The Cannibals – Big Cock Records – 1977

Good Guys

Nothing Takes The Place Of You

Uploaded tonight is the wonderful debut 7″ single from the ex Count Bishops’ singer, Mike Spenser. My copy of the single comes in a paper bag with the titles and other details screen printed upon it, others pressings come in a normal sleeve with the same design on each side. Not sure which copy of the cover was on the first pressing, the paper bag one I think. This record was a firm John Peel favorite; it still sits in at number 64 of his favorite ever records. “Good Guys” is The Standells classic, and the B side of this 7″ single “Nothing Takes The Place Of You” is by Toussaint McCall. UK garage punk psyche at its finest. Both The Count Bishops and The Cannibals were an inspiration to bands that came around later on in the decade, Billy Childish’s The Pop Rivets for example.

Text below about St George is taken from the palestinechronicle.com websiite.

April 23 is when we in England celebrate our patron saint, George.

St George and the Dragon are to be seen everywhere in Bethlehem, especially in and around the ancient Church of the Nativity. Many Bethlehem houses have a panel of St George carved in stone and set in the wall above the front door.

Although George is England’s patron saint he never set foot here, and there is much argument about who this warrior-saint was and where he came from. But there are no such doubts in Palestine: George was a Palestinian born at Lydda and brought up in the Christian faith, although some sources insist that he was born in Cappadocea (Turkey) and taken home by his mother to her native Palestine when his father died.

He decided on a soldiering career, joined the Roman army at the time of Emperor Diolcletian and rose to high rank. He became one of the Emperor’s favourites but when Diocletian, a fanatical slave to the Roman gods, began slaughtering innocent Christians George felt it was time to stand up and be counted for his religious beliefs. He denounced the Emperor for cruelty and tore up his orders. Not surprisingly he was imprisoned and tortured.

George was told his life would be spared if he offered sacrifice to the Roman gods. Instead he prayed to his Christian God, who immediately responded with Heavenly thunderbolts and fireballs and an earthquake that shook the ground and destroyed the temple buildings. That sealed poor George’s fate. He bore his ordeal – being dragged through the streets, stretched on the rack, poked with red-hot irons, cut to ribbons on a wheel of swords, and dunked in quicklime – with such fortitude that Diocletian’s wife converted to Christianity on the spot. This matrimonial upset resulted in her being condemned to death too.

The Romans were expert martyr-makers. George was finally beheaded at Nicomedia on 23 April 303 and buried at Lydda.

After that, holy martyrdom was assured and St George rapidly became a cult figure among soldiers around the world. The earliest known reference to him in Britain was in an account by St Adamnan, the 7th century Abbot of lona, who probably heard the story from a French bishop returning from Jerusalem. George was adopted by Richard the Lionheart as his personal saint in the Crusades. Later, King Edward III made him the patron saint of England and dedicated the Order of the Garter to him.

But George – Al Khadir – is also patron saint of Bethlehem and a figure sacred to Muslims and Christians alike. As one elderly Arab Muslim told me, George is extra special – he’s the only saint who could ride a horse.

The dragon and the sacrificial princess are, of course, romantic add-ons to glorify George in western Christendom’s eyes. The slaying of the unfortunate dragon symbolizes triumph over paganism.

Lydda, with its links to St George, was of great importance to the English and the Crusaders built a church built there and dedicated it to him. It was destroyed by Saladin during the Third Crusade in 1191. The church that stands there now was erected on 1872.

In addition to his close relationship with the peoples of Lebanon and Syria, St. George is the patron of England, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia, and Lithuania.