My Own Invention / Rebel Without A Brain / Original Sin / The Wake / Incinerator

Freaks / Propaganda / Legion / 63 / Incinerator

Chucking on the debut LP by Theatre Of Hate today for no particular reason apart from I wanted to give it a dust off and a spin. By the way chums, SS Records is not quite as sinister a name for a record label as one might at first imagine, explaination below by Kirk Brandon:

“I’m going to back track here to fill in the picture, as best as my damage will allow…. while still in The Pack I had come across a certain Scotsman, a Terry Razor….I had met him when I had been trying to get record company interest in my aforesaid Punk band, The Pack, or The Park (“it sounds more regal” ..Simon Werner) as we lovingly called it at the time”.

“I had observed him with two girls on his arm and a bottle of champagne at The Marquee one night, I presumed he was in the Recording Industry.
Terry had been working for Stiff Records which probably needs no introduction to anyone in the meatpacking industry”.

“Terry worked for Robinson in what today would be called ‘marketing’…in fact all those mad Stiff logo legends like ‘If It Ai’nt Stiff it Ai’nt Worth a Fuck’..well picture Terrys Scots voice swearing at someone and you’ll guess where it all came from. Terry was asked by Robinson to start a shop/retail outlet in Covent Garden and to start up a Record Label. The shop was called Secret Service as was the label. It was pretty successfull as I recall. Anyway sometime prior to this I’d asked Terry to bring out a single for The Pack and this would all coincide with the shop time frame. The Pack song was ‘King Of Kings’, with one of my all time favourite songs I have ever written as the ‘B’ side, ‘Brave New Soldiers’. The recording sounds as fresh and raw and edgy today as it did all those decades ago. It sold well I believe”.

“We, Terry and I went our seperate ways. Now comes a hard bit, I don’t actually remember how it was Terry re-entered the picture, but he did. Terry was now working for The Clash doing their merchandice on tour/running his own label (Mikey Dread being one of his artistes, ‘DREAD AT THE CONTROLS’) and was also a personal friend of Ian Dury having helped Ian rehab himself with his condition…Terry was working out of the Blackhill Management office at Royal Oak close to the Westway. Luke Rendle reminded me the other day that this office was where I had first met him. He was working for Terry loading albums with Paul Simonon from The Clash helping him”.

“Terry and I decided we’d bring out a single for Theatre Of Hate, which would be ‘Legion’, on his record label imprint Secret Service Records, abbreviated to SS1 by the pressing plant, on the centre of the disc and catalogued as SS1. If you look, the artist the late great artist Chris Morton put two dollar signs as its logo on the cent re piece. Little did we know what lay in store for this bit of virtually irrelevant formality…..”

*** The Pack, The Straps and Theatre Of Hate’s debut 7″ singles are on this site if you search for them. Text below from Wikki…

Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in London at the beginning of 1980.

Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bassist Stan Stammers ex of The Straps / Epileptics, saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis / The Straps.

In 1980, The Pack had evolved into Theatre of Hate. The name of this new band was inspired by Antonin Artaud’s book ‘Theatre and its Double’, the band took its name from the concept of the Theatre of Cruelty: Artaud called for the emotional involvement of the audience. Singer Brandon borrowed the thespian term because he was “trying to do the same.” The first Theatre of Hate release was the ‘Original Sin’ single in November 1980, which reached #5 on the UK Indie Chart. 

Theatre of Hate garnered much early attention as a live act and after their debut 7″ release, ‘Original Sin’ in 1980, made their album debut in 1981 with the live LP ‘He Who Dares Wins Live At The Warehouse Leeds’. Shortly after the album’s release however, Steve Guthrie left the band.

In August 1981 Theatre of Hate entered the studio with producer Mick Jones of The Clash to record their first non-live album debut, ‘Westworld’, which was released in February 1982 and which went on to reach the UK Top 20.

Shortly after the album was recorded new guitarist Billy Duffy (formerly of The Nosebleeds) joined the band and drummer Luke Rendle was replaced by Nigel Preston. The album finally reached number 17 in the UK Albums Chart, and also spawned the Top 40 single ‘Do You Believe in the Westworld’.

In February 1982, Theatre of Hate released another live album entitled ‘He Who Dares Wins: Live In Berlin’, and Billy Duffy left the band to join Death Cult, the band continuing for a short time before splitting up later that year.

Brandon went on to front Spear of Destiny with bassist Stammers.

Walls Of Jericho / Caucasion Walk / Yesterday Is Tommorrow / Untitled / Theme For Thought

A cassette I have lying around of various French TV performances from Virgin Prunes, I have no info on the actual programmes they were on, but I do know the sessions were broadcast at various times during 1983.

Sounds like the tape is recorded straight from the TV all those years ago by whoever did the compilation, as I am pretty sure it is in mono. 

Text below ripped from dewikky.

The band consisted of childhood friends of U2′s Bono and The Edge. Lypton Village was a “youthful gang” created by Bono, Guggi (Derek Rowan) and Gavin Friday (Fionan Hanvey) in the early 1970’s, where every member got a new identity and where they could escape from dreary and predictable Dublin life and be anything they wanted to be. It was both lead singers Friday and Guggi who first gave a teenaged Paul Hewson his alter-ego and world-famous moniker “Bono Vox of O’Connell Street,” later simply “Bono.” Known for its outrageous and controversial stage performances, led by the bands’ theatrical singer/songwriter Friday, they first began playing small shows in Dublin gaining them a cult audience and ridicule from the culturally conservative community.

Friday and Guggi, along with third vocalist ‘Dave-iD Busaras’ (David Scott Watson), guitarist Dik Evans (brother of U2′s The Edge), bassist Strongman (Trevor Rowan, brother of Guggi) and drummer Pod (Anthony Murphy), completed the original lineup.

Pod left the group and was replaced by Haa-Lacka Binttii (aka Bintii, aka Princess Tinymeat, né Daniel Figgis). With Binttii now on drums, tape loops and keyboards, the band secured a deal with Rough Trade Records. They released their first single “Twenty Tens (I’ve Been Smoking All Night)”, through Rough Trade but on their own Baby Records label in late 1980. They released a second single “In The Greylight” in early 1981.

Two other Binttii tracks were released during 1980 before conflicts with other members forced him out of the band. “Red Nettle’” was included on an NME compilation C81 and “Third Secret” was included on the Cherry Red compilation “Perspectives And Distortion”. Work had already started on the project “A New Form Of Beauty” while Bintti was with the band, but after he was replaced by Mary D’Nellon (Drums), some of his tracks were re-recorded and his name was not included in the credits.

“A New Form of Beauty” was a project that originally contained four chapters and was released in various formats – 7″ single, 10″ single and 12″ single. There was also supposed to be a cassette but this fourth part was never officially released, although all four parts did appear on an Italian version of “A New Form Of Beauty” which was released as a double album.

In November 1982, the Virgin Prunes release their debut album “…If I Die, I Die” (produced by Colin Newman of Wire) and Heresie, a French boxset. Heresie was commissioned by Yann Farcy after seeing them perform at the Rex Club in Paris and was based on a loose examination of insanity.

In 1984 both Guggi and Dik Evans, unhappy with the music business, left the band. This forced drummer Mary D’Nellon to take up the guitar and allowed Pod to return as the band’s drummer. The Virgin Prunes started to record the album “Sons Find Devils”, which has never been released.

Adventure Playground / A Day In Heaven / Scream Quietly / Mummy Your Not Watching Me / Brians Magic Car / Where The Rainbow Ends

David Hockneys Dairies / Painting By Numbers / Lichtenstein Painting / Magnificent Dreams / If I Could Write Poetry

Brilliant second LP from the TV Personalities, originally released on Whaam Records run by main TVP Dan Treacy. This LP is a little darker lyrically and musically than the rather twee (but also brilliant) debut LP released on Rough Trade Records. That debut LP, the ‘Grundy’ 7″ on Kings Road Records and ‘Syd Barrett’ 7″ on Rough Trade Records are all on this site if you use the search function and enter Television Personalites (not TVPs!).

Photographs and flyer from the collection of TV Personalities and later The McTells member Mark Flunder. 

Text ripped from televisionpersonalities.co.uk

Chelsea, London, in the mid-70s. Schoolmates Dan Treacy, Ed Ball, Joe Foster, John Bennett and his brother Gerrard rehearsed together in their spare time, playing covers by the likes of The Who and Pink Floyd.

Inspired by the punk movement, Dan, Ed and the Bennetts went into a recording studio in August 1977 and emerged with ’14th Floor’ and ‘Oxford Street’. Lack of money meant that only a handful of white label singles were initially pressed. Dan originally thought of calling the band Teen 78; whilst writing out a label to send a copy to the DJ John Peel, for a joke he listed the members of the band as famous television stars of the day, and the name TV Personalities was born. Peel played the single a number of times, and eventually Dan scraped together enough money to press 867 copies.

Dan returned to the studio with Ed Ball in the Summer of 1978 to record a follow-up single, the ‘Where’s Bill Grundy Now?’ EP. This was an instant hit with John Peel, who played the track ‘Part Time Punks’ many times. The success of the EP led to a deal with Rough Trade, who reissued the single and a follow-up, ‘Smashing Time’ (recorded again by Dan and Ed). Throughout these early years, Ed Ball had his own projects, O Level and then the Teenage Filmstars. Although Dan and Ed helped out with each other’s groups, they were always separate bands.

In the middle of 1980, the TVPs made their live debut following the recruitment of Joe Foster on bass and Mark Sheppard (known as Empire) on drums. This line-up was short-lived, reportedly due to differences in opinion between Foster and Sheppard, resulting in Joe’s departure. Prior to this, Dan and Mark helped out with Joe’s solo project, the Missing Scientists, which also included Mute Records boss Daniel Miller. The group’s ‘Big City Bright Lights’ 7″ was released by Rough Trade in September 1980.

In October 1980, Dan and Ed Ball returned to the recording studio with Empire to create the TVP’s debut album. Issued in January 1981 by Rough Trade, ‘And Don’t The Kids Just Love It’ was a considerable improvement over the early ramshackle recordings. The influence of Sixties pop culture was apparent from the LP’s sleeve, which featured supermodel Twiggy and Patrick McNee from the Avengers. The songs included Kinks-like social commentary (‘Geoffrey Ingram’), domestic drama (‘This Angry Silence’, ‘A Family Affair’) and one of their most famous (but not typical) songs, the rather whimsical ‘I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives’. Simultaneously, Rough Trade issued the latter as a single, albeit a different version.

In early 1981, Dan and Ed launched their own record label, Whaam! (named after the Roy Litchenstein painting). The first release was the debut single by Ed Ball’s new outfit The Times, followed by the Gifted Children’s ‘Painting By Numbers’. This was recorded during winter sessions by Dan and Empire, with Bernie Cooper on bass. It seems as if Dan toyed with the idea of breaking up the TVPs (not for the first, or last time) and continuing under this name. However, this single, and a track on the Whaam! compilation LP ‘All For Art’ were the only Gifted Children releases. Bernie Cooper apparently then disappeared, leaving Ed Ball to fill in on bass, notably during a joint Times / TVP UK tour in the Spring of 1981.

The TVPs second LP was released in January 1982. ‘Mummy Your Not Watching Me’ combined tracks recorded during the ‘Gifted Children’ sessions with later material recorded with Ed Ball. Both Dan and Ed were leading figures in the contemporary psychedelia revival, and the influence is evident, particularly on the lo-fi pop psyche of ‘A Day in Heaven’ and ‘David Hockney’s Diaries’. Elsewhere, songs with Pop Art references, such as ‘Painting By Numbers’ and ‘Litchenstein Painting’ sat alongside the enduringly popular ‘If I Could Write Poetry’ and ‘Magnificent Dreams’.

A third album followed shortly afterwards; ‘They Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles’ compiled unreleased tracks, material recorded during the ‘Gifted Children’ sessions, alternate takes and another airing of ’14th Floor’. Despite this, the album was a surprisingly cohesive and entertaining collection of songs.

In early 1982, Ed Ball left the ranks to concentrate on his own band The Times. Mark Flunder was recruited to play bass and the trio of Treacy, Flunder and Sheppard gigged until the Spring of 1983, when Mark Sheppard departed. The TVPs expanded with the return of Joe Foster and the addition of Dave Musker (keyboards). This drummerless line-up recorded the TVPs next LP, ‘The Painted Word’, a dark masterpiece considered by many to be their best. The overall tone of the album was heavy, with some angry political songs such as ‘A Sense of Belonging’, ‘You’ll Have to Scream Louder’ and ‘Back to Vietnam’. In contrast to these were the melancholic beauty of ‘Stop and Smell the Roses’, which invited comparison with the Velvet Underground, and the touching ‘Someone to Share my Life With’.

With the album recorded, the band reunited with Rough Trade in 1983 for the acerbic protest single ‘A Sense of Belonging’. Controversy over the sleeve, which depicted a battered child, probably influenced the label’s decision not to release ‘The Painted Word’. A legal dispute with a pressing plant prohibited Dan from putting out the record on his own Whaam! label. Delayed by 18 months, the album was finally granted a limited release on Illuminated in mid-1984, a label that promptly folded. Further line-up changes occurred. Drummer Jeff Bloom joined the band and Mark Flunder was replaced by ex-Swell Maps bassist Jowe Head. After a tour of Europe in early 1984, the five-man TVP line-up came to an end with the departure of Joe Foster and Dave Musker.

First pressing of flexi

Second pressing of flexi

Crass – ‘Tribal Rival Rebel Revel’ flexi disc

This particular issue of Toxic Grafity is probably the most well known of the handful that were produced. It was also one of the best selling (of all fanzines, not just Toxic Grafity!) due to the free flexi disc of a (then) unreleased track by Crass being included.

It should be noted that Throbbing Gristle are also featured in this issue which was always a bonus for fanzines in the late 1970′s.

I am indebted to Toxic Grafity’s writer and editor, Mike Diboll for supplying the following information below on how this particular issue of Toxic Grafity got produced. All artwork on this post is from this issue of Toxic Grafity.

This edition of Toxic Grafity was put together while I was squatting in New Cross, south London and originally printed during late 1979, but it didn’t really get into folks homes until early 1980, when a substantial reprint was done. Originally 2,000 came off the presses, quite how many were eventually printed, I am not sure.

Joly from Better Badges (who also printed the first three KYPP’s fanzines, the last three were printed by Little ‘A’ Printers) used to always swing things so it seemed that I owed him lots of money (quite large sums for those days); I’m sure he may well have been diddling me, but that was my fault, because I was very naive in those days and thought that anything do with business, copyright etc, was bourgeois and reactionary, so perhaps I deserved it. Also, it must also be added that I was off my head a fair bit in those days, but of course so was Joly! Judging by the number of flexi’s that were sent to Better Badges, I suspect the actual print run was over 10,000, perhaps well over.

A year before the release of this particular issue of Toxic Grafity, in 1978, and also during 1979, there had been some really nasty rucks at Crass gigs at the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square in west central London. These rucks had mainly been fought between boneheads and bikers brought in by the SWP.

I can’t remember what the gigs were in aid of, but it was something the SWP had a hand in. The boneheads were used to pushing punks around, but got far more than they bargained for when taking on the bikers, some of whom were grown men in their 30s and 40s armed with bike chains, knives etc. After those experiences at there concerts Crass seemed to get a lot more edgy than they had been previously about sharing any sort of platform with members of the ‘hard’ left wing.

The lyrics to the Crass 7″ single ‘Bloody Revolutions’ is based on that feeling from the band around this time.

Basically it was the left wing causes that Crass would sometimes support, that seemed to aggravate the boneheads, and of course the boneheads would generally mill around the halls looking dangerous, and on occasions causing some real trouble.

Toxic Grafity didn’t really have those left wing associations, and (luckily) I also knew a few of the bonehead contingent quite well. I had always despised their ideology, but on a human level I was quite friendly with some of them. This I think helped diffuse things when Crass performed at the Toxic Grafity event staged at the Conway Hall late on in 1979.

It was not a violent night at all, which was obviously good news at the time considering the previous gigs at the Conway Hall. There were of course some minor problems, but those situations were quickly nipped in the bud by some friends of my family that had come to witness the gig.

The flexi disc followed on from the Toxic Grafity benefit gig, it was Penny’s idea, he bought it up one evening at Dial House, the Crass commune, way out in North Weald, Essex.

The original Toxic Grafity benefit was staged because of an incident late on in 1978 when I was pulled by the police in Soho, the seedier area of the west end of London. The police stopped me on one of those charges they used to pick punks and other ne’r-do-wells up on, the infamous SUS law. I had stopped off in Soho on my way back from a visit to Dial House, and had the artwork of an earlier Toxic Grafity on me. The police found this highly amusing, as you might imagine, destroyed the artwork, treated me a bit roughly, threatened me, and said that they’d put me on some sort of Special Branch terrorist watch list. Looking back on this as a 50 year-old I can see that this was almost certainly bullshit, but I took it seriously enough at the time!

As a result, Crass decided to help Toxic Grafity out (a previous issue had carried one of the first in-depth interviews with them), and the gig at the Conway Hall and the flexi disc followed on from that.  

The track on the flexi disc, was not one of Crass’ more in-depth or enigmatic tracks, rather it was what it says it is, a protest against violent political sectarianism screwing up the young. Of course I was extramely grateful never the less.

I’ve repudiated so much of what I used to believe in during those days in the late 1970′s, but the closing words for Crass’ ‘Bloody Revolutions’ track “but the truth of revolution, brother, is Year Zero” still appeals to the Burkeian in me!

Joly at Better Badges did the litho printing for the fanzine and sorted out the badges. Southern Studios took care of the flexi disc by Crass, but I can’t remember where they had it pressed, or how many exactly were manufactured. The Crass flexi discs were written in red for the original publication of Toxic Grafity, others were written in silver for subsequent issues of the fanzine.

Eventually there were five Toxic Grafity fanzines that were produced and sold from 1978 – 1981.

Toxic Grafity issue 6 and 7 were planned and in large part nearly prepared, but I became a father in March 1982 (I’m now a grandfather, twice), and ‘reality’ stepped in quite soon after so all those projects were cancelled.

The later Toxic Grafity’s, including the issue above, had dropped the whole band interview thing and had became more like an anarcho-punk agit-art magazine, similar to what Kill Your Pet Puppy would evolve into.

By 1983 I was doing a lot of dispatching and also a lot of ‘white van man’ work until sometime in 1989. While doing these small jobs, a friend of mine, Wayne Minor (from Brixton’s 121 Railton Road bookshop) and myself brought out one issue of “The Commonweal” which was a more mainstream anarchist publication in 1985.

In 1989 I entered university as a mature student.

I now live and work in the middle east.

To advertise this issue of Toxic Grafity, Crass arranged to press up a few hundred vinyl copies of the same version of ‘Rival Tribal Rebel Revel’ to give to record stores that were ordering the fanzine in bulk. This was so the shop had a ‘hard’ vinyl copy that the shop could play rather than play the flexi disc from the fanzine if any potential buyers wanted a snippet pre buying the product.

Hand In Hand / Kaempfen / Geheimnis / Qual / Young Men / Incubus Succubus / Sehnsucht (part)

A good Friday night out this one, Dead Can Dance, Gene Loves Jezebel and the headliners Xmal Deutschland upstairs at The Clarendon in Hammersmith. Most of the recording survives, but alas not all…unless it is on another tape that I can not find at the moment…The remainder of the gig was not on the B Side of this tape but a load of studio stuff was - How weird – hope I did not record over the rest of the gig! May have done I suppose, by accident. Huummm.

Anyway get a taste of one of the better bands that entered these shores in 1983 and remained tip top until at least 1985 when I stopped collecting the records or going to see the the performances.

I did attend quite a few performances by Xmal Deutschland in London from 1983 to 1985, the standout shows was this performance in Hammersmith, the gig at the Venue in Victoria and the also what turned out to be the last night at the Lyceum up the Strand. The band’s music was a little on the gloomy side, but the gigs were generally a celebration. I never got to know or learn what Anja the vocalist (the girl with the blond fringe in the photo) was singing about, but used to love watching her actually singing. I think I was a little smitten by her at the time!

Xmal’s debut 7″ single is on this site if you care to search for it with the search function.

Text below ripped from wikkiedingdong.

Xmal Deutschland (often written as X-Mal Deutschland) was formed in 1980 by Anja Huwe (vocals), Manuela Rickers (guitar), Fiona Sangster (keyboards), Rita Simon (bass guitar) and Caro May (drums) in Hamburg, Germany. Their first single, “Großstadtindianer” was released a year later on Alfred Hilsberg’s ZickZack label. The band also contributed the to the label compilation “Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig” (ZZ 45). Around this time Rita Simon was replaced by Wolfgang Ellerbrock.

In 1982 the band released the Goth classic “Incubus Succubus”. Drummer Caro May left the band and formed a new band, and the vacant drummer position was filled by Manuela Zwingmann the same year. While German audiences were less than receptive at first, a United Kingdom tour opening for the Cocteau Twins resulted in a label deal with independent label 4AD Records. Their debut album, Fetisch and the singles “Qual” and “Incubus Succubus II” were released in 1983, all 3 making the UK Independent charts, even though the band used German lyrics.

Manuela Zwingmann left the band after one year, being replaced by Peter Bellendir. This lineup, Huwe / Rickers / Sangster / Ellerbrock / Bellendir proved to be the longest running. 1994 saw the release of the single “Reigen” and the album “Tocsin”, followed by a world tour through 1985.

The “Sequenz” EP was essentially a remake of a John Peel session, which had been originally recorded April 30, 1985, and was broadcast May 13, 1985. The EP contained the tracks “Jahr Um Jahr II”, “Autumn” (the band’s first English lyrics, apart from brief snatches of English that appeared in Qual, Young Man and Tag für Tag) and Polarlicht but omitted “Der Wind”, which was played at the Peel sessions.

1986 saw the release of “Matador”, produced by Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers. Xmal Deutschland also opened for The Stranglers at a concert at Wembley Arena in London. Their follow-up album, Viva was recorded in Hamburg and was released in 1987, followed by the single “Sickle Moon”. Viva contains a large number of English lyrics, among others a poem by Emily Dickinson. It was during this time that the band were interviewed by Jamie Meakes for the infamous underground Goth Fanzine ‘House Of Dolls’.

Seagull / Moonbath / He Hapes / Carlos / The Men Of The Cross / The Spire

Anna / Dismembered / Vials Of Wrath / Latin / Pokn For Begginers

Very rare tape by KUKL featuring future Sugarcube and now respected solo artist Bjork. KUKL’s performance was recorded in September 1984 somewhere in Paris and was released on Rebel Flux cassettes.

More KUKL material on this site including the debut 7″ single (if you use the search function you will come across it). Also the whole performance of ‘We Demand The Future’ festival with Crass and all the other supporting Icelandic bands uploaded, can be heard HERE

Text below ripped from hanshan.org.

KUKL were an Icelandic group created in Reykjavik in August ’83 with Einar Örn Benediktsson (vocals, earlier in Purrkurr Pillnikk); Björk Guðmundsdottir (vocals, earlier in Tappi Tikarrass); Guðlaugur Kristinn Ottarsson (guitar, earlier in þeyr); Birger Mogensen (bass, earlier in Killing Joke) ; Einar Melax (keyboards, earlier in Van Houtens Koko) and Sigtryggur Baldursson (drums, earlier in þeyr).

Originally the group was a project based on an idea by among others, Asmundur Jonsson from Gramm Records in Reykjavik. They debuted live on Icelandic radio and performed at the “We demand the future” festival in Reykjavik in 1983 with Crass and a host of other Icelandic bands.

In 1984 they performed with Psychic TV in Reykjavik and then travelled to England to perform with Flux of Pink Indians and other anarcho bands. KUKL recorded at Southern Studios in London during January 1984. The tracks were engineered by John Loder and produced by Penny ‘Lapsang’ Rimbaud of Crass. Later the same year they played at concerts in several European contries including Paris.

In June 1985 the band performed at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and later the same year at some concerts in Iceland. they played with Megas, the “grand old man” of Icelandic rock.

At the turn of the year 1986 they released the  two LP’s that had been recorded previously, on Crass Records.

KUKL’s music is complex and rhythmic, and a mixture of punk, rock, jazz, and more experimental music, with the lyrics sometimes in English, and sometimes in Icelandic.

KUKL were a powerful and personal band combining qualities from three important groups in Icelandic rock from the beginning of the eighties.

Shot By Both Sides

My Mind Ain’t So Open

Gloriously fine debut 7″ single from Magazine. Dedicated to all the folk that travelled down to London to see the reformed band (less John McGeoch of course) perform these last two nights, and for those travelling up to Manchester today.

Photograph is of Howard Devoto hanging down the Roxy club in Covent Garden during 1977.

Text from Da Wikki…

The band was formed in Manchester by Howard Devoto shortly after he left The Buzzcocks in early 1977. In April 1977 he met guitarist John McGeoch, then an art student, and they began writing songs, some of which would appear on the first Magazine material. They then recruited Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson (previously of The Freshies) on drums, to form the first line-up of the band, which signed to Virgin Records. The band played their debut live gig at the Rafters, in Manchester, on 28 October 1977.

Dickinson, whose background was in classical and avant-garde music, left shortly after a number of gigs in late 1977, and in early 1978 the band released their first single ‘Shot By Both Sides’, recorded by the band as four-piece and an only guitar-bass-drums sound similar to punk. Shortly after the single’s release, Dave Formula,who had also played with a 1960′s shortly famed rock band from Manchester called St. Louis Union, joined as keyboardist. ‘Shot By Both Sides’, the chorus of which shared the same progression as The Buzzcocks’ ‘Lipstick’ reached the Top 50 in the UK singles chart. Its cover was an early example of the goth influence in punk. The band, with Formula on keyboards, made its first major TV appearance on Top Of The Pops in February 1978, performing the single.

Following a British tour to promote their first album ‘Real Life’, Jackson left in late July, and was replaced briefly by Paul Spencer, who performed with the band for gigs across Europe and some television appearances, including the Old Grey Whistle Test, where they played ‘Definitive Gaze’. Spencer quit partway through the tour, joining The Speedometors shortly afterwards, and he was replaced in October by John Doyle, who completed the Real Life promotional tour and remained in the band.

In 1979 the second album, ‘Secondhand Daylight’, a more experimental and more keyboard and synthesizer based material, followed. The same year, McGeoch, Adamson and Formula joined electronic project Visage, recording and releasing the single ‘Tar’.

After the release of the album, Devoto decided to change producer, choosing Martin Hannett, who produced their next album in the same year, ‘The Correct Use of Soap’. Following its release John McGeoch decided to leave the band, tired of the low sales of the band’s previous recordings and their not so guitar playing-oriented songs joining Siouxsie And The Banshees. To replace him the band called Robin Simon, who previously was in Ultravox and Neo. That line-up toured across Europe and Australia, recording their next release, the live album ‘Play’. Simon made some initial recordings and rehearsals for the ‘Magic Murder And The Weather’ album, including co-writing the song ‘So Lucky’, but he left the band before the album was released so that he could record on the John Foxx solo album The Garden.

Again without a guitarist, Devoto called in his former college mate at Bolton, Ben Mandelson (former Amazorblades member). This lineup completed the recording of ‘Magic, Murder And The Weather’ in 1981, but Devoto quit in May of the same year months before its release of the album. A year later, ‘After The Fact’, the first Magazine compilation was released.

Adamson continued collaborating with Visage, and also began to work with The Birthday Party and Pete Shelley, Formula continued as member of Visage and joined Ludus, Mandelson joined The Mekons, and Doyle joined The Armoury Show in Scotland in 1983, along with John McGeoch.

Mankind / Ghetto Of The City / How Long Jah

Oh Wicked Man / Judas Iscariote / See Them A Come / Sodome And Gomorra

After a short punk break it is back to the roots…Misty In Roots to be precise.

Debut and best LP by Misty In Roots… An absolute classic, and well loved by John Peel and myself…A little scratchy in parts but that’s because of the 1000′s of times it has been going round and round patiently on various turntables that I have owned throughout the years.

Always a great night out seeing this band’s live performances…

Anyone who loves the Misty In Roots vibe should go to the page HERE for some ultra rare 12″ singles that the band released. 

Text below courtesy of mistyinroots.ws

With a career spanning four decades, Misty in Roots are one of England’s finest reggae groups. The band was one of the most powerful live reggae acts to emerge from 1970s London, and they were a major force in the Rock Against Racism movement. They are back in style in 2002 with a great new album on Real World Records.

This British based Roots Reggae Band MISTY IN ROOTS have played together for the past 20 years, first coming together in 1975 and working as a backing band for the late, great Nicky Thomas – one of Jamaica’s all time greats who had achieved national chart success with songs such as “Living In The Land Of The Common People”. Nicky Thomas was the inspiration from which MISTY developed.

By 1978 MISTY IN ROOTS began to develop their own orthodox roots reggae sound. Their powerful lyrics inspired by the economic decline, a growing awareness of their African culture and a spiritual awakening inspired tracks as “GHETTO OF THE CITY”, “SODOM & COMMORA” AND MANKIND” all off which can be found on the band’s first album ‘LIVE AT THE COUNTER EUROVISION’.

During the period 1977/78 the political situation in the U.K. was a breaking point. Black consciousness was at its peak and racism roamed the streets of London. Unemployment was affecting both black and white youths and through this depression a new musical alliance was born, young white youths totally fed up with the status quo turned to playing punk music whilst at the same time identifying strongly with the British reggae acts as MISTY IN ROOTS, STEEL PULSE and ASWAD. With the coming of the ‘Rock against Racism’ movement the musical fight-back had begun and for the first time black and white musicians were playing together on the same platform bringing about a totally new concept in musical awareness.

MISTY IN ROOTS one of the most powerful live reggae acts to have come out of London and noted for their powerful roots reggae sound and uncompromising lyrical vibrations, became the major force in Rock Against Racism, playing more concerts than any other band in the movement. This opened up a whole new audience for the band who quickly developed a very strong cross over audience, playing with acts such as Tom Robinson, The Ruts and Elvis Costello.

Despite MISTY’S huge success as a live act the band did not release their first album until 1979. The album LIVE AT THE COUNTER EUROVISION, which was recorded live in Belgium during the band’s 1978 tour, is today still proclaimed by many critics as the best live reggae album of all time. MISTY followed LIVE AT THE COUNTER EUROVISION with a string of limited edition singles such as “OH WICKED MAN”, “RICH MAN’, SALVATION”, “HOW LONG JAH” and “SEE THEM AH COME”.

The band’s second album WISE AND FOOLISH released in 1982 took on more mellow, jazzy and soulful tone.

By 1982 MISTY IN ROOTS was a force to be reckoned with but because of their determination to remain independent the band took a major step into Africa spending nine months in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The period spent in Africa had a major impact on the development of MISTY’S following two albums EARTH and MUSI O TUNYA, both of which were directly inspired by the band’s experiences in Africa.

EARTH released in 1983 was moving musical documentation of the devastation caused to mother Earth by mankind because of greed, cruelty and ignorance. The album consist of classic tracks as “FOLLOW FASHION”, “EARTH”, “POOR AND NEEDY”, “OWN THEM CONTROL THEM” and “SERVANT TO JAH”.

MUSI O TUNYA released in 1985 was a reflection of the band’s love for Africa. MUSI O TUNYA (THE SMOKE THAT THUNDERS) is a beautiful place where Zimbabwe and Zambia meet and the great Zambezi river gives up all its might to form one of the most beautiful sights of Southern Africa. The falls MUSI O TUNYA are known in English as Victoria Falls.

I Don’t Wanna / Red London

Ulster

Crash, bang, wallop…The return of a punk post on this site.

Debut 12″ single from Sham 69 released on the excellent Step Forward record label, not as good as later material from the band in my opinion, but still worthy of inclusion on this site because…you’re worth it.

Text below by that pesky wikky pee dear site.

Sham 69 is an English punk rock band, originally from Hersham, Surrey, and was a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres of the 1970′s. The band allegedly derived their name from a piece of football-related graffiti that singer Jimmy Pursey had seen on a wall that originally said Hersham ’69 (the Her part was worn out).

The November 12, 1976 issue of NME notes that Sham 69 was rehearsing in 1976, although only Pursey would remain from this early lineup twelve months later. Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many British punk bands of the time, and brought in football chant backup vocals and a sort of inarticulate political populism. The band had a large skinhead following (left wing, right wing and non-political), which helped set the tone for the Oi! movement. Their concerts were notoriously plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after a 1978 concert at Middlesex Polytechnic was broken up by National Front-supporting white power skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, “I Don’t Wanna”, on Step Forward Records in August 1977, and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor Records to sign the band. Their major label debut was “Borstal Breakout” in January 1978, followed by UK singles chart success with “Angels With Dirty Faces” (reaching number 19 in May 1978) and “If The Kids Are United” (number 9 in July 1978). They were taken from the group’s debut album, Tell Us the Truth, a mixture of live and studio recordings. The group had further chart success with “Hurry Up Harry” (number 10 in October 1978), which came from their second LP and first full studio album, That’s Life. The band’s popularity was enhanced by their performances on Top Of The Pops. They eventually started to move away from punk rock, to embrace a sound heavily influenced by classic British rock bands such as Mott the Hoople, The Who and The Faces. This was demonstrated by their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys.

Sham 69 originally broke up after their fourth album, and Pursey moved in a heavy metal direction after working with the remaining members of the Sex Pistols for a short time, under the name Sham Pistols. Dave Treganna joined the 1980s glam punk/goth band The Lords of the New Church, with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned. In 1981, Pursey collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the single “Animals Have More Fun” which was commercially unsuccessful.

Verse 1 / Verse 2 / Verse 3 / Verse 4 / Verse 5

Verse 6 / Verse 7 / Verse 8 / Verse 9 / Verse 10

Debut LP and first in the ‘Commandments Of Dub’ series by Jah Shaka, recorded at Ariwa Studios and engineered by the Mad Professor in 1982.

Jah Shaka sound systems were always a massively good night out and this record gives you a taste of some of the earliest recordings that Shaka was involved in. I assume he is still performing in 2009, I have not been in attendance at one of his system clashes for around 15 years, but was in attendance countless times before I stopped going. Why did I stop going?

This site has been a little bit reggae heavy during these last few days, back to the crash, bang, wallop punk material very soon…

Text below written by Vivien Goldman for the N.M.E in 1981 and ripped off John Eden’s uncarved.org site.

It is something like seeing the Wizard of Oz for the first time; all that mighty, awesome thunder and noise of great rushing waters, then a faint start when you realise the tumult is coming from one man.

Shaka detests dealing in competition, and indeed every sound has its strengths. Mighty Observer gain credit for carrying the sound system revelation abroad, and to people of different cultures. Ray Symbolic the Bionic are the slickest dudes, with Ranking Joe rapping like a sassy fridge salesman having fun among the eskimoes.

All sound system followers have their favourites, and there is a certain section of the population who love only Shaka.

It seemed that when the other sounds had done with their boasting and toasting, there would come a discreet hiss from the corner, and Shaka would mutter a title, or more often an invocation to Jah Ras Tafari, and the old-style heavy bakelite-style head of his arm would lower to the vinyl. Then it might seem that the walls were tumbling down around your ears. Then it might seem that your body had never felt those rhythms to impel and overwhelm, you’d find your feet flashing like sparklers.

A crowd gathers round Shaka, watching entranced as if he was a conjuror. Sometimes he plays the vocal section straight, then he rides the rhythm until it disintegrates, you hurtle through the instruments like a dance of swop-your-partners, now whirling to the hi-hat, or fist-fighting with the bass. When the music hits, Shaka, well into the dub section now, looks like Lee Perry, swaying faster to a frenzy, bobbing and weaving as the music’s penetrating. His hands seem to flash from knob to knob of his HH amp like lightning. A picture of Haile Selassie sellotaped above the deck acts as an inspirational icon.

Then come certain sounds, the sounds that mark out Shaka. A keening sound cuts you, trailing a tail like a comet. Shaka playing his harp, then syn-drum; he hits it with a drumstick or plays it with his hands, the abstract texture melodies that race like liquid neon through each vein. This is a music, a great improvisation, that goes beyond reggae or any other musical division. Almost beyond physical music, into the mystic; sheets of energy shooting from the barricading standing store speakers.

Some people complain, say Shaka carries too much weight, too much distortion. It’s true it can verge on pain when Shaka shakes a sound by the scruff of its neck till it gives up its secret, but he is an extreme artist. Unlike most sound system organisers, he stays alone at the controls, speaking only when the spirit says so, choosing the music that will re-charge the people’s batteries like an orgone accumulator. If Shaka’s sound sticks needles in your ears, it’s like acupuncture, shaking up the sluggish circulation of the blood. He is a serious and dedicated man, who will only play inspirational music.

Shaka inspires the stepper dancers. When his turn comes round, the music hits new intensity, and the youths launch into gymnastic feats. As much mime as dance, the motions of stepping on stones over river currents, of peering through curtains and shinning up drainpipes, of finding your way from a fortress to freedom. These are guerilla movements to complement Shaka’s warrior style. Purposeful and athletic, with the frenzy of dervishes. It is no coincidence that Shaka cites Aswad, and Misty, the two warrior bands, as particularly crucial.

Such a stance is crucial in these times. Last Friday Shaka was making the rafters rattle like loose teeth in a South London Town Hall, playing a new Aswad dub. He cries: “JAHOVIAH I”, a long, warbled yowl that seems to span octaves, the cry he’s adopted from the Twinkle Brothers’ great ‘Daniel’ record. The warrior youth start to step with the crisp decision that marks a militant stepper.

Shaka named himself after the great Zulu warrior; the man who re-structured the Zulu armies in the early 1800’s. He devised a new, lethal, fighting blade: imposed strict discipline, including months of celibacy at a stretch: divided the spoils of war radically, giving most to the poorest soldiers, and less to the rich. Jah Shaka says it’s the Zulu’s work he sets out to continue.

That same day, the papers report a 17-year-old skinhead sieg heiling in court as he’s sentenced for the murder of an Asian youth. Akhter Au Baig. Another item next to it quotes Joan Lestor, MP, saying that many victims have no confidence in the determination of the police to seek out-perpetrators of racial violence.

It’s a warrior time, if you want to survive. Daily harrassment of all kinds, the feeling of not being free to walk the streets; Shaka’s answer, in the face of any argument, is repatriation to Africa.

“It’s a complete solution. With the knowledge we’ve got over the years, we know the task. We are not fighting to stay here. If I was to meet with the head of the National Front, it would solve a lot of problems.”

The man who inspires such fierce devotion does not like to talk about himself. “It’s nothing to do with my private life or my slave name, it’s nonsense to bring yourself out into the limelight. I’m not involved with that. All I want to do is get on with my work, till such time as I leave the country.

“I don’t know what the other sounds are doing, I only know what I am doing. It’s nothing to do with what kind of speakers or amps I’m building; I’m only concerned with building spiritually.

“I spend a lot of time with the sound. Talking to the people is more important than the studio business. Although Shaka himself is a musician and has just released his first record — “Jah Children Cry” by African Princess on his own label. I’ve got to bring people to remember that we, the black people, have been forgotten. You could call us the forgotten race, as it says in the Bible. I take it very seriously. The people that are mentioned in the records I play — the Children of Israel — that is directly us.

“This is my most important job. People get depressed in this country. You have to give them something to hope for. There’s a lot of pressure. People complain – they say the whole world is upside down. People jump off buildings so as not to face earth as it is at the moment. The only thing to look to is God. People have tried everything else. Haile Selassie came to show us that everything we’ve been hearing about is not in the sky — there is such a place where we could be — Ethiopia.”

Shaka’s views are controversial. He arrived from Jamaica when he was five; kept dances from when he attended the Samuel Pepys School in. South London. He gives thanks that he was raised here: “It’s been like a college here for me.”

The first sound he checked for was Metro, who still build his amps.

Shaka moves with twelve youths who help set up the sound, transporting the mighty, hand-carved speakers with their heavyweight thunder old American RCA boxes, and amps. Most of them are unemployed. They have followed Shaka for anything from five to seven years, devote their lives to his sound.

Between them the youths around Shaka number the several skills — carpentry, electrical, and so on — necessary to maintain the sound. They are unemployed simply because work is scarce; but this is probably the most fulfilling job they could do. “Money doesn’t even come into it,” says one youth whose two brothers have also worked alongside the dub warrior for years. “It’s a message we’re carrying, not just a sound.”

Those who followed Rasta as a fashion have moved on to roller disco. For the large hard core who are serious about their beliefs, Shaka is still here. When you hear Shaka play his sound, it’s easy to believe his inspiration is divine.