NO POSTS FOR A WEEK!

GANG WAR - Live @ Max's Kansas City, New York, 5/5/80

It was 1980 and Johnny Thunders had joined forces with his hero; Wayne Kramer from MC5 in a little venture dubbed Gang War. An ultimate rock’n’roll dream team that eventually became a nightmare; Johnny’s move to the motor city was too much for his wife who took their kids and did the off. This fact probably explains Johnny’s rather dim view of women reflected in songs such as Just Another Girl and Who Needs Girls? , but enough amateur psychology. Thunders and Kramer’s reputations preceded them and the sheer danger with them working together scared the crap out of any would be record companies, which is a shame as the only recordings released by Gang War are in the form of a couple of live albums and various bootlegs of demos released after the bands short lived ‘career’ had ended. The 5 tracks here! Are taken from a recently found old tape of mine, they were originally recorded from a scratchy vinyl copy of one of the aforementioned albums. Great stuff, this is the real deal; two legends strutting their fuckin’ stuff on stage in Johnny’s home turf, Max’s Kansas City. If you wanna rumble, get some Gang War here!

So the Embryo and Abortion Bills have gone through the House Of Commons. Once again politicians have ignored public opinion by backing the creation, but not preservation of life. In the coming weeks we need to keep our eyes and ears open, because there’s another bill due to go before parliament; The Communications Bill, this one aint about creation and preservation of lives, it’s about our lives right here, right now. If the bill is passed, it will allow the government to store even more personal data such as phone records and e-mails on data bases, that could then be shared with an increased number of agencies. So in one breath politicians ignore public opinion, yet in the next they want to store as much information as they can about us. Aaahh! the great smell of democracy. “What’s the problem?” some say, if you’ve nothing to hide, then you’ve nothing to fear, well.. I happen to fear for the future of our children’s freedoms.

THE RACKETEERS - Mad For The Racket

A rock’n’roll ‘super group’ in name confusion, it's The Racketeers or Mad For The Racket, depending on which pressing of the CD you’ve got. When it was originally released as a limited run in the UK on Track records they were called The Racketeers, but later the name was changed to Mad For The Racket for the worldwide release, on account of there being too many Racketeers about. One thing not in doubt was the credibility and credentials of the band. Take one ex MC5er (Wayne Kramer) a former Damned and Lord of New Church member (Brian James) and a Guns and Roses Bass player (Duff Magann) get Stewart Copeland (The Police) and Clem Burke (Blondie) to man the drum stool between them, and there you have the Racket; from Wayne’s Jazz and Hardcore attacks to Brian’s sleaze driven rock’n’roll, it’s foot tapping stuff , which unfortunately the critics were unimpressed with, calling them a “hopeless bar act” and saying the whole project “flat lined,” a bit harsh me-thinks, as both Wayne and Brian would be hard pushed to top some of the tunes they’ve both written over the years. I agree with Mr Kramer’s assessment of Mad For The Racket as a “Rock’n’Roll experiment gone right.” But hey! Don’t just take our word for it, give it a blast yerselfs, you know what to do, no questions asked, just click!

WEATHER or WHETHER ?!

Thought I’d let the storm pass and the earth settle before wondering whether the weather was….a bit odd over the last couple of weeks. While a cyclone tore Burma apart and an earthquake shook part of China, Britain’s experienced some unseasonally high temperatures. A butterfly flaps it’s wings, or maybe a General strums his haarp and fries the earths ionosphere with high frequency radio waves and BANG! The earths environment is changed, it’s called weather modification. Wondering what the hell I’m on about? Check out the label at the bottom of this post and it’ll take you to a couple of other posts about the HAARP Project. It’s not just a live album by Muse! It’s a real U.S military project with capabilities of causing some serious global shit, and no one would know, (some countries may even experience ’good’ weather as a side effect.) what with the global warming smoke screen, and the natural changes of the earths environment. Who would think there could be any other explanations. All a bit conspiratorial ? Most definitely! But what better way to deal with talk of global food shortages and over population, Kill the poor and make it look like a natural disaster, an act of god, nothing to do with us.

THE WATERBOYS - Live @ Glastonbury 1986

This recording of The Waterboys legendary appearance at The Glastonbury Festival in 1986 is complete and uncut. A great bootleg, much loved and played by myself over the years. Mike Scott is on fine form and the band play a balanced set; from the rocky to the folky. The recording captures the vibe of people sitting in a field listening to a great band, in a time before you had to register for tickets to watch bands as homogenised as the milk from Michael Eavis’s cows. Due to the length of the recording I’ve had to split it into two parts: SIDE 1 and SIDE 2, just like the tape. Enjoy!

FIGHT TRUTH DECAY (6 Track Tape)

No introduction needed for this bunch, it's been a while since I posted anything by 'em and I know some of you good folk are quite keen on the Scum Bags, so here you have it, their first recordings from way back in 1991, when George Bush snr was starting the first gulf war. 6 tracks of pure energy as only Scum could deliver with a dose of POLITICS and politics. Shit kicking stuff, play loud at the barricades. Pick up supplies here! NEW LINK!

P.S

Here's a little something I came across between then and now. It's BASTARD KESTREL covering The Lurkers classic Love Story. It's taken from the Bastard's album Oh Splendid Mushroom, after hearing this it sounds like they'd sipped a cup or two of a mushroom brew, maan that's fucked up, but dont just take my word for it, give it a go yer self. It's just a click away!

SNIFFIN' ROCK - 3 Track 7" feat: World Domination Enterprises, The Cateran, Bastard Kestrel.

This post’s gonna keep you on yer toes, and yer ears covered if you’re of a nervous disposition and inclined to startle at the sound of sudden noises, these 3 tracks are full of ‘em. The single was given away with Sniffin’ Rock fanzine #7 way back in 1988. First up there’s WORLD DOMINATION ENTERPRISES with a live version of their classic tune, Asbestos Lead Asbestos, a chaotic noise/a discordant driven drawl with abrasive and angular guitars that cut you to shreds. THE CATERAN were pronto grungers. They came from Edinburgh, and supported Nirvana on their first UK tour, their offering here is called Kitty Kitty Kitten. Finally we have the wondrously named BASTARD KESTREL, quite a favourite of the late great John Peel, imagine the Swell Maps meet Sonic Youth in a head on car crash and that’ll give you some idea of what Hooligan V.D sounds like. Enjoy this obscure/curio here. Be warned! it's not for the faint hearted, but hey you only live once.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES.

Is this what is meant by an increased police presence on the streets?

THE GLORY STRUMMERS - Retrograde Steps? (4 Track 12")

The Glory Strummers were self styled ‘underground guitar groovers’, operating out of London during the early 90's. This is their debut single, a great slice of Clash/Alarm rock’n’roll full of energy and anger. Here’s what their press release said “The Glory Strummers are the positive of the opposite. A hybrid force of Retrograde and Futurism, very self-indulgent but very intoxicating to the degree of grabbing you, making your blood pump with excitement, then leaving you hungover, interrogating your sole! This band doesn’t listen to anyone and listens to everything. If something agitates this band it becomes a song. Everything they do is truly from the heart, thus not caring about who’s or what establishment they upset.” Fighting talk in an era of Brit-Pop and Madchester bands with baggy backbeats, dunno what happened to The Glory Strummers, but these 4 tracks are a fine legacy. Get yer ears around them with a quick click here!

THE 2 R's - THE REDSKINS and THE RUTS

Neither of these two bands are strangers here, and it’s been a while, so lets have a blast of the Punk Funk groove of The Redskins Live at The London Poly sometime whenever, well the encores anyway, and just for good measure there’s The Ruts with the Free Range demos from 1977. I’ve written enough about both bands in previous posts so this is gonna be short and sweet. You know what to do; Click here for The Redskins and here for The Ruts.

Pete Doherty’s freedom gig at the Forum, can’t really give you a full account of what it was like as I got thrown out after a few songs of Babyshambles set. Had a good spot at the front of the balcony, there I was minding my own business drinking crap lager when a bouncer/security whatever came over and signalled for me to move my nearly empty glass, well plastic actually, apparently I was holding it too far over the balcony, I shook my head in despair, for fucks sake what did he think I was gonna do, drop it on someone below? With that he went off, as he did I gave him the dickhead sign and continued watching the band. A few seconds later I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, turned round and saw what I can only describe as a silverback gorilla grunting that he wanted a word with me, with him was a rather smaller ape, the one who’d had words with me. Before I’d time to gather my thoughts I was grabbed by my arms, hoisted out of my seat and marched up the stairs and to the bar area, at the back where the silver back reminded me of what I‘d done. I tried to point out that I objected to being treated like an idiot and was quite caper able of not dropping anything from the balcony, he then told me to shut up, all this time I was clamped firmly in the hands of the 2 security gorillas while the people in the bar looked on. Then I was marched down the stairs and to the pavement outside. Bollocks! Still no one to blame but myself, but for fucks sake, why do these people think everyone’s an idiot, then again in reflection perhaps I had been, (that’s too much lager for you) still, treat people like idiots and they behave like one. After about 5 minutes my girlfriend came out to see what had happened to me, found out that I hadn’t been beaten up like what might have happened in the ’old days’ then told me that Shane MacGowan had come on to do Dirty Old Town, bollocks! That made me a bit cross, cos I remember going to see The Pogues on numerous occasions in small clubs/pubs that were packed full of drunken people, with minimal security and no trouble, apart from the guy who got his leg broken at The Sir George Robey, but he was lifted up carried to the back and sent to hospital. I even passed out unconscious on the stage of the ICA when they played there, apparently Shane had to step over my body while playing, didn’t get thrown out, and it was my mates that moved me off the stage, mind you that was over 20 years ago and times have changed. One last thing, I find it rather ironic that Pete Doherty was able to flaunt and break the law for months before eventually getting jailed, I give the dickhead sign to a bouncer and get immediate punishment with no defence. Aaah! Freedom it’s a wonderful thing.

Feeling a bit fragile today, so no post. It was gonna be a full report of Babyshambles gig last night, I say full but………anyway here’s a not so random track London Bouncers from great early 80’s Punk Pop Rockers ACTION PACT.

SICK SCUM! STAB AND SHOOT ON THE STREETS, SHAMING OUR SOCIETY!ONE IN WHICH THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH, ONE WHERE THEY FEEL NO UNITY!

Another little technical glitch that's come to my attention is that I aint always getting informed by blogger when you guys/gals leave a comment, so I aint answered everything, but I will get round to checking through 'em all and also re-posting any dead links or anything you good people have asked for I know yer due some Scum Of Toytown, Biting Back compilation, and there's probably others which I've forgotten, so help me out and remind me if I have forgotten anything. Thanx for yer support folks, and cheers to ............ for the artwerk that accompanies this post. All comments greatly appreciated.

I dunno, take a day off from this blog thang and what happens; Subway Sect/The Slits link fucks up. Apologies for that, these things happen. It's been replaced with a new one, so it should be OK now, and not take hours to download.

Sitting here in our safe European homes, (unless you happen to live next door to a shot gun totting lunatic that is.) We are told to look away if the images on News At 10 of the dead bodies in Burma are gonna disturb us. Distracted by disaster, we need to remember that the Conservatives have just delt Labour a massive blow in the Local Elections, especially Boris Johnson becoming Mayor of London . Whatever he does with whatever policy changes in London, it’s gonna be a test for future Tory policies and ultimately their manefesto for the next Election. Therefore in order for Labour to maintain their grip on power, they are gonna be looking closely at what Boris is up to, and adapting his policies for their own use to win over the people/voters. It is already happening re: Anti Social Behaviour, Boris says he’s gonna get tough, this week Labour tells Police and Justice system to get tough. There are gonna be a lot of changes in attitude by Labour in the build up to the next election, because it’s the only way there gonna get re-elected. Are they are gonna be able do this by not becoming even more authoritarian than they already have? The Conservative will have no qualms about being authoritarian, and lets face it they only put on the mask of being caring Conservatives in order so they could become electable during the touchy, feely New Labour times. If they get into power can they be trusted not to take the mask off? No of course not, they’re politicians. The biggest piss take is that all this is because of some people, you know, the ones that take no responsibility for their actions in, for example raising their children, if they had, then there would be no need to clampdown on their behaviour, lets face it, a lot of their behaviour goes beyond ‘rebellion’. So it looks like some people are gonna get the society they deserve, one were they need to be told what to do and then punished if they don’t do it. Great what about the rest of us, who feel our freedoms and the freedom of our children is being eroded away in the pursuit of power and control that will ultimately end with a dystopian vision becoming reality , a totalitarian state like Burma where the population is left to die in the streets and food aid piles up at airports, while the authorities go to the polls to maintain their power. If people don’t sort their lives out themselves, than this is what the future could hold for our children’s children in their not so safe European homes.

"NO ELVIS, BEATLES OR ROLLING STONES...."

Indeed not! Instead there were bands like Subway Sect and The Slits, doing their bit in sticking the boot into the established face of Rock 'n' Roll. The Slits caused mayhem wherever they went; the very sight of them with their knickers worn over ripped stockings was often enough to get 'em thrown out of hotels, they didn't behave in a manner or play the game the way women were supposed to. A truly inspirational band that changed the face of women in Rock'n'Roll, only to have the Spice Girls fuck it up 20 years later. Anyway if you want a piece of the action with Subway Sect live in Paris and The Slits in Liverpool, plus a bonus track of them preforming the Velvet Underground's Sister Ray together in Dunstable, all in the year of 1977 you know what to do, don't yer!

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE !

Check out these 3 Judges, are they: a) Inbred, b) Were they separated at birth, or c) Have they been genetically cloned? You decide!

There's nowt as queer as folk #2

After little incidents like the pissed, piss taking pensioner the other day, I just cant be done with some people and their attitudes. Take this for example, Yesterday I had a couple of people (the postman and a man from the council) come round. They both came through the garden to the backdoor. When each of them arrived the back gate was shut, yet when they both left neither of them could be bothered to close it, just left it wide open and fucked off. Only found out the first time cos the dog disappeared into the street, and after the other one had gone I went and checked, in case the dog escaped again.Lazy fucking wankers, how hard and how much effort is it to shut a gate?

There's nowt as queer as folk. (A True Tale #1)

I took the dog for an afternoon walk yesterday. A nice sunny day so I had my ‘rock star shades’ on. Me and the dog were walking along the path when an old man driving rather erratically in a mobility scooter came towards us, as he went passed he stopped and said in a broad Scottish accent what I thought was “Is that dog a gay dog?” my response was “ What do you mean, a gay dog?” he then replied “No, a guide dog” my answer was “No” to which he replied “Then why the shades?” Before I had time to respond he drove off leaving me scratching my head, chuckling and thinking in the words of Ian Dury “There aint half some clever bastards…”

WEDNESDAY WRECKORDS!

I’ve posted The Pack and Theatre Of Hate, so now here’s a bit of SPEAR OF DESTINY, with The Traveller, taken of their 1987 Outland album, the single was originally released in a box with lyric sheet, car window sticker and a patch; that’s 80’s marketing for yer. Another band who aint strangers here, it’s those THE SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS once again, with their hit single I Wanna Be A Flintstone, a fun knock about track, something for yer children’s birthday parties, it's “yaba, daba do time” the b-side on the other hand; Jerry’s Electric Church is yer usual scathing and screaming messiahs fare. Last but no means least we have JOHN MOORE AND THE EXPRESSWAY with Out Of My Mind. John Moore was one time part time drummer/guitarist with Jesus And The Mary Chain, and this was his first solo single, and surprisingly enough there’s some JAMC mixed in with a dose of Iggy Pop. Great stuff, the b-side a harmonica driven ditty Live From Death Row is equally as good. Enjoy/Destroy, but remember to keep a song in yer heart.

One of these jokers is laughing all the way to the bank, the other has all the banks laughing at him!

BLONK HOLIDAY

A Blog Holiday. The sound of strimming and hedge cutting is everywhere, and that’s just in my garden. I’m making sure the hedge isn’t too high or protruding to far over the required height and distance. I don’t want to fall foul of Local Council regulations, then it’ll be a trip to the dump, must make sure the right waste is in the right bags, don’t want the recycling Gestapo on my case either. Fucking Bank Holidays!

Ch, Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes!!

Finishing off the NPW Local Election rants, analysis, with another reason why it can be important to vote. TO KEEP THE FAR RIGHT FROM POWER! As we have seen voters are not just unhappy with the present government. They don’t feel that the are being listened to by New Labour, Conservatives or Liberal Democrats. They are desperate for change, and in desperate times people do desperate and often drastic things; like sticking an X in the box next to BNP on a ballot paper, because they feel the BNP listen. In the Mayoral Elections, Richard Barnbrook from the BNP won a seat on the Greater London Assembly, and nationally they have not only held on to seats, but gained more, leaving them with a total of around 100 representatives across Britain. The most worrying thing is that in Jarrow, South Tyneside, a Labour heartland, where Labour once said no BNP candidate would stand; on Thursday one did and they recorded 33% of the votes, beating the Conservatives into 3rd place. Never mind changes, I wonder where we will be in 5 Years.

THE DOCTORS CHILDREN - King Buffalo (Mini-Album)

Here’s another band I know next to nothing about, and tinternet knows even less, what that says about either the band or the music biz I dunno, but here we go with today’s offering which comes from The Doctors Children, “The who?” I hear you cry, no not The Who! The Doctors Children, they were about for a couple of years during the 80’s. King Buffalo a 12” mini-album, was released in 1987 on Upright Records. 6 tracks of bliss, with a distinct Velvets/Lou Reed influence and sounding in places so much like The Only Ones that they could have been a tribute band if their own songs weren’t so damned good. So then, there you have it today’s Sunday Sounds, get ‘em here!

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes?!

So Labour took a good kicking in Thursdays local elections. The country has spoken, well those that voted have, if you didn’t vote that’s your democratic choice. If that wasn’t bad enough to stick the boot into Brown and co even more, the people of London voted that ‘Thatcher loving, comedy show guest and bumbling buffoon’ Boris Johnson to be their Mayor. They’d had enough of Ken and his policies, true he may have done some good things for London, but what about the ers, those that live in the city? What did he do for them? Some felt his administration was full of cronies and corruption, that the congestion charge was just a tax and an attack on the motorist and there were unacceptable levels of crime on buses and tubes. A million odd Londoners felt it was a time for change. As in the Local Elections a vote for Boris and the Conservatives wasn’t necessarily a vote for their policies but a vote against New Labours policies and recent fiascos 10p Tax etc, etc Missing Data etc, etc After Thursdays results Gordon Brown has said the party will listen. “Wanker!” If you’d listened to members of you party in the first place you wouldn’t have been given the beating you deserved. Brother Highlander posed a question on his Cactus Mouth Informer as to why was it important for people to vote, when the electoral system doesn't represent how the public vote, yes this maybe true, but it is important that our leaders from local councillor to MP are held to account and know what people think of them and their parties policies at whatever level. So in true political fashion I will answer the question with another question; why is it important for people not to vote? If nobody voted, then there would be no chance of change, the people of London may find that the decision they made on Thursday was wrong and Boris Johnson fucks it all up, but only time will tell. He may be a upper crust posh boy, but hey let him have a go, if it don’t work out he can also be given a kicking in 4 years time; a new Olympic sport throwing the javelin at Boris. Labour, Tory they’re both the same they only exist to protect the interests of capital at local and national level and yes who ever you vote for the government wins, democracy is dead, if voting changed anything it would be made illegal etc, etc, but at least the choice and chance is there to remind politicians who they actually work for. If no one challenges them then they become complacent and abuse their power even more. There's gonna be interesting times ahead, I can't see the Conservatives suddenly becoming the party of the working classes, but then who'd have thought that under a Labour government the rich would have benefited at the expense of the poor.

ANOTHER PRETTY FACE

I'm gonna let the music do the talking for todays post, something Mike Scott was very good at.

Click here for Another Pretty Faces first single, All The Boys Love Carrie and here for the follow up Heaven Gets Closer Everyday, then sit back and drown in the sound.

PROBLEMS WITH BOTH FILES BEING THE SAME HAS BEEN SORTED, NOW HEAVEN CAN GET CLOSER, SORRY 'BOUT THAT FOLKS.

Oh the irony of our present Labour Government holding Local Elections on International Workers Day, when they are so far removed from the workers they might as well be called Tory Wankers instead of just wankers!

..It's time to meet the families.

First there’s the McCann’s with the never ending publicity to find their daughter and free their guilt after leaving her alone aged 2 with her younger brothers while they went out to eat. Next up it’s the Mathews family, their daughter went missing only to be found under the bed at her Uncles flat. It then turns out her mother was involved in her disappearance. Finally we have the Fritzl’s from Austria, the father kept his daughter captive for 24 years in a cellar and fathered seven children with her, while the mum allegedly knew nothing. Well there you have it, a trio of families that make Charles Manson look like a respectable father figure; it was other peoples children he abused.!