Coil - The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser (45rpm & 33rpm) - Solar Lodge Records - 1987 Michael Baxter 2020-03-21 | I have owned this 10” record since it’s original release date, and I have listened to it over the years at both 45 rpm and 33 rpm as I have not got a clue what the correct rotating speed was, or is. Because I have never owned a different version of this record other than this original 10” record I had nothing to compare the music with. Comparing the audio, other YouTube posts seem to favour 45 rpm, I prefer the 33 rpm sound myself, but that does not mean I’m in any way correct! In any case I recorded both sides of this record at 45 rpm, and then at 33 rpm for this YouTube post. Minutes 00.00 to 17.50 is the 45 rpm audio, and minutes 17.50 – 41.50 is the 33 rpm audio. Listen to whichever version you fancy.The tracks on the first side are taken from Coil's soundtrack to the Clive Barker film ‘Hellraiser’ which was rejected by the film studio. The tracks on the second side are a selection of short pieces that were commissioned for use as music for advertisements on British television.A few words about the release of this record via Stephen Thrower for The Quietus. Stephen Thrower was a member of Coil in the mid 1980’s.When was the suggestion made about Coil doing a Hellraiser soundtrack?Clive Barker was interested in Coil early on. He showed us the Hellbound Heart when it was an unpublished novella he'd only just written. He said he was interested immediately, and there was a real strike-while-the-iron's-hot sort of feeling. He was really into the music. He'd just recently produced the script and had said pretty much straight off the bat, 'I'm going to be directing this myself, I'd like you to do the music.'The rumour has it that he was fed some magazines by Sleazy that directly influenced the aesthetic of the Cenobites. Can you confirm or deny that?Oh absolutely. When he came to Beverly Road, Sleazy had a collection of magazines called PFIQ, which stood for Piercing Fans International Quarterly. I think the magazine dated from the very early '80s until about '85, and the content was the kind that people became a lot more familiar with in the '90s, but at the time was completely underground. There was no over-ground, mainstream, fashionable acceptance of that material. It was very extreme sado-masochistic piercing and body modification, to quite shocking extremes in some cases. Clive was absolutely bowled over. I think he spent a fascinated half an hour quietly looking through them. He disappeared into a little wormhole for a while.So how did the work on Hellraiser proceed?He said 'I love extreme sound and I love rich melody and orchestration'. We said, 'No problem, we can handle both of those'. I think ‘Scatology’ had already come out and we were probably already starting work on what became ‘Horse Rotorvator’. Sleazy, when he'd been in Psychic TV had been working with string sections. We had people like Billy McGee and the string players for Marc Almond's group as friends, so we knew that if we wrote something on samplers and electronics we could then say to out friends 'now we need to work out a string part for this'. We started work but the plug was pulled before we got any further than the electronics side of it, so the music that we actually had completed by the time they changed their minds was basically the electronic realisations that were awaiting orchestration.So when I listen the Coil's Hellraiser soundtrack it's basically an unfinished record?Yeah. It's a little bit more than a demo but not really a finished score. If you listen to ‘Horse Rotovator’ which is the album that came next and you listen to a track like 'Ostia', which has got fairly elaborate interactions between the string section and the electronics, that's really the route down which the Hellraiser music would have gone as well.Did your disappointment about not being able to do the soundtrack colour your appreciation of the film when it came out?To be honest I don't see how it cannot. The production company had their own composer waiting in the wings and when Clive got into difficulties with Hellraiser because there wasn't enough money to shoot the effects that he wanted to achieve he turned to the producers and showed them a rough cut of the effects scenes. As far as I understand the conversation went something like 'Oh we didn't think this was going to be as commercial as it is. Re-shoot those effects scenes and here's some more money. One stipulation, we want our man to do the score.' I think Christopher Young was a protegee there and was evidently the next big thing as far as they were concerned. I suppose they were looking in a very hardnosed way and going 'what hit records have these guys made?' Clive took a pragmatic decision and I should think was extremely embarrassed about the situation. Although at the time we were all quite unhappy about it, I can sort of see the bind he was in.This YouTube post is dedicated with respect to Peter Christopherson, John Balance and Ana J.
Xmal Deutschland - BBC Radio 1 - John Peel session - December 1982 Michael Baxter 2024-10-15 | It is no secret to those that know me, your humble scribe, that I simply adored Xmal Deutschland.This John Peel session was, and still is, magnificent. Four songs recorded while the band were at the top of their game, but still pretty much a lesser known band in the UK. From the first time that I saw them perform in London at the Hammersmith Clarendon in April 1983, I knew that the band were very special indeed. Xmal were, on this night, supporting Danse Society. That supporting slot was a great introduction to Xmal Deutschland.But my favourite Xmal performances were later on that same year.The band’s first headlining performance at The Hammersmith Clarendon in July 1983 was probably my favourite as I was really close to the band performing. This concert was excellent and Xmal Deutschland were majestic, hypnotic and beautiful. That gig was one of my absolute highlights of 1983. Gene Loves Jezebel and Dead Can Dance also performed. Then there was another headlining performance at the Victoria Venue in October of that year. This concert was as good, if not better than the Hammersmith Clarendon concert, but I was further away from the stage. This gig had the added wonderfulness of Wolfgang Press supporting. A wonderful night.Xmal Deutschland's debut album; 'Fetisch' was probably my favourite album released in 1983, well maybe tied with The Mob; 'Let The Tribe Increase' and the Omega Tribe album; 'No Love Lost'. What a great year for great records.Marvellous stuff. I have constructed the visuals for this video by scanning pages from a Zig Zag magazine, a Vague fanzine and a Punk Lives magazine that were all published in 1983. These pages can be read whilst listening to the Xmal Deutschland session.Tom Vague wrote the words for the Zig Zag and Vague pages. The legend himself, Tony D, wrote the review of Xmal Deutschland's concert at the Venue in Victoria, which was originally published in the short lived Punk Lives magazine. I stole every copy of the Punk Lives magazine from a local newsagents. I hope I did not bring down Alf Martins empire single-handedly!Punk Lives for all it's many faults, did have some decent hacks writing articles for Alf Martin to decide what should, and will go, into each issue. The hacks of note were; Tony D (Kill Your Pet Puppy), Mick Mercer (Panache), Richard Kick (Kick) and Alistair Livingston (Kill Your Pet Puppy Collective). How the hell Abrasive Wheels, The Blood and Anti Nowhere League got slipped in between the pages is a mystery to me, as were the 'free' Wattie and Beki Bondage posters that were available with ample P&P. I didn't bother. Thankfully among the UK82 and Oi! there were very well written and interesting articles on The Mob, Rubella Ballet, Centro Iberico, Black Sheep Housing Co-Op, Stop The City and several other articles that I forget right now. Vague fanzine was my favourite fanzine (ahem, after Kill Your Pet Puppy) showcasing many of the better bands of the era. The larger editions of Vague (mini books) from issue 16/17 (1984) were the absolute pinnacle of Tom Vague's (and guests) writing on many interesting subjects (Christine F - Decoder / P1 Vatican Mafia / the Masonic Temple / Crowley / God Told Me To Do It and Manson, just a very very small amount of highlights, of many many highlights) the page designs were a work of art (like those monthly Scala cinema posters that were sent out).If Kill Your Pet Puppy helped start the garish colour page overlays with the text printed on top, then Vague trumped that, and then some. I still haven't read the essay on the film 'If' in Vague 16/17 with its tiny black writing on dark blue background! I've been trying since 1985. Anyway. Tony D's review in the Punk Lives magazine of Xmal Deutschland's performance at the Venue in Victoria hits the nail straight on the head. "However the fiery power and subtle mystery swallowed up such shortcomings (see full review in video for context), leaving a stunned crowd taking the name Xmal Deutschland home to cherish" - Tony D.Tony D's description seemed apt for all the Xmal Deutschland concerts that I attended.There are also a few music paper cut-outs of the band scanned. These cut-outs used to be blu-tacked on my bedroom wall. Manuela Zwingmann, the drummer for Xmal throughout 1982 and 1983, left the band sometime in 1984 and was replaced by Peter Bellendir, who lasted in the band for several years. I continued to see Xmal perform through 1984 and for a couple of years later, until 1986 and the band never disappointed.
Rhythm Rulers - Second Pressure & Sammy Dead - Bullet Records - 1970 Michael Baxter 2024-09-27 | A few weeks ago I sold this copy of 'Second Pressure' by the Rhythm Rulers, Harry Mudie's studio band, for a little £££ (quite a lot actually). A shame really but it's just the way it is. I thought that I might as well digitalise the record prior to wrapping it up and posting. In general I do digitalise and scan high priced 7" records in case buyers complain for any reason. Anyway, here it is, a skinhead staple from 1970.Marvellous stuff, especially 'Second Pressure'.The words below ripped off of the Jazz Music Archives website.Producer Harry Mudie can be counted as one of the most original of reggae auteurs. He not only featured the bottom-heavy sound reggae was famous for, but he expanded on the soul sweetness of many rocksteady sides with strings and touches of Philly soul ambience, as well. His prime work from the '70s is some of the most sophisticated and lush to emerge amidst reggae's seemingly endless run of dancehall-ready sides.Harry Mudie was born in Jamaica's original capital, Spanish Town, in 1940. He first came to prominence producing drummer Count Ossie. Ossie was one of the earliest island musicians to espouse Rastafarian beliefs, and he helped form an Afro-centric percussion style called nyahbingi drumming in the camp he set up with other Rastas during the mid-'50s. Mudie caught some of Ossie's earliest work on tape in the early '60s, at a time when the percussionist regularly performed at the producer's Spanish Town Scaramouche Gardens Club.In the mid-'60s, Mudie put his burgeoning career on hold to travel and study abroad for five years. Upon his return to the studio in the early '70s, Mudie cut a deal with the U.K. labels Trojan and R&B to distribute his productions on exclusive imprints. On the creative end, Mudie marked this time by experimenting with strings on some of his sessions, a first for any reggae producer. And while his soulful, groove-heavy rhythms were often laid down at Studio One's "open" Sunday sessions, the strings were recorded in London. His roster during the first half of the decade included such singers and groups as John Holt, Dennis Walks, the Ebony Sisters, the Heptones, Lloyd Jones, the Eternals (featuring Cornell Campbell), and Winston Shand -- he also cut a few sides with Gregory Isaacs and Peter Tosh. Mudie's most popular sides come from this period and include Holt's cover of Ivory Joe Hunter's "It May Sound Silly," which is featured on the singer's smash album Time Is the Master, and Dennis Walks' much-versioned "Drifter." Other successes included the Ebony Sisters' "Let Me Tell You Boy," Slim Smith's "Give Me Some More Loving," the Heptones' "Love Without Feeling," and cornet player Jo Jo Bennett's "Leaving Rome."Bennett was also an integral part of the producer's studio band, Mudie's All-Stars, which variously included vibist Lennie Hibbert, pianist Gladstone Anderson, tenor saxophonist Tommy McCook, trumpeter Bobby Ellis, guitarist Mikey Chung, and percussionist Bongo Herman.Like the majority of reggae producers active in the '70s, Mudie augmented his vocal sides with a healthy share of DJ cuts by such young mic stars as I-Roy, Big Joe, and Count Sticky. Mudie fashioned I-Roy's name after that of first DJ star, U-Roy, and oversaw the young toasters first sides around 1970. Although the two men would have a falling out over business matters in 1971, their collaboration produced such memorable hits as "Musical Choice" and versions of "Drifting" and "Let Me Tell You Boy."Also in line with the day's trends, Mudie worked with King Tubby to produce some of the strongest dub albums of the mid-'70s. Featuring a large dose of Mudie's strongest rhythms, the three Dub Conference albums offer a perfect blend of the producer's tasteful grooves (strings, too) and Tubby's equally astute panoply of echo and reverb-riddled mixing board effects.
Bim Sherman & the Revolutionaries - Mighty Ruler / Jah Man Dub Style - Love Records - 1977 Michael Baxter 2024-09-24 | I knew Bim very well. Bim visited Southern Studios and Southern Record Distributors often, a couple of times a month over many years in the nineties. We went to cafe's to eat together. I was a visitor to his home in Turnpike Lane. I was present at his rare live performances that were organised in London. I was also, inevitably, present at his funeral in New Southgate, and later that afternoon, present at the African - Caribbean Centre in Hornsey for the celebration of his life. I employed his teenage son at Southern Record Distributors for a short time after his sad passing in November 2000.I have many fond memories of Bim. His gentle personality, his humour, and the live performances that I attended. Two of the live performances, one at The Sir George Robey in Finsbury Park, and one at the Islington Powerhaus were both special in a deeply personal way for me. As a gentleman I will not name either of the ladies on this YouTube post! These fond memories will never leave my psyche. And course I have a fondness for his sweet vocal style showcased on his large back catalogue of music recorded for various Jamaican record labels, and for Adrian Sherwood's Hit Run and ONU Sound record labels. Bim Sherman album highlights include: 'Lovers Leap' originally released on Scorpio Records.'Love Forever' originally released on Tribesman Records. 'Across The Red Sea' originally released on ON U Sound records, and his work with the ON U Sound All Stars - Singers And Players. This 7" single; 'Mighty Ruler' released on the Love record label is a sweet record showcasing Bim's wonderful sweet voice.May he continue to Rest in Peace. The text below courtesy of the On U Sound website.Hailed as “reggae’s sweetest voice”, Bim Sherman was gifted with a haunting, ethereal vocal ability that reached into the very heart of his listeners.Rooted in reggae, his music developed in later years in many directions, combining influences from all around the world, notably India.In the mid 1970s he recorded a small body of classic roots tunes as a young struggling singer in Jamaica. He later moved to London after being persuaded to join 1979’s Roots Encounter tour alongside renowned toaster Prince Far I, Creation Rebel and Prince Hammer, where he met longtime admirer Adrian Sherwood and began his long relationship with On-U Sound.Adrian comments: “All great singers and vocalists have one thing in common – their voice stands out like a uniquely tuned instrument that only one person can play. Bim Sherman [was] a singer/songwriter with a truly golden tone. I have been throughout his whole career a huge fan. I first heard one of Bim’s songs while working in PAMA records Soundville Shop in Harlesden, London, in the mid 1970s … His was like a voice from the wilderness, the lyrics and fragile power ensured that in every subsequent batch of imports I was looking out for a new Sherman record. I wasn’t disappointed.”Sherman became part of various musical collectives associated with On-U Sound, such as New Age Steppers (alongside Ari Up, formerly of The Slits), Singers And Players (with Congo Ashanti Roy and the late Prince Far-I), Dub Syndicate and Justice League of Zion.In 1994 Bim Sherman took a whole new musical direction. He re-recorded six of his old tunes in an acoustic session at Richard Branson’s Manor Studios, accompanied by Skip McDonald on guitar and Talvin Singh on tablas. He went to India and re-recorded his classic 70s roots tunes alongside a full Indian classical orchestra in Bombay, creating his masterpiece LP, the highly acclaimed Miracle – a fitting testament to reggae’s sweetest voice.Bim Sherman died in London 17th November 2000 at the age of 50. He received an obituary in the London Times, a rare and unlikely accolade for an underground reggae singer.
The Sub-Tract art exhibition - Colin Latter interviewed at the Fisher Gallery for BBC Radio Suffolk Michael Baxter 2024-09-24 | On Monday 23rd September, on BBC Radio Suffolk, Colin was interviewed live at the Fisher Gallery to talk about his artwork being displayed there, amongst other subjects. This YouTube post includes the complete interview that was broadcast along with Colin's excellent paintings that accompany the audio. There seems to have been a slight problem with one of the microphones during some parts of the interview, that is the BBC, not my digitalisation. There is also a word spoken that the BBC objected to, but the interview carried on regardless. Colin Latter : Sub-TractMonday 23rd September - Saturday 9th NovemberThe Fisher Theatre Gallery based at 10 Broad Street, Bungay in Suffolk, is excited to present a bold show full of raw energy by punk artist Colin Latter.Colin was totally immersed in the early days of punk in the 70s and 80s, and was the founding member and vocalist of Flux of Pink Indians. Flux toured with punk bands such as Crass, Poison Girls, D&V, Alternative, the System, Antisect, Chumbawamba, KUKL (Björk's first band) and poets such as Annie Anxiety and Andy T. Flux also performed hundreds of one-off gigs with dozens of other bands. Flux had three albums and two 7" singles released during the bands lifetime. Colin used his artistic skills to design gig posters and artwork for several alternative record labels.In this exhibition, Colin presents a very personal collection of works, depicting inanimate everyday objects of the mid-20th century - a Dansette record player, a transistor radio, a calculator, an Olivetti typewriter - alongside tubes of oil paint. Colin's appreciation of painting beautiful artworks was inherited from his father, who was also a painter."I'm drawn to unusual shapes, sharp lines and objects that were futuristic in the 50s and 60s," says Colin. "This was a key period for me, and quite a difficult one too, because it was around the time my father died. This latest work is very personal and comes from the heart - almost like a continuation of that time when my father was painting. It also feels natural for me to push the perspective in my paintings, and to exaggerate colour. There's a punk vibe still alive and well in me and it shows very clearly in my work."The Sub-Track art exhibition runs until the 9th November.
NECRO - ten songs from a practice session - January 1982 Michael Baxter 2024-08-22 | Uploaded today is another Necro practice this time from January 1982. My previous YT post also featured Necro, another practise session for a later (and indeed last) line-up (when my younger brother had joined as the guitarist). That other practice session was recorded in January 1983.This practice session recorded in January 1982, is predictably far rougher than the practice session recorded in 1983. Necro had only been a full band for a few weeks prior to this practice session, and no one from the band had ever played an instrument, or had any previous involvement in any bands before, so the band were just getting to grips with the instruments that they had at their disposal. Also the members of Necro were fourteen years old. So please BE KIND. FILE UNDER: Historical document. This cassette tape has a few dropouts, and the first thirty seconds are a bit chewed up. Flyers: Steve Base. Photos and words below: Tim Voss. Necro, were a group of school friends with similar interests in music who spent most of their time sitting around each other’s bedrooms listening to records that we had bought, and cooking up ways to form a band. Andy’s older brother played bass, and mine played guitar so we could talk a bit about the practical side of music. Andy, after much saving up, bought a Les Paul copy guitar, covered it in CND stickers and paid an acquaintance to build an amp with built in fuzz box. Do not forget, purchasing instruments back in the early 1980’s was much more expensive than it is now. I eventually saved the money to buy a small drum kit, with some help of the £100 left to me by my gran.The band, a band in theory, had been formed. During Saturday afternoons in the autumn of 1981 the curtains were drawn in my parent’s backroom as they ‘went shopping’ for the afternoon, bless them. The amps were fired up, drums were attacked mercilessly. It was glorious, out of time, out of tune and chaotic. Friends came around with various instruments and then left.My inept drumming was matched by Andy’s belief that all you needed to know was open ‘E’ and then bar chords to play any tune. We attempted to play Clash songs, Crass songs, and UK Subs songs. Steve, although not around during the initial rehearsals had the best record collection of us all, and who was quite wordy, joined on vocals and by late autumn or early winter the group had settled down to have Steve on vocals, Andy guitar, Bill on bass and myself on drums.Andy and I had spent the half term school holiday writing half a dozen songs, Steve had produced the name Necro. We would settle for that as a decent name to shock some of the public who actually would know what the name Necro meant. All that we needed now was for the world to listen.Revolution rarely happens in isolation and whilst we were planning and rehearsing to take the world on, there was a whole bunch of other groups in the Ware and Hertford area doing the same. From the angry to the arty, from poets to the punks. Bands like Onslaught, Virus, Moscovite 5, Rig Veda and the Twins, Dicotoledan, Timmy and the Wheelbarrows, the Plugs, the Frets, and a whole other set of bands I cannot remember the names of with so many years passing. Some bands were real runners, some bedroom pipe dreams, but all were coming out of the mire at the same time in the same place. Necro were primarily mates, and we would go along to hear Onslaught, the then top punk band from the area, practice and the floor shook they were so loud! Rig Veda were arty like Orange Juice and were cool. Each one of these bands and the members, were a crucial ingredient in the very scene that was emerging. The winter of 1981 going through to 1982 was cold and long. A number of gigs were being arranged by friends at the Pioneer Hall and at the Richard Hale School in Hertford. All gigs were CND benefits, though probably not big fund raisers as they were only 60p or less to get in, and only around fifty people in attendance!The early gigs were chaotic and brilliant fun, the audience being made up of mates and people from other bands. Necro played at the local Hertford Conservative Club; surely, we could convert the ruling classes with our blend of music, lyrics and slogans written on the back of our leather jackets? A teacher at school was a club member and we asked if we could play on the night. He had no idea what sort of music we played. He got us a spot on a Saturday disco night. A friendly art teacher with a penchant for the Clash drove us to the club. After arriving things clearly were not going to go as planned, and after just one song the microphone we borrowed off of the DJ was pulled and Andy’s lovely fuzz box bearing amp unplugged. We were “Banned from the Tory Club - Okay - Never much liked playing there anyway - Think they only wanted well-behaved boys”. Top street-cred ratings.The teacher went onto state later; “You should never dismiss seeing a band twice, but Necro is the exception to the rule.”
NECRO - six songs from a practice session - January 1983 - PLUS - Necros War Is Over fanzine 1983 Michael Baxter 2024-07-30 | Steve and I were looking for a guitarist and bassist. Rob Baxter came along with a bass guitar and a top record collection no doubt some pilfered from elder brother Mickey (at some point much later in the 1980’s to be known as ‘Penguin’). Simon was a friend from another band who joined on guitar.Although Simon was a good friend, he didn’t really get what we wanted to do and after a disastrous gig at the Triad Club in Bishops Stortford, noted for all four of us travelling in Rob and Mickey’s dad’s car with a guitar amp across our collective legs, a confrontation with skinhead Nazis and sadly missing out on a trick as Steve and Simon from the Newtown Neurotics along with Colin from Flux were in the audience to witness our band Necro’s performance. I very much doubt that performance impressed them.Simon left and we were on the search for another guitarist. We rehearsed with a heavy metal freak called Martyn, but those rehearsals were thankfully short lived. So, the solution came from within the band itself. Rob was learning the guitar and Steve the bass, so it made sense to follow our noses and become a three piece. Rehearsals were torturous for my mum and dads’ neighbours, but we battled on and the sound took on a rawer quality. The cassettes of these rehearsals sounded okay, and we had a couple of gigs to aim for. Rob developed a nice trebly sound to his guitar, which was exciting and angular, and Steve could hold a simple bassline down as he shouted along.Gig number one as a three piece was at the Rye Road youth centre in Hoddesdon in February 1983, it had been a snowy, cold, wet winter and a thick layer of slush lay on the roads as the minibus we were using with mates piled in, pulled up outside the youth club. Myself and Steve not really knowing the Hoddesdon scene that well, chatted to the other bands and got to know each other. Rob and his brother Mickey lived just around the corner to the Rye Road youth centre in this unglamorous town on the Essex / Hertfordshire border. Hoddesdon at that time had a large skinhead population. Necro played, we were quite good, there was a bit of aggro from some Hoddesdon skinheads and then the Malteser incident happened! What was a single Malteser wittily sent flying at the band by someone in the audience, which I thought was hilarious, soon turned into Necro being ‘maltesered’ while on the stage! Necro unwillingly now etched forever in Hoddesdon punk gig folklore! Some of the skinheads threw lighted match boxes (full of a complete set of now ignited matches) at Rob’s head several times throughout the general heckling, but that was good natured (I think) as Rob and Mickey vaguely knew those skinheads. Necro performed at the Rye Road youth centre in April 1983, a performance which went without incident. During May, the next gig was to be at the Hartham Common Peace Festival in Hertford. Myself, Steve, and other friends had been instrumental in organising the festival. A friendly lorry driver had been persuaded to park his lorry there to form the stage, it was true DIY and we had bagged Flux Of Pink Indians to headline. Necro and Strontium were also to to be performing on the day, in what was planned as a celebratory afternoon in aid of CND, but in true fashion things did not go according to plan.During the event it became clear that the tight stage time plan for the festival had gone and the time slots allocated to the support bands had just slipped away. D & V showed up with Flux of Pink Indians and took the stage unannounced to perform a set! Flux of Pink Indians argued with the NF on stage (lasting about ten minutes) and for these reasons, among some smaller organisational timing hiccups, I had to explain to the people in the crowd, and to the members of the bands, that ‘our bands’ could not perform due to time restrictions. Our disgruntled bands all walked around with guitars and drumsticks looking lost. Flux of Pink Indians then played a glorious set with the steps up to the ‘stage’ being guarded by a single police officer! The P.A system during Flux Of Pink Indians set was so loud that a wedding in a nearby church had to be stopped as they could not hear what was being said. One of the elders of the festival organisers did mention to me that he had not been told that this would happen. Truth was, no-one knew. After the Hartham Peace Festival disappointment, Steve who I had a feeling had been thinking of moving on, decided to leave the band. I was quite upset. Steve had become my closest mate and the band had been a platform for that friendship. But I knew that he had had enough of it and wanted to concentrate on other things in his life. Although I had formed a good friendship with Rob, and we both tried to continue for a short while, Necro was not going to work without the main lyricist and vocalist, so the band just drifted to an end. I did feel a little bit guilty about the band finishing just as Rob had started to stamp his mark on it though.
Collins All Stars - Hallelujah & Earthquake - Randys Records Michael Baxter 2024-07-29 | The songs 'Hallelujah' and 'Earthquake' from Sir Collins' All Stars, both great organ-led cuts which was a popular sound with the British skinheads of the latter years of the sixties. Great stuff.The words below from; Jamaica Observer and Ham & High websitesMARCH 2018 - Reggae pioneer and co-founder of Dalston’s legendary Four Aces Club Charlie ‘Clancy’ Collins, AKA Sir Collins, has died aged eighty one years old.Known as Sir Collins, he was born and raised in Greenwich Farm, Kingston. He moved to England at twenty years old and quickly established himself in the country's growing Jamaican and Caribbean community. With the help of his boyhood friend, producer Bunny Lee, Collins returned to Jamaica regularly during the late sixties to conduct recording sessions with artistes.Using Lee's session musicians, Collins did a number of songs with Jamaican performers who had a following in England, including Owen Gray. Most of those songs were for his Collins Down Beat label. It was with Gray that he had his greatest musical success. Their collaboration produced songs which were popular in British reggae circles.After Collins Down Beat, Charlie placed studio reels with Trojan Records between 1969 and 1971 releasing several singles on the subsidiaries Jackpot, Duke Records and Smash. His studio bands at this time were The Earthquakes, The Black Diamonds and Dials.In 1971, Charlie moved to the Ackee label before establishing his Sir Collins Music Wheel label in 1973. By 1975 Charlie had wrapped up Sir Collins Music Wheel in favour of the B&C Sound and Nice One imprints.Antonio “Chips” Richards, another Jamaican who made his name in the British music industry, remembers Collins as “a real radical”. According to Richards, who worked with Trojan Records, “He used to hang out with people like (Count) Suckle and Duke Vin — a set of characters.”Charlie launched the Dalston Lane Four Aces club venue in 1967 with Newton Dunbar, naming it after the image on the sound system he had built and toured the country with. The club was at the heart of the black music scene that emerged following the arrival of Afro-Caribbean immigrants, and played host to Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. It was housed in the old Dalston Theatre, the foyer of which Charlie was already running as Rambling Rose and Club C. It was there that he was MC for a 1966 concert by Motown’s hottest new act Stevie Wonder.The same year the Four Aces opened; Charlie returned to Jamaica to produce rocksteady records with childhood friend Bunny Lee.The first track he brought back to London, 'Sir Collins Special', became a huge hit in reggae circles – helped no doubt by relentless promotion at the Four Aces club. On the back of the success, Charlie would issue dozens more songs on his Collins Down Beat label, mostly backed by Lee. They are now some of the most sought after records of the genre.Music was in Charlie’s blood. Born in the economically poor but musically rich seaside district of Greenwich Town in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1937, he grew up in a musical family in which his elder brothers Livingstone and Wallace played in his father’s showband, the Collins Brothers and Their Swinging Aces.Aged twenty, Charlie arrived in Southampton with a small suitcase and stayed with Wallace and another brother Ivan in their Kentish Town flat.Speaking in 2007, Charlie recalled: “The first thing I did after coming to England was build a sound system in Kentish Town called Sir Collins Downbeat. I would play merengue, calypso, US R&B, people like Shirley & Lee, Rosco Gordon, Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, Elvis Presley’s All Shook Up and the twist. I used to go ballroom dancing at venues like the Lyceum in the Strand and Hammersmith Palais.“Then after I built my sound system, I started to hold house parties where I lived. I met up with Duke Vin in Ladbroke Grove and we started to play together all over the country, in places like Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Reading, Leeds and Nottingham. I also used to play every Sunday evening at the Flamingo Club in Soho with Georgie Fame.”Charlie opened his first venue, Sir Collins Club, in Caledonian Road in the early sixties, and was also involved with Morgan’s Club in Holloway. He acquired his first Dalston venue after attending a car auction and chatting to the landlord, who told him he had a big hall going spare. He ran it as the 007 Club, and from there moved to Dalston Theatre and the Four Aces club.His life came crashing down in 1981, when his son Steve, one of eight children, was among thirteen youngsters killed in a fire at a New Cross house party. Steve, a promising singer with Trojan Records, had been DJing on a sound system built by his father.The blaze sparked huge protests across the local community and across London as a whole.Charlie credited it with ruining his life, and his marriage to Phyllis Lee. He planted thirteen trees in the garden of the Four Aces club in memory.
The Royals - Strange World & No One Knows - Kingdom Records - 1981 Michael Baxter 2024-06-19 | I had an hour and a half (yes an hour and a half) conversation on the telephone a few weeks ago with the great Roy Cousins of The Royals. It was lovely to speak to him, I had not spoken to him for a very long time. Roy is seventy five years old now, but is still sharp in mind. His ears and eyes are fading just a little bit, saying that though his eyesight was never that great over thirty years ago, but whatever! Roy is one of the sweetest people in the reggae industry, and is a generous man with a warm-heart. I have known him since the early nineties, through helping to distribute his Tamoki Wambesi and Dove record labels via my warehouse manager job at Southern Record Distribution, most people know me as Mickey 'Penguin' back then. Roy, Bim Sherman (Century Records), Jah Woosh (Original Records) amongst other reggae artists would appear in the warehouse on a regular basis, bringing in stock for SRD to distribute through the UK and abroad.For some years SRD also distributed Chris's Greensleeves record label, Adrian Sherwood's On U Sound record label, and Pete Holdsworth's Pressure Sounds record label... Conscious Sounds, Riz, Zion Train and dozens of other record labels went through the SRD warehouse at one time or another. I decided to listen to this 12" record earlier and to digitalise it for this YT post. The A-side song 'Strange World' has a nice bassy bouncy feel with Roy and the Royals pretty perfect trademark singing and wailing backing vocals. A wonderful song filled with beauty. The B-side song 'No One Knows' is a far more strange affair. I am no musician, so I do not know the correct terminology with beat structure, but it is the kind of rhythm that listening to the song quietly, or perhaps some light swinging along to, is far preferable to actually trying to dance to. Starting with a combined light guitar and bass line that would have not been out of place in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury in 1966, the song's rhythm kicks in, the hand-drum offbeat slightly confusing with the vocal line. I like it this song.This era of the Royals is often overlooked, people, correctly searching out for the sixties Joe Gibbs era or the mid seventies reggae era that eventually spawned one of the finest reggae albums of that era, 'Pick Up The Pieces'.The album's 'Ten Years After' and 'Israel Be Wise' followed on where 'Pick Up The Pieces' left off towards the end of the seventies.The sixties and the seventies are both essential era's for the Royals. The only album to be released in this early eighties era was 'Move Forward' and like many reggae roots albums released in the early eighties, suffering being overlooked and perceived as 'outdated' due to the massive swing to 'Dancehall' bashment DJ's along with a renewed sound system culture, many of the participants promoted the three 'G's'; Gangs, Guns and Girls, mostly in an X rated and recklessly negative way.Other general slack subjects were also featured on their records and during live performances. Several older rocksteady, early reggae, and roots-reggae artists suffered to these new pretenders while releasing albums in the early eighties, especially on the island of Jamaica itself, the same albums were receiving slightly better trade in the UK and of course other European countries, but nothing like the latter years of the sixties and throughout the seventies. The album 'Moving On' does have it's moments. The songs 'Facts of Life', 'Swing Low' and 'Rising Sun' are great. Words below ripped from Discogs highlighting the line up changes of the Royals.The harmony group called The Royals changed its line up many times but the core has always been Roy Anthony Cousins. Born in Kingston in 1945, Roy started to sing at the Church of God' Junior Choir when he was a child. At nineteen Roy joined his first vocal group with some friends. Soon he formed a group with the guitarist Berthram "Harry" Johnson and a friend called Lloydie. The first Royals were formed in 1964 with Errol Green, Berthram "Harry" Johnson, Trevor McFarlane, Maurice "Professor" Johnson and of course Roy. Maurice soon tragically died after quitting the group and forming the Tennors. In 1965 The Royals cut their first single called "House On The Hill", followed by "We Are In The Mood". In 1967 they changed their name to The Tempests. They moved to Studio One and Coxsone Dodd made them record eight tracks that were not released at the time. Years later the single "Pick Up The Pieces" was released, first credited to The Tempests and soon later to The Royals. After the Studio One session Errol Green and Trevor McFarlane left the group and Errol Wilson (AKA Errol Nelson), Keith Smith and Ivan Renee joined in. Renee soon was murdered and Smith moved to Canada. By the same time Berthram "Harry" Johnson moved away to play bass elsewhere. Later in 1978 Errol Wilson joined Black Uhuru.
Blyth Power - Ambulance Station - Old Kent Road - London SE1 - 6th April 1985 Michael Baxter 2024-05-08 | I went to the squatted Ambulance Station situated along Old Kent Road in Bermondsey, south London, for three of my favoured bands of the eighties. Blyth Power, The Astronauts and Blood and Roses. Blood and Roses had imploded in 1983, which was a shame, but by 1985 the band were ready to record more material (eventually releasing one 7"/12" single and an album) and perform a few concerts. Blyth Power were not around in 1983, the band being formed at the dawn of 1984. Throughout 1985 the band was riding high on peoples 'must see' lists, and there were some wonderful gigs during that year. The Astronauts were around for years prior to 1983, and remained 'around for years' long after this concert! This gig at the Ambulance Station was enjoyable, and it was my only visit to this beautiful looking old Grade II listed building.During the mid-eighties, Bermondsey in South London was about as grim as it gets, and when this lovely building was squatted and in poor condition, no one would have thought that it was, or would ever have a Grade II protective status. With some synchronicity, also in the mid-eighties over the other side of the river Thames, in the equally grim Hackney, another Grade II building was being squatted, and being used for the odd concert by Blyth Power and other less salubrious bands. Sutton House was a large mansion from the Tudor era, and was temporarily renamed by the squatters; the Blue House. Eventually all the squatters were unceremoniously thrown out on the pavement and English Heritage restored the building into it's former Tudor glory. Sutton House is a really nice building, you can still visit the building today via English Heritage.A FACT: The Ambulance Station was incorrectly named. The building was actually a fire station which was used from 1903 to 1971. This fire station replaced an earlier 1868 fire station on the same spot. I haven't got a scooby how the word 'ambulance' came about, presumably one of the squatters thought it used to be, and named it so. Anyway no matter. This gig was a great event and during Blyth Power's set, there was a 'bomb scare'. No one got blown up so all was well. I was there in the audience mainly for Blood and Roses, so I wouldn't have been too happy to have been blown up prior to Blood and Roses revival performance! My cassette tape of this gig is an audience recording, which is of a decent quality. The poster featured is from my collection, and was taken off of the wall of the venue.
Blyth Power - My Ladys Games & Chevy Chase & God Has Gone Wrong Again - ROUGH MIXES - February 1985 Michael Baxter 2024-05-07 | Three songs recorded at Street Level studios, west London in February 1985 at the sessions for the 'Chevy Chase' EP, engineered and produced by 'Sweetness and Light', which is written on the cassette tape box! The moniker 'Sweetness and Light' would be Grant Showbiz and Justin Adams.These three tracks are the ROUGH recordings recorded on the day at Street Level studios, and were yet to be overdubbed and mixed for the 'Chevy Chase' EP which was released in August 1985 on the All The Madmen record label. The fourth track on this EP 'Song of the Third Cause' was not on this cassette tape which is a shame, just the other three tracks 'My Lady's Games', 'Chevy Chase' and 'God Has Gone Wrong Again'. Also it is a shame that although my cassette tape is a first gen copy straight from source, at the very end of both 'Chevy Chase' and 'God Has Gone Wrong Again' the audio drops out for a second or two rather noticeably, which is pretty annoying. The three tracks on this cassette tape, the rough recordings from the 'Chevy Chase' sessions, are of course unreleased into the inter-web world.All promo stuff, photograph and the flyers are from my collection. An interview snippet with Grant Showbiz below.Showbiz started as a soundman for anarcho-hippy punks Here and Now in 1976. Showbiz ran the sound and stage at many free festivals such as Windsor and Stonehenge. Stamping his personality on proceedings, using a microphone plugged into the soundboard, he would often amiably harangue those onstage to get on with it, or off, as circumstances might merit. He quickly forged links with the punk scene, producing albums for Alternative TV and The Fall. In 1979 he set up the Ladbroke Grove-based Street-Level Studio with Kif Kif (ex-drummer of Here And Now) and José Gross (ex-keyboard player from Here And Now, guitarist from Blank Space and The Real Imitations). The studio hosted and recorded a swathe of bands including The Fall, Alternative TV, Mark Perrys' Good Missionaries, The Door And The Window, 012, World Domination Enterprises, The Mob, Impossible Dreamers, The Astronauts, Blyth Power, Brian Brain, The Petticoats, Androids Of Mu, The Instant Automatons and many others. Many of the recordings were released on the associated pioneering D.I.Y record label Fuck Off Records. Around this time Showbiz also began making music himself, playing bass in Blue Midnight.Q/ Can you tell us a little about your early life...was anyone in your family musical and what sort of music did you listen to as a teenager?I loved music from an early age although the only musician in my family was my grandmother - I can remember the piano she had, but not really hearing her play. I was entranced by lyrics from an early age and could recite The Beatles’ songs verbatim (and at great volume). I had my own band at nine: called The Wonders, and I wrote and recorded two songs on my dad's Elizabethan reel to reel tape machine. I also developed a method of recording from the TV by taping the mic onto the speaker on the front of the set - I would hover by the record button throughout The Monkees show and tape the songs, but not the dialogue. Later on I can remember a brilliant solo Neil Young show.Once a teenager I consumed masses of pop - first single The Animals 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' first album Nilsson 'Aerial Ballet' and worshipped at the dual shrines of John Peel and Kenny Everett (before he became a twat). Bowie / Reed / Beefheart /Rundgren and Gong became my joy. Got to Bowie just before ‘Hunky Dory’ so was around for the whole explosion of success. I marvelled at the fact that Todd Rundgren played all the instruments himself on ‘Something / Anything’ and even printed track sheets which showed each instrument went down individually - I imagined him playing the bass drum all the way through the track then going back and adding the snare, then high hat and so on! At fifteen Gong invited me back to their farm in Oxford and suddenly I was initiated in to the whole running of a band - Steve Hillage took me under his wing when I was seventeen and taught me basic sound control skills. My first professional gig was guitar roadie for Steve when he supported Queen in Hyde Park. That was where I saw my first proper mixing desk, love at first sight.Q/ Are you still in contact with any of the old Here and Now crowd and do you know if any of them are still involved in the music business?Kif Kif (the Drummer) and I still chat once a year or so - we both left the band in 1979 and built a studio called Street Level where "Pay Your Rates" an "Container Drivers" were recorded. He had a brilliant band called World Domination Enterprises, but then got really ill and dropped out of music biz.Steffy does spacey dub reggae stuff and made an album with Gilli from Gong called "Glo". Gavin who played keyboards went back to office work. Keith the Missile Bass and Steffy occasionally put together a Here and Now band to tour.Martin Peters
Blyth Power - Pinder of Wakefield - Kings Cross N1 - 10th March 1985 Michael Baxter 2024-05-04 | It is the autumn of 1985 and I am asked to go to Holloway Prison to pick up a friend who had just completed a nine month prison sentence for being involved in a stabbing in Harlow. My friend did not actually stab the victim; her boyfriend did. He had a considerably longer sentence handed down to him by the Court. They were both skinheads. I was not working, just signing on at the Labour Exchange every couple of weeks, so I agreed to drive to Holloway and pick her up from prison. Turning up at the prison I saw that she still had the same look, bleached short feather cut hair, Union Jack T-shirt, bleached jeans, boots and braces. She got in the car that I had borrowed and I told her that I needed to go to Hackney to get a couple of records. Having no choice in the matter she reluctantly agreed. Ending up at Brougham Road in Hackney I searched for number 96 while driving along slowly squinting in between the parked coaches, caravans and various cars in various states of repair trying to see any of the numbers on any of the doors. Dogs without leads were playfully running around, wood smoke was coming from one of the parked coaches, curtains on that coach closed. Battered old army surplus boots and other clothing lay around the front ‘gardens’, I assumed thrown out and long forgotten. All the small terraced houses along that side of the street seemed run down. The overall grimness of each house was interrupted slightly by each house having a pastel colour painted around the doors and on the window sills. One house had one pastel colour; the next house had a different pastel colour and so forth.After parking up, we both walked to number 96. I knock on the door and we waited patiently. The door swings open and a large man is in the middle of the doorway. I ask nervously. “Is this the correct place for All The Madmen Records?” He tells me it is, and then looks over my shoulder to see the skinhead girl behind me. Due to this sighting, he starts to interrogate me further. “Who are you?”“What is it you want?” “Are you sure you are at the right place?”I insist that we are here for All The Madmen Records and he finally lets us both in. This person I was shortly going to know was J.C, a South African who had been living over in London for several years after dodging national service in the S.A army. Almost stepping on the cat, my friend and I both shuffled up a thin staircase and immediately saw a woman dressed all in black with long crimped black hair sitting on the top of the staircase looking incredibly nervous at both of us walking up the staircase. She cowered as we walked passed. This person I was shortly going to know was Louise a veteran of various dismal squats from years past. An ex-member of the ‘Puppy Collective’, an ex-member of The Witches and Youth In Asia, and who was shortly to front a band called Hysteria Ward. There was a smell of dampness, roll your own tobacco and cats evident around this small terraced house. I walked into a small room which over looked the street that was filled up with the coaches, caravans and various cars in various states of repair. There was a small table against the single window. Some record racks on the right and various other cassettes and fanzines stored around the room along with stacks of untidy paperwork and a large double cassette recorder. In this small office was another large man who asked who I was and what I wanted in a very pleasant tone. I told him that I wanted to buy the Blyth Power 12”single ‘Chevy Chase’ E.P which had been released recently and would also like to look in the racks. This person I was shortly going to know was Sean ‘Gummidge’ who at that time was an avid follower of Blyth Power, as I recognised him from the gigs. I was allowed to look in the record racks, and my friend sat on the floor in the hallway looking bored outside the office. After about ten minutes I had chosen a couple more records, the boredom that my (recently released from prison) friend was suffering, was almost over. I had to go, and as I did I gave the large man my details and a told him to call me up if he ever wanted any help. I explained that I was not doing anything just signing on. The large man replied that he would give my details to the man in charge who was out at that time.My friend and I walked along the hallway and back down the stairs where the lady in black was still camped out. She cowered again as we both walked past and after exiting the building we once more breathed in wood smoke from that coach with the curtains drawn. My friend and I got back into the car and I drove off with my newly bought records and eventually deposited her safely back home for ciders.After a week, I received a telephone call.I started to help out at All The Madman, and I continued to until early 1988 when the company wound down. The flyer and all photographs from my collection, one photograph is of Blyth Power at the Pinder of Wakefield at this gig.
NY Scumhaters - Yesterdays Dreams & Man Alone / The Demolition Company - Psalm 391 & Bitter Sweet Michael Baxter 2024-04-28 | I am saddened to learn of Karl Reid's passing. Karl's passing was sudden and tragic.On this, my new YouTube video, a little way along in the scrolling images, Karl has the blue shirt on. The photograph is badly out of focus, but I think it is the only photograph that I have of Karl. The photograph was taken in 1987 in the city of Birmingham, and features myself, then next to me is 'Father' Raymond (may he rest in peace), Karl with the blue shirt, and on the right of the photograph is Steve from one of the early Norwich punk bands, the Disrupters. We were all in Birmingham for a Blyth Power and Thatcher on Acid gig at the Mermaid venue.Karl was a kindly soul who I had known since 1985. He was so keen on Xmal Deutschland, Blyth Power and Psychic TV so we had plenty to chat about. We would both attend the gigs by those bands, but we also attended gigs by many dozens of other bands that would perform regularly at small venues on the alternative music circuit. Meeting Karl would pretty much be a constant throughout the mid-eighties to the dawn of the nineties. It was quite hard NOT to bump into Karl at gigs! Karl was everywhere, and always enthusiastic.Karl produced two fanzines in 1987/88 and formed his band the NY Scumhaters, with Johnny, who also helped with the two fanzines. The NY Scumhaters was a moniker inspired by the Psychic TV album, 'NY Scumhaters'. Karl was the guitarist. I witnessed the NY Scumhaters perform on two or three occasions, and the band was pretty good. I had the pleasure of distributing two or three boxes of Karl's, Scumhaters' 7" single, as well as some of his fanzines when I was concentrating on my King Penguin Distribution mail order company in the latter eighties.I could chat with Karl for ages, he was always kind and considerate to others, and loved his industrial, anarcho, greebo, punk and indie bands, and all the scenes in which those bands resided, if that is the correct terminology.Rest easy Karl. With LOVE always xBelow is part of an interview from 1989, with Karl about the history of the NY Scumhaters. “Way back in 1986 Johnny Lenhater and myself formed a band to be known as The Alchemist, named after the book by Ben Johnson. Our first practise was on 29th May at the Norwich community workshop. People came and went, both through our choice and there’s until we eventually arrived at our first steady lineup of Louise on vocals, myself (Karl) on guitar, Johnny on drums and Jarrard on bass. Shortly after the departure of Louise we recorded our first demo at the flying Pig studios in Hethersett, Steve Hansell from the Disrupters helped out on some backing vocals. By this time, we had already changed our name to NY Scumhaters as the original band name may have sounded a bit gothic. A few more singers followed but didn’t last for long. Sooner or later Liz joined, and our first gig came on the 2nd December 1987 supporting 14 Iced Bears at the Norwich arts centre. This was shortly followed by a gig at the Shirehall pub, and another at the White Hart pub in Costessey. From then on, we proceeded to play several gigs at the Jacquard and Norwich arts centre with bands such as Blyth Power, Fuzztones, the Hard Ons and Sink. Previous to this we were due to play at the free open air events in Meanwhile Gardens, West London, but the right wing conservative Kensington borough council put a stop to that. NB; I have added a flyer for this cancelled gig to the video. Somewhere along the line, Jarrard dramatically left and was replaced by Adie. This incarceration lasted until late 1988 until Liz decided to leave. Once again, the search was on for a new vocalist, or two as the case may be. Paula and Kate were recruited, and Matt was brought in on bass guitar after Adie started a band with his brother. With a set of mainly new material, we played for the first time on 7th June 1989 with Bomb Disneyland at the hit factory in Great Yarmouth”. NB; I have added the flyer to another gig with Bomb Disneyland, at the Jacquard the month after, 5th July 1989.The Demolition Company, the second band on the other side of this 7” record are from Basildon in Essex, and comprised of Sean Stokes and Colin Murrell, although for some reason Colin does not seem to appear on this 7” record, but someone called Simon Canning does. Maybe Colin left by 1989. I remember going to see Andy Martin and Dave Fanning of the Apostles at 108 Brougham Road in Hackney often from the mid-eighties, and Colin and Sean were spoke of by Andy Martin in positive terms (which is no mean feat) towards the end of the decade. Sean featured as a member of the Apostles at the end of the eighties, and the Demolition Company had one side of the cassette album, backed up with the Apostles on the other side of the cassette. That cassette album is called ‘Cartography’ and is available to listen to on my YouTube channel if you use the search function. THIS YOUTUBE POST IS DEDICATED TO KARL REID – REST IN PEACE
Junior Delgado & Hugh Mundell - Away With Your Fussing / Augustus Pablo - King David Melody Michael Baxter 2024-04-22 | An extended play 12" record featuring not one A - list reggae artist, but three A - list reggae artists: Junior Delgado, Hugh Mundell and Augustus Pablo.Just one of those reggae artists featured would be enough to invest in an extended 12" record. All three reggae artists on both sides of this 12" is a blessing. I especially like the wailing backing vocals throughout the Junior Delgado cut. Marvellous stuff. This 12" record is great, well worth investing fifteen minutes of your time. Essay below is a snippet from the allmusic webpage. In a crowded field, Junior Delgado stands out amongst Jamaica's consummate roots performers, one whose distinctively expressive, and slightly husky, vocals have seen his popularity remain undiminished, even after styles changed and his original forte was pushed away by dancehall. Born August 25, 1958, in Kingston, Jamaica, Delgado began singing in his teens as Junior Hibbert, with the vocal group Time Unlimited. In 1973, the quartet came under the wing of the seminal producer Lee Perry, who both groomed the group and recorded them. Unfortunately, little of this material was released, but eventually Time Unlimited did score a hit with 'Reaction.'A higher profile brought more opportunities, and the group recorded singles for producers Rupie Edwards and Tommy Cowan, although none of these enjoyed the success of 'Reaction.' The group moved on to work with Bunny Lee, but these sessions went nowhere, and in frustration Hibbert quit the quartet in 1975 to pursue a solo career, changing his moniker to Junior Delgado at the same time. Delgado was his long-time nickname, taken from the Spanish word for skinny.Initially, Delgado remained in the shadows. Sessions with producer Niney Holness proved equally futile, as did a momentary name change to Jooks. Success only came after the singer moved to Dennis Brown's DEB label and set to work with producer Earl "Chinna" Smith. Their first collaboration, 'Tition,' bore fruit and set the stage for a string of further hits, including 'Famine' and 'Devil's Throne,' which culminated in Delgado's 1978 debut album, 'Taste of the Young Heart'. The following year, the singer started his own label, Incredible Jux, on which he released his follow-up full-length, 'Effort'.At the same time, Delgado continued recording singles with other noted producers, including Prince Jammy and Joe Gibbs, and with Augustus Pablo, for whom he cut the crucial 'Blackman's Heart Cries Out' and 'Away With You Fussing and Fighting' singles. The artist spent the early '80s splitting his time between recording and touring Britain, where he proved as popular as in Jamaica. Essay below is a snippet from Far Out magazine.At the age of 16, Mundell released his debut LP, 'Africa Must Be Free' By 1983. Released by Message Records in Jamaica and Greensleeves in the UK, the album quickly established Mundell among the most promising young artists of the reggae genre. This reputation was boosted by the sheer volume of iconic reggae figures that had a hand in creating the album, including Lee “Scratch” Perry, who took on production duties for ‘Let’s All Unite’ and ‘Why Do Black Man Fuss & Fight’.The next few years saw Mundell build his career, touring all over the globe as well as establishing a successful sound system in Jamaica under the name Jah Levi. However, his success would be tragically short-lived. In October of 1983, Mundell found his house had been ransacked and promptly turned the perpetrator to the police. Days later, on the 14th of October, the man’s brother approached Mundell’s car, demanding the release of the burglar. After an argument, Mundell was shot to death in his car, sitting beside his wife, with dancehall deejay Junior Reid in the backseat.Two years after the murder of Mundell, 25-year-old labourer Ricardo Codrington was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for manslaughter. Although the murder may have provided an untimely end to the promising career of the reggae star, it certainly did not damage his legacy. His murder left some unanswered questions about how his discography might have progressed, but it did nothing to damage the quality of the record he had already released. To this day, the recordings he had made as a teenager remain some of the defining reggae tracks of the late 1970s.
Jah Shaka drops the Revolutionaries Kunta Kinte dub plate at Acton Town Hall Michael Baxter 2024-04-12 | It has been a year since Jah Shaka passed on, but his legacy lives on always.REST IN PEACE JAH SHAKA. ZULU WARRIOR. Probably the sound system I witnessed most, Fatman a close second. I was at several Jah Shaka sound system events prior to his residency at the Rocket (halfway along Holloway Road) which kicked off on the summer solstice in June 1991, but it was at these events (organised by Nikki at Culture Promotions) that catapulted the Jah Shaka sound system to another level, another league... All those events at the Rocket were massive. I was at many other events whether the Jah Shaka sound system, or watching him fronting his band, The Fasimbas. The Commandments of Dub albums, were for me, ground-breaking, and I still have some of those in my collection, and I am sure one or two will be placed on the turntable soon enough. Continuing condolences to his family, friends and supporters. The words below from the Guardian obituary. The reggae pioneer and record producer Jah Shaka, who has died suddenly in his late 60s, was a giant of the British sound system scene. In a career that lasted more than 55 years, he transformed the sound system landscape with a distinctive and idiosyncratic style, eschewing the dominant trends to focus exclusively on contemporary reggae that was spiritually uplifting and politically relevant, presenting the music as a means of inspiration and empowerment for the disenfranchised and oppressed.At the many dances he held in diverse underground spaces, playing on an ancient and archaic Garrard turntable in a trance-like state, Shaka would chant messages of encouragement as well as exhortations of transcendent devotion to Rastafari, adding custom-built effects and live percussive elements to increase the dramatic tension.Through his masterful use of components such as a pre-amp, a syndrum and a homemade siren box, he made the sessions visceral and immersive, boosting the subsonic bass frequencies at regular intervals to create a transportive and transformative experience. He reinforced this shamanistic persona by not revealing his given name or other details of his personal life.An integral part of the black community of his home base in Lewisham, south-east London, during the late 1970s, Shaka deployed a sonic wizardry that made a dramatic impact on the post-punk music of Public Image Limited and the Slits, whose members were then among the few white attendees of his dances. Broader audiences became aware of his importance when he appeared in Franco Rosso’s evocative 1980 urban drama film Babylon, playing himself at a south London sound system session as the action draws to a climax.Jamaican reggae subsequently underwent dramatic changes during the mid-80s as the dancehall style came to the fore, its output largely preoccupied with lasciviousness, violence and frivolity. British sound systems inevitably embraced the new style, but Shaka opted to become a lone voice in the wilderness that kept the roots reggae flame burning, advancing an up-tempo homegrown variant that became known as UK Steppers.Shaka spent his infant years in rural Clarendon, south Jamaica, before his parents moved the family to the UK in 1956 in search of betterment. They settled in south-east London, and it was while attending Samuel Pepys comprehensive school that he began an apprenticeship on the local soul sound system Freddie Cloudburst, beginning in 1968 as a “box boy”, helping to transport and set up the speaker boxes.Later he ensured that the amplifiers and speakers were functioning properly, and finally became the resident selector to showcase work by Nina Simone, the Temptations, the Drifters, Diana Ross and other Motown acts. Then, after being inspired by activists such as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Angela Davis, as well as his overarching Rastafari faith, he formed his own sound system in 1970, which he named Jah Shaka after the Zulu king.Armed with exclusive dubplates and a powerfully commanding presence on the microphone, Shaka soon began building a name on the sound system underground, triumphing at many a sound clash. But along with the accolades came tensions with the police, who raided a dance he held in Brockley, south-east London, in 1975, beating attendees and damaging his equipment.Undaunted, Shaka established a residency at Phebes nightclub in Stoke Newington, north London, in the late 70s, followed by another at Club Noreik in Tottenham, and was crowned the top sound system at the Black Echoes reggae awards in 1980 and 1981. His audience widened during the 90s, when he enjoyed a popular residency at the Rocket, adjoining the University of North London.Shaka made his first pilgrimage to the African continent in 1984, and established the Jah Shaka Foundation in Ghana in 1992 to distribute medical supplies, library books and other materials to schools and medical clinics. He also undertook charitable works in Ethiopia, Jamaica and Kenya.
Alien Kulture - Roots Rock Rat Skank - 1981 Michael Baxter 2024-04-08 | Alien Kulture - a magnificent band. In 1980, in an address on immigration, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher warned the nation of the dangers of being swamped by alien cultures. By 1981 Britain rejoiced in having the first and so far only Pakistani punk group in the world, Alien Kulture. They recorded just eight tracks in their brief career, including Roots Rock Rat Skank. The words are obvious and all written below. There’s a Grantham grocers’ daughter – she is a national joke but the joke’s gone sour – it’s not funny anymore. She’s doing things that are frightening, frightening and the pressure is tightening, tightning, tightening. Dangerous times for our people – they’re trying to put us under, saying it’s all in the national interest, things should be the way they are. We’re going to rock – roots rock rat skank! We’re going to rock – roots rock rat skank! Take a listen to what we say before she tries to take away any more of our rights because we’re not going under without a fight. We’re going to rock it to the rat skank now! Talking about an alien culture to get an abortion, the only ones who want them are the ‘dirty whores’. A woman's’ leader who don’t care about a woman's’ right to choose, because she and her henchmen are making damned sure that a woman knows her place. Hitting at our everyday lives, trying to hit our people with their show trials, mucking things up for the future, they’re trying to kick us out of town. We’re going to rock – roots rock rat skank! We’re going to rock – roots rock rat skank! Make her listen to what we say before she tries to take away anymore of our rights as we’re not going under without a fight. We’re going to rock it to the rat skank now! Well she’d better know we’ve had enough and we’d better show her that we mean business. Fight back at her repression, fight her plans for our regression. Fight for the rights that cost so much. Fight for the right to run our lives. Fight for the people who are being put under as we’re not going under without a fight. We’re going to swamp her! We’re going to swamp her! We’re going to swamp her! We’re going to swamp her! Swamp her!Better call the rat catcher. Swamp her with our alien culture. Swamp her!Better call the rat catcher. Swamp her with our alien culture. Swamp her!Better call the rat catcher. Swamp her with our alien culture. Swamp her!Better call the rat catcher. Swamp her! Better rock against Thatcher!Alien Kulture released only one record, a 7" with two songs on, 'Culture Crossover' and 'Asian Youth'.In the 1980s it became a popular trend for records by independent groups to have messages etched into the run-off grooves. This refers to a narrow area after the main playing section and before the label itself. On the ‘b’ side is written ‘Alien Kulture Love Asian Youth’ while the ‘a’ side warns ‘Remember Southall And Newham’. This last statement refers to two major incidents in south and east London, each of which motivated Alien Kulture to take themselves seriously once their embarked on their brief career.There is only enough space on this YouTube post to write about the Southall event which centres around a concert at the Hamborough Tavern which The 4 Skins, Last Resort and the Business were performing. There is a grey area about these bands and whether they were fascist or not. Gary Hitchcock, the original drummer and some time manager of the 4 Skins certainly was active in the British Movement, and the bands record from 1981; 'One Law For Them' is about why the whites get picked on for petty fighting at football matches but the alluded 'dark skinned' people get away with rioting while the police look on. Whether that is just moaning about working class life, or something more sinister is in the interpretation. I feel that the Enoch Powell 'rivers of blood' words in the song might not have been the best idea.Interestingly the sleeve for 'One Law For Them' has gentlemen with top hats, presumably at Royal Ascot. The original idea was a riot scene with black people on the cover. Whatever the bands private thoughts the lyrics, apart from the above, generally were pretty ambiguous. What is known, is that these bands had a hardcore skinhead support, many of them with strong fascist sympathies.While the bands hardly constituted a threat themselves, but their legion of supporters took pride in the number of racial assaults they committed on a regular basis. These assaults were generally against very small numbers of Asians who were unable to defend themselves. On this occasion though, and with the Southall riots still a recent memory, the National Front marching there in 1979, and Blair Peace and Clarence Baker, manager of Misty In Roots died and got seriously injured respectively, the Asian community in Southall decided to wreck the skinhead concert and hospitalise as many skinheads as possible. The pub burned down.
Blyth Power - Finsbury Park Red Rose Club - 18th October 1985 Michael Baxter 2024-04-05 | A marvellous evening at the Red Rose Club in Finsbury Park, with Blyth Power, New Kick from St Albans, and the Fifteenth, goth from Portsmouth. All About Eve only performed three songs for reasons that I am unaware of. My mixing desk cassette tape has a few dropouts every now and again, but keep with it as it is a decent performance, and at a time when the first line-up of Blyth Power were at the top of their game.Promo and live photographs are from my collection. The live photographs were taken at Red Rose Club on this night.This gig at the Red Rose Club was a night organised by Jon 'Fat' Beast (Jon Driscoll) who was also involved in the organising the Timebox nights at the Bull and Gate pub in Kentish Town and Timebox 2 nights at the Union Tavern in Stockwell. Other venues that Jon organised gigs at were at the Crown And Castle in Dalston, Chats Palace in Homerton, the Three Crowns in Stoke Newington, and the White Horse in Brixton.Jon was a lovely guy, who promoted so many bands in his time organising gigs, some of the bands were later to be massive. My Bloody Valentine, Pop Will Eat Itself, Voice of a Beehive, Jesus Jones and Pulp for example. He had a part in Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, one of the worst band monikers that I would have ever imagined but CTUSM were quite popular for a while in the mid-eighties. Blyth Power performed several times in several of the venues listed. Jon was also the sound engineer for the nights. Jon sadly died in July 2014. Folk here will know who Blyth Power are, so below is some information cut and pasted off of the Islington Gazette website about the original closure of the Red Rose Club originally published in 2008.The Red Rose Comedy Club in Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, was famous for its intimate and sometimes offbeat comedy performances and had also provided a venue for left-leaning political meetings and a celebrated jazz club. Solicitor Ali Gucerin bought the Red Rose six months ago and said he has lost money on the project. He confirmed he has struck a deal with the mystery investor. According to rumours, denied by Mr Guvercin, the Red Rose is to be turned into a snooker hall.Red Rose founder Ivor Dembina, who now runs the Hampstead Comedy Club, said: “Once the building gets released to a different owner there’s not really a great deal you can do. It’s a loss for the comedy scene. I’m sad because I’ve got fond memories of it. The Red Rose was a focus for much comedy that had a politically radical, intelligent, new side. You’d always get a well-informed audience. Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Stewart Lee, Jo Brand, Lee Evans, Frank Skinner all cut their teeth at venues like the Red Rose. What made it good was its simplicity. We went for a no-frills policy. We didn’t bother with discos and waitress service. We always kept the status of the comedians high.”Its impending closure has dismayed comedians who spent their early years trying out new routines on the Red Rose stage.Jack Dee said: “I always had a good time there and enjoyed the camaraderie. The nature of the circuit has changed though and I suspect they think they can make more money renting it out as a snooker hall, which is a pity.”For Harry Hill, the Red Rose was “a great institution”, an important launch pad for comedians starting out and a club where founder Ivor Dembina operated a tough booking policy. “He didn’t book me for years,” the comedian said. “I was always a bit intimidated by it. It had that long table to the left, which looked to me like the last supper. The crowd were always a little bit judgmental. They’d usually have someone for dinner. There were some great nights there because being a new comic you watched all the other comics every night. I haven’t played it for years but it’s strange to think I’ll never walk off that stage and take that money off Ivor Dembina then stare at it in the car afterwards, repeatedly counting it and saying: ‘Surely, it should have been more than 60 quid?’ ”MP Jeremy Corbyn, who lives close to the venue, was at the opening of the club in 1987.He said: “A lot of people worked very hard to raise money to buy the Red Rose building from the Co-op. We bought it to establish a radical centre and open as a club and it was a centre for great comedy. Some brilliant people, now household names, started in the Red Rose. We have had great meetings there. Speakers have included Tony Benn, Arthur Scargill, the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four. It’s like a litany of principled and radical people in and out of the building over the past twenty years.”Loyal supporters have already collected more than two hundred names on a petition to save the club.Labour councillor Lisa Spall said: “The people who have taken over need to realise that they are not just taking over a pub. They are taking over a club where the people in the community know each other and I don’t think they realise that. They are just in the game for making money.”
Blood & Roses - Ambulance Station - Old Kent Road - London SE1 - 6th April 1985 Michael Baxter 2024-04-04 | At the Ambulance Station for three of my favoured bands of the eighties. Blyth Power, The Astronauts and of course, Blood and Roses. Blood and Roses had imploded in 1983, which was a shame, but by 1985 the band were ready to record more material and perform a few concerts. Instead of Jez, the bassist, and Richard, the drummer from the original line-up Bob and Lisa recruited Ralph Jezzard as the bassist (not to be confused with the other 'Jez') and 'Parrot' banging the drums. Interestingly, at least to me, Ralph Jezzard engineered the debut (and the absolutely stunning) Blood and Roses 12" single, 'Necromantra' which was released in 1983. This second line up of Blood and Roses recorded a decent album, 'Enough Is Never Enough' and one 7" single, 'Some Like It Hot'. This gig at the Ambulance Station was enjoyable and a glorious return of Blood and Roses. At this performance, or rather during Blyth Power's set, there was a 'bomb scare'. No one got blown up so all was well. The poster featured is from my collection, and was taken off of the wall of the venue. The album review below by Andy Martin of the Apostles. Enough Is Never EnoughThe Banshees and UK Decay all pretended to enter this territory but ultimately they failed because they were all too consumed with their own image and they cared too much about what the managers and suits actually thought about them. Blood & Roses prove what is possibly if you Do What Thou Wilt in spite of such irrelevant arse-holes.Some Like It HotTake a 1960s pop piece by, I don’t know, Petula Clark, douse it in LSD and hurl it into a dungeon. Now it’ll sound like this and you can enjoy the experience properly.Your Sin Is Your SalvationUnlike 90% of bands at this time Blood & Roses often gave the bass guitarist something interesting and inventive to play and this is a fine example. Add to that the tendency of the drummer to avoid the standard backbeat and top it off with occasionally odd harmonic twists and you end up with a gloriously strange anthem like this. Of course at the time I failed to appreciate stuff like this because I was too busy listening to Ornette Coleman, desperate to avoid anything even remotely associated with punk rock.WhirrOne of the most inventive and unusual pieces the group ever recorded, virtually avant garde in fact. It’s far too brief and merits a further 2 or 3 minutes at least.RolesThis enters the arena bristling with New York Dolls but soon becomes far more interesting and vibrant than that motley crew. Turn those vocals up, for crying out loud! Not one of my favourites, perhaps because musically it’s too conservative for my tastes.BreakdownSo what are all those odd voices in the background then? Probably something notoriously iconic that I ought to recognise but only when the vocals enter is my interest aroused. There’s a curiously rhythm and blues element to this but transplanted into the 21st century. It’s as if a group of aliens tried to play a cover of a B B King piece on instruments designed for an utterly different purpose entirely. The bass guitar is somewhat lost in the murk but the bludgeoning drums compensate.The Tower FallsOne of the more interesting lyrics, this is another contender my usual complaint so here it is: TURN THE BLOODY VOCAL UP! Not one of the more musically inspired pieces, this is still a chugging, grumbling juggernaut of a piece that merits another fag and another tequila.PossessionMore thundering, tom-heavy drums with twisted, spiteful vocals drifting gently over the top and that trademark odd harmonic change, so what’s the problem? Like many of these pieces, it struggles against the wall of reverb that threatens to drown it in chaos.Living For TodayMusically similar to Possession, this takes over from it and pushes the envelope into pure pop. This is actually immensely powerful but the sweetness of the tune skilfully disguises the fact. Complaint: it fades out. I detest fade-outs! That caveat aside, this remains one of the stronger cuts on an album that still doesn’t actually contain any track you could call weak.TomorrowI first heard this on a cassette in a dramatically different arrangement and I have to admit I still prefer that earlier version. Even so, this is still the best pop song the group ever wrote. With considerably less reverb, this would be a contender for the ‘a’ side of a single. I Spit Upon Your GraveIn 3/4 time complete with piano, this is not an ideal piece with which to complete an album. However, for once, the vocals are loud enough to do justice to the singing. Note: most bands have 1 or sometimes 2 prominent players in the ensemble who are obliged to carry the limitations of the others; with Blood & Roses, there are no passengers, everyone is willing and able to contribute a performance that merits attention and this piece provides an excellent example of this fact.Photograph of Lisa by David Manlove.
Chumbawamba - Luton Library - 30th May 1985 - 69 Tapes Michael Baxter 2024-03-21 | An intense performance from Chumbawamba at the top of their game. Karma Sutra supported. One of the most caring, honest and knowledgeable men on the scene is Sean 'Gummidge' who worked at All The Madmen records and distribution, the same time I was helping out there, 1985 to 1988. Sean was there early 1985, me late 1985. Originally ATM was based at 96 Brougham Road in Hackney. Rob who was running ATM lived at that address, and also released cassette tapes on 96 Tapes releasing various demos and live performances by Blyth Power / Faction / Subhumans / Flowers In The Dustbin and others. Sean called his 'company' 69 Tapes, as a reverse of 96 Tapes, just cos. Other than this Chumbawamba cassette tape, 69 Tapes also released demos and live performances by Hagar The Womb, Blyth Power, Dan, We Are Going To Eat You (ex Hagar) and Sean's own band; Wat Tyler. Text below from kipuka.net“Chumbawamba: the message is more important than the music.” – Full extent of first ever live review, NME.At this point Chumbawamba are fast becoming unmovable flag-burning agitators, a reaction against Thatcher’s election campaign involving nuclear stockpiling and stepping over dead bodies in the Falklands. This is the decadent 60’s and 70’s hangover, the Pistols’ “No Future” etched across a Boy George mirror. In the early eighties the choice seems straightforward – Brit-pop as complete escapism or the sub-culture of resistance that is burrowing it’s way from underground. Chumbawamba play gigs at peace camps, turning up at demonstrations and rallies like they’re going out of fashion. (Which they are). The band’s home is raided twice in under a year by ten burly drugs squad officers who ask, “You lot them Socialist Worker types, right?”. No wonder the likes of the Guildford Four got banged up for fifteen years with authorities like this on the case.The entries on the Special Branch files get longer. Raids, obstruction, breaches of the peace, even “theft by housebreaking” – twenty-six hours in the custody of the Strathclyde police in December 1983 charged with “removal of dogs, mice and files” from a research bucket load; for single parents, local hospital closure campaigns, hunt saboteurs, the ALF, anti-Sizewell campaign, nurseries. Nine people, three cats and a dog living under one roof, fledging anarchist politics mixed with too-hefty doses of idealism and organic vegetables. The dog, Derek, appears on a couple of the early records and includes in his CV the greatest accolade bestowed upon a canine: that of biting members of the police force.Two events that re-route the agit-pop politics of Chumbawamba, both from 1984. Firstly, the Brighton Bomb. Half the Cabinet covered in rubble, and suddenly political violence – of the type which defeated Hitler, freed Mandela, ended slavery, and overthrew the state communist dictatorships – blows a hole in the pacifist edge to the band’s polemic. Secondly, and more importantly, the beginning of the great Miners’ Strike. From early on, the Armley Miners Support group is twinned with Frickley pit in South Elmsall – Armley Socialist Workers make the connections and Chumbawamba supply the van and the street collections on Saturday mornings. The band mix playing benefit gigs for the miners with traveling down to the picket lines at five and six o’clock in the morning. And during this bitter winter some of Chumbawamba join a theatre group who travel from village to village putting on a Christmas pantomime for miner’s kids, down to South Wales and around Yorkshire. Coming from places like Barnsley and Burnley in times when the coal mines were part of the very fabric of these towns, it doesn’t take much effort to know which side of the fence you ought to be standing on; the band makes and sells a fast-selling three-track cassette for the Miners’ Hardship Fund, and Sounds writes:“The Chumbas, as they are affectionately known, are refreshing and genuine pop anarchists. And no, they won’t go away".“What we’re given is any old rubbish that won’t upset the apple cart. The only choice we seem to be left with it to play the part of the bad apple.” On June 1st, 1985, Chumbawamba are recording their first single “Revolution”, whilst at the same time the Travellers' Convoy is being attacked and wrecked in a beanfield adjacent to Stonehenge. Cracked heads, massive publicity, and the start of an era of political change: when the marginal’s begin to come out from the underground.The house is raided again, this time with sledgehammers. They’re looking for “explosives and bomb-making equipment”. Everyone is hauled down to the station, questioned relentlessly, kept separately, diaries and books confiscated – huge plastic bagful's of pamphlets, posters, even song lyrics… twenty-three hours in a Leeds copshop. Meanwhile, the first single sells out.“We haven’t got a master plan – we react to things as they come along. As Anarchists we live with the contradictions that socialism doesn’t allow.”
Linval Thompson - Back To Africa & Jungle Man Skank - M&M Records Michael Baxter 2024-03-13 | A fine cut, and a equally fine dub on this Linval Thompson 7" record. The M&M record label released a clutch of excellent Linval Thompson 7" records, 'Can't Stop Natty Dread', 'Let Your Dreadlocks Grow' and the mighty 'Jah Jah Dreader Than Dread'. What a cut that is! The below text is ripped from allmusic and the unitedreggae sites.Linval Thompson was one of the finest reggae singers from the roots renaissance and a very influential figure in the spread and creation of dancehall reggae. Not only was he a singer, but also a writer and pioneering producer whose credits include working with Dennis Brown, the Wailing Souls, Eek-A-Mouse, Freddie McGregor, the Viceroys, and many others. In addition, Thompson is also an entrepreneur who has released many of his own vocal and dub albums independently.Leval Alphonso Thompson was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1954. As a young teen, he moved to the U.S. to be with his mother in Queens, New York. He studied engineering, but music was his obsession and he wrote his first songs while still in high school.Linval Thompson began his singing career in the early 1970s with producer Bunny Rugs and later with iconic producers such as Augustus Pablo (“Natty Dread a Pressure Them”) and Lee Perry (“Kung Fu Man”). He moved between the USA and Jamaica. In 1974 he cut some sides for the New York-based Mart’s label including “Weeping and Wailing” and “Jah Jah Deh”. Later in the year, he returned to Jamaica and recorded for Keith Hudson’s associate Keith “Stamma” Hobson.Thompson’s 1975 album ‘Don’t Cut Off Your Dreadlocks’ was produced by Bunny Lee and sold quite well. This led Thompson to begin to produce his own material, together with his new assistant Henry “Junjo” Lawes. He signed a contract with Trojan Records and in 1978 he released “I Love Marijuana” and its dub version, “Negrea Love Dub”. This successful hit was recorded at the famous Channel One studio, where Thompson was backed by a rhythm section of Rockers’ drummer Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace and the Wailers’ bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett.By the beginning of the 1980s, reggae was evolving into the DJ-dominated dancehall style. Linval Thompson was already at the forefront, tracking Roots Radics‘ rhythms at Channel One and sending the results to Scientist for mixing. The collaboration resulted in great dub titles like Scientist Meets the Space Invaders (1981) and Scientist Encounters Pac Man (1982). Thompson constructed his own dub versions as well on Negrea Dub, Green Bay Dub, and Outlaw Dub. In 1982, Freddie McGregor scored a hit with the Thompson-engineered “Big Ship (Sailing on the Ocean)”. After this, McGregor launched his own label.Although over time the artists that Linval Thompson produced did not all achieve the same level of commercial success throughout the late ’70s and early ’80, albums from DJs Big Joe and Trinity still maintained the classic late ’70s roots feel.In the 1990s, classic Thompson material that had been out of print began to be reissued – including Jah Jah Dreader Than Dread, Ride on Dreadlocks and Channel 1 Rockers. The results were a clearer look at a body of work that, at its best, could rival Thompson contemporaries like Johnny Clarke, Horace Andy, and Cornel Campbell. You have said in the past that your family was not musical. How did you become interested in music?It was born in me. It born in me so automatically it just come out you know? My parents never have it but it born in me. And also I was always interested in doing music business. So the first thing I is I used to keep like a dance in Jamaica when I was a little boy. A dance like a sound system dance. I find myself doing that first at maybe 15-16. Then I went to America and I find myself doing singing. And I link up with Bunny Rugs [from Third World] in a band named Buccaneers in Brooklyn and from there I start to sing. I recorded my first recording there – just for myself. I produced it for myself.So you were a producer from a young age too? Because most people probably thought you didn’t start producing until later.Yes I was. That was really how I start.You then worked with Phil Pratt on Jah Redder Than Red, Lee Perry on Kung Fu Man and with Bunny Lee with whom you cut many big tunes. Who did you enjoy working with the most?(LAUGHS) I prefer Bunny Lee. The first song was Don’t Cut Off Your Dreadlocks. And he give you that vibe that even when you wrong he say, “you never wrong. It’s a style so let’s work on it”. And then he’d look at it and make it work. He make you relax, he never really get uncomfortable you know what I mean? Because not everybody give you the vibes. I just listen to rhythm tracks and take a little time to feel the vibes. And maybe he can give ideas until it works. And everything really happen from The Almighty Creator. Because without The Father nothing could happen.
Blyth Power - Kentish Town Timebox - 15th October 1986 Michael Baxter 2024-03-12 | It probably will not be a surprise to inform all you lot, that for a while in the mid-eighties, Blyth Power were one of my favourite bands, and the bands live performances were some of the highlights of that era. This mixing desk audio is taken from the Timebox, a night run by Jon 'Fat' Beast, who is sadly no longer with us. This venue was rammed, for a quid to enter, that's not surprising. I cannot remember anything going wrong with this gig, and the band seemed happy enough. I remember that the venue was very hot and sweaty due to the thirty or so Blyth gig regulars constantly jumping around in time with the music. Blyth Power had been at the top of their game at this point, and indeed had been for at least a year prior, 1986 was the high tide for the bands early incarnation. This performance was recorded, and I have a second generation cassette tape of the night, but the real reason for it being recorded was that Jon 'Fat' Beast was to release a compilation album on his new record label. This album was released in 1987, and contained; 'Probably Won't Be Easy', the very first track on side one. Two other All The Madmen recording bands, Thatcher on Acid and We Are Going To Eat You, also had a song each on the album. Joseph Porter had started writing and singing one his own compositions for The Mob toward the end of that bands lifespan in 1983. The track ‘Hurling Time’. A soon to be Blyth Power ‘dirge’ (as Joseph likes to call some of his own material) was performed at the very last gig that The Mob performed at in Doncaster with Passion Killers and Benjamin Zephaniah. Mark Mob drove away in his converted truck from the stresses of London squats, co-op housing (and performing in The Mob) to live a simpler existence at Pooh Corner. The two other members of the Mob were slightly at odds at what to do.Joseph and Curtis roped in Brougham Road resident and ex Faction member Neil Keenan, and started practising a host of Joseph's original compositions and a few cover versions down in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, the home of J.C and also base for All The Madmen Records run by Rob Challice, ex Anthrax and Faction.It was this three piece line up that performed at the Bingo Hall squat (now mainstream music venue – The Garage) in Islington just a few weeks after The Mob had folded. Two gigs in the middle of February 1984 and KYPP’s Val Drayton, and Elaine ex-Hagar The Womb, were invited to perform the backing vocals for these performances.The band did not perform again until the middle of May. Those performances were at the squatted pub ‘The Hemingford Arms’ in which Blyth Power performed with The Mayday Theatre group, incidental music to a play entitled ‘Mother’ by Berthol Brecht. Those performance continued nightly until the end of May. A very strange residency for sure!Other notable performances in 1984 were three shows at Meanwhile Gardens in the summer and also the first ‘out of town’ gigs at Nottingham and Sutton Cum Lound.The debut studio recordings, a demo recorded in March 1984 is wonderful, but very basic. Again this was the three piece line-up. In December of 1984 the band decided to record a demo in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, with Protags mixing board. Protag and Grant Showbiz were the sound men for the Meanwhile Gardens events. Protag was also an ex-Instant Automation.Sarah Lewington, originally from Leeds who had been mixing it up in the squats of London for a couple of years was invited to perform backing vocals during these sessions, making the band a four piece.The finished product was released as ‘A Little Touch Of Harry’ on 96 Tapes run by soon to be All The Madmen manager, Rob Challice.The tracks that appeared on the cassette are (in my opinion) absolutely wonderful, and brought a fuller sound with Sarah on the vocals, Curtis’s basslines still seemed reminiscent of The Mob, Josephs lyrics seemed wacky at first but on further investigation dealt with contemporary issues. Neil's buzz-saw guitar sounded , well great. All in all things were going well. The cassette sold well over 1000 copies in less than six months of release, not bad sales at all, booklets were reprinted, tapes were re-released, and professionally reproduced.At the beginning of 1985, Andy Morgan was invited by Joseph to add further backing vocals. The five piece line-up. If memory serves me correctly Andy not only used to help at All The Madmen records, but also had a fair amount to do with the Street Level studio's, and also performed in the Hamburger All Stars, a band affiliated with Street Level. The five piece line up made their live debut at The Pinder Of Wakefield pub in Kings Cross in February 1985.The band got stronger and tighter with this line up and the live performances were by this time becoming known by general punky riff raff, and the music press alike.All photographs from my collection.
Blyth Power - Nottingham Conference University & Sutton Cum Lound - September 1984 Michael Baxter 2024-03-12 | It probably will not be a surprise to inform all you lot, that for a while in the mid-eighties, Blyth Power were one of my favourite bands, and the bands live performances were some of the highlights of that era. This mixing desk audio is taken from the first two times that Blyth Power performed outside of London, the eighth and ninth gig, and almost three months after the bands seventh gig at Meanwhile Gardens in June. This recording is Blyth Power's eighth and ninth gig. That is correct - 8 & 9.By September, the band had improved slightly since the previous performance at Meanwhile Gardens in June, although there were still bum-notes and mistakes. The band's performances improved further by the early months of 1985 and kicked off from there. Blyth Power ending up being one of the best live bands on the circuit. Joseph Porter had started writing and singing one his own compositions for The Mob toward the end of that bands lifespan in 1983. The track ‘Hurling Time’. A soon to be Blyth Power ‘dirge’ (as Joseph likes to call some of his own material) was performed at the very last gig that The Mob performed at in Doncaster with Passion Killers and Benjamin Zephaniah. Mark Mob drove away in his converted truck from the stresses of London squats, co-op housing (and performing in The Mob) to live a simpler existence at Pooh Corner. The two other members of the Mob were slightly at odds at what to do.Joseph and Curtis roped in Brougham Road resident and ex Faction member Neil Keenan, and started practising a host of Joseph's original compositions and a few cover versions down in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, the home of J.C and also base for All The Madmen Records run by Rob Challice, ex Anthrax and Faction.It was this three piece line up that performed at the Bingo Hall squat in Islington (now the Garage, a mainstream music venue) just a few weeks after The Mob had folded. Two gigs in the middle of February 1984. Val Drayton ex-KYPP and Elaine ex-Hagar The Womb, were invited to perform the backing vocals for these performances.The band did not perform again until the middle of May. Those performances were at the squatted pub ‘The Hemingford Arms’ in which Blyth Power performed with The Mayday Theatre group, incidental music to a play entitled ‘Mother’ by Berthol Brecht. Those performance continued nightly until the end of May. A very strange residency for sure!Other notable performances in 1984 were three shows at Meanwhile Gardens in the summer.The debut studio recordings, a demo recorded in March 1984 is wonderful, but very basic. Again this was the three piece line-up. In December of 1984 the band decided to record a demo in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, with Protags mixing board. Protag and Grant Showbiz were the sound men for the Meanwhile Gardens events. Protag was also an ex-Instant Automation.Sarah Lewington, originally from Leeds who had been mixing it up in the squats of London for a couple of years was invited to perform backing vocals during these sessions, making the band a four piece.The finished product was released as ‘A Little Touch Of Harry’ on 96 Tapes run by soon to be All The Madmen manager, Rob Challice.The tracks that appeared on the cassette are (in my opinion) absolutely wonderful, and brought a fuller sound with Sarah on the vocals, Curtis’s basslines still seemed reminiscent of The Mob, Josephs lyrics seemed wacky at first but on further investigation dealt with contemporary issues. Neil's buzz-saw guitar sounded , well great. All in all things were going well. The cassette sold well over 1000 copies in less than six months of release, not bad sales at all, booklets were reprinted, tapes were re-released, and professionally reproduced.At the beginning of 1985, Andy Morgan was invited by Joseph to add further backing vocals. The five piece line-up. If memory serves me correctly Andy not only used to help at All The Madmen records, but also had a fair amount to do with the Street Level studio's, and also performed in the Hamburger All Stars, a band affiliated with Street Level. The five piece line up made their live debut at The Pinder Of Wakefield pub in Kings Cross in February 1985.The band got stronger and tighter with this line up and the live performances were by this time becoming known by general punky riff raff, and the music press alike.Soon a small piece in Zig Zag magazine would increase the interest. The cassette on Rob Challice’s 96 Tapes sold well over 1000 copies in less than six months of release, not bad sales at all, booklets were reprinted, tapes were again professionally reproduced.Rob then got to work on organising the recording sessions at Street Level that would be released as ‘Chevy Chase’, and the 12″ was released in August 1985 and became the first release on All The Madmen since the Zos Kia 7″ single released in 1984.All photos from my collection
Blyth Power - Meanwhile Gardens Westbourne Park - 23rd June 1984 Michael Baxter 2024-03-12 | For a while in the mid-eighties, Blyth Power were one of my favourite bands, and the gigs were some of the highlights of that era. This recording is Blyth Power's seventh gig. Obviously due to the band learning the songs, there are mistakes on some of the songs, and with no backing vocals (Sarah and Andy joined up a few months later), the songs sound a little flat. The listener can hear that the spark is there in the songs, and that spark would ignite by the early months of 1985 and kick off from there, Blyth Power ending up being one of the best live bands on the circuit.A decent version of 'Dancing' originally by Zounds and also the song 'Lord of the Isles ' on this Meanwhile Gardens performance. This mixing desk audio is taken from the second time that Blyth Power performed at Meanwhile Gardens. The first time they were out in the sun on a rickety wooden stage was just a few days prior, on the 17th June.NOTE: Blithe Power on the flyer. Joseph Porter had started writing and singing one his own compositions for The Mob toward the end of that bands lifespan in 1983. The track ‘Hurling Time’. A soon to be Blyth Power ‘dirge’ (as Joseph likes to call some of his own material) was performed at the very last gig that The Mob performed at in Doncaster with Passion Killers and Benjamin Zephaniah.Mark Mob drove away in his converted truck from the stresses of London squats, co-op housing (and performing in The Mob) to live a simpler existence at Pooh Corner. The two other members of the Mob were slightly at odds at what to do.Joseph and Curtis roped in Brougham Road resident and ex Faction member Neil Keenan, and started practising a host of Joseph's original compositions and a few cover versions down in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, the home of J.C and also base for All The Madmen Records run by Rob Challice, ex Anthrax and Faction.It was this three piece line up that performed at the Bingo Hall squat (now mainstream music venue – The Garage) in Islington just a few weeks after The Mob had folded. Two gigs in the middle of February 1984 and KYPP’s Val Drayton and Elaine ex-Hagar The Womb, were invited to perform the backing vocals for these performances.The band did not perform again until the middle of May. Those performances were at the squatted pub ‘The Hemingford Arms’ in which Blyth Power performed with The Mayday Theatre group, incidental music to a play entitled ‘Mother’ by Berthol Brecht. Those performance continued nightly until the end of May. A very strange residency for sure!Other notable performances in 1984 were three shows at Meanwhile Gardens in the summer and also the first ‘out of town’ gigs at Nottingham and Sutton Cum Lound.The debut studio recordings, a demo recorded in March 1984 is wonderful, but very basic. Again this was the three piece line-up.In December of 1984 the band decided to record a demo in the basement of 96 Brougham Road, with Protags mixing board. Protag and Grant Showbiz were the sound men for the Meanwhile Gardens events. Protag was also an ex-Instant Automation.Sarah Lewington, originally from Leeds who had been mixing it up in the squats of London for a couple of years was invited to perform backing vocals during these sessions, making the band a four piece.The finished product was released as ‘A Little Touch Of Harry’ on 96 Tapes run by soon to be All The Madmen manager, Rob Challice.The tracks that appeared on the cassette are (in my opinion) absolutely wonderful, and brought a fuller sound with Sarah on the vocals, Curtis’s basslines still seemed reminiscent of The Mob, Josephs lyrics seemed wacky at first but on further investigation dealt with contemporary issues. Neil's buzz-saw guitar sounded , well great.All in all things were going well. The cassette sold well over 1000 copies in less than six months of release, not bad sales at all, booklets were reprinted, tapes were re-released, and professionally reproduced.At the beginning of 1985, Andy Morgan was invited by Joseph to add further backing vocals. The five piece line-up. If memory serves me correctly Andy not only used to help at All The Madmen records, but also had a fair amount to do with the Street Level studio's, and also performed in the Hamburger All Stars, a band affiliated with Street Level.This Street Level link is important as Grant Showbiz, the owner (alongside Kif Kif) at Street Level studios had engineered work with The Fall, Here And Now, The Mob, The Astronauts, The Smiths and dozens more. He would eventually engineer both the first couple of 12" records by Blyth Power and released on All The Madmen. Grant also helped organised the four times yearly Meanwhile Gardens free festivals along with Protag. Justin Adams from the Impossible Dreamers who performed at Meanwhile Gardens also helped engineer the first couple of 12" records by Blyth Power.The five piece line up made their live debut at The Pinder Of Wakefield pub in Kings Cross in February 1985.
Musical Youth - Political & Generals - 021 Records - 1981 Michael Baxter 2024-02-27 | The debut 7” single by Musical Youth. Please stop the giggling at the back. This 7” record has two proper, bass-heavy cuts with mature lyrics. This record is just as worthy as Black Slate, Misty or Steel Pulse. The difference to those bands are the ages. Four members of Musical Youth on these recordings ranged from eleven to fifteen years old. This is a pukka reggae record from soon to be superstars, and soon after that falling into all kinds of problems. Words below from George Nott / Enfield Independent.The group was formed in 1979 by the fathers of Kelvin and Michael Grant, and Frederick (known as Junior) and Patrick Waite, respectively, who put together a band featuring their sons. The Waites' father, Frederick Waite Sr had been a member of the Jamaican reggae group the Techniques, and at the start of Musical Youth's career he was the vocalist. Although schoolboys, attending Duddeston Manor School, the group managed to secure gigs at different Birmingham pubs and released a double single in 1981, including songs 'Generals' and 'Political', on a local label 021 Records, named after the then-Birmingham area code. An appearance on BBC Radio 1 John Peel's show brought further attention to the group. Some months later Frederick Waite Jr was replaced by Dennis Seaton as the group's lead singer, and they were signed to MCA Records.Four decades since the release of their chart-topping, four million selling, Grammy nominated ‘Pass The Dutchie’, Musical Youth remains a byword for the misery of childhood stardom.Less than two years after they were signed the record label dumped them, the band split. Its barely pubescent members at loggerheads and facing a financial, legal, and personal abyss.In 1987, Patrick Waite was jailed for four months for reckless driving, credit-card fraud and assaulting the police. In 1990, he was jailed again, for robbing a woman at knifepoint. Shortly after his release, he was arrested again, for marijuana possession. After turning to drugs he died of a hereditary heart condition in 1993, aged just twenty four years old.Another, Junior Waite, remained in the care of his mother after being sectioned, and sadly died in Birmingham on 20th July 2022, at the age of fifty five years old. An inquest into his death record cause of death as "sudden unexpected death in schizophrenia". He died at a mental health unit where he had been undergoing treatment for schizophrenia.A third, Kelvin Grant, is a virtual recluse who, after being so badly burnt by exploitative managers, has turned his back on the industry forever.“There was nobody to say – why don’t you take a break? Why don’t you have a holiday?“ says Michael Grant, keyboard player. “There wasn’t anybody wise enough. The managers just wanted to milk it. There weren’t any responsible adults around us and our our parents, unfortunately, weren’t the best people to understand what goes on.“Fame came fast for the five-piece, formed by two sets of brothers from an inner-city Birmingham school, and singer Dennis Seaton. Their single, ‘Pass The Dutchie’ was one of the fastest selling of 1982. They broke America too and were the first black band to be played on the then fledgling MTV.“We pioneered a lot of things, as young stars, which was really tough,“ says Michael, aged just thirteen years old when the debut album ‘The Youth of Today’ was certified gold. "You’re meeting people like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer. But you don’t realise half the people you’re meeting, or why they’re important.“Michael Jackson, perhaps sympathising with the young stars, invited them to his LA home – an offer they accepted. They recorded the theme tune for ‘Jim’ll Fix It’. They duetted with Donna Summer. Far too young to understand the finances, the hottest property of the day were prone to exploitation.“The reality was a lot of people who said they were trying to make the band more successful were just taking money from it basically,“ adds Michael. “Milking it.“After two years of recording, performing, and living in each other’s pockets, fame began to take its toll. Things came to a head at a show in Jamaica in 1985. It would be their last.“Before we left for Jamaica, Patrick had had some problems,“ explains Dennis Seaton, the most senior member of the group, then 18. “He’d taken something, drugs, that triggered some reaction in his body and before the end of that tour he’d had another relapse. It was difficult. You’re powerless". "We didn’t know what he was on,“ adds Michael. “He started to unravel. He just couldn’t play a songwe’d played for five or six years. It didn’t make sense. Luckily his dad came on and played. He literally came on stage and took the bass off him.““I just said to Patrick, I’m here for you, but I can’t help you if you’re going to be stupid,“ says Dennis.“That was the last conversation we had. It came from the heart. I think Junior wasn’t able to cope with the situation.“
The Ex - War Is Over (Weapons For El Salvador) & Dust & New Wars II - Ex Records - 1981 Michael Baxter 2024-02-21 | WHAT a record this is, all three songs are so good. Words below by Iain Aitch written for the Guardian. Try to describe the Ex and you have a problem. This Dutch band you would try to sum up their sound in two or three words at your peril. This is a quandary shared by the band members themselves. I meet them in Dublin, where they are playing a one-off date. The cab driver taking them to the venue asked them what they sound like. “We had real difficulty,” says Andy Moor, the band’s London-born guitarist, who boasts 15 years’ service. “It is really hard!” “We feel a bit stupid as it can sound very pretentious, ‘We are very unique, we are not like anyone else,” says Terrie Hessels, the only remaining member of the band’s original 1979 line-up.Yet unique is what the Ex are. Take any major musical development of the last 50 years and you can almost guarantee that they have either incorporated it into their sound or played with it and discarded it. Their recent retrospective CD 30 contains a dazzling array of sounds that range from industrial to orchestral. Though the band’s real move forward, and one which brought them to the attention of the jazz world, was their 1991 collaboration with (now sadly deceased) US cellist Tom Cora. This lead to further unions, with the likes of zany Dutch jazz drummer Han Bennink as well as English saxophonist John Butcher.Even now, the kind of phrases used on gig posters and in the music press range from “anarcho-punk” to “improvised jazz” to “afro-punk” and “folk”. The punk part may be fair – the band certainly formed with that ethos and a staccato approximation of the sound of the Fall or Gang of Four, but they have always been far more experimental than their three-chord forebears.They chose their name for the ease with which it could be sprayed on walls, and drew straws to decide who would play what. There was always an exploratory and political edge to the band, as evidenced by the 1983 concept set of four 7″ singles about a closed factory in the Amsterdam suburb of Wormer where the band formed. Since then, the Ex have taken in folk influences from all over Europe. They have dabbled in jazz, improvisation, guitar destruction, drilling venue walls, dance music, military-band precision, ska, toy instruments, horns, African beats and sampling. I could go on. Yet, surprisingly, none of this comes across as radical departure in style. They still sound like the Ex on every recording and at every gig. The guitars retain a caustic, rhythmic precision and the drumming is tight and complex.“One reason we are hard to describe is that we never had an education at music school, and in that sense we are not influenced by any traditional playing,” says Katherina Bornefeld, neatly sidestepping any attempt to form a soundbite encapsulating the Ex’s sound, despite her 25 years on the drum stool.In order to understand the band you need to see them perform; they work in the opposite manner to most groups. The Ex write songs to perform live, tweaking them as tours progress and then recording the honed versions as documents of their time. Most Ex tours start with an entire batch of new material – there is no roster of crowd-pleasers to get the audience going. The dedicated fan is as challenged as someone hearing the band for the very first time.This is a band very much about intuition. Moor plays intricate notes on a baritone guitar with his eyes closed before dashing at Hessels, both raising their guitars as the newest member of the band, Arnold de Boer (who last year replaced founder-member GW Sok), ducks beneath them. Meanwhile, Bornefeld seemingly hits every piece of her drumkit, before repeating the rhythm in a slightly different pattern. Moor aims kicks at the air – band members even try to put each other off at times. The band have a reputation for addressing serious politics, but they also have a great sense of humour. This is neatly evidenced by the 7in singles club they ran for a year, where the last single was a 12in and thus could not be squeezed into the box that came with the first record in the series.As well as being a drumming original, Bornefeld also possesses a voice made for singing folk music in any language, which has come to the fore on the band’s tours of Ethiopia. Born out of sheer enthusiasm for the music and people of the country, the Ex’s Ethiopian tours took loud guitar music where it has never been before, as well as exchanging ideas and technical know-how with local musicians. They also played with Ethiopian saxophone legend Getatchew Mekurya, and collaborated with him on an album.“There is no tour circuit,” says Hessels. “We even went to places that hardly any Ethiopian musicians had played.”“One time we were playing in a barn on a farm and another time in the police community hall,” adds Moor. “We would just go to the chief of the town and they decided what we should pay, sometimes it was $20 and sometimes it was free."
The Ex - New Horizons In Retailing - Cells / Money / Curtains - Ping Pong Records - 1980 Michael Baxter 2024-02-21 | Alphabetically next to the first two Exploited 7″s that were released to this punk rock world, and that I own, you will inevitably find The Ex from the squats of old Amsterdam. The Ex get far more spins on my turntable than the Exploited ever will. The Ex really is the good stuff, not so much the Exploited!The songs on this flexi-disc are pretty basic, unsurprisingly really considering the band's relative inexperience in recording studios at that point, but 'Cells' the first song of this three song set, is absolutely brilliant. The second song 'Money' chugs on with a somewhat sinister sound. The third song 'Curtains' has a slow sluggish start but picks up well towards the end of the song. This flexi-disc came originally with a Dutch magazine, but presumably these flexi-disc's were handed out at record shops and gigs also, however anyone got hold of a copy, it is a decent statement of what was to follow from the band in the very near future.This flexi-disc from a young band at the start of 'career' is still a nice listen.The Ex seem to have been influenced by the Pere Ubu / Gang Of Four sound, chuck in a some sharp Crass guitar sounds and the lyrics on most of the material released by the band is well thought out and concise. One of the best gigs I ever saw was The Ex performing in a large squatted school in Amsterdam in the mid 1980’s. The whole band would leap over the amplifiers without dropping a note. What made this act more jaw dropping was that there were beautiful potted plants on top of these amps. None of these plants suffered during the leaps, none where knocked off, the leaps were so high that the feet were not even touching the leaves! I would barely be able to do one jump over an amp, let alone jump over the floral decorations as well. To do this performing a 90 minute gig holding mics, guitars, trumpets or whatever! The Ex were, and no doubt still are, very politically active, on a whole range of worthy causes.A snippet of information on the Ex below from the band's website. 1979Terrie (guitar), Sok (vocals), Geurt (drums), and René (bass) form The Ex, choosing their instruments by drawing straws to decide on who-plays-what, and start from scratch. For the first half year the group concentrates mainly on an extended hit-and-run graffiti publicity campaign, the name being chosen based on the fact that it could be sprayed on a wall in two seconds flat!.They play their first gig on 31st August in De Bakkerij, Castricum. Coby takes care of the live sound. They begin playing regularly, mainly in Dutch squats and youth clubs.1980In June, The Ex make their record début: the 7″ EP All Corpses Smell The Same. Two more releases follow that same month: New Horizons In Retailing, a 7″ flexi-disc with the Raket magazine from Rotterdam, and a contribution to Utregpunx, a 7″ vinyl compilation from Utrecht.René leaves, Bas (ex-Bernhard + The Lockheed Rockerz) joins. In October they release their first LP, Disturbing Domestic Peace, (including a free 7″ EP), produced by Dolf Planteydt, an independent sound engineer who they will work with often in the years to come.In October they have their first concerts abroad, in Berlin Germany.1981Geurt leaves, Wim (post-Rondos, pre-De Kift) joins.The group releases Weapons For El Salvador, a benefit-single for the resistance movement in El Salvador.In August, together with members of Svätsox and De Groeten, they squat the Villa Zuid in Wormer, to save it from destruction, and spread a free flexi-disc with brochure, Villa Zuid Moet Blijven around the village, to explain why the Villa must stay.
The Times - Red With Purple Flashes & Biff! Bang! Pow! - Whaam Records - 1981 Michael Baxter 2024-02-01 | The debut 7" single from The Times. I bought this record from a local charity shop recently for £8, MINT condition, but with some creases on the sleeve. I chucked some notes and spare change to the elderly volunteer at the counter and walked away with it.Thank you, that will do nicely. I have never owned this record before, although I knew about it. I did however own the debut album; 'Pop Goes Art!', with the original individual painted / scribbled sleeve artwork. Now THAT was a great album, it still is of course. Anyway, as I got lucky with this very rare 7" single, I thought I would preserve it digitally and chuck the audio and sleeve images onto my YouTube channel. So here it is. The text below from the TAPETE RECORDS website. GO TO THAT WEBSITE - The record label have got a decent catalogue including the official retro-release compilations by the Times. More than four decades on, with yet another round of punk anniversaries safely behind us, here's a chance to remind ourselves that not everyone believed or indeed peddled the myth of the Year Zero. Maybe that's because they were young enough not to have to prove their youth. A good three years junior to Johnny Rotten and six years to Joe Strummer, Edward Ball had spent his 1960s childhood equally entranced by the Beatles on the radio and Patrick McGoohan playing The Prisoner on Television. And while the promises of a popular culture infused with fresh art school ideas had gone stale by the 1970s, a teenage Ed Ball would recognise the dawning of an independent DIY culture as a chance to rekindle them in a brand new way. To do so he had to bypass the corporate machine, then otherwise busy selling the Year Zero narrative to a gullible media, and set out on an unbeaten path that would soon converge with the leftmost edges of the nascent mod revival. Having formed his first band O-Level in 1976, Ball found a kindred spirit in schoolfriend Daniel Treacy. For a while their bands Television Personalities (fronted by Treacy) and Teenage Filmstars (fronted by Ball) existed in tandem until the latter morphed into The Times. Following a legal dispute around the name of their DIY label Whaam!, obviously monikered after Roy Lichtenstein's 1963 painting as opposed to a certain pop band of the day, Ball launched his band's very own Artpop! imprint (Deep into the next century Lady Gaga would have the same idea, albeit stopping short of hand-painting her record sleeves as the Times had done).Having released six Times LPs between 1982 and 1986, by the end of the decade Ball re-emerged on Alan McGee's Creation Records, delving into electronic psychedelia and supplementing his recording career with a day job as a friendly executive/receptionist at the company's London office. There he would sit behind a desk in front of one of his own paintings, sometimes speaking dismissively of himself in the third person to unsuspecting visitors.Some time later, Ball would return to writing observational pop songs destined for the lower reaches of the charts as a fully paid up member of the Mill Hill Self Hate Club. By that time, Britpop had come and gone without giving its by now bald-headed prophet much credit for his services to the cause. But then you could also see that as a blessing. Here then is that rarest of things: British guitar pop history without baggage. Because only the best went with The Times back in the early eighties.Robert Rotifer, Canterbury, 2017
Melanie - Peace Will Come & Close To It All - Buddah Records - 1970 Michael Baxter 2024-01-29 | REST IN PEACE MELANIE SAFKA who sadly passed on aged seventy six on the 25th January 2024. A wonderful 7" single from Melanie with the much loved; 'Peace Will Come' as the A-side, and the equally loved; 'Close To It All' on the B-side. My version of this 7" single is recorded in mono, just in case you think the audio has dropped in quality or something. I first saw Melanie perform on a grainy VHS video of the film Glastonbury Fayre 1971 around the mid-eighties. The whole Glastonbury Fayre film is exquisite and a beautiful time capsule of that era, and of what that festival used to be like, and of what that festival used to be about. It is a magnificent film. Anyway. Melanie's small part in the film is one of the highlights for me personally. A small lady armed with a quiet guitar but a huge voice, a voice which on the night, probably could have been heard across the whole of Somerset! Do yourself a favour and spend a few minutes welling up to that snippet of Melanie performing 'Peace Will Come' in this film. The respectful silence all around the crowd during the performance adds to the loveliness of the whole footage. It is incredibly moving, or at least it is to me.The words below are the promotional blurb for the Glastonbury Fayre 1971 film. After the success of the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival in 1970, promoters Andrew Kerr and Michael Eavis and their team decided to hold a free festival in 1971. The Glastonbury legend was born when the organisers decided to try and create a festival that would be a forerunner for an 'alternative and utopian society'. The festival, held over the summer solstice, June 22nd-26th, attracted 12,000 people, and in true medieval tradition, the area of Worthy Farm, Pilton was given over to music, dance, poetry, theatre, spontaneous, entertainment and nudity. The aspiring director Nic Roeg (Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Performance) took his film crew to the Glastonbury festival and recorded the people, the music and their summer of love. The music of Terry Reid, Family, David Bowie, Melanie, Fairport Convention, Traffic, Gong, Linda Lewis and Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come are part of the legend of Glastonbury Fayre, but the real stars of this film are the festival goers, organisers Arabella Churchill and Andrew Kerr, and the first appearance of the pyramid stage.The words below are from the Guardian website. Melanie Safka, the American singer-songwriter known as Melanie who had a global hit with Brand New Key, has died aged 76.Her children Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred announced her death on social media, describing her as “one of the most talented, strong and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that”. No cause of death has been given.Born and raised in Queens, New York, Melanie broke through in the late 1960s after a grounding in the folk clubs of New York’s Greenwich Village. Chiming with the boom in singer-songwriters, her bright but husky voice appealed to pop fans and the counterculture alike, and she was signed to the Buddah label which released her debut album Born to Be in 1968. She first found success in Europe, with the album going Top 10 in France and the Netherlands.Along with Janis Joplin and Joan Baez, she was one of only three solo women appearing at the Woodstock festival in 1969 – “an unbelievably frightening day”, she later said. “I never even felt like I was a hippy, I didn’t like the term. If anything, I was the beat generation – people in the Village expressing themselves in so many ways, not being pigeonholed.”She showed off her vocal range with the gospel-tinged single Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), a US Top 10 hit – it was inspired by the sight of the Woodstock crowd lighting candles – and the accompanying 1970 album Candles in the Rain brought her to wider attention, reaching No 5 in the UK. Her version of the Rolling Stones’ Ruby Tuesday was also a UK hit that year, and a concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall was recorded for a successful live album.But 1971 would be her biggest year yet, with the album Gather Me and its lead single Brand New Key. With its blithe and jaunty rhythm, twinkling backing and Melanie’s mellifluous nursery-rhyme melodies, it had huge cross-generational appeal, although its lyrics about roller-skating seemed to be a metaphor for sexual experimentation. “I guess a key and a lock have always been Freudian symbols,” she said, “and pretty obvious ones at that. There was no deep serious expression behind the song, but people read things into it.” It reached No 1 in the US, Canada and Australia and reached the UK Top 5; a cover version with different agriculture-focused lyrics by comedy group the Wurzels, The Combine Harvester, reached No 1 in the UK in 1976.Brand New Key would be her last major hit, although she returned to the UK Top 40 with her take on 60s pop standard Will You Love Me Tomorrow? in 1973.
BACKLASH EP - Threats/Victims Of What?/End Result/Significant Zeros/Factory Poems - Playlist Records Michael Baxter 2024-01-22 | I have no idea who any of the five bands sprawled across this 33 rpm extended play record are, apart from they are all Scottish, which is not a lot to report. BUT if you care to stare at the images of the poster sleeve on my video for long enough, then all might be revealed. I have scanned all parts of the poster sleeve, so there is a lot of information on all bands there, far too much information to place up here.This is a decent record, and the bands, long gone now presumably, are all pretty good, not the best, but pretty good, and well worth as listen. End Result and Significant Zeros would be my top tip.The text below I wrote up from the rear of the record sleeve written presumably by the 'Boss' of Playlist Records. THE SOUND OF YOUNG MARKET TRENDSPositive Juice/Altered Engines/Restricted Camera the ‘Sound of Young Scotland has been built up higher than the Tower of Babel. Suddenly Scottish bands are no longer neglected. Scottishness, as much as talent, has become the sought-after commodity for 1981.So, would it be terribly uncool to point out that there is no collective ‘scene’ in Edinburgh or Glasgow, let alone anything remotely resembling a definitive Scottish thing? That the ‘Sound of Young Scotland’ is another trend, partly created/wholly exploited by the biz? By pushers with their fingers in the pie instead of on the pulse-beat.People have suddenly woken up (been woken up) to some of the great music which has been coming out of Scotland. Woken up because the music industry needs trends to shift units, to stimulate sales of tickets, tapes, and t-shirts.SEMI-LEGENDARY (IN BUNGALOWS TOO)There are plenty of good bands ‘up here’ as elsewhere. Bands with no great desire to get caught up in someone else’s make-them or put down in some vitriolic break them. After the boom the backlash, And come the backlash no-one gets a fair hearing, Beam them back down Scottie!A Sampler EP featuring five Scottish bands, released in mid-1981, is sure to be viewed/reviewed with deep suspicion, Yet Significant Zerøs, Factory Poems, Threats, Victims of What? And End Result are part of no movement. No trend, Many of the musicians involved in this EP had never met, or even seen, the other backlash! Bands at the time of recording. They share this vinyl a simply because one EP is viable on a shoestring budget.The intention is to put five relatively unknown bands in the record) shop window, You can get just so far by gigging – if you can get the gigs, but vinyl offers vastly wider exposure via the airwaves. This was also the thinking behind Playlist Recordings’ first release, Mint Sauce for the Masses, an EP which featured Club of Rome, Flexible Response, Fun City, and Twisted Nerve, Unfortunately, by the time that, record reached the shops, three bands had split up and Twisted Nerve had personnel problems which kept them inactive for several weeks, Un-promoted by live performances, Mint Sauce was only a partial success.It wasn’t exactly tailored for daytime airplay, though it did get one mention on prime-time Radio One during their fun week in Edinburgh. Eagle-eyed DJ Andy Peebles noticed that. ‘Bounce’ – winner of the ‘Hunt the Hargis competition on Calton Hill – was sporting, a Mínt Sauce badge. Legends are created thus.But it was good to see Twisted Nerve achieve some measure of popularity thanks to repeated plays of the frenzied ‘Vertigo’ by John Peel, Judging by correspondence received, his programme, a bit like his crosses from the right wing, can be picked up over surprisingly large areas of western Europe.FLAYING FOR A DIFFERENT SETAs with Mint Sauce, the music on this sampler varies greatly within the New Wave spectrum, and the bands have little in common except for their allegiance to beat music with balls, One-track minds won’t relish the five track format, but if that’s tough on the pigeon-hole brigade, so what?One character in particular will find Backlash! Deeply confusing. Namely Garry Bushell, the great mind (01-Q six) who reviewed? Club of Rome as a song performed by Mint Sauce for the Masses. Neat band, MSFTM.“... he’s a berk. A fucking ARSEHOLE.” Lesley Au Pair had you sussed Bushell. "I hope the worms get you, but you’ll probably opt for cremation just to get up as many noses as possible".
The Mob - No Doves Fly Here - Ching Cassette Tape - Demo Version Michael Baxter 2024-01-15 | NO DOVES FLY HERE: A PLEA FOR PEACE.SOME WORDS WRITTEN BY ALISTAIR LIVINGSTON - MUCH MISSED - MAY HE REST IN PEACE.“We are not afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie may blast and burn its own world before it finally leaves the stage of history. We who ploughed the fields and built the cities can build again, only better next time. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.” [Buenaventura Durruti – Spanish anarchist 1896 – 1936]I first met the Mob in 1982, when they were living at Brougham Road in Hackney, East London. Brougham Road had been built 100 years earlier, as one of an endless succession of cheap, brick-built streets of terraced houses. In the 1970’s huge swathes of Victorian Hackney were demolished to be replaced with tower blocks. Brougham Road (complete with its outside toilets) had been due for demolition, but the money ran out about the same time as punk emerged. So, Brougham Road survived to become home to a vibrant and diverse community of squatters. On one side lay a newly built housing estate, on the other a derelict wasteland. Brougham Road was still squatted when the Mob arrived in 1981. Before the move to London, the Mob had been living in the depths of rural England – Seend and Stoke Sub Hamdon.“The Mob were living in a rented house in Seend in Wiltshire and we bought a bus to tour on. When we got it ready, we took it for a test drive to visit Josef who was living in Brougham Road. The next morning a guy walked out of number 74 and asked us if we wanted to buy the house for £40. This was the amount he had spent on getting water on and changing the Yale lock. We only lived in Seend for a few months. Our real roots are in Stoke Sub Hamdon in Somerset. The Seend place was our first attempt at communal living. We knew an old gay gangster from Yeovil and he set it all up. The real shining light of living in Yeovil for me was the closeness of Stonehenge. We would go on school trips to London and would pass the festival which at the time was only 200 or 300 people there. I remember vividly thinking “That’s for me”. From about 1977 or 1978 the whole Yeovil scene would decamp to Stonehenge for weeks on end. Most of the songs were written hitch- hiking up and down the A303 to London”. [Mark Wilson of the Mob]Seend is village near Melksham in Wiltshire in the west of England. In 1801 it had a population of 1000. About the time Brougham Road was being built it experienced a brief industrial revolution when three blast furnaces smelting local iron ore employed 300 people, but by 1981 the furnaces were long since gone and it had become a rural hamlet of 1000 once more. Stoke Sub Hamdon is an even smaller hamlet in Somerset.How could a punk group like the Mob emerge from such places?The answer lies in the way that punk radiated out from its ground zero in London. Punk did not just explode in cities like Manchester. Inspired by the Sex Pistols ‘anti-Jubilee ‘of 1977, punk also exploded in the most remote and obscure towns and villages inspiring hundreds, even thousands, of punk groups across the UK. Most of these flowers in the dustbin of history faded as swiftly as they had flourished, but a few, like the Mob, survived.The Mob were able to survive through their connections with an older counterculture. Whilst punk in London began to decay, the Mob were playing gigs with archetypal hippies Here and Now, along with Zounds and the Androids of Mu. This hippy / punk crossover had its punk roots in the 1978 Alternative TV / Here and Now tour which took in Stonehenge Free Festival – and where the Mob also played.The Mob’s relocation to Brougham Road was fortuitous. Thanks to a Crass / Poison Girls benefit single – ‘Bloody Revolutions / Persons Unknown’, in late 1981 an anarchist centre was set up in a warehouse in Wapping in East London. This became the launch pad for dozens of anarchist punk groups. It also became the focus for an anarchist punk community which survived the collapse of the Wapping centre to create a new anarchy centre in West London – the Centro Iberico.The Centro Iberico was an abandoned school which had been squatted by Spanish anarchists, including veterans of the Spanish Civil War. The Mob were actively involved in both these ventures, as well as the string of squatted anarchy / peace centres which followed on.The Mob were also actively involved in a spin-off venture – the Black Sheep Housing Co-op. The Mob did not just play benefits for this punk co-operative – they helped rebuild the derelict houses the co-op were given. The Black Sheep Co-op survived until 2002, and some of its houses remain in co-operative ‘multiple -occupancy’ to this day. The survival, against the odds, of the Black Sheep Co-op and its houses has its echoes in the survival, against the odds, of the collective – the tribe – which the Mob were part of and which they helped create.
Benjamin Zepheniah - The Cooperative Hall - Spring Gardens - Doncaster - November 1983 Michael Baxter 2023-12-07 | Another sad day, as Benjamin Zepheniah has passed on at just sixty five years old. I saw Benjamin Zepheniah perform his poetry sets several times, including memorable performances which were with punk bands in the eighties.Birmingham has lost one of it's favourite sons, but his legacy and his integrity remains strong and uncompromising. Benjamin Zephaniah, the British poet whose work often addressed political injustice, has died aged sixty five years old of a brain tumour.Zephaniah died in the early hours of Thursday 7th December morning after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago, a post on his Instagram page stated.“Benjamin’s wife was by his side throughout and was with him when he passed,” the post read. “We shared him with the world, and we know many will be shocked and saddened by this news. Benjamin was a true pioneer and innovator; he gave the world so much. Through an amazing career including a huge body of poems, literature, music, television and radio, Benjamin leaves us with a joyful and fantastic legacy”.Rest In Peace Bee Zee.The first minute of this set is very quiet but the set's volume increases eventually.This set from Benjamin Zepheniah was recorded via the mixing desk at the Cooperative Hall, Spring Gardens in Doncaster, with the Passion Killers and The Mob. This gig was notable, as it was the last ever performance of The Mob in the bands original lifetime.The text below is part of the biography that has been taken off of the official Benjamin Zephaniah website. Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born and raised in Birmingham, England. He cannot remember a time when he was not creating poetry, but this had nothing to do with school where poetry meant very little to him, in fact he had finished full time education at the age of thirteen. His poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls ‘street politics’. His first real public performance was in church when he was ten years old, by the time he was fifteen he had developed a strong following in his hometown of Handsworth where he had gained a reputation as a young poet who was capable of speaking on local and international issues.He loved Handsworth, he called it the Jamaican capital of Europe but although his work had become popular within the African-Caribbean and Asian community he thought the town was too small, he was not satisfied preaching about the sufferings of Black people to Black people, so he sought a wider mainstream audience. At the age of twenty two he headed south to London where his first book Pen Rhythm was published by Page One Books. This was a small, East London based publishing co-operative that were keen on publishing poets who were rooted in their communities. They published Zephaniah when others failed to tune into the new poetry that was about to emerge. The book sold well going into 3 editions, but it was in performance that the Dub (Reggae) Poet would cause a revolution, a revolution that injected new life into the British poetry scene and attracted the interest of many mainstream publishers, many of whom had sent refusal letters to him only twelve months earlier.In the early Eighties when Punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting about SUS Laws, high unemployment, homelessness and the National Front, Zephaniah’s poetry could be heard on the demonstrations, at youth gatherings, outside police stations, and on the dance floor. It was once said of him that he was Britain’s most filmed, photographed, and identifiable poet, this was because of his ability to perform on stage, but most of all on television, bringing Dub Poetry straight into British living rooms. The mission was to take poetry everywhere, he hated the dead image that academia and the establishment had given poetry and proclaimed that he was out to popularise poetry by reaching people who did not read books, those that were keen on books could now witness a book coming to life on the stage. This poetry was political, musical, radical, relevant and on TV.In the nineties his book publications, record releases and television appearances increased in Britain, although he has concentrated on performing outside Europe. He feels at home anywhere the oral tradition is still strong and lists South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, and Colombia as some of his most memorable tours. In fact, life has been one long tour, but this is the only way the oral tradition can live. Over a twenty two day period in 1991 he performed on every continent on this planet.In 2003, Zephaniah rejected his OBE. “Me? I thought, OBE me. Up yours, I thought,” he wrote in the Guardian. “I get angry when I hear that word ‘empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
Southern Death Cult - Hammersmith Palais 4th July 1982 + four songs from Brixton Ace November 1982 Michael Baxter 2023-11-19 | A decent live recording of a decent performance, SDC at the pinnacle of their short career.Brilliant stuff.Recorded from the crowd at the Palais, and with Theatre Of Hate headlining. The flyers Tony D. The magazine articles mine. The text below is a snippet from NME interview October 1982. Post punk comes the last tribe, SOUTHERN DEATH CULT, a Bradford group who attack the centralisation of media and political power in London. Paul Morley discovers their anger and aggression is only inspiration – not a way of life.Ian says: I was in the army for a while, and then I came out, and I was a punk, and I thought, right, fucking anarchy, this is it for the rest of my life. This has got to last forever. And then when it died down, I just sat there, and I thought… what the fuck was all that about?Southern Death Cult.Ian says: It’s a catchy name! It’s not that it’s just weird or anything. It’s not really talking about London… perhaps the impression you get from the word London. The control that comes from such a place. All the main branches of government are in London, all the main branches of the military, the media, the music business, the multinational companies, so in a way London is a source of all the discontentment. But the Southern Death Cult isn’t specifically London. I’ve got a lot of friends in London! The name is a subtle hint about those people who have control. In a rehearsal room above Roots record shop In Bradford, we talk. Five voices, some unfinished sentences, the usual intrigues interpreted and translated with a tiny distortion, a tiny irregularity, which alters everything.Southern Death Cult do not produce the conversations and claims familiar in all such interviews; they go further, their view is fresher, they’re acceptant yet infuriated… as if telling off people is a waste of time. At a loss, full of doubt, but getting ready to take you on. I’m impressed by the way Southern Death Cult present themselves to me; with a consideration on that’s more thrilling than the word suggests.I take Southern Death Cult to be: free of pettiness, craving for sensation and experience, always gathering strength, always surprised by what comes next…Barry says: I never imagined it meaning anything to anyone other than ourselves. The fact that Southern Death Cult is meaning something outside of ourselves amazes me even now.Southern Death Cult are 18 months old and started showing off in public last October. Aky, drums, 20. Barry, bass, 20. lan, vocals, 20. Buzz, guitar, 21. Fame is taking them by the hand.Barry says: We didn’t have a plan of action. We didn’t intellectualize about the name or anything. It didn’t occur to us. We just wanted to be in a band blah blah blah…lan says: We wanted to play the Queen’s Hall down the road. That’s all we wanted to achieve. Then one day we played with Chelsea and Gene October got on stage and said, Right this group is gonna be supporting us down the Marquee, for two days, and we just shit ourselves. Fucking hell, Marquee, amazing! Cos we didn’t realize what we had… it was just something that we’d put together. It just happened. People thought we’d tried to manufacture something; It wasn’t that. How this group came about is a complete accident.Ian brings to Southern Death Cult a fierce sense of destiny.Ian says: I don’t have to do this. I could bugger off back to Canada. I would really really like to go back to Canada. Not in the cities, but just disappear, because a little while ago I just thought that I’d had enough. That’s a long story but l just wanted to get out. But now I’ve been given a direction… It’s really strange how I got into this group. I can’t believe it really. I was travelling round with The Poison Girls and I went to London and stayed with all these kids who were taking heroin in West Hampstead and I was just sat there shitting my pants. I didn’t know where I was going to go. I went back to Liverpool and I met this friend from Bradford, a place I’d only ever passed through, and he said come and live with me. So I went. And I was just sitting in this house and the group were practicing downstairs and they just asked me to join. It just happened. I just got shifted around, different events happened, and i got shifted to Bradford of all places. I’ve always thought that its destiny or whatever you want to call it throwing me about. To arrive in Bradford really makes me believe that. I don’t feel that what’s been pushing me around is going to take over and make me into the Messiah or any of that crap… It’s just really special us four people being together. It’s something really strong.Aky says: The Sex Pistols were probably the one group that meant something to all of us. and the first punk thing was what I personally loved. But now I’ve like grown out of it. I do like Killing Joke. I can sit in my bedroom and listen to them over and over again and they really do something for me. They make me feel aggressive, the Banshees as well.
Rapper Roberts and Jim Brown - Pirates & Version - Studio One Records - 1983 Michael Baxter 2023-11-12 | I had forgotten how much I liked 'Pirates', an early eighties DJ version by Rapper Roberts and Jim Brown of the 'Throw Me Corn' rhythm (originally voiced by Larry Marshall early seventies).Jim Brown was born Paul Sinclair in Kingston Jamaica, and was a Jamaican dancehall / DJ artist in the eighties. He recorded most of his material for producers Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Harry Johnson and Jah Thomas. Jim Brown's musical career started in 1976 when he use to hang out at dancehalls and sound-systems such as Smiths the Weapon HiFi, Peoples Choice and El Ringo Disco. In 1981 under the Studio One label songs like 'Calypso Calypso', 'Ragga Muffin' a combination with Devon Russell, 'Kipling' in 1983, 'See Him Deh', 'On Mi Mind', 'Jam It Up Tight', 'Reggae Galore', also, 'Dem a Pirate' and 'Minister Fi Ganga', combinations with Rappa Robert also on the studio one label. He worked alongside Jah Thomas on the Midnight Rock Label. In 1986 he passed through Youthman Promotion.I wonder why Paul Sinclair chose such a bland stage name as 'Jim Brown'? Jim Brown is no doubt a very popular name over the world, but there was one 'Jim Brown' (real name Lester Coke) who led Kingston's violent 'Shower Posse' gang supported I think by the JLP. In the mid sixties the 'Shower Posse' gang was known as the 'Tivoli Gang' after their local area in Kingston, Tivoli Gardens, and Lester Coke was in the thick of that gang and it's violent activities during those years and of course, the following decades.In the early nineties, Lester Coke was burnt to death in a prison cell fire just hours after the funeral of his son, who had been gunned down on Maxwell Avenue in Kingston, dying two or three weeks earlier. This prison cell fire occured in mysterious circumstances while Jim Brown was awaiting an important court trial. Although Lester Coke was arrested many times for various violent crimes (dozens upon dozens of murders for example) throughout the decades, supposedly he was never ever convicted of any charge against him such was his influence.These two slayings were a violent end to two violent people.Interestingly though, for one of Kingston's most violent gang leaders, Lester Coke A.K.A 'Jim Brown' managed to attract 20,000 mourners at his funeral, which was attended by the ex-prime minister Seaga, and other high brow politicians and dignitaries!I wonder if this Lester Coke's 'Jim Brown' was the inspiration to Paul Sinclair's stage name of 'Jim Brown'?I do not know but 'Jim Brown' is a pretty boring moniker! I have no idea who Rapper Robert is! It's a great record though, both Larry Marshall's version, and this DJ duo's version.*** Words from Tighten Up's Mistah Brown; "Jim Sinclair probably took his stage name Jim Brown from the recently departed football / movie star. Rock solid choice for the times. They were probably re-running the Slaughter movies constantly in the 80s. He’s Jim Nastic these days".That probably settles that then, although 'Jim Brown' gave me an excuse to put up a snippet of information on Lester Coke onto this YouTube post though!
A Blue Plaque Celebration for Millie Small - 28th October 2023 Michael Baxter 2023-10-29 | What a wonderful afternoon in Shepherds Bush W14 for Millie Small's blue plaque unveiling. Organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) and presumably Hammersmith and Fulham council (as well as the current owner of the property who kindly gave his permission for the plaque to be actually attached to his wall sometime next week). It was great that the blue plaque was being presented in Black History Month of October seventy five years after the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tibury dock. Of course, the timing might have been intentional! Although the weather was predicted to be wet, there was no sign of rain, and the sun was shining throughout the event, apart from a quick shower for a few minutes after the event. It is as if, someone was looking down on the event from high above, up in the Heavens! There was lots of love shown from the eighty-odd folk that were there cramped up amongst the parked cars and spilling onto the road, and across the road.Several speakers were involved, one of whom, Tony Washington, played the piano on the studio recording of 'My Boy Lollipop' in 1964. An original Island Records employee from the early sixties was there. The Deputy Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham spoke, as did the wonderful Jaelee Small, Millie Small's daughter. Laurence Cane-Honeysett, writer and expert on all things 'Trojan' was meant to speak but was not there for some reason. A few other dignitaries were there and spoke to the crowd. Winston Francis, the great Winston Francis, got on the mic and sung Dennis Brown's; 'Here I Come Again' to an instrumental backing tape of the same song. Some Rasta drummers were there.Jenny 'Petra' was there so it was nice to see her for an hour or so!The spotlight was of course on Jaelee Small who handled everything happening this afternoon with grace and with a huge smile on her face. Oh, also ITV was there filming everything, so you never know, I might be looking gormless on TV at some point! Marvelous stuff.I started to film the event, which I was not actually intending to do, but as I started I didn't stop. So a large file and a reasonably large amount of power needed...A problem arose though. My mobile phone battery died just a few minutes before the end of the event. It was around ten minutes, but those minutes were made up of Cleon Roberts, the daughter of the great Sonny Roberts A.K.A Sonny Orbitone, who held the keys to 108 Cambridge Road in Kilburn, one of the original addresses for Island Records and set up the first black owned recording studio in the UK.I would have loved to have been able to film Cleon speaking. I was there listening (obviously) but the footage not being recorded is a loss to this YouTube post.AND... I missed the actual unveiling of the plaque by Jaelee Small with the Rasta drummers supplying the earth-beat. This really was a fail. So, as you can probably imagine, I was quite annoyed!I had a charger with me, so fitted that but of course the phone could not be restarted until a reasonable amount of charge is stored, like 5% or something. I took several photographs of the wonderful Jaelee Small holding the plaque a few minutes after I restarted the phone so at least I have those photographs to add to the footage. I have also placed up the audio of Millie Small's 'Enoch Power' at the end of the footage, so as a reminder of what a lovely singer she was. Millie Small - Beautiful Angel - May she continue to Rest In Peace.
Senator Johnny / Gabbidon / King Mexican / Guinne Pepper - DUB-PLATE - Roof Int Studio - Ocho Rios Michael Baxter 2023-10-25 | The latter nineties, a visit to Jamaica and dub-plates cut, recorded at the Roof International Studios based at Ocho Rios.The dub-plates features several young kids, Senator Johnny, along with three others who were hanging around the studio, of which Senator Johnny vouched for on the afternoon. I am glad that Senator Johnny vouched for these kids as their delivery and lyrics were absolutely spot on. No ‘Gangsta’ shit! Nicely. The dub-plates consists of four wonderful tracks with alternate vocals by Senator Johnny, Gabbidon, King Mexican and the mighty Guinne Pepper. All of these artists were decent people. Myself and Jacquie, the wife, would hang around with Senator Johnny a little bit on the streets around Jack Rubys restaurant, at that point run by Michael Ruby, Jack Rubys eldest son. We had some lovely meals there with some of the locals. Hopefully Jack Rubys Restaurant is still there and that is still run by Michael Ruby.One of the tracks I asked for a modern version of the 'Stalag' rhythm, which was easily sorted out. If you listen carefully to the introductions of the tracks on these four separate recordings, you will hear dedications to Jacquie and myself, 'Penguin' which was a nice touch. One Blood was the moniker of the sound system that myself and Kev (ex of the punk band Conflict) were DJing under the name of.The photographs featured on the videos firstly show Jacquie sitting in the wooden hut outside Roof International Studios, next is Senator Johnny in the studio, then the studio engineer with my dub plate getting cut, and lastly a photograph of Jacquie with Senator Johnny in the café next door to Roof International Studio.The words below ripped from two articles in the Jamaica Observer written in 2014. A number of music producers emerged during the nineties dancehall explosion. One of them was Courtney Cole, whose Roof International released several hit songs from its Ocho Rios base. Cole is still at the helm of Roof, though the label has moved to St Elizabeth where he works with mostly home-grown artistes."I'm dealing with some young talent like a 10-year-old named Simonia, who is going places," said Cole.‘Let's Live In Harmony’ by Simonia is one of Roof's latest releases. According to Cole, the title sums up his label's approach to music."Everything we deal with is conscious, nothing out of the way," he said.Dub poet Richie Innocent, gospel singer Meekle Melody and lovers rock singer Garth Swaby are some of the acts Cole has worked with recently.An auto-mechanic by trade, St Ann-born Cole operated a tow-truck business before getting into music during the late eighties when he opened the Roof Club in Ocho Rios.Other than being a 'party man', he had no ties to the music industry. After seeing a number of artistes perform at his club, he launched a label and went into production.The move paid dividends. Roof produced a cache of hits including ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ and ‘Mama’ by Garnet Silk; ‘Dem Nuh Like We’ by Capleton, ‘Butterfly’ by Tony Curtis and Jigsy King, and ‘Who Sey Mi Dun’ by Cutty Ranks.Cole said he took a break from producing for a while, turned off he says by a proliferation of 'dutty songs'.With his current roster of artistes, Cole hopes to help put St Elizabeth's music on the map just as he did in Ocho Rios twenty years ago.Two decades after the tragic loss of Garnet Silk, Courtney Coley is still haunted by memories of the singer, whose first hit song he produced in 1991."Even now when I hear his music, especially the ones I produced, I still get a flashback," Cole told the Jamaica Observer.Cole said he first met Silk in 1991 through his (Silk's) close friend, Tony Rebel, who asked the producer 'to help him out'. At the time, he was head of the Roof International club and record label in Ocho Rios.He produced several of the songs that put the Manchester-born artist on the road to stardom. They include his first hit ‘I Can See Clearly’ (with Yasus Afari), ‘Mama’ and ‘Nothing Can Divide Us.’Cole added that he knew Silk was special after seeing him perform live for the first time."It was his performance at Epiphany Club in Kingston that sealed it for me," he said."When Silk hit the stage, singing ‘Mama’, the place went wild, he had to do the song over and over again," Cole recalled. "He made me feel good as a producer."Cole eventually produced an album, ‘Mama’, with Silk for Roof International. By 1992, Garnet Silk was the hottest act in dancehall, recording hits for a number of top producers including Donovan Germain and Bobby Digital.His fame was short-lived. On December 9, 1994, he and his mother, Etiga Gray, were killed in a fire at her home in Manchester. Silk was twenty eight years old."I was in Boston making my way to Rochester with Jigsy King and Tony Curtis for a show when I got the news. I felt numb and depressed," said Cole, who visited the site of the incident when he returned to Jamaica.
Gregory Isaacs - Love Is Overdue / Real Rock - DUB-PLATE - African Museum Studios - Kingston Michael Baxter 2023-10-24 | Today, thirteen years ago, a reggae legend and truly great performer, Gregory Isaacs, passed on at the age of 59 due to the lung cancer that he was diagnosed with a little over a year previously. Gregory Isaacs was born in Fletcher's Land, a particularly neglected patch of the ghetto in the Jamaican capital, Kingston. His father left for the US during his childhood, so Gregory and his younger brother, Sylvester, were raised by their mother in the rough streets of nearby Denham Town. Showing a natural aptitude for singing, Isaacs began making an impact on talent contests during his teens. He was inspired by stars such as Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, as well as local acts including Alton Ellis and the Melodians, but named his mother as his first vocal role model, since he used to hear her singing while she ironed.Known as the 'Cool Ruler' for his exceptionally suave and emotive voice, Isaacs scored many hits during the 1970s and 80s, including the perennial favourite ‘Night Nurse’, and remained active as a recording artist, live performer and producer in the decades that followed. Although best known for romantic ballads, delivered with a hint of vulnerability, he also excelled at songs of social protest and work that expressed unwavering pride in his African heritage. Gregory Isaacs has been a prominent force in my record collection for many years. May He Rest In Peace. In the late 1990s, I visited Gregory Isaacs at his African Museum recording studio along the long, distressed, and dangerous after dark, Red Hills Road in Kingston 19.He was to voice a dub-plate for me, a song dedicated to my wife Jacquie. This dub-plate was to be a surprise for Valentines day, a day that would arrive shortly after we would be back in the UK from Jamaica. In the video there is a photograph showing the African Museum/Dub World sign, in front of the car park leading to the premises. To get to the recording studio you needed to walk through the record shop. The next photograph shows a girl sitting on the speaker, who worked at the African Museum record shop. I have forgetten her name, but she was lovely. She arranged for Gregory to ring me up at Jacquie's, uncles’ home, in the Meadowbrook area of Kingston, not that far away from Red Hills Road, to arrange a date that I could come in to meet him and discuss a recording. Lastly a photograph of Gregory in his office. Despite the world-weary look on his face, and he has certainly had a life that would make anyone 'world-weary', he was a nice guy, quite cordial, and pleasant to me, and we discussed ideas. I had told Gregory that I wanted the lyrics of his 1974 hit ‘Love Is Overdue’, but instead of the backing music sounding like the original 'Love Is Overdue' record, I told him that I wanted it voiced with a completely different rhythm so it would sound totally original. The rhythm I had in mind was ‘Real Rock’ originally recorded during the latter years of the sixties by the Sound Dimension band, a pool of musicians that backed up dozens upon dozens of the vocal artists that would have been at the recording sessions by Coxsone Dodd at his Brentford Road studio. This rhythm has been recycled and re-recorded by different producers for decades, voiced by reggae greats like Junior Murvin with 'Cool Out Son', Dillinger 'Fountain On The Mountain', 'Nice Up The Dance' by Michigan & Smiley, 'Anorexal' by Eek A Mouse, and my mainline into the rhythm 'Armagideon Time' by Willie Williams that was released on the Studio One record label in 1978.In 1979 the Clash recorded the song, 'Armageddon Time', and the song was simply brilliant. The two dub versions; 'Justice Tonight/Kick It Over' were featured on the B-side of the ‘London's Calling’ 12" single. Those dubs were bombastic. A top twenty singles chart record in 1979 in the UK.Predictably, The Clash version was the first time I heard ‘Armageddon Time’. I had not known that it was a cover version of a relatively unknown Jamaican artist at that time. 'Armageddon Time' as well as songs like; 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais', 'Bankrobber', 'Rockers Galore' and 'Junco Partner' were such great reggae-tinged songs performed perfectly by a rock band. Undoubtedly the Clash were one of the original reference points that lead me to explore reggae music in a small way, throughout the following years and decades. Thank you to the Clash for that inspiration. A nice touch with this dub-plate, is that Gregory did not just sing the lyrics to 'Love Is Overdue' straight, he namechecks and adds clever references towards Jacquie and myself throughout this whole recording. It makes this dub-plate somewhat more special to have our names mentioned throughout. As an aside, I also asked Gregory to give a shout out to Bubblers Hi-Fi, a small sound system that was being run by Liam and Etienne (both who were employed at Southern Record Distributors where I was the warehouse manager) at the end of the track!Gregory. A nice guy.
Eek A Mouse - Anarexol & Teacher - Greensleeves Records - 1983 Michael Baxter 2023-10-20 | Those that might know me, know how much I appriciate the 'Real Rock' rhythm. A rhythm that was originally an instumental from the latter years of the sixties recorded by Sound Dimension, engineered by Coxsone Dodd and released on his Studio One record label. This rhythm has been recycled and re-recorded by different producers for decades, voiced by reggae greats like Junior Murvin with 'Cool Out Son', Dillinger 'Fountain On The Mountain', 'Nice Up The Dance' by Michigan & Smiley and my mainline into the rhythm (via The Clash) 'Armagideon Time' by Willie Williams. I even have a Gregory Issacs dub-plate that he recorded for me one hot and sticky afternoon at African Museum studios in Red Hills Road, Kingston, over twenty years ago. Precious indeed. The Clash with 'Armagideon Time/Justice Tonight/Kick It Over' (the B-side of the 12" version of the 'Londons Calling' record) bought reggae to many thousands of people that might not have otherwise been in any situations to have heard the musical genre, or experienced the reggae culture. Ditto 2-Tone of course. Eek A Mouse's 'Anarexol' is another fine example, voicing lyrics over the Real Rock rhythm, and it is totally hynotic. Eek's singjay style of his vocal delivery is totally and utterly original. No one, to my knowledge, has ever tried to copy his delivery. I saw Eek at Harlesdon Mean Fiddler over a couple of decades ago. He was dressed up in his Mexican clothing. A massive Mexican Sombrero and a long poncho. Eek is very tall and the Mean Fiddler venue is relatively small, so he really looked massive on the stage with a wide brimmed hat! It was a wonderful performance. 'Anarexol' was released on Greensleeves in 1983, and it also featured on the album from 1984, again on Greensleeves, called 'Mouseketeer' which is probably my favourite of Eek's albums. Not a bum track on the album. Absolutely essential. Henry "Junjo" Lawes produced and with Soldgie engineering the sessions. The previous three albums are no slouches, but 'Mouseketeer' is magnificent. Below is a feature from the Jamaica Star paper that describes an incident in Eek's past. Monday, June 1, 1981, is a date that is stuck in the memory of flamboyant reggae singer Eek-A-Mouse.That was the day when 26-year-old notorious gangster Anthony 'General Starkey' Tingle was killed in Trench Town by the police after returning from a dance. Eek-A-Mouse was present and had a near-death experience.Eek-A-Mouse remembers General Starkey as the cross-dressing gangster who "love fi drink 'red top', McEwan's Ale, 'cause dem time deh Junglist nuh too like drink Heineken 'cause it green", affiliated to the JLP political party. Noting that persons always query if he is gay, Eek-A-Mouse was adamant that "dem couldn't seh dat 'bout General Starkey, yuh nuh", not even "when Starkey inna him dress and long hair and lipstick ... when him was wanted. Anywhere I was, him show up and want me fi sing". He recalled that on the fateful day, he wore full black."After di session, dem tell me seh Starkey feel sick. Him did a throw up and him go inna di yard at 17 Love Street and go lie down. A deejay name Errol Shorter from Love Lane did have a toothache and Shorter guh sleep inna di room, and other man go lie down, too. My mother always seh anytime yuh see too much man a sleep inna house, don't go in deh. A mi mother save mi," Eek-A-Mouse said."Mi deh pon a chair a rest mi head and a next youth did deh pon di bench, but him seh him a go inna di room. Mi check mi Casio watch and then mi hear the gate push and see Skellie ... but him suppose to a watch di gate with a big M16," he said.Skellie alerted him that police were on the road, and the 6' 6'' entertainer "crawled on [his] belly" to check it out and hastened to warn Starkey."General did have on him bathing trunks and him hair did inna Chiney bumps. Him seh, 'Weh dem deh?' And put him 9mm inna him waist. A walk we ah walk now fi try run way ... General Starkey to the right, me inna di middle and Skellie pon the left, but police circle di place. We ony hear 'brrrpppp'. The shot so close mi start touch mi body if me get shot. Starkey ... mi nuh see where him run."Eek-A-Mouse said that he ended up in the yard surrounded by cops."A policeman push him gun inna mi forehead and mi bawl out, 'Boss nuh kill me! A me name Eek-A-Mouse!' Him seh 'Bwoy, a yuh a Eek-A-Mouse with the big song A Wha Do Dem? Wha' yuh a do yah? ... a criminal we a look fah. Stay yah so'."Eek-A-Mouse stayed put, and when the gunshots died down, he saw the cops throwing dead bodies in a truck. The same truck that they later told him to climb up into."Dem kill General Starkey and him bredda, too. The truck that dem throw the dead bodies in lean on a 90-degree angle and mi see the blood a run out," he said.The deceased were listed as General Starkey, his brother Michael McLeod, Barrington Fitzroy, Paul Johnson, Errol Shorter, Conrad Bryan, Leroy Reid and Michael Jackson.
Virus V1 - Stevenage Bowes Lyon House - 2nd January 1983 Michael Baxter 2023-10-09 | Words written below by Mike 'Skinner' Baker; guitarist of Virus V1. CXNTERBURY TALES books available - see end of video... Virus V1 walked out onto the massive stage. Andy drew the mic up, “Whey! Good evening and Happy New Year!” A couple of cheers came back from the crowd. “This one’s dedicated to all the arse-licking Tories out there; it’s called Everybody’s Boy” he announced. Dave hit the intro, and at the end of the bar, his full kit roll brought us all in perfectly on time and everything clicked. It was incredible, it was lift off, the massive sound vortex of the PA system engulfed the hall, smashing our music and our message into the faces of the audience who responded by jumping, tearing into each other, and seeing the chaos we were creating from up on stage, we reciprocated by throwing everything we had into it. “Cheers, this is for all the people who celebrated Christmas this year, it’s called Christ Fuckers,” Andy said to the rapidly growing audience. Dave slammed into the opening beat and once again the audience started bouncing, pushing into each other in anticipation of the raging guitars they knew were about to come. Andy Chanted, “Symbol of religion, a man in pain, Jesus died well what a shame, so that we might be forgiven, sin is what you live in…… You can fuck your own Christ.” Dave lashed into the snare, Whiff and me brought in the raging guitars, the now sated crowd jumped, clawed, pushed, laughed, and pumped their fists in the air. I couldn’t have stopped even if I wanted to, so at the end of ‘Christ Fuckers’ to keep the rush going I launched straight into ‘Protest’, I couldn’t help it. ‘Protest’ came and went in a savage blur, the audience showing their approval.On our next number ‘Public Enemy’ a supposedly slow track, we started off slowly but as adrenaline pulsed through us all, ‘Public Enemy’ soon took on a whole life of its own and began to speed up with each and every passing verse!On ‘Private War’ our next track, my adrenaline came back with a vengeance. In fact, it took over completely during my intro and I set the tempo way too fast, and once we had all come in, although it was hard for us all to keep up, and stay in time, we all rose to the challenge particularly Dave, whose arms became a blur as he venomously lashed into the skins. ‘S.S.P.G’ came next, a medium-paced number about the notorious Special Patrol Group, who were basically a bunch of bullies with badges, and the knowledgeable crowd reacted by singing the chorus of ‘S.S.P.G’ back to us, cheering and clapping as it faded at the end. Intro duties were back on me for our next track, ‘No More Genocide’, and thankfully, this time I kept my rushing adrenaline under control, setting the right tempo. It was a good thing too, as Dave was at full capacity on that one, and after my intro, he hit the drum roll bringing Whiff and Andy in, and we watched the floor explode in front of us again, as our sound blitzed the audience squeezing out the silence, filling every part of the hall. ‘Gas Chamber Nursery’ and ‘Suffer Little Children’ followed: I hit the intro, sending the place into bedlam again, Dave and me exchanged a grin as we saw our first crowd surfer being passed jauntily from shoulder to shoulder, and we both creased up, as he was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, only to re-appear at the front of the stage with a big smile on his face. Andy was enjoying himself too as he passed the mic out into the crowd and his mates bellowed ‘Suffer Little Children’ on the chorus back at us.‘Horrors of Belsen’ was up next, we hadn’t played it live before, so I felt a bit nervy when Whiff began to pluck out the intro. I need not have worried as ‘Horrors of Belsen’ with its sound of creeping death went down well with the Bowes audience, it encapsulated them in a way that was almost hypnotic. Intro duties were on me again on our second new live track ‘Auschwitz 84’ with a single note on the guitar, which undulates and builds, waiting for Whiff to come in. It undulated and built, built, and undulated, undulated, built. I thought, where the fucking hell is Whiff, he should be coming in by now, only to glance over to his side of the stage and there he was, exchanging air kisses with his little Siouxsie clone in the front row. Dave chucked a spare stick at him, bringing him back into the band, Whiff laughed, giving him a sarcastic little wave, and smiled self-consciously. I hit the intro again and this time he came in on time, followed by Dave, then Andy, and we were off. I wanted to stay on stage all night and just keep on playing, but ‘V1 Bomb’ was our last track, our best track, the track we wanted people to think about, hopefully, long after we had left the stage. I was going to put everything I had left into this one, and looking at Andy, Dave, and Whiff, I could see they were thinking exactly the same thing I was. When the track came to its end, we strolled confidently off the stage to cheers and applause.
Pinney - Morning Train & Version - Parks Records - 1978 Michael Baxter 2023-09-24 | I'll be honest, I know nothing of who Pinney is, nor can I garner any infomation on the internet, nor from any of the relevent books that I own. She sings well enough though on this 7" record, released around 1978 on the Parks record label, with the musical backing of Lloyd Parks and his We The People band. Here below though, is a tiny snippet of a long interview with Lloyd Parks, conducted by Angus Taylor for the UNITEDREGGAE website. You and the other Skin Flesh And Bones musicians started to play at Channel One when it opened in the early 70s. Why didn’t you stay in the line-up?Channel One studio opened so we just went down there. I was the original of the Revolutionaries. But at that time, I used to produce and frequently then I would go to England because of Trojan records. I used to take my tapes to England. So, one of the times that I went, Ranchie started to play the bass on one of the sessions. I taught Ranchie to play guitar. I was the teacher for Ranchie McLean. And he started to play the bass and some little politics and everything. And that was how I stopped playing as the Revolutionaries. Which tracks did you play bass on at Channel One?Ah. Oh my goodness. There was a song called 'Suspicion' with Delroy Wilson. I am trying to remember. Maybe some unpopular songs.It was before Channel One got big.Yeah.So, you were mainly playing for other producers – apart from Channel One’s Sunday sessions?I was playing mainly for Joe Gibbs. Because it was like Channel One and Joe Gibbs. Who is the better producer? Channel One or Joe Gibbs? Channel One - hit song. Joe Gibbs hit song, hit song, hit song.An early Joe Gibbs hit that you played on was 'Uptown Top Ranking'. A number one hit in England.Yeah, because at that time Joe Gibbs studio had just opened.So how did you get involved with Joe Gibbs?I don't even remember how I went over to Joe Gibbs… The engineer Errol Thompson. He used to be Randy's engineer. Or it could have been the association with Dennis Brown. When we made that big song ‘Here I Am Baby’ that was the first time I was going on a tour to England. Because of that song. It was Toots and the Maytals, Cynthia Richards, Dennis Brown for the first UK tour. So, when Joe Gibbs started to record Dennis Brown he said, "Hire the man Lloydie on bass". I played on quite a few songs. ‘Love's Got A Hold On Me’ - big hit. ‘Money In My Pocket’ - big hit for Dennis Brown. ‘Should I’ - big hit. ‘Love Has Found Its Way’, ‘Inseparable’ and then the ‘Foul Play’ album. When Joe Gibbs started to record Dennis Brown, he said "Hire the man Lloydie on bass"When Dennis Brown got signed to A&M.When he got signed to A&M. And he started to tour, and it was a great experience with Dennis Brown.So how did you meet Dennis Brown?Dennis Brown was always a child star. Everybody's favourite singer. So, I met the man. He used to say "Skipper, I like how you sing man!" (Laughs) But then I never took the singing seriously. I think Dennis used to do one or two little productions for himself. And he used to do stage shows and I was the band and thing. So, I just liked how he worked and he liked how I work. And then we did great work together and Dennis Brown started to say, "We’re not going away without you - you know?". So for almost 20 years I was his musical director.How did We The People Band form?Right after when Ranchie started playing bass at Channel One, it was 1975, so I formed We The People. And at the beginning even Sly came in and he used to assist me. But then that changed. And Horsemouth was also the drummer at one time, but we didn't get popular yet. We were just putting it together. And there was another drummer called Don who played left-handed drum. But when Devon Richardson came in, we found the right thing. So, it was Devon Richardson, BoPee on guitar, Franklin Waul, Bubbler, Lloyd Kerr on trombone, Junior Chico Chin on trumpet. It was about five of us. And then after Dean Fraser and afterward Nambo Robinson, so we started to have a big band. Dennis Brown started to say, "We're not going away without you - you know?"In 1980 you were joined by American guitarist Andy Bassford.We used to play at Skateland. They used to keep shows out there and I noticed every time we had a show at Skateland I’d see this white guy and he's like (mimics excited dancing). I didn't know he was a guitarist you know. And then after another show he came and said, "You want me to jam with you?" I said, "JAM with me?" And he said "Alright" and plugged-in his guitar and mashed up the place! I said "What?" And he said "Lloyd, man, I love reggae music man. I love it". I gave him a chance and he was a great guy, man. And that's why I don't deal with white or black. I deal with good people. If you're good to me, I am good to you. I am not into white and racial. I am not into that. He was a dedicated band member.
Cardiacs - Seaside Treats E.P - Alphabet Records - 1985 Michael Baxter 2023-09-15 | The first vinyl outing for the Cardiacs, a 12" E.P which followed on the back of two cassette tape albums released in the years prior. The band's music is hard to define. If I was asked for the musical ingredients to put in the ceramic bowl, then I would probably measure out; a quarter of Kevin Ayres, a quarter of Inner City Unit, a quarter of Gong and a quarter of Syd Barrett. Add a sprinkle of Legendary Pink Dots and a pinch of Devo. Stick the bowl in the oven on medium heat until you get the Cardiacs pie. I would hear Cardiacs records and the cassette tapes being played often in London squats, on converted buses and trucks, where peaceful folk called home (and quite rightly) and inside Club Dog and the Whirly-Gig type affairs. Excellent!Wiki words below:In 1981, Cardiacs self-released the cassette album, ‘Toy World’, featuring both new material and recordings dating back to the Cardiac Arrest period (consequently, some tracks featured Michael Pugh as lead singer rather than Tim Smith). During 1981, Colvin Mayers left the band to join the Sound, a group led by Borland. Sarah Cutts briefly covered live keyboards as well as saxophone before Mark Cawthra swapped drums for keyboards and Dominic Luckman was recruited from the road crew as the new drummer. At around the same time percussionist Tim Quy became a full-time member (also doubling on bass synthesizer). In July 1983, Tim Smith married Sarah Cutts – taking his surname, she was henceforward known as Sarah Smith.In mid-1983 Mark Cawthra left the band, to be replaced on keyboards by William D. Drake. Tim Smith had previously met Drake in 1982 at the debut performance of Drake's band Honour Our Trumpet (who promptly invited him to join as bass guitarist.) Following Cawthra's departure, Smith returned Drake's favour by inviting him to join Cardiacs. Drake played his first concert with the band on 31st August 1983. Later in the year, Cardiacs added Marguerite Johnston (alto saxophone) and Graham Simmonds (guitar), and for about a year the band worked as an octet. Both Johnston and Simmonds left during the following summer (in July and August respectively), although Simmonds stayed on as Cardiacs' sound engineer. At some point in 1983, Tim Smith produced two issues of a comic alternatively called ‘Peter and His Dog’ and ‘Peter and His Dog Spot’.By autumn 1984, the band lineup had settled as the sextet generally referred to as "the classic lineup" – Tim Smith (lead vocals and guitar), Jim Smith (bass and vocals), William D. Drake (keyboards and vocals), Sarah Smith (saxophones and vocals), Tim Quy (percussion and keyboards) and Dominic Luckman (drums). The first Cardiacs release featuring the "classic" lineup was their album, ‘The Seaside’ (although Cawthra featured throughout on drums, keyboards, and voice; and Simmonds and Johnston also appeared on several tracks). The album was released on Cardiacs own record label, Alphabet (which later became Alphabet Business Concern). The bizarre and sinister "Alphabet Business Concern" mythology now began to become a significant part of Cardiacs' artistic presentation, and the band members would promote and add to it at every opportunity. The band evolved an elaborate and theatrical stage show, involving off-putting "bandsmen's uniforms, makeup, Sarah's music stand, (and) Tim's mile-wide grin".Between November and December of 1984, Cardiacs performed their first major British support tour, supporting Marillion at the personal invitation of Marillion's vocalist, Fish. Whilst the tour afforded the band a new level of publicity, generally they were not well received by Marillion's fanbase. On most dates of the tour, the band was pelted with a variety of makeshift missiles. During the 13th December show at the Hammersmith Apollo, Fish himself was indignant enough about the Marillion fans and their hostile behaviour to come onstage during Cardiacs' set and berate the audience about it. The band eventually ducked out of the last three days of the Marillion tour.On 1st April 1985, an attempt was made to film Cardiacs at a live concert at the Surbiton Assembly Rooms. The band had been approached by film-maker Mark Francombe, and his colleague Nick Elborough, both of whom were at that time students at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. Francombe and Elborough offered to film the band for free as part of their coursework project. However, when the band viewed the resultant footage, they decided against releasing it. Instead, they retained Francombe and Elborough for a new video project which would become 'Seaside Treats', named after the 12" single that was released at the same time. As well as containing three music videos, ‘Seaside Treats’ contained a ten-minute film named The Consultant's Flower Garden. The latter featured Cardiacs (and various people connected with them) in bizarre, comedic situations which continued to propagate the absurdist Alphabet Business Concern mythology which surrounded the band.
An informal chat with Richard Cabut - Writer Poet Musician - Looking For A Kiss Michael Baxter 2023-08-14 | Richard Cabut is author of the novels ‘Looking For A Kiss’ (PC-Press, 2023, previously Sweat Drenched Press, 2020) and ‘Dark Entries’ (Cold Lips Press, 2019), and the poetry book ‘Disorderly Magic And Other Disturbances’ (Far West Press, 2023). He co-edited / contributed to the anthology ‘Punk Is Dead: Modernity Killed Every Night’ (Zero Books, October 2017), and was also a contributor to ‘Ripped, Torn and Cut – Pop, Politics and Punks Fanzines From 1976’ (Manchester University Press, 2018) and ‘Growing Up With Punk’ (Nice Time, 2018).Richard’s journalism has featured in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, NME (New Musical Express - pen name Richard North), ZigZag, The Big Issue, Time Out, Offbeat magazine, the Independent, Artists & Illustrators magazine, The First Post, London Arts Board / Arts Council England, Siren magazine, etc.His fiction has appeared in the books The Edgier Waters (Snowbooks, 2006) and Affinity (67 Press, 2015). As well as on various sites on the internet. He was a Pushcart Prize nominee 2016.Richard’s plays have been performed at various theatres in London and nationwide, including the Arts Theatre, Covent Garden, London.His poetry has appeared in An Anthology of Punk Ass Poetry (Orchid Eater Press, 2022), and magazines such as Cold Lips, Foggy Plasma, 3am magazine, etc.In the latter seventies he published the fanzine Kick, and towards the middle of the eighties played bass for the punk band Brigandage whose albums; ‘FYM’ was released on FO Records in 1984 and ‘Pretty Funny Thing’ was released on Gung Ho Records in 1986.Richard also supports Luton Town football club. Looking For A Kiss – A novel by Richard Cabut published by PC-PRESS. A story of two lovers, Robert, and Marlene, who’s love has long faded. The story is mostly based in the early eighties, in and around the London of that period, a London that is now largely gentrified. The story seems to float around in a dream-like state – an acid trip interrupted by numerous speed comedowns. This is a mood book written with colourful and magical tones, but it also written with stark black and white tones. The two drug experiences gives the reader a clue to which passages would be which.There is no specific plot as such, more an examination of the two souls breaking apart. The situations and descriptions and the words spoken within these pages are sometimes angry, and if angry then the words are liable to be vicious, and sometimes spiteful. This leads to a sense of hopelessness for the two souls, one of whom, Marlene, seems to be suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness issue. Adding the comparative youth of both, with all the anxieties of living in dismal squats or other cheap housing and dreaming BIG in the big city (any big city) and with the the constant feeling of failure. Nothing in these environments seems to be helping bring these two souls back together. The two souls spend their meagre dole allowance on too much drink, and too many drugs, seemingly accepting each day as boring as the last. On occasions, and just for the sake of it, one of them would offer an uncaring and unloving sex session. Normally Robert, as Marlene considers herself ugly and sexless, she is constantly haunted by the horrible words of old boyfriends and her father. There is a lot of descriptive sex across these pages – these pages really are the FILTH and the FURY! Metaphorically, this story is like a car crashing on a road high up in the mountains, teetering on the edge, with a worrying loud creak as gravity tries to take the car crashing down to the ground. The worrying creaks get louder with every page turned. We all know this relationship is not going to get any better and will come crashing down. There are some curveballs within the story. A chapter in New York set in the latter eighties for instance, with Robert hanging out with (the Lou Reed loathed) Nat Finkelstein, a hanger on at Andy Warhol’s silver Factory space, and photographer of many of the Velvet Undergrounds most famous, and famed images. This book is a difficult read in places, but it helped me to have a musical backing of Sex Pistols ‘Spunk’ album on, or any Sex Pistols live performance from 1976 (Burton On Trent is a good choice) whilst reading. Marlene and Robert are both inspired by punk rock. The ’76 vintage punk rock. Marlene leans on this ’76 vintage punk rock crutch throughout, wavering not. Robert is not necessary so obsessive, but nevertheless appreciative of one of his early music and fashion backgrounds. Marlene wants to be a punk rock star, Robert a respected writer. In the story both are neither. This is a ‘fictional’ book, but if it was not a fictional book, then I would perhaps hope that both ‘Marlene’ and ‘Robert’ got to where they both wanted to get to in the early eighties, within their separate and joined arcs, even if it was for a brief time.
Pat Kelly - How Long & Barnab - Nationwide Records - 1976 Michael Baxter 2023-07-26 | Pat Kelly with a mid-seventies re-working of the wonderful; ‘How Long Will It Take’ originally released in Gas Records in 1969. I love this version due to the heavy rhythm recorded with the Aggrovators, the house band of reggae producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee.Although the centre label of the record mentions the song was arranged and produced by V Jackson (Yabby You), Bunny Lee arranged the music with the band in the studio. I believe the record was mixed by Pat Kelly at King Tubby's studio. Yabby You did release these songs on his Prophets record label.The text below is ripped off in parts from the sleeve notes of the ‘Lonely Man’ CD.Born 1944 in Kingston, Jamaica Pat Kelly is rightly revered as one of the island's best ever singers although he is less well known for his considerable contribution to reggae music as a highly accomplished recording engineer. Always a keen hard working student, while studying Electrical Engineering at Kingston Technical High School, Pat worked part time at Chin's Radio Services on Church Street in downtown Kingston where the proprietor, Ivan Chin, operated one of Jamaica's first recording studios. Pat was awarded a scholarship to continue his education in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA where, after three years, he graduated with a degree in Advanced Electronics.When he returned home Pat joined a local vocal group known as The Sheridons alongside Winston Francis, Owen Roberts and Edwin Brown who were rated as "the group in the area". They recorded ˜Merry Christmas' and ‘This Is My Last Letter' for Carlos Malcolm's Upbeat label, ‘Al Di Da' which was released on WIRL records and ‘Relax With A Diamond' which came out on Kentone before going their separate ways in 1967. Pat was then asked to join The Techniques at Treasure Isle as a replacement for Keith ‘Slim' Smith who had left, together with Franklyn White, to form The Uniques with Roy Shirley under the auspices of Bunny ‘Striker' Lee. The Techniques first record with Pat on lead vocals, ‘You Don't Care', was a riveting rock steady version to The Impressions' ‘You'll Want Me Back' and spent six weeks at the Number One position on the Jamaican charts. It was followed up with ‘Queen Majesty', an interpretation of The Impressions' ‘Minstrel & Queen', and both songs have been endlessly versioned over the ensuing years. With Pat's soulful falsetto to the fore The Techniques created some of Duke Reid's greatest hits during the rock steady era, including ‘Love Is Not A Gamble', ‘It's You I Love' and ‘My Girl', all emanating from his Bond Street studio.In 1968 Pat left The Techniques and made his first solo recordings with starting with ‘Somebody's Baby' and, as the Rock Steady rhythms accelerated into the faster reggae style he sang ‘How Long Will It Take'. The record was a huge hit and was one of the first to be overdubbed with a string arrangement for the UK market when it was released on the Palmer Brothers' Gas subsidiary the following year. Pat followed this up with another smash hit, ‘If It Don't Work Out', a version to John D. Loudermilk's ‘Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye'. Both hits were showcased on his debut solo album, ‘Pat Kelley Sings', for Pama Records which was engineered by Lee ‘Scratch' Perry. Another big seller, the set included versions of ‘Dark End Of The Street' and ‘Tracks Of My Tears' and placed Pat as one of Jamaica's pre-eminent interpreters of classic soul songs. His UK tour in December 1969 was a resounding success with Jamaican expatriates and reggae’s new white audience... the skinheads. Pat Kelly continued to make hit records on his return to Kingston recording ‘Soulful Love' and ‘Talk About Love' for Phil Pratt and a cover of John Denver's ‘Sunshine' for Duke Reid. Pat also worked on a freelance basis as a recording engineer at Randy's, Channel One and King Tubby's studios where he was drafted in as a ‘temporary' replacement for ‘Prince' Phillip Smart in 1975 after Phillip had relocated to New York. He worked occasionally at Dromilly Avenue until the end of the decade and, although very few of his subtle, restrained mixes are named, the dub side of ‘Trod Along (Zion Pathway) by Ricky Storme (I Kong) on the Earth label credited to I Pat, demonstrated his mastery of the mixing board.The popularity of roots reggae in the latter half of the seventies, when toasters and chanters came to the fore, temporarily eclipsed sweet voiced singers but there was always a demand for accomplished vocalists and, in 1978, Pat began to record for Buster and Winston Riley. These three stellar talents, Winston, and Buster Riley with Pat, returned to their rock steady roots for the ‘Lonely Man' album, a beguiling set of beautiful songs, expertly arranged and soulfully sung released on the Riley Inc. Label in Kingston and on Burning Sounds in London in 1978. Although seemingly out of step with the dread times the album struck a chord with record buyers who were looking for a less confrontational sound.
Jah Stitch - Pick Your Choice & Version - Tanya Records Michael Baxter 2023-07-11 | A great 7" single released on the Tanya record label, featuring Jah Stitch riding the rhythm of Sly and Robbie's 'Rougher Cut Of Dub' rhythm. I noticed that this record is not on YouTube, at least as my search went, so perhaps a YouTube exclusive! I picked up this record (with incorrect label information) from a dusty cardboard box on some wobbly racking in the room upstairs of what used to be Randy's record shop. 17 North Parade, Kingston, Jamaica, where the buses turn around. The dusty room was the old recording studio. Studio 17. The grand piano and Hammond organ were still in there covered with dust! The below text by DAVID KATZ, knowledgeable of all things reggae oriented, for The Guardian newspaper.The Jamaican reggae vocalist Jah Stitch died in Kingston aged 69, following a brief illness. Although not necessarily a household name abroad, the “original raggamuffin” was a sound system toaster and DJ who scored significant hits in the 1970s, later working as an actor and appearing in an ad campaign for Clark’s shoes.Born Melbourne James in Kingston in 1949, he grew up with an aunt in a rural village in St Mary, northern Jamaica, since his teenage mother lacked the financial means to care for him. He later joined her in bustling Papine, East Kingston, but conflict with his father-in-law led him to join a community of outcasts living in a tenement yard in the heart of the capital’s downtown – territory aligned with the People’s National Party and controlled by the notorious Spanglers gang, which James became affiliated with aged 11.As ska and rock steady gave way to the new reggae style on the nascent Kingston music scene, young James became a regular fixture of sound system dances. He drew his biggest inspiration from the Studio One selections presented by Prince Rough on Sir George the Atomic, based in Jones Town, and the microphone skills of Dennis Alcapone on El Paso, based further west at Waltham Park Road.In his teens, James began selecting records on a new sound system called Fingertone, initially a small community sound system established by a man known as Finger. Later, the sound was renamed Tippertone and became one of the most popular sound systems in Jamaica. Tippertone had a reputation for exclusive dub plates, especially from the Studio One catalogue, and Stitch was renowned as a selector of great skill, with exquisite sequencing and timing. Female fans gave him the nickname Stitch because he was always immaculately dressed, which morphed to Jah Stitch for his Rastafari orientation.In the early 1970s, Tippertone launched the careers of fellow toasters Big Youth and Doctor Alimantado, and Stitch and Big Youth began toasting together on the sound and elsewhere, both employing an understated delivery and Rastafarian focus, with Stitch’s rhymes delivered in a gruff baritone. However, financial disputes caused Stitch to quit Tippertone and shift to the new Black Harmony set, established by a friend on Ninth Street in Greenwich Farm. Big Youth was already making a strong impact as a recording artist and when Stitch was ready to begin his recording career in 1975, he started things off with a bang, voicing two hit songs on the same day: 'Danger Zone' was made for the bassist and vocalist Errol “Flabba” Holt and 'The Killer' for hit-making producer Bunny “Striker” Lee, with whom he enjoyed a long and fruitful association. Placing Stitch atop hit rhythms previously voiced by Horace Andy, Cornell Campbell and Johnny Clarke, Lee produced popular Stitch tunes such as 'Greedy Girl' and 'Give Jah the Glory', while 'Strictly Rockers' and 'Judgement' were issued by visionary associate Yabby U.Stitch’s career seemed on an inexorable rise, but trouble arose in April 1976 when an ill-fated plan was hatched for a sound clash between Black Harmony and Tippertone. Black Harmony had relocated to a rough patch of slum ground called Fletcher’s Land, where some residents were aligned with the Jamaica Labour party, drawing indignation from some of Stitch’s former Tippertone associates. One afternoon near Chancery Lane, a Spanglers member demanded that Stitch abandon Black Harmony and when he refused, the man tried to stab him with a knife; rebuffed after a brief scuffle, he soon reappeared with a gun. Stitch was cornered in a bar behind the Wailers’ record shop on King Street and shot through the mouth, managing to survive when the bullet somehow ricocheted and exited.Hospitalised for four months, he emerged with a contorted oral cavity and a fearsome hunger to record, reportedly voicing 19 songs for Bunny Lee in less than an hour. His 1976 debut album, ‘No Dread Can’t Dead’, celebrated his survival and elevated his profile in Britain; ‘Watch Your Step Youthman’ (1977) and 'Moving Away' (1979) consolidated his reputation, the former having strong commentary on Jamaica’s volatile political situation on songs such as ‘Dread Inna Jamdown’, ‘The Rod of Correction’ and ‘Under Heavy Manners’.
The Astonauts - Constitution / Please Do Not Come Around Tonight - Acid Stings Records - 1990 Michael Baxter 2023-07-07 | ONE YEAR PASSED: REST IN PEACE MARK WILKINS one of the loveliest men in Panshanger, an area of Welwyn Garden City who sadly passed away on 6th July 2022. The Astronauts, the band that Mark fronted for forty five years, were among my favourite bands throughout the eighties, and the songs that Mark wrote still continue to inspire me. In the eighties and early nineties, I visited Mark at his Panshanger flat lots of times. In the small confines of his bedroom/living space, happily listening to some of his scruffy dog-eared and scratchy old album collection, successfully turned me onto bands like Third World War, Soft Machine, King Crimson, Gong and Kevin Ayres (among others). I will also remember his skeletal round dial telephone with fondness. Thank you Mark for the time we spent together, and for your encyclopaedic knowledge of music and your musical taste, some of which filtered down to me. I was lucky to have witnessed Mark (with the varying line ups of The Astronauts) perform dozens upon dozens of times, in pubs, clubs, and festivals all around London and the southeast.Mark would always give 100% even to a half empty hall. The Astronauts were one quarter of my inspiration when in 1985 I visited All The Madmen Records based in one of the crumbling squatted houses along Brougham Road in Hackney. After that visit I started working there, volunteering, I just received travel costs, and some free records. Around the dawn of 1987 All The Madmen Records moved to another equally crumbling premises in Kings Cross. The Astronauts had three albums released on the All The Madmen record label. The Mob, Flowers In The Dustbin and Blyth Power were the other three quarters of my inspiration to get involved in one of my favourite record labels, kick-starting a three decade stint in the record industry. Mark was so gentle, sometimes fragile, enormously intelligent, sometimes mischievous, and he was easy to get along with. His passion for writing lyrics was immense, an obsession, and those lyrics (sometimes being carried around in a plastic bag among other flotsam and jetsam) were of an extremely high quality. Now Welwyn Garden City has lost a special, special man, a bright light among the greyness of the town. The world of music has also lost a one-of-a-kind lyricist and performer.May He Rest In Peace.Absolutely gutted.Other than the hundreds of gigs performed and dozens of records that were released over the decades, Mark is also featured on 'Autumn Days' a documentary film by Tali Clarke dedicated to Mark's life in the music industry, with dozens of talking heads featured, myself included. Available to watch for free on Vimeo. A large book entitled 'Survivors' is also available, painstakingly put together by Marcus Blakeston telling Mark's story and the history of the Astronauts in the written word, with plenty of rare photographs and flyers within the pages. Not a bad legacy for Mark, a shy but an always pleasant man based in Welwyn Garden City.Robin Basak’s Acid Stings record label that released this 7” single, was also responsible for releasing the fifth album; ‘In Defence Of Compassion’ which is well worth searching out. Robin Basak was also from Welwyn and was an early champion of The Astronauts, featuring the band from 1980 and throughout the years after in his Zero fanzine. Robin was a regular of the Wapping Autonomy Centre and the Centro Iberico and by the look of his gig reviews in his fanzine, went to some of the finest anarcho-punk gigs in his hometown and the surrounding areas. Zero fanzine also featured The Apostles, and Acid Stings Records was responsible for releasing the albums: ‘How Much Longer’ and ‘Acts Of The Apostles’, again well worth searching out. The guitar duties on both the Astronauts records released on Acid Stings in 1989 and 1990 was Stuart Baker. A Hertford resident who was also the bass player in the McTells. Stuart would go to gigs by Crass, Poison Girls, Conflict and Subhumans with some regularity when he was growing up during the early 1980’s. Stuart was the member of The McTells that I knew best (at the time) as we both hung around together in his bedsit for hours on end playing his battered vinyl's on his battered music system (when he was not throwing stiffs into a freshly dug hole - he was a gravedigger by trade). The ‘Front Line’ reggae compilation albums were played a fair bit I seem to remember, as was ‘Stations Of The Crass’ by Crass. We also both had a fondness for the All The Madmen record label in common. We specifically liked The Mob as well as well as having an admiration for The Astronauts.A lovely guy. My single photograph in this YouTube video shows Mark alongside the late Robert Dellar (may he also Rest In Peace) at the Meanwhile Gardens free festival summer 1987.
Sylvin & Glenroy - What You Gonna Do About It & Ken Jones - Sad Mood - Torpedo Records - 1970 Michael Baxter 2023-06-08 | A rare slice of early seventies skinhead reggae, with Sylvin & Glenroy - 'What You Gonna Do About It' and Ken Jones - 'Sad Mood' released back to back on a Torpedo Records 7" single in 1970. The record plods along nicely although it has always sounded a little distorted and with that toe curling amount of treble, it has not been to my tastes during the decades that I have owned it.It is super rare record so I have placed it onto my YouTube channel, just because I can!I know nothing of Sylvin nor Glenroy, nor it must be stated; Ken Jones. Lambert Brisco ran his own Hot Rod sound system in Brixton and helped set up Torpedo Records with Eddie Grant, a member of the Equals. Larry Lawrence of Ethnic / Fight Back Records also helped out with the production on some sessions. Torpedo were usually for the skinhead market, a year or two too late. Coming good with the UK based, recorded and produced, Hot Rod All Stars with songs like 'Pussy Got Nine Lives', 'Skinhead Moondust', 'Moon Hop In London' and 'Skinheads Don't Fear'. The Torpedo record label then closed it's doors around a year of opening them! Eddie Grant revived Torpedo Records in 1975 and that project led to a solo Eddy Grant album along with a few 7" singles, notably Ken Booth; 'Say You' and Joe Higgs; 'My Baby Still Loves Me/Hard Time' both ending up on his Grounation released album' Life Of Contradiction'. Gregory Isaacs; 'Help Us Get Over It' and 'Way Of Life' was also released on Torpedo, which he then re-recorded for his 'All I Have Is Love' album on Trojan Records and also re-recorded again for Roy Cousins for a 7" record released on Wambesi. The Torpedo record label then closed it's doors around a year of opening them, again!
ERROL CAMPBELL - AFRICAN QUEEN & AFRICAN ROCKAS - TEMPUS RECORDS - 1980 Michael Baxter 2023-04-12 | A marvellous 7" single by Errol Campbell, who I know nothing about, backed up with a decent dub on the flip. The great Dennis Bovell has his fingers all over this record whether co-writing, playing instruments and producing. There are many words written on Dennis Bovell, so here are a few words from VICE to make up the 5000 character limit for YouTube posts. For Bovell, it had all started at a comprehensive school in South London. Born in Barbados in 1953, the future Matumbi frontman came to London in 1965 and enrolled at Spencer Park School in Wandsworth. Spencer Park had a recording studio. Despite being quite a musical school, with its own orchestra, the recording studio was expressly for the purpose of the English department, for recording soundtracks to plays. By the time Bovell was approaching school leaving age, he had pretty well commandeered the studio himself to conduct lunchtime sessions with some of the school's many instrumentalists. "And then," he tell me, rather matter-of-factly, "I happened upon tape loops.""I had an idea to borrow bits of current tunes and glue a loop together round a broomstick, to keep the tension on the recorder," he continues. "I made loads of loops, taking bits out of really famous reggae tunes. People were going, how do you get that? I didn't tell them what I was doing. So I started making dub plates at school. And then word got out."One day an old friend from school that Bovell hadn't seen for a while turned up. "I hear you're making dub plates," he says. "Can I come round and have a listen?" When he came over and checked out Bovell's work, he was clearly impressed because he offered to buy the lot."You want them all?" Bovell said, incredulous."Yeah," the guy said, "we're making a new sound system."And Bovell, quick as a flash: "Have you got a DJ?"With Bovell's exclusive cuts in their armoury, Sufferer rose fast. "Quite quickly we were playing with all the big sound system guys," he recalls, "Duke Reid, Sefrano B, Count Shelly. All the big guys. They were like, we'll play with you guys. Because we had quite a following."Every Friday night they'd play the Metro in Ladbroke Grove. The doors would open at seven. "It was heaving by 7:30," Bovell recalls. "If you didn't get there before eight, you wouldn't get in." At eleven, they'd pack it up at the Metro and hot foot it over to Cricklewood to play the Carib Club from midnight till six in the morning. Saturdays they were often at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in the West End. Sundays was the Landsdowne youth club in Stockwell. Some other nights, a place in Fulham. "We were quite all over the place. It was seven nights a week almost. After a while, I got myself into trouble there."The trouble, for Dennis Bovell, began one November night in 1974. It was a regular Friday down the Carib Club. But not quite the usual Friday night. That night Sufferer were in the middle of a three-way soundclash, with Lord Koos's system on one side and Count Nick's on the other. "I was taking two of them on, because I was like, come on, I'll take you both on." He did have a little advantage. Earlier that day, Lee 'Scratch' Perry had arrived from Jamaica with suitcase full of fresh dubs. Bovell had been there to meet him at the airport and now the Upsetter himself was standing beside him in the DJ booth. But over on the other side, stood next to Lord Koos, was Perry's arch-rival, Bunny Lee."So there was this dub out," Bovell says, "where I'm playing Lee Perry stuff and the other guy's playing Bunny Lee." But Bovell had a secret weapon. Since his group Matumbi had been working as the touring band for Bunny Lee's star singer, Johnny Clarke, he also had all of his latest dubs. "Then there was this tune," Bovell recalls, "which was a trombone version of 'The Real Rock' by Vin Gordon. Put that on. Won the competition. Hands down." But his triumph would be short-lived. For just at that moment, a fracas had broken out in the crowd.Police had burst into the club, supposedly in pursuit of a man seen driving suspiciously outside. The Carib dancers had closed ranks and a fight had broken out. In court, the police would accuse Bovell of being some sort of ringleader, geeing the crowd up with a microphone from the stage. "No such thing took place," he insists. "Policemen put their hands on the Bible and lied."Bovell spent nine months in court. "Monday to Friday. Every day. No chance to work." The first trial lasted six months and ended with a hung jury. Finally, after a further three month trial, he was convicted on a majority verdict after no unanimous decision could be reached. He was imprisoned, appealed, and after serving six months of a three year sentence, the appeal judge said, "this man should never have even been charged. There was no evidence to even have charged him." He was released, without compensation. He decided there and then to "put a halt to my sound system career. Matumbi became the main focus then."
Demon Rockers - Iron Lady & Stick Together - Unity Records - 1984 Michael Baxter 2023-02-26 | STRAIGHT TO THATCHERS HEADThe first release from the Unity record label, an anti-Margaret Thatcher skit build around the Stalag rhythm. Unity records, and the sound system, was run by Ribs, ex box-boy promoted to selector on Ken Gordons North London's Fatman Sound System based around Tottenham. I do not know Ribs personally, although I have known Ken Gordon (Fatman) for over three decades. But I do know David (Demon Rocker) and his brother Trevor (Flinty Badman). In fact both brothers turned up at my wedding! I employed David at Southern Record Distribution for a year or two. His brother Trevor, worked for a courier company that picked up boxes (of records and CD's) that were ready to be shipped world-wide from Southern Record Distribution. I saw Trevor on a weekly basis! Both the brothers were very pleasant, and told me several old-time reggae stories, featuring among other subjects, the Jack Ruby Sound System, Jammy, the Four Aces in Dalston, Ranking Dread, and of course Ribs and his Unity Sound System. The words below are a snippet taken dub-stuy.com interview with Ribs, head honcho of Unity Sound and record label. In July 1982 Unity Sound was born, ready to launch its assault on a decade that would bear its mark.“At first it was just me and my brother and an old selector from Sir D. Fatman had become too big so we took over the blues parties because there wasn’t anybody in the neighborhood anymore.” A year and a half later, having paid its dues, Unity was ready to clash. “The first was against Dennis Bovell’s sound, Sufferer, at the Metro Club. He was a resident there, and so he knew exactly where to put his speakers. But we had an attitude, we were arrogant, we’d jump in the car the second a record shop called us to say they had pre-releases. We busted them!” The first of many wins. With the advent of dubplates, Ribs had a leg up on everyone else. His friend Prince Jammy gave him exclusive productions. “Johnny Osbourne, Junior Reid, Frankie Jones, Leroy Smart.” These were for starters. Jammy hadn’t yet started the digital revolution with his Sleng Teng riddim. As it turns out, the riddim is linked to the “most boring city in England.” “I drove Jammy to a shop in Luton where he bought the eight-track and mixer on which he ended up making Sleng Teng.” Thanks to Steely & Clevie, Prince Jammy became king and gave Unity the necessary grip to control the dances in England. “If you didn’t play Jammy in the 80s, you might as well have not been playing anything,” remembers Ribs. Going even further, Unity became the first English sound to record a named special, just as they did in Jamaica. “Superblack attacked Fatman, Java, Coxsone, and Saxon on our special. We began to play the tune… everywhere!”From the get-go, Ribs had in mind the idea of releasing singles. He had already tried it, on the proto-labels CF and KG Imperial, and Unity had by then around ten deejays and gifted singers. “The first one to join us was Charjan, who worked with Sir D. He introduced us to his brother, Jack Rubin. Who introduced us to his friend, Demon Rockers. Who introduced us to his twin, Flinty Badman. And so on…” At first, Ribs would get riddims from Jammy and Bunny Lee. “They would come to sell their tunes to labels in London and those left behind – when they were good – I would tell them to give them to me so I could release them locally and see how it went.” This is how we ended up with “Baby Be True” by Junior Delgado, “Put It By Number One” by Johnny Osbourne, and “Back Off We Rule” by Leroy Smart. Sometimes Ribs would only get instrumentals upon which he recorded strictly locals, like Errol Bellot with “Take Warning.”Eventually, Ribs decided to create his own music, thanks to his engineers Red Eye and Ruddy. Timing? Perfect: Jammy was becoming more and more occupied with Greensleeves anyway.The first 100% local effort was “Iron Lady” by Demon Rockers, released in 1984. It didn’t do much. The next one, however… “Watch How The People Dancing,” by Kenny Knots, put Unity at the top of the charts in 1986 with an estimated 10,000 records sold. Same again with “Control The Dancehall” by Peter Bouncer, which was, in fact, the same instrumental played in a different key. This was a digital sound to chop up dancehalls, yet still rugged and homemade. You could often hear the metronome from the Simmons electronic kit in the tracks, a sharp “blip” that became an integral part of the tunes. Still, the sound worked. “Pick a Sound” by Selah Collins hit big, Richie Davis preferred Kangol to “Lean Boots,” the mood was for lyrics about war and party but never rude. Many of the singers introduced by Unity have continued to work to this day: Kenny Knots, Mikey Murka, Selah Collins, Errol Bellot. Others took different paths. Speccy Navigator took a hard electro turn, while the twins Flinty Badman and Demon Rockers became the iconic jungle duo Ragga Twins whose debut album 'Reggae Owes Me Money' perhaps said it best.
Augustus Pablo - El Rockers Chapters I to IV - Greensleeves Records - 1980 Michael Baxter 2023-01-28 | Text by DAVE HENDLEYBorn Horace Swaby in Kingston, Jamaica in 1953, Augustus Pablo was and raised in the comfortable middle class suburb of Havendale. Although his family was not particularly musical, his mother played piano, and it was through the presence of this instrument in the house that the youngster first developed his interest in music.This interest soon grew into an obsession with many hours spent sat practicing at the piano – Pablo remembered that as a boy he once even tried building himself a makeshift guitar using a reel of fishing line for the strings. At school his good friend was Tyrone Downie (later to become keyboard player with Bob Marley & The Wailers) and the pair would covertly practice Jackie Mittoo licks on the school organ earning the nicknames Jackie Mit-two and Jackie Mit-three from their fellow pupils.Pablo operated the small Rockers Hi-Fi set with his brother Garth who had a keen interest in electronics. At the time most Jamaican sound systems included quite a bit of soul music in their repertoires, but the siblings decided that as their sound was called Rockers they would do away with the soul and play only home grown Jamaican sounds.A particular favourite were the rock steady recordings of Studio One – and these classic tunes were probably the single most important musical influence on Pablo’s subsequent career. This later became evident in 1972 when he began producing records for his own Rockers and Hot Stuff labels with five of the first seven releases being versions of Studio One standards.This passion for Coxson Dodd‘s music Inevitably led to Pablo auditioning at Brentford Road, but unfortunately it wasn’t a great success. Under the supervision of engineer Sylvan Morris and singer Larry Marshall, he recorded three organ instrumentals, one of which used the rhythm to the Ken Boothe hit ‘Moving Away’. Dodd, although not present at the actual session, eventually heard the tapes and was less than impressed – consequently these recordings have never seen the light of day and have in all probability been erased long ago.It was in 1971 that the aspiring recording star wandered into Chin-Loy‘s Aquarius record store at Half Way Tree clutching a melodica borrowed from the daughter of one of his fathers friends. Herman was one of Jamaica’s more progressive producers and always had open ears for any new sounds he could incorporate into his records. The often told legend (and one that Pablo himself confirmed) is that he heard the teenager blowing the melodica in the shop and, instinctively realising the potential of both the player and instrument, immediately booked studio time at Randys on North Parade.The first sessions yielded two singles, ‘Higgi Higgi’ – a melodica version of The Heptones‘ Studio One favourite ‘Why Did You Leave’ and the ground-breaking minor hit ‘East Of The River Nile’, an original composition that provided the model for what would become Pablo’s trademark rebel- rock Far East sound.It was Herman who dubbed the teenager, Augustus Pablo – an exotic name he had found in a Mexican magazine and taken a shine to. Prior to its permanent adoption by the budding young melodica star, the producer had used it as a label pseudonym for some typically quirky instrumentals by keyboard players Lloyd Charmers and Glen Adams. Herman, a one time DJ at Kingston’s Spinning Wheel Discotheque still retained much of the showman and thought that the flamboyant name added a further element of mystery to the records.Pablo continued to record several more equally inventive instrumentals for Herman, culminating with the haunting minor key masterpiece, ‘The Red Sea’ in 1973. After the success of his initial Aquarius releases, Pablo moved downtown to record ‘Java’ for Clive Chin‘s Impact! label. Another of Pablo’s school friends from Kingston College, Chin was the son of Vincent and Pat Chin, the proprietors of Kingston’s famous Randys record store and 4-track studio on North Parade.The rhythm was originally intended for a vocal by yet another of Pablo’s school chums, Delroy Wright, but it was decided that it would be better suited to Pablo’s melodica treatment. This was a fortunate turn of events for Pablo as it provide him with his first major hit and spawned versions from Dennis Alcapone and Tommy McCook – even Prince Buster got in on the act with an obeah influenced vocal/melodica cut called ‘Science’.In the wake of the hit, Pablo suddenly found himself as one of Jamaica’s most in demand players both as a solo artist and sessions musician. A remarkable achievement for an unassuming 19-year whose main instrument had been regarded as little more than a child’s toy.For six years between 1971 and 77, Pablo, by now a committed and deeply spiritual Rastafarian, played the field of Kingston’s top producers while simultaneously funding production work for his own Rockers label to the point were he would be able to achieve the total artistic independence that he craved.
FOUR GEES & THE PYRAMIDS v PRINCE BUSTER - PRESIDENT & FAB RECORDS - 1967 & 1968 Michael Baxter 2023-01-03 | The Four Gees were Derv GORDON, Eddy GRANT, Lincoln GORDON, and Patrick GRANT. The GORDONS were brothers, Lincoln Grant being the bassist of The Equals. Eddy Grant needs absolutely no introduction, and I presume Patrick was one of his brothers. Another of Eddy’s brothers, Rudolf Grant, was a recording artist in his own right, under the moniker, Mexicano, who had a big hit in 1976 with ‘Move Up Starsky’’ and a great album of the same title. Prince Buster also needs no introduction. There seems to have been some rivalry between Buster and Eddy Grant in the latter ‘60s. Both ‘Rough Rider’ and ‘Train Tour To Rainbow City [Train to Girls Town]’ were written by Eddy Grant. On Buster's ‘Rough Rider’ 7” single released on FAB Records, the song is credited to ‘ED KASSNER MUSIC’ the publishing company (which to be fair, might be Eddy Grant’s publishing company!). The same with Busters ‘Train To Girls Town’ credited to the publishing company, not Eddy Grant himself. Seems a little mean. Tellingly, on The Pyramids (with Eddy Grant on vocals) ‘Train Tour To Rainbow City’, Prince Buster is mentioned thus; GRANT: “Carefully to the right, mind you very carefully, you will see the house of Prince Buster” SOMEONE ELSE: “Who is Prince Buster rasta” GRANT: “He is a man who is giving me competition so let’s stop, let’s stop” I would like to think that Grant wants the train to stop to get out to give Buster some verbal! Whether that was his meaning I have no idea, but I like to think it was! The track-listing for this YouTube video is ‘Rough Rider’ by The Four Gees followed by ‘Rough Rider’ by Prince Buster. Then ‘Train Tour To Rainbow City’ by The Pyramids followed by ‘Train To Girls Town’ by Prince Buster. I then added ‘Ethiopia’ by the Four Gees and following that, ‘John Chewey’ by The Pyramids, both on the B-sides of each of the two 7” singles. All these songs are Eddy Grant compositions. Interestingly, to me at least, my copy of ‘Rough Rider’ by Prince Buster released on FAB Records uploaded on this YouTube video, was my first ever Prince Buster 7” single that I bought. 1980 I think. Below is an essay robbed from the MARCO ON THE BASS website. Grant is a pioneer and trailblazer who has left his mark on ska, reggae, calypso, rock and pop music and perhaps more than anyone else deserves credit for merging and combining the best of Black and White music beginning in the mid-60s all the way through the mid 80s. Many of Grant's songs, whether bubble gum pop, skinhead soul, reggae or garage punk always display a lyrical or musical edge of some kind. What's so impressive to me about Grant is the variety of hats he has worn throughout his long and successful musical career. He's been Eddy the songwriter, Eddy the producer, Eddy the singer, Eddy the studio musician, Eddy the studio owner, and even Eddy the indie-label president.While you may be very familiar with Grant's hits from the 80's like 'Electric Avenue' and 'Romancing The Stone' did you know Grant was the song writer behind a number of iconic ska and reggae tracks? Grant penned Prince Busters rocksteady classic 'Rough Rider' and The Clash's popular rock anthem 'Police On My Back'. That's not to mention the many other genre breaking songs he wrote with The Equals including 'Baby Come Back' 'Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys' and as a solo artist including 'Hello Africa', and 'Living On The Frontline'.Blazing out of London in the mid 60's Grant was a founder member of The Equals who mixed up fuzzy garage pop rock with healthy helpings of soul and proto-ska and reggae. The band also made pop culture history by being one of the very first multi-racial bands creating the rough template for 2-Tone bands some ten years later. Signed to the independent label President Records, Grant was asked to work with label mates The Pyramids -- later to become Symarip -- who had backed Prince Buster on his recent U.K. tour. Besides composing songs for the band (and one for Prince Buster himself, the rude classic 'Rough Rider' later covered by The Beat), Grant also wrote and produced The Pyramids debut single and sole U.K. skinhead reggae hit, 'Train to Rainbow City.' According to an interview Grant did with the Miami New Times in 1994,"By the time I started playing pop music with the Equals, I had been experimenting with different ethnic forms for a while," Grant recalls. "One of them was rocksteady -- most people don't know that I made the first successful British rocksteady record, 'Train Tour to Rainbow City,' which went to number 31 on the British pop charts in 1967. I was the first to add strings to reggae music, also in 1967. The great Prince Buster copied two of my songs. He tried to steal them, but the law stopped him, and he eventually gave me credit. 'Train Tour to Rainbow City,' which he called 'Train To Girls Town,' and 'Rough Rider,' which was covered by the Beat [on the debut album; 'I Just Can't Stand It] and the Beat credited Buster for it!"
Boney M / SPM Singers and the Dragonaires - Dynamic Records - 1978 Michael Baxter 2022-12-23 | It's that time of the year again, to drag out one of very few Christmas records that I actually own out of the racks.As I am uploading this 7” single by Boney M onto my YT channel, I can feel what’s left of my tenuous credibility drain away! This ain’t Crass, and it certainly ain’t The Mob, nor The Chords, nor Psychic TV, nor some obscure reggae group or artist! It is Boney M.It is time for me to fess up. I actually own this record! This record was released on the Dynamic record label and has a different B-side to the other dozens of versions of the record released on different European pop record labels that were available to buy worldwide. The B-side on this record is a reggae version of 'Auld Lang Syne', yes an actual reggae version by S.P.M Singers (Sydne, Phillipa and Mary-Ann) who sung on Hopeton Lewis' 'Grooving Out On Life' backed by Byron Lee's Dragonaires and recorded at Dynamic Studios Kingston. This song was originally released in 1970, so presumably Byron Lee just lobbed the song onto this record or it is a mis-press! NOTE: Boney M - 'Dancing In The Streets' is printed on the B-side label of this record.In the seventies I remember that I really liked (and I still do) ‘Rivers Of Babylon’ when I used to hear it on the radio or on the TV. In 1979, after buying a second hand record player (on the strength of starting a small record collection including 2–Tone bands, along with The Clash, The Ruts, UK Subs and others) I got interested in ska and reggae, I learned that ‘Rivers Of Babylon’ was a song by The Melodians, and there were several Trojan type compilations albums on sale during, and after, the 2–Tone era that The Melodians could be heard by reggae-novices like myself.The song ‘Painter Man’ I ‘liked’ when I was told by my younger brother’s school friend (both aged 12 maybe at the time), that it was originally by a band called the Creation. This school friend’s father was John Dalton ex of a local band from the sixties, the Mark Four, and soon to be a Kink. The Mark Four had morphed into The Creation! I also liked ‘No Woman No Cry’, Boney M’s pop reggae cover version of the Bob Marley classic – A tenuous fact: I met ‘Georgie’ (a character named in the song) at Hope Road in Kingston Jamaica. In-fact he sold me a Ras Michael And The Sons Of Negus album from his little shack! I liked, and actually own, Boney M’s, ‘Do You Wanna Bump’ as the horn section is basically Prince Buster’s ‘Al Capone’ (several years before The Specials released ‘Gangsters’) Boney M’s version is a irresistible horn led funk workout, but with that Prince Buster inspiration.Recently I noticed a book by Marcia Barrett (one of the she’s of Boney M). I also saw the name Lloyd Bradley on the cover, and as I own a couple of his excellent books, I thought why not?I found out that Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett (both Jamaicans as it goes) were the only two of the four that were ever recorded in the studio throughout Boney M’s career. I have learned more about Boney M, and Marcia Barrett through this book.Marcia was born of a single mother and an absent father in Old Harbour Jamaica. The absent father was married and had other children from other mothers. He offered no support. She grew up piss poor in Mount Charles high up in the Blue Mountains. From there she was moved around to different yards when her mother could not cope or could not afford to feed her. The mother had another daughter from the same unhelpful Romeo-like geezer by this time! Marcia moved schools several times when she had to move around, she was sexually abused several times by men in the yards, and all this before she was twelve. She ended up in Brixton after following her mother to London, travelling aged just thirteen with her younger sister at the dawn of the sixties. There she lived in an overcrowded house with three other Jamaican families. Jackie Edwards, Prince Count Miller and Dandy Livingston are all mentioned as she describes going to the Q Club in Paddington with them all. By sixteen she had given birth to a son, still in the same overcrowded house. Leaving the baby with her mother she left London to be a dancer in the clubs in Germany. She earned decent money to send to her mother, her younger sister and her son. Eventually she was discovered as a singer and went up the autobahn in a transit van as a solo singer performing in small clubs. Eventually she went to an audition for Boney M, expecting it to be a one off. It wasn’t. I am glad that she found fame in one of the biggest pop bands to come out of the seventies considering the tribulations she had to face growing up in Jamaica and as a teenager in London.I apologise for the poor sound quality of this record. Jamaican pressings are notorious for poor quality. The vocals on 'Auld Lang Syne' seem to be quite distorted in parts. Perhaps this is a pressing fault rather than the actual master reel, that Byron Lee would have recorded at Dynamic Studios.
Blue Midnight - Dream (featuring Mark Perry) & Tribute / The All Stars - One Million Hamburgers Michael Baxter 2022-10-10 | I own pretty much of all of Mark Perry's punk, avant-garde, and lo-fi records, and a couple of the cassette tapes, from his earliest recordings with Alternative TV and up to the mid-eighties. Whether Alternative TV, Good Missionaries, Door and the Window, the Reflections, or just plain 'Mark Perry' 'solo' released material, it's all pretty good stuff a lot of it has a certain amateurish charm. One record that sometimes gets overlooked is the Blue Midnight 7" single released on 100 Things To Do Records from 'well to do W2', opposite Lancaster Gate tube station. Presumably the actual premises of the record label was not too 'well to do' back in the very early eighties though, knocking knees with the Freestonia / Street Level / Fuck Off / Weird Tales folk all living cheaply, mostly squatting, in nearby areas of west London.The Blue Midnight song which features Mark Perry entitled ‘Dream’ swings beautifully, with a solid bassline, and with some brilliant trombone, trumpet and harmonica work throughout. Wonderful stuff. Blue Midnight’s next song is called ‘Tribute (to Don Drummond Jnr)’. Don Drummond Jnr is in fact Vin Gordon who was a rated reggae trombonist, as was the first and original Don Drummond of the Skatalites (over a decade earlier he was with the Eric Dean Orchestra) who died in 1969. I am not sure why there would be a tribute to Vin Gordon, other than he was well known in the reggae circles in the UK and was involved in Nightdoctor, a pretty good London based UK reggae band. Perhaps Nick from Blue Midnight used both Don Drummond, and Don Drummond Jnr, as inspiration while learning the trombone (where's Rico?) Maybe Vin and Nick knew each other around west London and met on occasions. Perhaps the other members of Blue Midnight knew him. Whatever the reason; ‘Tribute’ is a great trombone led (surprise surprise) laid back reggae instrumental that only street-level-weird-tales west London squatter folk could probably muster. I like it. The other side of the record is by All Stars. All Stars (known as Hamburger All Stars later on due to this record) also featured Grant Showbiz. This time Grant was with Justin Adams, who was also an Impossible Dreamer, and who’s recognisable funk led guitar rhythms (for both bands) remind me of the other early eighties’ punk-funk workouts of Rip Rig and Panic, Maximum Joy and Pigbag. Justin Adams really is a top-notch artist. Still is. Andy Morgan, who some years later helped out at All The Madmen Records and later still joined Blyth Power as a backing vocalist (in the 1985/1986 line up of the band) went through the All Stars (featured on this 7" actually) as did Anno, Mark Perry and Dennis Burns (all ex of Alternative TV) at some time or another. The Song ‘One Million Hamburgers’ is a decent punk-funk-dub workout. Why 'one hundred hamburgers' is the substance of the song, the words repeated over and over again, I have no idea. Perhaps they were just all stoned, and up for some munchies. Blue Midnight, formed by school friends David Johnson, vocals and harmonica, and Grant Showbiz, bass, in the squat lands of West London, were originally part of the ‘bad music’ scene, forerunner of the ‘Lo-Fi’ movement in the post-punk era. With the genius violinist Elliet Mackrell and lively trombonist Nick Waterhouse they plied their trade in such venues as the Idiot Ballroom, based in the basement of the now demolished Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith; Alan Dogend’s Little Majic Theatre, a squatted venue in West London; the Raindrop Hotel, situated in the Free State of Frestonia; and the wondrous Meanwhile Gardens, at some occasions sharing the stage with The Mob, 012 (later on to become World Domination Enterprises) Androids of Mu, Danny and the Dressmakers, Zounds, the Astronauts and the Instant Automatons.At one point, Blue Midnight dallied with being a ‘proper music’ band and were compared at the time to the likes of Dexys Midnight Runners. However, they quickly realised that this was not their forte and returned to their original humble beginnings, playing what they most desired with a line-up of violin, trombone, harmonica and vocal backed by bass and drums. With no chordal instruments in the band their unique style has been referred to as a “spacey folk-dub brass fiesta”.Apologies for the slight and light crackling now and again throughout this record.
