Debut 7″ single by Bristol’s Vice Squad which sold bucketloads in the early 1980’s, one copy was sold to me, and it remains the only Vice Squad record that I have ever owned.
The sleeve depicts the obligatory for the era ‘punks in post armagedden landscape’ artwork, adding a mushroom cloud picture to the rear of sleeve, just in case anyone missed the subtlety in the lyrics of ‘Last Rockers’.
Great Stuff…
Text ripped from ungraciously from Wikki Pee Dear.
Vice Squad is a punk band formed in 1978 in Bristol, England. The band formed from two other local punk bands, The Contingent and TV Brakes. Songwriter and vocalist Beki Bondage (born Rebecca Louise Bond) has been with the band since the original line-up. She is often cited as being the first punk pin-up featured on the front cover of a number of influential music papers and magazines such as Melody Maker, Sounds, NME, Punk Lives and Smash Hits.
Vice Squad formed with an initial line-up of Beki Bondage (vocals), Dave Bateman (guitar), Mark Hambly (bass), and Shane Baldwin (drums), and played their first gig at Bristol University’s Anson Rooms on 12 April 1979. Bateman and Baldwin had previously been members of the TV Brakes. The first release by the band was the track “Nothing”, which was included on the 1979 compilation “Avon Calling”. Members of the band were involved in setting up the Riot City label with Simon Edwards, the label becoming one of the major punk labels of the era. The band took some time to make further impact, only playing six gigs in 1980, but the debut single “Last Rockers” released in December 1980, was well-received, selling over 20,000 copies and spending almost forty weeks in the UK Indie Chart, reaching number 7. The follow-up, “Resurrection”, reached number 4, and the band undertook a tour supporting UK Subs. The singles received airplay and support from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and they would go on to record two sessions for his show, in 1981 and 1982.
In 1981 the band signed with major label EMI (their Zonophone subsidiary), prompting criticism from many within the DIY punk scene. Their debut album, “No Cause For Concern”, was released in late 1981, reaching number 32 in the UK Album Chart. A second album followed in 1982, and the band embarked on a tour of the United States and Canada. On returning from the US, Bondage announced that she was leaving the band. She went on to front Ligotage and later Beki and the Bombshells, and without her, Vice Squad were dropped by EMI.
Nic
March 18, 2009 at 3:50 amPenguin..was this post just an excuse to get out your favourite picture of Beki Bond(age)?
alistairliv
March 18, 2009 at 8:03 amI was going to say I had a copy of this record and blame Pete Stennett at Small Wonder for taking advantage of a naive young country lad newly arrived in the big city and selling some “Real proper punk” nudge nudge wink wink to me….
But then I looked again and found… another record by Vice Squad [the Resurrection ep] by which time it was 1981 and I was a Puppy. Oh dear.
Penguin • Post Author •
March 18, 2009 at 10:39 amI could go on about artistic merit and / or 1980’s punk historical value Nic, but would anyone believe me?
Iain Aitch
March 18, 2009 at 4:03 pmPhwoar, that looks like Victoria Embankment Gardens. Nice deckchairs.
John Serpico
March 24, 2009 at 2:53 pmI remember the Disorder crew deriding Vice Squad for signing to EMI but then after EMI dumped them I recall seeing Mark, the Vice Squad bassist working on a Youth Opportunities Programme digging ditches for a living on a Bristol council estate. Dave Bateman, the guitarist passed away in December 2007 whilst living out in Spain. On a lighter note, I have vague memories of Beki on the back of a motorbike flashing her tits. Or did I imagine that? Funny, the memories that a record can bring back. Or the mammaries, even…
Sam
March 26, 2009 at 4:46 amI may be the only male here who thinks she’s got a face like the back end of a bus.
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But that would just be sexist.
Ian S
March 26, 2009 at 11:09 amI think she’s cool. Good interview with her here:
http://punk77.co.uk/groups/vicesquadinterview2007.htm
“my life as a singer has not been easy and I’ve never mellowed, in fact I’ve become more angry at society in general !”
Good on ya Beks.
sharon alner
March 31, 2009 at 1:02 pmdo you remember me? its sharon from the 100 club i was with tim with the dragon on his head who used to be your bouncer in the 80’s. please let me know beki if you can remember me sharon xx
PeteW
April 10, 2009 at 9:23 pmYou may wanna drop her/the band a line on myspace?
Just Insane
August 14, 2009 at 4:46 pmI got a shock this week when I borrowed Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” LP from the library. When I came to track 6, “Saviour Machine”, I instantly recognised the lyrics – Vice Squad did a version of it (pretty damned different). The man’s influence on punk was quite substantial. Track 2 is called “All the Madmen”. John Lydon reckons Sid Vicious was a fan & that’s where his hair style came from.
mark
June 22, 2010 at 10:01 pmI thinks she’s hot as hell!
Nick Hydra
August 16, 2010 at 1:29 pmI actually listened to “Last Rockers” today for the first time since I heard it on Peel’s show(?), when it was released.
At the time I thought “God, that’s rubbish”, and ignored everything they did after that.
I have to say, it’s a lot better than I remember it being, but is it just me or does it sound just like Iron Maiden (early Dickinson era)?