the late 60’s, the band formed as the Bees to back leading singers Prince Buster and Laural Aitkin
Releasing the first and only pure Skinhead Reggae concept album Skinhead Moonstomp in 1970 with Trojan records
Skinhead Moonstomp Released on Trojan Records 1970.
They moved to Germany in 1971, performing reggae and Afro-rock under the name Zubaba. In 1980, the single “Skinhead Moonstomp” was re-issued in the wake of the 2 Tone craze, hitting No. 54 on the UK Singles Chart. The band officially split in 1985 after releasing the album Drunk & Disorderly as The Pyramids. The album was released by Ariola Records and was produced by Stevie B.
Pitter and Ellis moved back to England, where Ellis continued performing as a solo artist, sometimes using the stage name ‘Mr. Symarip’. Mike Thomas met a Finnish woman while living in Switzerland and relocated to Finland doing the groundwork for the Finnish reggae culture through his band ‘Mike T. Saganor’. Monty Neysmith moved to the United States, where he toured as a solo artist.
In 2004, Trojan Records released a best of album including a new single by Neysmith and Ellis, “Back From the Moon”. In 2005, Neysmith and Ellis performed together at Club Ska in England, and a recording of the concert was released on Moon Ska Records as Symarip – Live at Club Ska. In April 2008, they headlined the Ska Splash Festival in Lincolnshire as Symarip, and later performed at the Endorse-It and Fordham Festivals. Pitter and Thomas now perform in a different band as Symarip Pyramid. Their Back From The Moon Tour 2008–2009 was with The Pioneers. In 2009, to celebrate the rebirth of the band and the reunion of the two original members, Trojan Records released a compilation album, Ultimate Collection. Pitter holds all copyright and trademark rights for the name ‘Symarip Pyramid’.
To book the band and any further information subcultz@gmail.com
Lead singer and Bass player of Mister Lizard. My very good friend and best friend of my sons was bashed by 5 guys with knuckle dusters last night in Berlin in Friedrichshain area. Completely Unprovoked attack other than him being a punk, and them casuals. He is a Northern Irish Punk, who cant speak German, and one of the nicest people I know
Adam was out with a few friends, when he was approached by an aggressive German who seemed to have a problem with Adams appearance, but not understanding the verbal confrontation Adam tried to communicate, but was then set upon by another four attackers armed with Knuckledusters
We believe the attackers could have been in Berlin in connection to a huge demonstration the following day 1st August 2020
“We left a bar and walked around the corner and a guy started shouting at us but we ignored them, then he ran up to us and I turned around and that’s when his friend hit me with the knuckleduster, screaming Antifa scum. His associates then joined in fully armed in an unprovoked ferocious attack, leaving Adam unconscious with severe head wounds.
Adam is the singer and bass player with his band Mister Lizard and has only recently moved to Berlin to play in the active Punk music scene of the city. Also a lighting tech for bands that include Slipknot. He has no political ties, but was wearing a small crossed out swastika badge on his hat, very commonly worn by punks ever since the 1970’s.
Mister Lizard singer Adam McConville attacked with Knuckledusters in Berlin
Berlin Police were called but were not interested in persuing any form of investigation. However we are appealing to anyone with information to contact us. This is an attack once again on our subculture. Most young people that get involved in subculture will at some point come up against bigotry and abuse, sometimes turning violent like the tragic case of Sophie Lancaster killed for being a Goth.
Event promoter, band manager and actor banned from facebook.
Since yesterday morning 8/6/2020 a mass of Facebook profiles have been taken down. This seems to be based on the keyword, as it has nothing to do with any personal views on the current protest movements, as this includes Jamaican musicians within the Skinhead subculture, a young mother living in Brazil Favela, event promoters in UK, Germany, band members, tattooists, people of all ages and backgrounds right across the world.
Facebook has no customer service number or ways to contact them, but have all our personal data stored. Many people have become reliant on the platform for their businesses, personal diaries, addressbook and many more things. This is a serious infringement by the corporation
Among those names pulled down are Jamaican legend Monty Neysmith. 2tone artist of the Specials Neville Staple. Skinhead Reunion promoter and ex manager of Xray SpexSymond Lawes.
Isabelle Pradel Skinhead Girl, Sao Paulo Brazil banned from Facebook
Instagram is awash with people banned from Facebook
Instagram is full of people talking about losing their facebook profiles
Skinhead subculture started out as the first youth culture to bring jamaican youth and white British youth together in the mid 1960’s The favourite music of the time being ska reggae. In 1979 2tone then blended punk and reggae together to create the biggest boom of skinheads. Since then right wing groups have tried and failed to recruit. as the years have progressed the skinhead subculture is overwhelmingly a multi racial subculture spread as far away as South America and Indonesia which brings people of all backgrounds together. An example is the Sao Paulo scooter scene
Skinheads in Sao Paulo Brazil
15/06/20 Update. Although most accounts were restored within a few days, some are still banned. Symond Lawes has another full month ban for no apparent reason, he shared a BBC published photo of a protest, which included no hate speech
ONCE AGAIN AMERICAN MEDIA AND CORPORATIONS TAR US ALL WITH THE SAME BRUSH Hundreds of anti-racist skinheads are reporting that Facebook has purged their accounts for allegedly violating its community standards. This week, members of ska, reggae, and SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) communities that oppose white supremacy are accusing the platform of wrongfully targeting them. Many believe that.
Facebook has mistakenly conflated their subculture with neo-Nazi groups because of the term “skinhead.” The suspensions occurred days after Facebook removed 200 accounts connected to white supremacist groups and as Mark Zuckerberg continues to be scrutinized for his selective moderation of hate speech. “We apologize to those affected by this issue,” a Facebook spokesperson told OneZero following the publication of our report. “These accounts were removed in error and have been reinstated. We are reviewing what happened in this case and are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” It’s unclear exactly how many accounts and Pages were disabled. British journalist Garry Bushell, who is also a musician and former manager of the punk band Cockney Rejects, tweeted on Monday that hundreds of Facebook profiles in the United Kingdom were taken down. On Reddit, members of the punk subreddit complained of a “Facebook Skinhead/Punk/Oi Mega-Ban,” theorizing that simply liking or following SHARP and other non-racist skinhead Facebook pages caused people to be locked out of their accounts. On Twitter, dozens if not hundreds of people reported the same — from users in the U.K., United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, and Costa Rica. Since the subculture intersects with various music scenes, bands and musicians were affected as well. That includes Neville Staple, Jamaica-born frontman of the well-known ska band The Specials. Staple has been referred to as the “original rude boy,” and is known for his legacy in the 2-tone ska community — a diverse musical genre with roots in Jamaica. “Please look into things before doing a general cull,” Staple tweeted on Tuesday. Staple regularly performs live music sets on Facebook, according to The Sun. (Facebook told OneZero on Wednesday that it has restored access to Staple’s personal account.) Skinhead subculture emerged in 1960s working-class London, and has witnessed numerous waves and movements. There is no doubt that whiteness, racism, and fascism are associated with skinheads, and it is a fact that heinous acts of violence and murder have been committed by racists who associate with the subculture. At the same time, the Southern Poverty Law Center notes that “skinhead style first emerged as part of a non-racist and multiracial scene” and shares its DNA with ska, dancehall, and reggae — a heritage to which bands like The Specials are a testimony. Skinheads owe their heritage to Jamaican music traditions, and the subculture’s later adoption by white supremacists is viewed as antithetical to its origins. As such, there are two distinct skinhead subcultures alive today. The account of Clara Byrne, singer of Brighton hard reggae band Dakka Skanks and a musician of color, was also temporarily disabled. Byrne’s most recent Facebook posts support Black Lives Matter and the uprisings against police brutality. “The irony of banning [individuals such as Staple] on the grounds of suspected right-wing or racist promotion or support is particularly galling, and shows a complete lack of knowledge (and understanding) of British music in general, especially the multicultural 2-Tone movement,” said Guy Shankland, a British journalist at music magazine Vive Le Rock whose Facebook account was also disabled for 24 hours on Tuesday. Facebook notified people that their accounts were disabled in a vague message, which OneZero reviewed. “You can’t use Facebook because your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Community Standards,” it said. Several people told OneZero that Facebook asked them to confirm their identities. In a separate message, Facebook said, “To help us check that this account belongs to you, we need a photo of your official ID.” In May, the company announced that it would begin checking the identities of accounts suspected of “inauthentic behavior,” which encompasses a host of violations such as harassment, using a fake account, and artificially promoting content. “They wanted to see my ID before they would give me my account back,” said James of Brighton, England. “I refused — I don’t want Facebook having my driving license on file — and I consider myself apolitical within the skinhead scene, but overall I’m avidly anti-racist and so are my friends.” However, some users report their accounts were reinstated without such verification. Andy Laidlaw, a member of Edinburgh ska bandBig Fat Panda said his account was disabled on Monday and subsequently reinstated without him providing identification. (Though he did receive Facebook’s prompt to submit a form of ID.) “I’ve always been a fan of Facebook, but if there is no explanation I will definitely use it less,” Laidlaw said. “I still think [the ban] is to do with the term ‘skinhead.’ But not all skinheads are racist. Quite the opposite for the majority.” Some of those impacted said they were relatively unbothered by the suspensions. “As far as I’m concerned, it was a mild inconvenience and most people I know took it in stride and were joking about it after,” said Montreal musician Karl St-Pierre, who recently began fundraising for the DESTA Black Youth Network. “Compared to all of the events unfolding in North America and beyond right now, let’s just say having your Facebook disabled by mistake is of much less importance, y’know?” Still, the suspensions speak to the fraught moment Facebook now finds itself in. Last Friday, the company removed 200 accounts reportedly linked to the Proud Boys and American Guard, which are white supremacy groups. Facebook said these accounts intended to ambush protests against the police murder of George Floyd. Earlier in the week, Facebook also removed “a handful” of accounts affiliated with Identity Evropa, another white supremacy group, for creating fake Antifa Twitter accounts. The company’s content moderation system is notoriously porous, so it’s unclear whether, in an effort to scrub bad actors, it failed to distinguish the subcultures. “I’m in skinhead Facebook groups because I share a love of Jamaican ska, reggae, and 2-tone music, however, the admin are pretty quick on stopping political conversations or anyone being hateful from what I’ve seen,” an individual whose account was removed by Facebook, and who requested to remain anonymous, told OneZero. “I think what Facebook has done is try to get rid of racists (which I absolutely agree with), but gotten rid of good people because we like similar music.” This person also noted that, in recent days, they had posted support for Black Lives Matter on Facebook. Black Facebook users have previously accused the platform of deleting posts that discuss racism and locking their accounts what it incorrectly deems hate speech. On Tuesday, a private skinhead Facebook Group with nearly 11,000 members changed its name to no longer contain the term “skinhead.” An admin of the group said in a post that the change is temporary, and is a response to Facebook’s mass suspension of accounts. Even Facebook users who do not identify as anti-racist skinheads, but are affiliated with the music scene, say they were affected. “It does seem that the ones who were disabled were all fans of the 2-tone/ska movement and on skinhead pages,” said Andy Davarias of Sutton, Surrey. “I myself am not a skinhead but I do love the culture and the music.” Civil liberties groups like Southern Poverty Law Center define “racist skinheads” as a “frequently violent and criminal subculture… typically imbued with neo-Nazi beliefs.” They are separate, however, from the SHARP community or anti-racist skinheads who staunchly disavow white supremacist beliefs. “If you look deep enough, you will find Facebook sites dedicated to [neo-Nazi] bands such as Skrewdriver, and some right-wing supporters still follow the 2-Tone, punk, and Trojan [Records] bands across social media, and still attend gigs,” said Shankland. “The ironic double standards of loving Jamaican ska while hating the very people who gave it to us still makes my skull spin.” “We consider ourselves to have a different approach to what we term ‘Boneheads’ who seem to love extremist right-wing views,” said Essex DJ Pete Lacey, who is part of the SHARP community. “Racism is abhorrent to the skinhead culture.”
One of the biggest skinhead scenes now is in Bogota Colombia
“To all friends of Jaelee, Jaelee has asked me to write this and I do so with the heaviest of hearts. Earlier this afternoon Jaelee’s mum, the beautiful and vivacious spirit that was Millie Small passed away. Millie suffered a stroke over the weekend after a suffering a serious haemorrhage in her brain and was taken to Charing Cross Hospital in London on Saturday. Unfortunately the haemorrhage was such that team at the hospital was unable to remove the liquid around her brain and her condition has unfortunately been in decline since Saturday. Earlier today her doctors took the decision to take her off life support as there was no chance of a recovery and she passed away this afternoon. The team at the hospital did a fantastic job to make sure she was comfortable and peaceful in her last few days and Jaelee was at her side until the very last moments. I saw Millie briefly at the start of lockdown from a safe distance when I dropped off some supplies for her; she was her usual effervescent self, full of warmth, smiles and life so this has come as a real shock. I’m sure Jaelee will want some time and space to come to terms with everything so if you have a message for her let me know and I will pass it on.”
Milie Small with husband and child
Millie Small a legend of Jamaican Ska and Reggae
My Boy Lollypop was a favourite for many Skinheads in the UK a song many thought dedicated to them and sung by girls to their Skinhead Boyfriend for decades
The star was most famous for her hit single My Boy Lollipop, which reached number two in both the US and the UK in 1964.
It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales.
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell announced her death and remembered her as “a sweet person… really special”.
It was Blackwell who brought Small to London in 1963 and produced her version of My Boy Lollipop, showcasing her childlike, high-pitched vocals.
“I would say she’s the person who took ska international because it was her first hit record,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
“It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world. I went with her around the world because each of the territories wanted her to turn up and do TV shows and such, and it was just incredible how she handled it.
“She was such a sweet person, really a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special,” said Blackwell.Skip Youtube post by El enano trapecista
Born Millicent Small in Clarendon, south Jamaica, she was one of seven brothers and five sisters, raised on the sugar plantation where her father was an overseer.
At the age of 12, she won a talent contest at the Palladium Theatre in Montego Bay; and by her teens, she was recording for Sir Coxone Dodd’s Studio One label in Kingston.
There, she teamed up with reggae singer Roy Panton, and they became one of the island’s most prolific duos, scoring a major hit with We’ll Meet.
Blackwell took an interest in the singer after releasing some of those records in the UK on his fledgling record label, Island, and brought her to London in 1963.
Small was enrolled at the Italia Conti Stage School for speech training and dancing lessons; and she toured the UK before cutting My Boy Lollipop with a group of London session musicians (Small claimed Rod Stewart played the harmonica solo, but he has denied being present at the recording).
Released in February 1964, it made her an international star, and helped popularise ska music around the world.
“It is the ska equivalent of Elvis’ Heartbreak Hotel or the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen – the disc that popularised a sound previously considered to be on the margins of mainstream consciousness,” wrote music historian Laurence Cane-Honeysett in Record Collector magazine.
Millie Small was given a hero’s welcome when she returned to Jamaica after the success of My Boy Lollipop
However, Small was unable to replicate the success of My Boy Lollipop, scoring only one further hit, a soundalike called Sweet William, later the same year.
But she continued to tour and record, and appeared frequently on 1960s pop shows like Juke Box Jury and Ready Steady Go.
“My life seemed very normal to me – even though I was only 17, I took fame in its stride,” she told the Express in 2016.
After leaving Island in 1970, she recorded for legendary reggae label Trojan Records, where her first single was a cover of Nick Drake’s Mayfair.
However, it was the b-side that attracted greater attention. Called Enoch Power, it was a defiant response to Enoch Powell’s inflammatory, anti-immigration “Rivers of Blood” speech that captured the mood of the UK’s Caribbean population.Skip Youtube post by lanman31337
Soon after that single, and the accompanying album Time Will Tell, Small stepped away from music, saying “it was the end of the dream and it felt like the right time”.
In later years, she lived in Singapore and New Zealand before returning to London, where she concentrated on writing, painting and raising her daughter.
When My Boy Lollipop was re-released in 1987 to mark Island Records’ 25th anniversary, the singer gave a rare interview to Thames TV, where she revealed she had, at one point, been penniless and sleeping rough in London.
However, she took the hard times in good grace, explaining: “That’s all experience. It was great. I didn’t worry because I knew what I was doing.
“I saw how the other half live. It’s something I chose to do.”
In 2011, Jamaica’s Governor-General made Small a Commander in the Order of Distinction for her contribution to the Jamaican music industry.
The singer is survived by her daughter, Joan, who is also a musician based in London.
We are deeply and profoundly saddened to announce the untimely passing of keyboard legend Dave Greenfield on the evening of 3rd May 2020. Following a stay in hospital for heart problems, Dave tested positive for the Covid-19 virus last Sunday but he sadly lost his battle last night. Dave had been an ever present in the band since joining in late 1975 and his keyboard wizardry was world-renowned over his 45 year career in The Stranglers. Dave was a lovable, friendly and eccentric character who always had time to chat.
We have received the following tributes from Dave’s fellow band members JJ, Jet and Baz as well as Sil the band’s manager:
“On the evening of Sunday May 3rd my great friend and longstanding colleague of 45 years, the musical genius that was Dave Greenfield, passed away as one of the victims of the Great Pandemic of 2020. All of us in the worldwide Stranglers’ family grieve and send our sincerest condolences to Pam.” – JJ Burnel
“We have just lost a dear friend and music genius, and so has the whole world. Dave was a complete natural in music. Together, we toured the globe endlessly and it was clear he was adored by millions. A huge talent, a great loss, he is dearly missed.” – Jet Black
“We lost a true innovator, musical legend, and one of my dearest friends today. The word genius is bandied around far too easily in this day and age, but Dave Greenfield certainly was one. We stood together on the same side of the stage for 20 years, laughed, joked and shared our lives in the way that only band mates can. I’ll miss him forever. Our thoughts and hearts are with his wife Pam, and to the millions of fans who worshipped at his altar, he’ll never be equalled.” – Baz Warne
“We are all in shock, Dave was a kind, generous soul who had time for anyone and everyone and it has been my privilege to have known him as both a close friend, his tech and manager for over 40 years. Our thoughts are with Pam at this sad time” – Sil Willcox
He is survived by his wife Pam and we ask you to respect Pam’s privacy at this very sad time.
Fly straight Mr G, fond adieu xx
very sad news, another punk legend gone. Peaches was one of the first 7″ singles i ever owned (nicked off my sister) and one of the very first to have swear words on it. for a 12 year old kid in 1977 oh S**t and Bummer were oh so shocking. Then Duchess still stands as one of my all time favourite punk songs. RIP to a Legend
“this is England” Year: 1984 City: Sunderland Label: Razor Format: CD, LP Tracks: 13 Time: 34 min. Genre: rock Style: Oi!
RED LONDON is an English punk band formed in Sunderland in 1981, influenced by The Clash, Angelic Upstarts and The Jam. The band named themselves after a Sham 69 song. By 1983 they were signed to Razor Records. Their first release was the “Sten Guns in Sunderland” EP in 1983 followed by the “This is England” LP in 1984. Since then they have recorded for various labels both in the UK and abroad, and toured Europe including Germany, Poland, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, and Spain as well as playing occasional gigs in England. Nowadays the band play some concerts from time to time. The release we have here was made by the label “Step-1” and include the first EP plus the debut LP. Is probably the best known work of the band, but Red London made more albums very recommended and always combining Oi! music with melodic voices and political lyrics. The four members declared themselves as socialist, libertarian and internationalist, inspired by the british SWP. Record label called “RedStar 73” has made the first re-issue on vinyl format and If somebody wants to buy it can go HERE. Later in 2016 was a new re-issue with remastered sound and some changes in the artwork made through italian label “Radiation Ressiues” just on LP format. Red London disbanded in 2002 and they are come back in 2018, touring in UK and Europe. Discogs , Lastfm , Download , Myspace , Facebook , Wikipedia
‘I just wish that more energy were used to protest the real culprits of misogyny and sexism, rather than punk bands,’ one fan wrote, as if the two are mutually exclusive
The Casualties
When I was a teenager, I often went to see a friend’s punk band play shows at an all-ages basement bar in Guelph.
He was a year younger than me, played bass, and had a bright green mohawk that stood about a foot high. The singer was a bit older and went to a different school; he wore his hair in liberty spikes. Most of the kids who went to these shows had the types of hairstyles that required Elmer’s glue to make stand on end, but not me: I had blonde highlights and a bob.
When you’re a teenager, the way you style yourself assigns you membership into a tribe that usually corresponds with what type of music you like, but at the punk shows I went to, this coding didn’t necessarily apply. As soon as I paid my cover and walked downstairs, I belonged. Punk rock is good like that, or at least it’s supposed to be: as long as you categorize yourself as some type of outsider, you’re part of the scene. Punk rock is always there for you. So it’s not hard to declare an unwavering loyalty to the scene, the fans and — most importantly — the people in the bands that comprise it.
On Thursday, Toronto’s Mod Club announced that it would be cancelling an upcoming show by punk group The Casualties due to allegations of rape against the band’s singer, Jorge Herrera. The cancellations are nothing new. A couple months after The Casualties announced a Canadian tour, 13 dates in total have been scrapped.
Allegations about Herrera have circulated for years, most notably in the form of a blog post on the website Put Your Damn Pants On by a woman named Beth who claims she was raped by Herrera when she was 16 years old, and he was about 26. Since then, a number of websites and blogs have been flooded with the comments and responses of those who claim similar experiences with Herrera; one Tumblr page compiled a list of 28 victims.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The backlash to these allegations has been toxic. The band’s management has used a particularly heinous line of defence, claiming that it’s NOT VERY PUNK ROCK to believe the women accusing Herrera of rape: “Unfortunately, people have been quick to judge and have not taken the time to think that they are not only slandering a singer from a punk band, but also a father, husband and family man,” a statement on the Casualties’ Facebook page read earlier this week.
“The mob has lit the torches and wants to see blood. Not a thought is wasted that it could hurt an innocent,” the band said in a statement in February. “We will not stand by while an innocent man’s life is being ruined. The only thing Jorge can be found guilty of is playing in a punk band.”
The fans are right there with them, maintaining that there’s a difference between being punk and being capable of rape. “Stay strong and stay f–kin’ punk y’all,” wrote one fan, while another assured the group that “The real punx we gonna stay with you guys!” Worst of all: “I just wish that more energy were used to protest the real culprits of misogyny and sexism, rather than punk bands,” a commenter wrote, as if the two are mutually exclusive.
A similar rationale permeates the discussion surrounding Bill Cosby. In her defense of him, Cosby’s former co-star Phylicia Rashad evoked the comedian’s “legacy” as a champion of diversity. Jill Scott did the same (though she distanced herself from her remarks recently), as did rapper Chuck D just a few weeks ago. Surely, hundreds of thousands of people who grew up with Bill Cosby thought the same: that a childhood hero, a moral arbiter, a beloved comedian with a proud legacy as a Black entertainer could not also be a monster, because if he is, what does that say about all of us who loved him?
When a scheduled NXNE concert by rapper Action Bronson was yanked off a public stage in downtown Toronto due to a petition crying foul over his misogynistic lyrics, the outcry was similar, but more simplistic: if you don’t want to hear it, just stay home. “It does seem like you’re trying to placate a bunch of soccer moms instead of your actual target demographic by booking the cleanest rapper you could think of,” a comment under NXNE’s announcement of Shad as Bronson’s replacement during the fest. “What the hell,” another said. “This is Toronto. It’s music. It’s art. If someone is offended well … f–k em. They don’t have to be there.”
The comments aren’t just an attempt to silence those standing up against misogyny and sexism, but a shaming: how dare you call into question something I believe in? How dare you take this away from me?
I don’t really like The Casualties; my experience with punk rock was always a little wimpy. But growing up, I drifted in and out of the punk scene in my hometown because even if I never felt quite like I was part of it there was no sense that I was unwelcome. Everyone I ran into at shows was a little bit of a weirdo like me, and they were there because it was a supportive environment. And I knew a lot of people who liked The Casualties.
But you can be an outcast — and speak for outcasts — and still do garbage things. Punks aren’t just punks; they’re people. And anyway, it’s not like the punk rock community is immune to the pratfalls that pervade every other community.
It can be difficult to reconcile that our heroes, mentors and idols do terrible things, not least of all because of a sense that their wrongdoings are somehow reflective of ourselves. And so the impulse to doubt or lash out against accusations is sometimes born of an impulse to keep ourselves comfortable. It’s an impulse that is, by definition, harmfully closed-minded. And that’s not very punk rock.
Rebecca Tucker
The Casualties were formed in 1990, with original members Jorge Herrera (vocals), Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums). The members aimed to return to what they viewed as the “golden era” of street punk, embodied by bands such as The Exploited and Charged GBH which they believed had disappeared by 1985.[3] During the early years, the lineup was fluid, with several changes.
In early 1991 Hank left the band, to be replaced by Fred Backus on guitar to record Political Sin in March 1991 for the Benefit for Beer compilation.[4] Soon more changes were in the works, with new guitarist Fred heading off to school. C Squat’s Scott temporarily filled Fred’s shoes until he returned a short time later. During this period, guitarist Hank filled in for a couple of shows, and Steve Distraught also played briefly with the group on second guitar. The Casualties stabilized long enough to record the first demo in the fall of 1991 and the 40 oz Casualty EP in the spring of 1992, and was building up a fan base in their hometown of New York City. At the end of 1992, Mark and Fred left the band and were replaced by Mike Roberts on bass and Jake Kolatis on the guitar, followed by the departure of Yureesh and Colin in 1994, to be replaced on drums by Shawn, while the band went down to a single vocalist.[1994 sees the recording of the 4 song EP, Drinking Is Our Way Of Life, however it would not be released. The songs would later appear on the Casualties “early years 1990-1995” CD in 1999. In 1995, the band’s second release, the 4 track A Fuckin’ Way Of Life E.P. was released on Eyeball Records. After recording A Fuckin’ Way of Life, Shawn left the band, and Marc Eggers (nicknamed Meggers) of the Rivits became the regular drummer. The line-up of Jorge, Jake, Mike and Meggers continued until 1997.
In 1996 the Casualties became the first American band to appear at the “Holidays in the Sun” Festival in London. 1997 saw the release of the band’s debut album, For the Punx is released on Tribal War Records, and the band embarks on its first American tour with The Varukers. Mike (the bassist) left the band in 1998, to be replaced with Johnny Rosado, from The Krays. They released their second LP that year, Underground Army, and begin a world tour.
Line-up David Rodriguez – lead vocals (2017–present)Jake Kolatis – guitar (1993–present)Rick Lopez – bass (1998–present)Marc “Meggers” Eggers – drums (1995–present)
Past line-up Jorge Herrera – lead vocals (1990–2017)Colin Wolf – vocals (1990–1994)Hank – guitar (1990–1991)Fred Backus – guitar (1991–1993)Mark Yoshitomi – bass (1990–1993)Mike Roberts – bass (1993–1997)Johnny Rosado – bass (1997–1998)Yureesh Hooker – drums (1990–1994)Shawn – drums (1994–1995)
Friday 17th November 2006, 30 years since Punk detonated, and I had the pleasure of sharing a few drinks with Ron Watts in my home. Ron promoted many of the early bands, and organised the now legendary Punk Festival at the 100 Club on the 20th and 21st September, 1976. Ron’s just published a great book which documents those heady and (for those lucky enough to have been there) exciting times. I switched on the tape recorder, put some wine on the table and off we went, talking about our mutually favourite subject. Music! I hope people will find this interview as interesting as I did, he’s a top bloke with some great memories. Rob Maddison, Tamworth, 19th November 2006. 100 Watts, a life in Music. Written by Ron Watts and forward by Glen Matlock. ISBN 0-9543884-4-5. Available from Heroes Publishing, the Internet (it’s on Amazon) or even a bookshop!
RM) Ron, firstly, why did you write the book? Ron) I was approached by the publishers, who said “would you be interested in writing your life story”. I thought about it, for about two days, and then thought yeah. Yes, I’d do that, you know what I mean.RM) How on earth did you remember everything? Ron) Most of it was in the house, still. I just had to find all the old diaries and booking sheets and things, and it jogged my memory, you know. RM) You kept all that stuff, then Ron? Ron) Well, yes, I suppose you would, really, wouldn’t you. To be honest, I sold some stuff off at auction, about 10 years ago, when I was skint. One thing was the Sex Pistols contract from the Punk Festival, which was handwritten by Malcolm McClaren.RM) Who bought it? Ron) I think it was the Hard Rock Café in Central London, to put up on the wall.RM) When’s your next promotion Ron? Ron) Well, I haven’t been promoting for a while, but it’s in my blood, and people are expressing an interest in me doing something. I’ve got 2 venues lined up for the new year, look here for news, come February. We’ve venues in Oxford Street and High Wycombe, but can’t say too much at this point!! These gigs are to be known as Ron’s part 1 and 2…RM) Who are you promoting? Ron) What I did in 1977. RM) What, new “Punk” bands, such as The View etc? Ron) No. Same bands I did in ’77. Same bands in the same place. Some of them are reforming, I’ve been on the bone mate!!RM) Who are you still in touch with from those days, Ron? Ron) Virtually everybody. People from the Sex Pistols, met some of the Clash quite recently, Damned I’m still in touch with, no end of people. RM) Glen Matlock wrote the forward to the book and is obviously a decent bloke. Ron) Glen is a nice bloke, and definitely part of the Pistols, but is his own man.RM) Did you ban Punk? Ron) No. Punk was banned around me, and while it was banned at one venue, I still considered doing it at another, the Nags Head in High Wycombe. At the first opportunity for it to go back into the 100 Club it went back in. It’s a false supposition to suggest I banned it. It was banned because the police and Oxford Street traders association objected to Punks standing in queues outside their shops waiting to get into the club. At this time Oxford Street was the premier shopping street in Europe. I’d be getting complaints, so would go out into the street and try and get people to move out of shop doorways etc, but as soon as I went back in the club they’d be back in there. And of course there’d been some real bad violence. When a girl loses her eye that’s a pretty serious thing. You have to remember that I didn’t own the club, I just promoted there. Simple as. RM) Did Sid Vicious throw the glass that injured the girl’s eye? Ron) Well, I presume so, the barman saw him do it. He didn’t know Sid from Adam, but he pointed him (Sid) out and told me it was him that threw it. I don’t think Sid meant to hurt anybody, except the Damned! If it had caught Captain Sensible on the head he’d have liked that! Funnily enough I was down at the 100 Club a couple of weeks ago, and Michelle Brigandage, who took some of the photos in the book, was telling me that she was actually sat with the girl who lost her eye. Apparently she was an art student from South London, never wanted any publicity and was broken hearted, as anyone would be who lost an eye, especially at that age. She was only 19 at the time. Michelle was sat with her when it happened, she was her mate, and it’s the first time I’ve had a real chat about it. She said herself that though she accepts that it was Sid who threw the glass, he hadn’t intended to do that. But at the same time, he had thrown the glass with malice, and might’ve done even worse damage to someone else, you never know. So in one sense, he’s exonerated to a degree, and in another sense he’s still a malicious Pratt.
Ron Watts manager signs The Damned. with Stiff Records
RM) Was there any collusion to get Sid off by discrediting the barman’s story? Ron) No, but so many people went down with him, to the police station, and said he didn’t do it that the CPS probably thought 250 against 1 and dropped it.RM) Were you surprised by Sid’s eventual demise? Ron) No. You know, his mother, Ann Beverley moved up to Swadlincote, near here. She got some money from Sid’s estate, and the Pistols gave her some money. She got a cheap house and a few bob in the bank, and when she’d run through that she topped herself. As for Nancy, the police weren’t looking for anybody else, but we don’t know, do we.RM) Ron, how proud are you of your role in Punk, and could it have happened without the 100 Club? Ron) Yeah, it would’ve happened anyway. It might have happened in a different way, but I suppose the traumatic birth it got, and the big hand it got via the Punk festival etc helped, otherwise it might have taken a bit longer. RM) Could it have started in any other city other than London? Ron) I think it needed London. It gave it the credibility. It might have happened somewhere else, and it might have been more interesting if it had happened, say, in Liverpool or Newcastle or somewhere, but it would have taken longer to be accepted, and London would have taken longer to accept it.RM) I suppose the Pistols, who catalyzed the movement were a London band, and people like Paul Weller, Pete Shelley etc always say the seeing that band is what galvanised them. Ron) Yes. They were the catalyst. We needed to have them in the Capital, playing in the middle of the Capital. It was always going to be a shortcut for them, you know. So yes, it would have still happened elsewhere, but in a different way. RM) Whose idea was the 1976 Punk Festival at the 100 Club? Ron) Mine. My idea, yeah. I approached Mclaren, as I knew that I needed the Pistols to headline it. And the Damned, they said that they wanted to do it, and The Clash agreed immediately, then we had to cast around to find some more. The Manchester bands were got down by Malcolm (Mclaren). Siouxsie approached me direct, although it wasn’t much of a band. Then, the Stinky Toys were volunteered by Mclaren, although I’d never heard of ‘em, and hardly anyone’s heard of ‘em since! Never mind, they got on eventually on the second night!RM) I read in the book that the Grande Piano on the stage got used like a climbing frame. Were you actually liable for damages if things got broken? Ron) The piano wasn’t going to get moved off the stage. It always stays there. Thing is, you’ve got to remember that it was a running, 7 nights a week club, for Jazz and Blues mainly, and the piano was a part of all that. The owners of the club left me to it for my nights, very seldom that they were there, even. If the place had been wrecked, it would’ve been down to me, I’d have had to pay for all the damage, you know.RM) Punk 77’s owner wondered if you thought the Banshees sounded as bad as he thought they did?! Ron) Well, in ’76 they weren’t really a band, you can’t comment. What they were doing was performance art, just getting up onto the stage and doing something off the top of their heads. They didn’t know any songs, and it sounded like it. It was weak, it was weedy. Sid just about tapped the drums. Siouxsie was doing the Lords Prayer and stuff like that. You couldn’t say it was a gig, or a rehearsed act, it was just people, getting up and trying to do something. I let them do it, you know, I might have done something like that at their age. I don’t think Siouxsie really lived up to her reputation, if you like. Well, not initially. RM) I didn’t like them, but the Banshees went on to become very skilled, musically. Ron) Yes. By then she’d recruited some good blokes. She’s been living in France for a long time now, I don’t see her.
RM) Were the early Punks, like Siouxsie, middle class students? If so, how did they feel when Punk was taken up by the masses? Ron) No. The early Punks were solidly working class. There was the art college mob, they weren’t numerically very strong, but they were the most vivid people, because of their appearance. They set the standard, the tone, you know? But immediately behind that, by the time of the punk festival of ‘76, the bulk of the audience was being formed by young, working class people and they took it to their hearts at once. RM) Were the movements roots biased towards the fashion element or more towards the music side, or was it one package?Ron) The fashion and art side, you know, was where Siouxsie was coming from. They took it very seriously, it was a new movement and they only had the one band to start with. It was very arty, but it was an art movement that worked. If you’d been there the first night I put the Pistols on, I think it was March 30th 1976, and you saw the Bromley Contingent coming in! They didn’t all come at once, they come in dribs and drabs. Each time, it was breathtaking and jaw dropping just to see them walk through that door.RM) Were contemporary Londoners shocked by the appearance of the early Punks? Ron) Initially, yeah. They’d got used to it by the end of that year. But initially, like in the early months, absolutely.RM) The summer of ’76 is famous for its heat wave. I bet you’ve great memories of it? RW) In that summer, and remember that it was the hottest, the best summer in living memory, it was the summer, people still talking about it now, and nothing was happening, everybody was asleep, you know. Anyway, this New Zealand film crew turned up to capture London. They’d been dispatched from Auckland to film London, in the summer. They were bright enough to cotton on to the movement, and they were haunting me! I mean, they got so many yards, so many miles of film, some of it’s not even been seen yet. All the main punk films, like the Rock ‘n Roll Swindle, The Filth and the Fury, were relying on their footage. They were amazed when they got their first, full on, Bromley Punk. They could not believe it. They said “You guys are 200 years ahead of New Zealand!” RM) Were you interested about the politics in Punk? Ron) I tried to keep it at arms length. I wasn’t interested in sub-divisions.RM) What about The Clash? Ron) Didn’t know that they were! (political). I think they were just trying to make it, I mean, they latched on to it. The Pistols had got a lot of the market wrapped up with their attitudes, so The Clash had to find some attitude, and they probably cooked it up with their manager, I reckon. What attitude can we have? Well, the Pistols have got this, that and the other and they found the one that they could go for. RM) I’ve read that the purists hated them, but I loved The Jam. They flirted with politics early on, and then really got involved, with Paul Weller joining Red Wedge later. Ron) The Jam were some of the biggest winners out of Punk. There was such a lot of talent in that band. That band was so tight.RM) Did you get more involved with them once they’d started to get bigger? Ron) They wanted me to help them with their American tour, by going ahead from city to city publicising it. But this was ’77, and I was amazed that their manager John Weller had asked me, and I would’ve loved to have done it. But, I was at the height of my promoting career, and I realised that. So I said “No, I’ve got to stick with this.” RM) The Jam always felt like a band that, as a fan, you had a stake in. Ron) I tell you what, they did a show for me at the 100 Club, when they’d been doing really huge venues like the Hammersmith Odeon. They’d always said, when we get there, we’ll come back and do one. They ended up doing three for me. One at Wycombe Town Hall, one at the Nags Head, which is a pub, you know! And, the 100 Club. They were really good like that, and I appreciate what they did for me and I love ‘em to bits.RM) It’s weird that there was all that acrimony between those people, and even stranger that Rick, and now Bruce, are playing in a Jam tribute band. (The Gift).Ron) Good drummer. I think, and this is my opinion, as I’ve no proof of it, that the girls all used to go for Bruce Foxton. The band was great, and they knew the band was great and they loved Paul Weller. But, in their hearts they all fancied that they’d get off with Bruce Foxton. When I did the box office at the 100 Club, there’d be all these girls turning up in school uniforms. I’d be saying “How old are you?” and the answer was always “19!” Am I really going to sell these girls tickets?!RM) I read somewhere, years ago, that Sid Vicious and Paul Weller had a fight after arguing about the Holidays in the Sun/ In the City riff. Did you hear that one? Ron) No. I can’t see that. Paul Weller was from a tough, working class background. A fight between him and Sid Vicious would have lasted about 8 seconds. He would have dealt with Sid in no time at all. It didn’t happen. Sid would need to have been tooled up, and I’ve had to fight him 3 times when he was. And I’m still here. Sid came at me with a chain, once. I confiscated it, and wish I still had all these weapons, as I could put them up for sale at Christies, couldn’t I?! And I saw Sid with a knife, threatening Elle, the singer out the Stinky Toys with it. I took that off him and gave it to Malcolm Mclaren. Wish I’d kept it. RM) Ron, did you have much to do with Rock Against Racism (R.A.R)? Ron) Only in as much as I endorsed it. And, I wouldn’t have any racist behaviour, as it says in the book, in any of my venues. I just wouldn’t. No way, I mean my bouncers were black, a lot of my acts were black, and I wasn’t going to have it. There were a few occasions when it surfaced, and I did the natural thing and let the black guys sort it themselves.RM) Empowerment? Ron) Yeah. At Wycombe Town Hall, the British movement guys were having a go at my bouncer, Gerry. One black guy against twenty or thirty of them, so I said to him “I’ll take your position, don’t be long, go down the pubs and get your mates.” And he come back in with a dozen big black lads. I said to them, “Look, you’re here to look after Gerry, not to kill these white guys.” So, Gerry stood in front of them, and there wasn’t a word out of them again! They moved out of the way, and went down the other side of the hall, these bullies. They saw the odds evening up a bit, and given the other 8 or 9 bouncers I had stood in the hall, we would’ve murdered them. RM) Jimmy Pursey went on-stage with The Clash at R.A.R in Victoria Park. Was this damage limitation on Pursey’s behalf? He seemed to get his fingers burned when the Skins affiliated to Sham 69. Ron) Exactly. And I don’t think he liked that one little bit. See, now, Jimmy Pursey is another guy, like Paul Weller and Joe Strummer, probably all of them at that time. Underneath he was a much nicer person than the media, and the world, would realise and portray. He was an alright geezer and he caught the wrong end of the backlash. People were believing what he was portraying and singing about, and that wasn’t necessarily him!RM) Did Sham 69 dance a bit to close the flame? They could be perceived as “rabble rousing”, if you like. Ron) They were looking for something to hang their stick on, if you like. The Pistols found it in one. Joe Strummer looked around with The Clash and thought about it and did it, you know. The Jam done it through their potent mix of soul and punk, and I think Jimmy Pursey thought he’d go with the hard boys in the East End. The skinheads, and the mobsters and the ruffians, you know. RM) Musically, Sham 69 were similar to the Pistols… Ron) Yeah, closer than some. I liked Sham 69, they were alright. I think Pursey is another guy who hung his hat somewhere, and that hat got on the wrong peg.
RM) How fast did Punk spread throughout 1977? Ron) Well, it got going in ’76. The Wycombe Punks, because they had me to promote at the Nags Head, got their first Sex Pistols gig there on September 3rd, which was actually 3 weeks before the 100 Club Festival. They were on the case really early. In ’76, Wycombe and the surrounding towns were full of Punks. By the end of that year, they even had a black Punk in Wycombe, a guy called Marmite. He had black hair, with a silver zigzag stripe in it. By ’77, it was all up and running everywhere. By January or February 1977 almost everyone under the age of 18 or 19 was a Punk.RM) When did the press really get hold of it? Ron) Then. But they were on to it before the Bill Grundy Show, the Punk Festival was before that show and from then it was just….you know. I used to get phone calls, from NBC and CBS in America asking if anything’s going on, or coming off, could you let us know. RM) That’s odd, being as the Americans claim to have invented Punk! Ron) They were a year or two ahead. It’s like most things. It’s like the Blues. We had to take the Blues back to America for White America to know about it. Cream, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, those sort of people. RM) America’s too big and too diverse. It couldn’t host youth movements like Punk and 2-Tone.Ron) No. It had to come from somewhere else. I mean, in New York it was a club scene, in Britain it was a national scene. RM) What did you think of those American bands?Ron) Some of them were really good. I didn’t think New York Dolls were as good as bands like Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. They were probably the best Punk band I ever saw, actually. RM) And Blondie? Ron) Well, Blondie. The bass player, Nigel was a guy from the Nags Head. Tigger, we used to call him. That was his name round Wycombe. He played at the Nags Head before he was in Blondie. I’ve got to say that Tigger and Blondie didn’t get on. Maybe she fancied him, and he didn’t fancy her!
RM) He would’ve been the only British male in the late ‘70’s who didn’t, then?! Ron) Perhaps he knew something we didn’t!RM) Back to the serious stuff, Ron. The Clash flew to Belfast, had some nice photos taken near some barricades and murals. Then they flew home. No gigs played. What do you think about all that? Ron) Well, it’s up to them. Sometimes, promotional events can take over. You can be wise after the event, it might have sounded like a good thing at the time. Who knows, I mean, it might have been sincere. I didn’t see them as a band who had very political motives outside of the publicity. I’m not saying they didn’t have a heart, but sometimes publicity sows a life of its own, you know.RM) If they’d played, this would never have been an issue with people over the years. Ron) No, but they would do benefits and things, R.A.R, and one just before Joe died, for a fireman’s benefit. RM) It’s ironic. The Pistols and Strummer/Jones last gigs in England were both strike fund benefits. And the Pistols, apparently, never cashed their cheque from that Christmas Day one. Ron) I wasn’t a party to any of that, but yeah, that was a good gesture. A lesson. A guy came down to interview me, and he lived near Joe Strummer. Lived in the same village and he was a long time journalist. He said that he thought that Joe Strummer had a lot of heart, and it was very typical of him that he’d go out and do a benefit as The Clash, but commercially would only do The Mescalero’s.
RM) Back to the Pistols, now Ron. What was their early live sound like? Ron) I’ll tell you something now that I’ve never told anybody before. Musically, when the Pistols started, I thought that they were, or sounded like, a youth club heavy metal band. Not the songs, or the vocals, or even the presentation but the actual sound of the band. It wasn’t a weak sound, but it wasn’t particularly pokey. Within three months, they’d perked it up a lot. RM) How big an influence was Dave Goodman to their sound? Ron) He brought a lot of stuff to them. He gave them a lot of advice. He’d make them sound a lot more pokey, he’d get them to do things. I spent a lot of time with Dave Goodman, as when you’re a promoter, you’re there to open it up. And Dave used to arrive early, you know, he’d arrive at four in the afternoon. I’d give him a hand in with some of the gear, and we’d spend some time together as we’d be the only ones there for a couple of hours. I’d be answering the phone and stuff, doing other things like that, but I got to know that guy. He never actually spoke to me about Punk. He mentioned the Pistols, but he never actually spoke about the Punk movement. I wish I’d recorded all those conversations!RM) Did you always fill the 100 Club? Ron) Well, after the first couple of months, it filled out, yeah. I mean, the Pistols didn’t pull a crowd for about their first six gigs. We’re talking about 50 – 80 people, the Bromley Contingent and a few interested parties!
RM) Some people must’ve come in to watch the Pistols out of curiosity? Maybe just walking by the club, then deciding to see what was going on in there, and finding their lives would never be quite the same again? Ron) Yeah, I think that younger people who come down to see it would change. They’d come down the first night with long hair and flares, and by the third night they’d seen them they’d come down in drainpipes and Punk haircut, you know?
RM) What about the other clubs, Ron, like the Roxy? Ron) Went to the Roxy, yes, many times. It was a bit of a pokey hole actually. The Roxy didn’t last long. The Vortex I went to. The stories I used to hear about that place! It was more of a disco crowd, actually. Rent-a-Punk, you know? It wasn’t for the faint hearted, not very savoury! RM) Did you get to read many of the fanzines? Ron) Yeah, I did. I used to see them all. We had one out in the Home Counties called the Buckshee Press, which is a piss take of the Bucks Free Press, of course there was Sniffin’ Glue, we used to see that at the 100 Club all the time. There were others, too, I came across them all over the place, actually, some of them were just one issue, you know, and just a couple of pages.RM) Did you know Mark Perry and the music hacks the time? Ron) Yeah, I knew Mark. Caroline Coon, too. Caroline has been very kind to me in her books, and things, you know. In fact she blamed me, or congratulated me for the whole of Punk in one of them, special thanks to Ron Watts, and that’s nice! Caroline was the first dedicated journalist who wanted to see Punk happen. And, I’m glad in a way that it happened for her, too, because she put her money on the table, you know? Same as I did. She ran that Release thing, which got all the hippies out of jail for cannabis. She was ahead of her time, I mean seriously, you can’t lock someone up for 6 months for smoking cannabis! RM) Changing tack again, Ron. What did you think of Malcolm Mclaren? Ron) I like Malcolm personally. No doubt, you know, I’m not just saying that. On first impressions he looked like an Edwardian gentleman. He’d got that off to a tee, I’d never seen anyone look like him, actually. I never had any bad dealings with him, and he was always very straightforward.RM) People either loved or loathed Mclaren. John Lydon isn’t a fan. Ron) Yeah, I think it was more of a financial thing, but I mean, John Lydon should also remember that without Mclaren he probably wouldn’t have been in them. Mclaren set the scene going, I was the first to pick it up, from that, before recording deals, but he never stuffed me like he stuffed the record companies. They made a lot of money, initially.RM) Did the record companies drop the band so willingly because it was Jubilee year? Ron) Well, the Pistols were full on and did it. I mean, “God Save The Queen” become one of the biggest selling British hit singles, didn’t it? It’s still selling now! And they wouldn’t let it on the shelves, would they. Bless ‘em! RM) You were on the legendary ’77 boat trip up the Thames, when the Pistols played and Mclaren got arrested. What was that like? Ron) It was lovely! You should’ve been there, honestly. The band were ok, they just did their normal gig. I enjoyed seeing people that you wouldn’t expect, talking to each other. When you’ve got the boss of Virgin, that business empire, talking to Sid Vicious, can you imagine what sort of conversation they had?! I’d loved to have taken a tape recorder in there! RM) Do you think the police raid on the boat was planned? Ron) I tell you what, I was amazed at that. I was actually on deck, and the boat was going downstream, back towards Westminster Pier. The Pistols were playing, and it got a bit jostley. You know, a bit of charging about in a small space ‘cause it wasn’t very big, the boat, really. So, I went out on to the deck by the railings, and a couple of other people come and joined me. There was plenty of food and drink, and I had a beer and a chicken leg or something, you know. And I’m looking and I can see these two police boats, and they were a way off. Downstream, I could see two more police boats, and they were a way off, too. I carried on eating the chicken and drinking the beer, looked round, and they were all there, together, at the same time! I mean, the degree of professionalism was just amazing! And then they were on that boat, in force, like about twelve or fifteen coppers, in moments. The boat was quite high sided, but they were up there. And you know what they were doing, they were up there and on that boat and we were escorted into the Westminster Pier basin.RM) Then Mclaren was nicked. Do you reckon he did just enough to get the publicity of an arrest without being charged with anything serious? Ron) I saw that. He got a lot of press out of it, yeah. He knew. Everybody turned to me, to try and sort it all out. One of them was a Countess! RM) Ron, you mentioned that no other bands were on the boat. Was there a real rivalry between these new bands at the time? Ron) The Jam were the young upstarts according to the Pistols, you know. The Clash were their biggest rivals at the time. The Damned, they had no time for.RM) Why don’t The Damned get their due credit? In my opinion, they should. Ron) I don’t know. A lot of people say they’re just a Punk cocktail act. You don’t see a lot about them, and yet they were the first to get a single out and they could play. Scabies could play. Brian James come up brilliant, but then he’d have done anything, if they’d have asked him to join Led Zeppelin he’d have done that, and Captain (Sensible), well I like Captain.RM) Buzzcocks were, from what I’ve heard on bootlegs, a bit rough to start with. They really hit a rich seam once they got up and running. Ron) If the Buzzcocks could make it, anybody could. I wasn’t impressed, really. But what’s in the future’s in the future, you never know what is at the time. They blossomed.
RM) And Magazine? Did you rate them? Ron) Yeah, I did. Brilliant guitarist, John McGeoch. And Penetration, they were a good band, and X-Ray Spex.
RM) Which bands are you the most pleased to have seen play? Ron) Well, I mean, it’s all of them. But where do you start?! Alright, the Pistols and The Clash, definitely, yeah. The Jam – pleased to see them anywhere, anytime. I did enjoy the Damned at an early stage, but they’re not in the top 5. And Sham 69, and The Heartbreakers.RM) I heard “Pretty Vacant” on the radio in my car earlier today, and I got the old goose bumps. Does any of the music from that time affect you the same? Ron) All the early Pistols stuff, yeah!RM) What’s your view on Punk and Reggae getting married? Ron) Yeah, if people want to get together and cross pollinate ideas, then that’s alright. It was the underbelly, twice. You had the white working class and the black working class responding to each other at last! RM) Some Punk bands who had a go at playing Reggae were better than others. Ruts, SLF and of course The Clash all cracked it in their own styles… Ron) The worst Reggae act I ever saw, were The Slits. Actually, probably just the worst act! RM) Do you think that Punk and Reggae blending in ’77 was the root of Two Tone? Ron) Yes. I’m sure it came out of that. I used to have a lot of Reggae acts on in that club, aside from Punk and the Blues and everything. I’d put on Steele Pulse, or an American Blues artist like Muddy Waters, as long as it was what I liked. RM) Your best front men and women? Ron) I’m thinking about this one…The best oddball front man was Wayne County. Best front woman, from what I saw, Faye Fife.RM) You rate Faye Fife over Poly Styrene?Ron) You’re putting me on the spot there! I’d put them equal for different reasons. Faye used to put on a great act. They were perennially at the club and at the Nags Head. Because I had so many venues, when they were coming down again, I needed to know, because that’s three bookings to give them. It was always like, “get your diary out, mate, when you coming down?” If I gave them three bookings, they’d come down, and they could fill it out with other stuff, do the rounds. X-Ray Spex were good, too. Really good band. The Rezillos are still going, actually. RM) I watched a documentary on TV the other night about that Stiff Records tour. The one where they hired a train from BR. Ron) They did the first night for me, at High Wycombe, yeah. There were some funny people there! Wreckless Eric was at the Punk thing I did in Blackpool this year. It took me about an hour to recognise him. I kept looking and looking and vaguely remembered him. Not a nice bloke. RM) Here’s the last one, Ron. Punk lit a fuse for many people. I’m one (albeit two years late), the other people who contributed questions to this interview are others and there’s millions more. As Ed Armchair puts it, his fuse is still burning to this day, and has affected virtually every aspect of his life since it was lit. Do you have the same feelings about Punk as we do? Ron) Yes. I got going through that and it still survives. My first love in music was, and is, Blues. I see a lot of similarities between Punk and Blues. They both come from the underbelly of a society, and they’ve both triumphed against all the odds. They both spoke for their people of that time and place. They’ll reverberate forever. Punk freshened up a stale music scene and the Blues were the bedrock for twentieth and twenty-first century music.RM) Ron, thanks for your time and best of luck with your new projects.END
It is a massive pleasure & honour to feature an interview with English actor, director, producer and musician Gary Shail on “Mods Of Your generation”. Best known for his role as “Spider” in the iconic cult movie Quadrophenia that many of us still admire and talk about today. This year (2019) marks the 40th anniversary of the film which is a massive milestone for everyone involved. The fact that its still talked about today makes it even all the more great. Gary is a great guy who has attended a lot of events over the years in aid to raise money for charity. We asked Gary about his own event coming up called QUAD 40 and about his career and experiences filming Quadrophenia & Jack the Ripper. We also discussed his book “ I think I’m on the guest list” published in 2015 and his Christmas song “ Modding up my Christmas list ” (2017) and more. Gary has done a variety of interviews throughout the years so it was difficult to ask him questions that he hadn’t been asked before, however I hope you enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed asking the questions. Make sure not to miss out on the anniversary celebration of the movie on Brighton Pier August 25th 2019 for more information go to www.quad40.co.uk#ModsOfYourGeneration
(1) I have heard you are a huge fan of the Regents a four-piece band based in Essex heavily influenced by the original mod spirt of 1964. Are there any other new bands influenced by the mod scene who you are also a fan of? Yes I’m a big fan of ‘The Regents.’ I’ve known Sea Jays the lead singer since he was 16yrs old and he definitely has the right attitude. Mind you, he has always had the right attitude! Another young band I am really impressed with are ‘The Lapels’ who I saw play in Derby at a MOTM event the year before last. They completely blew the roof off the place, and nobody wanted to go on after them! The drummer was only 14yrs old at the time I think, and I watched them play with his mum! (2) You were just 18 when you were cast to play spider in Quadrophenia. I am sure you have been asked this many times before but did you think Quadrophenia would become the phenomenon it is today at the time of filming. Of course I didn’t know that I’d still be being asked questions about a film I was in 40yrs ago, but, I think we all knew at the time that it was definitely something special (3) On Christmas 2017 you released a song called “Modding up your Christmas list” to become number one. Have you any plans to do this again in the future. “Very catchy tune by the way LOVED IT” HAHAHAHA..My Mod Xmas Song? Well, I actually got a hell of a lot of flak for doing that by certain people who shall remain permanently nameless. But it was great fun to do, and a lot of people loved it, especially the kids. I had people sending me videos of their children doing dance routines in their living rooms, which was brilliant! But no, I don’t think I’ll be the next Cliff Richard.
Modding Up My Christmas List- 2017 (Official Video) (4) You have been involved in many MOD and Quadrophenia events over the years. Is this something you enjoy being part of and do you have any memorable moments from any of the events that stand out. Yes I do enjoy all the events I get asked to. Over the years I must have met thousands of people who love Quadrophenia, and it’s always a great feeling when my presence can actually help to raise money for a worthy cause. Some of the funniest memories I have are probably un-printable, but trying to get a kebab in Stoke at three in the morning with Alan May (The Glory Boy Radio Show) doing Withnail & I impersonations sticks firmly in my memory! (5) Your character in Quadrophenia had many memorable quotes in the film. What is the one that fans mention the most? Always the one about getting a gun! (6) Your book “I think I’m on the guest list” published by New Haven publishing LTD in 2015 was highly regarded and recommended. I found the book to be a very funny memoir of your life and the extraordinary people you have worked with and met throughout your career. Can your briefly describe the book to someone who has not yet read it. The book was actually written because of Gary Holton (The Rocker who beats Spider up) Gary and I became really good mates after Quadrophenia, and actually formed a band together called ‘The Actors.’ But when Gary sadly died in 1985 I never spoke to the press or anyone else for that matter about it. Then I was contacted 30yrs later by someone who was writing a book about him and wanted a contribution from me. I wanted to put the record straight about a few things, so I agreed. The publishers of the book loved what I’d written, so I was offered a publishing deal for my own story. I thought I’d better do it myself before I was dead and some other twat was ‘putting things straight’ about me! It’s certainly not your average autobiography I think, and later on this year I will be doing an Audio Version with a soundtrack, which will be totally different to anything you’ve ever heard I hope.
(7) Many fans of Quadrophenia have expressed an interest in a follow up to the film. Is this something that you would support? or like myself do you feel it is best left alone. There has always been talk of a “follow up” But I can’t see that ever happening. It’s always interesting to hear some of the Ideas of what our characters would have been doing in later life though. I think Spider would’ve become a hit-man for Ferdy’s drugs cartel!
(8) You are a huge fan of Trojan records, what is your favourite track, album or artist under the Trojan label. Yes I grew up with the Trojan record label, and one of the first artists I remember driving my parents mad with was Desmond Dekker. But I’ve always loved reggae and had a very respectable collection of Jamaican Pre- Releases by the tender age of 13. Last November, I was proudly invited by Neville and Christine Staple to their 50th Trojan Anniversary weekend at ‘Skamouth’ In Great Yarmouth where I actually met ‘The Pioneers’ who were about 100yrs old. They could still cut it though! (9) This year (2019) marks the 40th anniversary of Quadrophenia (film). To celebrate this, you have organised, and event called Quad 40 in Brighton on the 25th of August 2019. Tell us a little bit about what to expect from the event and where fans can buy tickets. It’s actually on the 25th August Johnny! Yes I have hired Horatios Bar on Brighton Pier from 12 noon ‘till midnight on Sunday the 25th August. And I can tell you now that I never thought I had this much bottle to actually try and pull something like this off. It’s a logistical fu**ing nightmare, but I’m actually really enjoying it. I’ve spoken to almost all of the other cast members of Quad who have all promised to attend (work permitting) but trying to get us all in the same country together is hard enough, let alone on a bleedin’ pier! On that morning before the actual party, Quadrophenia is being honoured with ‘The Brighton Music Walk Of Fame Plaque’ to be unveiled at the pier entrance, so it would be great if there were a few mods about. Tickets and details available at www.quad40.co.uk
(10) A question received by Jimmy Hemstead follower of Mods of Your Generation and Blogger at MOD TV UK “HI Gary in your younger days was you ever a mod and did you ever own a scooter, can you tell me when and how you got into acting and why please?” Hi Jimmy, love all your art-work by the way!No, I was far too young to be a mod; I was born in 1959, so I was only 5yrs old in 64 and the only scooter I owned was made by ‘Chad Valley.’I never had any ambitions to become a professional actor at all when I was a youngster, but somehow found my way into drama school at the age of 12, thanks to my parents and a couple of Comprehensive High School Teachers who probably just wanted me just out of the way!Quadrophenia was my first professional job when I left. (11) Do you have any plans to release more music, Books etc or what are you doing now that we can look forward to in the future? Yes, I will definitely be writing another book I think, but not part 2 of my autobiography, that would just be a bloody diary. It will probably be about my time working in the advertising industry in the 1990s. You think actors and musicians are crazy? They’ve got nothing on advertising people! Musically though, I never really stop. I had a solo album out last year called ‘Daze Like This’ (see below) which a lot of people liked, and I guested on ‘The Transmitters’ debut album which was great, although I hear that they have now split up. I’ve also recorded a couple of tracks with Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard which are on his ‘Smiley’s Friends’ albums, and I’m back in the studio in a couple of months with ‘The Regents’ for their new album. I’m always writing though, and will hopefully record some of my own stuff probably next year now.
Title track from the album “Daze Like This” (12) Do you keep in touch with any of the main characters of Quadrophenia 40 years on? Yes, I see quite a lot of Trevor Laird (Ferdy) and I’ve recently been working with Toyah. Hopefully I’ll be seeing the others soon
(13) What do you regard as your biggest achievement in your career or what are you most proud of? I actually don’t think like that. Everything that keeps me off of the unemployed statistics is an achievement these days! I am extremely proud of my family though, and very recently became a granddad to a beautiful baby girl called Ellie May. I’m very proud about that! (14) In 1988 you appeared as the tough pimp “Billy White” in the tv series of “Jack the Ripper”. Sir Michael Caine also appeared in the series as Chief Inspector Frederick. Caine was a huge influence on British Culture in the 1960’s and referred to by many as a style icon.What was it like working with such an influential person in British pop culture? Making ‘Jack The Ripper’ in 1988 was like a dream come true, and working on a film with Sir Michael Caine was an experience I shall never forget. He was so interesting to watch, whilst he was working on camera, and I learnt a great deal from him. Everywhere you looked on that set there was something extraordinary going on in the acting stakes. Lewis Collins, Armand Assante, Susan George, Jane Seymour, Lysette Anthony, Ray McAnally, Hugh Fraser, Ken Bones etc etc.They were all giving it their all. I was just glad I gave it mine!
(15) Finally, How would you like to be remembered? Just to be remembered at all would be nice! Again it was a massive privilege to interview Gary shail and a big thank you to followers of “Mods Of Your Generation”, Please continue to show your support. Please like & share the “Mods Of Your Generation” Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/modsofyourgeneration/ interview conducted by Johnny Bradley for “Mods Of Your Generation”interview (C) 2019 to Johnny Bradley & “Mods of your Generation”
SAM QURESHI is an Alto Saxophonist and Composer of Jazz, Mod Bossa & Latin soul. He was born in Pakistan, grew up in Birmingham and has lived in Manchester since 1997. He is a talented & dedicated Jazz Musician with over 35 years working with some big names in the music industry. He has an interesting and exhilarating story to tell. Mods of your Generation are excited to feature him an interview.
Mods took their name from Modern Jazz in London 1958 becoming the phenomenon we know and love today. The culture spread throughout the united kingdom and worldwide, effecting fashion trends in many countries adopting Italian scooters such as Vespas and Lambrettas and tailored suites. It was an essential part of The Swinging 60’s. The original Mods of this exciting new subculture frequently attended Jazz clubs listening to Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Miles Davis – New Mods are listening to Sam Q catalogue in the same way however some are sceptical and not aware about its original roots. Whether it’s the chill-out Bossa Nova set in the lounge or the late night hot sambas to dance the night away. It has become the re-Birth of The Cool. Sam Q’s Night patrol are the essential sound to take you on a journey back to the roots of the Modernist culture and how it first began.
1) can you explain the Concept of Jazz Music /Bossa Nova in terms of Mod Culture? It’s the pure History of the UK and Worldwide birth of the Mods. It began in London in the late 50’s at the Jazz Clubs at the time. I guarantee you the members of The Who, The Kinks, Paul Weller will be big Jazz fans – and the former would have been attending Jazz/ Bossa Gigs in the Swinging 60’s -They will have original Blue Note Records in glorious Vinyl of the Jazz/Bossa Nova Masters such as Miles Davis, Stan Getz and John Coltrane. Jack Kerouc in his book ‘’On The Road’’ documented it as ‘’The Beatnics Generation’’ – you can read this blog on my website also https://spinningwheelrecords.com/modbossa
2) Do you think your music would sit in with Modern Day Mods? Yes! I think they are fed up of the norm bands – There are some really cool Mod bands out there for both old and young Mods these days . I think the ‘’New Mod’’ would really dig the sound of ‘Sam Q’s Nightpatrol’’ with the hybrid Latin sounds that Ive invented coupled with infectious rhythms and catchy melodies, it’s a very cool and stylish vibe and they would recognise and identify with their sub culture no problem. Of course, Ska and Northern Soulies also would latch on the Saxaphone influence straight away. My Vinyl EP ‘’Peles Groove’’ proves this with the demand being so great I had to manufacture another run.
3) Who are the band members of Sam Q’s Nightpatrol? Your not going to believe this but I must have worked with over 100 Musicians since the birth of my Latino adventure called Nightpatrol some 10 years ago!! Jazz musicians are hard to hold as they are in so much demand and they tend to keep moving on with alternative projects. But this gives me such a emphathy with for example the great Saxaphonist John Coltrane and other greats from the 1960’s – as it was the same problem with the quartets he tried to establish. Eventually finding his classic quartet of Garrison, Tyner and Jones. I have used many vocalists worldwide on my compositions also – the greatest musician I used on my ‘’Birdbrain’ and ‘’Secret Bossa Nova’’ tracks is Gibi Dossantos of the Sergio Mendes Band. On my current EP ‘’Lucky Charm’’ I have introduced a young Swedish Girl on vocals called ‘’Maya’’ – I love to nuture and develop- Also my most regular musician bassist Mike Crumpton.
4) Do you find this movement of musicians very difficult to cope with? The opposite is true. It keeps everything very fresh and new. I always have a nucleus of great musicians available who know my stuff – Although I do strive for my Spiritual line up. My idea is to introduce a new vocalist every 12 months – To give others a chance of breaking through in the music Industry – I think this is important also destroys that old fashioned image of a regular band line up- It’s great when I’m going to do a gig people wondering ‘’will it be Maya or Vanessa or Taylor on Vocals tonight etc’’ – When I tour different countries I will introduce local singers there for example in Los Angeles Fernanda Franco who sang on ‘’Love Spring Fountains’’ in Spain ‘’Almudena Moldes’’ who is the singer on ‘’Birdbrain’’
5) What is a typical Sam Q’s Nightpatrol gig like? We normally do 2 sets – The first is what I call the ‘’cool set’’ a selection of gentle Bossa Novas from the Jobim Songbook – as well as many originals both instrumental and vocal. This really relaxes the audience as they get prepared for the later set. It really puts their mind on the alpha levels, of course the alcohol also helps to! The 2nd set is the ‘’hot set’’ fast Bossas and Sambas and the joint really is jumping believe me!! Dancing on the tables. Now who says they don’t like Jazz.
A live performance of Sam Q’s Night patrol in Manchester UK at Bar 21 playing ”Peles Groove” 6) How important is it to play the Bossa Nova Standards and can you name some of them? I think its very important to play a few standards at each gig as this educates the audience onto the birth of the genre and how they relate to my compositions. The music biz can also see how equally my originals sit with the ‘Masters’ of the past which of course wins me gigs and Record Deals. Proof of this is how well my music is being accepted by the Brazillians themselves and currently been offered a Tour of Brazil. The classic Jobim Tunes I will play are ‘’Desafinado, Wave,Corcovado’’ to name a few we also do the Classic Sergio Mendes ‘’Mas Qu Nada’’
7) Your sound seems to be accepted by a much wider audience than the normal Latin Jazz threatening to break commercially – Proof of this is 2 of your past Managers – Can you tell us a little bit about them both? A tear comes to my eyes as they have both now passed away. The great Joe Moss who managed The Smiths and Johnny Marr saw me playing a gig by pure chance in Manchester some years ago and immediately wanted to work with me. I was actually playing in a ‘’Indie Rock’’ venue and instead of the punters leaving they were phoning their friends to get to the venue and we got 5 encores. He saw a parallel with the Indie Music movement of Manchester in the 80s when all the major labels said it would never sell. Joe proved them wrong.. The Smiths sold millions. Joe loved my style of Bossa Nova and encouraged me to keep pushing on a regular giging circuit, ofcourse he would represent me to the Majors and prove them wrong a second time haha.. Bruce Replogle who worked with manifold commercial bands over the years including US Manager for John Lennon heard a few of my tracks on New York Radio Station and instantly phoned me and sent me a management contract – He called us ‘’The Beatles of Bossa Nova’’ – I miss them both dearly.
8) Tell me more about the Major Interest currently and why you think this is? I think Latin Music has come into the forefront of Commercial Music today – Its influence is very apparent such as massive hit Justin Bieber ‘’Depacito’’ – Every week a major seems to release a Latin inspired track – Of course back in the 60s The Beatles touched on this with the Latin inflected ‘’and I love her’’ – But clearly today and now they are searching for the flagship of Bossa Nova – People from Sony, Universal and Warner are actively making contact with me – Im talking right now with Universal Music LA about a potential US Tour to follow up our Brazilian Tour next year. On my Social Media and websites stats you see them monitoring every move I seem to make!! I recently signed a Publishing deal with the original David Bowie and Black Sabbath Team which is another strong indication.
9) Tell me about your previous releases including your current release ‘’Lucky Charm’’? I have recorded to a high level 8 albums/EPs and recently formed my own label ‘’Spinning Wheel Records’’ to accommodate the business sides. Albums have completely different musicians and vocalists on them as I touched on in a previous answer. They are digitally distributed via Imusica in Brazil who power all the Latin releases worldwide so Im very proud of this. From ‘’How To Steal The World’’ to ‘’ Magnetic Lunchbox’’ to the current ‘’Lucky Charm’’ they seem to be rocking the Industry and music lovers Worldwide. The Vinyl EP ‘’Peles Groove’’ is doing fantastically well in the marketplace. The current ‘’Lucky Charm’’ features vocalist ‘’Maya’’ and is 2 originals and 2 classic Bossa Nova side by side. It includes ‘’The Girl from Ipanema’’ and my original ‘’Magpie and the Squirrel’’
10) You were a professional Busker for years and was spotted by Paramount Pictures. How else did busking Jazz in the streets help with your musical development? My busking years started in Birmingham in the early 1990s – and I continued when I first arrived in Manchester in 1998 – It helped me establish my first gigs in Manchester as many Bar owners saw me playing – Busking is a very special artform there’s nothing like it to master your instrument 30 minutes of Busking is equivalent to 4 hours practice!! When you learn something standing in the streets you will never forget it and Studio Session work becomes a doddle. Any fool can go into a Studio with a recording team and high-quality equipment and made to sound good. But busking is the REAL deal the Public aren’t stupid, and they will know immediately if you don’t have the talent. I busked jazz, no backing tracks, and kept the punters happy. I must have played over 1000 tunes across the board, never planning my sets just blowing my Sax and let the spirit take me where it wanted to go. Paramount Pictures Scouts were walking though Manchester during their filming of the remake of ‘’Alfie’’ and approached me to appear in the production as a New York street busker – which was great but but NOTHING beats the feeling when a small child of 4 years of age comes and dances in front of your playing when you are busking and the parents film and put a few pennies in your box. That’s true musical success!!
11) Tell me about your School Days and your friends growing up? I was 13 years old and sneaked into a Pub in Birmingham in 1978. On my way out I was set about by National Front members in their early 20’s – To my rescue a group of lads black/white in their late teens who turned out be a starting out UB40. Afterwards they took me to their rehearsal room, a shabby old cellar. 12) How did UB40 Influence your musical career? They had learned their instruments from scratch and influenced me to do the same and join the band, but I was still a school kid. I used to play truant from school and watch them rehearse and go to their gigs. I loved watching them develop their reggae sound and how music could deliver such a powerful political message, they were the forefront of the Rock against Racism movement in the early 80s and played with all the Ska Two Tone bands like The Specials, Madness and The Selector. Also, this was my first flavour with the Mods who had adopted 2 Tone at that particular time. In Birmingham I was regarded as the 8th member of UB40 Sax player Brian Travers bought me my first Saxaphone.
England World Cup Anthem Song 2014 Written by Manchester Jazz Musician Sam Qureshi for the Brazil World Cup 2014. 13) Who was your greatest influence to become and succeed as a musician? In one word my Mum. She was my inspiration and kept me going when I easily could have given up. She was my rock in the Industry and I always got my strength from her. She passed away 4 years ago, but I can feel her by my side every single day. Check out Mods Of Your Generation via the link below https://www.facebook.com/modsofyourgeneration/ Interview by Johnny Bradley – Mods of Your Generation interview (c) Johnny Bradley & Mods Of Your GenerationPhoto (c) Sam Qureshi
From its emergence in the 1970s, punk rock was a movement which concerned itself with the present. Its hallmarks were rock ‘n’ roll, a do-it-yourself attitude and a good sense of humor. As it spread from the U.S. to the U.K., it would also come to include a distinctive political sensibility. Many of the early punks were young people who actively sought to distance themselves from their upbringings, from any kind of ethnic ties, and to form new identities through their art.
Given the punk attitude of leaving the past behind and forging a new way forward, it seems counterintuitive to connect punk rock with Judaism. Yet punk, like many art forms to come out of New York City, has deep roots in Jewish history. From its origins with Jewish musicians in the 1970s to modern-day Jewish punk bands, the histories of Jewish culture and punk rock are deeply intertwined.
Many of the people involved in the original punk scene in 1970s New York were the children of working- and middle-class Jews. Their backgrounds ranged from overtly religious to secular and culturally Jewish, but all of them were formed by their Jewish backgrounds and would in turn bring those influences to their music and performances. These included not just musicians—such as Joey and Tommy Ramone, Chris Stein of Blondie, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, Richard Hell, and all of The Dictators—but also managers, photographers, club owners and more. Punk might not exist as we know it without the Jewish club manager Hilly Kristal, founder and owner of CBGB, the club where many New York punks performed for the first time. Nor would it have made it to the U.K. without Jewish manager and Sex Pistols founder Malcolm McLaren. Jewish record company executives like Seymour Stein recorded the music, while Jewish photographers like Bob Gruen documented the scene for posterity.
However, despite the large Jewish presence in early punk, many were reluctant to discuss their Jewish heritage. Like many Jewish entertainers, quite a few punks took on less Jewish-sounding stage names (like Thomas Erdelyi and Jeffrey Hyman, who became Tommy and Joey Ramone, respectively), while others had their names changed by their parents in childhood, in order to better fit into the American middle class (as with punk godfather Lou Reed, whose father changed the family name from Rabinowitz). Some even went as far as denying or refusing to discuss their Jewish heritage. While for some this may have reflected their discomfort with their Jewish identities, many more undoubtedly did it as part of embracing punk’s freedom to recreate oneself. “The tabula rasa aspect of punk is one of the most important things about it,” says Vivien Goldman, who was a music journalist covering punk in the U.K. in the 1970s and is now the author of Revenge of the She-Punks, a book on women and punk. Although Goldman’s Jewish background is certainly important to her—her parents were Holocaust survivors, and she is a first generation British citizen—she believes that “to be a punk was to liberate yourself from what had gone before.”
This seemed to be the predominant belief among punks of the 1970s on both sides of the Atlantic. Jewish culture was rarely at the forefront of punk music, even if its creators were quietly Jewish behind the scenes. Some offhand references to Jewish culture crept into the occasional song, but these were “few and far between and largely subterranean,” says Michael Croland, author of the books Oy Oy Oy Gevalt!: Jews and Punk and Punk Rock Hora: Adventures in Jew-Punk Land. These references were largely secular and easy to miss, such as The Ramones’s reference to “kosher salamis” in the song “Commando.”
Quite a few punks took on less Jewish-sounding stage names—like Thomas Erdelyi and Jeffrey Hyman, who became Tommy and Joey Ramone.
Something that did become part of the imagery for many early punks—Jews and non-Jews alike—was, counterintuitively, Nazi imagery. Young punks were known to wear swastikas and, particularly in the New York scene, collect Nazi memorabilia. The reason for this can seem difficult to grasp. “They weren’t serious [about being Nazis],” says Goldman, however she also adds, “I didn’t like it, and a lot of us didn’t like it.” One reason for the use of the swastika by U.K. punks, as Goldman and others have speculated, is that it was a way to rebel against their parents, the generation that had lived through World War II and had yet to stop talking about it. In America, Steven Lee Beeber speculates in his book The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk that the use of Nazi imagery was a means for Jews to take back control of the narrative, to control former Nazi property, to play with it and poke fun at it as they pleased.
Starting in the 1980s, punk underwent a series of musical and cultural changes. By this point, many of the best-known original punk bands had either broken up or evolved their sound to fit punk’s new commercial market. However, their early work had permanently changed the music world, especially for young people, with new punk bands arising and the genre spawning new offshoots such as post-punk and new wave. Punk was disseminated beyond its original scenes, leading the musical style to be adopted for new purposes. This included, for the first time, Jewish punk bands who embraced their Jewish identity in their music, rather than relegating it to the background.
According to Croland, the first such band was Jews from the Valley, which arose from the L.A. punk scene in 1981. At the time, they were still somewhat of an outlier. While new punk bands like Bad Religion and NOFX carried the 1970s torch in having Jewish members while not making most of their music about Judaism, Croland says that Jews from the Valley began when “one guy was screaming along to ‘Hava Nagila’ one day and thought, ‘I should distort that and put that into a song.’” That guy was Mark Hecht, and the song and the band both became known as Jews from the Valley, and thus began the short-lived career of the first Jewish punk band. Their music incorporated well-known Jewish songs such as “Hava Nagila,” original songs with Jewish themes, and a good dose of Jewish/punk humor and offensiveness. The band broke up after just a couple years, and at the time, it seems there were no other bands making punk music explicitly Jewish.
The 1990s saw punk undergo yet more major changes. In the early and mid-90s, punk (or pop punk, depending on who you ask) became radio-friendly, with bands like Green Day and The Offspring mainstreaming the genre. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many pop punk bands rose to fame. The other major punk revolution of the decade was Riot Grrrl, a movement which combined punk rock style and aesthetics with feminist politics. Though women had been present in punk scenes since the beginning, feminism was now being brought to the forefront of punk politics, and all-female punk bands such as Bikini Kill were rising to prominence. On a somewhat smaller scale, Jewish identity also became a more prominent feature of punk, helped by the fact that Jewishness was becoming a more acceptable topic in popular music at large (a trend which Croland partially credits to Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song”). Though there was not—and is not—really a Jewish punk “scene,” the 1990s was the first time that multiple Jewish punk bands came into existence simultaneously.
Probably the most prominent example of such a band was the Australian group Yidcore. Formed in 1998, they put their Jewish identity at the forefront of their music and performances, albeit not in a particularly serious way. “They were all about shtick,” says Croland, “whether that was drinking Manischewitz wine out of a shofar, getting into food fights on stage with hummus or bagels or falafel, or using their songs to try to woo Natalie Portman.” They drew on the traditions of the early punk scene, not just in musical style, but also in their love of humor and irony, while adding an in-your-face Jewish twist which early punk bands lacked. The group stayed together for over a decade, becoming perhaps the best-known Jewish punk band.
In the 21st century, punk has splintered into many styles and subgenres, including the further development of “Jewish punk” and “punk-influenced Jewish music” as genres unto themselves. With punk so well integrated into the musical mainstream, it is hard to point to an insular “punk scene” such as that of 1970s New York, but instead, punk and its offshoots have spread out, both stylistically and geographically.
Moshiach Oi! performing at the book launch for Michael Croland’s Punk Rock Hora in March 2019 (Credit: Shloyo Witriol)
While Jewish punk continues to be a niche genre, several bands have carved out an unabashedly Jewish space in the modern world of punk. Moshiach Oi! is one such band. Formed in 2008 and still active today, the band performs songs with an overtly religious bent, made to showcase its love of Torah. In the realm of cultural Jewishness, The Shondes has become a successful punk band that is open about its Jewish roots. “I came into playing rock music through Riot Grrrl and queercore—radical punk movements that helped shape my aesthetics and politics at a really formative age,” says Louisa Solomon, the band’s singer. The Shondes’ music combines rock and radical politics with references to Jewish proverbs and melodies, a combination which came naturally. “We write as full people informed by all of our experiences,” says violinist Elijah Oberman. “Jewishness is one part of that, just as our experiences as queer or as women or trans/non-binary people are. Jewish stories and ritual are a part of how we’ve come to be who we are, and so are Jewish melodies.”
The Shondes at a seder in their new Passover-themed music video “True North” (Credit: Jeanette Sears)
The Shondes
Similarly, punk—both its aesthetic and its attitude—has permeated more traditional forms of Jewish music, including klezmer and simcha music. Younger musicians like Daniel Kahn grew up with punk as part of their musical taste. Kahn has taken aspects of punk and made them part of his klezmer-based repertoire, creating a self-described “radical Yiddish punkfolk cabaret.” Similarly, bands such as Electric Simcha have adapted aspects of punk to simcha music—traditional Jewish music played at celebrations such as weddings. Just as punk has influenced non-Jewish forms of music, forming such genres as pop punk, so too have there been multiple punk-y variations of Jewish music.
The fact that punk has been and continues to be influenced by Jewishness (and vice versa) speaks to the core concerns at the center of both cultures. In discussing why Jews continue to be drawn to punk, Oberman gets to the heart of one of their most essential similarities: “Jews are taught to wrestle with G-d, and to me that also means wrestling with our texts, our rituals, our traditions. When even the things you hold most sacred are always up for debate, I think that can lead to a level of comfort with deep questioning of how things are or are supposed to be. Pretty punk, yeah?”
Image captionChuck D on The Clash: “They taught us to fight for what really matters”.
When Public Enemy frontman Chuck D was introduced to the righteous punk of The Clash, he didn’t get it.
“I thought they were a bunch of people with brand new music that were whining about their existence,” he tells the BBC.
“I didn’t think their problems were as severe as black people’s problems, but oppression is oppression and abuse is abuse.
“At that age I didn’t know how much their pain was. I do now.”
What the rapper later discovered was a band who were unafraid to take artistic chances, filing front-line reports on the poverty, boredom and lack of opportunity facing the British working class.
Fiery and idealistic, their music nonetheless seemed alien to a hip-hop fan in Long Island… until Chuck D’s friend Bill Stephney told him Public Enemy should be the rap equivalent of The Clash.
“The idea was that we were going to do something that would have a level of intellectual heft,” Stephney later recalled.
“It would have some substance to it, but it had to rock the party.”
The song that first made Chuck D “pay attention” to The Clash was The Magnificent Seven – unsurprising, given that it was itself inspired by the boombox rap of Grandmaster Flash and the Sugarhill Gang.
Built around a loping bass line (played by Norman Watt-Roy of the Blockheads) it saw Joe Strummer pick apart the human cost of capitalism, as he chronicled a day in the life of a minimum wage supermarket employee.
Image captionThe Clash originated from the punk scene but quickly outgrew it
The combination of rap and a social message made a big impression; and Chuck cannily noted that reporters often talked about The Clash’s message as much as their music.
“They talked about important subjects, so therefore journalists printed what they said, which was very pointed,” he told NBC earlier this year.
“We took that from the Clash, because we were very similar in that regard. Public Enemy just did it 10 years later.”
Musically, Public Enemy were just as revolutionary, with cacophonous soundscapes that relied on avant-garde cut and paste techniques, brutal beats and the squeal of police sirens.
But of all the qualities they shared with The Clash – from attitude and lyrical urgency to musical innovation – Chuck says the most important was “fearlessness”.
Both bands fought for social and racial justice, and both faced criticism for their depictions of police brutality: The Clash on Know Your Rights and Public Enemy on Fight The Power.
But they remained staunchly, defiantly independent – even though, in The Clash’s case, they were signed to (and in some cases strait-jacketed by) a major international record label.
Chuck D suggests that most modern acts lack that spirit.
“Bands today want to sell out,” he says. “They’re not pressured to stay broke and unknown and unpopular.
“They want to be popular and known and able to make a living… so it’s hard to tell young people to stand up for something and not worry about being paid.
“And who can blame them? As you grow up, you gotta work. They want to be able to do their music and art and make a living at it and you gotta honour that.”
Image captionChuck D and Public Enemy – the band he once described as an “information portal”
If you think the firebrand rapper sounds like he’s mellowing out, you’d be right.
Whereas once he declared: “Elvis was a hero to most / But he never meant [expletive] to me,” the 58-year-old no longer agrees with The Clash’s 1977 manifesto, “No Elvis, no Beatles or Rolling Stones”.
“Time has erased the golden idols and the only thing that fights against time is the proper curation of their works,” he says, presumably with one eye on his own legacy.
His own contribution to preserving The Clash’s legacy comes in an eight-part podcast, produced by Spotify and BBC Studios, which follows the punk heroes from their origins at the 1976 Notting Hill riots, to their clashes with the National Front, their struggle for creative control and their later experiments in funk, jazz, reggae and dub.
“It’s the story of a band that changed everything,” he says.
“They taught us to fight for what really matters – and to do it as loud as hell.”
Stay Free: The Story of The Clash is available now on Spotify.
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Mods Of Your Generation – Interview – The Kite Collectors MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·SATURDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2019 The band is based in Wiltshire UK and formed 2013, taking their main inspiration from the music of new wave and the 1960’s. The result is a mixture of influences and attitudes with a quality blend of infectious energetic melodies that literally fizzles in the ears. The band have attracted a huge fan base and the new album is greatly received by many. The band stopped gigging to concentrate on their studio work and “Never Look Down” is the result of the last 18 months. The album is superb and is instantly one of my favourites of 2019. Every song is relevant to the daily struggles of life and the lyrics bring some understanding, comfort and peace.Robby Allen the lead vocalist and song writer captures the true struggles of daily life in many of the tracks. A great example of this is the song “The Ballad of Mental health Issues” Making the tracks clear and relevant to the listener.Robby Allen has been an advocate of the mod/garage scene for many years. He found success in the late 1980s with garage rock outfit The Mild Mannered Janitors. Support slots include The Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, The Prisoners, The Prime Movers, Steve Marriot, The Godfathers, Zoot Money, Graham Day and the Forefathers with many more.Buddy Ascott (Chords) and two-time KCs producer Sam Burnett (Back To Zero) referred to drummer Pete Summerfield as one of the best out there. We aren’t going to argue and certainly agree. Everyone who contributed to this from the sound engineer Keith Holmes who worked on some of “The Yardbirds re-masters to Robby Allen and the whole band, I would like to thank you all for providing me with some great music to listen to and cherish.
The Kite Collectors Promo – Never Look Down
When was the band formed?
I started work on the first album in 2012. The first version of the band was formed in 2013 in Wiltshire, UK.
Where does the name Kite Collectors come from?
The original idea behind the Kite Collectors was to be like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in which I would be at the centre of it and bring in people to augment it. They would be the ‘kites’ that I collect. That was what the first album ‘Mildred’s Tree’ was. The main addition to it was my former bandmate from The Mild Mannered Janitors Steve Duffield (he also played in the Beta Band and now with Steve mason). He is a brilliant bassist with a talent for finding bass melody. Towards the end of that first album I also roped in Pete Summerfield to play drums. I had seen him play live a number of times and asked him to be in a band before but he was always busy doing other things – then I got lucky and he said yes. I added Dave Roe on guitar and Bryn Evans on organ; bassist was a young lively lad called Tom Williams. We had one practice and then did our first gig. That was it really – after that we started travelling the country playing – building up a really loyal set of followers.
The Kite Collectors live
The new album “Never Look Down” is dedicated to the Glory days Choir. Who are they?
In 2015 I was travelling back from work and was thinking about call and response songs – I wanted one for the people who spent their hard earned cash in coming to see us. Something I could dedicate to them. So, I wrote Glory Days. I sang it into my phone in a traffic jam and then finished it when I got home. There’s so much that we moan about in life but I think it’s important to also remember that we have good days too. We’ve lost a lot of friends recently because we are now at that age where time and illness catches up. It’s just a call to remember that some days are great, especially when we’re together and that one day we will look back on these days with fondness too. These are our glory days. We call those who follow the band the ‘Glory Days Choir’.
Tell me about some of the bands musical influences?
John Mayall, Small Faces, The Who, The Beatles, Medway sounds like The Prisoners and the New Jersey sound of The Smithereens; mix in a little classical music from Mendelsohn and you have what I write. Steve Marriott was my music hero though – my favourite song of all time is Tin Soldier. I got to support Steve 3 or 4 times in the 1980s. He was playing with the Packet of Three. I remember when he had just sound checked (which consisted of him touching the jack lead and saying ‘yeah, that’s alright,’) he started playing a keyboard. I was sitting on the edge of the stage with my music hero behind me playing blues licks on the organ and I thought that music life couldn’t get much better than that. I was chuffed when he remembered my name next time we played with him – although he did tell me to ‘fuck off’ out of the dressing room later the same night because I kept interrupting him with requests from people to sign stuff.
kite collectors live at The Fiddlers Elbow
What inspired you to write & record the new album?
After a gig in London I got quite ill, really bad actually – mental health wise. On the way home in the car, curled up in the footwell; I realised that I needed a break. I was feeling a bit broken. I said to Pete and others that we wouldn’t gig anymore and kept talking about the Sgt Pepper model – where you write and record but don’t gig it.I started building up songs and demos again and I did consider putting them out as a solo thing. But – Pete is such a brilliant drummer I didn’t want to do it without him. He is also like part of my sanity in music. He is a bit crazy but with me he is often the reasonable one – like the adult. He brings so much energy to the songs. The whole feel of the album is one of creating space for all of the elements to stand out. It also meant convincing Pete to be more repetitive in the beats he plays – he found it a challenge but does it brilliantly. It’s basically me and him and a few guest singers. I play everything apart from the drums.We recorded 24 songs – I always have loads more than we need for an album. I have never stopped writing. I’ve had more time to play with these tracks than I did with the previous album (Shockerwick 135). It has been more like it was with Mildred’s tree or Clockface. I enjoyed the process and freedom much more.
What is the meaning behind the new albums music & lyrics?
Window World starts with a big Hammond Organ sound. It’s like those big classical pieces that are meant to make you think ‘wow – it’s started’. I love the way it stays on the last chord of the intro and the Lesley amp sound pulsates. We wanted to keep it really airy. Not fill the space too much – that’s why it is organ, bass and drums at first. The electric piano comes in later and the guitar not until the solo. Like a lot of the album it talks about a relationship. The contrast between people and that awful cynicism that can set in – that’s in the line: ‘I gaze upon the sun and feel the rain’.This is Me Again was a quick song to write – many are. I sat down with my Rickebacker 330 and just started thrashing at it – simple chords in which I could paint a picture of normal life. It’s a comment on the mundanity of life and how we navigate it. Wayne Lundqvist Ford is singing backing on it and does a great job.Let it Reign had a weird start. I was thinking about the way Steve Duffield does a little shuffle on stage when he plays bass – I’d just seen him with Steve Mason. I then wrote around that movement he does. When I was doing the guide vocals one of my dogs barked and I liked it – so I kept it in and looped it at the beginning. What I like most about the song is the way the bass stays on one note for the first part and the guitar chords change over it. I also messed around with percussion – sometimes it sounds a little out of time but then comes round in time. It’s uncomfortable then comfortable again in a sequence over the chorus. It’s another relationship story – mostly about how little we listen to partners sometimes.Fly Away was an older song that I brought forward and re-recorded. I asked Anne-Marie Crowley from the Speed of Sound to do the backing. I knew she would do a great job so just left her to do what she does best. It really zips along and has a great 1960’s feel.Hallelujah Goodbye is a bit strange. It was another older song that I re-recorded. It’s a bit psychedelic I guess as I’m just playing with words and phrases. Sometimes things don’t make much sense but the words just fit in the melody. I wanted the regular chugging sound like a helicopter in it and that was achieved through a trance keyboard sample and piling on effects to get where it is now. It acts as additional percussion.Soothing is an out and out three minute three-piece band wonder. Bit of feedback and then smack – straight into it. It’s good to crank the amps up and just let Pete go nuts on the drums.In Strawberry Time Again I wanted to tell a fuller story about someone remembering a complete and brilliant weekend at a cottage with their partner who is left full of regret that in the end it didn’t work out because they didn’t say the things they wanted to. Later they go back to the place but end up just getting drunk and falling asleep in a barrel in a garden. The versus are in mono and then switch to stereo for the chorus. The song ends with a mass of swirling backward guitars and Pete thumping his way round the kit.The Ballad Of Mental Health Issues was written on the piano – I don’t do that very often. I was wary of exposing these mental health elements of myself to friends and the Glory Days choir in this way but, I think people are more accepting of anxiety and similar issues now and I wanted to speak about mine. I orchestrated around the song with strings. The vocal is prominent in the mix because although the music sounds great we wanted the words to stand out above all.
The Kite Collectors – The Ballad of Mental Health IssuesYou is a nightmare. That was how I saw it – as a really bad dream. There is so much trivia in life that we just get stuck in a loop about. That’s what the solid guitar and hypnotic drum is about – that brain loop where it just won’t shut up and you’re almost screaming at yourself that none of it actually really matters. But you don’t listen to yourself. John Armstrong from Speed Of Sound did backing on this – He has a great unusual singing voice and I layered it and put it through a bunch of effects to make it sound like an ethereal keys sound.Take Me With You Please has the feel of a Smithereens song I think; that New Jersey sound. I love Pat Dinizio – he was heavily into The Beatles, as am I – and I guess that comes through. It’s driven by an acoustic guitar and jangly Rickebacker. The person it is describing is trying to reassure them self that the person they want will want them – even though friends are talking the possibility of it down.A Form Of Hello was written around a drum loop and a repeated jangly Rickenbacker riff. I added a harsher sounding guitar beneath it to give it an edge and then we took the loop out and Pete replaced the beat with his own. It has some weird stuff going on underneath from sounds and effects I was playing with at the time – including playing a spring on an old desk lamp with violin bow and then a drumstick.I was a little concerned about the song ‘pretending’ because it has a double meaning. It is about someone considering suicide – that’s what it means by ‘don’t be too keen’.; but metaphorically it’s also about being on the edge from a mental health or stress point of view. At the end of the song there is quite a lot going on with guitars and strings and flutes – the idea was that although the e-piano riff at the end continues going, the other instruments would be added as it progressed. It builds up to that last organ chord.Icy You is quite psychedelic. It had a simple premise – one guitar riff throughout that sounds like it is three different guitar riffs by changing the sound of it. The vocal melody for each verse is also completely different. It was like I had to write three songs with one tune – I loved the difficulty of that. Pete plays a very mechanical beat too – a challenge as he is usually a bit of an animal on the kit!Never Look down is very personal. It’s about the advice you get from a loved one that you now miss because geographically or physically they are no longer around you. It’s sort of about their positive impact on you and the lessons you learn and take forward. It’s parents, grandparents, friends that accept your ‘character’ and help you.
Where do you find inspiration for your music and lyrics?
From the things I listen to, things that people say and how I feel. Sometimes I work on a song for weeks on and off and sometimes it just appears out of nowhere. There is a song called Tell Me it’s Real (on Icon Paradox) that I started and I turned a recorder on and sang it. It came out fully formed. I then listened back and wrote down what I had sung. The song wonder (on Clockface) came because of that famous photo of the little boy on the beach who had drowned. I didn’t write about that as such but it set a feeling that inspired the song.
The Kite Collectors – ‘Wonder’ (Clockface Promo)
The band have had so many great reviews and have worked with various people throughout the years – tell me about some of those people?
Two that had a massive affect were not band members but on the production side of our stuff – that often gets overlooked and so I’d like to mention them. A fantastic talented guy called Keith Holmes mixed and Mastered the new album – he was with me for the Box Dwellers ep too and came in to try and save Shockerwick 135 which was in trouble till he came along. We worked very closely on the sonic feel for the new album. Sam Burnett (Back to Zero) mixed and mastered Clockface – he completely bought into the story and worked so hard on it with us. He also worked on Glory Days single.
The Kite Collectors: Album Shockerwick 135
Have you any future gigs or charity events coming up?
We’re going to get back out there in 2020 although we don’t intend to play quite as much as we were before. Do some special things that we’re hoping to announce soon. Have fun and meet great people.
The Kite Collectors – Inside Out – Dublin Castle – 19th October 2013
What has people’s reaction been to the new album?
It’s been great. We’ve tried to push things forward a bit more. So, some elements on it are different – you can’t stand still and just do the same thing. Sam Burnett once talked about ‘progressive mod’ and I completely understand what he means. You can still have that core that sits at the centre of what you are musically and sub-culturally; and then you push at it. It’s not easy selling music these days but the glory days choir is wonderfully loyal and we are continuing to gain new members to it.
What can we look forward to and expect from the Kite Collectors in the future?
Mod Ghosts a first book by new author Andy Morling who grew up in a working class family in the Suffolk market town of Ipswich. This book resonated with me in so many ways, it is a detailed account from many people who grew up in urban Britain featuring first hand accounts from the people who influenced a Mod Revival together with period and present day photographs. The book explains each individuals account on discovering how mod changed there outlook on life, How it shaped their existence and identity. Showing how it lead them from young teenagers into adulthood. Each persons interpretation of mod is different and it means something different to many who attach themselves to the phenomenon. Each persons account is different but it doesn’t mean its not mod. The book also highlights the places these people grew up in and how modern Britian has changed somewhat forty years on. The thing most interesting thing about the book is how the subculture affected people in many different ways and the different experiences each individual had growing up in the respective hometowns across the UK.
As mod continues to evolve and many young people discover the scene today each person brings their own adaptation. Despite the book being called “Mod Ghosts” the subculture has stood the test of time were others have faded. I highly recommend this book and its definitely something you need as part of your collection. This book is everything I want to say about mod but don’t have the intelligence, intellect, and vocabulary to explain. I wanted to find out more about the man behind the concept and was excited, honoured and privileged to interview him.INTERVIEW BELOW
What is the main concept of the book?
Mod Ghosts is the first product from The Mod Project which I began in 2016. The thinking behind the broader project is to offer a series of slightly different perspectives on the Mod experience. My ambition is to follow up the book with further multimedia sub-projects hopefully including film and the visual arts.To answer your specific question, the idea behind Mod Ghosts was threefold. Firstly my aim was to identify and contrast iconic photos of original and revival Mods with shots taken at precisely the same location in the present day. I’ve always been very attracted to these ‘then and now’ type image comparisons and, as a lifelong Mod, this was a natural choice in terms of subject matter.I’ve been doing this on Twitter for a few years now and, in time honoured fashion, the positive reaction led me to consider publishing a book. As a child of the sixties, my thinking was that books are somehow more permanent than social media. I’m not sure that’s actually true but either way, I really wanted the memory of these places and these people to endure.In addition to the photographic comparisons in the book, I was also lucky enough to secure first hand accounts from revival Mods by way of interview. Each story was unique and fascinating and I hope this adds context and a human dimension to the atmosphere created by the photos. In simple terms, I wanted to illustrate how both the urban settings and the people depicted in the photos have changed over the last four decades.The third and final element of the book is my own commentary on the Mod phenomenon. Quite apart from the external, visible signals of Mod observance, for me, Mod has been a powerful internal driving force. A philosophy. Astute readers of the book will no doubt notice references and quotes from the great Stoic philosophers from ancient history. I’ve long believed that Stoicism captures the very essence of Mod. I would hazard a guess that this is the first time this school of thought has featured in a book about Mod! As a friend of mine said in jest recently, the Romans were the first Mods.I also wanted the book to capture some of the lasting emotional impact of the subculture on me as a person. Sounds a bit introspective and indulgent, I know, but I hope at least some of that resonates with many others. I’m also an opinionated old sod so I had one or two controversial views that I simply had to surface!
This book highlights how mod changed the life of those who followed it. Why was it important to tell their story?
I’m under no illusion that Mod Ghosts isn’t the first book to tell the story of those who were there during the Mod revival. In fact, its not even the first this year. With the very greatest respect to those featured in the book, what I wanted to do with Mod Ghosts was to focus on the lives of the subculture’s more ordinary participants from across the country.By the start of the 80s, every village, every town and every city supported a population of Mods. These folk made the movement the culture tour de force it was to become. These were the last generation truly to have experienced youth subculture in its purest sense so their experiences need to be recorded. They are also good people whose lives have been shaped to some extent by their experiences forty summers ago.Forging an identity from the assimilation of musical, stylistic and other cultural cues in early adolescence was standard fare for those of us born in the sixties. I think sometimes we fail to appreciate what an unusual trajectory this is for our 21st century counterparts. For that reason alone, I think these are stories worth telling.
The book covers accounts from various people throughout the UK. I imagine this meant a lot of travelling. What was that like and did this become challenging?
Fortunately I was able to carry out interviews by correspondence so travel wasn’t an issue in that regard. Where I racked up the miles was in identifying the locations for the period photos and then taking the present day shot. There were one or two Homer Simpson moments when I arrived home after a day on the road only to find that i hadn’t quite captured the correct angle or, in one notable case, I’d taken a fantastic photo of the wrong house. I’m indebted to John Gale for saving me from having to make a third long trip to Hastings in as many months for a few shots I’d totally messed up twice previously.
Why was it important for you to tell the story of the people but also the places in which they grew up, discovered the subculture and attached themselves to it?
I think we are all the product of the place of our birth and upbringing. The history and culture of these places imprints itself on our personality, attitudes and beliefs more than we recognise. Location leaves a trace on our DNA. I like to think of it as the human equivalent of terroir in wine production.So in the book I wanted to contextualise the lives of these young Mods by telling a small part of the history of the geographical backdrop of their young lives. I’m particularly fascinated by the spiritual artefacts that attach themselves to certain places. Tens of thousands of special moments lived by tens of thousands of ordinary people leave a palpable feeling in a single place over the course of history. Hard to explain satisfactorily but I find it mind boggling. I particularly enjoyed researching the historical origins of the legendary Phoenix in London’s West End. I don’t think I’ll ever walk past the pub again without thinking of its near and very distant past.
A lot of books highlight how the mod scene grew in London. Did you purposely choose how the mod scene affected many of those beyond a particular place?
As our political and cultural capital it was impossible to ignore London when writing about Mod. I take my hat off to the influential London based figures that gave the rest of us this wonderful thing and those that have written so eloquently about them.But yes, it was a conscious decision also to focus on the small town Mod experience. I lived my Mod life in nondescript town in Suffolk with fewer than 100 others of a similar persuasion for company. The passion and commitment we provincial peacocks had to Mod’s core principles was in no way diminished as a consequence. I was never a face by any measure, not even in my home territory of central east Ipswich, but I certainly gave it all I had. I think the same can be said for those whose story I had he privilege to tell.
The book demonstrates how the urban landscape has changed over many years. Why was this an important factor to depict through photography showing the places then & now?
As I said earlier, I’ve always enjoyed comparing ‘then and now’ images. The urban environment has changed dramatically in the last forty years, particularly with the slow collapse of high street retail, the decline in the pub trade and the cultural vandalism of the working class home. I wanted to say something about this pictorially. Few of the present day photographs illustrate an improved landscape so I also wanted to stimulate conversations between the generations about why this might be. I don’t have the answers but I hope my book will at least pose the questions.
Why do you think mod means so much to many different people and why it has stood the test of time from a small group of young teenagers in the 60’s to become a worldwide phenomenon?
That’s a tough question. In the blurb to the book I say that it is the capacity of Mod to change with people that ensures its continuing relevance today. What I mean by that is that Mod remains accessible, even in middle-age, in a way that no other subculture can manage. I enjoy the knowing glance of recognition when my eyes meet those of a fellow Mod on a crowded underground train in London, for example. The signals are generally subtle but we both know instantly. I love that about Mod. It’s not about parkas or patches but about heavily nuanced influences and vanishingly small stylistic cues.I talk at length in the book about the way in which Mod provided a robust platform from which to launch into adult life. From my own perspective, I believe my life would have been very, very different had I not discovered Mod. I think this is the same for many of my peers. The continuing value of a comparatively sophisticated appreciation of music and clothing and a broader sense of style should not be underestimated.
The book has already had many great reviews in a few short weeks of being published. What has people response to the book been like?
Truly humbling. I’ve been genuinely staggered by the enthusiasm with which the book has been received and the kindness of the comments made about it. As a first time author rather than an established name in Mod literature, an investment in my book was always going to be a leap into the dark financially. I’m extremely grateful to those who are open-minded enough to make that leap and I hope the content of the book repays their faith. My aim all along was to offer something a bit different and something that is beautiful to look at and own. I’ll be more than happy if I’ve managed to achieve those things alone.
Can we expect any further books, projects or anything else in the future?
Oh yes. I’m already planning Mod Ghosts 2 and as I mentioned at the start of the interview, I hope to take the concept into other areas such as film, television, photography and maybe even poetry and fine art. Watch this space.Despite a healthy catalogue of Mod related books in recent years, I still believe there is more to be said about this thing of ours. I’m less interested in showcasing the razzmatazz of Mod culture and the bigger ticket aspects of the scene. For me it’s all about the ephemera and those beautifully elusive, almost indefinable subtleties that give Mod it’s unique meaning.
Is there anything else you feel you’d like to highlight about the book?
It would unforgivable if I didn’t thank the wonderful people that allowed me to tell their stories in words and pictures. To John and Ed Silvester, John Gale, Dave Ratcliffe, Billy Drinkwater, John Nicholson and Del Shepherd, I thank you all. True gentlemen each one. Many more contributed original photographs for which I’m eternally grateful.I also really appreciate the opportunity to have this interview and I wish you continuing success with Mods Of Your Generation.
Band Line upLead Vocals/Songwriter – Kevin SaneElectric Guitar – Gary CochraneBass Guitar – Matt HillRhythm Guitar – David Nevard
ALBUM REVIEW – ‘SALUTE’
lead vocals and songwriter Kevin Sane from ‘The Grenadiers’ approached Mods Of Your Generation and wanted us to review their new album and feature in an interview. He kindly sent me a copy before its release. The band are in the progress of setting up social media platforms to promote the album and are seeking out a drummer to add to the line up. The band are also looking for a manger so that they can focus on their songwriting. Their previous album ‘Mr. Cribbins released by Detour Records received a lot of great reviews from fans and magazines appearing in The cult shindig and Heavy soul Fanzine magazine. The new album is just as great as the last with soulful 60’s melodies and a Rock n Roll riff. There is definitely a punk element in there too. While first listening to the album it is straight away apparent that the band are heavily influenced by The Kinks & The Small Faces. The lyrics are superb with a very British sound and feel like many people could relate. Tracks such as Ruby, Scooter Boys, No More Bets are ones that stand out. I highly recommend this album and wish the band ongoing success as they plan to promote the album and start building up a fan base. The album will be available on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play & Deezer from 19th July 2019.
INTERVIEW – THE GRENADIERS
(1) What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
usually I sit down with a cup of tea and answer questions but on this occasion I am out of tea bags. have to settle for fellow birds coffee. the last gig I went to which I absolutely loved was watching The Stranglers play at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in 2017 . brilliant band .
(2) Which subcultures have influenced you?
which subcultures have influenced me. A lot of the time its from the 60’s and late 70’s early 80’s. very into Elvis Costello. I am a Big David Bowie fan but I love the music from the band The Cars.
(3) A song and band that has inspired you?
The song” Drive” by The Cars inspired me to write Crying out, its one of those universal songs that touch the soul.
(4) Where do you find inspiration for your song lyrics & music?
a lot of time my own experiences and watching or watching TV.
(5) How and when was the band formed?
The Grenadiers actually was a band I formed in Aberdeen. The Name came from my home town of Colchester being it has always been an Army barrack town
(6) Why the name ‘The Grenadiers’ and who come up with it.
The Name came from my home town of Colchester being it has always been an Army barrack town . it has its own military tattoo each year where all the different regiments parade down the high Street.
(7) Your first first EP which featured songs such as Mr cribbins/ Kosha / Mrs Raven/ Pillars Of The Lambeth Row/ Toy Grenadier. All are a great sound, how would you describe the bands style.
Its different and diverse . there are songs that are clearly heavily inspired by post new wave and then on the other spectrum we do quite a lot of 60’s inspired music.
(8) your first EP was released by the label Paisley archive records. Are you still signed to them?
know we are not currently signed to paisley archive records at the moment.
(9) The Band were invited to open up for The BlockHeads at Colchester Arts Centre. Which I briefed for the band was a huge honour. Can you tell me a bit about that?
The blockheads gig was amazing an absolute buzz. The Arts Centre was completely packed to the medieval rafters and the noise from the place. The atmosphere was electric. The Blockheads still cut the mustard and we played a blinding gig. I think Big Boys Don’t cry had its first performance that night and we nailed it. We couldn’t unfortunately stick around to enjoy the blockheads as we had to 2 gigs booked in one night so we played that gig in Colchester high street after our set list finished. An absolute great night, You just cant beat playing live really.
(10) The first EP had a lot of great reviews and was well received and featured in the music magazine Shindig. How did that feel?
The review in shindig magazine was weird . having your music reviewed then next to it you see Ziggy Stardust @ The spiders from mars on the same page. we are very proud of the Mr Cribbings EP. I wish now looking back it should have been called “Pillars of The Lambeth Row” but never mind.
(11) Your new album will be released soon. Where can fans buy or download it.
The release date for the album will be Friday 19th July on all online stores. I tunes / Spotify/ Instagram /apple music. Its our first album and all the songs have something appealing in themselves.
(12) Have you got any future gigs coming up and what’s next for the band?
Playing live is the next stage. Already have a true professional bass player by the name of Matt Hill and Gary Cochrane who are former members of the mod influenced group ‘Pure Mania’. Along with Dave Nevard, when we find a suitable drummer I think it wont be too long before our next gig will be announced.
(13) Who produced the new album Salute?
Two tracks ‘Ruby’and ‘Big Boys don’t cry’ were produced by Greg Haver at Modern world Studios near Wales. He has produced man of the Manic street Preachers material and they have recorded many of their material there. The rest of the tracks were produced by myself and David Nevard (Rhythm Guitar – The Grenadiers) I wish The Grenadiers & Kevin Sane all the best for the future check out our other interviews and please like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @mods_of_you_generationInterview conducted by Johnny Bradley – Mods Of Your GenerationInterview (c) Mods Of Your Generation 2019
There are few things more exhilarating than being stuck in the middle of a mosh pit during a JPEGMAFIA show.
On stage at this year’s Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, the 30-year-old US rapper’s topless body, dripping with sweat, contorts urgently as he channels the aggression of the crowd into brutal bursts of movement that sit somewhere between an intoxicated Iggy Pop and an irate DMX.
With vocals that quickly shift from gentle to vicious, the artist, real name Barrington Hendricks, raps rapidly like a machine gun, with lyrics, couched in internet speak, that are often scathingly satirical. One of his songs is called I Might Vote 4 Trump, while on his typically experimental new album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, he raps, as a black man, about wanting to be adopted by Madonna and merrily drinking the tears of “rednecks”.
JPEGMAFIA (Credit: David Hanes-Gonzales)
JPEGMAFIA is a scathingly satirical artist with a sound that incorporates thick waves of distortion and screaming synths
But the fact he does all this over ugly, uneven beats, built around thick waves of distortion and screaming synths, means Hendricks could just as easily be categorised as punk rock as hip-hop. Free the Frail, one of his new LP’s standout tracks, speaks directly to punk’s anti-capitalist values, as Hendricks claims: “I don’t rely on the strength of my image”.
Back in the 1980s, rap and punk were both genres that got frowned upon by the elite just for being what they were – JPEGMAFIA, aka Barrington Hendricks
In Barcelona, as dozens of teenagers enthusiastically bang heads to songs with subversive titles such as I Cannot Wait Until Morrissey Dies and Digital Blackface, it’s easy to draw a parallel between Hendricks and the bold onstage personas of legendary anti-establishment acts like The Sex Pistols or The Clash, artists who also knew how to channel youthful angst into something euphoric and liberating.
Hendricks is happy to indulge in the comparison. “Back in the early 1980s when rappers couldn’t perform in the fancy venues because the police were too racist and scared, it was the punk venues letting them in to perform,” he tells BBC Culture. “I guess race was the big thing separating [rap and punk] in the general public eye, but they were both resilient genres that got [frowned upon] by the elite just for being what they were. They gave a home to outsiders. I [have] always felt like they were just the same thing, but both wrapped up in a different way.”
Growing up, he explains, he was equally enthusiastic about political rappers like Ice Cube and Chuck D as hardcore punk bands like Bad Brains and Fear. “I saw Fear perform live at a young age, so I guess you could say I draw from that same energy.”
Modern punk heroes
Today, JPEGMAFIA is one of dozens of young rappers and rap acts drawing heavily from the DIY ethos of punk rock to create music to be moshed to. The likes of Death Grips, Run The Jewels, Denzel Curry, Danny Brown, Sheck Wes, Rico Nasty, Ski Mask The Slump God, and Travis Scott (who was arrested back in 2017 after the police accused him of inciting a riot at one of his shows) perform with the same transgressive vigour of 1970s punk icons. When Sheck Wes plays the stirring Mo Bamba live, it recalls the renegade firecracker spirit of Nirvana’s iconic Smells Like Teen Spirit video.
In the UK, snarling Northampton rapper Slowthai thrillingly struts around the stage like a modern-day Sid Vicious. He blasts what he sees as the toxicity of Brexit Britain in a way that’s pure punk provocation. It’s no surprise, for example, that he carried around a fake severed head of Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his performance at last month’s Mercury Prize amid ugly beats inspired just as much by Gang of Four as Dizzee Rascal. His punk-ish rap peers include Scarlxrd and Master Peace. On the other hand, you could also point to the hip-hop influence of lo-fi British punk bands like Idles and Sleaford Mods as a sign of the convergence between the two genres.
Slowthai the new face of British Punk Rock
UK rapper Slowthai is like a modern-day Sid Vicious, blasting what he sees as the toxicity of Brexit Britain (
Prolific Long Island producer Kenny Beats, real name Kenneth Blume III, has worked with many of the aforementioned artists, helping shape the punk-rap sound that’s currently ruling the underground. He believes the fact more and more rap artists are gaining a penchant for primal screaming and ugly production is simply a reflection of our times. “The other month I played a show just 24 hours after there were two mass shootings here in America,” he says. “The planet is literally on fire, so what more can an artist like Rico Nasty do but scream? It’s instinctual to rappers at this particular moment. It’s how they process the world.” He says he’s currently producing a record for hardcore punk band Trash Talk “that’s pure thrash with no electronic drums, but that way of working isn’t too dissimilar from when I work with JPEGMAFIA or Slowthai.”
A 21st-Century protest
In this age of social media, where people fire off snarky political opinions every couple of seconds, Kenny believes that anti-establishment protest music can have trouble cutting through. To have a real impact, it’s less about what you say than how you say it. “You need to make people think about society in a less literal and more primal way,” he says. “It’s about using the least amount of sounds to make the most amount of noise and energy, and making a bass stab really feel like you’ve been punched in the face. A lot of the rap I produce really has that kind of punk essence. When I work with JPEGMAFIA he asks me for the worst beat possible as I guess a rapper that makes something that’s raw and ugly and chaotic is definitely going to stand out and feel more human right now, because things aren’t pretty out there.”
Rico Nasty, real name Maria Kelly, is a 22-year-old Maryland rapper every bit as enigmatic and hell-raising live as JPEGMAFIA – the fact she’s pushing similar buttons as a woman makes her, arguably, even more important. On songs like Bitch I’m Nasty and Rage, which are both produced by Kenny Beats, who also guided the music on her most recent album Anger Management, Kelly attacks the gnarly guitars and cutting drums with real venom, every word delivered like she’s face-to-face with her worst enemy. Sometimes she just starts screaming in between bars.
I’ll see straight guys moshing with the gay guys and I love that – Rico Nasty, aka Maria Kelly
Evoking the DC comic book character Harley Quinn, her bold onstage look is about reclaiming the colours white female punk artists wore before her and showing her fans, many of whom feel like outsiders, that they can be anything they want to be. It’s quietly revolutionary.
“If you come to a Rico Nasty show you’ll see all kinds of people, dancing together as one in the mosh pit,” she explains. “I’ll see straight guys moshing with the gay guys and I love that. A lot of these people aren’t able to let out their anger in the real world without being demonised, particularly black women, but they can at my show and to my songs. It’s a safe space to let out all the rage, and that’s healthy. It’s like group therapy.”
In a world with infinite choice, thanks to streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, Kelly believes fans expect more from their favourite artists – because, if their interest palls, they can quickly move on to something else. By embodying the fearless punk values of her hero Joan Jett, she can ensure she lives up to their estimations, she says. “They gotta see me go crazy on stage or I’m not doing my job! it’s all about showing emotions because they paid good money to see you and they don’t want to just see me stand still. You’re the person who made their favourite song so you should be performing until your voice cracks [like the punk artists voices’ used to do].”
Rico Nasty is a 22-year-old Maryland rapper who embodies the fearless punk values of her hero Joan Jett (Credit: Works Of Ace)
It’s something Hendricks very much agrees with. Punk in the 1970s was a reaction to the overly conceptual progressive rock that bands like Pink Floyd and Genesis were releasing. The Sex Pistols’ two-minute songs, which used a minimal amount of chords played as shoddily as possible, were in stark contrast to the stadium rock that some young people found pretentious.
Similarly, Hendricks believes the reason rap with punk sensibilities resonates right now is because the melodic ‘trap’ sound that has dominated the radio for so long is also starting to become stale. Hip-hop fans could be looking for something to counter the neatly produced club trap anthems by stars like Drake and Migos, which means music that’s more unhinged and doesn’t read from a script, and artists who enjoy giving their all on stage and are comfortable making people feel, well, uncomfortable.
“So much of rap sounds the same, and that’s okay, but that means some people want something that can be the complete opposite too. We’re entering an era where you have to leave a part of yourself on the stage and really make the crowd move. People aren’t going to just accept your presence or you miming to a song; you have to really do your job, you know? Maybe that’s where [punk-rap] comes in. I feel like this is the only time this sound really has a chance to break through into the mainstream.”
Two genres united
But if punk-rap makes sense for this particular cultural moment, it’s hardly a new phenomenon. As John Robb, the author of Punk Rock: An Oral History – and a rock legend in his own right as lead vocalist in post-punk band The Membranes – points out, rap and punk first became intertwined in the 1980s, a time when The Clash experimented with a rap edge on The Magnificent Seven.
He believes Public Enemy were the first band to really bring the two different audiences together, with their rough, hard-hitting boom-bap sound resonating with both black kids in the inner cities and white kids in the suburbs. The fact that, in the 1980s, iconic producer Rick Rubin would split his time between producing new albums for hip-hop acts like Run DMC and The Beastie Boys and hardcore bands like Slayer and The Cult, also helped to create links between the two cultures.
“Public Enemy were really the first band to resonate with both camps,” says Robb. “Chuck D was a huge fan of The Clash and I know from speaking with him, he studied all of the punk bands. I saw them on the Anthrax tour and Public Enemy blew this hardcore band right off the stage. I’m sure every white punk fan in the audience became a rap fan after that.”
These kids live in such a distorted world that the music is lying if it isn’t distorted as well – John Robb
As the 1990s arrived, hip-hop’s punk sensibility was further enforced by in-your-face acts like Ice Cube, DMX, Onyx, and Rage Against the Machine. Then, although he’s easy to mock now, Atlanta rapper Lil Jon also spliced genres to innovative effect with ‘crunk’, his southern rap take on punk, which prioritised uncomfortably loud horns and repetitive screams. It’s no surprise that Denzel Curry, one of punk-rap’s most prominent artists, channelled Lil Jon’s trademark “what” screams on his 2018 song SUMO | ZUMO. “Lil Jon was definitely a pioneer for some of the punk-rap acts we see now,” agrees Kenny Beats. “He showed you could scream on a song and still have a hit on the radio. He even sampled [US heavy metal guitarist] Randy Rhoads, so it was obvious he knew what he was doing.”
But Lil Jon was hardly an anti-establishment renegade, more just someone who found a sound that stood out from the norm. It was around a decade ago that punk-rap really returned with a vengeance, via authentic anarchist acts like Tyler the Creator’s Odd Future collective. The Los Angeles group weren’t afraid to release incendiary singles where hooks were built around calls to burn schools, among other things, while beats were both manic and minimalist. They lived the punk life they rapped about, hanging out at skate parks and dingy clubs in three-day-old clothes. This DIY spirit made them feel like the black Sex Pistols. And Kanye West borrowed punk elements for his brilliantly bleak 2013 album Yeezus. On it, he took Odd Future-style industrial sonics and made them more palatable for the mainstream, sampling post-punk bands such as Section 25 and offering up riotous tirades like Black Skinhead.
Kanye West also went punk on his brilliantly bleak 2013 album Yeezus (Credit: Alamy)
But Kenny Beats believes one of the most important songs in this new age of punk could be Look At Me by XXXTentacion – the controversial Florida rapper, real name Jahseh Onfroy, who was shot dead last year at the age of 20, while facing multiple criminal charges. The 2017 song features uncomfortable levels of distortion and unhinged vocals as Onfroy, then just a teenager recording in his bedroom with a cheap microphone bought on eBay, refers to himself as the new Kurt Cobain. Peaking at 34 on the Billboard 100, it was the moment punk-rap showed it could really be a force on the pop charts.
“Whatever you think [about the person and the allegations], there’s no denying Look at Me was one of the most punk-rock moments in a long, long time,” says Kenny Beats, when asked why the song resonates so much with the current generation of rap fans. “You play it in a room and people are ready to riot. XXX sounds like a scary cult leader rapping over the worst sounding MP3 I’ve ever heard, but everything about that song bottles this idea of being young and not giving a damn. It’s the reason why you hear distorted drums on an Ariana Grande song or people putting out two minute singles. Its influence is everywhere. It doesn’t have a message, but that’s what makes it have one somehow.”
People get upset that the old rock ‘n’ roll attitude doesn’t exist anymore, but it’s right there in front of them – JPEGMAFIA, aka Barrington Hendricks
As conversation rages around Brexit, Trump and global warming, there is a feeling among some young people that they are paying for the sins of their parents and have inherited a world that is teetering on the edge. It’s in this context that the darker punk-rap sound has resonated deeply, says Robb. “These kids live in such a distorted world that the music is lying if it isn’t distorted as well.”
However, he’s keen to point out the impact of the internet in making this style of music popular too: “You’ve got to remember that genre boundaries don’t really exist like they did before. With streaming, every genre cross-pollinates into the next and you just hop from one thing to another. That makes it easier for punk-rap to thrive than it could in the 1980s or 1990s, as back then, everything had to be a hit on a radio. Now, you just put it on Soundcloud and it gets a million views and kids will treat like you like a rock star.”
So often, Hendricks says, he reads “lazy” articles from white music journalists speculating when guitar-driven punk is going to make a comeback and “save music”. Yet he believes this is a blinkered question founded in racism – critics are unwilling to acknowledge that punk never went anywhere, but its spirit is now embodied by hip-hop, and phallic guitars have been replaced by dusty 808 drums.
“[Rock music] is stagnant, yet here we are in 2019 still clinging on to this old idea of what rock ‘n’ roll is. People get upset that the old attitude doesn’t exist anymore, but it’s right there in front of them: we’re the new rock stars”.
Mods Of Your Generation – Interview – British Actor – “The Original Daddy” & “King Of The Rockers” – John Blundell
MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·SATURDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2019John Blundell is a Britishactor, best known for playing ‘Daddy’ Pongo Banks in the controversial production Scum and its film adaptation.Blundell played Banks in both the banned 1977 BBC version and the cinematic remake of the production two years later. His character was the ‘daddy’ (i.e., the self-appointed head inmate via use of force, violence and intimidation) of the institution until he was overthrown in a bloody attack by Carlin, the lead character played by Ray Winstone. He also appeared in Quadrophenia as the Leader of the Rockers (again in a film with Ray Winstone). He is an absolute gentleman, Mods Of Your Generation wanted to find out more about his role in these two iconic films. Its a privilege to call him a friend and an honour to have him as a Mods Of your Generation follower.
What fond memories and amusing stories can you remember from the filming of Quadrophenia?
I spent three weeks in Brighton on the set. One of my fondest memories is that the whole cast stayed in the same hotel, and you could come down in the morning for breakfast, and hear the then unknown Sting, playing the piano, and Phil Daniels playing guitar, along with Toyah jamming, and at that time , being so young, just taking it all for granted.
Did you enjoy working with Phil Daniels and Ray Winston again after filming with them in Scum?
Ray, Phil and I had filmed the original Scum, 4 years earlier, which was a Play for Today for the BBC, and banned by Billy Cotton. We then went on to make the film SCUM, 6 weeks after QUADROPHENIA. In those days, we all hung about together, and all got on really well.
You played Pongo Banks in Scum & the leader of the rockers in Quadrophenia they have both become British cult classics. How does it feel to be part of these timeless iconic movies?
I have been very lucky and privileged to be part of both Scum and Quadrophenia. Obviously not knowing that up to date, they would have stood the test of time, and become iconic films.
How did you get into acting and was that something you always wanted to do growing up?
It was never my intention to become an Actor. However at 10 years old, my primary school drama teacher Anna Scher, started the Anna Scher Children’s Theatre, of which I was a Founder member, for Children who could not afford Stage School like Barbara Speake’s, Italia Conti etc. , charging us 50 pence a lesson, and free for the Children, who could not afford that. When word went around the film industry, that there was a Drama Club in Islington. The BBC came around along with the Children’s Film Foundation, to name but a few. So that is where it all began and took off.
What can you recall working with Quadrophenia director Franc Roddam?
Franc Roddam the Director of Quadrophenia, came to Ann Scher, to watch our group performing improvisation, on a class night. And that is where he saw Phil Daniels, Trevor Laird and myself. A few weeks later, Franc asked me and Actor Ray Burdis, to meet him at Pinewood Studios, to do some improvisation with a guy that he has found from a modelling advertisement, called Gordon Sumner. Afterwards Franc, asked us about our opinion about this guy, as he thought he would be great for the part of Ace Face. We said he looked unusual m. Little did we know that we had talked ourselves out of a part. A few later, this guy called Sting would hit no. 1, with his group the Police, and become a global Superstar. The rest was history.
I heard from a mutual friend that they were a few accidents riding the motorbikes in Quadrophenia. Can you tell me about some of the stories?
There was one big accident, involving myself and the rest of the Rockers, in the scene where we chased Chalky off the road. After the film crew cleared the lane, where we were filming, a farmer pulled out his lorry out onto the road, unbeknown to the film crew. So at 35 miles an hour, Gareth Milne, the Stunt man, who was to my far left, rode straight into the truck at full speed, which caused a domino effect, of all 30 Bikers crashing.I myself drove into a big bush, to protect myself and my Biker girl Linda Regan, who was riding pillion. Leaving the both of us with only sprains, but other with much more serious injuries. Hence Linda up till this day, still tells everyone that I saved her life, which is a really lovely thing to say. Franc to this day, still says he wishes he had kept the footage of the crash.
Where you a fan of The Who and had you listened to Quadrophenia before being cast in the movie of the same name?
I was not really a Fan of the Who, at that point, but after meeting Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, I found them to be, down to earth and just a couple of the lads, who just happened to fly into Brighton beach by helicopter. Lol.
Apologises if this ruins your hard man reputation as the “King of The Rockers” and the original daddy but I heard you’re a northern soul fan. If this is true tell me about some of your favourite records and some of your other musical tastes?
Yes that’s right I do enjoy Northern Soul, for eg. listening to Legendary artists like Frank Wilson – Yvonne Baker- Tobi Legend. My taste is pretty varied, and I also like a lot of Rap Music. Snoop Dog, Dr Dre era. Giving away my age there.
What other acting roles have you been involved in that fans may not be aware of?
From my early years aged 10 I had done so much work, I cannot remember, as i never kept track. The only ones I can remember are on my IMDB. I also do so many Commercials that at one time, my Agent Anna Scher named me ‘’The Commercial King’’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgRnNx7J1mQ&feature=youtu.be
2019 marked the 40th anniversary of Quadrophenia, you were invited to join the celebrations at an event in Runcorn. How was it reuniting with some of the cast 40 years on and what was fans attending the events response to meeting the king of the rockers?
I have always over the years, bumped into the Quadrophenia boys, who attended Runcorn. And it is always as if we had only seen each other yesterday.As I was the only Rocker, at Runcorn, I was not sure, how I would be welcome by the Mods. But to my surprise, I was blown away by the love and respect, that was shown to me , by everyone who attended. I could not have asked for more. I would like to say a special thank you to Rob Wright, who organised the event, and took such good care of me and Mercina. We had not met before, but we are now friends.
What are your plans for the future and are you working on anything we can look forward to?
I enjoy writing Comedy scripts, simply as a hobby. But the best thing about being retired, is as you all know by now, for anyone who has read my Facebook page, is that I get to spend 24/7, with the love of my life Mercina.
In the late 70s, the city’s bands set out to create the sound of the future – while trying to avoid getting beaten up. Jarvis Cocker and other leading lights recall a revolutionary scene
Phil Oakey of the Human League performing in Sheffield in 1980. Photograph: Martin O’Neill/Redferns
‘Sheffield in 1977 had a slight feeling of being the city of the future,” recalls Jarvis Cocker. “I didn’t realise that it was all going to go to shit. It was Sheffield before the fall.”
That pre-fall year is the starting point for a new box set: Dreams to Fill the Vacuum: The Sound of Sheffield 1977-1988. Familiar names appear – Pulp, Heaven 17, the Human League, ABC – but they are joined by a wealth of other acts, such as I’m So Hollow, Stunt Kites, They Must Be Russians and Surface Mutants, spanning punk, post-punk, indie and electronic with that droll outsider energy particular to South Yorkshire.
In 1977, Paul Bower was producing a local fanzine, Gun Rubber, and playing in the Buzzcocks-indebted 2.3. Like Cocker, he recalls the late-70s as being a time of optimism and flux. “There’s this myth of northern miserablism, that everything was shut down and shit,” he says. “But it wasn’t – that came later. It was a really interesting, bustling and creative time.”
Sheffield had plenty of dirt-cheap “little mester” workshops, once used by master craftsmen working in the city’s cutlery industry, and these provided room for bands to move in and experiment. Bower’s band 2.3 shared a space with the Future, an early incarnation of the Human League that featured Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh along with Adi Newton before he formed Clock DVA. “We were enamoured with the New York scene,” says Ware. “In our own little way we were imitating the Exploding Plastic Inevitable.” Bower describes it as: “Andy Warhol’s Factory in the land of Bobby Knutt.”
The pioneering industrial and electronic outfit Cabaret Voltaire had been active since 1973. “They were the godfathers of Sheffield’s new music,” says Simon Hinkler, who played in bands such as TV Product and Artery, as well as producing early Pulp. “You can’t overstate how important they were.” Ware echoes this. “They were our mentors,” he recalls. “Their methodology and lifestyle was something we aspired to. Not so much musically, but as a template for doing your own thing.”
Cabaret Voltaire on stage in the late 70s: the band are credited with kickstarting the Sheffield scene. Photograph: Ray Stevenson/Rex/Shutterstock
Cabaret Voltaire took on Western Works, another old cutlery factory, as their studio. While Ware looked to New York for inspiration, Cabaret Voltaire’s Richard H Kirk was more interested in Germany. “Kraftwerk and Can had their own spaces,” Kirk says. “We thought that was the perfect model. You could be there 24/7 without having to worry about the clock or some idiot engineer not knowing what to do with you.”Advertisement
The Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton. first line up announcement, tickets available now
“The environmental influences were very strong,” says Jane Antcliff-Wilson of I’m So Hollow. “Industrial and austere – steeped in working-class history. Imagination and vision were left to run wild in this bleak landscape.”
By 1978, an explosive flurry of music was coming out of the city. “Punk was year zero and Sheffield really took that to heart,” says Cocker. “They said: ‘Right, we’ll invent the music of the future.’ The Cabs and the Human League really did do that.” It was enough for people to move to the city because of it. Jake Harries of the industrial punk-funk band Chakk was one. “This music didn’t sound like it came from anywhere else,” he recalls. “There was an otherness to it. Sheffield sounded like the place to be – it was electronic, strange and inspiring.”
Not everyone warmed to peculiar new sonic explorations such as Cabaret Voltaire’s heavily deconstructed cover of the Beatles’ She Loves You. “This guy stormed out and physically grabbed me,” says Bower. “He’s screaming: ‘You’ve got to stop them. It’s sacrilege, they are destroying the Beatles.’ I said: ‘Yeah, that’s the point.’” Kirk thrived on the friction. “We went out of our way to pour petrol on the fire,” he says. “We knew people had never heard anything like what we were doing. It was meant to be confrontational.”
The throbbing intensity of Artery’s live shows were as terrifying to some as they were thrilling to others; Clock DVA got banned from venues after their first gig; during one gig, I’m So Hollow were thrown off stage after just two songs. The debut Human League show went down surprisingly well, even if their new singer hadn’t mastered his role yet. “Midway through the gig, Phil Oakey walks off stage, straight through the audience with his high heels on,” remembers Bower. “Comes up to the sound desk and says: ‘How’s it going?’ I said: ‘Fine, Phil, but it’s traditional for the singer to stay on stage during the gig.’”
Because of the conflict that would arise at shows, the Human League began performing with a Perspex shield around them. “Paul Morley wrote it was some extemporisation around alienation in contemporary society,” recalls Ware. “No, it was to stop skinheads gobbing on the synthesisers.”
After the Human League split in two in 1980, one half went on to form Heaven 17. Photograph: Virginia Turbett/Redferns
Things got bleaker in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher, even if some of the music got shinier and major-label attention followed. After the Human League’s 1981 album, Dare, made the revamped band world famous, major labels flocked to the city “signing groups in a bid to cash in on the scene”, says Newton. “We [Clock DVA] signed with Polydor but I consider this a low point, because innovation became secondary to commerciality.”
While pop stardom visited many, it seemed to evade one person. “The 1981 John Peel session Pulp did convinced me that I was going to be a teen star,” says Cocker. “But the 80s were depressing. The city was falling apart and our first album sold virtually nothing. I was crestfallen.” Violence was also an inescapable part of going out during this period. “It was like Pac-Man,” says Cocker. “You had to pick your route and avoid the beer monsters. Violence, or the threat of it, was a constant thing.” One night he had a pint glass land on his head; on another he was beaten up for wearing a patent leather mac. “I put two fingers up at them thinking my bus was about to leave, but it wasn’t, so they just got on it and smacked me.”
However, when the city was in sharp decline and the musical buzz of the early 80s was wearing off, Chakk did something crucial: “We signed with MCA and had them agree that we could build a recording studio out of our advance,” says Harries. FON Studio (named after a piece of local graffiti that read Fuck Off Nazis) was the result. Located in an old karate studio above a metal works, countless bands from across the UK recorded there. Richard Hawley’s teenage group Treebound Story was one. Rob Gordon, who would later co-found Warp records, found himself producing indie bands there in 1986 via a Youth Training Scheme. “It was obvious he was a genius,” recalls Hawley. “We were just kids but he made us sound amazing. He even tolerated us dropping acid, taking all our clothes off, playing the bongos and making a racket.”Advertisement
Trojan Records Lgends of ska. The Pyramids – Symarip limited edition 7” Vinyl. click to buy. Available on Subcultz Records
“It was a brave thing to do,” Cocker says of FON. “Sheffield was not going anywhere and it showed solidarity. They could have just taken the money and scarpered.” It was a combination of pride and practicality, according to Harries. “We thought it was crazy Sheffield didn’t have a large recording studio considering how much great music it produced. Plus, the country was divided at the height of Thatcherism. We wanted to bring some money from London to where we lived.”
Jarvis Cocker of Pulp in 1991
FacebookTwitterPinterest Jarvis Cocker in 1991. Pulp formed in 1978 but had to wait till the early 90s before tasting success. Photograph: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images
Over at Western Works, Cabaret Voltaire’s new neighbour was a bagpipe-playing Scotsman who was building and selling nuclear fallout shelters. “There was a rising sense of fear,” recalls Kirk of the time, one no doubt intensified for the people of South Yorkshire, given it was the location for the harrowing 1984 nuclear apocalypse TV drama Threads.
Even as the socio-political climate grew gloomier, that original spark of autonomy and ambition remained alight, says Hawley. “Even with all the shit going on from those horrible fuckers, a lot of magical stuff happened. Beauty came out of some very difficult situations.” Ware links this mentality to the city’s history. “There is pride in craft in Sheffield that runs through everything – from cutlery to engineering. It’s in our blood.”
Not all bands could contain their steam. “Artery had an intensity that was up there with Joy Division,” says Cocker. “But they didn’t have a Factory Records or a Tony Wilson. They got stuck in Sheffield, got frustrated, got off their heads, and lost it.” 2.3 had a single out on Fast Product before the Human League or Gang of Four, but collapsed. “We were like the Commitments but worse,” Bower says, likening the group to the dysfunctional Irish band from Roddy Doyle’s novel. “By 1979, it was like: ‘Screw it.’”
But others did make it, of course. The days of Cocker and co dodging pint glasses have been replaced by city-wide adulation, an irony not lost on them. “One day, some people were chasing me and Jarv down the street to get our autographs,” Hawley says. “Jarvis turned to me and said: ‘It’s not that long ago since the same people were chasing us down the road trying to kill us.’”
• Dreams to Fill the Vacuum: The Sound of Sheffield 1977-1988 is out on Cherry Red
“The Eton Boys are undefiled/ The Bullingdon Boys, running wild”
Suggs and co. have a dig at Boris Johnson in the lyrics to their new song. CREDIT: Getty Images
Madness have released ‘Bullingdon Boys’, their first new song in three years – and it features lyrics aimed at Boris Johnson and his Eton cohorts – listen to it below.
The pioneering ska band’s snap release is a “barbed swipe at the charlatans, rotters and chancers at the top of the tree who have done their best to take the shine off 2019,” according to a press release.
Inspired by the fact that 19 of the 54 UK Prime Ministers have come from Eton, the new song takes aim at Johnson, who was educated at Eton College before going on to study at Oxford, and his peers with anti-Tory lyrics.
“The Eton boys are undefiled/ The Bullingdon Boys, running wild,” Suggs sings on the chorus. “And England slides into the mist/ No hope they’ll cease nor desist.”
Other lyrics include: “They’re making England Great Again/ But make way for the bagmen/ When everything’s been sold and bought/ We’ll soon be off the life support.”
The song’s artwork features what is assumed to be a group of Eton students donning a variety of masks, including Halloween villain Michael Myers and Porky Pig. It includes the tagline: “Don’t get bullied by the Bully Boys.”
Accompanied by a supercut video that features scenes from Clockwork Orange, the Batman TV series and The Riot Club, you can listen to ‘Bullingdon Boys’ below:
Madness Electric Ballroom 2019. Credit Symond Lawes
The Camden Town legends played the Electric Ballroom on November 17 – 40 years to the day since they launched the legendary Two Tone Tour at the very same venue. Tickets were just £2.50 (plus booking fees).
The revelation came from a new general election campaign video in which the Prime Minister is seen walking around the Conservative Party headquarters answering questions.
THESE fascinating pictures show a little-known youth tribe called Scooterboys, who roamed the country during the 80s and 90s.
The group was dubbed as “the lost tribe of British youth culture”, however tens of thousands of scooter riders insist they collectively rejected that label.
Scarborough sea-front in 1983 during the period when Scooterboy overtook Mod in numbersCredit: John Stevens / Carpet Bombing CultureThe classic ‘80s Scooterboy look was an MA1 flight jacket covered in rally patchesCredit: Greg Hollingdale-Cooper / Carpet Bombing Culture
Interesting pictures reveal the freedom Scooterboys had 30 to 40 years ago, showing rallies taking place in Hampshire and Dorset.
The photographs are featured in Scooterboys: The Lost Tribe book, created by Martin “Sticky” Round.
The book paints a picture of what the youth tribe experienced in their customised Vespa and Lambretta scooters as they set off on adventures each weekend.
The book mentions the shared experiences of riots, local hostility and police harassment, which built strong fraternal bonds that lasted a lifetime.
Scooterboys were members of a 1960s mod subculture, who rode motor scooters and wore anoraks, wide jeans, and boots.
One recent photograph shows crowds of scooterists in the Isle of Wight, while another takes you back to the 1970s and shows how the youth tribe compared to today.
Riders boarding the ferry after the riot at Isle of Wight 1986Credit: Piggsy / Carpet Bombing CultureIsle of Wight pictured in 1984 – probably Britain’s biggest ever rallyScooterboys chilling at Margate National Rally in 1990Credit: Dave Chapman / Carpet Bombing CultureScooters and Soul music have lived a conjoined existence since the 1960s, but intricately airbrushed photo-realistic murals are typically ScooterboyCredit: Carpet Bombing CultureBefore political correctness it was acceptable to ride a paint splattered chop called ‘Time of the Month’Credit: Nick Purser / Carpet Bombing CultureThe Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton June 5-6-7 2020. Hit the picture for tickets
Scooterboys loved highly tuned street-race scooters such as these DTC-painted Lambretta GPsCredit: Sticky / Carpet Bombing CultureAfter the 60s Mods came Skinheads, Suedeheads and Smoothies. In the early 70s the customising fashion was the accessorised Lambretta ‘skelly’Credit: Sticky / Carpet Bombing CultureSteve Maw’s Lambretta chopper ‘Illusion’ at Great Yarmouth in 1985Credit: Stuart Lanning / Carpet Bombing CultureScooterists from Hampshire and Dorset explore Girvan in ScotlandCredit: Nick Purser / Carpet Bombing CultureVespa cutdown ‘Little Rascal’ pictured at MorecambeCredit: Piggsy / Carpet Bombing CultureScooterists at the end of the Isle of Wight ride-out in 2012 respond to DJ Tony ClassCredit: Sticky / Carpet Bombing CultureClassic early-80s Scooterboy style in BrightonCredit: Mike Lovell / Carpet Bombing Culture
Symond And Nev Wycombe Skinheads 1981. Photo Credit Gavin WatsonWhen Scooterboys built radical projects it often meant use of an angle grinder and welderCredit: Carpet Bombing CultureCustom Lambretta named after the Jam record as Funeral PyreCredit: Nick Purser / Carpet Bombing CultureGetting stopped by the police was an occupational hazzardCredit: John Stevenson / Carpet Bombing CultureThe Alcoholic Rats all-girl scooter club at Great YarmouthCredit: Jo Jackson / Carpet Bombing CultureThe book’s cover, depicting a police check of riders attending Redcar National rally in 1985Credit: Carpet Bombing CultureIf you have photos and stories to tell or want to add to this, we would love to hear from you and add them to the site. Please email subcultz@gmail.com
Well Bootboys began in April after finishing with my previous band (the bandio). I searched everywhere a guitarist until I found Chuleta members of a psychobilly band. He supported my project to make oi! British,we started writing songs with electronic drums because in my city is very difficult to find a good drummer .Then a friend joined us, helping in the chorus and keeps us in the band supporting at all times. After we made our first demo called “my beers, my fights” in a small study because in my city is very high the cost of a professional recording studio. After a while we recorded our first video clip, there were many problems recording the video: infighting at the time, By the way we do feel proud to be the first skinhead band in Chile recording a video clip (“beers everywhere”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yf0qggsTUI). After that we played in our city and then in the capital of my country. Until that moment the guitar and bass was recording by Chuletabut finally we found a bassist from another city called Karlos, and today we are joined by a drummer named Bryan who is from the capital.. Now we have the second demo called “kings of the streets” and soon will record our second video “skinhead rock” and new Bootboys’s proyects.greetings from chile!
buenos bootboys comienza en el mes de abril despues de aver terminado con mi reciente banda (the bandio)busco a un guitarrista por todos lados hasta que encuentro a chuleta ex intregrante de una banda psychobilly que apoya mi proyecto de realizar oi! britanico empezamos a crear temas con bateria electronica.porque en mi ciudad muy dificil de encontrar un baterista decente, en los ensayos llega un amigo nuestro que nos ayuda en los coros y se queda con nostros en la banda apoyando en todo momento, despues realizamos nuestro primer demo llamado” mis cervezas ,mis peleas” donde el chuleta graba guitarra y bajo en un estudio pequeño porque en mi ciudad es muy alto el costo de un estudio de grabacion profesional.despues de un tiempo grabamos nuestro primer video clip donde hubo muchos problemas al grabar el video por peleas internas en el momento ,nose sentimos orgullos en ser la primera banda skinhead de chile en grabar un video clip(cervezas por todas partes)despues de eso logramos tocar en nuestra ciudad y en la capital de mi pais ,y se nos une una bajista de otra ciudad llamado karlos ,con el realizamos el segundo demo llamado “reyes de las calles” y hoy en dia se nos une un baterista llamado bryan que es de santiago y pronto grabaremos nuestro segundo video “rock skinhead” y nuevos proyectos con bootboys.saludos desde chile!
Established in 2011 The Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton was designed to bring Skinhead back home to where it was born in the 1960´s When the Mods and Rockers came to Brighton and hit the headlines, establishing their own youth culture. From those early Mods came the Skinheads, who embraced the new music coming in from Jamaica known as Ska. The Jamaican immigrants to the UK mixing with British working class kids with style and attitude, to form a new youth culture.
The second wave of Skinhead began to build in the mid 70´s with the birth of Punk Rock in 76, this time musically the Skinheads adopting the Punk rock sound and aggro of the football terraces, Working class bands forming and putting out their own angry antisocial messages in music, frightening the media into a frenzy of misinformation, who promoted the image of hyper violent bootboys and girls on the loose. This was a time of major political unrest in the UK and extremist groups tried to recruit within working class culture, often targeting Skinheads and football supporters, in the hope of win one, win them all pack mentality.
By 79 The skinheads were on the fightback and in London with bands like Madness and Badmanners, linked with British Midlands such as Coventry bands The Specials. The Selector and The Beat and created the 2tone label, which firmly mixed black and white youth together against this media onslaught.
In 1981 came the next wave. Oi! music was unleashed by Sounds magazine, bringing back the angry streetpunk energy and protest into the Skinhead subculture, once again giving the media and movie makers something to chew on.
Over the years the pendulum swung back and forth, but against all the odds Skinhead in its genuine form found its way across the world, connecting the Working class of Britain with mainland Europe, during the cold war even into communist Eastern block, then across to USA, South America, and in modern times, Indonesia to pretty much every westernised nation.
At the Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton you will find the most genuine, real and very friendly welcoming event in Skinhead history. Real people who have lived the life, mixing with new faces just coming in. We actively search for new acts to showcase and tour. We reunite old bands and give them a stage to play, we encourage scene DJ´s from across the worldwide scene, to play and network. Together all of us taking the scene forward, learning from previous mistakes, without selling out our principals of a true Working class subculture. The reunion invites everyone to attend, be you a skinhead or just someone wanting to be part of the event, interested and wanting a great fun weekend. We also actively support charities every year.
FULL 3 DAYS EVENT, YOUR WRISTBAND IS VALID THROUGH OUT, YOU CAN USE IT FOR AS LITTLE, OR AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. THE EVENT WILL SELL OUT.
WRISTBANDS GIVE YOU FULL ACCESS TO ALL THE EVENT, THREE FULL DAYS AND NIGHTS OF ENTERTAINMENT, 12 BANDS, 10 DJ’S PLUS A SPECIAL PRE PARTY BEACH BBQ ON THURSDAY PRE PARTY
The line-up maybe subject to change, as so many band members and dj’s are involved, alcohol, world wars and famine can be unforeseen, but the Great Skinhead Reunion, is more about coming to Brighton to see all your friends and making some more, for 3 full days of mayhem.
SKINHEAD ONLY HOTELS .
Add to your experience, by getting a room in our Skinhead only hotels. Conveniently located, with a short walk to the venue, and no moaning neighbours to worry about. The rooms vary in size and cost, to fit your needs. all within an easy walk to the skinhead reunion venue. We have hotels exclusive to the Great Skinhead Reunion guests and bands. Party party !! please email subcultz@gmail.com with your requirements, to be booked into the Skinhead Hotels
For those on a low budget, its worth checking Hostels and campsites, but my advice, is to get in the reserved hotels, for a nice stress free, clean and comfortable holiday in Brighton.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Brighton is situated on the south coast of England, approximately one hour from London. London Gatwick is the nearest airport. There are regular direct trains and National Express buses. The next nearest is Heathrow, We Strongly advise NOT to fly to Stansted or Luton as this is a long way and expensive UK public transport, but if you have no choice then use National Express buses from those airports, which you need to book in advance to get cheaper rates, and you risk losing valuable drinking time
The nearest ferry port serving mainland Europe is Newhaven -Dieppe . Newhaven is about 20 min drive to Brighton. Dover is about 2 hours to Brighton
PARKING ZONES – one of the worst aspects of Brighton, is a lack of affordable parking. my advice is to use street parking on the suburbs of Brighton, its a reasonably safe place. a good bus service will take you into brighton centre (churchill square) and a short walk from there to the sea front. worth allowing the extra hours work, to save yourself serious parking charges. Wilson Avenue is about the nearest free street parking to the venue, jump on a local bus back into town.
All Event Enquiries email Symond at subcultz@gmail.com. phone (uk) 07733096571
Brighton can lay claim to being a big part of the birth of Skinheads. During the Mods and Rockers battles of the 1960’s when London lads would descend on the South Coast for bank holidays to Peacock and cause ‘Bovver’ the term Skinhead was born, to describe the short haired Mods.
Becoming probably the biggest and longest standing of all the youth fashion subcultures, Skinhead has matured and now become a worldwide community. Distinctly recognized by almost military shaven head, boots and braces. The real skinhead is a working class product of the British council estate ‘salt of the earth character’ fiercely proud of his identity,with an obsession for clothing, style and music, equaled only with his love of beer.
On the first weekend of every June, since 2011, Brighton has seen an ever increasing number of Skinheads and their lovely Skinhead Girls invade Brighton. Boots, Braces, pristine clothing and a cheeky smile. Attracting scene members from right across the globe, to Madeira Drive, overlooking the beach. A full three days of Skinhead related entertainment is laid on. DJ’s playing hyper rare vinyl, from the early days of Jamaican Ska, through to modern day Street Punk and Oi. Live bands hit the stage of the Volks bar each night. With various aftershows happening until the early hours, to keep the party buzzing.
Mods Of Your Generation Interview – The Electric Stars – “Beautiful Music For Beautiful People” MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·SUNDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2019What can say about The Electric Stars that hasn’t already been said?Formed in 2011 the band have featured in countless magazines and had many glowing reviews, with their album “Sonic Candy Soul” making the Top 12 of 2012 best albums in ‘Scootering Magazine’ alongside the likes of Paul Weller. Recently front man Jason Edge featured in the September 2019 issue of Scootering with an incredible two pager. They have the incredible ability of taking inspiration from all the best music from any era and blending it together to create original, new modern music. Their Psychedelic Rock n Roll sound and their upbeat soulful vocals sets them aside from others. They have one mission and that is to make “Beautiful Music For Beautiful People” and that is exactly what they do. Personally i would like to thank them for providing an alternative. I believe “music is the soundtrack to our lives” If you agree then you need the Electric stars in yours. To find out more about the band continue reading below
The band formed in 2011 how did it all happen? We formed while we were in the studio recording Sonic Candy Soul. The Album was already written & as myself, Keef & Andy went in to record we didn’t have a drummer. We used a guy who was hanging around with us & began laying down the tracks. The whole concept began to fall into place, the sound, the look, the vibe and the name, while we were recording. As soon as we finished it, that’s when we found our drummer, Johnny.
You signed to Detour Records in February 2012 and released a single in March. Then released your debut album ‘Sonic Candy Soul‘ in September. What was the reaction to the single and album? Once we had the Masters of the Album we started to look for the right label. Dizzy at Detour has always been great with us. He has great History on the Scene and is a Fab guy! The first single came out & got a brilliant response. In fact you can’t get a copy of that anymore! When the Album came out, I think we were happy with it, well most of us were ha ha, but you never know how the public will like it. But the response we have had since day 1 for the Album has been fantastic. Wherever we go around the UK now people have it, play it and talk about it. It’s a great feeling to know that people dig our songs.
THE ELECTRIC STARS Blind Album Sonic Candy Soul How did you come up with the name of the band – ‘The Electric Stars’? The name.. A lot of people ask about it! When we were in the studio everything was kind of in a melting pot. The image of the band is very important. We are very influenced by the late 60’s early 70’s sounds. So it is natural we dress that way. Lots of colour, vibrant imagery, psychedelic patters ya know. The name is suggestive. Like our music & vibe The Electric Stars suggests something! I’m not a fan of dull music & dull clothes. I like my Rock n Roll Stars to look Godlike! Local pub bands might dress in jeans & t shirt. The Electric Stars dress to kill.
The album was featured as one of the Top 12 albums of 2012 in ‘Scootering Magazine’ alongside Paul Weller. That must have been amazing, Tell me bout it? One of the 1st reviews we got for Sonic was in Scootering and it was Ace. We were a bit shocked but blown away with the write up! Then at the end of the year, they do a round up of the best Albums & Sonic Candy Soul is in there alongside Paul Weller… Totally Cosmic! In fact now you’ve reminded me about that, It’s brought back the way we felt & it was very humble. To get a review like that makes you appreciate every bit of support from everyone!
In 2014 the band recorded their own version of Belfast Boy, A song first released in 1970 by Don Fardon. Tell me about the reasoning behind releasing the track and how the idea developed? Belfast boy came about from a chance meeting I had with Eamon Holmes. He is a massive George Best fan like me. We got chatting about music and fashion. He is a big fan of The Electric Stars. He reminded me of the Don Fardon song and said that he didn’t think that anyone had ever recorded it since. We got in touch with the GB Foundation and the MUFC Foundation, both said they were behind the idea! Then we got a load of Players & Celebs to write about Georgie in the sleeve notes. It was a bit of an ambitious release but it got to Number 15 in the BBC Indie Charts.. Nice! The most pleasing thing for me is the B side. I wrote The Brightest Star about one of my Heroes and to have his sister say it is one of the best things ever recorded about George means more than the chart placing.
Belfast Boy – The Electric Stars | George Best Charity Single ‘We Love You’ released in 2018 & ‘Sunshine’ released in 2017 are two of my favourite tracks. Which songs do you like performing live from your incredible repertoire? We Love You and Sunshine are both on the new Album – Velvet Elvis, The Only Lover Left Alive! To be honest I like all our tunes, we don’t let any bum songs get through quality control ha! Picking favourites is tough because they all mean so much to me. 136 is special.. It was written over in Florida & I really wanted to get the message across about this new band.. What we were.. Where we had come from.. What the message was going to be! Music for me is not just going through the motions. I can’t stand what is happening to music in 2019. Beautiful Music for Beautiful People is what we try to do. That lyric sums up The Electric Stars. We are trying to keep the flame burning and that’s important!
The Electric Stars – Sunshine ☀️ You headlined the ‘100 club’ which had an incredible response. Tell me about the night and what is was like performing at such an iconic musical venue? The 100 Club is a wonderful venue. Probably one of the most Iconic in the world! Most of my Heroes have played there and to go on last to a sold-out crowd was off the scale! All the bands on the night were Fab. Turner, Darron J Connett, The Sha La La’s all played out of their skin. It was a bit of an experience for sure. I hope we get to play there again as it’s a special stage to be on.On the back of the gig we got loads of press & our good friends at Scootering gave us a Fab double page spread. The support they have given us since day 1 has been Brilliant.
The Electric Stars – 100 Club – 2016The new single has been released ‘The only lover left alive’ where can we buy or download the album? The new album should have been out so long ago. Just down to laziness on the bands part I guess! The Only Lover Left Alive, Sunshine, We Love You & Loaded With Regrets are all on the new Album. Its gonna have a more stripped back feel to it.. More acoustic & less polished I think. More like the live Stars & less produced.
The Only Lover Left Alive – The Electric StarsDescribe the bands musical style and would you compare it to another? Mmmmm, well we are not ashamed of our influences. Retro, yes for sure, but with our own songwriting style! You can hear plenty of Who, Stones, Kinks, Faces for sure. But you can also hear Bowie, Bolan, Beatles & Floyd. I love American music, so Hendrix, Velvets, Doors & Love. Mix it all up with Blues & Grooves.. What do you get? Beautiful Music for Beautiful People!
Who are your musical influences as individuals or as a band from any era past or present? The Record Collection is huge man. But if you’re going to push me.. The Rolling Stones! I will gladly fight anyone in the car park who tries to tell me they are not the Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the world. There is a little bit of Stones in everyone & there is a little bit of everything in the Stones.
The Electric Stars are a Manchester based band, the city has an incredible history of producing many great artist and bands. Did this inspire you to get into music and to take up playing your instruments? Manchester is a wonderful city. We are great at most things. But, when it comes to Music, we are quite Spectacular! It’s a working class city that is big enough to challenge London and small enough to create its own culture and swagger. Being in a band in Manchester is something we just did! The Hollies, 10cc, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Mondays, Roses, Oasis.. Not bad is it for a bunch of Mancs ha ha!
British actor & musician Gary Shail is a huge fan of the band and asked you to perform at the Quad 40 event on Brighton Pier. What was it like to be asked to perform at such an iconic event celebrating the 40th anniversary of a timeless cult film Quadrophenia? We met Gary a long time ago at a gig. He loves live music and used to be in a band before he was an Actor. He liked our sound and we became friends. Last year he called me up and said “Jay, I’ve got an idea & I want the Stars to be part of it”. What an idea it turned out to be! Quad 40 was absolutely Fantastic! To be asked to be part of the Anniversary of one of the most Iconic British Films ever made.. WOW It really was a Brilliant event. Still buzzing from it to be h honest.
Do you have anything you would like share with all your supporters? I think if I’m going to finish on something it’s just to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us. The people who come to the gigs & buy our music. The people who write about us & book us to play all over the UK and Europe. We write our own material and we never take it for granted that people prefer us to cabaret. We want to make a difference & in 2019 that is getting harder than ever! Thanks to you Johnny for giving us the opportunity to tell people about the band & see you all soon!
Mods Of Your Generation Interview – The Electric Stars – “Beautiful Music For Beautiful People” MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·SUNDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2019What can say about The Electric Stars that hasn’t already been said?Formed in 2011 the band have featured in countless magazines and had many glowing reviews, with their album “Sonic Candy Soul” making the Top 12 of 2012 best albums in ‘Scootering Magazine’ alongside the likes of Paul Weller. Recently front man Jason Edge featured in the September 2019 issue of Scootering with an incredible two pager. They have the incredible ability of taking inspiration from all the best music from any era and blending it together to create original, new modern music. Their Psychedelic Rock n Roll sound and their upbeat soulful vocals sets them aside from others. They have one mission and that is to make “Beautiful Music For Beautiful People” and that is exactly what they do. Personally i would like to thank them for providing an alternative. I believe “music is the soundtrack to our lives” If you agree then you need the Electric stars in yours. To find out more about the band continue reading below
The band formed in 2011 how did it all happen? We formed while we were in the studio recording Sonic Candy Soul. The Album was already written & as myself, Keef & Andy went in to record we didn’t have a drummer. We used a guy who was hanging around with us & began laying down the tracks. The whole concept began to fall into place, the sound, the look, the vibe and the name, while we were recording. As soon as we finished it, that’s when we found our drummer, Johnny.
You signed to Detour Records in February 2012 and released a single in March. Then released your debut album ‘Sonic Candy Soul‘ in September. What was the reaction to the single and album? Once we had the Masters of the Album we started to look for the right label. Dizzy at Detour has always been great with us. He has great History on the Scene and is a Fab guy! The first single came out & got a brilliant response. In fact you can’t get a copy of that anymore! When the Album came out, I think we were happy with it, well most of us were ha ha, but you never know how the public will like it. But the response we have had since day 1 for the Album has been fantastic. Wherever we go around the UK now people have it, play it and talk about it. It’s a great feeling to know that people dig our songs.
THE ELECTRIC STARS Blind Album Sonic Candy Soul How did you come up with the name of the band – ‘The Electric Stars’? The name.. A lot of people ask about it! When we were in the studio everything was kind of in a melting pot. The image of the band is very important. We are very influenced by the late 60’s early 70’s sounds. So it is natural we dress that way. Lots of colour, vibrant imagery, psychedelic patters ya know. The name is suggestive. Like our music & vibe The Electric Stars suggests something! I’m not a fan of dull music & dull clothes. I like my Rock n Roll Stars to look Godlike! Local pub bands might dress in jeans & t shirt. The Electric Stars dress to kill.
The album was featured as one of the Top 12 albums of 2012 in ‘Scootering Magazine’ alongside Paul Weller. That must have been amazing, Tell me bout it? One of the 1st reviews we got for Sonic was in Scootering and it was Ace. We were a bit shocked but blown away with the write up! Then at the end of the year, they do a round up of the best Albums & Sonic Candy Soul is in there alongside Paul Weller… Totally Cosmic! In fact now you’ve reminded me about that, It’s brought back the way we felt & it was very humble. To get a review like that makes you appreciate every bit of support from everyone!
In 2014 the band recorded their own version of Belfast Boy, A song first released in 1970 by Don Fardon. Tell me about the reasoning behind releasing the track and how the idea developed? Belfast boy came about from a chance meeting I had with Eamon Holmes. He is a massive George Best fan like me. We got chatting about music and fashion. He is a big fan of The Electric Stars. He reminded me of the Don Fardon song and said that he didn’t think that anyone had ever recorded it since. We got in touch with the GB Foundation and the MUFC Foundation, both said they were behind the idea! Then we got a load of Players & Celebs to write about Georgie in the sleeve notes. It was a bit of an ambitious release but it got to Number 15 in the BBC Indie Charts.. Nice! The most pleasing thing for me is the B side. I wrote The Brightest Star about one of my Heroes and to have his sister say it is one of the best things ever recorded about George means more than the chart placing.
Belfast Boy – The Electric Stars | George Best Charity Single ‘We Love You’ released in 2018 & ‘Sunshine’ released in 2017 are two of my favourite tracks. Which songs do you like performing live from your incredible repertoire? We Love You and Sunshine are both on the new Album – Velvet Elvis, The Only Lover Left Alive! To be honest I like all our tunes, we don’t let any bum songs get through quality control ha! Picking favourites is tough because they all mean so much to me. 136 is special.. It was written over in Florida & I really wanted to get the message across about this new band.. What we were.. Where we had come from.. What the message was going to be! Music for me is not just going through the motions. I can’t stand what is happening to music in 2019. Beautiful Music for Beautiful People is what we try to do. That lyric sums up The Electric Stars. We are trying to keep the flame burning and that’s important!
The Electric Stars – Sunshine ☀️ You headlined the ‘100 club’ which had an incredible response. Tell me about the night and what is was like performing at such an iconic musical venue? The 100 Club is a wonderful venue. Probably one of the most Iconic in the world! Most of my Heroes have played there and to go on last to a sold-out crowd was off the scale! All the bands on the night were Fab. Turner, Darron J Connett, The Sha La La’s all played out of their skin. It was a bit of an experience for sure. I hope we get to play there again as it’s a special stage to be on.On the back of the gig we got loads of press & our good friends at Scootering gave us a Fab double page spread. The support they have given us since day 1 has been Brilliant.
The Electric Stars – 100 Club – 2016The new single has been released ‘The only lover left alive’ where can we buy or download the album? The new album should have been out so long ago. Just down to laziness on the bands part I guess! The Only Lover Left Alive, Sunshine, We Love You & Loaded With Regrets are all on the new Album. Its gonna have a more stripped back feel to it.. More acoustic & less polished I think. More like the live Stars & less produced.
The Only Lover Left Alive – The Electric StarsDescribe the bands musical style and would you compare it to another? Mmmmm, well we are not ashamed of our influences. Retro, yes for sure, but with our own songwriting style! You can hear plenty of Who, Stones, Kinks, Faces for sure. But you can also hear Bowie, Bolan, Beatles & Floyd. I love American music, so Hendrix, Velvets, Doors & Love. Mix it all up with Blues & Grooves.. What do you get? Beautiful Music for Beautiful People!
Who are your musical influences as individuals or as a band from any era past or present? The Record Collection is huge man. But if you’re going to push me.. The Rolling Stones! I will gladly fight anyone in the car park who tries to tell me they are not the Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the world. There is a little bit of Stones in everyone & there is a little bit of everything in the Stones.
The Electric Stars are a Manchester based band, the city has an incredible history of producing many great artist and bands. Did this inspire you to get into music and to take up playing your instruments? Manchester is a wonderful city. We are great at most things. But, when it comes to Music, we are quite Spectacular! It’s a working class city that is big enough to challenge London and small enough to create its own culture and swagger. Being in a band in Manchester is something we just did! The Hollies, 10cc, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Mondays, Roses, Oasis.. Not bad is it for a bunch of Mancs ha ha!
British actor & musician Gary Shail is a huge fan of the band and asked you to perform at the Quad 40 event on Brighton Pier. What was it like to be asked to perform at such an iconic event celebrating the 40th anniversary of a timeless cult film Quadrophenia? We met Gary a long time ago at a gig. He loves live music and used to be in a band before he was an Actor. He liked our sound and we became friends. Last year he called me up and said “Jay, I’ve got an idea & I want the Stars to be part of it”. What an idea it turned out to be! Quad 40 was absolutely Fantastic! To be asked to be part of the Anniversary of one of the most Iconic British Films ever made.. WOW It really was a Brilliant event. Still buzzing from it to be h honest.
Do you have anything you would like share with all your supporters? I think if I’m going to finish on something it’s just to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us. The people who come to the gigs & buy our music. The people who write about us & book us to play all over the UK and Europe. We write our own material and we never take it for granted that people prefer us to cabaret. We want to make a difference & in 2019 that is getting harder than ever! Thanks to you Johnny for giving us the opportunity to tell people about the band & see you all soon!
Mods Of Your Generation Interview – Irish Jack Lyons – 40th Anniversary Of Quadrophenia MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·FRIDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2018· Mods Of Your Generation conducted an interview with the legendary “Irish” Jack Lyons to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Quadrophenia the film. The man who inspired Pete Townshend to create the film, We would like to thank Jack for his contribution to Quadrophenia and to the Mod scene. Also a massive thankyou for answering some questions for the MOYG Community. To conjunct with the filming in 1978 which is the 40th anniversary of FILMING not film release, Irish Jack started having meetings with Franc Roddam until just after the end of August. Moon died on 7 September while he was taking a week’s break back in Cork, He flew back the next morning. He started writing scripts for official screen writer David Humphreys round about the second week of September. The first camera ran on 28th September and the legend of Quadrophenia begun.
(1) As many Quadrophenia Fans are aware Jimmy the main character from Quadropheina was based on you. Were you similar to Jimmy in the 1960’s and do you think Phil Daniels played the role well? Yes, I’m a lot like Jimmy. Speed-freak skinny and a born chatter-box. More than 10 have said there’s a facial resemblance. As you will remember from the article you posted about my meeting up with Phil Daniels at Lee International production offices in Wembley, he hadn’t a clue about Mods and he was honest enough to tell me. All he wanted to know was now that he had been casted to play Jimmy/Irish Jack, all he wanted to know was had I ever slapped a copper. Jimmy was a bit of a failed mod. Yes, he had the scooter but like a lot of us at the time it took a rocker friend to fix it for him and he couldn’t hang to to his girl…AND he couldn’t fight. I was a lot like that. Girls scared me to death cos I never knew what to say and I got in a scuffle actually with another mod and I discovered that I didn’t have the right body shape to fight. Not everyone can fight. When I’d be on French Blues I could talk to any girl all night as long as the conversation was about Pete Townshend or The Who. Mod was not always about being the Ace Face, Mod had a lot to do with young guys trying too hard to fit in, lacking in self-confidence and asking themselves the eternal question…’What’s gonna happen to me?’
(2) Quadropheina has played a major part in many people’s lives and many young people can relate to Jimmy’s Character growing up. Who could you relate to growing up and what movies or bands influenced you? I bought my first record when I was 13 in 1956. I was back in Cork then and attending school. My mother bought me Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’ with ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ on the b-side. It was a thick ’78 and if you dropped it it smashed into a thousand pieces. I used to be in awe just watching the RCA label rotating on our old record player. My dad was a classical violinist and of course as you’d imagine if he thought his eldest son was playing the devil’s music and using a sweeping brush with string as a guitar he’d have turned purple. I could only play it while he was out. Living in Cork back then in 1956 there wasn’t really any bands or films affecting me, I was by then only a year in long trousers having made my Confirmation the year before. I did spend a lot of time then recording my father on our old Bush tape recorder…wide spools and control buttons the size of piano keys playing classical pieces on his violin. I was 13 and I was an unpaid sound engineer! (3) When moving to London from cork were you a mod before moving and was there a mod scene in cork at that time? No, there was no mod scene anywhere. I moved back to London when I was sixteen-and-a-half in August 1960. Mods didn’t appear until late 1962. (4) What is your favourite genre of music? I don’t have a favourite genre of music. I’m affected by all strains of music. Like a lot of people, I fall in love with certain songs and then something else comes along. For years I was hung up on Jarvis Cocker’s Disco 2000, his biographical account of Deborah, the way he made it sound so personal just threw me across the room. I learned later that Deborah is actually a real person…like all good songs. Common People by Jarvis (well, Pulp) is just another of his great songs. It’s the way he narrates those two songs into biographic form, he is a brilliant song writer….AND story teller. I’m not a fan of rap the way it’s turned young people into rapping about rival neighbourhoods and knife crime. I can’t stand the way these gang rappers refer to their girlfriends and women in general. I think it’s a form of misogyny. (5) If there was a Remake of Quadrophenia who do you think would be a good fit to play Jimmy from today’s young actors. If there was a remake of Quadrophenia I’d turn in my grave. The acquired dictum is..’If its not broken – don’t fix it !’ Nobody is capable of bettering Franc Roddam. Nobody is capable of bettering Phil Daniels.
(6) How would you like to be remembered. How would I like to be remembered? With a blinding obituary in the Guardian (7) Is there other characters in Quadrophenia that were based on anyone from The Who. I don’t think so. Gary Cooper’s job as a sheet metal fabricator was obviously a nod to a younger Roger Daltrey who was a sheet metal worker for Chase in Shepherd’s Bush. (8) Do you like the track “Irish Jack” by The Who and how did you feel about a song being written about you. The problem with ‘Happy Jack’ was that you couldn’t dance to it. Pete wrote it when he was living in a top floor flat on the corner of Brewer Street and Wardour Street. I used to go up there. In those days you could park a car unlocked. Pete had a fabulous open top1963 Lincoln Continental which he’d leave outside the door overnight and it would still be there in the morning untouched. It’s strange to be answering questions about how I felt about a song like ‘Happy Jack’. There was no escaping it. It has never made me feel special. In 1973 I celebrated my 30th birthday having dinner with Pete at the Five Bridges Hotel, we were playing later at the Newcastle Odeon. I had far too much to drink and should’ve slowed down on the expensive French wine. At some stage I found myself playfully chinning Townshend and almost in the same motion playfully grabbing him by the lapels and saying….’Why the fuck didn’t you write…’And he lived in the sand in the Republic of Ire-land’…Pete grabbed me close to his face and snarled….’Because I couldn’t make it fucking rhyme….’ Loads of people have asked me about that song. Y’see, the problem with muse is that you absolutely don’t do this : ‘What a lovely afternoon. It’s supposed to last until tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I’m writing a song about you.’
(9) Is there anything else you feel should of been added to the film that was not captured by the scene at that time? Yes there most certainly is….before production finished I went to considerable lengths to impress upon Franc Roddam how cool it would be to end the credits with a list of names of the Mods who had frequented the Goldhawk as a tribute to them. We had dinner somewhere near the office in Beak Street and I had made a list of about 30 names that stood out. Franc’s response in that lovely Cleveland accent of his was that it was a master stroke and would give the film actual authenticity – like a roll of honour. He took the piece of paper away with him and I never saw it again. (10) Is there anything you would like to share with “Mods of your Generation” Community that they may not know about Quadrophenia, The Who and Your Relationship with them. Go to YouTube, type in the bar…’Modrophenia the legend of Irish Jack’
SubCulture are three youthful, passionate, energetic cool teenage lads reigning from Nottingham. They are a mod inspired band which is reflected in their sound and image. Their performance is energy fuelled with a know nonsense approach to putting on an incredible performance. They remind many fans of a revamped, young band we all know and love called The Jam. They stand out amongst other bands on the scene as they favour a sharper look that makes them stand out and in turn defines who they are.They perform a variety of covers however they have released much of their own material which is superbly written and executed. Recently the band released their new single ‘The Kids don’t Dance’ which is brilliant and actually something anyone can dance to. They are taking the East Midlands by storm, I have know doubt these three lads will go onto have a successful career. I wish them all the best in all there future endeavours and i am sure they wont disappoint as they continue to gig and release more music. These lads are definitely ones to keep an eye on so make sure to follow them on their social media platforms and keep up to date with future gigs as they may be performing near you soon. Band MembersOliver Orton-Guitarist/Vocalist Lewis smith-Bassist Declan Mills-Drummer
(1) You all went to the same school together, What bought you together as friends? I’ve known Declan since we were in primary school. From about the age of 4. Long before any of us could even play an instrument. With Lewis, I met him in my 3rd year of secondary school. He had guitar lessons with the same teacher I had at the time and his lesson would always be scheduled for after mine, so we would talk for a bit before going back to lesson. One thing led to another and we became friends through those guitar lessons really. (2) Can you tell me something that people may not know about you as a band? One of our first proper gigs was at a micro pub in Nottingham and it consisted of us playing about 15 or so covers songs.
(3) How did you then go onto to form the band? Both Me and Dec took music in school and as a requirement you had to play an instrument. I already had been playing guitar for years, but Declan decided to give the drums a go… And that’s how that started. With lewis, like I mentioned, he used to have guitar lessons so he knew how to play the guitar, which came in handy one lunchtime, as we had decided to mess around in one of the practice rooms since we were bored. The result of that was Me on guitar, Dec on the drums, and lewis on the bass….
(4) Who are your musical inspirations as a band and as a musician? Our musical inspirations and band inspirations are out of the same mould. With bands such as, The Jam, The Who, Small Faces and Secret Affair, to Sex Pistols, The Clash, to Madness etc.
(5) The band is heavily influenced by the mod scene in regards to your sound and fashion. How did each of you get into the scene and who or what influenced you? My parents grew up with the music, and I discovered it when I was around 14, and since then it’s just been like a snowball effect. In regards to Lewis & Dec, I think the whole thing fell naturally after deciding back in the school this is what we will do with the band.
(6) You have released your new EP ‘The Kids don’t dance’ where can fans buy the EP and how would you describe it? The Kids Don’t Dance to me is something you could dance to. Even given the name. It’s not strictly 60’s, Motown or soul, but it’s most definitely got those influences injected into it. The single is available to buy online as a 7″ vinyl record from www.heavysoul45s.co.uk
SubCulture The Kids Don’t Dance (Official Video) (7) Who writes the bands material? All the songs are written by me. It always starts out sat with an acoustic guitar at home.
(8) What would you like to achieve it as a band and how do you wish to Achieve it? If at any point we could make this our sustainable living, it would be great. It’s what we love to do after all. As for how, well we’d like to keep progressing and moving with it. We don’t want to put the brakes on. We’ve got something and we want to run with it.
(9) Since the band formed in 2016, What has people’s reactions been to your sound and energetic performances on stage? We’ve had some smashing reviews and met some great people from gigging. The way they’ve have taken to us really is fantastic. We’ve had people say they want us to do well, and it’s cool to have a backing from what was a few minutes previous, a complete stranger.
(10) If you could be in any band in history which band would it be? Now this could be the million dollar question. Literally. It’s a tough one. Maybe a band that have a Christmas hit so we could live off of the royalties all year round….How about Slade? But in all seriousness, we model ourselves off of the mod scene and I think The Who would be a wise choice. It seems like it would quite good fun. (11) Can we expect more singles to be released in future or an album?Yes! We try to release as much of our own music as we can. In fact, a new single isn’t too far on the horizon…
SubCulture – Young (12) Where can fans purchase your music and keep up to date with latest gigs? All our music is available on the usual digital platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google and the rest, as well as on vinyl from Heavysoul45s.co.uk. All our gigs are posted on our Facebook page, along with regular updates, photos, videos etc. (13) You perform a variety of covers. What is your favourite to perform and why? We don’t really have a favourite cover song to play, however we would say there’s definitely certain songs that go down a storm at gigs. To name just a few would be Sha la la la lee, My Generation, Town Called Malice, Too much too young. (14) What message would you like to give all your fans and supporters? Just to thank them for the continued support they give us and for the faith they have in us. It’s that kind of thing that spurs us on.
(15) Where would you like to be in 5 years from now and what can we we all look forward to? Well wherever we are, we’d like to be able to look back at the past 5 years and say that they meant something. Interview by Johnny Bradley for Mods Of Your GenerationInterview Credit – Mods Of Your Generationphoto & Video credit to SubCulture
Animal. Lead singer of Anti nowhere league attacked by glass wielding thug
CCTV images have been issued of a person we would like to identify in connection with a serious assault in #TunbridgeWells.
It is reported that at around 6.20pm on Friday 2 August 2019 a man aged in his 60s was struck with a glass in an area of The Pantiles.
The victim sustained injuries and received treatment at a local hospital.
Investigating officers are continuing to carry out a number of lines of enquiry and are now able to release images of a man who may have important information about the incident.
Man captured in CCTV just before attacking singer with a glass
Anyone who recognises him is asked to call us on 01622 604100 quoting 46/152946/19.
Alternatively, contact the independent charity #Crimestoppers anonymously, by calling 0800 555111 or using the anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org
I came across ‘Stinger’ after seeing a post on Facebook an illustrated book based on Quadrophenia. Intrigued by the beautifully painted images I wanted to find out more. I discovered that it was a kickstarter project and Immediately wanted to show my support and pledge. I then discovered Tina Freeman the lady behind the idea to find out more about her and the wonderful book. I asked her if she would like to feature in an interview to help promote it. We spoke on the phone and instantly hit it off as if we had known one another for years. We discussed Nicky Weller’s involvement as collaborator of the book and many of our common interests such as music and fashion. It was so exciting to hear all about the characters in the book and who they were based on. Tina described them to me with absolute passion & love for the project.As a father of three young children I am often asked ‘Dad what is Quadrophenia about?’ as it has been referenced many times at home. My children are not old enough to watch the film, therefore I was immediately excited to share this book with them. I felt extremely privileged to receive a soft back copy of the book from Tina. I sat with my children and read the book pointing out the many references to Quadrophenia and the mod scene as they eagerly listened to find out what adventures awaited ‘Stinger The Bell Bee’I highly recommended this book to anyone with a passion for the 60’s and Quadrophenia. This book is a great way to share your experiences and love for music & fashion with your children or grandchildren and inspiring the next generation. I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as i did asking the questions.
1) Where did you grow up and how old were you when you discovered the mod scene? I grew up on a very 60s Housing Estate in Birmingham, lots of Flats, Maisonettes and lots of concrete ‘the planners dream gone wrong.’ There were a few cool Mod lads wandering around after the 79 Revival which intrigued me. I became a little Mod girl at the young impressionable age of 13. I got my first scooter, a Lambretta LD 150 before I was even old enough to drive it.
2) At what age did you discover you had a talent for drawing? Very young really, I used to copy all the Disney characters from my “Now I Know” comics from the age of three. 3) Who are your favourite bands or artists and the most influential to you as a teenager growing up? I had an infant school teacher who loved The Beatles, so I think my interest and love of the 60’s came from this. The first Mod band I listened to was The Jam. I loved the energy and passion, still do.Then I went through a blinkered phase of only listening to original R&B and soul. I think the bands most influential to me as an artist have to be The Small Faces and The Who.
4) What bands or music do you listen to now? I have much wider tastes these days. I think we are incredibly lucky under the “umbrella of Mod” to have so much to choose from. I think I would have got bored and moved away from the scene if we didn’t have that ever evolving attitude.Even if you just take Wellers’ life body of music, there are enough songs here to suit your ever changing moods, see what I did there?I paint to music; I really think it adds the magic to the process.At the moment I have True Meanings on my turntable, by Paul Weller. I am like a teenager again, playing it over and over, absolutely love it. I seem to be playing The Beatles a lot too, perhaps that is just because of my “A Bee Road” painting in my book.I also have a CD player (I know! how very modern of me) to listen to ‘Georgie the brightest star’ by The Electric Stars. It is a beautiful hymn about George Best who features in one of my future stories. 5) In the 90’s you shared an art Studio on King Street in Manchester and worked as a freelance illustrator. You also worked as a portrait artist for Manchester United. Tell us a little bit about your art studio and some of the footballers you did portraits of? I relocated to Manchester after working in North Wales. The studio was seriously cool, with a lovely old balcony overlooking King Street. I worked for some great Ad agencies and The Royal Mail as well as Man United. Along with other merchandise I did limited edition portraits of Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Peter Schmeichel.
6) When did you draw the initial illustrations for the book and what inspired you to come up with the concept basing it on the mod scene and Quadrophenia? As a freelance illustrator I had worked on The Red Devil mascot character and Billy the Butlins Bear. I started thinking of a cool Wasp character to drive around on a Vespa.I had already produced a Who Collection of paintings and screen prints and had a few meetings with Trinifold Management. It was a bit of a light bulb moment for me when I realised, I could call the character ‘Sting’ and tie it into my love of Quadrophenia.I had two versions which I explained to Robert Rosenberg, one of a generic Wasp character tootling his way around Britain in The Sixties, the other very much based on Quad, using iconic scenes from the film which ultimately if animated should be very music driven.
7) Many of the characters in the book are based on members of your favourite bands & the Quadrophenia cast. Can you tell us a little bit about each character and who they are based on? Without wanting to give too much away, you can meet characters from Ace Mod Dog bands “The Whoof” and “The Cool Faces” with Ste Merrimutt. When I showed my portfolio of original paintings to Pete Townshend I was quite nervous. Luckily he liked his character “Pete Houndshend” and has been really encouraging. I am yet to meet Roger, although this is very much part of my wish list.
8) You showed Franc Roddam the director of Quadrophenia the illustrations and your idea to base the book on Quadrophenia. What were his thoughts and was he supportive of your plans? This was about 5 years ago, a very important piece in the jigsaw. I met Franc down in Brighton where he was doing a Q&A. He had mentioned that he had a two year old, and it would be a long time before he would get to know of Quadrophenia. I told him it might be sooner if he liked my story and showed him the first few watercolour paintings. I asked Franc if I could dedicate the book to his son, which he agreed.The story line and character evolved over the next few years, changing the name from Sting to Stinger to avoid copyright issues. I then made the decision to change him from a wasp into a much more lovable Bee Character. It felt right then, with him coming from Manchester, and having much more heart.
I met up with Franc again at The Teenage Cancer Trust event this January, where he introduced me to Sting, who just so happened to be sat at our table. It is very rare for him to attend a Quadrophenia event, so I was incredibly lucky. Sting loved the character and gave the book his full blessing, which was fantastic.
9) You met Nicky Weller at the Cunard Building in Liverpool, in the first few days of the Jam exhibition ‘About The Young Idea’. Can you explain how this led to collaborating with her to publish ‘Stinger’? I went along to The Jam exhibition as a fan and ended up being invited in to sell my ‘Quadrotina’ artwork in the shop. The next day was my birthday, and I had a surreal experience eating cupcakes with Nicky and Ann Weller. My “Quadwoofenia” collection of Dogs on Scooters sold really well, so I introduced a Bruce Foxtail, and Rick Boxer to the set. We had such a laugh over the 14 weeks coming up with new names and characters.It was at their literary event that I mentioned that I had a children’s book based on Quadrophenia. I sat down with Nicky and Den Davis who ‘got it’ completely, especially the concept of having it animated as a kids’ TV series or feature film.
10) Nicky introduced you to her brother Paul Weller. What were his thoughts on your artwork and your ideas and what other things did you discuss? The first time I met Paul he came into the shop at The Jam exhibition, for a cup of tea. Nicky showed him my “Paw Weller” Quadwoof pic. It was hilarious, not at all how I imagined it would be if I ever got to meet him. I met him recently at his studio with Nicky. He asked how the book was going on Kickstarter. In fact the night before we had smashed the target of over ten thousand pounds pledged. It was lovely to tell him the news; he seemed genuinely really chuffed for us. I told him how much I had enjoyed the walk through Delamere Forest for his gig the previous week. We chatted about the success of his latest tour, and the wonderful supporting Stone Foundation. He asked about my kids which meant the world to me.
11) What is the vision for Stinger? As I believe this book is the start of a series of books based around the 60’s and the mod scene. Stinger is the first of this series. I have this idea where different characters from Quadrophenia are developed and will have their own spin off adventures. I have had such fun with this concept, including what we know has happened to the actors after Quad. I would love different cast members to narrate the books, in the same way Phil Daniels recorded Stinger. To me Pete Townshend’s’ musical score is what really drives Quadrophenia. We are brilliant in this country at animation; just imagine combining a series with fantastic music and how much more it would connect with kids, hopefully watching with their parents and grandparents.I often find myself trying to explain what “a Mod is” to young children. It was easier for me to illustrate the concept of being ‘the best that you can be’ through Stinger. You never know, we might have a new little revival on our hands.
12) What was it like for you meeting Phil Daniels and the cast of Quadrophenia? Firstly can I say what an honour it is to know, and now work with some of the cast. Quadrophenia was my coming of age Teenage film, and certainly helped shape me as a young Mod, scooterist and artist. My friend and I would hire the video out most weekends and knew it word for word. Imagine how that feels now for me to be not only talking to but sharing my ideas creatively with my heroes.
I met Phil Daniels first, with Garry Cooper (aka Fenton) and Trevor Laird (Ferdy) at a brilliant Quad event in Widnes where I was invited by Rob Wright to sell my artwork. I showed them the initial ideas for Stinger and asked if they would consider doing the voice over’s playing their characters if I got it as far as an animated project.
I kept in touch with Trevor, who has been so kind and generous with his time, helping me to meet other actors such as Lesley Ash, Toyah, Gary Shail and Mark Wingett to move forwards with this dream.
13) When will the book be available to purchase and where can people get hold of it? Now we have reached our target, we have to get the hard backed collector’s edition version printed and have the record pressed with Stinger narrated by Phil Daniels.Those wonderful people who pledged to get the book printed will be the first to receive their copies. After that we will be holding a few special events such as an official launch with readings and signings.
14) What message would you like to give to those who have supported the book and to those who have pledged? Nicky Weller, our close knit team of designers Anthony Mulryan , Phil Dias and I am so very grateful to each and every person that pledged, shared our posts, and supported us through our first experience of Kickstarter.I always knew that I would have to come at this project from a different angle. A children’s book on Mods would be seen to have a very limited audience in the eyes of a publisher. I have been amazed how many normal (“Wot is normal then?”) fans the book has, of people of all ages and walks of life. I initially wrote it for Mods to enjoy with their kids and grandchildren, but found it has a much wider appeal.I think anything really written from the heart will find that connection with people, whether it be a shared love of music, scooters or just the pretty pictures.
The Harrington Saints are an amazingly talented bad with members who all have other massive side projects. Up until now most of their songs have been about your classic punk and skinhead topics. You know? The same “rah rah we are West Ham” coming from some guys in California is a bit hard to grasp. What I bet you didn’t know behind all the mod influence and skinhead style music. There is a lot of heart and emotion that comes out of this band. I’ve been a fan for a bit and “1000lbs of Oi” is one of the best albums of it’s genre in the last five or so years.
“State Of Emergency” is something you would expect from Bad Religion not Harrington Saints, and that is NOT a bad thing. The song is about gun control and the lack of empathy Americans have for dead kids. It seems more important they have their guns. Instead of sugar coating it behind flowery language like Bad Religion does often. This is a raw as a nerve end track.
There are some classic oi songs, like the title track. These guys are not small humans so the “1000lbs of Oi” is a little bit tongue and cheek. I love it personally as a somewhat larger lad. Rock N Rolla is a splitting oi track that brings you back to the 1980s. However the highlight to me was the song “Fremount Train” about a very real incident that happened. This isn’t your typical “fuck Nazis” song. It’s about beating the fascists up, and walking away with a smile with blood on your hands because you know you’re in the right. One of the most poignant lines being “why is the right wing always on the wrong side of history? Why is this a lesson we still have to teach today?”
If you don’t have a copy of this record it’s available on bandcamp, iTunes as well as Pirate’s Press Records…..or you know where ever awesome records are sold.
Singer with band found dead at his home in Essex on Monday
True Punk Energy and creativity Keith Flint of the Prodigy
Originally a dancer with the group, Flint performed the vocals on The Prodigy’s No 1 hit singles, Firestarter and Breathe. Photograph: Andy Sheppard/Redferns
Keith Flint, vocalist with the Prodigy, has died at the age of 49, after being found at his home in Essex on Monday.
The Prodigy released a statement confirming the news, saying: “It is with deepest shock and sadness that we can confirm the death of our brother and best friend Keith Flint. A true pioneer, innovator and legend. He will be forever missed. We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.”
Liam Howlett, who formed the group in 1990, confirmed his death was a suicide. “The news is true, I can’t believe I’m saying this but our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend,” he wrote on Instagram. “I’m shell shocked, fuckin angry, confused and heart broken ….. r.i.p brother Liam”.
An Essex police spokesman confirmed that a 49-year-old man had died. “We were called to concerns for the welfare of a man at an address in Brook Hill, North End, just after 8.10am on Monday,” he said.
“We attended and, sadly, a 49-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin have been informed. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”
With his punk aesthetic of piercings, spiked hair and intense stare, Flint became one of the UK’s most iconic musical figures in the 1990s. He joined the Prodigy as a dancer, later becoming a frontman alongside rapper Maxim. Aside from their 1992 debut, all of the group’s seven albums have reached No 1 in the UK, the most recent being No Tourists, released in November 2018.
Flint performed the vocals on the Prodigy’s best known singles, Firestarter and Breathe, which both went to No 1 in 1996 – the former became their biggest US hit, and the group are often credited with helping to break dance music into the mainstream in the country.
Firestarter’s black and white video, featuring a headbanging, gurning Flint, was banned by the BBC after it was screened on Top of the Pops, with parents complaining that it frightened children. The self-lacerating lyrics – “I’m the bitch you hated / filth infatuated” – were the first Flint had written for the band. “The lyrics were about being onstage: this is what I am. Some of it is a bit deeper than it seems,” Flint told Q magazine in 2008. The track sold over 600,000 copies in the UK, with
Speaking to the Guardian in 2015, Flint lamented the state of modern pop music. “We were dangerous and exciting! But now no one’s there who wants to be dangerous. And that’s why people are getting force-fed commercial, generic records that are just safe, safe, safe.”
Tributes have been made from his musical peers, including Ed Simons of dance duo the Chemical Brothers, who called him a “great man”. Beverley Knight said the Prodigy were one of “the most innovative, fearless, ballsy bands to grace a stage and Keith was perfection up front. We have lost a Titan.” Sleaford Mods, whose frontman Jason Williamson collaborated with the Prodigy on 2015 track Ibiza, tweeted: “Very sorry to hear of the passing of Keith Flint. Good night mate. Take it easy,” while drum’n’bass producer Friction said “I wouldn’t do what I do without him and the Prodigy in my life.”
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner also paid tribute, saying “R.I.P. Keith, you leave so many great memories behind”.
As well as his success with the Prodigy, Flint also founded the successful motorcycle racing outfit Team Traction Control, which made its debut in 2014, and went on to win multiple Supersport TT titles.
Really terrible news, such a legend of British music, a cross over from Punk Rock into dance music, This band defined a time of the raves of 89-90. I first saw them in a tent at an illegal rave, then worked with them while with the Mean Fiddler in the 90’s. My kids would run round the room shouting ‘Smash my picture’
Raw energy and talent
The Punk connection was very apparent with the inclusion of Gizz Butt of English Dogs on guitar
I am completely gutted over this. when the raves broke out in 88-89 it was the tail end of the skinhead days for me. violence was escalating to such crazy levels that we were just banned from everywhere. My mob had started drinking in the estate pub as we couldn’t go many other places, i broke up with my first real love live in girlfriend, i had gone on a crazy one around town and attacked 5 -6 people for no reason, i had been badly bottled, blood rolling down my face, but my girlfriend had betrayed me. Police were chasing me, i was having to hide, but because of the blood, no one would take me in, they made me go to the hospital to get stitched up. i was arrested for violent affray. The following week i was called by some mates for a big kick off, as one of our skinhead girls had been raped by a guy from an opposing mob. tooled up we went on the war path…. things were getting out of hand, chains, batons and one bloke had a gun.. i knew it couldn’t go on, but where was i going, how was i going to change direction, my mob, the wycombe skinheads were my blood, i was never going to back away, never abandon them, it was all or nothing… then as i stood at the local pub a week later waiting to see if anyone was coming up for another round of violence, it was like a siege mentality. but 12 years of being in the crew had lead us from those fun days of 2tone, through Oi! past the skinhead fashion, into a mob, crew, firm…
Then a camper van pulled up, some of the skinheads had been asked to go help at a rave, back up against drug dealers, so fuck it, why not, i got in the van and we headed to Slough Centre. The older lads, of The Woobo and the The Xtraverts crew were running the Rave, they greeted us with warmth, told us what was happening, and if we could be back up if it came on top. As i walked through a tunnel of white sheeting i found myself in this big warehouse, music i had not heard before called Acid House, lazers and dry ice filling the room, packed full of sweaty bodies and a repetitive electronic music thumping. Something completely different than i had ever seen.
Out of the haze came the most beautiful girl i have ever known Lizzy Mitchell wearing a bikini, her long blond hair to her waste. she came and kissed me on the lips, hugged me, and put her tongue in my mouth, and pushed a pill down my throat, 20 minutes later life would never be the same again, my days of violence were over, as the love rush just sent me higher than any cloud i could ever imagine.
At that Rave were all the local Punks, all the Rastas, Soul boys, Casuals, and above that the same mob we had been smashing fuck out of eachother for the last few months, one came up to me a black bloke called B he spoke in my ear, ‘So good to see you here mate, you know you lot are an army and we know we were never going to beat you’, I looked at him and could feel no anger, no aggression. I said in return ‘Well you lot are all cousins, we had no chance either’, to that we both laughed, he was clearly flying as well. That was the summer of 89.
For the rest of that year we were on the magic roundabout, raving round the fields of the M25, then off to Ibiza in 1990. i saw this band back then in the small tents at the raves, in the middle of some crazy days. and watched them grow into becoming a huge part of British music when i was backstage management team for The Mean Fiddler at Leeds Festival, Glastonbury etc. The Prodigy really were the band that spoke to me, like many of us early ravers, we came out of the crazy violence and punk rock of the 80’s to a new era, a new time, but more punk than punk, this was fucking the system off in a way that had never been done before 20,000 people illegally in a field loved up and jumping about to huge sound systems waking the entire home counties up. When my kids were little they were obsessed with the Prodigy, running round the house shouting ‘smash my picture’ they found out years later it was ‘Smack my bitch up’, RIP to a man, a music and a time 🙂 xx
Symond Lawes Subcultz
Keith Flint death: The Prodigy frontman died by hanging, coroner hears
The Prodigy’s Keith Flint performs in 2015 ( EPA )
The Prodigy frontman Keith Flint died as the result of hanging, an inquest has heard.
The 49-year-old was found dead at his home in the Essex hamlet of North End on March 4.
Coroner’s officer Lynsey Chaffe told a two-minute hearing in Chelmsford on Monday that Flint’s provisional medical cause of death is hanging.
She said: “Police attended, all protocols were followed and his death was confirmed as not suspicious.”
A post-mortem examination was carried out at Broomfield Hospital on March 7 and the provisional medical cause of death was recorded as hanging.
Ms Chaffe said this remains under investigation while toxicology reports are awaited.
Senior coroner for Essex Caroline Beasley-Murray opened and adjourned the inquest until July 23 for a full hearing.
For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch or go to samaritans.org
• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or emailjo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Topics
On the eve of their first album in decades, 2 Tone’s finest talk to Miranda Sawyer and, further down, answer questions from readers, and famous fans including Richard Curtis and
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The Specials (left to right, Lynval Golding, Terry Hall and Horace Panter). Photograph: Suki Dhanda/Observer
In an east London photographer’s studio, one man is dancing and two men are not. Beres Hammond is playing over the speakers and the dancer – Lynval Golding, guitarist – freeze-frames for the camera shutter, but otherwise is in constant motion. Bassist Horace Panter, determinedly non-dancey, stands dead still, chin jutting, as though he’s ready to punch you if you get too cheeky. And in between them is singer Terry Hall, who doesn’t move much. Hall’s face, though, is always changing, flicking between exasperation, resignation, wry amusement and a withering teenage side-eye. His left hand sticks out. It looks as though there’s a gap for a cigarette in between your fingers, I say, and Hall says “You’re right”, and goes outside to smoke.
These three men are the Specials, 2019. The Specials started in Coventry in the late 1970s, a mixed-race ensemble playing a thrilling mixture of ska, reggae and punk, with pointed, politically sharp lyrics. Originally, there were seven members – the three here today, plus band founder/songwriter/keyboardist Jerry Dammers (creator of the 2 Tone record label, to which the Specials were signed), as well as singer Neville Staple, guitarist Roddy Radiation and drummer John “Brad” Bradbury. Much of the Specials’ impact back then was collective: a group of street-tough individuals, the band as gang. Their gigs were raucous, confrontational affairs, occasionally marred by far-right elements wanting to cause trouble with a group that had both black and white members.
In 1981, after their scorching single Ghost Town went to No 1, Hall, Golding and Staple left to form the Fun Boy Three. The remaining Specials added more members and continued as the Special AKA, before splitting in 1984 (though Dammers was held in a record company contract until 1987). Since then, there have been various Specials reincarnations. People have been in and out (30 members since 1979: Wikipedia has resorted to a graph). Panter was an art teacher for special needs children for a while, Golding moved to Seattle. He and Hall didn’t speak for more than a decade. Neither Dammers nor Hall rejoined for years. Hall was focused on his solo career. Dammers – who started the group and owned their name – tried to restart the Specials in the late 00s on the condition that they play new material. They got as far as two rehearsals before everyone fell out again.
The most common question from the Observer readers concerns whether Dammers will ever rejoin: when I ask it today, Hall, Golding and Panter give answers that are noticeably varied. Is the door open for him or not? Dammers himself, when I speak to him later, says that he was served with a legal letter and forced out of the band.Advertisement
“There was never a long-term plan,” says Panter. “But once we got ourselves established, the obvious thing to do would be to make a new album. It was just getting the right consensus between the individuals.”
As you can imagine, embroiled as they were in legal battles, this consensus took time. From 2009 on, the Specials, sans Dammers, toured, and then toured, and then toured again. According to Panter, it wasn’t until 2012-13 that there was a settled membership: but then, in 2013, Staple left, due to ill health, followed by Radiation in 2014. This left Hall, Golding and Panter, plus Brad, the drummer. But then Brad died, in 2015, and, once more, things were put on hold. Until last year. “We were in California playing with Neil Young and the Pretenders,” says Hall, “and I remember thinking: ‘Well, they’re writing new stuff, why don’t we?’”
Now, much-loved reggae and jazz drummer Kenrick Rowe has joined them to play live; Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller) is on guitar; Nikolaj Torp Larson plays keyboards and, along with Hall, Golding and Panter, wrote and produced the new album, Encore. And it’s the release of new material that changes everything. “All this,” says Panter, gesturing around the studio. He means photoshoots and interviews. “You forget, that’s what albums do.”
Encore is strong, musically, with an unexpectedly broader palette that takes in disco, funk and oompah as well as reggae. For original fans, there are callbacks. The lead single, Vote for Me, opens up with ascending Ghost Town-style chords, and there’s three covers: of the Equals’ 1970 track, Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys, of Blam Blam Fever (Gunfever) by the Valentines (1967) and of the Fun Boy Three’s The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum. Prince Buster, a huge influence on the band (Gangsters, their first single, was a reworking of Buster’s Al Capone), is referenced in 10 Commandments, featuring the words and vocals of activist Saffiyah Khan. It’s a clap-back to Buster’s 1966 track that, for the benefit of any Buster-fancying woman, listed his 10 jokily chauvinistic lady friend requirements. (Prince Buster also made Princess Buster’s original 1967 answer track.)Advertisement
Lyrics take on the personal and the political, the US and the UK, though more ambiguously than the Specials’ original precision attacks. On BLM (Black Lives Matter), Golding talks us through three racist experiences from his past. And then there’s Vote for Me. Golding points out that the Specials’ (as opposed to the Special AKA) last release was Ghost Town, so it seems right that the next release, 38 years later, is Vote for Me. Hall agrees: “With Ghost Town we didn’t say, ‘This is the right way, this is the wrong way’, we just said, ‘Things are pretty shit, really’. And we’re saying the same with Vote for Me. I find it difficult to vote on anything, really. Whereas before, we were staunch Labour. Now, I feel like I don’t trust you, I don’t like your face. On a personal thing with Corbyn, I definitely can’t do it any more. But what are the alternatives?”
It must be strange to make a comeback now, to return in your middle age at a time when Britain itself appears to be determined to return to the more depressing parts of the early 80s.
“Well,” says Hall, “if we’d released a record at any point in the last eight years it would have been relevant. Because not a great deal has changed. There’s different names for it, like Brexit, which sounds nuanced, but isn’t far from the one called ‘unemployment’ and the one called ‘racism’. Look, we didn’t plan it. We didn’t say: ‘Let’s get a mix done quick, because Brexit’s out at the end of January.’”
There are non-political songs on the album. The penultimate track, The Life and Times, addresses Hall’s depression. Though his unsmiling demeanour has always been part of Hall’s appeal – “God, people saying, ‘Cheer up’ and ‘Why don’t you smile?’… I get fed up with saying, ‘Fuck off’” – a resting bitch face is far removed from the actual terror of depression.
The Specials on stage, June 1980 (l-r): Lynval Golding, Neville Staple, Roddy Radiation, Terry Hall, Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury. Photograph: Ray Stevenson / Rex Features
“With every record I’ve done, I’ve made reference to it,” says Hall, “but this is out-and-out. I was diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia about 11 years ago and that diagnosis made a big difference, because then I started taking medication. And the change in me, to be able to function… I couldn’t have done this 12 years ago. People used to say to me, ‘Why don’t you try yoga? Or St John’s wort?’ But there’s a massive difference when you’re in a deep depression and feeling shitty with the world, and the stage that I got to, where you want to give yourself a lobotomy, it’s that bad.”
Medication – “lithium, hardcore drugs” – has really helped. Hall knows that his episodes are cyclical and he can feel when a depression is coming on. “And before, I used to have to give in to it and people would say, ‘You’ve been in bed for three weeks’, and I thought it was 10 minutes. But now I can feel it coming and I can also feel the medication, it blocking it. It’s brilliant. Recognising you’re blocking it is amazing. It’s really weird. It’s like looking at a bruise develop on your leg.”
The album’s final track, We Sell Hope, is uplifting musically and lyrically, a contrast to all the excoriation that comes before.
“Well, in the end,” says Hall, “if you’re talking about each other, all you can offer is love. To respect people, and be kind to people, and hope that they give it back. They sometimes don’t but they sometimes do. But there’s that sense of hope. What else have we got?”
The photo session is done. The dancing and non-dancing are over. Hall has another cigarette and then we gather around a table to answer questions from Observer readers and famous admirers. There are more than usual. “Hmm,” says Hall. “I bet you say that every time.” (There are; I don’t.) “Fire away…”
Encore by the Specials is out now on UMC
Questions from famous fans
Photograph: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP
Gurinder Chadha
Film director
What moment from your height of fame are you most proud of, the moment that provides the legacy of the Specials in years to come? Horace:Ghost Town getting to No 1. Terry: Yes, I’d go with that. It was an unbelievably brilliant finale to what we’d done for a few years, and every band should fold after Ghost Town really, because what else are you going to do?!
Photograph: Mike Lawrence/Getty Images for Gates Archive
Richard Curtis
Film director
I remember going to see you in concert and you getting about 10 seconds into Ghost Town and stopping dead and pointing at some guy in the crowd, and saying: ‘If we don’t get those Nazis out of here we’re not going on with this song.’ And then waiting until they were removed. Am I imagining this? Did I dream it? Terry: It used to happen every night, didn’t it? Horace: It wasn’t that much of an occurrence but it did happen, I remember a couple or three times where we’d stop a show because of the NF. Terry: They would be sieg heiling during the show. That doesn’t really happen any more. The closest thing to that was in Nottingham [2014] where somebody threw a bottle at Brad and I couldn’t do anything until he’d been taken out. It’s important to stop stuff [like that] if you see it.
Joe Talbot
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Lead singer, Idles
Is pop much worse now than the early 80s or am I blinded with nostalgia? Now it seems really dull when we glance at the mainstream… Terry: I’m actually going to see Joe in a couple of weeks, his band. I don’t know. We get asked that a lot. “What are you listening to now?” And what I’m listening to now is a Grateful Dead album, because I never heard it first time round… Horace: I’m sure there are some things that are great out there but I don’t know where to look for them. I haven’t got the time to spend a fruitless three hours ploughing through YouTube. Terry: The last thing that I saw that I really, really liked was the Fat White Family. They were funny and everything you wanted. Bit druggy, funny, they look really good. Lynval: There’s one band that I like. Easy Life. They’re a young band from Leicester, I saw them on Jools Holland, they’re really, really good. If I could have a vote for a band to be with us on any bill, it would be that little band. The kid’s got the right attitude. He’s a star.
Photograph: Dean Chalkley/BBC
Lauren Laverne
6 Music presenter
When are you happiest? Horace: Most of the time. Lynval: With me, when we made the album, to get up and get on a train and go to work every day, come to the studio, that was really weird – but when we finished the record, I was completely lost. I didn’t know what to do with myself. We had so much fun doing this record. We’d take it in turns to sleep on the couch. Wake up, “Oh, that’s nice, yes,” and go back to sleep. Terry: Probably happiest when I’m watching football. Even through all the shitty times, five minutes before kick-off you think: “This is great.” But in the last week or two do you know what’s made me happiest? In our bathroom, on the floor there’s mosaic tiles and one was lost. It’s white so I tried putting Polyfilla in, but I couldn’t get the grouting to look good. Then I thought: “Well, why don’t I look in the vac bag?” So I got the bag out and put my hand in and I found the tile. Honestly, that made me really happy. A great moment.
Photograph: Jason Alden/Rex
Richard Russell
XL Recordings boss
For Terry. You’re one of my favourite lyricists of all time. Who are yours? Terry: Joe Dolce [who wrote Shaddap You Face]! No, obviously people like Leonard Cohen, and bits of Jeff Buckley, and almost all Daniel Johnson and the Roches.
Photograph: David M Benett/Getty
Ady Suleiman
SingerAdvertisement
What are your best memories of 2 Tone? Horace: The Bilzen rock festival in Belgium in summer 1979. We’d just signed our record deal with Chrysalis, we were unknown, and we still had all this equipment that we’d begged, borrowed and stolen. We were on a bill with the Cure, the Pretenders, the Police and AC/DC. Nobody had heard of us, and we went on stage and just destroyed the place. There was a big fence, 12 foot in front of the stage and during the performance it got ripped down and everyone surged to the front of the stage. For me, that was the most amazing experience ever, that music could do that was incredible. Terry: Because of bands like UB40 and the Beat too, we were doing something that wasn’t in London. It was a sense of pride in where we were and wanted to make some sort of change. Lyrically, I think what we were doing was all very similar. We were all in the Midlands, and the only band I remembered from the Midlands was Jigsaw, who blew it all sky high [chuckles]. Lynval: Lieutenant Pigeon. Terry: Frank Ifield. All of a sudden, something was happening. Kids were connecting with us and it just felt really important.
Photograph: Linda Nylind/Guardian
Diane Morgan
Actor
You wrote a song about a Ghost Town, but have any of you actually seen a ghost? Lynval: I was born in Saint Catherine, Jamaica… Terry: And he’s off… Lynval: This man was crippled and he sat in front of this house in the village, where I come from, this brownstone house, on a mat. He died and I went down to the river with my sink pan on my head to fetch the water. It was broad daylight. I’ve got the water, I’m walking, then suddenly there he was, sitting in front of his house on his little mat. My mind just went, “Wooah, wooah,” and the sink pan of water has gone off my head. I just run. And often now, I don’t believe that I saw him, but I saw him. I still can’t grasp it. Terry: Weed’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I definitely haven’t seen a ghost, no.
Photograph: Richard Saker/Observer
Jason Williamson
Singer, Sleaford Mods
One thing I find with accomplishment is that it can feel so insignificant overall, but I know that’s something to do with bouts of depression. Do you feel this sometimes about what you’ve done and still do as musicians? Terry: It does matter, really, and even when it doesn’t matter, it still matters. People see success as getting to No 1 and being platinum. I don’t see that at all, I never have. I think the success is getting something inside, out, and getting someone to listen to it. That is success. For the first 20 years of my life, nobody would listen to me. Nobody. At school, jobcentres, they just didn’t listen, they were never bothered. But then you say something and somebody says, “I agree, I disagree”, and so wow, somebody’s listened. That’s success.
Questions from readers
Left to right: Lynval Golding, Terry Hall, Horace Panter. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/Observer
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In my opinion you’re the best band to grace this world. Which song do you still love banging out the most? Lee Griffiths, via email Lynval: I like Nite Klub. It’s a bit of a naughty one: “I won’t dance in a club like this/ All the girls are slags/ And the beer tastes just like piss.” It’s what we guys, when we get together, we talk about. We don’t shout it out loud to people. I quite enjoy that. Horace: Yes, I’ll go Nite Klub too. There’s a version of it on the deluxe edition of the album and it’s fantastic, I love it. Terry: I quite like stuff from the second album. International Jet Set and Stereotype. Just because I’ve always had this thing about people seeing us as a ska band. We don’t play ska music, and if you look at International Jet Set, you couldn’t be more removed from ska. On the second album, I couldn’t pick one song, but I could say with that album: “Wow, something good is happening here.” And then we split up!
I remember hearing Gangsters for the first time in 1979 when I was in an amusement arcade on my school holidays. The energy of that song stopped me in my tracks and the Specials have been my band ever since. What’s your music moment that’s stayed with you? Angelina Jones, via email Terry: I’d go with Gangsters. When we did it on Saturday Night Live in New York. Because it felt so alien to the people on the show, the ones working there and the audience, and that was the first time I thought: “Something good’s happening here.” We took off the shackles when we did it, people were just roaming on and off stage. And it felt really like the right song at the right time. I remember doing photo sessions and people thinking we were like, a gay choir, because we all had short hair. Either ex-marines or a gay choir. Lynval: Remember when we did it in Chicago? When they got the audience to throw these fake dollar bills on the stage? Because… gangster, yes? Terry: Al Capone.
Miranda Sawyer: But can you think of a song that isn’t yours where you thought: this changes everything? Horace: I was delivering car spares to a store in Birmingham. This was about 1990. And this song came on the radio, and I was standing there with this box, and this bloke was going, “Come on, give me the box,” and I go, “Shh.” And it was Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. It was the first time I heard it, and I thought, “Flippin’ heck. That’s good.” Lynval: “Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights” by Bob Marley, because it was around the time when we started having our own identity. We started getting away from the colonial ways that were forced on to us. And that’s when the Rasta theme started coming up, something we can call our own, you know? That really hit me. Miranda: How about you, Terry? Is there a song you can think of that changed things for you? Terry: I will come back to Shaddap You Face again… No, Anarchy in the UK. It was like everybody was waiting for something like that. It was a turning point.Advertisement
If someone had told me 40 years ago that a bloke like [pro-Brexit ‘yellow vest’ protester] James Goddard and his mates would be close to the profile they have today, I would’ve found it hard to believe. You played a leadership role then. What do you think needs to happen now? How do we reverse the division that people like Goddard look to exploit? Steve E, Vancouver Lynval: Back when we started, it was a small minority of skinheads that was pulling the wrong way. I remember one guy I met, a real National Front supporter, you know? And after I finished talking to him, we shook hands and we looked at each other, and he said he hadn’t talked to a black guy before. He wouldn’t do it. But once we talked and had a discussion… Horace: Those people always were out there. They feel more of a licence to speak now, because we all have our platform, don’t we? This division is a knock-on effect of Instagram and Twitter and whatever. Everyone has a voice now. But there’s no filter on it. Back in our day, you would voice your discontent down the pub to your mates. Whereas now you can voice your discontent to millions of people from the privacy of your own downstairs toilet. Terry: I think politicians love the division. It’s a great thing for them. They thrive on it. I don’t think they want everyone to be together. Brexit has conjured up so much stuff, and all these personalities are appearing, like Jacob Rees-Mogg. They like the division and I can see it getting a lot worse.
Do you feel mellowed with age or do you still get intensely wound up by current political events? Stephen Bennett, Dublin Lynval: I switch on CNN and wonder: “What am I watching all this for?” People calling the police because a little kid is selling water, just because the kid is black [#PermitPatty]… The one thing which I think is good with social media is, when we say: “You’ll never understand what it’s like to be black.” I think the images that come in now, but you see it and maybe understand more. You know, you walk in a shop and you know that all eyes are on you. Because you appear like a guy who’s going to come in and shoplift. Because you’re black… No, I’m not mellowed with age. Horace: I think age has filtered a few things. The only thing I watch on television is the news, really. Terry: I’ve definitely mellowed. But I’m at that age. I’m going to be 60 in a month, and there’s loads of shit going on, but then I look up at night and see the moon, and I just think: “Whoa.” Do you know what I mean? You see a tree that’s been there a few hundred years, and you think: “Fucking hell. This is brilliant.” Miranda: Is that age? Terry: No, it’s medication. When you have kids of your own and with their mates, that’s where you can be political, and that’s what I’ve tended to do, especially with my older boys when they were teenagers. Watching them go through stuff, and hopefully guiding them. My house used to be a real open house, like a youth club. Their mates always used to come round because I was like a bit “right on”, and they could smoke weed or whatever. And that’s where you try and influence so that there’s not so much anger. It’s not being mellow, you’re doing something, but you’re doing it at home, you know? Rather than just blasting it out all the time. Horace: Micro as opposed to macro.
What are your thoughts on Coventry becoming a UK city of culture in 2021? Have you been approached to do something? Liam Nagle, Coventry Horace: I’m the only participating member of the Specials who still lives in Coventry and no, I haven’t been approached to do something. I would like to see money put by to provide for music lessons for children in schools, a proper legacy. I’m more interested in that than “Here’s a couple of boutique hotels”, and who needs another wine bar for goodness sake? Terry: I get really bugged by this City of Culture thing. If you have to really search for the culture, you’re making it up. The landmark for me in Coventry is the cathedral.
I’m a Cov kid, who grew up as all the industry collapsed around us in the 80s and 90s, losing perhaps 100,000 jobs in that time from Jaguar, Triumph, Dunlop, Rover, Rolls-Royce, Morris, Alvis, Massey Ferguson. I wonder how you see the city today with so many of those jobs replaced by call centres? People who had repetitive production line jobs at least had the pride of being part of making something that was known, in some cases, worldwide. Now they just get shouted at by irate customers on the phone. FlightGuileAndPies, online Lynval: You used to have Courtaulds. They were everywhere. Massey Ferguson that does the tractors. And in Canley, Matrix Churchill, one of the last pieces of work they were doing was [making parts for arms] for the Iraq war. Obviously that war game didn’t work out for them, because war brings employment for them! It’s all gone now. Even the smell of the city is not there any more. You could smell the engineering. Back then, Coventry was thriving, an industrial city. Now it’s a student city. Horace: Loads of barbers. Lynval: And chicken shop takeaways. It’s all revolving around students. Working class, labour people – once the industry goes away, then all the traditional pubs, they die. The working men’s clubs, they die. Like what my father used to go to, Rowley’s Green Working Men’s Club. They’re not there any more. Horace: There’s still manufacturing in Coventry. Lynval: You’ve got Triumph motorbikes. Horace: London taxis are made in Coventry. Terry: All my family worked in factories. My mum worked for Chrysler, my dad worked for Rolls- Royce. Aunt. Everybody worked in the car factories, and there was a real sense of community. Everybody felt on an equal level, all getting cash every week. I didn’t really notice the decline, really, until it had happened, but then it was massive. It’s difficult with Coventry because I moved away for specific reasons. I couldn’t fucking stand it.
What was it like touring with the Clash? Peter Milne, Norwich Lynval: It was absolutely an eye-opener. Joe Strummer was a wonderful, wonderful human being, and being in that group of people at that time, there was so much excitement. Because we did our little pub thing, but this was like the next level up. It was just a wonderful vibe. Like one big party. Horace: We learned how to present a show while on tour with the Clash. You would see how they go on stage and it was just like, Bang. We learned to give 100%. Not just shamble on stage and “If you don’t mind, we’d like to play a few songs.” We were totally different after that tour. I always say that we started that tour as civilians but ended it as a group. Terry: And after the Clash thing, that’s when we cut our hair, because we discovered what we should look like by doing that tour. And then you end up in Crawley with about 1,000 skinheads gobbing at you. Horace: That was scary. Terry: Yes, that was really scary. But it was great because Suicide were on that tour as well. And Sham did stuff. [Jimmy] Pursey was there. For me, it was like, “How do you react to an audience?” The fans tell you the songs they like. They like Monkey Man, definitely. And A Message to You, around the world.
Saffiyah Khan, in a Specials T-shirt, staring down English Defence League protester Ian Crossland in Birmingham, April 2017. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
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I heard activist Saffiyah Khan has sung on the album. How did this come about? Barry Mingard, Welwyn Garden City Terry:We saw Saffiyah in that photo. She had a Specials T-shirt on, and she was standing up to a member of the EDL, who was screaming at her, and she just smiled back. A fantastic reaction, because it made him look stupid. So we got in touch with her and said: “Come to our gig in Birmingham.” Then when it came to recording the album, we were thinking about people who might like to be on it, and she was definitely in my head as somebody who could have something to say. And at the same time I was listening to Prince Buster, Ten Commandments of Man, and I couldn’t believe… Miranda: How rampantly sexist it is? Terry: It goes back to Dave Lee Travis, like hand-on-the-arse times. So then the idea came like: “Wouldn’t it be nice to do an answer to that?” But obviously from a woman. Saffiyah was the obvious choice, and we just said to her: “Here’s the Prince Buster song. Do you want to try to reply to it?” And she got on with it.
Bloody hell, I don’t think I’ve seen such effortlessly cool looking gentlemen ever. Please give me a clothing tip. Tenement Funster, online Horace: Smart casual. And wear your T-shirt outside your jeans. Lynval: Horace is stepping up now, he’s the man. Me, I love that sort of stuff from the 70s, like reggae style, you know? Gregory Isaacs. Terry: It’s simple. Avoid horizontal stripes. Didn’t work when you were 18 mate, and now you’re middle aged.
Terry, as a lifelong Man United fan, what do you think Ole Gunnar Solskjærhas to do to get the manager’s job full time? Thehumblegent, online Terry: No idea what he has to do. I mean, he just wins at the moment. He’s such a lovable bloke and a real legend, but whether he’ll keep the job, who knows? Lynval: He’s a real Man U guy, he spent half his life there, it’s in his blood, and it’s got to be in your blood to be able to manage a club like that. I think they should hold on to him, and give him the job full time. It could be another Fergie in the making. Terry: I think realistically, for me, Ferguson is managing the club again. He’s using Solskjær as his mouthpiece. Ferguson is smiling way too much. Lynval: It’s brilliant. The next legend manager.
Now you’re doing new material like Jerry wanted to do when you reformed, isn’t it time to let him back into the fold? Bloodydoorsoff, online Horace: (Quietly but decisively) No. Next question. Lynval: I think having Nikolaj Torp Larsen, we’re really fortunate to have a kid like that who’s so talented. I was one of the last ones to work with Jerry, I enjoyed working with him. If you’re going to make music, you want to make music with people that you respect as musicians. I do respect him a lot. Terry: The whole Jerry thing, it’s like, from day one, I’m not sure why he isn’t in the band. I honestly don’t know, because we all started rehearsing together [for the 2009 reunion] and he sort of dropped out. I don’t know what happened there. I don’t know why he isn’t in the band, do you know what I mean? He just, dropped out. It’s his stuff really, it’s not our stuff. He chose not to be in the band, for whatever reasons. Miranda: What about if he said: “Oh, can I come back?” Terry: I’d just tell him to fuck off. [laughter] No, I wouldn’t. No, I wouldn’t. I’d get management to tell him. He can come back, it’s up to him what he’s going to do.
Why aren’t Neville, Roddy and Jerry back in the band? Diesel Estate, online Horace: They left. Lynval: They left. It’s as simple as that. Roddy left the band, Neville left the band. Jerry didn’t fully join the band back. There’s nothing we can do about it. Terry: Roddy and Neville feel comfortable where they’re at. They play pubs and small clubs, and I think if you lack that much charisma then that’s probably a wise thing. They enjoy small intimate venues with very few people there. That’s where they feel most comfortable.
For Terry and Horace. What does painting do for you that making music doesn’t? Sam McNichols, London Terry: When I was at my ill-est, it triggered something in my brain that wouldn’t allow me to talk or walk for three weeks. Because I couldn’t say anything, I had to write everything down. And a doctor said to me: “Paint.” And actually painting was something that was coming out of my head that I could show to people. For them, in Horace’s case, to despise. [laughter from all] Miranda: It’s a reaction. Terry: I’ve got a fixation on the Jackson 5, so I painted the Jackson 5 for six months, and then it was pointed out to me that I’d painted six. Six Jacksons, so I renamed the extra one Phil Jackson. It’s all getting it out, and who cares whether it’s right or wrong, I don’t give a shit. Horace: Music for me is a collaborative process, I’m a bass player. I have to work with a drummer, a singer, a keyboard player, I’m a cog in a machine. The art is kind of my solo album.
The Pyramids = Symarip: Establish Skinhead Reggae in The UK and Influence A Generation
Symarip Skinhead Reggae 1969
As The Bees this band are recognised as the first ever UK based Ska band, backing legendarty Singers as Prince Buster and Laural Aitkin. Changing their name several times during the 1960’s. The Pyramids were formed in the mid-sixties by six young British-based Jamaican musicians. The band were also known at various stages of their career from The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba. In the mold of The Equals, they began their career as a straight “pop” group, consisting of founders Frank Pitter, Michael Thomas, Josh Roberts, Ray Knight, Monty Naismith and vocalist Roy Ellis and were signed to President Records.
In 1968, President bagged their first Number 1 with “Baby Come Back” by The Equals, featuring a teenage Eddy Grant on lead vocals. At the request of his label, Grant had also been working with the Pyramids, who had backed Prince Buster on a recent U.K. tour. Besides composing songs for the band (and one for Prince Buster himself, the rude classic “Rough Rider” which was later covered by The Beat), Grant also produced several tracks for The Pyramids in 1969 including the band’s debut single and sole hit, “Train to Rainbow City” which appeared on their self-titled LP.Here is a video of the song “Train To Rainbow City” written by Eddy Grant for The Pyramids:
According to sleeve notes from a best-of collection released by Trojan Records, The band’s relationship with President soured when their record ‘Mexican Moonlight’ was a hit in Germany, but the label neglected to tell them about it. As a result, the band decided to rename themselves so that they could record elsewhere without President Records knowledge. Organist Monty Neysmith came up with a plan: ‘I came up with the idea of turning Pyramids around and you leave out the ‘d’. So originally it was spelt Simaryp. I don’t know how it came to be spelt Symarip!’ So in 1969, safe in the knowledge that Presidnet Records would never unravel the secret of their true identity, Simaryp/Symaripprepared to record for their new label, Graeme Goodall’s Treasure Isle – whose chief label was ironically called Pyramid!
Skinhead Moonstomp front cover featuring London Skinheads 1970. Trojan Records
While working as his backing band Laurel Aitkin suggested to the boys that they should write an album for the emerging Skinhead subculture that had started to develop from the Mod culture in England, firmly picking up the Jamaican Ska sound brought into the dancehalls by the new immigrants from the colonies.
The band then recorded their first album as Symparip in 1970 and immediately became the face of “Skinhead Reggae” with songs like “Skinhead Girl”, “Skinhead Jamboree” and “Skinhead Moonstomp”, which is based on the Derrick Morgan song, “Moon Hop”. According to Neysmith, the band noticed a new element coming to their live shows: Skinheads. ‘A lot of skinheads started coming to our shows, and Roy and I said, it would be good to write a song for skinheads. We remembered a song [‘I Thank You’ by Sam & Dave] where they said, ‘I want everybody to get on their feet, and this and that, and give me some of that old soul music’. I thought, let’s change the words and put, ‘I want all you skinheads to get on your feet, put your braces together and your boots on your feet, and give me some of that old moonstomping’.In 1980, the album Skinhead Moonstomp was re-issued in the wake of the 2 Tone craze, hitting the UK pop charts for the first time and a whole new generation of fans were introduced to their sound. The Specials further expanded their name and popularity of Symarip by recording a live cover version of “Skinhead Moonstomp” as part of a medley of 60’s reggae songs on the B-side of their “Specials Live EP” which hit number one in the UK charts.
Laurel Aitkin smoking weed backstage at Acklam Hall Ladbroke Grove , West london
Here is a brief video of Symarip performing in Horace Ove’s documentary “Reggae” recorded at Wembley in 1970 before a crowd of 14,000. The tune is a Rupie Edwards tune called “Pop Hi”. Don’t miss Roy Ellis’s back-flip at the start of the clip: Amazingly Ellis and Neysmith have reformed the band and plan to perform around the UK in 2008-09. They will perform a show on Friday October 31st at The Hootananny in Brixton, London. You can get ticket information here. There must be something in the water in the UK that’s causing all these bands to reform.
Here is the track list and a download to their 1969 LP “Skinhead Moonstomp” that was reissued in 1980 during the height of 2-Tone”
1-Skinhead Moonstop 2-Phoenix City 3-Skinhead Girl 4-Try Me Best 5-Skinhead Jamboree 6-Chicken Merry 7-These Boots Are Made For Stomping 8-Must Catch a Train 9-Skin Flint 10-Stay With Him 11-Fung Shu 12-You’re Mine 13-Bam Bam Baji 14-Hold Him Joe 15-Tomorrow at Sunrise 16-Parsons Corner 17-Redeem 18-La Bella Jig 19-Holidays By The Sea 20-Feel AllrightSymarip – Skinhead Moonstomp
Todd Youth passes away, a huge loss to the Punk Rock community worldwide
NYHC legend Todd Youth, who played in Agnostic Front, Warzone, Murphy’s Law, D Generation, Danzig, and more, and most recently Fireburn, has reportedly passed away. Todd’s Fireburn bandmate Ras Israel Joseph I (also formerly of Bad Brains) posted on Facebook:
On the passing of my friend, and my Brother Todd Youth There are no words to express how sad I am at the passing of my brother Todd Youth. The music he made will forever be remembered, and I’m so thankful that I was able to work with him and that we created Fireburn together. Todd and I were living separate lives doing hardcore and reggae music. We met each other in 1992 and then never spoke again until 2017. We created Fireburn within two weeks of knowing each other and finished writing two of my favorite hardcore records that I ever worked on: “Don’t stop the youth”, and “Shine”. Closed casket records signed the band and we were on our way. We had great shows and lots of people showed up to them. We toured with gbh from England, hung out with the guys from Negative Approach, and got our blessings about our music and our records from the Bad Brains. I know that Todd is now resting in peace and I know that Krishna is taking his soul to a better place. He was a devout Hari Krishna and The Devout human being. Todd wherever you are I hope that we will make music again one day. Life is a circle and I know I’ll meet you again in that circle brother. We will meet again. Rest In Peace, Rest In Power, rest my brother. I am saddened that we cannot make music again together, but I am happy that you are finally going home to be with Krishna that Haile Selassie has finally giving you peace and comfort my brother. one day, I too will lay down and die. This body that I ware is temporary. I will probably be alone. They’re probably be no one around me. However I know that I will join you and all of our other friends in that good place and we’ll all see each other again. I’m sorry you died Todd. I’m sorry I can’t see you again. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you. You are my friend and my brother and I love you. Rest in peace my brother. May your visit to our Heavenly Home be full of peace, and comfort, and closeness to Krishna. Haribo. Haile Selassie I. FIREBURN.
Todd Youth live on stage
NYHC show promoters BlacknBlue Productions also posted, “I can’t ….. A very sad day for NYHC FAMILY . 😞😞😞🙏🏼🙏🏼 Todd Youth . We love you . Condolences to all friends & family . Tell the people you love that you love them any chance you get.”
Todd was always such a positive character and passionate about his music. The scene has lost a great character. On behalf of The British Skinhead and Punk scene I send my most sincere thoughts and love to all his family and friends across the pond
Symond ( subcultz ) England
Hatebreed also posted a tribute:
Rest in peace, Todd. You’ll be missed and your crucial contributions to NYHC and beyond will live on.
Watch the full set video of Todd playing with Warzone for the Raybeez tribute in 2017, stream the latest Fireburn single, and listen to one of the Murphy’s Law classics he recorded with them:
Doug And The Slugz from Los Angeles. Original 1983 American Oi band confirmed for Great Skinhead Reunion 2019.
Doug And The Slugz American Oi! band 1983. Live at The Great Skinhead Reunion 2019
Many of us British skinheads had no idea we were making waves across the globe, to many of us we lived our lives on our council estate ‘The Manor’ If a gig happened in a neighbouring town or City we might venture off. A bank holiday down to Brighton, or a London gig was as far as our world existed, We were blacklisted and ostracized in the media, hated by many, Understood by Few. But across the globe our subculture of skinheads was hatching, breaking out and building. As times changed and fashions moved on. Our Skinhead culture developed and spread. The USA and UK have always inter related with music and fashion. The skinhead culture no exception. We warmly welcome Doug And The Slugz to The Great Skinhead Reunion, Brighton England. June 2019
Doug & The Slugz formed in February 1983 in the North East Los Angeles suburb of South Pasadena, California. The bands original members consisted of Scott Graham on guitar, Doug Kane on vocals, Marc “Sard” Overton on bass, and Kevin Flanagan on drums. During the early months of 1983 the band would have its first rehearsals in original drummer Kevin Flanagan’s garage.
The Slugz were inspired by Oi! bands like the 4 Skins, The Last Resort and The Business but records from these UK bands were a bit difficult to locate in Southern California in the early 1980’s. Most record stores that carried underground music kept their shelves stocked with the more popular Los Angeles Hardcore bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, TSOL and assorted English punk imports. Oi! music was not very well known at this time in the United States but Kane, Graham and Overton had become bored with the local LA punk sound that was becoming increasingly stagnant and went reaching out for something different. With Oi! music they were attracted to the aggressive skinhead attitude and the solidarity between skinheads. It was the ultimate “us against them” working class music that drove these 3 Los Angeles teenagers to start one of the very first skinhead Oi! bands on the US West Coast. On the East Coast, Iron Cross from DC had established itself as an early Oi! influenced band, Agnostic Front out of NYC, The Effigies in Chicago, and way out on the West Coast was Doug and the Slugz.
Kids from the neighborhood would pile into Flanagan’s garage so they could hear the songs and get drunk. Many of these neighborhood kids quickly got hooked on the sounds of Oi! music. They shaved their heads and embraced the skinhead fashion of Doctor Marten Boots, Braces, and Combat Jackets. Just like Los Angeles, these kids were a mix of white, black, latino and asian that found common ground in the music. Crown City Firm was an early name given to this group of kids that mostly resided in the Pasadena area. “Crown City” being an old nickname for the city of Pasadena and “Firm” was a nod to the more extreme supporters of English football clubs. One particular inspiration was a black & white magazine photo that hung on the wall in Scott Graham’s room of a Fulham Firm skinhead.
Due to the increasing number of kids turning up from the surrounding North East Los Angeles neighborhoods, the name was changed to better reflect this group of kids, and as a broader territory designation. This loyal following became known as the North Side Firm and would follow the band wherever they were given the go ahead to play.
In April 1983 local San Gabriel punk band Decry, invited Doug & The Slugz to play their first real club show at the infamous punk dive, Roxanne’s Bar, located in Arcadia, Ca. The bar owner Joe would allow the under age punks to come in and watch the bands play while at the back of the bar sat middle aged Vietnam war veterans and drunk bikers. The mixed company found no liking to one another and at times that would result in fist fights in the alley behind the bar.
By Summer of 1983, original bass player Sard Overton was replaced by local skinhead Craig Pousen. Pousen would frequent shows at Roxannes Bar and help the band out with transportation when needed. The Slugz carried on through the Summer and Fall of 1983 delivering their brand of the Oi! skinhead sound to backyard San Gabriel Valley punk rock parties and occasionally crossed into Hollywood.
This new line up molded quickly and the band started recording demo tapes with local producer Devin Thomas at South West Sound Studio in Sierra Madre, Ca. The first printed cassettes were being sold and given away at shows. Some of those songs, like “Skinhead Faction”, was getting radio play on Sunday nights by legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer (Rodney On The Roq) on the world famous 106.7 KROQ radio station.
Doug & The Slugz had officially arrived on the LA punk rock scene supporting bands such as Ill Repute, Decry, Stalag 13, Flower Leopards, The Grim, and Mad Parade. As the band became a bit bigger, so did The Firm and certain promoters started shying away from letting the Slugz play their venues. Club owners became well aware that when the band arrived, not far behind it was the gang and the violence they brought with them. The frequent violence surrounding the band would eventually draw the attention of both local law enforcement and the LAPD. The North Side Firm found themselves listed as one of the very few multi racial gangs on the Los Angeles County Sheriff gang task force list.
The band knew they needed to get with a record label as soon as possible to get their music out to more skinheads. The skinhead scene in 1983 on the West Coast of the United States still had small numbers. Kane and Graham knew that if they were going to have any luck with releasing a record they would have to talk with someone in the UK who better understood what they were doing. Kane had been in touch with Mark Brennan, the bassist from the London Oi! band The Business. Kane sent the demo tape to their label Secret Records and to No Future Records hoping he would have some luck. There was never any reply from Secret or No Future Records so Kane turned to the infamous skinhead clothing store The Last Resort in east London hoping for better results. The Last Resort band had released their “Skinhead Anthems” album with the store. Kane had ordered it directly from the shop months prior, so he knew the store was releasing records. After a few weeks and no return letter, they gave the store a call. Lo and behold, they got owner Micky French on the phone. French got a kick out hearing the voices on the other end, all the way from sunny southern California. He told Kane that he did receive the demo tape and thought the music was great! He said that he was even playing their music in the shop for the skinhead patrons! He mentioned that he might put out another compilation at some point on his record label and asked that the band stay in touch.
In 1984 Doug & The Slugz went back in the studio to record one last batch of songs, and this time they would recruit 13 year old Aaron Sperske to beat on the drums. Sperske replaced Flanagan, and the band carried on playing numerous shows throughout Los Angeles. Over time, The Firm would become fully integrated with and within the band. The band and the gang became one. In addition, Graham and Kane found themselves in and out of jail for numerous crimes. Needless to say, gigs became difficult to get. The Firms’ numbers swelled by the Summer of 1984 to over 100 skinheads throughout Los Angeles County. The North Side Firm found itself in constant battles with other well known Los Angeles punk gangs like the Suicidal Tendencies Gang, FFF (Fight For Freedom), LADS (LA Death Squad). LMP (La Mirada Punks), Circle One Family, HRP (Hollywood Rat Patrol), etc.. Not only were there gang wars with these numerous punk gangs but the North Side Firm became entangled with Mexican street gangs as well as Crip and Blood gangs.
By October of 1984, Doug & The Slugz changed their name to The Risk in an attempt to salvage things and find a new start.
They landed numerous gigs and got rave reviews, but things quickly began to unravel in California with the spread of racism within the skinhead scene.
1985 arrived and The Risk and The Firm found themselves at the forefront of fighting off any neo nazi skinheads that attempted to show up to their gigs. Despite all the trouble brewing and the various challenges on the band, The Risk managed to keep playing until September 1985. Their final rehearsal would be at the renowned punk rehearsal spot Hully Gully Studios. Located in Atwater, Ca, Hully Gully Studios frequently hosted bands like X, The Pretenders, and The Blasters. As The Risk turned up the amplifiers for what became the very last time, the mood in the room was dim. The boys knew this would be the last time they would play these songs together. Three long turbulent years had taken its toll on the band. The violence, the incarcerations, the drugs, and the booze had just become too much for any of them to carry on playing music together. As the mid 1980’s came to an end, Graham and Kane would dive further down the dead end road of gangs and crime while Pousen and Sperske slipped into drug fueled abandon. The very first Oi! Skinhead band in Los Angeles would now become history.
Looking back, this was a time when youth tribalism was still taken very serious. There was very little intermingling between the tribes. Most of us were punks before becoming skinheads. As punk rockers, it felt like everyone was against you, but punk rock by the late 70’s/early 80’s had an infrastructure in place. By the early 1980’s, Los Angeles had several punk record stores, dozens of venues, and punk rock parties happening somewhere just about every night. As a skinhead, the options narrowed significantly. Skinhead pre-dates punk rock by nearly a decade but even today remains relatively scarce on the cultural radar. You often felt like outcasts among outcasts. The upside was that very strong bonds developed. You became hyper protective of your friends and where you hung out. Train track embankments, bridge underpasses, and garages converted into rehearsal/party spaces became sacred ground.
By the late 1980’s, a few highly publicized incidents in the US by neo-nazi “skinheads” had attracted media attention and public perception of skinheads has subsequently been a resoundingly negative one. Those that don’t already know its history, aren’t likely to go looking and those that know…know.
My mum, the punk pioneer: Poly Styrene’s daughter remembers the X-Ray Spex leader
Six years since her death, the punk singer remains hugely influential. Her daughter reflects on learning ‘the family business’, how fame nearly broke her mother – and why she’s making a film of her life
Celeste Bell
Poly Styrene Punk girl icon
Poly Styrene in her early days. Photograph: Anorak London
Even when I was really young, I knew what my mum did for a living. She was always working on something: writing music, recording, doing interviews. As I got older, she’d tell me about the punk movement, about the musicians she knew and what it was all about.
We lived with my grandmother on and off through that period, and she saw punk very differently. For my grandmother being a punk meant things like wearing odd-coloured socks, which she didn’t approve of. Even Mum didn’t like a lot about punk, too. There was loads she found exciting, of course, but she’d tell me plenty of the negative stuff: the aggressiveness of the crowds, the spitting on stage, how very few women were present at many of these gigs – and how that made her terribly anxious about performing. I realised later she was trying to warn me off becoming any kind of performer, in case I got any ideas.
Poly Styrene with her X-Ray Spex bandmates in 1978. Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images
My mum was really a girl when she started playing music: she was 15 when she began performing, younger than most of the other female artists on the scene. Even though she was more talented and had more important things to say than a lot of her contemporaries, she felt she wasn’t taken seriously – not only because she was a young girl, but also because she was working class and didn’t finish school. All of this made it a massive challenge to get any respect from people in the music industry.
When I was a young kid, in the late 80s, she was involved in the Hare Krishna movement. Through that she became friends with people such as Boy George and Chrissie Hynde. I assumed all this spiritual stuff and having well-known people coming and going was the norm. At some points, we were pretty much living in a temple, and everything revolved around Hare Krishna, including her music. I used to tell her: “Nobody’s interested in hearing songs about Krishna, Mum.” But she didn’t care.
Then, when I was 10 or 11, she reconnected with X-Ray Spex and started work on what would become the Conscious Consumer album. Soon after, she had her first website and she started being more in touch with fans. I began to realise just how many fans she had, and how worldwide her support was.
When I turned 15 she gave me a copy of Germfree Adolescents, and I started to understand what a great writer she was. I’d grown up listening to hip-hop and music like that of Rage Against the Machine – which, in the way of all parents, she didn’t approve of, as she told me it would encourage bad behaviour!
X-Ray Spex did a comeback gig at the Roundhouse in London in 2008, playing Germfree Adolescents in full, and my band opened the show. I’d already seen them play Brixton Academy but being up on stage brought home the size of the audience. I was also able to meet a lot of people in the audience at that gig – people would come up to me, say how much they loved X-Ray Spex and what my mum meant to them, which brought home how deep an impact she’d had.
Poly Styrene in 1991. Photograph: Ian Dickson/Redferns
When Mum passed away in 2011, lots of people came to the funeral who I wasn’t necessarily aware she’d known. There was so much genuine love, and genuine sadness – I was moved to see that depth of feeling for her.
My mum was quite a businesswoman in how she approached her music and legacy, and she always got me involved in “the family business”, such as writing for her website. And she even suggested I take over as leader of X-Ray Spex. She still hated performing, it brought back all those old anxieties, and I guess I could have done it – I do sound a lot like her, and in a certain way it could’ve been fun. But it would have been way, way too weird for me.
She was contradictory, though, and she remained apprehensive about me being a performer, because she said music remained a toxic environment for women. I wonder if my mum might have had a happier life if she hadn’t had that level of fame. She was always wondering what might have happened if she hadn’t dropped out of school, and although the music brought her excitement and opportunities that most people never have, it also robbed her of her mind in a sense. I think the experiences she had probably triggered latent mental health problems.
Poly Styrene performing
When I saw the documentary about Amy Winehouse, with her getting trapped by her success so young, I did notice a lot of parallels: fame, even on a small scale, really does break some people. But Mum didn’t let it get her completely – that’s why she never did what was expected of her musically. She might not have been able to recapture the unique thing she created with Germfree Adolescents, but she never let anyone tell her what to be. She was true to herself, always.
For these reasons, I wanted to make a film about her – I’m currently raising money to create Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche. Whenever I talk about her, I think what I really want people to realise is just what a great writer my mum was. Not just a symbol of something, or another part of the punk story, but an amazing talent. With Germfree Adolescents she built this whole world that touched on sci-fi, dystopias, social criticism, the role of women, all these things. I honestly think it’s one of the greatest records of the late 20th century. She was 15 or 16 when she started composing those songs, she hadn’t done her O-levels, she’d got into all sorts of trouble – but she could write this incredibly prophetic stuff and understand the world in a way I don’t think most of her contemporaries could. I am truly proud of her work, and my long-term goal is to get more people to understand this.
Vicious Rumours make a comeback..Brighton Skinhead Reunion 2017.
Question 1. Why would you like to play the great skinhead reunion, in brighton ..Symond, 2 1/2 years ago, you reached out to me and asked if we would consider playing the Reunion.. Well you and I had many exchanges, surprisingly most of them about our kids, principles and general outlook on life.. We discovered that we were very much cut from the same cloth… I was so excited to be playing and it was going to be our first show back together in England since the Main Event.. Then unfortunately we were unable due to JC and his wife expecting a baby right at that time. Symond, whilst disappointed never once showed or held it against us or me personally and we have continued to build our friendship these past couple of years.. Okay (I tend to ramble so this will be a long interview, so if edited I will take no offence) now why we/I want to play Reunion 2017.. This Event is to get together people from all over the world who love this scene and for some has been part of their lives since their early teenage years as it was for me.. I love music and ever since I can remember that has always been my first love.. Along came punk and then punk/Oi!/ska.. Well that was it. As you can see from the picture my vast taste in music.. See I told you I ramble.. What was the question? Oh yes. This is an event to see old friends, make new and a way to show our and my appreciation to you all and thank you for letting us/me be part of something that will live forever.. And this event is about just that.. Being in a band was and still is a dream for me but none of this means anything without you lot, so when Symond said yes a 2nd time to my/our request to Play 2017 my face and heart lit up and we promise to give you a show to remember.. Don’t forget we are one big family xx
2. When did you start the band, and why. in 1979 around April /may I had the idea of a starting a band. A friend of mine Dave field played guitar and another Al Kilpin was up for trying put drums.. Why, well it seemed like fun, I loved to sing and a few other kids at school had put together bands.. So why not me!!
3. Who were the original members, and how did you meet? Okay, I met Dave Field at Church, we were I the Boys Brigade together and actually ended up going to the same school.. Al Kilpin on drums, we also met at the church in one of those kids club things, but Alan was also hanging out at the local youth clubs and knew everybody. Also Alan’s good friend and co-worker was Micky F lead singer of an up and coming band called the Business. Also we had a stand in bass player, Phil Lecomber.. So that was the original up.
4. Who were the writers? I did most of the writing once we starting playing more gigs and then the band would put it all together as at first we only had about 4 songs, including Vicious Rumours, which was actually written by a girlfriend of ours, Lesley and Dave and I wrote music.. The rest of the songs I the first few months were mainly sex pistols covers, even some early Adam and the ants, oh and Chip on your Shoulder was one we played at every gig till Bout 81..
5. What was your first gig? Our first gig was at welling baptist church with a local band Called The Reprobates, whose guitarist Ian eventually ended up being our guitarist a couple of years later. We co-workers and recorded This is your Life together..
6. What would you say was the most memorable, for good or bad reasons? Wow, most memorable.. Okay sorry Symond I will have to name 3..only because of different reasons and all good.. 1.our first high at Skunx, May 1982. JC, AL, Worve and myself. Supporting The Business and One Way System.. It was our first Big gig in London as all the others were in local pubs, church halls and youth clubs.. It was very special and the crowd really accepted us.. 2.Red Lion, Gravesend 2015..simply because it was our first gig back in the U.K in 25/26 years and the friends that showed up on a Wednesday night, in the middle of nowhere was just overwhelming.. To see so many smiles, hugs and just felt the love.. Absolutely priceless.. Plus it was my introduction to the lads in The East End Badoes.. Just a great band and brilliant blokes.. We have become friends for life.. Now there were gigs in the early days, France, Old Bexley, The Lovel, Danson youth club, Isle of wight scooter run, Coventry but for my 3rd is… 3.PSK 2015 Stockholm, Sweden and this is why.. Pike Kollberg and Niklas Törnblom put on an outstanding show.. Amazing bands and put their heart and soul into it as I know that you can relate to Symond.. They were enthusiastic, Genuine and made us feel right at home.. Now the crowd, playing to people that had never seen us before, we’ll most of them, all I could feel was an amazing energy, total support and people having a great time and enjoying us.. What a beautiful feeling, this was also my 50th birthday trip so to spend it doing what I love, with people that I love and making new friends. Honestly, what could be better..
7. Why did the band fold up? The band stopped playing after the main event, for me and I know for JC we were disappointed with our performance that night.. I insisted on a wireless guitar cable which didn’t work, and a few other hick ups, , well we didn’t talk about splitting we just took a break then in 1990 I left for the States.
8. What happened to the members after you moved on in life? Well now, JC Lives in France, and He still loves playing his bass.. Danny lives in Malta, Ian(worve) sadly passed away a couple around a year ago as for some of the other members along the way I’m not sure but all of them had a part to play in the band..
9. What do you feel about the modern scene, as opposed to the 80’s? As JC would say to me and still does that I am clueless.. I just love people.. Love meeting them and being a part of an amazing culture.. Though I have seen fights break out at gigs, I myself have never once had a problem.. I am extremely happy that there is still such a strong scene as it gives us a chance to do what we love, and a chance to make memories with the best people and Symond, would you not agree making great memories and having fun is what it is all about!! I know you do mate..
10. What advice would you give to young bands starting out? Well young bands starting out, have fun and enjoy it, be humble and appreciate anyone who shows an interest in your band, get to know some of the bands that you enjoy and could see yourself playing with, it is so easy now to get in touch with them because of the Internet etc.. and start off by just introducing yourself, let them know you have a band.. Start there.. Practice practice practice then gig gig gig.. I still reach out to bands that I have always looked up too, even at 51..The Cockney Rejects, still absolutely first class till this day. I got a message from Jeff Turner and I was like a big kid, it meant so much to me.. Micky Fitz from the day I met him at the age of 14 has always treated me with nothing but kindness and respect. He is my mentor and I have always looked up to him and appreciated the way he treated me. Although Jamie Flanagan, lead singer with Tear Up have never met we have built up a great relationship this past year and a half.. I am saying this because he has done everything that I just said to do and not because I suggested it, because of who he is.. Love ya Bruv xx Okay last thing that I want to say is…. I love this Band, 37 years and I can honestly say the line up that we have now sounds brilliant, tight and full of energy. Mad Max Spartan back on rodie duty, keeping everything on track..Tom Sultans our youngster drummer is brilliant, Dave Hayman on guitar who just bets it out like I only wish that I could, Dave Reeves on guitar who is a fantastic solid seasoned player, John Coupé on bass and as tight and poised as ever, Nippa Troth, my little brother right there with us and Myself on vocals ready to give my all heart n soul and a night you will always remember.. Love and respect Symond and of course everyone else cannot wait to see you in Brighton.. Always, Johnny Mundy xxx
When I first received an email from the BBC asking would I like to be involved in a documentary that BBC4 were putting together with Don Letts, my first thought was one of caution, I have done a few documentaries over the years, starting with George Marshall in 1994, Then Skinhead attitude of 2002. The first documentary I remember being made was the 40 minutes, focussing on the band Combat 84 and chubby Chris, which was a complete stitch up, and ruined the bands career, making them being excluded from the forthcoming Oi! Albums and finding their records banned.
The media will always have an agenda, usually one based on other media perceptions on Skinhead racialist politics. So I thought to myself, do I really want to go and tell this terminally boring story once again, but then I thought, well if I don’t, someone else will. Its been a curse for nearly 40 years, since the far right National Front in the UK actively set up a recruitment campaign, targeting disenfranchised white working class kids, provoking and promoting violence and faction. The Skinhead image perfect for the Sun Newspaper to run front page images of the modern devil in our midst. Like any young kid, wanting to be part of something, many jumped onto that image and the wheels have turned ever since, one feeding the other.
I decided to go meet up with Don and get his story, find out his motivation in his desire to make a documentary. Was it going to be the usual media left wing leaning clap trap. But very soon Don and I started having a laugh, we shared many life experiences and times. Although he is slightly older than me, we were both involved in riots in 1981, both loved punk rock. I had booked Don in 2007 to DJ our Xray Spex show at the Roundhouse, as he was the legendary Roxy club Dj and a friend of Poly Styrene.
Before we started talking Skinhead, Don produced some old tattered photos of himself in the late 60’s as a skinhead, stapress, loafers and button down shirt. Then told me his own story of growing up on a south London council estate, and the early pre punk skinhead days. And that his motivation was to put the record straight, and celebrate the strongest youth subculture to have ever been born in England. Its rich tapestry, that has weaved the threads of Skinhead from the mid 60’s to the mid 2010’s.
I agreed to take part, and roped my old mate from the Wycombe Skinheads, Barry ‘Bmore’ George along. I did put several names forward to the researchers, as people I told them held respect through action in the skinhead world. People like Gary Hodges, Milky, Roy Ellis. They told me they had been speaking to Roi Pearce and Suggs, so I thought it would be great to have some of these king pins of the scene involved, but sadly most people in our scene distrust the media more than rabid dogs, which after all these years, and stitch ups, is understandable. I even find it a struggle with some bands that are very happy to play large ‘Punk’ festivals to a skinhead audience, but don’t want to appear on a flyer for a ‘Skinhead Reunion’ So its a problem on all levels. Until everyone involved claims the Skinhead subculture, and puts their truth forward, the subculture will forever be that of the medias perception. As a kid of 13 I made a vow to become a skinhead, and through lifes journey, its a belief and core I have never felt any embarrassment over. Guilt through association.. well I know who I am, and who my skinhead friends are. So what the media and the middle class think of me, I wont be losing sleep over.
I found the documentary to be surprisingly good. It started with the roots of skinhead. The Reggae and Jamaican influences of its inception in the 60’s. The football hooligan gang fighting of the 70-80’s. The influence created by Joe Pearce and the Young national Fronts campaign. The musical icons like Jimmy Pursey. The 2tone explosion of 1979. Some old footage of Ian Stuart. Live interviews with Kevin Rowland and Pauline Black, to give quite a good balance, and explain the why’s and wherefores of the British Skinhead subculture.
Sure if I had been given the job of researcher and assistant director, I would have added more elements in. The music and what it meant to us, on a street level, the offshoots like the scooter and northern soul scene. Perhaps tried to get people involved in the far right skinhead scene to explain from their angle, why they felt the way they did, and how they feel its part of the skinhead culture they have lived. Don had voices of the far left, with Roddy Mareno. Might have even been nice to find a journalist that would admit to paying young kids for a seig heil for the newspapers.
But what the documentary really did for me, was to show I am not the only person with such a strong passion for our beloved Skinhead subculture. I saw many faces on the screen I consider friends, brothers and sisters. So many of them singing from the same hymn sheet. And that is, there is only one skinhead subculture and its called SKINHEAD
With The Great Skinhead Reunion looming we dropped into Jamie from Tear Up to see how things were cooking, so here’s a 5 minute interview
Whilst looking for new bands to introduce to the skinhead world, i came across Tear Up last year, and after a brief chat with the singer Jamie, sussed out, he had the right attitude and decided to give them a whirl at the Great Skinhead Northern gathering, an event which i thought might intimidate a young band, being in the deep dark north East town of Sunderland, home of British ship building and strong working class community, but they rode it like professionals and brought the house down. Apprenticeship served, they are up for smashing the fuck out of the Brighton Skinhead Reunion.
Takes me right back to early Cockney Rejects with a touch of Peter and The Test Tube Babies
1. the first thing that jumped in my mind when i saw Tear Up was, why would a young bloke be into oi? Well I grown up always loving the cockney rejects and I have known Jon from argy bargy and Nick from angry agenda since I was really little so they got me hooked on the oi scene I love the passion and aggression behind it
2. why did you decide to form a band I wrote a few songs in prison and when I came out I tried giving them to Terry Hayes from the east end badoes but he said I should start my own band so got on stage with them a few times then started my own band
3. where are you from, whats your history and connection to the oi/ skinhead scene Im from watford I was a bit of a scallywag growing up but I got a my little boy Ronnie now the only thing I love more than the band as I said previously there is a few bands out of Watford u go to a gig talk to people and your network just gets bigger and bigger
4. who writes for tear up I write all the stuff for us I co wrote a song with Steve thurlow from Peckham Rolex and I am currently writing a song with John mundy from vicious rumours top bloke he is
5. what was your first song My first song was bollocks to the smoking ban
6. what was your first gig, and the highlight so far My first gig was angry agenda nicks birthday at some club in Watford I was so nervous I pace up and down and drive everyone mad lol we played 4 songs I think
7. whats the plan for 2016 -2017 Just gotta finish recording the album and get it out there hopefully get a few gigs over the water
have you released any material for people to buy We have a 5 track ep called fuckin av it I’m sure we will have a couple kicking about in Brighton
9. why did you ask to play the skinhead reunion, a tough crowd to please We played the northern gathering and people loved us not as tough as they look lol I had lost my voice as well I’m pretty sure you asked us when we had all them jager bombs 10. can we expect new material from tear up soon We have 3 New songs called dodgy Dave, punch the cunt out of you inspired by the YouTube video cockney rejects trouble at bridgehouse and another song called retribution .
‘they are heavy at the same time it is very melodic and well played shit so i think anyone who is not too one-way-minded would appreciate their songs’ … Adelina, Sweden
Updates for 2016, Mindofalion have been busy in the studio, releasing an EP to critical acclaim, they immediately secured a play listing for BBC introducing, and have been inundated with live shows. Smashing the Brighton scene wide open they are very pleased to announce a series of Major UK Festivals
When’s it going to stop? So to remind ourselves… Sell out EP (THANKS EVERYONE!), BBC Sussexand BBC Introducing play Machina on national radio, Origin EP gets released on all major platforms – a first for Mindofalion, then we reveal we are performing Y Not Festival… Now we are pleased to announce we will be playing Truck Festival!!
2016 sees another band members shuffle, and in comes Sam on Bass guitar, to really lift the live shows, to another level of excitement, Think along the lines of Tim Commerford and you know what to expect from Sams stage performance
MindofaLion
2014 tour
Autumn 2014.
M.O.A.L Hit the road for a UK tour. From Manchester in the North to the Deep south
Into 2015 Together with the regular UK shows, M.O.A.L are proud to announce, they have been invited to perform in Stockholm, Sweden. Making this the first international performance.
‘Maximum Volume music‘……… Brighton based three piece MindOfALion are a new name on the landscape. What you need to know for now is they do a nice line in alternative rock. Tracks like “Monopoly” have a big sound and they are evidently a little different to the usual. Single “Zia Ground” is an interesting song and the band, built around the Brewis-Lawes brothers, Archie and Jack, are clearly driven. Archie’s guitar playing is impressive and when they really let go they are at their best.
Into 2014 Great news Mind of a lion have teamed up with Gullwing USA, with a second video being shot with Mind of a Lion track ‘Conflict’ being overdubbed, lets hope to see this great British band entertaining out cousins in the sunshine
Self motivated musicians expressing their state of mind through a raw, organic and poetic sound. Energy and influence through drums, bass, guitar and vocals.
At a very young age the brothers traveled around India, witnessing the poverty that we don’t experience in our world. People begging in front of their god’s temples, different mind sets, ancient beliefs & the segregation and conflict caused by religion. They use music to express their own thoughts and state of mind, influenced from these early experiences and blend the two to form Mindofalion, write songs to reflect their own life experience. Experimenting and developing, think of the verve, white stripes. but with a new 2014 energy
Check out the new music coming through, with a new direction, in the battle to achieve that stand alone sound
Mind of a lion have been busy writing new material, gigging and would like to announce a new member on bass. Henna
2012
Based in Brighton , England
This hard hitting band are very difficult to pigeon hole, although its clear to see a certain Rage Against the Machine influence. in their early tracks, the stuff coming through in 2014 is in a new direction, showing strong versatility, as the trio find their own individual sound . Mind of a Lion has a definite London working class feel, with an edge of Grime mixed in, but with elements of the verve and white stripes. The first thing that shocks, is the age of the lads when they turn out such a high level performance of well written songs, fully charged live performance. Most young bands tend to follow whatever is popular at the time, but Mind of a Lion seem to be more interested in the message in their music, than being the ‘rock star’.
“Music should have a message” Archie BL
As young lads, brothers Archie and Jack had a children’s tree camp in nearby woods, one day the whole area was cordoned off by police and terrorist material was discovered, which lead to the banning of all bottles on Aeroplanes. Perhaps subconsciously this had a great influence on Archie’s song writing. The First Demo album is entitled ‘Peace through aggression’ which is a direct reference to the life of young people in the 21st century. Living a backdrop of the war on terrorism, with Governments theory of war will create peace.
Co Writers- Archie Brewis-Lawes
& Jack Brewis-Lawes
Storming the stage as the opening band to 2012 Rebellion Festival
Definitely destined for the big time, Mind of a lion are the future of the British underground.
live in Brixton, London
Check out their songs: Monopoly, Obstacle, Zia Origin.
Into 2014 Great news Mind of a lion have teamed up with Gullwing USA, with a second video being shot with Mind of a Lion track ‘Conflict’ being overdubbed, lets hope to see this great British band entertaining out cousins in the sunshine
Mind of a Lion are two brothers, Jack and Archie, with female band member Henna. Touring the UK in 2014, fighting the never ending battle for recognition. They started life as musicians at 12 years old, writing a full album of material. this is a video, made by them at that age
written in 2007, by the boys, then aged 12 years old ‘Reliegion’
SULTAN ALI (Sonofprincebuster) aka #TheSultanofSKA Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Sultan has honed his craft performing in Los Angeles since the late eighties. His father is the legendary ska originator Prince Buster, who changed the face of Jamaican music forever and inspired generations of ska revivalists as well as producing greats like Toots and the Maytals and paving the way for international reggae. Sultan recently appeared onstage with Prince Buster at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. With this two-song teaser you’ll hear the music that’s been welling up inside of Sultan since childhood burst forth with a full-tilt pedal-to-the-metal intensity, all pistons firing. In his voice you will hear passion, urgency, commitment, heart and hope: the voice of a new generation drawing from the roots to create a new sound. Few Jamaicans or Americans would dare to cover Marvin Gaye, whose “Pride and Joy” Sultan delivers in an upbeat, driving style. “Beautiful Angel” is an original whose melodic and infectious chorus will stay with you long enough to make you want to hear it again and again. The music melds ska, rock steady reggae with contemporary dancehall and rhythm and blues. These cuts preview a forthcoming full-length release which should now be eagerly awaited by a growing number of fans.– Chuck Foster, host of KPFK-LA’s “Reggae Central” andauthor of Roots Rock Reggae (Billboard Books). In the influence of his father, Sultan performs many of the legendary songs written by his father, a rare chance to hear such great tunes performed live. For all enquiries and European bookings , please contact subcultz@gmail.com
Fans at The Gaylads’ Echoplex showPHOTO BY JENNIE WARREN
Around 9 on a recent Friday night, the Echoplex is filling up quickly with skinheads. Men sport closely cropped hair — sometimes with a parting cut — while the women wear either shaved patches up top or mod hairstyles. Button-down Ben Sherman shirts, rolled-up Levi’s 501s or permanent-press trousers known as Sta-Prest are popular on both sexes. A sizable minority, meanwhile, are in their nattiest: well-tailored, slim-cut suits or mod dresses with boots or loafers. On the smoking patio, old friends reunite over cigarettes and beer, showing off new tattoos, talking about jobs they hate or maybe sharing war stories about old shows, old bands and old fights.
They’re here to see Jamaican reggae legends The Gaylads and Brenda Holloway, the first Los Angeles Motown artist. As Holloway takes the stage, small groups skank in circles, with some couples paired off and dancing close, face to face.
L.A.’s skinhead scene has been around for decades but has gotten particularly popular during this latest revival in the past few years. Unlike the skinheads you’ve seen on TV, the L.A. scene is not only anti-racist, it’s overwhelmingly Latino. Though scenesters are into punk and Oi!, early reggae and obscure soul records dominate their collections. At least once a month, several hundred people turn out for old Jamaican stars or mostly forgotten Motown singers. DJ nights at Fais Do-Do in Mid-City offer superdeep cuts of early reggae and “Northern soul,” a neologism for American soul tracks first popular in Northern English dance clubs in the early ’70s. The Rocksteady Lounge at Silver Lake’s Akbar, a gay pub, offers a more intimate monthly affair with no less drinking and revelry.
Skinheads range from teenagers to middle-aged scene veterans. Their boots get an extra coat of polish for a night out, but otherwise they leave for work in the morning looking the same as they do for the club. Unlike the East L.A. punk scene, skinheads aren’t preoccupied with rebelling against The Man, and the police aren’t always busting them up. Instead, they’re focused on the simple pleasures of beer, music, friends, dancing and fashion. Women are as much a part of it all as men, and there’s always a good chance for romance.
This working-class subculture grew out of the British mods of the late 1960s. Ten years later during a punk-oriented revival, the neo-fascist National Front targeted English skins for recruitment. This cleaved the scene into two groups: racists, known as “boneheads” (or “glue sniffers”), and “traditional skinheads,” also known as “sussed skins.” While the former degenerated into fascist street gangs, the latter remained true to the skinheads’ original ethos of beer, boots and monster beats.
Boneheads look like old-school racist rednecks in wifebeaters and combat fatigues. Traditional skinheads, however, look more cultured, with a preference for Italian scooters (rather than cars) and high-priced polos — a basic Fred Perry costs around $80. A suited and booted traditional skin easily could be mistaken for an extra on Mad Men, if his hair were longer. Strip off the tattoos and sideburns and they’re positively clean cut.
Los Angeles might have the biggest skinhead scene in the country, though cities like San Jose, Portland and Boston have sizable contingents. There’s no distinction here between Latinos and whites, though the latter are a distinct minority. Skinheads live all over L.A. County, but their hot spots are in Mid-City, Echo Park and Silver Lake.
One particularly devoted enthusiast is Mark Morales, a 35-year-old psychology researcher at USC, who promotes soul and reggae events. He’s at the Echoplex tonight but doesn’t have much time to party, as he’s working not only as DJ but also stage manager and liaison for a video crew taping the event. Having grown up in East L.A., he became obsessed with the ska-revival label Two Tone as an adolescent, before falling in love with early Jamaican classics.
A stocky, easygoing guy who’s quick with a smile, Morales hasn’t donned skinhead gear in years, but he’s an influential scenester, bringing top Jamaican acts of yesteryear and obscure soul players to spots like this one and downtown’s Alexandria Hotel. Being a skinhead “is not just a look, like rockabilly or mod or whatever,” he says. “There’s a working-class mentality to it that other scenes don’t have.”
Indeed, you’ll find folks with occupations like line cook, warehouse clerk and assembly-line worker in the crowd. Step into a skinhead’s home and you’re likely to see memorabilia from years past, such as vintage housewares, posters from original 1960s releases and records too scratched to play. Further, skins tend to marry and reproduce within the cult: Melrose shop Posers Hollywood even sells Fred Perry and Ben Sherman baby clothes.
And though this retro-obsessed crowd voraciously consumes tunes that originated in Jamaican shantytowns and American tenements, it’s not protest music per se.
Instead, it’s a document of downtrodden people keeping their collective heads up through hard times. Lyrical themes include colonial oppression (“Israelites” by Desmond Dekker), romance (“The Tide Is High” by the Paragons), sex (the list of dirty reggae tracks runs a mile long) or nothing at all (nonsensical songs like “Skinhead Moonstomp” by Symarip).
This complicated musical evolution began with American R&B singers like Fats Domino and Huey “Piano” Smith, who inspired early Jamaican ska, which evolved into rocksteady, then reggae. The first British skinheads embraced these sounds during tough economic times in late-’60s Britain; more than 40 years on, traditional skinhead tastes haven’t changed much.
But don’t listen for “Redemption Song” at these parties. Though Marley is beloved, skins prefer him with the classic Wailers lineup that includes Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. In fact, skinhead parties feature beats and bass that bear more resemblance to a good hip-hop break than what most people think of as reggae.
Unlike many other musical subcultures (punk, for example), skinheads don’t usually “grow out of it.” Some have been around since the early 1980s and are pushing 60. Their preferred look — sharp, smart and clean — certainly helps them to age gracefully, but Morales believes something else keeps people in the fold. “It’s that attitude: the idea that I work for all my shit. Nothing has been given to you, so you’re proud of the stuff you have.” It’s not just about wearing the right clothes or having the right records in your collection; it’s about representing your working-class way of life.
Morales gets a bit of downtime when Holloway takes the stage, though he’s still on the job, so there’s no time to grab a drink at the bar. His eyes darting about the room, he looks over the scene that has shaped him since he was an adolescent. He’s living proof that what makes a skinhead is not what you wear — or even how your hair’s shorn — but what you’ve got in your heart.
Check out the skinhead scene June 9, when reggae legends The Pioneers perform at Los Globos.1
Eagles of Death Metal Were Playing Paris Club When Gunmen Attacked
by JON SCHUPPE and SHANSHAN DONGParis Terror Attacks: As Many as 60 Dead as Violence Erupts Around City 2:28
The California rock band Eagles of Death Metal was on stage at a packed Paris nightclub Friday when gunmen stormed in, cut down dozens of fans with automatic weapon fire and held hundreds hostage for hours.
Family members said the band, including singer and guitarist Jesse Hughes, were able to escape the attack at Le Bataclan, one of several that unfolded simultaneously across Paris. But some members of the crew were unaccounted for.
More than 100 people were counted dead at the central Paris club, which holds about 1,500 people and was sold out. Many others were reported wounded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXDfgXheU8Watch French Police Evacuate People From Concert Hall 2:42
The wife of drummer Julian Dorio told NBC News that he’d told her everyone on stage managed to get out and that he and other band members made it to a police station. Emily Hall Dorio said she believed that the whereabouts of some members of the band’s crew were unknown.
“I’m grateful and heartbroken at the same time,” Emily Hall Dorio said. “I’m grateful he’s alive.”
Hughes’ brother reported on Facebook that he was safe.
And Hughes’ mother said later that the rest of the band was also okay.
One of the band’s front men, Joshua Homme, was not on tour with the band. He declined to comment when NBC News reached him by phone in Palm Desert, California.
Eagles of Death Metal in concert in Britain on Oct. 31. Danny Payne / Rex via AP
Homme, also a founding member of Queens of the Stone Age, formed the band in 1998 with childhood friend Hughes. They have used a string of temporary members in the past, including Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and actor Jack Black.
The touring band’s bassist posted a photo of the show just before the band was to go on.
Eagles of Death Metal — not actually a death metal band; the name is an inside joke — last month released their fourth album, Zipper Down, and were in the middle of a European tour.
The road crew. hours of back ache, sore neck, sweaty armpits, 20 hours, an average day, drive. drive and drive all day, to get to a grubby venue and set up for 3pm soundcheck, a quick shower and a bit of food if you’re lucky, a 30 min kip in some backroom on a 2 seater sofa, a bowl of crisps and a sausage roll, doors at 7 and the excited people arrive,
The pre nerves of the band, our job some story telling, and plenty of laughs. On they go to great applause, while we stand behind the curtain, keeping an eye on the guitarists leads. More in the monitor, take the light from the face. the rooms filling up, thats all that matters.
The set you’ve heard a thousand times, even your favourite is beginning to burn the ear drums. but the band play, as if its their first ever gig. the crowd pissed up and jumping about, 45 mins and off for a break, the crowd cheer for their favourite song, another 15 mins and its time for work to begin again.
Rip off the the set list, stuck to the floor, and chuck to some smiling fans, to make their day,Unplug the leads, the amps and the lights, load them in and roll them out, into the van quick as you can, lets try and get at least one beer for the night. off to a fine art, we pack it all away, then into the back stage to see who’s still there. the fridge is empty, just a couple of apples and a half eaten loaf of bread. no one else there, the parties all gone. 3am, we need to be up at 6, to do it all again
It was tuesday, 21st of july 2015. My bell rings at 3 o’clock in the morning. This time I wanted to go to Hamburg to see the Angelic Upstarts from South Shields in England. Support band at that show were The Headlines from Malmö/Sweden.
I wasn’t in the city of Hamburg for a long time, so I started at about 4 o’clock in the morning to have the posibility of spending much time in Hamburg. But my first destination wasn’t Hamburg, it was the city of Oldenburg in Holstein. Frank, a good friend of mine lives there. First time we met was in Lübeck at an Oi! Punk show where he and his band „Drunken Swallows“ played as support act. Frank invited me to stay the night at the flat of him and his nice girlfriend. Otherwise I had to drive 4 hours to get home after the Angelic Upstarts show. He really takes care of me, hahaha.
At about midday we drive together with Henning, a mate of Frank to the harbour of Hamburg. The sun was shining and it was warm so we decided to go on a ship to do a sight-seeing-tour of the harbour and have a few beers in the sun. After that we to the store of Remedy Records to meet our friends of Skinheads Hamburg. We had a little meal at the greek rstaurant next to Remedy Records and went to the concert at Monkey Music Club. When we arrived The Headlines were already on stage. The location was mostly full of people, so a lot of people saw this great show of the four swedes. Some songs were sung by Jake, the male singer and guitar player and some songs were sung by Kerry, the female singer and bass player. I think that hot Kerry ist he reason why especially some male persons in the audience will like this band. They played their own songs and covered Sham 69’s If The Kids Are United and Rose Tattoo’s Nice Boys Don’t Play Rock’n’Roll.
Now it was time for me to see Angelic Upstarts. They entered the stage very confident. The audience enjoyed the show as much as I. It was a wonderfull evening and I was glad to see some classics like 2.000.000 Voices, Teenage Warning, England or Solidarity live. Sham 69’s If The Kids Are United was covered by Angelic Upstarts too. After the concert we went back home to the city of Oldenburg in Holstein.
I slept very well and long at Frank’s sofa. At 12 o’clock I was on my way back to my north hessian home. The rest of the day I spend in my flat because of the 11th Back On The Streets Festival in a village called Rheinböllen one day later.
It was thursday july 23rd 2015. After loading my car I startet to Rheinböllen. I was very happy because I knew I will see a lot of friends and bands I like at the festival.
At the early afternoon I arrived in Rheinböllen. I occupied my hotel and decided to do a little siesta because I knew that the evening would be very hard, haha. My first Stop at the festival was Diana and the pavilion of Randale Records. We hadn’t seen for a long while so we had to tell us a lot and had to have a few beer. Thank’s Diana for the records you brought to me. It was a wonderfull first evening of that festival with lots of friends from Kassel, Frankfurt, Hamburg, the „Ruhrpott“ and Passau. We told stories from the past, had a laugh and made new friends. My musical highlight of that evening were the guys from Rude Pride (Madrid/Spain). They do traditional Oi! with some influences of ska and reggae. They did a great job!
It was friday morning and I woke up with a big headache. Maybe we had a few beer too much at the evening before. When we went back to the festival our first stopp was again the pavilion of Randale Records. On this day The Business played at the festival and we wanted to have a look if they took some new merchandise to Diana. The first band playing was called Extrem Unangenehm (in english: extreme unpleasant). Butt he show of them wasn’t as bad as their name promised. It was a pity that there were just a small quantity of people in the audience. Then a Band called Foiernacht entered the stage. These four young guys from South Tyrol played a mixture of Oi!, Punk and Psychobilly. They did a very good job and there were more and more people in the audience.
my personal highlight was The Business as you maybe expected. From the beginning their show was powerfull and the sound was great. mostly the whole audience were in front of the stage so many people enjoyed The Business as much as we did. The weather got worse and worse. Now another band from South Tyrol wanted to play their instruments. They had one of the best slots at the festival but the heavy rain caused there were just a few fans watching their show. The completely tattooed singer of the bandwas able to encourage the audience although the weather was as bad as possible. While Unantastbar played their Song „Das Stadion brennt“ (in english: The football stadium burns), a song about football fans burning pyrotechnics, many people in the audience burned pyrotechnics too. Maybe a little bit dangerous but it looked very impressive. The last act of the night was Roy Ellis aka Mr. Symarip. The rain stopped so the audience got bigger again and the people dancd heavily to his reggae beats and ska tunes. As his concert ended, we got back to our hotel.
Saturday, July 25th 2015. It was the last day of eleventh Back On The Streets Festival. Because of the bad weather the local authority forbade to start the music before 5pm. So all the bands had to abridge their set. It was 5 o’clock in the afternoon and the first band of the day called EgOi!sten played their show very experienced and the audience liked it. Either I didn’t see the drummer of the band Paris violence or they used a drum computer, but I think it was the second one. The band Martens Army got strengthening by Ferdy Dörnberg while they were playing. Ferdy, the half Englishman is a real virtuoso at many instruments and this time he played the slide guitar. Then my personal highlight entered the stage: Superyob. Franky Flame and his band really knew how they got the attention of the audience. Many young bands could learn a lot from this Oi! Punk veteran. After KrawallBrüder played their set Franky entered the stage again. It was just him, his Piano and Ferdy Dörnberg for a few songs. I couldn’t imagine a better end of the festival as these two great musicians.
At the next morning I bade farewell of my friends and drove to my north hessian home.
Thilo (written in august 2015)
Eine Woche voller Subkultur
21.07.2015 – 26.07.2015
Es war Dienstag, der 21. Juli 2015, 03:00 Uhr, der Wecker klingelte. Mein Weg sollte mich dieses Mal in den Norden der Republik führen. In Hamburg spielten an diesem Tage die Punkrock-Urgesteine Angelic Upstarts aus South Shields in England. Vorband an diesem Abend waren The Headlines aus Malmö in Schweden.
Ich war schon länger nicht mehr in Hamburg, deswegen fuhr ich schon um 04:00 Uhr in der frühe los, um noch möglichst viel vom Tag zu haben. Das Auto war gepackt und so ging es in Bad Hersfeld auf die A7 und immer Richtung Norden. Das erste Ziel meiner Reise hieß aber nicht Hamburg, sondern Oldenburg in Holstein. Dort wohnt Frank, ein mittlerweile sehr guter Freund von mir. Ich lernte ihn vor Jahren in Lübeck auf einem Oi!-Punk Konzert kennen, an dem auch seine Punkrock-Band Drunken Swallows spielte. Er lud mich ein die Nacht in der Wohnung von ihm und seiner Freundin zu schlafen, damit ich nachts nach dem Upstarts-Konzert die Strecke von Hamburg nicht mehr zurückfahren muss, sondern erst ausgeschlafen am nächsten Tag. Sehr führsorglich von ihm, hehehe.
Gegen Mittag fuhren wir dann zusammen mit Henning, einem guten Freund von Frank in die Hansestadt. Da das Wetter absolut auf unserer Seite war, fuhren wir nach St. Pauli an die Landungsbrücken. Da jeder von uns überraschenderweise eine Hafenrundfahrt machen wollte, taten wir genau dies und gönnten uns währenddessen auf der Elbe ein paar Bier. Inzwischen war es später Nachmittag und wir trafen uns bei Remedy Records mit unseren Freunden von den Skinheads Hamburg, gingen nebenan griechisch essen und fuhren weiter auf das Konzert in den Monkey Music Club. Als wir ankamen, hatten The Headlines bereits die Bühne betraten und begannen zu spielen. Der Club war bereits sehr gut gefüllt, sodass die Schweden nicht vor einer halb leeren Location spielen mussten. Das war auch gut so, denn die vier Punkrocker legten die Messlatte zu beginn an gleich sehr hoch. Ihre Musik war kraftvoll und der Wechsel zwischen Frauen- und Männergesang passte perfekt dazu. Kerry, die Bassspielerin und Sängerin sorgte zusätzlich für Kurzweiligkeit, insbesondere beim männlichen Publikum. Neben ihren eigenen Liedern coverten sie Sham 69’s If The Kids Are United und Rose Tattoo’s Nice Boys Don’t Play Rock’n’Roll. Danach betraten endlich Angelic Upstarts die Bühne und begannen vor einem nahezu überfüllten Club zu spielen. Endlich konnte ich Angelic Upstarts das erste Mal live sehen. Ihr Programm war sehr solide und auch die Song-Auswahl war gut überlegt. Bei den Klassikern wie 2.000.000 Voices, Teenage Warning, England oder auch Solidarity gab es im Publikum kein halten mehr. Auch Angelic Upstarts coverten Sham 69’s If The Kids Are United. Nach dem Konzert fuhren wir wieder zu dritt zurück nach Oldenburg in Holstein.
Nachdem wir am nächsten Morgen ausschliefen und danach gemeinsam frühstückten, war es auch schon wieder Zeit sich zu verabschieden. Gegen Mittag startete ich wieder in meine nordhessische Heimat. Den Rest des Tages verbrachte ich nur zuhause auf dem Sofa, denn am nächsten Tag ging es schon wieder weiter. Das Ziel hieß Rheinböllen. Dort fand das 11. Back On The Streets Festival statt.
Donnerstag, der 23. Juli 2015. Gegen Mittag stieg ich voller Freude ins Auto, denn ich sollte an diesem langen Wochenende viele Freunde und Bekannte wieder treffen und auch die ein oder andere gute Band zu Gesicht bekommen.
Am frühen Nachmittag kam ich in Rheinböllen an. Da ich noch etwas Zeit hatte, nachdem ich im Hotel eingecheckt habe, beschloss ich ein kleines Mittagsschläfchen zu halten. Der Abend sollte ja noch lang genug werden, hehehe. Mein erster Halt am Festivalgelände galt dem Stand von Diana und Randale Records. Lange hatten wir uns nicht mehr gesehen und hatten uns daher viel zu erzählen und hatten auch das ein oder andere Bierchen zusammen zu trinken. Danke an der Stelle noch einmal an Diana für die Platten, die sie mir mitgebracht hatte. Es dauerte auch nicht allzu lange bis meine Freunde und bekannte aus Kassel, Frankfurt, Hamburg, dem Ruhrpott und Passau ankamen. Mein musikalischen Highlight an diesem Festivaltag waren Rude Pride aus Madrid/Spanien. Ihre traditionellen Oi!-Klänge, bei manchen Liedern mit leichtem Ska- und Reggae-Einschlag trafen voll meinen Geschmack. Die Jungs können was!
Es war Freitag Vormittag und ich wachte mit einem ordentlichen Kater im Hotelzimmer auf. Ich ging vom Hotel zum Rastplatz um zu frühstücken und erstmal einen Kaffee zu trinken. Inzwischen war es Nachmittag geworden und ich pilgerte mit ein paar Freunden zurück aufs Festival Gelände. Da an diesem Abend The Business spielten, gingen wir zuerst wieder zum Stand von Randale Records um zu sehen, ob The Business Diana noch neues Merch zum Verkaufen vorbei brachte. Die erste Band des Tages hieß Extrem Unangenehm, wurde aber ihrem Namen überhaupt nicht gerecht. Ganz im Gegenteil, Ihr Konzert war sehr kurzweilig. Schade nur, dass noch nicht allzu viele Leute vor der Bühne standen. Ähnliches Schauspiel bei der Band Foiernacht aus Südtirol. Ihre Mischung aus Oi!, Punk und Psychobilly kam beim anwesenden Publikum sehr gut an. Auch sehr gut waren die 5 Jungs von Restrisiko. Das Publikum wurde inzwischen auch immer größer und das Festivalgelände füllte sich zunehmends.
Mein persönliches Highlight an diesem Tag des Festivals waren – wie vielleicht schon zu erwarten – The Business. Ihre Show war von Anfang an energiegeladen. Und da mittlerweile das Festivalgelände fast voll war, konnten dies auch noch viele andere so sehen. Das Wetter wurde zwar zunehmend schlechter, aber die Jungs konnten noch trockenen Hauptes Ihr Konzert beenden. Danach spielten die Punkrocker von Unantastbar aus Südtirol. Diese hatten mit dem starken Regen allerdings so dermaßen Pech, dass bis auf einige Fans nahezu alle Gäste das Festivalgelände verließen, oder sich bei den Zelten der Merchstände unterstellten. Bei ihrem Lied „Das Stadion brennt“, ein Lied über Pyrotechnik in Fußballstadien, zündeten jede menge Fans passenderweise Bengalos. Ein herrlicher Anblick.
Zu guter letzt an diesem Abend lud Roy Ellis alias Mr. Symarip zum Tanz ein. Da sich das Wetter wieder einigermaßen beruhigt hatte, folgen dieser Einladung viele Festivalbesucher. Als sein Konzert vorüber war gingen wir auch wieder ins Hotel zurück.
Samstag, der 25. Juli 2015. Es war der letzte Tag des diesjährigen Back On The Streets Festival. Aufgrund einer Unwetterwarnung des Deutschen Wetterdienstes konnte das Programm erst um 17 Uhr beginnen und nahezu alle Bands des heutigen Tages durften nur ein verkürztes Set spielen. Da das Festival so spät los ging, hatte auch die erste Band EgOi!sten Glück und konnte vor einem großen Publikum spielen. Selbstsicher spielten sie Ihr Programm und wurden vom Publikum auch gut angenommen. Ein gelungener Auftritt dieser noch jungen Band. Bei der Band Paris Violence vermisste ich den Schlagzeuger. Entweder ich habe ihn tatsächlich übersehen, oder sie verwendeten einen Drum Computer. Die Band Martens Army holte sich für ihren Auftritt auf dem Festival Verstärkung in Form von Ferdy Dörnberg. Der halbe Engländer ist ein echter Allrounder, was Instrumente angeht und unterstützte Martens Army an der Slide Gitarre. Danach sollte mein persönliches Highlight an diesem Abend folgen: Superyob. Franky Flame schafft es auch im hohen Alter noch, das Publikum ganz auf seine Seite zu ziehen. Viele jüngere bands können sich von ihm noch eine gewaltige Scheibe abschneiden. Nachdem dann die KrawallBrüder einen zum Besten gegeben haben, betrat Franky erneut die Bühne. Dieses Mal haute er allerdings Solo am Piano. Auch Franky bat Ferdy Dörnberg für das ein oder andere Stück auf die Bühne. Diese beiden Virtuosen bildeten wirklich einen würdigen Abschluss für dieses Festival.
Am nächsten Morgen trat ich den Weg in meine hessische Heimat an.
Former MOTÖRHEAD Drummer PHIL ‘PHILTHY ANIMAL’ TAYLOR Dies At 61
November 12, 2015
Another Legend goes to the Great Gig in the Sky
Ex-MOTÖRHEAD drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor died on Wednesday, November 11 at the age of 61.
Taylor‘s former MOTÖRHEAD bandmate “Fast” Eddie Clarke posted the following tribute to his colleague: “My dear friend and brother passed away last night. He had been ill for sometime but that does not make it any easier when the time finally comes.
“I have known Phil since he was 21 and he was one hell of a character. Fortunately, we made some fantastic music together and I have many many fond memories of our time together.
“Rest in peace, Phil!”
Taylor played in MOTÖRHEAD from 1975 to 1984 and again from 1987 to 1992.
In a 1983 interview with Artist magazine, Taylor stated about his drumming approach in MOTÖRHEAD: “Well, once [MOTÖRHEAD bassist/vocalist] Lemmy starts playing, he’s sort of out there on his own, in a way. It’s something that came naturally; but when Robbo [Brian Robertson, guitar] joined the band, we started working it out a bit more. When Eddie was with the band, I played more with the guitar than I did with Lemmy, because he’s not really a bass player. Lemmy always plays so fast that it’s always been down to the guitarist and me to keep the rhythm and melody going. Lemmy is just non-stop playing all the time, so for the highs and lows of the numbers, the ups and downs, light and shade — whatever you want to call it — it’s basically down to Robbo and myself. I’d never played much before, so it’s probably a lot more difficult for Robbo than for me. He’d always played in bands that had a proper bass player, so to speak.”
Pictured in his early days as a 1960’s Skinhead
Clarke and Taylor rejoined their former bandmate Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister on stage on November 6, 2014 at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England before Clarke, Lemmy and current MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee ripped through a blazing rendition of the MOTÖRHEAD classic “Ace Of Spades”.
Asked in a 2011 interview with Guitar International if he had any plans to ever reunite with Taylor and Clarke, Lemmy said: “No, because these two guys with me now have been with me longer than the original two. They played ‘Ace Of Spades’ more often than those two. They played ‘Overkill’ more often than those two. Why should I put Phil [Campbell] and Mikkey on hold to go off with guys who probably can’t play them as well? They’ve been out of practice. It’s ridiculous to think of it. Then I would be a nostalgia act. I’m all for the now and the future.”
Regarding whether he still talks with Phil and Fast Eddie, Lemmy told Guitar International: “Now and then. I like Phil, he was my best mate. Eddie was kind of a friend except he was always complaining about something. It got kinda tedious. Last time he left, we laid low. Before, one of us would go off and bring him back. It was a shame he shouldn’t have done that, we had a lot going for us back then. He should have stuck though it. It was the Wendy O. Williams thing and I couldn’t understand that (reference: recording ‘Stand By Your Man’, a cover version of the Tammy Wynette with Wendy O. Williams). He just gave up on it because Wendy wasn’t immediately perfect on it, she just needed to go through it a few times and he left the band over it. I couldn’t fucking believe it. I think he was expecting to be talked back in. Phil came in the room and said, ‘Eddie‘s left again.’ I said, ‘Whose turn is it to go talk to him?’ [Laughing]. I said, ‘Fuck it, I’m not doing it.’ That’s the way it went. Wrong decision on his part.”
Tony Van Frater, the guitarist with Sunderland punk band Red Alert, has died, reportedly of a heart attack. He was 51.
He was a mainstay of the group, who were formed in Sunderland back in 1979 and went on to tour nationally and internationally.
He also played with the Angelic Upstarts and Cockney Rejects, and was one of the most respected figures in the North East punk scene.
Tony – real name Anthony Frater – was a founder member of Red Alert, who made three studio albums and released several singles which reached the UK Indie Charts Top 30.
Red Alert broke up in 1985, reformed four years later and continued touring and occasionally recording.
Meanwhile, Tony, who was known as ‘Tut’, played with South Shields band Angelic Upstarts, and, since 1999, with the reformed Cockney Rejects.
Away from music, he used to have an ice cream van, and it is believed he had recently been working as a taxi driver.
Tributes started flooding in today on social media sites.
Dear friends and supporters worldwide, most of you are probably aware of the tragic circumstances of this past week in which we lost our beloved brother and friend Tony Van Frater. Due to this catastrophic event we have no option other than to cancel the forthcoming UK tour forthwith as a mark of respect for the man and his family. none of us knows what the future holds at present, we wish to enter a period of mourning and reflection on the massive contribution and impact that Tony made on all our lives. All tickets will be refunded and we apologise for this, and we hope that we have your understanding and co operation in these difficult times.
Thank you one and all. The Cockney Rejects.
Tony played for us at Concrete Jungle Festival for us in 2007, and has been a big part of the Cockney Rejects band since he joined
“The founding member of Red Alert and Cockney Rejects bass player was one of the scene’s true gentlemen.
“His talent and friendship will be missed by many. RIP big man – our thoughts are with your family and friends.”
Red Alert singer Steve ‘Castiron’ Smith wrote on his Facebook page: “Best mate, brother, legend, thanks for the memories son, see u up there.”
I was actually to be seeing Tony tomorrow, as i am DJ’ing a festival in Bavaria. we are all deeply shocked by this, and our thoughts go out the the Rejects and all Tony’s friends and family, it makes you realise once again, how short this life is, and we have to keep on keeping on. Stop the negative infighting, and enjoy the life we have. We are all brothers and sisters in our old punk and skinhead subcultures. Symond
The show will go on, and a pint of two will be drank in Tony’s name. Big respect will go out to Tony ifrom Bavaria, and across the Punk and Oi! world
Symarip (also known at various stages of their career as The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba) were a ska and reggaeband from the United Kingdom, originating in the late 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band’s name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word pyramids.[1] Consisting of members of West Indian descent, Simaryp is widely marked as one of the first skinhead reggae bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audience. Their hits included “Skinhead Girl”, “Skinhead Jamboree” and “Skinhead Moonstomp“, the latter of which was based on the Derrick Morgansong, “Moon Hop“.
They moved to Germany in 1971, performing reggae and Afro-rock in Germany under the name Zubaba. In 1980, the single “Skinhead Moonstomp” was re-issued in the wake of the 2 Tone craze, hitting #54 on the UK Singles Chart.[2][3] The band officially split in 1985 after releasing the album Drunk & Disorderly as The Pyramids. The album was released by Ariola Records and was produced by Stevie B.
Pitter and Ellis eventually moved back to England, where Ellis continued performing as a solo artist, sometimes using the stage name Mr. Symarip. Mike Thomas, who had moved to Switzerland and met a Finnish girl there, moved to Finland where he worked as a musician, doing the groundwork for the Finnish reggae culture through his band Mike T. Saganor. Monty Neysmith moved to the United States, where he toured as a solo artist.
In 2004, Trojan Records released a best of album that included a new single by Neysmith and Ellis, “Back From the Moon”. In 2005, Neysmith and Ellis performed together at Club Ska in England, and a recording of the concert was released on Moon Ska Records as Symarip – Live at Club Ska. In April 2008, they headlined the Ska Splash Festival inLincolnshire as Symarip, and later performed at the Endorse-It and Fordham Festivals. Pitter and Thomas now perform in a different band as Symarip Pyramid. Their Back From The Moon Tour 2008-2009 was with The Pioneers. In 2009, to celebrate the rebirth of the band and the reunion of the two original members, Trojan Records released a compilation album, Ultimate Collection. Pitter holds all copyright and trademark rights for the name Symarip Pyramid.
Monty Montgomery was born In Port Antonio, Jamaica. This talented and charismatic singer started to write and create music in his early years. While studying in London, England, Monty met with fellow Jamaican musicians on the weekends.
This led to the creation of the worldwide known
SYMARIP / PYRAMIDS
With hits like: Skinhead Moonstomp, Traintour To Rainbow City, Skinhead Girl, Mexican Moonlight,
All Change On The Bakerloo Line, Must Catch A Train to Night, etc.
This band reached the British Charts and toured all over Europe. Monty collaborated with the legendary “Godfather of SKA” Laurel Aitken and Eddie Grant.
Monty holds numerous awards and is listed in the Guiness Book Of British Hit Singles. Voted as one of Top Reggae Artists of all times by Billboard magazine. Monty’s versatile songwriting genius is his biggest asset. His many years of performing all over Europe, USA, Africa and the Caribbean, including the annual Sun -Splash in Jamaica, has given him the experience and skills that makes him the ultimate professional that he is today. Several of his songs have become staples on the list of many young SKA bands around the world. Sharon Woodward’s “Thank you, Skinhead Girl”, a documentary film made in the UK, includes Monty’s penned “Skinhead Girl”. Monty Montgomery’s albums: Seeds, Massive Are You Ready , Crucial Vibes andBack To Jump Street established him as a solo artist in the reggae world.
Miss Goosy (Audio and Video) is an ideal party mix and the video is very funny. It is now available @ CDBaby.com
Monty also was a finalist in 2008 Jamaica’s Festival with the song “My Jamaica”.
Now his latest work “Yah Mon” ranges from SKA to Reggae, and will with no doubt stand out. Songs like “Yah Mon”, Sweet Suzie”, “It’s time again” and “Kingston City”, just to name a few.
Monty’s latest single “The Freak In Me” was produced and arranged by Grub Cooper, from the number one band in Jamaica, known as FAB 5.
Monty and Jump up Records teamed up to release four new titles on vinyl. “Spirit Of 69 ” is a must to listen and dance to.
Monty’s live shows are engaging and energetic, and he always leaves his audiences feeling positive and happily skanking, begging for more.
FORTIS FOREVER
Monty is now a stand alone artist playing both the Symarip classics and his own work written over his years as a reggae legend
for bookings please contact Symond at subcultz@gmail.com
The Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton Every Year, the first weekend of June, Skinheads come from across the globe to Brighton seafront. for full event details go to www.subcultz.com
FULL 3 DAYS EVENT, YOUR WRISTBAND IS VALID THROUGH OUT, YOU CAN USE IT FOR AS LITTLE, OR AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. THE EVENT WILL SELL OUT, AND THERE WILL BE NO ADVANCE DAY TICKETS AT A REDUCED DAILY RATE , IN ADVANCE.
The line-up maybe subject to change, as so many band members and dj’s are involved. Babies coming along, alcohol, world wars and famine can be unforeseen, but the Great Skinhead Reunion, is more about coming to Brighton to see all your friends and making some more, for 3 full days of mayhem.
SKINHEAD ONLY HOTELS .
Add to your experience, by getting a room in our Skinhead only hotels. Conveniently located, with a short walk to the venue, and no moaning neighbours to worry about. The rooms vary in size and cost, to fit your needs. all within an easy walk to the skinhead reunion venue. We have hotels exclusive to the Great Skinhead Reunion guests and bands. Party party !! please email subcultz@gmail.com with your requirements, to be booked into the Skinhead Hotels
For those on a low budget, its worth checking Hostels and campsites, but my advice, is to get in the reserved hotels, for a nice stress free, clean and comfortable holiday in Brighton.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Brighton is situated on the south coast of England, approximately one hour from London. London Gatwick is the nearest airport. There are regular direct trains and National Express buses. The next nearest is Heathrow, There are also direct trains from Luton Airport . Its advised not to fly to Stansted, as this is a long way, and you risk losing valuable drinking time
The nearest ferry port serving mainland Europe is Newhaven -Dieppe . Newhaven is about 20 min drive to Brighton. Dover is about 2 hours to Brighton
PARKING ZONES – one of the worst aspects of Brighton, is a lack of affordable parking. my advice is to use street parking on the suburbs of Brighton, its a reasonably safe place. a good bus service will take you into brighton centre (churchill square) and a short walk from there to the sea front. worth allowing the extra hours work, to save yourself serious parking charges
All Event Enquiries email Symond at subcultz@gmail.com. phone (uk) 07733096571
Stomper 98 are confirmed for the great skinhead reunion in Brighton England june 3-4-5th 2016. Brighton is seen as a birthplace of the skinhead subculture, with mods and rockers fighting on the beaches in 1964, by 1967 the skinhead had spread across the uk, a solid British working class subculture. Saturday afternoon saw mobs of skinheads fighting for their territory and team on the football terraces, by night, Stomping to Jamaican reggae, wearing the cutting new clothing of quality British design and cloth, handmade leather shoes and boots. After a dip came the rebirth, with the aggro Boot Boys and explosion of Punk Rock from 76, the Sham Army. 79 saw the 2tone revolution, bringing the Punk and Reggae sounds together. By 1980, the largest number of skinheads in history were on the streets of Britain. Then came a backlash against the middle class system, which had controlled the people for centuries, this music was known as Oi! Music. Direct action through music. As riots spread across the UK skinheads scared the government, an army of angry disenfranchised street kids, ready to Ruck. Margaret thatcher put a ban on oi music, clubs and pubs refused skinheads entry, record shops took the vinyl from the shelves. The SPG ( police) Attacked Skinheads across the country . But we refused to die. We went underground, created our own scene, our own clubs, promoted by fanzines and word of mouth. ‘skinheads, a way of life’ like martyrs through the centuries. a faith, which is stronger than any latest fashion. So by the mid 80’s Skinheads were popping up across the planet, fed by the media scare stories, of the anti Christ. By photographic images and books. But also by skinhead bands playing around the globe, for a few beers and a hot dog. Gone are the days of territorial violence and racial conflict. The political infighting designed to divide and destroy, thrown aside. What’s now, is a world wide community, living A skinhead way of life. Every year we celebrate the skinhead subculture, in all its positive eras. From 60’s ska to 21st century oi! And with that, We invite Selective bands each year to come represent their country and scene. We are very pleased to announce Stomper 98 from Germany will be performing at the Great Skinhead Reunion, Brighton, England for 2016. tickets are already 1/3 sold out for 2016, so dont miss out, on what is set to be a sell out event www.subcultz.com
Stomper 98 sind für die Great Skinhead Reunion in Brighton/England bestätigt, die vom 3.-5. Juni 2016 stattfindet.
Brighton gilt als eine der Geburtsstätte der Skinhead-Subkultur, denn im Jahr 1964 war es eben genau in Brighton, wo sich Mods und Rocker ihre ersten Schlachten an den Stränden und in den Straßen ablieferten. 1967 hatte sich die Skinhead-Bewegung bereits über das gesamte Vereinigte Königreich ausgebreitet und war fester Bestandteil der Subkultur der britischen Arbeiterklasse. Samstag nachmittags sah man Skinhead-Banden im Umfeld von Fußballspielen für ihre Städte und Vereine auf den Straßen kämpfen und nachts konnte man die Skinheads dann zu jamaikanischem Reggae tanzen sehen. Bei all dem achteten sie darauf stets smart gekleidet zu sein. So trugen sie qualitativ hochwertige Stoffe im typisch britischen Design, sowie handverarbeitete Lederschuhe und Stiefel.
Die Zeit verging und durch die Boot Boys und und den nicht mehr aufzuhaltenden Punk Rock erlebte dieser Kult eine Wiedergeburt im Jahr 1976. Drei Jahre später braucht der 2Tone zusammen, was zusammen gehört und kombinierte die Klänge von Punk und Reggae.
Es war in 1980, als man so viele Skinheads wie nie zuvor in den Straßen von Großbritannien finden konnte und als eine bestimmte Musikrichtung die Leute aus ihrem Mittelschicht-Winterschlaf reisen sollte. Diese Musik war bekannt unter folgendem Namen: Oi! Mit dieser Musik gingen viele Unruhen und Krawalle einher, sodass die Skinheads bei Staat und Polizei ein Gefühl der Angst verbreiteten. Margaret Thatcher verbot Oi! in Clubs und Kneipen, veranlasste gar ein Hausverbot für Skinheads und sorgte dafür, dass keine Oi!-Platten mehr in den Plattenläden zu finden waren. Die Polizei griff uns Skinheads scharf an, aber wir ließen unseren Kult nicht sterben! Die Bewegung verschwand zunehmend in den Untergrund. Wir betrieben unsere eigenen Clubs, veranstalteten eigene Konzerte, brachten eigene Fanzines heraus und lebten unseren “Way Of Life” abseits der Masse. Wir waren wie Märtyrer. Der Stolz auf diesen unseren Kult war und ist stärker als jeder Trend und wird überleben!
In den Medien verteufelt verbreitete sich der Skinhead-Kult über den ganzen Globus. Doch nicht nur den Medien gelang es Diesen Kult zu verbreiten, sondern auch Bands, die die wahren Werte dieser Subkultur in die Welt hinaus trugen.
Fernab von territorialen Auseinandersetzungen, jeglichem Rassismus und unzähligen Versuchen der Politik die Bewegung zu Spalten oder gar zu zerstören, lebt der Skinhead-Kult unbekümmert weiter wie eine weltweite Gemeinde am Rande der Gesellschaft.
Und genau deshalb feiern wir jedes Jahr unsere Subkultur in all ihren positiven Epochen. Vom Ska der 60er Jahre bis hin zum Oi! der heutigen Tage.
Jedes Jahr laden wir wohl ausgesuchte Bands ein, uns die Szene in ihrem jeweiligen Land zu präsentieren und wir freuen uns ganz besonders im Jahr 2016 die Band Stomper 98 https://www.facebook.com/Stomper98?fref=ts aus Göttingen/Deutschland in Brighton begrüßen zu dürfen.
Ein Drittel der Karten ist bereits verkauft und wir rechnen auch in 2016 wieder mit einer ausverkauften Great Skinhead Reunion.
The Cockney Rejects’ 1980 performance at Birmingham’s Cedar Club remains unnoted in the annals of rock history. It warrants no mention when music journalists compile the 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock, nor the 100 Craziest Gigs Ever, which seems like a terrible oversight. In fairness, no one is ever going to rank the show by the East End quartet – then enjoying chart success with a punk take on the West Ham terrace anthem I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles – alongside Jimi Hendrix at Monterey in terms of musical brilliance. Still, it has its own claim to historical import: by all accounts, it was the most violent gig in British history.
“I’d seen quite a bit on the terraces or outside football grounds, but this was carnage,” says Jeff Turner, today an immensely amiable decorator, then “Stinky” Turner, the Cockney Rejects’ teenage frontman, cursed with what his former manager Garry Bushell tactfully describes as “a bit of a temper”. Turner continues: “There was a lot of people cut and hurt, I got cut, my brother [Rejects’ guitarist Micky Geggus] really got done bad, with an ashtray, the gear was decimated, there was people lying around on the floor. Carnage.”
The problem was football-related. “Most of the punk bands at the time, they had their ideals – the Clash, Career Opportunities, political stuff, fair play,” says Turner. “When I was a kid, my thought for punk rock was that it could put West Ham on the front pages.” To this end, the band – affiliated to the club’s hooligans in the Inter City Firm – had appeared on Top of the Pops in West Ham shirts. “After that, everybody wanted to fight us, but you couldn’t back down,” says Turner. “Once you were defeated, it would have opened the floodgates for everybody.”
So the Rejects and their party fought: “Twenty Cockneys against … well, not all 300 Brummies were trying to attack us, but I’d say we were trying to fight off 50 to 100 people.” In the aftermath, Micky Geggus was charged with GBH and affray, and the Cockney Rejects’ career as a live band was, in effect, over. An attempt to play Liverpool later that year ended after six songs “because there was 150 Scousers trying to kill us”, while a subsequent gig in Birmingham was aborted by the police: “The old bill got wind of it and escorted us on to the M6,” says Turner. “At the time, I was gutted, but now, I think, thank God for that. Someone could have died.”
Perhaps it’s unsurprising the gig has been swept under the carpet of musical history: after all, so has the genre the Cockney Rejects inadvertently inspired. Thirty years after Bushell – then a writer for the music paper Sounds, as well as the Rejects’ manager – coined the term “Oi!” to describe a third generation of punk-inspired working-class bands playing “harder music on every level, guitar driven, terrace choruses”, it remains largely reviled or ignored in Britain.
In the eyes of its remaining fans, Oi! is the “real thing”, the genuine sound of Britain’s streets in the late 70s, populated by artists Bushell championed when the rest of the music press concentrated on “bands who dropped literary references you wouldn’t have got if you didn’t have a masters’ degree and wrote pretentious lyrics”. Bands such as the Cockney Rejects, the Angelic Upstarts – Marxists from South Shields managed by a man Bushell colourfully describes as “a psychopath – his house had bars over all the windows because people had thrown firebombs through it” – Red Alert, Peter and the Test Tube Babies. It briefly stormed the charts. The Angelic Upstarts followed the Cockney Rejects onto Top of the Pops, while Splodgenessabounds made the Top 10 with the deathless Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please. But today, if the general public have heard of it at all, they tend to agree with the assessment once offered by journalist and broadcaster Stuart Maconie: “Punk’s stunted idiot half-brother, musically primitive and politically unsavoury, with its close links to far-right groups.” It is, asserts Bushell, “without a doubt, the most misunderstood genre in history”.
The problem isn’t really to do with the music, although protracted exposure to the oeuvre of Peter and the Test Tube Babies – home to Student Wankers, Up Yer Bum and Pick Your Nose (and Eat It) – could leave all but the hardiest soul pleading tearfully for a few literary references and pretentious lyrics. The problem is Oi!’s adoption by the far-right as its soundtrack of choice. It wasn’t the only part of street culture to attract the attentions of the National Front and the British Movement in the late 70s and early 80s. Losing out at the polling stations thanks to the rise of Margaret Thatcher, the NF had instigated a programme of “direct action”: it would attempt to kick its way into the headlines at football matches and gigs. Chart bands such as Sham 69, Madness and the Specials had concerts disrupted.In 1978, seig-heiling skinheads caused £7,500 worth of damage at a Sham 69 gig in London.
But it was to Oi! that the far-right was most attracted, not least because it attracted both football hooligans and the re-emergent skinhead movement – two groups the NF’s direct-action programme targeted for recruitment. “We played a gig in Camden, we saw these Nazi skinheads beating the shit out of these two punks,” remembers Turner. “They’d managed to wreck Sham 69’s career, but us with our following” – the ICF was then headed by Cass Pennant, whose parents were Jamaican – “we weren’t going to have it. We just went down and absolutely slaughtered them. We declared to them that if they ever set foot where we were again, we’d decimate them.” And so it proved. “Neo-nazis confronted the Rejects again at Barking station,” remembers Bushell. “They basically told them, ‘We’re going to come to your gigs, we’re going to do this and do that.’ The Rejects crew battered them all over the station. They didn’t come to the gigs after that.”
Bushell points out that there was “a Nazi subculture all the way through punk. Malcolm McLaren started it all with the swastikas, which thick people saw and thought, ‘Oh, they must be Nazis.’” There were white power punk bands, too – such as the Dentists and the Ventz, which were formed by the “Punk Front” division of the National Front, in lieu of real punk bands showing any interest in promoting white supremacy. It was a trick the NF would be forced to pull again when Oi! bands resisted their overtures – the party recruited a failed punk band from Blackpool called Skrewdriver and repositioned them as the musical voice of the neo-Nazi movement. “It was totally distinct from us,” says Bushell. “We had no overlap other than a mutual dislike for each other.”
Bushell’s latterday career as a gleeful provoker of the liberal left, writing for the Sun and the Daily Star, probably hasn’t done much to help public perceptions regarding Oi!’s political affiliations. When Oi! was at its height, however, he says he was a Trotskyist who did his best to infuse the movement with socialist principles. He organised Oi! conferences and debates, “trying to shape the movement, trying to stop the culture of violence, talking about doing unemployment benefits, working with the Right to Work campaign, prisoners’ rights gigs – I thought we could unite punk and social progress.” Not everyone was receptive: “Stinky Turner was at one debate, and he didn’t contribute much, apart from the classic line, ‘Oi! is working class, and if you’re not working class you’ll get a kick in the bollocks.’” He laughs. “Perfect! That was what the Rejects were all about.”
Trotskyist or not, Bushell also managed to exacerbate the problem, not least by masterminding the unfortunately titled 1981 compilation Strength Thru Oi!. “I didn’t know!” he protests. “I’d been active in politics for years and had never come across the phrase ‘strength through joy’ as a Nazi slogan.It was the title of a Skids EP.”
To compound matters, its cover featured a photograph of a skinhead who turned out to be the delectable-sounding Nicky Crane, who – nothing if not a multi-tasker – managed to combine life as a neo-Nazi activist with a secret career as a gay porn star. “I had a Christmas card on the wall, it had that image that was on the cover of Strength Thru Oi!, but washed out. I honestly, hand on my heart, thought it was a still from The Wanderers,” Bushell says. “It was only when the album came through for me to approve the artwork that I saw his tattoos. Of course, if I hadn’t been impatient, I would have said, right, fucking scrap this, let’s shoot something else entirely. Instead, we airbrushed the tattoos out. There were two mistakes there, both mine. Hands up.”
Much worse was to follow. A July 1981 Oi! gig featuring the 4-Skins and the Business in Southall – the scene of a racist murder in 1976 and the race riot that ended in the death of Blair Peach in 1979 – erupted into violent chaos: 110 people were hospitalised, and the venue, the Hambrough Tavern, was burned down after being petrol bombed. Depending on whose version of events you believe, it was either sparked by skinheads attacking Asians or Asian youths attacking gig-goers: either way, the Southall riot stopped Oi!’s commercial progress dead. The Cockney Rejects found that shops refused to stock their new album, The Power and the Glory: “I’d sung a song called Oi Oi Oi and all of a sudden there’s an Oi! movement and I didn’t really want anything to do with it,” says Turner. “This awful, awful shit happened in Southall, we were never there, and we got the rug pulled out from under our feet. I went from the TV screen to the labour exchange in 18 months.”
An inflammatory article in the Daily Mail exacerbated the situation further: “We never had an problems with Nazi activists at our gigs until after the Mail’s piece,” says Bushell. “Only then did we have people coming down, thinking it was going to be this rightwing thing, When they discovered it wasn’t, that’s when the trouble started. I was attacked at an Upstarts gig at the 100 Club by about 20 of them. I had a knife pulled on me at Charing Cross station.”
That should have been that, had it not been for Oi!’s curious afterlife in America. Steve Whale – who joined the Business after Southall and struggled on through the 80s, repositioning the band as “street punk” – unexpectedly found himself in possession of a US recording contract with Bad Religion’s label Epitaph, lauded by bands including Boston’s Irish-punk stars the Dropkick Murphys and the extraordinarily influential California band Rancid. Jeff Turner has just returned from a tour of Japan: “Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya. I haven’t got fortunes but I’m able to do that. That’s all I can ask for, it makes me happy.”
“I had Lars Freidricksen of Rancid come in and sit in the pub round the corner from my house, welling up, telling me if it wasn’t for Oi! he might have killed himself as a teenager,” says Garry Bushell. “I thought, ‘Fuck me, it’s really had an effect on these people.’ I’m not proud of the way Oi! was misunderstood, but I’m proud of the music, proud of what it started, proud of what it gave punk.”
In Britain, he concedes, the genre’s name is still blackened in most people’s eyes. “There were people in 1976 saying punk had to be a Nazi thing because of the swastikas. The difference is, those bands had rock journalists on their side. The Oi! bands only had me.” He laughs, a little ruefully. “I did me best.”
PUNK was far less important than ex-punk Tom Logan likes to think, it has emerged.
Historians have taken issue with claims made in the autobiography of former Septic Nipples drummer Logan, which include the assertion that punk “changed everything”.
History professor Mary Fisher said: “Clearly many areas of life were not affected by punk. The car industry, for example, did not start making Allegros covered in spit with an anarchy symbol Tippexed on the side.
“Mr Logan – or Johnny Piss, as he was known then – believes punk had some political significance. But it was followed by Thatcherism, which was all about buying your own house and making it look nice, which isn’t very punk.
“It’s also possible that if punk had not existed, grunge would have been invented sooner and we could have just listened to Nirvana and not pretended to like the Slits.”
However Logan defended the importance of punk, saying that without it he would not have a vast stock of underwhelming anecdotes.
Logan said: “I was at a party with Johnny Thunders and the Pistols at Siouxie Sioux’s house, and the Damned turned up without any booze, so Siouxie told them to fuck off and get some from the off licence, and some crisps.
“All that craziness was a long time ago though. Today I’m an IT consultant with a wife and two kids living in a semi in Leeds.
“But there’s no way that could have happened if it hadn’t been for punk.”
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Symond Lawes 
Isabelle Pradel Skinhead Girl, Sao Paulo Brazil banned from Facebook
Instagram is awash with people banned from Facebook
Instagram is full of people talking about losing their facebook profiles
Skinheads in Sao Paulo Brazil 
One of the biggest skinhead scenes now is in Bogota Colombia
