So, the Just Some Punk Songs blog. It's been active for over 10 years and featured some great stuff. But I think maybe my favourite ever update was when I somehow came across James Young, vocalist with 70's punk band The Scabs and I managed to get an interview with him. https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/06/an-interview-with-james-young-vocalist_30.html
One of the things I asked him about was their solitary release, The Scabs ep from 1979. I'd already featured a song from it in an earlier update https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-scabs-amory-building.html. He told me this about it...
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.
The song that I'd featured in the earlier update was Amory Building and I'm happy to see it covered on the new album by CLASS. The band are from Tucson, Arizona and they're no strangers to this blog (for example they were on it in July https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2024/07/class-first-to-finish-last.html). The album's titled A Healthy Alternative and I guess it's accurate to say that it's a top class release so go get yourselves acquainted with it
It's always a tricky proposition covering a punk classic but I think they knocked this out of the park. Amory Building...
