The LP was essentially organized and put together by Martin Bowes, editor of the Alternative Sounds fanzine from Coventry. He managed to get the Cherry Red label interested in it and they helped by giving a manufacturing deal…
Coventry had a very vibrant music scene at the end of the 1970’s, partly a legacy of the tail-end of the 1960’s R&B boom and partly an extension of the 1970’s Punk explosion (The Pistols and Clash played a gig together in Coventry). The music scene was bolstered by a useful mix of large and small venues: large venues (like Coventry Theatre, Tiffany’s nightclub, Lanchester Polytechnic and Warwick University) catered for the big touring bands, while the smaller venues (the Climax, the Heath Hotel, Zodiac, Hope and Anchor, General Wolfe, the Matrix) catered for the local groups. The local independent record shops (including Virgin and Jill Hansen’s) were also useful in spreading the word and giving people a place to meet…
The bands featured on the LP were all popular local bands who played live regularly: as the sleeve notes explain, many of the bands shared members and the whole scene was quite ‘incestuous’ in a way. Musically, there’s an interesting mix of Punk and Pop (particularly with a disco-esque tinge which reflect the era) in tandem with a strong Reggae influence which reflects the multi-cultural aspects of the Coventry music scene in the 1970’s. It’s also quite interesting to note how many of the bands used keyboards and the prevalence of lyrics touching on atomic warfare…
The Urge were one of the most popular local bands, and were hotly tipped for success. They toured nationally with UK Subs and Specials, and released a D.I.Y. single (Revolving Boy) on their own Consumer Disks label before signing to Arista where they recorded demos with Dennis Bovell and released 1 other single (‘Bobby’) before splitting up…
Their singer – Kevin Harrison – had been in Transposed Men (with Brad (Specials) and Noel (Selector)): many of the bands songs went on to form the basis of The Selector set including the original version of ‘On My Radio’. He was good friends with This Heat (one of his live recordings of the group appeared on their first LP), and he also used Uncle Bill’s ‘Cut Up’ technique (extended from the original by Brion Gysin) to write a number of Urge’s lyrics…
Squad were the stars of the local punk scene, having formed in 1977 with Terry Hall (Automatics/Specials) as their early vocalist. They released 2 singles (£8 A Week / Red Alert and Millionaire / Brockhill Boys) and always seemed to play at Coventry Carnival. Their singer at the time of the LP often wore a kilt onstage (ala Adam?)…
The Wild Boys were a very popular local group, initially started by Roddy Radiation (Specials) with a name inspired by Uncle Bill. Their sound has a strong Only Ones influence, as well as some dubious lyrics on ‘Lorraine’…
The Clique songs sounds frighteningly like ‘I Could Be Happy’ by Altered Images: the album was released by Cherry Red, so perhaps someone heard the song…
The original singer of The Clique went on to sing for the Human Cabbages who are now mentioned regularly in the ‘Messthetics’ scene dedicated to obscure D.I.Y. Post Punk recordings from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Then, the Clique’s singer on this LP went on to sing in L’Homme de Terre who had a track on the Coventry compilation EP ‘Boys and Girls Come Out to Play’ which featured The Human Cabbages…
The Human Cabbages drummer went to my school, their guitarist accompanied me to a Crass gig in 1981 with their guitarist, and the drummers sister was the first person to break my heart…
The album was recorded and produced by John Rivers at the famous Woodbine Studios in nearby town Leamington Spa which recorded many great bands (including Swell Maps) and is still going strong today…
The cover features photography by Rob Lapworth (bassist of The Wild Boys) which features images of many of the locations relevant to the local music scene, including The Wedge café which sold anarchist literature and fanzines upstairs…
The album came with a special issue of the popular Coventry fanzine Alternative Sounds which featured a page on each of the bands. The fanzine is available to view here:
http://coventrymusichistory.vox.com/sent-from-cov-alternative-sounds/
The editor of the fanzine – Martin Bowes – went on to form the dark electronic group Attrition.
This is very much a step back in time for me: I went to school in Coventry and consequently saw most of the bands on the LP play live at one time or another. Aspects like the dress sense of the bands help to give a real sense of time and place…
In 1980, inspired by the literature we were reading at the time (including fanzines like Tales of Dayglow, Vague, Toxic Grafity and Aftermath), Miles (other founder member of Napalm Death) and I started to write our own fanzine. With the naivety and arrogance of youth, we brazenly harassed many of the local bands and fanzine writers who (to their credit) put up with us and humoured our haphazard and shoddy attempts…
Particular thanks to Alan Ryder (Adventures in Reality) and Martin Bowes (Alternative Sounds)…
The editor of Alternative Sounds put us in touch with the bassplayer of the Wild Boys (who was a printer) and he printed some of the first few issues of our fanzine (and the last edition of Miles’ fanzine Twisted Nerve)…
It was at a Siouxsie and the Banshees concert in Coventry in 1981 that the editor of Alternative Sounds introduced me to the editors of Flipside fanzine who gave me a number of back issues of their magazine: the ‘Scene Reports’ from around the globe introduced me to some great American bands (and the delights of records like the Solger – ‘Raping Dead Nuns’ ep) and also to the emerging thrash scene from around the world, particularly Finnish thrash like Kaaos and Rattus…
Nic Bullen
edu
March 6, 2008 at 1:30 pmthanks for posting this record! i do have a reissue of this one made by data records few years ago. “we’re only monsters” by wild boys is an ultra catchy pop tune!
chris
March 6, 2008 at 2:47 pminteresting stuff Nic, but one small point: if the last issue of twisted nerve was one one with the pushead cover, it was my mate Alf, who I was in Toxic Noise with, who printed it on the sly at his work as an apprentice printer in Stirling.
sounds like those Flipside editors have a lot to answer for…
Nic
March 7, 2008 at 2:10 pmYes, Jove – I had noticed there had been a sort-of legit re-issue a few years back – a guy out of Coventry seems to always have copies, so that may be something to do with the source…
Nice stuff in the blog, by the way: No Trend forever! And there’s ALWAYS time to listen to that Frantix EP – what an absolute screaming-tornado of a doss!
🙂
“He’s gotta be a fuckin’ drunk prick…’cos…my dad’s a fuckin’ alcoholic!”
betab
March 7, 2008 at 10:01 pmMartin Bowes is still making noises with Attrition – industrial and ambient if that makes any sense. http://www.attrition.co.uk/
Curious Guy
March 8, 2008 at 12:28 pmNic,
if you care about Frantix: Smooch Records released a CD of all 7″s on Local Anesthetic plus some more. Check it out:
http://www.smoochrecords.com/releases.html
edu
March 8, 2008 at 10:37 pmcurious guy:
yep, that comp made by smooch records is beautiful! in fact, i got it just few days ago 🙂 along with frantix, i do love your funeral single and all stuff made by jeri rossi as well. btw, in case you are interested, she have done recently a compilation with all their works -from your funeral and black cat bone to solo projects- that is simply amazing.
nic:
many thanks for your kind words. i try to put there music i like, from hc to twee, or any kind of music made by true love. but it is not a real blog… i mean, yours is a REAL blog, not mine 🙂 and yep, no trend forever! it’s one of my favourite bands ever. perfect music to piss off everyone. their early stuff -the one released by teenbeat records on cd- is amazing: pure bad vibrations.
keep blogging and posting soo lovely music.
all the best,
edu
Steve Teers
July 10, 2008 at 1:28 amNic – you might be curious to know that Johnny Fagsnbooze aka my brother Nigel, is now a regular on the ‘Noise’ scene either in LEGO, Kneel Down Like A Saint Gorilla And Stop, or just Nigel Noize. Some kind of subliminal influence going full circle kicked off by your early incarnation supporting the Human Cabbages. Who are incidentally playing in Ealing on 2nd August after a 27 year hiatus, not with ex-Clique member Gordana but with Rosa Roberts, singer of our Messthetics contribution.
I bumped into an exec at ITV the other year with the same name as you. Quite amusing when I asked him if he had ever been in Napalm Death “I wish I had been!” came the reply.
By the way, someone nicked my free Alternative Sounds that came with this fine collection, so if anyone can scan me a copy…??
Nic
July 10, 2008 at 9:04 amThanks for that, Steve: great to see you’re getting together again after 27 years…
Being a giant fan of the strange lo-fi records that came out in 1979/1980 (which was a very important time for me in music), I was really excited about the ‘Messthetics’ series (and quickly swooped on the original CDr’s) – and it was a very pleasant surprise to see the Cabbages featured…
The Coventry music scene was very inspiring to us as pre-teens, particularly as there was such a wide range of sounds available – it probably incubated our urge to burrow deep and move outwards towards the peripheries, resulting in the noise fever that Napalm Death later became…Of course, being naive kids we probably didn’t recognise all of the band rivalries and in-fighting which I imagine were present, but that’s by-the-by…
I still have the poster from the first Napalm Death concert with the Cabbages at the Queens Inn: I didn’t realise it was your last gig (which I’ve just discovered after reading your brothers myspace)…
Good to know your brother is laying down the noise: if he’s interested, I have an hour long mix of recent performances (at Art Basel, the ICA and Sonar festival) being broadcast this Sunday at 4pm on Resonance fm radio…
If you click the link in the text above, it will take you to a site which has all of the free fanzine that came with the LP available for download…
Andrea Dewar-Smith
November 16, 2008 at 11:41 pmThanks for the nostalgia trip. I remember regular Specials and Gods Toys gigs at Cov Tech – all for 50p! Great times.
Alan Rider
November 17, 2008 at 11:55 pmHi all
I’m coming a bit late to this stream but I think that the Coventry scene did have something really special (excuse the pun) going on at the time (Nic will back me up on this) and for just a short while seemed to be the place to be. It was a good time to be involved in the Coventry scene and I have loads of fond memories of gigs at the Zodiac, Lanch bar, Belgrade venue, General Wolfe, Nags Head, Hope and Anchor, Hand & Heart – the list goes on. There was a lot going on….
Alan (Adventures in Reality)
Nic
November 18, 2008 at 11:26 amCoventry really seemed to have a vibrant local music scene, and one that spread across the spectrum of sound, supported by a range of venues…
There seems to have been a general flurry of creativity across the country in 1979 and 1980, perhaps because the ‘D.I.Y.’ idea had really premated into everyones psyches: the idea of being in a band, putting on a concert, making a fanzine, releasing a tape was available to everyone and the only thing to do was to do it…
🙂
I met up with Miles last Christmas, Alan (he came over for a flying visit from Denmark) and we walked around a lot of the old haunts in Coventry, almost all of which are now either gone or re-purposed…
It’s strange to look back on childhood and find almost no trace remaining: a sobering thought…
Alan Rider
November 18, 2008 at 8:43 pmYes, Coventry has changed a lot. I can’t think of a single venue that is still going (though I think the Dog and Trumpet may do the odd gig still). Tiffanys where I saw the Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Stranglers, and loads of other bands is now a library ferchrissakes!!
Coventry is now more like a huge shopping mall these days, much like most places really.
Lets meet up when I am next in Cov so we can go bah humbug & talk about how things were sooo much better in the old days, etc….
My email is alanrider1@aol.com
jw-cov
December 13, 2008 at 5:16 pmI have the original album and had not played it since the eighties until very recently and have to admit it still sounds fantastic bringing back such happy memories of times spent in the zodiac,hope & anchor,market tavern and the swanswell amongst others. being only 15 at the time it wasnt always easy to get in, so windows and emergency doors came in very useful, but going to school the next day with great tunes ringing in my ears from groups like squad (rip gus) and criminal class made it all worth it.
Pete
February 8, 2009 at 1:44 pmHey all, just stumbled across this while surfing around…Does anyone remember Rough Justice fanzine – Put out in shambolic form by yours truly? And oh…my brother’s short-lived band Delayed Reaction? I also have this album…somewhere, in a cupboard or spare room, sadly…..Good reading, all this!
Nic
February 9, 2009 at 6:24 pmI do remember the fanzine Pete – I still have a copy of a couple of the issues (one of them is incomplete): one of them is on yellow paper and features No Swastikas (pre-Redskins)…
and, yes, I remember Delayed Reaction (I saw them play with the Human Cabbages at the Belgrade venue): they were the best ‘Six Minute War Tribute Band’ I ever heard! 😉
“Do you really know, mate? Do you really care?”
Hope all is well!
Peter Every
May 21, 2009 at 7:16 amWell, as I live and breath, Pete Sampson and Nic Bullen, Steve Teers, Alan Rider all in the same thread.
I have nursed a fantasy since the 80’s that Delayed Reaction did a song called ‘Pete Every is a C***’ – after I did a bad review of them – If you pass by this way again, Pete, please tell me it was true.
Real kind regards to you all
Peter
Penguin • Post Author •
May 21, 2009 at 9:24 amGlad this thread has opened up again, been waiting to let you all know that this post has had 978 downloads since it has been up on the site. three times more than any other post on this site has had inc Crass, The Mob and all the rest. Number one in the KYPP Media Fire chart!
Andi
May 21, 2009 at 4:30 pmI have loads of photos from Tiffany’s / Mr George taken in 77-ish including the first Siouxsie gig, also one of Gus Chambers fronting Squad at Hand and Heart …. interested?
peter every
May 21, 2009 at 4:47 pmAndi definitely!
Actually its about time the web side of the Cov music oral history project got into gear – the last big attempts; Rex Brough’s Perfumery and of course ‘mr coventry’ himself Pete Chambers’ web stuff were put up in the days of static web pages – we’ve got social networking and wiki’s now .. so I guess there’s the possibility of a much more inclusive, less anal, less narcissistic collaborative opportunity to map the scene.
A photo bank would be a great step along this path – how about a picasa or flickr site?
Penguin • Post Author •
May 22, 2009 at 6:16 pmAndi, do you have any photographs that would relate to the post above, any of the bands on the LP? You mentioned Squad, would that vocalist appear on the track on this LP? Any Coventry gig venue pictures would improve the look of the post. Anything really. If you are interested on placing three or four photos on this post let me know via the comments. If you are interested then I will contact you privately.
Dwayne Cole
July 3, 2009 at 2:58 amI spent some time hanging with the local punks of Coventry in 1986 and 1988.
The Rose and Crown was the main boozer in 1986.
Anyone know if Richard Mulligan is still around town ? I remember first hearing this compilation at his flat in Hillfields.
hillmorton
August 4, 2009 at 4:45 pmDid The Squad ever record ‘8 pound a week’ ?
Penguin • Post Author •
August 4, 2009 at 6:32 pmSays they did in the text written by Nic above fella.
Nic
August 5, 2009 at 4:20 pmThey did indeed…
Gus Chambers (singer of Squad) later played in a band with Dave Lombardo (Slayer). Chambers died in 2008…
Rich Mulligan
October 31, 2009 at 2:50 amYou did indeed hear that record at my flat in Hillfields, Mr Cole,(see above). And yep, I’m still about town……
Dwayne Cole
November 1, 2009 at 12:48 amRichard, how the hell are you?! I remember listening to that comp at your flat in 1986. I have never seen it since.
In fact, I think we partied with one of the band members at your place in 86?
Drop me a line:
dwaynecole1@shaw.ca
Charlotte Thompson
November 25, 2009 at 3:43 amHi,
Sadly I wasnt around when the music was at its best, but just a quick question for all those who were….Does anyone remember watching Homicide play around coventry?
My late Dad was the drummer….Just wondering what it was like 🙂
Thanks!
Steve Teers
November 26, 2009 at 1:18 amHi Charlotte – this really struck a chord with me, mainly as I have two young daughters now and I’m sure they too will one day wonder what their dad got up to in his wild youth.
Well, apart from playing in the Human Cabbages and Urge, I was at Homicide gigs, amongst many others. Homicide were one of the seminal Coventry punk bands. Once fronted by the diminutive, lavishly spiked Bev, I saw them with leopard-skinned Ian Marchant, who sings on this record. They had serious attitude, a rawness and passion that was up there with The Clash.
As a regular contributor to Alternative Sounds I was heavily involved with the music scene and vaguely knew Ian and Bev. I don’t remember specifically meeting your dad but just being part of the scene meant he was one of the faces that made that time in Coventry such a crucial musical epoch. So sorry to hear he’s not around any more…
We’re all coming up to Coventry for the weekend (28/29th Nov) and I’m going to try to get a few old heads together at the Town Wall Tavern on Sunday night. Come and join us for a beer and maybe get some idea of life as it was in 79-81.
Chris Norbury
April 5, 2010 at 2:42 pmI just received an enquiry from Holland from someone who wanted to get hold of a copy of the Boys and Girls EP, and wondered how he could possibly have heard of it. Google took me to this thread – amazing to see that the collective memory is still more or less intact. Yes, it was interesting to be 18 in 1979 in Coventry. I think the last time I performed there was as part of an extended version of the Clique in 1980 – we played a totally improvised set at the Hope & Anchor, along with (maybe?) the Human Cabbages and Homicide (can anyone fill in the gaps?). One part of our set was a protracted but danceable apocalyptic wail apparently based on a fictional Cole Porter song. I doubt we’d get away with that now, not least because the Hope’s been bulldozed. Happy days.
Charlie
April 21, 2010 at 11:37 amJust stumbled across your website, it brought back a lot of memories of the late ’70’s, great venues like the Hope And Anchor, The Swanswell , The Dive etc. The band I remember most were The V. Babies, a totally underated band whose stage act was completely mental, the challenge to them being whether they could complete a gig without collapsing! Brilliant front man (Keith ?), great songs, great live. By 1980 they had turned into a funk punk band not unlike The Happy Mondays would be much later.
Great band, way ahead of their time, where are they all now ?
Pete King
May 17, 2010 at 1:42 pmFascinating to find this site and see Chris Norbury reminiscing about the Clique. I was the drummer in the last incarnation of the band and played on the Sent From Coventry track and the Boys and Girls ep. Can’t believe it’s 30 years ago. But more amazing perhaps that it’s still being talked about and the tracks are available to download! I think most of our copies of the ep probably ended up in landfill as we couldn’t even give them away (unless anyone knows differently?)
Chris, i remember you playing another later improvised Clique gig at a Lanch “Battle of the Bands” but the Hope and Anchor was better. I still have a recording of it and last time i listened was surprised how well it worked. I think the Famous Five played rather than Homicide though (?) Pity we didn’t stick with it – we could have been Altered Images before they were! (or perhaps better we didn’t?). The last Clique gig in Nuneaton (?) was reviewed as “music for people who hate music” – a fitting epitaph probably
It was all good fun (mostly) with an interesting range of different bands around – it wasn’t all 2-Tone no matter what some people might have you believe. Shame nobody else made it in quite the same way.
Chris Norbury
May 17, 2010 at 2:11 pmPete!
Amazing to hear from you after all these years (do get in touch at chris.norbury@path.ox.ac.uk if you feel so inclined). Yes, I’d overlooked (or maybe blanked out) the Lanch event – I think perhaps we over-stretched ourselves on that occasion. It was the first and only time I ever played trumpet, and there was a girl in the audience wearing an appealing combination of heavy eye make-up and roller skates. Everything else is a bit of a blur. If only we’d had the gear then that we have now (and some level of musical ability to match yours).
And what of the other Targets? Hope I don’t die before I get old. Indeed.
Keith Bailey
May 26, 2010 at 3:52 pmHello Charlie, Keith here from the V babies. Thanks for your kind and perceptive comments. Not doing much at the moment. My last gig was with the Undertones members (not Fergle) in the 80’s doing stooges style covers of groups like Them and the Pretty things for two gigs.
Glad you noticed the Happy Mondays connection. Doing yob dance was the kiss of death for us with record companies. I knew we should have gone to Factory rather than the London labels. Great to hear there is still a following for all this sort of thing.
There is a private edition CD (live and in studio) of us prior to the funk stage if you are interested. We seem to be more well known in the US, Canada and Japan than in Coventry these days where our stuff has been reissued. A Canadian alt rock station even chose Donna Blitzen as the first record to launch on followed by The Stooges and MC5. Never felt prouder!
Did you ever see the gigs we did with Roddy Radiation? We also did a lot of experimental extreme noise stuff with John Shipley though not live. Where is he? Met him in a Camden café out of the blue a few years ago. We are up for a reform if we can find Jud!!!! Want to contact me: keithbailey@email.com
Great to hear all those names again
Stay Cool..
Keith
RIP GUS