The Bitch<\/a><\/p>\nThe debut 7\u2033 single by those lovable Manc\u2019s Slaughter And The Dogs. The\u00a0following\u00a012\u2033 single \u2018Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?\u2019 released on Decca Records is uploaded on this site with the history of the band if you care to search it out.<\/p>\n
The text below is concentrating on one of the more famous Manchester gigs from back in the day.<\/p>\n
All the great and the good would have been present, many members of future bands turned up at both Sex Pistols gigs at the Lesser\u00a0Free Trade Hall,\u00a0unfortunately I\u00a0was not present, as I was only 10 in the middle of 1976\u00a0and my main concern no doubt would have been\u00a0watching either Starsky\u00a0And Hutch or The Muppet Show on the black and white gogglebox in the corner of the family room nowhere near Manchester!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh well\u2026I did see THFC beat West Ham 2-1 on 1st January 1977. Later on that same day, The Clash were\u00a0playing\u00a0a blinder at the Roxy Club with Joe Strummer adorned with spray painted \u20181977\u2019 shirt performing on a nice white and very \u2018unpunk\u2019 1950\u2019s Gretsch guitar. Didn\u2019t go to that gig either\u2026what a bummer!<\/p>\n
Other gigs I did not attend are Bowie at Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973\u00a0bowing out as Ziggy Stardust, and the August 1979 Knebworth Festival when Chas And Dave supported Led Zepplin.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i192.photobucket.com\/albums\/z149\/pengy1966\/pengy1966%20stuff\/KYPP597.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
ABOVE MANCHESTER\u2019S Free Trade Hall is a little known auditorium, capable of holding some 400, cunningly named the Lesser Hall. Until the Sex Pistols discovered it for a concert last month its functional Fifties atmosphere had been sullied only by the strains of the odd jazz recital.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter that concert, which attracted some 150 rough tuff raving Mancunians, conversation led to contact with the fabulously named Slaughter and the Dogs. With the coordination of Howard Devoto the Pistols organised another bout, the Dogs supporting. In the meantime Devoto whipped his own band, the Buzzcocks, into shape, making for a triple bill of critical mass potential.<\/span><\/p>\nUnfortunately, the PA was more expectation than actuality, the Pistols sounds man having to patch together a mismatched jumble of amps to gain results. Under the circumstances, it\u2019s a wonder the sound was as good as it was.<\/span><\/p>\nIt was the Buzzcocks\u2019 first gig. Devoto stands and sings a lot like Johnny Rotten, and indeed the band sounds a lot like the Pistols, perhaps because Howard hauled guitarist Pete Shelley down to a London Pistols gig so that the light could be seen and the course charted. Whatever their inspiration, they\u2019re promising.<\/span><\/p>\nHoward, wearing sneakers, pencil thin Levis, t-shirt and baggy blue jacket, is singing love songs, the strangest love songs you\u2019ve ever heard. They have titles like (and I can\u2019t vouch for their accuracy) \u2018Breakout\u2019, \u2018You\u2019re Shit\u2019, \u2018Put \u2018Em Down\u2019, \u2018I Love You, You Big Dummy\u2019. One song goes \u2018I\u2019ve been smoking in the smoking room, Now I\u2019m in the living room, I want what I came for pretty soon\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s the Boston Strangler singing the dance of romance, his face getting redder, eyes popping, kicking and punching the air.<\/span><\/p>\nAt first they are rhythmic to the point of rigidity, Shelley \u2013 who is wearing tight salmon pink Levis, sleeveless \u2018Buzzcocks\u2019 t-shirt, shades and short hair \u2013 not even bothering with the concept of a middle-eight, let alone a solo. The top half of his red, \u00a318.49 Audition guitar is snapped off; he got excited at rehearsal one day and threw it against the wall.<\/span><\/p>\nBut soon he begins to open out. By the time they fire up a high rev version of the Troggs\u2019 \u2018I Can\u2019t Control Myself\u2019 he\u2019s pulling out all manner of interesting riffs and changes. Drummer John Maher is solid, maintaining a fast, precise rhythm with plenty of cymbal flicking. Bassist Steve Diggle, who has a fair resemblance to Johnny Ramone is equally strong.<\/span><\/p>\nThe climax came with a wild feedback solo, Shelley throwing his axe at the amp. When he went on a little too long, Devoto came out of the wings and pulled the guitar from him. He pulled it back. Devoto grabbed all six strings and yanked ripping them asunder. Shelley propped the now screaming guitar against the speaker and left via the audience. Thus finished the set.<\/span><\/p>\nApart from gigs, the only thing the Buzzcocks need is a hell of a lot more volume.<\/span><\/p>\nWHILE EQUIPMENT was changed the capacity audience posed. The David Bowie lookalikes all had the distinct advantage of looking like their skinny hero, perhaps the benefit of plastic surgery. There was a profusion of Neanderthals in stringy hair and leather, one of whom dug the Pistols by bellowing \u201cStooges!\u201d and pounding seats to oblivion.<\/span><\/p>\nThere was a profusion of homemade Slaughter and the Dogs badges, and one trendsetter sported a high-class homemade Sex Pistols t-shirt. Then there were the six rows of very straight looking people at the back who sat there very vacant all evening, even those who loathed it.<\/span><\/p>\nDepending on who you talk to, Slaughter and the Dogs have been alive between eight months and two years: the new order\u2019s ground rules are still being formed and no-one is quite sure what\u2019s cool to admit and what isn\u2019t. Their age is 15 and 16, except for vocalist Wayne Barratt, who sheepishly admits to an ancient 19. Their reason d\u2019etre, he says, is to relate the energy of 60s Stones to the 70s. An admirable notion, but what this means is that all the fast songs sound like \u2018Jumping Jack Flash\u2019 and the slow ones like \u2018Angie\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\nAnyway you slice it, it is rapidly apparent that the Dogs are well outside the boundaries being drawn by the Pistols. They open with a meandering bass\/guitar interchange, the band suddenly bursting on in a blaze of light and noise. For the first tune they generate reasonable excitement, kind of like a high-energy Faces routine.<\/span><\/p>\nBarratt, who sports immaculately combed green tinted hair, is wearing Captain Blood style brown satin trousers tied at the cuffs, which brush red Anello and Davide shoes. The belt turns into a sash across his chest and then somehow into a scarf. A codpiece is equipped at no extra charge. The others \u2013 Brian Granford (drums), Howard Bates (bass), Mike Day (lead guitar) \u2013 look pretty normal, but rhythm guitarist Mike Rossi, who\u2019s so punky he can hardly be bothered to mumble his name, is decked out red and white striped t-shirt, black vinyl vest and white Strat; it\u2019s a wonder he hasn\u2019t dyed his Ronno hair cut that just so Mick Ronson shade. Ah yes, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. And naturally, Diamond Dogs.<\/span><\/p>\nJust how the Dogs see themselves as being like the Pistols, which is how they approached the group, is an entertaining mystery. It is said that on a local radio show they defined \u2018punk\u2019 as being a cross between David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. But fuck definitions, Pete Shelley reckons they\u2019re an offence just to the word itself.<\/span><\/p>\nIt is also said that a lot of interest is being expressed in them, which is easy to see. They could quite easily replace any of the current crop of Top Of The Pops groups with no drop in visual quality.<\/span><\/p>\nThey should also learn to differentiate between genuine demand for an encore and a huge scream of relief at their exit. It would save their outnumbered fans a lot of bother.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE NOTORIOUS Sex Pistols, the band the promoters of the French Punk Rock festival claim are going too far \u2013 \u201cWho do they think they are? The Rolling Stones?\u201d \u2013 were greeted with a wild ovation. John stood there and beamed. Then Steve jumped to the front of the stage and started ripping off the opening to \u2018I Want To Be You\u2019, legs apart, swinging his hips from side to side. He has great style.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter \u2018Pushing And Shoving\u2019 John takes off his red mohair sweater, the right sleeve of his shirt casually rolled up to show the cigarette burns on his forearm.<\/span><\/p>\nAt the Lyceum, like a nonchalant robot he\u2019d stuck out his right fist, ground his fag out on it and chucked the butt over his shoulder, all in one fluid, mechanical motion.<\/span><\/p>\nThe best thing about the Pistols is the rapid improvement they make from gig to gig. Finally hearing John\u2019s lyrics gives it quite a push but Steve and Glen are really beginning to rein in the power, both piling on the energy through the solos. Unfortunately, Paul\u2019s drumming was practically inaudible, but some of the bass runs were real eye-openers, while Steve was rewriting the whole Guitar Hero\u2019s Stances textbook, pulling his axe up alongside his cheek (great expression of exquisite pain), firing off early Pete Townshend dive bombs, rockin\u2019 out on the beat with precise, soaring feedback endings.<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s all summed up in \u2018I\u2019m A Lazy Sod\u2019: \u2018Lotta noise. It\u2019s my choice. What I want to do\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\nPretty soon a guy was doing the Wilko Johnson Robot Zigzag at high speed up and down the aisle. People near the front began to jump about more. As the band blasted into \u2018New York\u2019 a guy came leaping down the aisle, each bound taking him about five feet into the air, his feet somewhere around his ears.<\/span><\/p>\n\u2018Anarchy In The UK\u2019, a new song, was a highpoint: \u2018Give me the MPLA, Or is it UDA, Or is it IRA, Or is it the UK, Or just another country, Or just a council tenancy\u2019. \u2018Satellite\u2019, another hot number, has yet to have the lyrics dug out of it, the only visible hook being the chorus, \u2018I love you\u2019. But honey this ain\u2019t no romance, as John disdainfully clarifies. \u201cIt\u2019s a comment on suburbia, a wife. 2.4 children, a mortgage and a car in the garage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe closest John Rotten gets to love is the soon-to-be-classic \u2018No Feelings\u2019: \u2018You better understand I\u2019m in love with myself\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\nAt John\u2019s encouragement the front rapidly filled with wildly bopping people. One enthusiastic couple pushed each other back and forth in time to the express train rhythm, and God help anyone in the way. By the time \u2018Problems\u2019 had blasted to a close the joint was screaming.<\/span><\/p>\nFor an encore, John tore up his shirt.<\/span><\/p>\nJohn Ingham N.M.E review 1976 courtesy of jonh-ingham.blogspot.com<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i192.photobucket.com\/albums\/z149\/pengy1966\/pengy1966%20stuff\/KYPP598.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cranked Up Really High The Bitch The debut 7\u2033 single by those lovable Manc\u2019s Slaughter And The Dogs. The\u00a0following\u00a012\u2033 single \u2018Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?\u2019 released on Decca Records is uploaded on this site with the history of the band if you care to search it out. The text below is concentrating on one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links-downloads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1501"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/killyourpetpuppy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i192.photobucket.com\/albums\/z149\/pengy1966\/pengy1966%20stuff\/scan253.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i192.photobucket.com\/albums\/z149\/pengy1966\/pengy1966%20stuff\/scan254.jpg\")
<\/p>\n