Gee Sus artwork – International Anthem #3
A Crass performance at the 100 Club that was shared with Serious Damage, a skinhead band from South London, and the Exploited.
A gig to try and unite the various tribal punk / skin factions.
I think Gary Bushell had something to do with the organisation of the gig along with The Exploited.
Crass were specifically invited by The Exploited to perform with them on the night, as Annie Anxiety, who also performed, was dating Wattie from The Exploited at the time.
You can hear the other bands followers throughout this Crass performance, happily siegheiling away.
Oh dear, not exactly what Gary Bushell (if he did indeed have a hand in the running of the night) or Crass would have hoped for.
Loads of rare Crass radio interviews, practice tapes and live performances on the KYPP site, use the search function to find them all.
A little text from the Southern website:
Crass are remembered as the most notorious agit−propsters of the 70s and 80s, for being founders of the Stonehenge festival, to having questions raised in Parliament regarding their various pranks, including a spoof tape of a telephone conversation between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, to their promotion of the ’Stop The City’ marches, alongside the organisers Dave ‘The Postman’ and London Greenpeace, and many many more activities. They are also remembered for being the leading protagonists of the genre know known as anarcho−punk, for being the first band to make their records available at little more than cost price, and to print a “Pay No More Than…” price on their record sleeves to stop fans being ripped off. And although many will remember the Crass sound as being ’unlistenable cacophony’ and their lyrics as ’shock slogans and mindless token tantrums’ (copyright: The Sun), listen to these records now and what you hear may surprise you, as what went on the studio was actually quite revolutionary in more than just the political sense.
Crass gigs were more like events, encompassing music, poetry, film and performance. There were often stalls from various political organisations and the members of the band would wander around the audience handing out leaflets and lyric sheets. The incredible backdrops which covered the walls were created by G Sus (latterly Gee Vaucher) who also designed the band’s terrifying, humorous and highly acclaimed artwork. The films Crass projected at shows were also created by Gee and another filmmaker, Mick Duffield.
In recent years Crass fought and won a long battle against property developers to keep hold of Dial House. In November 2002, the original members of the collective performed at the “Voices and Music Against War” event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank, though they did not appear on stage at the same time. Crass will never reform.
Farmer Glitch
October 8, 2008 at 7:40 amNot too sure about the ‘Crass will never reform’ bit – I played a gig with them back in 2005 when they were rolling out something called the ‘THE CRASS AGENDA’ appearing as part of the Exeter ‘Text Festival’ at the Pheonix – basically a poetry festival.
For this they included Eve Libertine and Penny Rimbaud on vocals and Gee Vaucher responsible for the set and projections.
They were selling Crass Cds/books etc in the bar – the stuff they performed was a sort of free-form jazz/performance art type of thing – seemed to confuse the hell out of the one or two confused looking punks in the audience !!
Farmer Glitch
October 8, 2008 at 7:52 amA link for the poster to this gig is here http://farmer-glitch.blogspot.com/2005/04/baby-you-are-so-damn-crass.html
Martin C
October 8, 2008 at 5:11 pmWho were the right wing band, The Ovaltinees?
Shame Martin Lux and his mates couldn’t make it down that night
andus
October 8, 2008 at 8:16 pm“No doubt they’ll soon get well, the shock and the strain have caused their
stammering disconnected talk, of course they’re longing to go out again, these boys with old scared faces, learning to walk, they’ll soon forget their haunted nights, their cowed subjection to the ghosts of friends who died, their dreams that drip with murder, and they’ll be proud of glorious war that shattered all their pride; Men who went out to battle, grim and glad, Children with eyes that hate you broken and mad.
Siegfried Sassoon. Survivors.
BOMMMMMBBB !
‘They won’t destroy the world no they’re not that crazy, we’re not dealing with the town hall they’re not that crazy, no political solution so why should we bother, but who’s fucking head do you think they’re holding it over.
5. 4. 3. 2. ONE ! FIRRREEE !
andus
October 8, 2008 at 8:19 pmSorry just been listening to Obarmy and McMad
Martin C
October 9, 2008 at 1:58 amPersonally, I think the whole ‘unite the tribes’ thing is bullshit (purely white tribes, obviously). Must have been a really liberating social experiment being a pakistani at that gig and having a bunch of nazi morons sieg-heiling to the abysmal non-tunes from your favourite Epping Forest social workers.
Also, as much as I think Bushell’s an idiot, I doubt he’d have got involved in this sordid dross. Still, I’d be interested in knowing which South London RAC band it was, if anyone knows.
EDIT – I note you’ve changed ‘right wing’ to ‘skinhead’, LOL. Fucking hell, bring back Stalin…
Chris
October 9, 2008 at 10:57 amThis is an utterly bewildering thread.
is someone saying that Crass played a gig at the 100 club with the Ovalteenies? (one of the original NF/Rock Against Communism gigs along with the Dentists, Peter & the Wolves, White Boss etc) Or some other band of their ilk? That’s something that’s been well hushed up if so.
Intrigued to know the full story about this.
Martin C
October 9, 2008 at 12:52 pmI’m just as confused by all this- Ovalteenies weren’t mentioned, it was a ‘right wing skinhead band from South London’ in the original post text. I knew Ovalteenies were from Walworth and played a string of gigs at the 100 Club in ’83, hence the query…
But I’ve got a weird feeling now that it was a reference to The Business, which would make sense regarding Bushell being involved, if he was (but surely he loathed Crass, why would he want to link up with them and corrupt Oi!’s pure ‘street prole’ appeal?). But I don’t know why The Business would be described as ‘right wing’, cos despite the anti-leftie student lyrics in ‘Suburban Rebels’, they were far more left than right??
It’s all very rum, maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree, but for God’s sake, someone, tell us who the band was!
Chris
October 9, 2008 at 3:29 pmcos despite the anti-leftie student lyrics in ‘Suburban Rebels’, they were far more left than right??
errr…on that score I think you may find the reality was rather different to that portrayed in Sounds etc.
as was the case with many of those bands, I hasten to add.
andus
October 9, 2008 at 4:31 pmDoes anyone remember Bushell’s brief attempt to amalgamate skins and punks into Skunk.
Could it have been the 4 Skins that played this gig, their fans used to chant sieg heil at the band, they were also banned from gigging after the Southall riots, which would explain why it was hushed up, if it was; there is a list of Crass gigs via wikipedia, this one is not listed.
andus
October 9, 2008 at 4:37 pmalso I have a vague suspicion that the 4 skins changed their name to The Ovaltinies so they could play gigs, but I am probably wrong.
Penguin • Post Author •
October 9, 2008 at 6:19 pmSorry for the confusing post – I have had a nightmare week with loads going on and did not spend too much time on the text to this post.
Martin:
The reason I took ‘right wing’ skinhead band, off the post is that it would be unfair to put that in front of the band’s name (which I can not remember) just cos certain supporters of the band (which is not Ovaltinies, or the bands Chris mentioned) are…Does that make sense? Was it The Elite maybe? (think they were still dodgy though).
Andus: 4 Skins have no connection with Ovalteenies.
The main point I missed on the original post, was that the other band playing on the night were The Exploited who were invited by Crass to perform with them. Annie Anxiety also performed.
Maybe Bushell was lurking around but I think Crass actually set this gig up, according to Pete Wright’s memory anyway as I have just called him up via the old phone system to ask wether it was a Bushell promotion, and the name of that band – he does not know either. I may write all this up in the post at some point if I get the full facts, or I may not, depending on my mood…
Crass Dave
October 9, 2008 at 7:50 pmHey Penguin what’s Pete Wright up to these days ?
John Liedown
October 9, 2008 at 9:48 pmPretty sure it was The Business. They were covering ‘Do They Owe Us A Living’ quite a bit at the time. (still do as it goes) They’d also done the ‘Sabotage the hunt’ track as well around this time, and were definitely friends with Steve Ig. I’ll have a look at some old interviews. ‘The Day The Country Died’ confirms the Exploited thing I know, as it reveals (which I never knew) that Wattie was going out with Annie Anxiety at the time, and that’s kinda of how it came together. I think 🙂
Penguin • Post Author •
October 9, 2008 at 11:17 pmCrass Dave: building work mainly mate, plus childrens books (the writing of).
John Liedown: The more I think about it it may have been The Business and Exploited with Annie A.
Will await confirmation from P.R. and rewrite the text at some point. Maybe tommorrow.
Chris
October 9, 2008 at 11:19 pmThe Elite were mates with Combat 84 and were the band who they were playing with at that gig that ended in a bust-up as featured in the 1982 40 Minutes “skinhead” documentary. They used to play regularly the skinhead nights at the Blue Coat Boy, top of Goswell Road, Islington (now the bar/pizza restaurant opposite Electrowerks). I would be very surprised if Crass had shared a bill with them, but not surprised how the show reportedly ended if that had.
Penguin • Post Author •
October 9, 2008 at 11:24 pmChris, that gig filmed you mentioned was at the Jean Harlow pub in Harlow Town. Deptford John from Combat 84 was a UK Subs roadie for a while…and a fixture at Harlow and Stevenage Bowes Lyon gigs.
Maybe it was The Business, think Crass wanted a skinhead band / a punk band (Exploited) and an Anarcho (groan) band, (Crass themselves) to show that a gig like that could take place without too much trouble!
Graham Burnett
October 10, 2008 at 12:56 amI think maybe the gig needs to be taken in context, we can all guffaw here in 2008 about the ‘naivity’ of ‘trying to unite the tribal factions’, but back in the day as I recall Sounds and the like were having a field day with their ‘gossip columns’ etc, stoking the fires of the ‘Oi vs Crass vs Exploited’ divisions with rumours, half-truths and total inventions. And it was from the anarcho side as well with ‘organisations’ such as the ‘Anti Wattie League’ when really the whole thing would probably have been best ignored until it went away. Knowing the members of Crass to have been reasonably intelligent individuals who were pretty considered in their actions, this gig was a brave and actually as I recall it quite successful attempt at defusing a situation that was at best diverting attention from far more important issues (Falklands War and its aftermath for instance) and at worse turning quite nasty for some of the ‘kids on the street’ (whether ‘Crass punks’ or ‘exploited punks’) just so that the music press could flog a few more papers.
Graham Burnett
October 10, 2008 at 12:59 amI remember the Combat 84 documentary, it was a real hoot! Is it now available in digital format (eg Youtube) for our delectation and amusement??
Nic
October 10, 2008 at 9:54 amRipped in 4 parts, Graham…
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq5p-VzUQy8&feature=related
Chris
October 10, 2008 at 10:14 amOr email me via this site if anyone wants a DVD copy as I found my original video copy of it, recorded off the telly at time of broadcast, plus the rather excellent Trevor Griffiths “Oi! For England” play only a few weeks ago and have converted them both to DVD. 🙂
Nic
October 10, 2008 at 11:53 amNice one, Chris – I’ll take you up on that…
Sod the Lord, Pass the ammunition!!!
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7OaUiCRczt4C&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=pass+the+ammunition+oi+for+england&source=web&ots=eVO5LNFRy7&sig=KfE8mTKkirgFr_qn5MUy_YaY4II&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
Andus
October 10, 2008 at 12:37 pmJust clicked on the link above. Nik you are a fucking star. I have been looking for that track for the past 20 odd years, but could not remember the play,or whether it was a real band. ‘ Theres gonna be a death, theres gonna be a killing, someone is gonna cop it one day. remembered it instantly, So it was oi for England, don’t suppose you know the name of the band, or was it just a made up band for the bbc. My mate recorded the track off the telly, but he was playing it loud one night, his dad grabbed the cassette and threw it on the fire. But i could never remember the name of the play. so stood no chance of finding it.
Chris
October 10, 2008 at 1:01 pmJust a made-up band, called Ammunition – later rebranded WHITE Ammunition by “The Man”. One of the actors is now the big dimwitted lump in Coronation Street.
Off subject, but i’ve always meant to ask, does anyone have any idea what that very brief snatch of a punk sounding song is in ‘Scum’ after the guy has fitted up the young lad for supposedly nicking his radio and returns it to their dorm? Never been able to identify that. Grrrrr…
Nic. Got a great quality copy of that ‘Made In Huddersfield’ punk documentary recently if you ain’t got that.
Nic
October 10, 2008 at 1:04 pmGlad to be of help, Andus…
I had the same feeling last week when I FINALLY managed to find the extended instrumental version of the ‘Are You Being Served?’ theme…
I believe the band were made up for the play…
Here’s the BFI page about the play (featuring more information and clips):
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/984061/
If you look at the (previous) link, you can read all of the play text…
(Actually, I’d just like to note that Google Books is a really useful resource: many out-of-print gems are archived there)
Andus
October 10, 2008 at 1:17 pmI had the same feeling last week when I FINALLY managed to find the extended instrumental version of the ‘Are You Being Served?’ theme…
You are joking I trust.
There’s another series the beeb did round about the same era about a band, again I cannot remember the title of the series, but the theme tune went something like this. ‘So many thing I’ve been wanting to do, so many things things I’ve been itching to do but I can’t do cause I’m stuck in here with you, I’m going down, your royal jelly’, and thats about all I can remember, apart from the singer in the band being an Elvis Costello lookalike, it ran for about 6 episodes and has never been repeated
Ian
October 10, 2008 at 1:19 pm“I had the same feeling last week when I FINALLY managed to find the extended instrumental version of the ‘Are You Being Served?’ theme…”
Excellent, did you find it online? Would love a copy. I like Coil’s cover (going up) but it’s nowhere near as good as the original.
Andus
October 10, 2008 at 2:44 pmOi for England? Winged sandals needed. « Mrs Slocombe regrets.
Talk about bizzarre sychroncity’s, a link I just found on google.
John No Last Name
October 10, 2008 at 4:46 pmSo I was at work the other day and someone came in with a game called “Metal mental meltdown” It’s a heavy metal board game filled with questions so obscure that if there was a punk version only Nik and Chris would be able to win at it. Anyway I pulled out a question card and the first question was “who was the original singer of Napalm Death?” Someone said “Lee Dorian” to which I said “wrong” cue drum roll …. and the answer was “Nik”. Everyone was kind of surprised I knew one of the answers.
Jay Vee
October 10, 2008 at 11:24 pmWhile that answer may be true, it’s a somewhat naive viewpoint…
CRASS
October 11, 2008 at 4:35 amI want CRASS
Graham Burnett
October 11, 2008 at 10:01 am“I want” doesn’t get, thats what my old nan always taught me. And you won’t get CRASS cos they split up in 1984.
Chris
October 11, 2008 at 12:26 pmactually, i’ve always been surprised no one has ever formed a crass tribute act, like the Australian Pink Floyd or the Sex Pistols Experience. 🙂