Menace got together way back in 1976 and originally lined up with Morgan Webster (vocals), Steve Tannett (guitar), Charlie Casey (bass) and Noel Martin (drums). They released a handful of classic singles before calling it a day in 1979 due mainly to a lack of press coverage and record label interest.
They got back together in 1999 and though there's been several line up changes (Noel Martin is the only remaining original member) they're still fighting the good fight. Their most recent album was 2014's London Stories, a song from which you can listen to here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caMQEN_hDIg
For today's song I'm going back to the 70's. From the flip side of their Last Years Youth single, this is Carry No Banners......
Today's song is an obscurity from 1979 by Worthing band F-X. The line up was Jon Burn (vocals/guitar), Clive Todd (guitar), Mike Burn (bass) and Rick Leyland (drums). They only released one single, a 3 track ep called South's Gonna Rise Again, which featured the songs OBE, Slag and South's Gonna Rise Again. 2000 copies were pressed and, came out on Southern Rock Records and was distributed by Rough Trade. Guitarist Clive Todd featured on the single but died of a heroin overdose prior to it's release (edit....see the comments section below).
They split in 1982 without releasing anything else though in 2011 Detour / Only Fit For The Bin Records released a 10 track compilation of their music called Now Where Were We? As well as their own material it also included covers of David Bowie's Queen Bitch and Rock & Roll Star as well as The Ramones' You're Gonna Kill That Girl.
The song I'm posting today is the title track of the ep and is a football anthem about Brighton And Hove Albion. South's Gonna Rise Again.....
Today's song was originally recorded in 1979 but didn't get a proper release until 2000 when Toronto label Ugly Pop Records and Squelchtone released 600 hand numbered 7" vinyl copies.
The Dream Dates were from Hamilton, Ontario and consisted of Dikky Fix (vocals), Brian Deemer (guitar), Lance Womanhandler (bass) and Beef Stu (drums). Forming in 1979 and originally named Bored Youth, they played a first gig supporting The Viletones before changing their name. Influenced by (amongst others) Dead Boys, Teenage Head and Forgotten Rebels, they had just one recording session which resulted in 3 original tracks and covers of songs by the likes of The Stooges, The Surfaris and Freddie Cannon.
The first of these tracks to make it to vinyl were the pairing of Moans On The Phone and Heart Attack Rhythm. Subsequent to this were The Mess You're in/Search And Destroy and Surfer Joe/Tallahassee Lassie.
Following the break up of the band, Dicky Fix (Greg Dick) played with members of The Heartbreakers in Texas Dirt Fuckers as well as numerous other groups.
This is a great example of late 70's sleazy punk n roll, Moans On The Phone....
When the subject of pop punk crops up, many turn up their noses and say Blink 182 and their like aren't punk. I have some sympathy with this view as I'm not overly keen myself on a fair proportion of over produced "punk" that seems to have had any rough edges smoothed out and in my opinion seems sterilised and unexciting. Having said that, I certainly won't write off all pop punk as when it's good, boy is it good.
One counter argument to come back at the pop punk naysayers with is that there's always been pop punk. I grew up on the likes of The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Boys, The Ramones etc so to say that pop punk ain't punk is quite frankly ludicrous.
Anyway, the purpose of that intro was to give me an opportunity to say that one band from back in the day who would, in an ideal world, be spoken of when the topic of quality old school pop punk rears it's head are The Donkeys. Hailing from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, they were together between 1978-82 and whilst maybe missing the cutting edge, of some of their punk contemporaries I don't think anyone could argue about their ability to pen a catchy tune.
Featuring future Chumbawamba member Neil Ferguson (vocals/guitar), Dave Owen (bass/vocals), Tony Ferguson (rhythm guitar/vocals) and Mark Welham (drums), they released 5 singles, a couple of which were much beloved by my younger self. First up was What I Want/Four Letters which was a 7" that should have been a massive hit (I think it stalled at number 90 in the UK charts). This was followed by No Way (decent enough but a step down from their debut), and then what was probably their most successful song, Don't Go. Single number 4, Let's Float, wasn't (in my opinion) all that good and finally by the time of Listen To Your Radio they'd pretty much ditched any punk leanings (they'd also re named themselves The Donkees). A couple of compilation albums followed many years later (Monkey Business/Television Anarchy) but otherwise the stable door was shut and the band were put out to pasture.
I could have posted Four Letters or Don't Go but in the end I've gone with What I Want. Enjoy......
Yesterday i waxed lyrical about a song that I loved as a school kid and still thought was one of the best ever released. And then I posted a different one! Today I'm going to do the same; Where were you? by The Mekons came out in 1978 and can still hold it's own with anything that's been released since. But you've all no doubt heard that so I'm posting one by them that not quite as many of you will be familiar with but which is pretty much as good. First up though, here's the usual brief intro.....
Mekons formed in Leeds in 1977, taking their name from the follically challenged bad guy from the Dan Dare comics. Their first single, Never Been In A Riot was a satirical response to The Clash's White Riot and this was followed up with the aforementioned Where Were You? 1979 saw the release of the first of a great many albums, it was titled The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen and it featured today's song of the day.
Despite several line up changes, the band have been active pretty much ever since though they moved more towards "cowpunk" and alt-country as the years went by. There's plenty of info about them online if you want to read more so I'll just leave you with some music. This is Dan Dare.......
Take me away from the tables and books
Take me away from the teacher's bad looks
I wanna quit my history class
Gonna tell the teacher to shove it up her ass....
Suicide Squad were formed in 1978 by 4 schoolmates in Wollongong, Australia, though they relocated to Sydney after struggling to find places to play. After their move they began to build a reputation as a great live band and attracted the attention of Doublethink Records who released their only single, I Hate School/New Kids Army. They then underwent a few line up changes and recorded an album called Vomit On You but this didn't get released until long after they'd split when it came out on Plastic Donut Records (in 2006).
Featuring Annie Barrett (vocals), Mark Easton (guitar), Con Murphy (bass) and Steve Cord (drums), this is a song that many a disaffected youth could adopt as a personal anthem, I Hate School........
A slow burn, Canadian classic on the blog today from The Demics.
Formed in London, Ontario, in 1977 and consisting of Keith Walker (vocals), Rob Brent (guitar), Iain Atkinson-Staines (bass) and Jim Weatherstone (drums) they honed their sound playing weekend gigs in front of enthusiastic locals before supporting name bands of the calibre of The Viletones, The Dead Boys and Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers. Walker was from Manchester, England, and named the band after the slang term for wanker. Their debut ep, Talk's Cheap, featured the song New York City which became a radio hit and made enough of an impression to be named many years later as the greatest Canadian song of all time by readers of Chart magazine.
Despite the accolades that were coming their way it wasn't long before they disbanded but they soon got back together with Steve Koch stepping in on guitar. They put out a self titled debut album but it's luke warm reception and "internal tensions" saw them call it a day in 1981.
Tragically, Keith Walker died of cancer in 1996. This post is dedicated to him. Here's their "hit", New York City......
Yesterday's song was by a band I knew nothing about and who were just getting going, today's song is by a band who everyone's heard of whom have been around in one incarnation or another since 1977. Not much of an introduction is needed for The Misfits, formed in Lodi, New Jersey, named after the Marilyn Monroe movie, various vocalists (including Glenn Danzig, Michale Graves and Jerry Only), splitting up and reforming, an impressive back catalogue (my favourite of their albums being Static Age).......
Originally recorded in 1979 but not released until it appeared on 1996's Misfits Box Set ( a different version featured on the b side of the 1981 Who Killed Marilyn single) and featuring Bobby Steele on guitar, this is Spook City USA.....
Spook City USA, Spook City USA
See all the ghosts as you drive past graveyards (Spook City USA) Deathly souls in American graveyards (Spook City USA) Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
See-through spectres cruise your hallways (Spook City USA) Poltergeists in the middle of the roadway (Spook City USA)
Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
Haunted house on the highway roadside (Spook City USA) It extends an eerie invitation (Spook City USA)
Here is where I'll die for sure I don't want no substitute Spook City USA, Spook City USA
I don't know much about The Limps. They were from Annan, which is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, South west Scotland. They formed a record label, Matchbox Classics, along with another band, No Support and both bands collaborated on a couple of split eps. From one of those eps, Another Matchbox Classic, came this song, Someone I Can Talk To.....
The band featured in today's update were formed way back in the mid 70's by graphic design students Ken Cooke, Simon Monroe, Mike Simons and Marlon Hart at the Auckland Technical Institute in New Zealand and only changed their name from 1 B Darlings to The Scavengers in 1977 as a tidal wave of punk rock swept the planet. It was around this time that Hart was replaced on bass duties by future Dead Can Dance founder Brendan Perry. Using stage names such as Johnny Volume, Des Truction, Mike Lezbian etc they played mostly cover versions in their early years but as the 70's wound down they began writing their own compositions including a couple which featured on the AK79 compilation. In 1979 they relocated to Melbourne, Australia and the following year changed their name to The Marching Girls. Possibly their best song, and one which was recorded by both The Scavengers and The Marching Girls, was True Love......
Another quickie today, this time from one of Denmark's first punk bands. Formed in 1978 in Aarhus and often compared to Scotland's The Rezillos, Lost Kids released 2 albums and 4 singles before splitting in 1982. Probably the best of those singles was their 2nd, a 3 track classic from 1979 which was recently re released on Sing Sing Records. From it, this is the rather wonderful Cola Freaks.....
Ah, young love, ain't it great. Today's song was covered by The Vandals but was originally by The Simpletones, a band from Rosemead, California, who formed in 1978 and disbanded barely 2 years later after releasing a classic single, California/I Like Drugs. There was also an album released in 1979 on Posh Boy Records called Beach Blvd which featured 9 Simpletones songs as well as 5 by Rik L Rik and 4 by The Crowd. A compilation album collecting together all their stuff and entitled I Have A Date was released in 2002, hunt it down if you want to hear some classic early pop punk. This is the title track and it's one of the best of its type.....
I saw a girl and she drove me wild She looked at me and I looked and smiled The cutest girl you could ever see I never dreamed she'd go out with me
We met at school so I asked her out The only girl I ever thought about Shes 16 and she's so divine I never thought I would make her mine
I'm in love, I just cant wait, tonight, I have a date (I have a date) with the cutest girl in town (I have a date) and I'm the happiest boy around I'm in love, I just cant wait, tonight, I have a date
Went to the movies in my parents car I never dreamed I would get that far I picked her up at a quarter to 8 I got there early didn't wanna be late
I never thought it would come to this I drove her home and she gave me a kiss I'm in love and it's here to stay She says she really wants to see me again
I'm in love, I just cant wait, tonight I have a date (I have a date) with the cutest girl in town (I have a date) and I'm the happiest boy around I'm in love, I just cant wait, tonight I have a date
I have a date(x4)
I'm in love, I just cant wait, tonight, I have a date I have a date
The Scabs have already featured in this blog, a while back I posted a song called Amory Building which came off their solitary release, an ep from 1979. Since then I came into contact with their vocalist/composer, James Young, who revealed he doesn't even own a copy of the single anymore. I took the opportunity to ask if he'd like to do an interview and I'm grateful to him for saying yes so here it is.....
From what I remember of The Scabs, you were 5 students at Exeter University who's only release was an ep in 1979. Which bands influenced you? Was it a typical case of 5 teenagers hear The Pistols and The Clash and decide "we can do that....."
Yes more or less correct....we were 4, never 5, and yes we felt that we could do it too. The band was the idea of John Salmon the lead guitarist....I didn't think he was particularly "punk" but he announced that he wanted to start a band called the Scabs (as in Strike Breakers Scabs)....Steve the bassist was also a "founder member"...he and John were already mates, and they found Patrick Cunningham, the drummer, who in the true spirit of punk rock couldn't really play the drums when we started but he looked kind of punk and at the time that was more important. They had an audition for a lead singer and I believe only 2 people turned up so it wasn't exactly a triumph that I was chosen. John Steve and Patrick worked pretty hard at rehearsing....and we had our first gig only a couple of months after we started...in a university bar called Cornwall House. It wasn't hard to get gigs on Campus....in those days there really weren't many people who could set up and entertain and the news that ANYBODY was playing anywhere was quite a big stir. But we weren't really very good at first....there were a couple of non-student punk bands in Exeter who were definitely better than us and we were painfully aware of that and often felt like we were a bit if a joke early on
I'm guessing that back in the late '70's every city and town had regular punk gigs? Was it easy to get bookings in the early days? Did you manage to attract decent crowds and did you share a stage with any big name bands?
No name bands no....punk rock looks different through the rose tinted glasses of hindsight. Back in the day the number of people who considered punk worth listening to were a REAL minority....most people liked Supertramp, 10cc, and still those old pomp rock bands like YES. A lot of people were moved to getting angry at even hearing a punk record or seeing somebody not wearing flared jeans. I dyed my hair at the time and on several occasions had to run extremely fast to get away from gangs wanting to beat me up, other times standing on a station platform EVERYBODY would be staring as if I wasn't wearing any clothes....so the general consensus was disapproval, and I think a lot of punk bands would echo that as the general "zeitgeist" once they moved out of the centre of London or Manchester. Name punk bands weren't a particularly big draw in themselves with the sole exception of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. There were NEVER any punk bands booked at Exeter University....when the Stranglers were booked in 1980, when they were really a spent force as far as punk energy was concerned, the Security Guards announced that they would refuse to work if they played, and the gig was immediately shifted to Plymouth. If you study the charts at the time you can tell that bands like, say,The Clash, simply weren't selling any singles. The Sex Pistols were so cleverly managed with all that "getting banned by the BBC" stuff their sales came from notoriety more than any love of the music.
Talk me through how the single came about, was it a thrill knowing you were going to release one? Did it receive much airplay/press acclaim? Did it sell out quickly?
There were some independent records around, and that's what ours was. It was Patrick's (the drummer's) doing. He actually financed it and did the whole thing. I simply wouldn't have had the money. We all went up to London and there was a cheap recording studios somewhere right out in North London. A really nice guy called Marcus who was a bit of a Hunt Saboteur and general Anarchist guested on saxophone, and the whole recording was done in 2 hours...I think I just had 2 takes. Patrick then got 1000 pressed and set himself up in the Student Coffee Bar selling the singles. And we sold well and got more pressings. Because there just weren't any singles around by punk bands in any number, we were reviewed by all the music papers. In those days the music papers ruled....you just went and bought what the music papers liked...there was no way of previewing what they'd sound like, you just had to go and buy. "Sounds" gave us an amazing review, Melody Maker good I think and the others said we were "amateurish" I expect. But the reviews helped Patrick to organize a tour. We played 6 or 7 dates in a week in some pretty weird places from Bradford to Cornwall but always to "a crowd" and it was never a disaster. But I don't think the single got any airplay at all..... there just wasn't that kind of opportunity.... only Radio One and I'm not even sure if John Peel had got his show going in those days and that was only 2 hours a day. But you would never get played on Radio One during the day....it was all Agadoo.
I read somewhere that your brother spent his lunchtimes selling the ep to schoolkids. Did you ever feel famous in any way? Did you think you'd still be discussing it 35 years later?
That must have been Patrick selling the EPs....he wasn't my brother but he worked really hard at promoting that record. No I never felt famous in any way....embarrassed most of the time....we played an open air gig at Powderham Castle (I think that's what it was called) and much to my surprise a really large crowd were really appreciative...that was the only time I really felt like we'd done something worth celebrating. 35 years later the record does sound good and wow no I would have been astonished to think that anybody would be interested. That was the age of "burn bright for a few weeks only"... once a record left the charts you'd NEVER hear it again. Heart Radio would have astonished people in the 1970's.... well maybe not astonished....but that was the modus operandi of Radio 2!!
Was another release ever in the pipeline?
Yes we recorded another 2 tracks about a year or two later....it wasn't bad at all and John was hoping to get a record deal. Apparently we almost did but punk was losing ground to the Mod and Ska bands already.....if we'd have recorded something about Popping Blues on my Lambretta we'd have got a deal no problem.
Why did you split up and with so many of the old bands reforming to gig at festivals like Holidays In The Sun/Rebellion etc have you ever been tempted to give it a go?
I think we split up because we left university... I think the Scabs did reform but they didn't ask me to join them....I would quite happily give it a go of course....
Finally, do you still listen to punk music or have your tastes changed over the years?
yes punk rock rules!! I really like the Parquet Courts at the moment....their new album is quite amazing. I still dabble with punk songs occasionally in my attic with Cubase and recently wrote and recorded a song called BMW and it's still amateurish!
I'd like to say a big thank you to James for taking the time to answer my questions. Song of the day is another one from their classic ep, this is Leave Me Alone......
One of my favourite things about this blog is that there's been quite a few inventive and awesomely wonderful and quirky female fronted post punk tunes from various points down the years. I think it's time we had another. Far from the most prolific of bands, they only released 3 songs that I'm aware of, Fatal Microbes formed in 1978, and consisted of 4 teenagers ( Holly Bane (vocals), Pete Fender (guitar), Gen Stone (drums) and It (bass). Future members included Sid Attion (drums) and Scott Barker (bass). Stone and Fender's mother was Vi Subversa of The Poison Girls and it was with that band that they released a split ep, entitled Violence Grows, in 1979 on Small Wonder. It was popular enough for the Fatal Microbes tracks to be released on their own single (with a bonus track). They managed a few gigs but didn't last long before splitting up. Bane went solo, Attion played with Rubella Ballet and also featured on Flux Of Pink Indians' classic Neu Smell ep, Stone also joined Rubella Ballet, as did Fender. From "that side" of the single, this is Beautiful Pictures......
Let's have an oldie today. Featuring Exeter University students James Young (vocals), John Salmons (guitar/organ), Steve Pardoe (bass), Patrick Cunningham (drums) and Simon Grant (saxophone), The Scabs released their sole ep in 1979. Recorded in 4 hours in a crappy West London studio it went on to become a highly collectible classic. Only together for around 18 months, a couple of them went onto form ska/pop band The M5's. This is the ep's lead track, Amory Building.....
Poison Girls were an Anarcho-Punk band who held strong political beliefs and challenged people to think for themselves. Formed in 1975 by the 40 year old Vi Subversa, Richard Famous, Lance d' Boyle and Bella Donna they were originally an experimental theatre based outfit who like many of their contemporaries were influenced by the exciting new punk movement. They went on to share a stage with Crass on many occasions (who they released a split single with in 1980) and continued touring round Europe throughout the 80's, releasing music that was often confrontational and thought provoking. From 1979, this was their first release, it was from a split with Fatal Microbes and is called Piano Lessons....
We are having piano lessons Practice your piano Practice makes perfect
They are marching past the window They are marching down your street They have noticed that expensive car And your freezer full of meat And how you can't, rest without The guard dog at your feet
They are drilling in the playground They are training on the green There's a million of them out there And their guns are made of steel You don't know them, but they know you And their bayonets are real
We are having piano We are having piano We are having piano lessons
They've learned all their lessons You taught them all they know You shouted out the orders And you told them where to go So don't complain, when they return The treatment blow by blow
Or will you come with us On the run with us With the wild girls on the run Or will you stay behind And take to guns...
They're marching past the window Down your suburban street They have emptied out the corner shop They've eaten all the meat So watch out boys, because they've killed The guard dog at your feet
We are having piano We are having piano We are having piano lessons
Some people probably think this blog is just thrown together with no thought as to what's going to be posted next and of course it pretty much is but today's song is connected to yesterday's in as much as that one was about someone in love with a tall girl whilst this one is about someone in love with a 3ft 3" guy. Vktms, from San Francisco, were together between 1978-1982 (and reformed in 1994). Blessed with powerful female vocalist Nyna Crawford they released a couple of eps and a single but didn't really get the recognition afforded to some of their contemporaries such as The Avengers but they were prolific on the live scene sharing a stage with a who's who of the punk scene (Dead Kennedys, DOA, Stranglers, Ramones, Johnny Thunders etc etc etc). Their s/t album came out in 1997. Tragically Nyna "Napalm" passed away from cancer in 2000. From their debut ep, this is Midget......
The 3rd of the Easter songs with a loose sci fi theme comes from a band that formed way back in 1976 in Leamington Spa. Favourites of John Peel, The Shapes toured with the likes of The Fall, The Photos and The Cure and carved out a cult fanbase who lapped up their humorous tunes, What's for lunch mum? (not beans again!) being a particular favourite. Like a lot of the bands from this era, they didn't hang around long, falling by the wayside during the Two Tone explosion emanating from nearby Coventry. This is I Saw Batman In The Launderette, it's based on a true story about a man dressed as the titular superhero who handed a wanted criminal into a Yorkshire police station, he'd earlier been spotted in a Leamington Spa coin-op laundrette.
Today's song is another great tune that's been recommended by Chris from Chain Letters, it's the A side of a 7 inch single from 1979 by The Maids. Hailing from Berkeley, California, the 3 piece band only released the one single (on their own Anemic Records), it was recorded in 4 hours at a cost of $82 and is about a Japanese soldier who stayed hidden in the Philippine jungle after the end of World War 2. Whilst not the best known of punk singles it seems to be loved by those who've heard it. This is Back To Bataan.....
A classic old power pop/punk/new wave/whatever tune today. The Tours were from Poole, England and despite signing to Virgin in a 6 album deal, unfortunately only released a couple of singles (though in 2010 Cherry Red put out a compilation album called Album Of The Year... (That Never Was) ). This, their first single, was released in 1979 and was, according to Cherry Red, played by John Peel on 50 consecutive nights, he declared it his 2nd favourite 45 of all time after Teenage Kicks. It's Called Language School.....
