Fight To Live / 45 Revolutions
The first release on No Future Records was the debut release by Blitz, a band with a hard hitting sound akin to driving a truck into a brick wall, with a vocalist that sounded like he had swallowed a bag of masonary nails before the recording session. Damn fine stuff to the youth of the day, back in the day.
Went onto better things in 1982 with the following two or three singles and the LP ‘Voice Of A Generation’ which is still a strong piece of work, one of the most popular bands of 1982 in UK punk circles.
Eventually in 1983 the band split into Rose Of Victory and a seperate Blitz, both bands still released material on No Future Records, or more accurately Future Records in Blitz (mark II) case.
Blitz (mark II) released the magnificant ‘New Age’ single which was featured on The Tube of all programmes, and then the following single ‘Telecommunication’.
This ‘Telecommunication’ single, with a more synth orientated neu romantic sound, let down the bonehead and punker Blitz following so much, that one of them felt inclined to wrote into the weekly Sounds music paper complaining that his recently needled on, Blitz face tattoo, was now embarrassing him in front of his friends! Poor soul…I went out to purchase the ‘Telecommunication’ single straight away after that letter!
Text below from All Music Guide
Oi! band Blitz helped to successfully launch No Future Records with its first EP, All Out Attack. Fans snapped up all 1,000 copies of the first run in short order. During the summer of 1981, indie charts in the U.K. saw the release rise to the number three spot. Sales of the four-track EP, which was the first release by the new label, eventually totaled more than 20,000 copies. “Never Surrender,” a single that followed the debut’s release, climbed to the number two spot on the U.K.’s indie charts. It took the place of “Time Bomb,” a single that Blitz’s members had wanted to put out until the label nixed that idea. The group followed up with “Warriors,” which was backed by “Youth.” Critics and fans compared the single to efforts by the 4-Skins and the Business, and it, too, performed very well on the indie charts. For the second time in a row, Blitz hooked the number two spot. The group then made it onto the national charts with 1982’s Voice of a Generation, its first album. It held steady on the charts at number 27 despite the fact that there was little to no promotional campaign from the label to back it up and grab some exposure. Still, members of Blitz did well for themselves. They embarked on a tour of the U.K. alongside Abrasive Wheels and G.B.H., but unfortunately the lineup failed to adequately fill the sizeable concert venues that were scheduled. Disappointment led to some rocky times. Mackie was the first to drop out of the band, followed by Nidge, and then Charlie. Mackie and Nidge teamed up as Rose of Victory to record another No Future EP, while Tim and Carl tried to keep Blitz going with a new lineup. They put out New Age, repeating the band’s earlier indie chart successes when the release rose to number two. Telecommunication followed, but by then fans were becoming critical of what they perceived as a change in the group’s sound. The new Blitz tried to persevere with the release of Second Empire Justice. Nidge, along with Attak’s Gary Basset, tried to keep things going in the late ’80s with The Killing Dream, an album put out by Skunx Records. Before things fell apart for good, Nidge brought two other musicians into the band and embarked on a European tour.
gerard
October 20, 2008 at 8:36 pmJourney to the bottom of the barrel
baron von zubb
October 21, 2008 at 10:21 amP,wheres the hackney wrecking crew thread? Dunno the bands involved names so cant search
chris
October 21, 2008 at 10:42 amA bit harsh, Gerard? Never cared much for any of the other UK-82 type stuff (apart from the Partisans single up here and that glorious first Violators single) but I’ve always had a softspot for this record and in fact picked up a copy again when I came across it in Brighton last month. Someone’s gotta Die & Fight To Live are just great ‘street punk’ songs – and in fact i’d say Blitz were probably the quintessential ‘street punk band’ and pretty much had all bases covered from the 2 punks/2 skins line up to the nice graphics for da kids to paint on their leather jackets, even down to the ‘taches and Brian Tilsley haircut 🙂 This was a really MASSIVE single as well. Think the sales figures would be quite staggering today. Never got to see them as they pulled out of the gig they were meant to play at the Edinburgh Nightclub but would rather listen to this than any of the thrash or hardcore stuff up here anyday.
Carl
October 21, 2008 at 11:18 amThat tash was well dodgy as is the “Brian Tilsley” mullet. “Summer of 81” by the Violaters was a great record, was that the first single ??
As for Blitz, it was all a bit “Youre going to get your F’in head kicked in ” for me, in fact I hated it !! Is that what “Street Punk” meant…all nasty violence ??? Never saw them live and never wanted to, the only “No Future” band I ever saw live was the Test Tube Babies who I have to confess were funny.
chris
October 21, 2008 at 12:46 pmIs that what “Street Punk” meant…all nasty violence ???
well, songs about it at least! 🙂
to paraphrase a classic 4-skins quote: “We don’t glorify violence, we just sing about what happens”
A Lot.
Penguin • Post Author •
October 21, 2008 at 1:36 pm‘Someones gonna die’ is a plea for realising the stupidity of violence.
“was it something that he said or his football scarf now turned red, with a broken bottle in his hand, he will never understand”
Ditto ‘Razors in The Night’.
Also lets not forget that the band actively endorsed the two skin / two punk line up (which was actually rare in 1981 – either all skins or all punks) to try and ‘unite’ the two tribes at the gigs etc. Of course whether this worked is down to the individual town they performed at.
The most important thing to remember is they were only young, and what sounded good at age 17 does not necessary sound great at age 40. They may well have written about subjects that maybe they thought they had to to get on Bushell’s good side for some column inches in Sounds.
Carl
October 21, 2008 at 1:53 pmGood points, Chris and Penguin, but even at a distance of of 25 years plus, its pretty grim. I guess I am the same age ish as you 2, Im 41 so can remember all the aggro and violence of the time.
The point about getting on Bushell’s good side is probably correct as he was influential at the time.
Some of the bands thrived on violence and kicking heads, like the 4 skins. If you just read the chapter on them in Ian Glaspers book, they thrived on cracking heads all over the place.
Penguin • Post Author •
October 21, 2008 at 2:15 pm4 Skins bit I have not read so will take your word for it.
I know they took no shit at thier gigs from right or left wing boneheads so the band and roadies got stuck in to stop it spreading any trouble throughout the rest of the crowd.
Ditto Cockney Rejects with Hoxton Tom as the roadie.
If that interview suggests the band walked around giving folk a nudge on thier ‘day off’ then that would be a surprise to me.
Like I say, have not read it so…
Yes Carl same age and same memories of youth cults at each others throats day in day out.
That’s just ‘music and fashion’ cults, we have not even touched early 1980’s football hoolis yet!
We wonder why bands sung about those times in 1981 punk records huh? 😉
baron von zubb
October 21, 2008 at 6:15 pmGary Bushell was and is a c**t.
He could have been such a force for good but was too thick to do it.
John Serpico
October 30, 2008 at 11:20 pmImmediately following the riots and the wedding of Charles and Di in the summer of 81 the best punk broadsides were emerging not from the politically conscious Crass camp but from the supposedly apolitical Oi scene. ‘One Law For Them’ by The 4 Skins, for example, can only be described as an utter though controversial classic but an even more stunning record was ‘All Out Attack’ by Blitz. As described above, Blitz were the living embodiment of unity between the two tribes of Skin and Punk, the only sartorial flaw in their make-up being the very un-punk rock moustache of their lead guitarist. ‘All Out Attack’ was a pretty apt title considering the driving but very controlled wall of noise that Blitz were showcasing. Like a brilliant hybrid of all the best of the new punk groups of the time but with an added twist of a developed awareness of violence, they were to have a relatively short lifespan but were to be hugely influential upon other bands all around the world.
‘Someone’s Gonna Die’ was the song that in particular caught and captured the sense of mindless violence that at times seemed endemic throughout the country. It’s in the chorus, however, that the song is propelled from social observation to a rousing thing of simple but aggressively powerful energy.
Whether one liked it or not, this kind of thing was striking a chord with a huge amount of young people which is more that can be said of the latest release on the Crass label at that same time, which was Annie Anxiety’s ‘Barbed Wire Halo’.
The comment from Gerard is as Chris says, a bit harsh. And Flowers In The Dustbin are/were a brilliant band too, by the way.
denzil
March 29, 2010 at 12:02 pmThis was a great record/release. The comment about getting column inches off Bushell made me chuckle. The man is still a gobshite to this day, but he did excercise power when it came to getting coverage in Sounds….
Disillusioned Reject
January 3, 2014 at 9:20 pmCarl
I’ve read Glaspers book and the 4skins bit youre on about isnt correct. I didnt like them much at the time but they were nothing like the Rejects – who did look out for aggro – the only row they had was with bouncers in Edinburgh, who were hitting kids for no reason – there was a big article in Sounds on it.
Disillusioned Reject
January 3, 2014 at 9:20 pmAgree, nice tache!