A KYPP catch up on recent You Tube posts that have been published recently.
The Mob – Meanwhile Gardens – June 1983 – 1
The Mob – Meanwhile Gardens – June 1983 -2
Uploaded tonight is an absolutely electrifying performance from The Mob, recorded at Meanwhile Gardens near Westbourne Park in the summer of 1983.
The audio is a second generation copy of the cassette that Protag, who was looking after the vulnerable P.A system on the day, recorded via the mixing desk.
Three of the tracks from Protag’s master cassette tape were chosen and featured on the B-side of The Mob’s reissued ‘Crying Again / Youth’ 12” single on All The Madmen Records, released in 1986.
‘Gates Of Hell’ ‘No Doves Fly Here’ and ‘What’s Going On?’
I will endeavor to upload some more performances from The Mob in the future.
For downloads of this performance go to this KYPP post HERE
All the photographs are from the collections of Mick Lugworm and Tony D.
A photograph was taken at the pub next to the canal opposite Meanwhile Gardens. Some photographs were taken at Meanwhile Gardens. Some photographs were taken of various people walking to the Centro Iberico, a short walk from Meanwhile Gardens.Some photographs were taken outside and inside the Centro Iberico.
The rough typed interviews with The Mob are written and typed by Tony D and also from his collection.
The best I could do was to supply the poster for the reissued ‘Crying Again / Youth’ 12” single on All The Madmen Records, the sleeve artwork and the Wilf drawing, which are from my collection.
Oh and the cassette tape, which I guess is quite important considering!
Dedicated to Naomi Okada – This will put the book into some kind of perspective.
A clutch of well played 10″ singles from the ONU Sound disco plate series.
This is not the full set sadly. But with the running time for this YouTube post at an hour, you are getting your monies worth.
The records that are featured on this YouTube post are:
DP1: Prince Far I – Virgin / Bim Sherman – Danger
DP2: Bim Sherman – Revolution / Too Much Work Load
DP3: Creation Rebel – Independent Man / Creation Rebel
DP4: London Underground – Strange Things / Conspiracy / Why Do Fat Men Have Such Skinny Thoughts?
DP8: Congo Ashanti Roy – African Blood / Hands And Hearts
The records missing are:
DP6: Noah House Of Dread – Murder / Stand Firm
DP9: Congo Ashanti Roy – Breaking Down The Pressure / Mikey Dread – Autobiography
DP10: Bim Sherman – Keep You Dancing / Can’t Stop Moving
All tracks are engineered and produced by Adrian Sherwood.
London Underground featured Pete Holdsworth on vocal duties.
Several years later Pete started work on the Pressure Sounds record label, one of the better reggae labels specialising in releasing extremely rare reggae with extensive sleeve notes.
Folk who are interested in this ONU Sound YouTube post would no doubt know about the Pressure Sounds record label, so I will not bang on further.
London Underground had a sound reminiscent of Public Image Limited circa ‘Metal Box’ which is not a bad foundation to build a sound to.
The other artists featured on the disco plates are of course well known so will leave you to Google them if you need to.
Uploaded tonight are two well played 12″ reggae singles.
In fact two of my favorite 12″ reggae singles.
Neither of these two reggae harmony vocal groups, The Abyssinians and The Congos, need too much of an introduction.
Neither of these two 12″ reggae singles, and the four tracks upon them, need too much of an introduction either.
The Abyssinians: I & I / Satta A Masagana
The Congo(es): Neckodeemus / Solid Foundation
It is sufficient to write that these two 12″ reggae singles are among the very best released, from any reggae harmony vocal groups in 1977 and 1978.
The Rasta featured in this YouTube post with his bin liner full of herbs, is called Rusty.
Rusty lives (or at least lived) in Bluefields, Westmoreland, Jamacia.
Bluefields is the tiny beach town (and the accompanying hills) where the late Peter Tosh was born, and lived.
For plenty more information on The Congos, please have a look at this KYPP post HERE
These two 12″ reggae singles are immense.
Louise – The Witches / Youth In Asia / Hysteria Ward
Andy Martin – The Apostles
Josef Porta – Zounds / The Mob / Blyth Power
Tim Hutton – The Mob / Zounds
SOME HISTORY
Lou was living with the Puppy Collective at Puppy Mansions in Westbere Road Hampstead during 1981. Lou along with other house mates went to witness a gig in the squatted ‘Grimaldi’ church in Pentonville Road, Kings Cross. The Grimaldi church was so called as that is the resting place for a famous clown Joseph Grimaldi who died in 1837. The proper name for the church to any other congregation, other than punk squatters, was St James church.
Among the bands performing that night was The Mob. This was the first time Lou had witnessed the band and she was shortly in a relationship with Mark from the band. Through Mark, who was living at 74 Brougham Road at the time, Lou met Josef Porta and Tim Hutton among other notable Brougham Road co – op members.
Tim at the time was drumming for The Mob. Josef was drumming for Zounds.
When Lou was commuting from Puppy Mansions into Hackney to see Mark Mob in Brougham Road it was decided one night to record a low key jam in Josef’s bedroom at 64 Brougham Road.
One of the tracks on this personal tape is entitled ‘Shalom’ which means peace in Hebrew. This is a track that was written by Lou after she was badly attacked by two skinhead girls in Kilburn.
Brett and Mick Lugworm from Puppy Mansions managed to get Lou to the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead to get cleaned up and mended.
The bedroom session has Josef on drums, Tim on guitar and Lou on second guitar and vocals.
This line up ventured out of Josef’s bedroom only twice Lou remembers.
Once at a pub now forgotten when an amp blew up so no performance was completed, and once on the Fuck Off stage which was set up at Stonehenge Festival.
The Stonehenge performance went ahead but as Lou and Tim had dropped acid a little while before, it was not that memorable at least to Lou who was tripping heavily.
She remembers the reception to the performance was pretty good but that could be just the drugs! The band retreated back to the KYPP tent after the performance to enjoy the rest of the evening at the stones on Salisbury plain.
Andy Martin from The Apostles was also a huge motivator for Lou.
Lou ended up at the top room of the squat that Andy had in Foulden Road, Stoke Newington, and between them composed and performed several tracks that appear on the tape that you may download below in the KYPP link.
Lou got on with Andy Martin very well, and even got a cake given to her, made by Andy for her to share with Mark from The Mob.
Commuting to Stoke Newington was also pivotal to Lou’s future as it was there that she was first introduced to Rob Challice then of Faction.
Lou had seen Rob at the Wapping Autonomy Centre but had not up to this point ever spoken to him. Lou sold Rob her heavy black bass guitar in fact in Andy’s Foulden Road squat!
Much more to read on this KYPP post HERE.
This cassette tape has been knocked around a little bit so there are a few dropouts within the recordings but hopefully that would not spoil the music too much…
All artwork displayed in this YouTube posts that accompanies the audio are original artworks painted by Louise and are all from Louise’s collection.
The First Of May demo cassette – 1988
A two track demo cassette sent to me by Gerard, at that point the ex vocalist of Flowers In The Dustbin, a band that had split up a year previously, towards the very end of 1987.
‘Cowboys And Indians’ is a version of the old Flowers In The Dustbin song, followed by a First Of May Group original, ‘Freaks’.
Both tracks are wonderful. Featuring violins, acoustic guitars, Gerard’s unmistakable vocals, alongside beautiful female backing vocals.
Both songs have a strong ‘life force’, you can imagine sitting by streams and fields if you try just a little bit.
In the absence of any ‘relevant’ First Of May Group visuals to go with this demo cassette audio, I have scanned my original letter from Gerard with the first notification (to me in any case) of this new band Gerard was involved in.
I have also scanned in a photograph that I took in the mid 1970’s with my fathers camera. Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
A photograph of Stonehenge, some ten years prior to the battle of the beanfield happening in 1985, where police and bailiffs rampaged throughout fields, damaging dozens of peaceful peoples homes, bodies and lifestyles, within a few long hours of fear.
I felt that an authentic photograph of Stonehenge from my collection, suited the mood of the audio and of course, it suits the day that I place this YouTube post up.
I have uploaded this First Of May Group post onto YouTube during the Winter Solstice, so I have added some information on this very special day below.
Yule: Winter Solstice – Dec 21st / 22nd
The origin of the word Yule, has several suggested origins from the Old English word, geõla, the Old Norse word jõl, a pagan festival celebrated at the winter solstice, or the Anglo-Saxon word for the festival of the Winter Solstice, ‘Iul’ meaning ‘wheel’. In old almanacs Yule was represented by the symbol of a wheel, conveying the idea of the year turning like a wheel, The Great Wheel of the Zodiac, The Wheel of Life. The spokes of the wheel, were the old festivals of the year, the solstices and equinoxes.
The winter solstice, the rebirth of the Sun, is an important turning point, as it marks the shortest day, when the hours of daylight are at their least. It is also the start of the increase in the hours of daylight, until the Summer Solstice, when darkness becomes ascendant once more.
Cycle of the Year
Yule is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year, it is the seed time of year, the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, ‘the dark night of our souls’, that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.
Fire festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, held on the Winter’s Solstice can be found throughout the ancient world. The Roman festival of Saturnalia was held on the winter solstice, boughs of evergreen trees and bushes would decorate the house, gifts where exchanged and normal business was suspended. The Persian Mithraists held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras, and celebrated it as a victory of light over darkness. In Sweden, December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining One, and was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around the 21st, bonfires were lit to honour Odin and Thor.
The festival was already closely associated with the birth of older Pagan gods like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur with a cycle of birth, death and resurrection that is also very close to that of Jesus. It can hardly be a coincidence that the Christians, also used this time of year for the birth of Christ, mystically linking him with the Sun.
That Yule is another fire festival, should come as no surprise, however unlike the more public outdoor festival of the summer solstice, Yule lends itself to a more private and domestic celebration. Yet like its midsummer counterpart, is strongly associated with fertility and the continuation of life. Here the Goddess is in her dark aspect, as ‘She Who Cuts The Thread’ or ‘Our Lady in Darkness’, calling back the Sun God. Yet, at the same time, she is in the process of giving birth to Son-Lover who will re-fertilise her and the earth, bringing back light and warmth to the world.
For appreciators of WHITEHOUSE / S.P.K or Throbbing Gristle.
This 7″ single comes with a picture sleeve, and includes several inserts, all within a oversized envelope.
All of those are scanned and added to this YouTube video of these two tracks by MEN/EJECT.
I know not know anything about MEN/EJECT apart from this is a great little artifact.
What I can gather from one of the inserts is that the P.O contact is in San Francisco. The recording studio is in New York, and that the engineers for the session have names that are Japanese or Korean. Another insert has a photograph of dead dogs with the heading ‘The Final Choice Of Mature Taste’.
Adding two and two together to make five, there might be a clue that MEN/EJECT were possibly Korean U.S citizens with the dog eating reference… Or that might be complete rubbish. I do not know. If anyone does know, let me know and I will place the information shared onto this post.
rayss
March 11, 2016 at 1:54 amawesome! thanks.!