BBCBNP.

What did we make of the BBC BNP Question Time spectacle? The Licence payers early Christmas Present to the BNP, well Nick Griffin was suitably shown up for the sleazy, sweaty, scumbag he is, and making not a lot of sense, he looked awkward and uncomfortable it was hardly a party political broadcast, more a bullshit one. Jack Straw! What a twat, avoided answering anything about any Labour failings, it was voter dissatisfaction that resulted in Nick Griffin being elected as a MEP and hence his appearance on Question Time. I Thought audience and panel did well in haranguing Mr Griffin, true it might have looked like bullying to the less enlightened viewer but it’s the way the BNP operate, will his appearance have gained him more supporters? True it was a London-centric audience, maybe not a true representation of the people on the streets of places like Hull or Burnley, only time will tell, it could also have lost him support. It’s now up to the Anti-Fascists to keep the pressure on, and the media when they’re not stirring up the immigration issue and the other parties to start listening to the people and responding to their concerns, it may get ugly, but nowhere near as ugly as it would if the BNP ever came to power. Lets hope the present they received was a jumper that your Nan knitted.

UK SUBS - Warhead

Time for some muzak, here’s another one of those cheap and chearful Harry May Record Company compilations, same deal; some studio cuts and some live shit. This time it’s those perennial punks the UK Subs, all the classics are here: Warhead , CID, Stranglehold etc. No self respecting record collection should be without at least one UK Subs release. Whether this one is the one, I dunno I’ll let you good folk be the judges of that. Enjoy!

Mail boxes, Ballot boxes and the BNP at the BBC.

The Christmas Pantomime has started early this year with The Postal Strike; everyone is playing their parts. Unions and management are nailing the lid on the Royal Mail’s coffin while Peter Mandelson stands by rubbing his hands in glee waiting for it’s delivery before he fucks the corpse. Thousands of miles away in Afghanistan they’re gonna have another election, as the results of the first one were declared to be fraudulent. Obama refuses to commit anymore American troops to the theatre until there is some sort of meaningful democracy in the country, double speak for one that the U.S government is happy with. Gordon Brown needs to start British troop withdrawals now, I mean all the terrorists are now in Pakistan anyway and more terror plots have been foiled by security forces at home than they have by bombing the fuck out of Afghanistan, which has just made the situation worse, like they were told it would. Next up on the stage we have BNP leader Nick Griffin appearing on BBC’s Question Time Anti-Fascist groups are playing their part by saying he shouldn’t be allowed to as it legitimises the party and its politics, well unfortunately we are living in a democracy which has allowed and enabled the seeds of fascism to grow through the inactivity of the major parties in addressing and looking for solutions to the issues that the BNP are using to attract voters to their abhorrent political view. Personally at this point in time I think that Griffin should appear on Question Time, lets get this shit out in the open and not have it festering underground. The best way to show people what the BNP are is to show them up for what they are and the only way to do this is through debate, here’s hoping that the rest of the panellists and the audience ask the right questions. Not allowing Nick Griffin to appear would give them just as much publicity. Democracy costs and sometimes the price can be high, it’s all about making sure that people don’t buy into the more unsavoury side of it. There are others speaking out , senior British Army Officials and The British Legion are both unhappy about The British National Party appropriating images such as The Poppy and The Spitfire for their own ends, as I type this protesters have broken into the BBC to try and stop Griffins appearance. Let the show begin, and be prepared for an epic one, cos the curtain aint gonna go down before the election next year, wonder if there’ll be any postal voting?

Hic!

I had all good intentions of posting something tonight, but after a hard and stressfull day at work I cracked open a few bottles of lager and now feel a bit too intoxicated to make much sense of anything. Never mind, tomorrows another day......

TV SMITH - Live @ The NVA (3 Track Promo Download)

This post comes with a “Guess that’ll be OK” from Mr Smith, was hoping he’d choose the 3 tracks, but he declined leaving me the task of choosing (shuffle modes knackered on the stereo) just three out of a mammoth set of thirty songs, recorded live at the NVA, Ludwigsfelde in Germany. The double CD is available from Boss Tuneage and it’s well, , wellworth the £9 it'll cost ya. Over 1hr 40mins of Pure Punk Rock Passion from one man armed with an acoustic guitar and some great words, all the classics are there from his days in The Adverts and Cheap plus his solo career. The 3 tracks I’ve chosen here for you are: Not In My Name, The Lords Prayer and Useless. Brilliant stuff, Enjoy! and Buy!

English Defence League?!

The English Defence League! What do we make of these characters? A single issue group of people who’s objective is to “Peacefully protest against millitant Islam“ Why then have all their demonstrations ended in violence? Before I answer this lets look at a couple of things.
Muslims across Britain are not happy with radicals operating within their communities, and the bodies of British soldiers are still being flown home in boxes as a result of ‘the war on terror’, so then is it any surprise that some people feel resentful and angry when messages of hate are continued to be preached in our green and unpleasant lands. But lets not get seduced by this and the message on the EDL website that claims they don’t want “Innocent Muslims being victimised and abused”
There was a recent news report were the EDL denied that they were Racists and had anything to do with the BNP, well they aint exactly gonna admit to it are they. A group of EDL members were shown, all dressed in balaclavas burning a Swastika, while standing in front of their banner that read “English Defence League. Black and White Unite” A reasonable statement? or the start of something wicked? Especially in the light of the recent Court ruling that has compelled the BNP to look at their membership criteria, as legaly they have been defined a racist party for not exepting members with a different skin colour who’s nationality is British.
Groups like the EDL spring up when politics are in crisis and people are dissatisfied with a system that they feel doesn’t listen to their views, they look for alternatives to fill this vaccum and it’s easy for people to get seduced by the spin, but Lest we forget that “First they came for the gypsies and then they came for the Jews” The anti racist groups know this, which is why all the EDL marches have ended in violence. Paranoia is awareness but violence breeds violence.

IT’S A FUCKED UP WORLD! A while back I posted an appeal to help find a mate of mines missing daughter. Well she was found, but it wasn’t good news. My respect and sympathy goes out to Jem and Samantha Wrights mum, and families, for their loss. STAY STRONG!!

BLITZ - Warriors (CD-Rip)

Today’s musical offering comes from the heavy and heady days of the early 1980’s A divided nation in the grip of Thatcherite economic policies with either unemployment or a dead end job on offer for the kids on the streets, No Future indeed! By 1981 inner city Britain was burning with riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Bristol and Punk was now onto it’s third wave, thanks in some part to Gary Bushell and his Oi scene, a collection of skinhead/punk bands, that unfortunately became a target for the far right to infiltrate. One band that captured the aggression and frustration of the times, with songs like Someone’s Going to Die Tonight, Nation On Fire and Razors in The Night were BLITZ, 2 Punks and 2 Skinheads from New Mills in Derbyshire. For a couple of years they were the voice of a generation. This recording from The Harry May Record Company includes 6 live tracks from a gig at The Lyceum and alternative versions of Youth and Warriors amongst others, once again scant info is provided. So if yer feeling a bit pissed off, and angry and fancy blasting out something a bit rough’n’raw you know what to do. It’s just a click away!

It's Sunday again! Time for another sermon! Same shit! Same day!

To hear the Tory Party say they’re the party of the poor is frankly bizarre but predictable when there are voters to win over. All they have ever done is make the poor poorer or fill their heads with aspirations that are unattainable and unsustainable. A party that represents privilege is never going to understand what it’s like to be poor and what the poor need. They can con them into thinking that they know what will make their lives better, just like they did in the 80’s when the council houses were sold off, and the working class sold out. The ’social breakdown’ we may or may not be living in now is a direct result of this and other Thatcher policies that tore apart values of community and replaced them with the ‘cult of the individual’ Free market economics created wealth for the ‘deserving poor’ and consolidated the wealth of the undeserving rich. The public services became private and standards dropped as profits rose. Everyone was offered shares in the new society. New Labour have just carried on with this ‘mandate’ because the people have been compliant and complicit so long as they’ve got a few quid in their pockets, high interest bank accounts or money tied up in the value of their houses, now when all of a sudden everything has gone bust, they aint happy and will be prepared to vote for whoever and whatever restores their bank balances. The ones that bought into it all are the very same people that are now unhappy with the present situation and the Conservatives are gonna be targeting these voters and gaining support from a new generation to young to remember the Tory party of the past and what it did. All they know is the culture of commodity and the cult of the individual in a disposable world. This is the society their parents voted for. I’ve got one thing to say to these people. Think long and hard, because 30 years ago people voted for ‘change’ now look at how things have changed, for the better? No I didn’t think so, having to work till you’re nearly dead to support the lifestyle choice you are being conned into, just like your parents did way back. What sort of a world do you want your children living in? One where they’re having kids when their 16? and their grandparents get beaten and mugged on the street.
I agree something needs to be done, for example: Labours problem has been that all the money they have put into the public sector has been eaten up by quangos and bureaucracies many well paid jobs have been created in order to manage the services, but the actual public services have suffered as a result of this.
The Tories talk of cuts in public spending, well they would, better than Taxing the rich, after all that’s the sort of party they are; a Conservative party, conserving the values of individual freedoms at the cost of collective liberty.
To quote that old saying “Can a leopard change its spots?” I don’t think so, and I for one aint prepared to take a chance, because it could prove more costly than before. Think about all those new anti-terror laws in place and then remember Thatcher’s velvet glove and iron fist.
It’s all about a view on human nature as to what sort of society we live in; controlled or out of control Just or unjust. Can you have one without the other? Because a just society does not come from an unjust economic system. A controlled economy would infringe on peoples rights to make money is what the Conservatives would say. Fuck ‘em, that’s what I say, since when was it a right to profit from others? since Thatcher that’s when, who’s also responsible for the growth of the Media as a political tool to shape and control the peoples opinion. She made Murdoch the man he is today with the power to sell his media organisations to the highest bidder.
So what do we do about it then when none of the parties offer a total solution. I have no faith in the present political system, never have done. We need one that values and rewards Co-operation and Mutual Aid as much as it does Profit and Property, not one that penalises people like those two police ladies sharing childcare who were told they couldn’t, because the state didn’t allow it. The only way things would ever change would be to take bits of this ism and that ism, put them all together and start shaping them into some new sort of politics. Until then I’ll stick with the new enemy rather than have the old one back, but who ever it is though, it won’t have been my choice!

Words: THE WALL-New Way

Contradictions in Terms.

Barrack Obama’s been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize……………What!…………..Why? He’s only been in the job for 10 minutes. Yes he is trying to push through change at a global level; a reduction of Nuclear arsenals, an understanding of Islam, But let’s not forget he’s still presiding over a country at war. It’s all come a bit to soon if you ask me. Talking of come, here’s another thing I can’t get my head around: The latest in a series of Racist comments made by television presenters. This one concerns someone from BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing (so called because it’s a load of wank) who referred to someone as being a “Paki” not only did they keep their job, unlike another presenter on another show who used the word “nigger” and got sacked, also when the story appeared on the BBC News, the newscaster said the word “Paki” in their reporting of the incident. This contrasts with the reports of when the presenter who had been sacked for using the word “Nigger“ the newscaster then just said that the person had used the “N” word. What the fuck is that all about! Racist language is Racist language, and Peace doesn’t mean war!

An Observation.

Lets talk £1 Shops; you know the ones, everything on sale costs a pound, are a regular sight on the High Street, there are even 99p Shops. Today I saw a shop called 9TP, were everything costs, yes you’ve guessed it…90p. For fucks sake!, more like…… We can’t give this shit away shops. “Let them buy crap”

Third Way / Fourth Reich

So Ireland voted yes to the Lisbon Treaty, second time lucky for the powers that wanna be, but hey that’s democracy; if you lose the first vote you can have another one. This now leaves the way open for Tony Blair to become the unelected ‘President Of Europe’ but hey once again that’s democracy for ya, where if you’ve got enough power you can get away with anything. President? More like Dictator, with a capital DICK! Because this seems like some sort of Fascism to me. I’m no Euro-sceptic, but I am sceptical about how this European ’super state’ is coming about and its purpose in the world, and I’m even more sceptical about having someone like Tony Blair leading it, I mean this is the man that sent his country to war based on a bunch of lies, ignoring the concerns of some of his own MP’s as well as the public, in another shining example of democratic values

THIS MAN HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS! DO WE EUROPE TO BE IN THEM?

THE VIBRATORS - Public Enemy Number 1

A rather cheap yet interesting compilation (i.e. scant info as to where/when these songs were recorded) of alternative versions and live recordings from those old faves of mine The Vibrators. Released in 1999 by The Harry May Record Company. It’s not listed in the bands discography on their web site. The quality of the packaging might be cheap, but the quality of the songs isn’t. Top band with some top tunes, you know where to click if you wanna vibrate!

More ramblings and rantings about the same old shit.

So it’s been the political party conference season. The 3 major parties faithful gather and listen to their leaders con them and us. We’ve had the Liberal and Labour ones and as I type this the biggest con merchants the CONservatives are holding court in Manchester. The Liberals talked of taxes on £1 million pound homes, Labour talked of taking away benefits from households earning £43,000 or above. Expect something similar from the Tories. Labour talked of getting tough on Hoodie Hoodlum Britain, err yes but weren’t they talking getting Tough on crime and the causes of crime 10 years ago? And what’s happened….things appear to have got worse if you believe what you read in the press.
The conservatives are gonna be trying to win back the middle England voters, so they’re gonna have to be careful about taxation, but one thing they aint gonna worry about and that’s about getting tough with Welfare Benefits, Anti-social behaviour, etc. There’s gonna be no more right to work or not, it’s gonna be you will work.
Labour talk about state sponsored nurseries and Hostels for single mothers, err yes but we had homes for single mothers but Labour shut them all down when the buzz word was ‘Empowerment’ and it was felt that it would be better if certain sections of society we able to look after themselves with a little support. Care in the community! When the community didn’t care and neither did the government, despite funding these programs.
Care in the Community, were bad behaviour got rewarded, and why not when Bankers and Bosses receive payouts for failure and Politicians have been on the take for years. Lead by example, if things have got worse under Labour that’s because Labour have become worse and so far removed from their grass routes they don’t know what working class is because everyone has become middle class. Thatcher said there was no such thing as society, and Brown and Blair have made sure of that.
The IMF have now got involved in Britain’s recession, by telling the Labour Government have got to reform Health care and Pensions, in order to ease global financial crisis. What happened the last time the IMF became involved in Britain’s economy? It opened the door to Thatcher’s Neo Conservative policies after another Labour Government fucked it all up. Under Thatcher it wasn't long befor workers sold out and became middle class.
Some sections of society have got rich quick while society has got poorer. There are gonna be tough times a head for those of us trying to stay free.
The electoral system is rigged so that any parties other than Labour and Conservatives stand no chance of gaining power. Hey I thought New Labour were gonna be reforming the system. No! Just another lie and broken promise.
They’re all a bunch of con artists. Lessers of the same evil. The Sun has now turned away from the New Labour Project, all Rupert Murdoch ever won was more readers with stories about the mugged and the murdered.
Targets kill. A cash strapped NHS has paid out £807million pounds in negligence claims last year. Chasing targets means patient care is compromised.
Unless both houses of parliament are engulfed in flames before the next election, or there’s some serious subversion and civil disobedience We will see the political wheel turn again pushed by the will of the people , because the public gets what the public wants. X marks the spot. The thing is the public doesn’t know what it wants so they’d vote for anyone who offers a solution to things they’ve read or heard in the media. What the public needs is a rocket up its collective arse to see that politicians and parties don’t provide solutions to problems, they just create the problems, with a little help from the people themselves, who just behave in the ways they’ve been programmed to behave in and believe everything they hear and see second hand through the filter of the media. See through the lies. The only truth we need to know is our own, and what we see with our own eyes.

THE FALL - BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (CD-Rip)

Probably one of the most consistently inconsistent but brilliant bands to emerge from the 1977 ‘Punk Rock Scene‘, also one of the most prolific; with numerous John Peel sessions and albums on numerous record labels under their belt, I say their, but the reality is The Fall = Front man Mark E Smith who’s volatile nature has meant the band has also had numerous line-ups over the years, I think there’s a book out were the author has tracked down many of the bands members over the years and spoken to them about their experiences in The Fall. The line-up on this here recording included Marks wife at the time Brix Smith, who gave the band a 60’s Garage Punk/Pop vibe with her keyboards. It was recorded at Nottingham Rock City in May 1987 for the BBC Radio One’s In Concert series. Enjoy!

KHMER ROUGE - New York London 1981-86

You may have noticed that I’ve been running one of those widget ads for the Nikki Sudden and Phil Shoenfelt album. A while back I posted a Phil Shoenfelt album, and said there was a link between The Clash. Here’s the link; Phil Schoenfelt was a child of the 1977 UK Punk scene. He relocated to New York in 1979 and immersed himself in the No Wave scene, were he met up with Barry Scratchy Myers, a guy who was all versed in all things punk rawk, having been The Clash’s tour DJ for their first 3 US tours. The pair recorded and gigged together under the name Khmer Rouge, a reference to America’s foreign policy in Vietnam. They had record company interest from former New York Dolls manager Marty Thau, but he insisted the band had to change their name, he also had problems with the pairs heroin use/abuse, so any proposed deals failed to happen, and subsequently very little was released by the band, who remain to this day one of those ‘cult bands’ you wish you’d heard more of at the time at the time. The band played with The Clash, Billy Idol and The Fall, before disintegrating like their drug supply. Considering their dependencies the bands recordings are remarkably together and positive. After Khmer Rouge ‘Scratchy’ served time in The Junior Manson Slags while Phil went solo and also recorded the Golden Vanity album with Nikki Sudden in 1997. This compilation was originally released by Cog Sinister, The Falls record label. It’s a 2 disc set with the studio stuff here and the live stuff there. What’s the vibe? Well it’s like Joy Division meeting PIL and the Gang of Four and The Clash. Compelling stuff that still says something, after twenty + years; the groove and the message has aged well. I mean New York band Radio 4 used the Khmer Rouge blue print for their mighty fine 2002 album Gotham. Enjoy!

Another Sunday Sermon.

Keeping up with the Jones’s / Killing off the Jihadists / Bullshit Broadcasting Corporation keeps us informed / Replaying the past / Repeating the future / What have the masses got for entertainment ? / A Strictly Dancing Factor Lottery / Tax Payers / Tax Players / Vote them off / Bonus balls to it all / Here are some lucky numbers for you / 2, 4, 6, 8.…………UP AGAINST THE WALL!!//

Tony Blur

Respect to Blur for not having taken part in the Britpop New Labour Love-In.

Are Illegal Downloads Killing Off The Music Industry? (Discuss)

I was gonna discuss this a while back when Peter Meddlesome suddenly took an interest in illegal downloads, (makes a change from immigrants) after a meeting with music biz supremo David Geffen, who’s not happy as he feels he’s losing out on more cash from his film and record companies. Greedy bastard! Seeing as ‘the issue’ has appeared again with Lily Allen claiming illegal downloads are killing the music industry, I thought I might share a few thoughts of mine with you.
It’s about the 3 M’s Music, Message and Money, no make that 4, and Motivation. Why do people make music? Is it to get a message across, cos they like making music, or because they want to make money? It’s got to be for at least one of those reasons. The only artists illegal downloads effects are those were the only notes that count are the ones that come in wads, and the record companies, well they can fuck off cos they’re the ones responsible with their overpriced products. Yes prices are dropping but that’s only cos people aint been buying, just shows the mark up and the money they must have made off people before the digital age. Perhapes it’s pay back time for some of us. Anyway, the majority off stuff I have illegally downloaded I have bought at a latter date. If I haven’t then there’s a reason and that’s because it’s been shit! So perhaps the only people killing off the music industry are the artists themselves by releasing crap records/CD’s/Downloads or whatever it is the makes the pounds and dollars dance.
As for stuff I post on this blog, I don’t post anything that is newly released or readily available to buy, there’s been a few I’ve bought digitally that I’ve shared rather than let you suffer the scratches and crackles of my original vinyl and there’s a couple were I’ve felt that it’s important for people to hear the message and hoped the artists in question haven’t minded. The rest of the shit is old live tapes and stuff not available digitally that nobody would have got the chance to hear if I’d just left them in the box in my loft. Now some blogs, well….they are well and truly killing the music biz off, which ever since the Britpop and New Labour No10 Love-In of 1997 music has been seen as some sort of career choice, with band after band jumping on any band wagon that’s passing the studio/rehearsal room. It’s all fashion and no passion. Well to these ears and eyes the majority of it is. I’m not saying that artists shouldn’t get paid for what they are doing, that’s if they’re doing a good job, but It isn’t just about record sales, it’s about merchandise and touring. Then there’s the message.
Say that a few years back I had played in a band called The Drug Prowling Wolves and 20,000 people downloaded our album (Not that we ever made one) for free and only 5,000 paid for it, that’s 25,000 people listening to the music and the message, if those 20,000 people didn’t download it for free that’s a lot of people not hearing the music and the message, alright so the bands not making any money, but hey is that what it’s all about? The more people that hear the music by whatever means, means the larger the audience maybe at gigs etc. That’s if year any good. We were shit! But that was the whole point! It’s all about hard work, and Lily Allen is a product of the digital instant age were she became a hit immediately with out having to play small gigs in small clubs before she achieved her success, now she’s worried that her future riches may be stolen from her at the click of a mouse. Peter Mandelson, well we all know what his interest in it all is; he‘s there to try and secure the industry and his future. Music and Governments don’t mix. Anyway Lily Allen and Peter Mandelson can mass debate as much as they like but Pop has finally eaten itself! The music industry and people like David Geffen have become fat and bloated on their own success, so Click! Click! Lets carry on with the killing!

GARY HOLTON and CASINO STEEL

I’ve been meaning to post these couple of albums for a while, but never got round to it, that is until I was reminded by a mighty fine posting of a Casino Steel compilation over at Intruder Alert blog. So here's the first and there's the second album released by those lovable self confessed male chauvinist pigs messers Gary Holton and Casino Steel. Virtually ignored across the world except in Scandinavia where the pair reached almost superstar status with their collections of lovelorn, lager and liquor soaked laments topping the ‘pop charts’ Enjoy! LINKS HAVE BEEN FIXED!

In their surveillance society we are all being seen as guilty!

Public spending cuts? More like cunts spending the publics money! The MP’s expenses scandal seems to have all been forgotten about, a bit like the wanker bankers bonuses One year on since the financial collapse and they’re still raking it in. Union leaders aint doing too bad either. I dunno whether they're protecting the workers jobs, but they're certainly keeping their pay packets secure.

I'll Drink To That!

FUCK THE RECESSION!

Out Now! Get It Here! (£9 inc p+p)

FIGHT THE FRIGHT!

UK DECAY - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 1982

Right then! Time for the final part of the UK Decay live @ Stevenage Bowes Lyon House trilogy. Date on tape says Sept 82. My memory and poster says Oct 82, so I dunno. Either way this in my opinion is the best of the three, a live greatest hits set, all the favourites are here For My Country, Unwind, Dresden, Jerusalem etc. A real spine tingling, blood curdling primeval performance that pounds and pummels it’s way into yer soul. By Dec 82 the band were no more with singer Abbo announcing at the first of a two night stint at The Klub Foot in Hammersmith that the next night would be the bands last gig. According to Abbo “It wasn’t the end, it was a new beginning” unfortunately this wasn’t the case as both Furyo and In-Excelsis the bands formed by Abbo and Guitarist Spon never came close to having what UK Decay had. Enjoy the sounds of the past in the present, and if yer into the band and haven’t done so check out their web-site, a huge resource of everything UK Decay related. Had to pinch the poster for this post from there, as my original one crumbled away a long time ago.

It's not all bad news!

Unfinished scribbling #2

Roll up roll up for Osama Bin Ladens magical mystery tour. BANG! BANG! BANG! Terrorist porn. The 9/11 spectacular explodes on our screens once more to remind people why soldiers are coming home in boxes draped in flags. The plethora of television programs of propaganda; Human Interest stories of bravery and courage, it’s in their interest to make sure we humans never forget the evil that men can do. Repeating the rememberable. Keeping the images in the minds of the masses as to why the West entered and continues with it’s ‘Hot and Holy War’ against an unseen enemy it will never defeat.
Arms makes money, the recent arms trade fair in London testifies to this. No war no money. The West is complicit in the Killing fields and deserts across the world. Supply and Demand. It’s in the interests of the powers that be to continue in their global conflicts, but would they have killed a Princess to maintain these interests? President Obama and Prime Minister Brown’s hearts and mind club band.

999 - I'm Alive In '85

In February of the year of 1985, 999 paid a visit to Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage. Probably one of the biggest bands to visit the venue since The Who played there in the 60’s. 999 had been players on the 77 punk scene, Second division some say, but top flight if you ask me. Unfortunately the album they were promoting; Face To Face was/is far too much of a poppy affair, not one of their better offerings. Live however, now that was a different story; as this recording from Glasgow in May of the same year testifies. The band blast out the old classics, and a few of their stronger new ones and literally bringing the barricades down. Have a listen and you’ll see what I mean. Enjoy! The band are still knocking ‘em out today and their last album Death In Soho was a mighty fine return to form for them. I’ve been meaning to post some 999 for a while, just had to wait for the day.

“Truth can't be found on the television. Throwaway youth ya gotta take a stand.” - Stiv Bators

THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH - Truth Is The Sword

Put on yer eyeliner and squeeze into those leather/PVC trousers, it’s time to Rock’N’Roll out with The Lords Of The New Church. The Lords were always a good night out in the 80’s with the eyeliner running and the bollocks sweating by the end of the evening. I’ve had these couple of shows knocking about for a while waiting to post, but never got around to it until now that is. This post was inspired by a recent series of ones on The Lords over at Music Ruined My Life Blogspot which included some fine critical comments on the band; who could go from a song like their 1982 single Open Your Eyes, which I think is one of the best political statements made by a Rock’N’Roll group ever (It easily sits up there with anything by The Clash or Crass) to say, something like the singles b-side Girls, Girls, Girls without any hint of irony. A truly unique and individual group who were greater than the sum of their parts which were top quality in themselves; ex members of The Damned, Sham 69, The Barracudas and The Dead Boys. What was to be expected was what we received; 100% Honest Grade A Rock’N’Roll with a few minus B moments. What more could you ask from a band? Anyway what you’ve got here is a recording from The Loft in Berlin in 1984 and there’s one from The Reading Festival in 1986 just for good measure. I think Stiv rode on to the stage on a motorbike at this one, or was that Dumpy from The Rusty Nuts. Fucked if I can remember. Enjoy!

"WE GOTTA GET OUTTA THIS PLACE"

“I am making this statement as a wilful defiance of military authority because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.” - Siegfried Sassoon 1886-1967 (quoted in Memoirs of an Infantry Officer)

*THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK* (29th Aug - 5th Sept)

NHS the battleground in the next election. Stories about staff having too many sick days, elderly left to lie in their own piss etc, complaints compensation big cash payouts for botched treatment. This is our money being spent to meet or cheat targets. The sacred cow, that will be either slaughtered or cut up into smaller chunks by the next government, of that I’m sure. Independent consultants employed to find out how the NHS wastes money. I wonder how much they cost?
Unemployment, a lost generation the media scream. Headlines, Deadlines….Breadline.
Soldiers are being killed and injured in a fight to bring democracy to a country where voters were still to scared to vote.
Round and round it goes. Ever decreasing circles. Life becomes a dot.
Another Dead Kennedy; Liberal champion or sponsor of terrorism. You decide!
Chinese money bails out owners of Canary Warf.
Peter ‘Meddlesome’ Mandleson meets with entertainment giant David Geffen and all of a sudden it’s clampdown time on ‘illegal music and film file sharers’ These meetings of minds always lead to something. So what do we get out of this one, Geffen gets to keep and make more money, but what about us? more shit films and music!
Rising fuel prices, despite deals with Libya, the truth is coming out. “It was nothing to do with trade!” a week later ..”err,…well…..yes…..maybe it was” WANKERS!. The people demand to know the truth! …… well no they don’t ;cos their heads are so far up their arses, they don’t demand anything except cheap credit and celebrity culture. Those that do demand and deserve the truth already know that it’s in an MP’s job description to be a corrupt self seeking liar. We need to start pulling out everyone’s head from their arses and wipe the smokescreen from out of their eyes
No more ’normal light bulbs’ it’s all energy saving from now on in. The government in a strange moment of altruism have decided that they should help us save a few quid by banning them, under an EU directive and safe the environment along the way. Well thanks but fuck off. If I wanna spend a few pence more so I can actually see what I’m typing, reading, watching etc Then I should be allowed to make that choice, as for the environment well it’s just a drop in the ocean, like the plastic bag bollocks.
It aint gonna matter anyway because even after recent ’trade deals’ we are being told to expect power cuts in the future as our resources are running low.
At the current G20 conference France and Germany called for greater controls over bonuses paid to bankers. America and Britain just wanted control over the controls, i.e. not 100% the same as European idea. Hardly news is it, I mean since when has there been 100% agreement on anything. Thought this was a time for change, or that’s what people are being led to believe is gonna be happening. BOLLOCKS! you get no change from capitalism!

THE DIRTY STRANGERS - Thrill Of The Thrill (7" Vinyl Rip)

This single has been sitting in a pile of stuff to rip, burn and post for a while, and now seems like an opportune moment to do it. Why? Well it’s like this, after Ruts DC finished guitarist Paul Fox went on to join this bunch of West London Rock’n’Roll reprobates; The Dirty Strangers. This is their 1988 debut single, released on Razor Records, apparently it’s ‘scarce’ I dunno about that, what I do know is that it’s a no nonsense slice of boogie, that sounds very like the Stones, which aint that surprising considering Keef and Ronnie make a guest appearance on it. So here you go then with Thrill Of The Thrill and Wide Boys And Slim Pickings. Enjoy!

RUTS DC - Live'n'Direct.

This post comes courtesy of a couple of mates of mine. Jon got it from Pete and Jon loaned it to me. It was a CD full of Ruts odds’n’sods. I think the rehearsal ones on it are the same that have appeared on various blogs and torrents so I wont bother with them, instead get yer ears round these 5 live tracks from Ruts DC recorded, I think at Hammersmith Odeon on 21st Oct 1980 when the band supported The Skids, three months after the death of lead singer Malcolm Owen. Dunno if they’ve been released before, if they have I aint come across them, so here you go. 4 of the 5 tracks are old Ruts numbers: Love In Vain, West One, Society and Babylon’s Burning the other one was Ruts DC’s first single, Different View. The vocals lack the aggression and abrasiveness of Malcolm’s, but still a great listen. It would have been and was, a hard job for the band to top their debut The Crack, they gave it their best shot with 1981’s Animal Now, which is good but…..check it out for yourselves at the rather fine Mondo-De Muebles blog. Guitarist Paul Fox sadly died a couple of years ago. Both his and Malcolm’s legacy…well, The Ruts were one of the best and every music lover should have a copy of The Crack, can’t say much more than that.

A Post With No Title.

This aint going through no spam filter or quality control check. This is just a bunch of words, thoughts as they come. Fuckin’ X Factor ( My daughter’s watching it as I type) What a crock of shite. Self obsessed, deluded, wannabes, never will be losers, and that’s just the judges. Still keeps the punters happy and keeps the money rolling in. Always reminds me of some post-modern Christians to the lions type thang along with Big Brother etc. Crowds baying for blood. Football hooligans back in the news Millwall and West Ham, it was always gonna happen, and why really should we be surprised. I mean Football Hooligan Pasts have become a big seller in the market place Books and Films glorify the fights and fact that some people like a good punch up. The next bit of this isn’t right off the top of my head, it was the basis of a comment I left on another blog post about recent football violence. I said that perhaps ‘The Hooligans’ that wanted to fight should be left to scrap it out on some disused wasteland somewhere out of the way, in a Fight Club scenario.
Violence breed violence, never mind the old skool hooligans. We’ve got the new breed of knife wielding Playstation killing games reared hoodies on the streets who unlike the footie thugs have no real agenda.
How about getting them together as well and let them scrap it out. Go down the clockwork orange route of desensitisation through ultra violence, Fuck it, let anyone that wants to beat someone up gather in a specially constructed arena/area and let ‘em fight. I suppose you could have some control to it all with security guards/police etc who also don’t mind a bit of argy bargy. Release the tension, the rage, the anger. No one who doesn’t wanna get hurt wont, cos they wouldn’t be there. I dunno, perhaps you could film it and broadcast it for those that might wanna watch the spectacle. Don’t think I’d let my daughter watch it though.
Sounds crazy? Possibly Could be seen as a step to far? Probably. Perhapes it’s more the basis of a work of fiction rather than an idea /theory to make society a better place to live in, after all it’s not really a civilised idea for a civilised society is it? Not when you've got the X Factor and Big Brother.

PHIL SHOENFELT - Backwoods Crucifixion

Phil Shoenfelt, the missing link between The Clash and Nikki Sudden, (More about that in a future post) because this one concerns itself with his 1990 debut 8 track album Backwoods Crucifixion. A gothic masterpiece, notice the small g, because I aint talking Gothic as in Sisters Of Mercy, but gothic as in a laid back soulful, bone chilling, spine tingling, sleazy, swampy blues collection of songs. Not for the faint hearted or heartless, think Nick Cave and yer almost there. If this sounds like your bag then here you go. If not well…………..why not give it a blast, who knows you might find you like it, then again you might not, no harm in trying a shot though.

A FEW THOUGHTS. Re: The Release of Lockerbie Bomber.

Did Al Megrahi carry out the attack? Where Libya behind it?
America has no right taking any moral high ground over terrorist attacks, after all one of it’s Warships shot down an Iranian passenger flight a few months before the Lockerbie attack.
Deals over Trade and Oil. Blair and Brown meeting Ghadaffi. Peter Meddlesome and Prince Andrew meeting with Ghadaffis son.
Once again in the international world of real politik things start to stink.
Then there’s the Scottish government who made a decision that was bound to be controversial and stuck to it under pressure from America. They may well have been used as a pawn in the power game. After all Britain aint gonna want to be seen do anything to upset that ‘Special Relationship’ with America. You know, that one were we kiss their arse, and they shit all over us!
If there is any truth to the oil/trade theories then it looks like Britain’s gonna have shat all over Scotland. No change there then.

The Face Of Modern Britain.

Brutal, Beaten, Battered and Bruised !

NIKKI SUDDEN - Texas

Had a request for Nikki Sudden's Texas album a while back. I had planned to rip my original vinyl copy, but… had several technical problems with jumps, scratches and crackles that severely hampered ones listening enjoyment. With some stuff you can get away with it but not this time. You've got a photo of the original vinyls front cover, but as for the music... I invested in a digital copy, so that’s what you’ve got here, and a mighty fine listen it is to. Originally released in 1986 on Creation Records it was Nikki’s first release on the label and his first recordings since the Jacobites had split up and also his first recordings with Rowland S Howard, who appears on three tracks. Nikki’s brother Epic Soundtrack contributes Drums, Guitar and Piano throughout this painful and beautiful album. Enjoy!

NO MOTIVATION. NO INSPIRATION.

MindlessTeenageVomit.

I had the misfortune of catching some MTV. Forgot what a crock of shite it is. The worst kind of entertainment; aimed at the teenage market, for fuck’s sake these teenagers are future adults, they are the future generation, and if they’ve grown up on MTV, then the future is well and truly fucked! All Fake and Phoney whiter than white plastic smiles. Living the dream and selling the lie. Real foot through the TV stuff. Porn with clothes on. Badly acted fly on the wall style documentaries like Hollywood Hills Staycation, or young Americans staying at home cos mom and dads dollars are running short and they don‘t wanna get disfigured in a terrorist bomb blast. as I call it. There’s shite about Celebrities lifestyles, programs about wanna be Celebes, who think their famous cos they’re on MTV. There was something called Filthy Rich and Fabulous, presented by the aptly named and no irony intended (I’m sure) Stephanie Pratt. The one thing I didn’t come across was any music.

N.H.S v's U.S.A

All this furore about a British National Health Service style health care system in the USA; well, it seems to me the issue is; that some people, i.e. those who have money to pay for their health care, don’t want to contribute anything towards those people that can’t afford to pay for their health care. That’s the bottom line! Unless I’ve missed something I don’t recall anything being said about doing away with private health care by Obama, who has been accused of being both a Socialist and a Nazi, for wanting to introduce a health care system similar to Britain’s NHS, rather than the present one which leaves 60% of Americas poor unable to access it. Health care in Britain is free for all, (although the Tory politician that dragged Britain into the debate would probably say it’s a free for all) but if you’ve the means to pay then you can choose to go private, unlike in America where you have to be able to afford to pay for any health care. I wonder then is it any coincidence that those who can’t afford it come from the poorer sections of society such as the Blacks and Hispanics. So just who are the Nazi’s then? As for Socialism, well isn’t this the change people in America voted for? well not everyone but still…Surely it is better to care for the people in you own land rather than killing other people in their land? Not that so called Socialist governments don’t kill people when they’re only obeying orders of Right Wing Republican Regimes, and yes there is a ‘death camp bureaucracy’ that makes the NHS inefficient and wasteful of resources with all the targets, audits and management consultants to be met and paid for. But hey…perhaps Obama can come up with a system that recognises and avoids this, one that Britain could use to re-model its National Health Service with, because it’s not perfect, and it has it’s failings but it is a something, and not a Nothing Health Service for those with nothing.

UK DECAY - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 8/3/81

“Seconds out, round two” It’s another instalment of the UK Decay trilogy of gigs at Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage. Once again another intense and tense night was had by all. It’s all here for your enjoyment. The final part will follow at some point between now and then.

and....no birds do sing.

EATER - Live @ Barbarella's 1977. *Now With Added ANDY BLADE*

Here’s a reposting of Eater live @ Barbarella's, Birmingham UK in 1977. It’s for….bollocks can’t remember who asked for it but it’s for you and anyone else who fancies a blast of some Old Skool Punk Rawk! Plus as a bonus for yer here’s a blast of former Eater front man Andy Blades brilliantly titled Life Affirming Songs For Those With A Bad Attitude album, some of this aint gonna be new to anyone who downloaded his MiAmo Jihad EP a while back, it’s got those tunes on there, plus a bunch of others including the theme to 70’s Euro Dubbed TV show White Horses, all sleazed up in a Pop Punk kinda way, as are the rest of the tunes. It’s good to see the old Punk’n’Rollers are growing old disgracefully, and Keeping on keeping on. Enjoy! and Stay Free!!

COINCIDENCE CORNER.

40 years ago yesterday The Beatles walked across a road and created what some people call an ‘iconic’ cover for their Abbey Road album.
40 years ago today Charles Manson sent some of his followers to a house on the Hollwood Hills where they killed 5 people. Manson has became an ‘icon’ to some people.
Q) What do these two events have in common? Well looking at the cover of Abbey Road and thinking about all the details in the photo and the conspiracy about Paul McCartneys death they hatched, I have come up with my own one:
The Beatles and Charles Manson had plotted together to kill the 60’s Hippy dream. If you look at the cover to Abbey Road you see that John Lennon is walking in front dressed in a white suit, behind him dressed in black are Paul and Ringo; this symbolises Mansons belief in white supremacy, following them is George Harrison dressed in denim and looking a lot like Charles Manson himself.
“Nurse! Bring me my medication.”

The I's have it!

Nothing changes except the clothes.

Fuckin’ Unions. Fuckin’ Strikes. Fuckin’ Jobs for British workers. Everyone just playing out their roles in maintaining the capitalist system. Nothing will change. The bosses will still make the profit’s the workers may have gained a 3% wage increase, but they’ll only end up paying more for consumer goods etc further down the line.
The Media have questioned whether workers should be taking industrial action in a time of recession when everyone has little money, aren’t they just being greedy? Union have said no, why should their members suffer when companies are making profits. Both fair comments but……all that argument does is give the powers that be more ammunition to divide and rule the workers against each other, and maintain their power and control. cos all that will happen is that the bosses will start to use cheaper Labour ie Immigrants, and we know how people feel about that. So called left wing Unions start to show their true colours and rather than supporting all the workers they take a right wing stance and call for strike action.
The only way there will ever be a revolution is if all workers were to unite, regardless of their nationalities and have wildcat strikes, sit ins etc fuck what the Unions say and think, because they’re not really there to protect their members interests, they’re there to protect their own interests, which is to maintain the conflict between workers and bosses, because if there was no conflict they’d be out of a job. Capitalism thrives and survives on conflict and competition in both the Labour Market and the shopping market. SMASH THE MARKET PLACE! Tear up yer Union membership cards NEVER MIND THEIR BALLOTS, IT’S ALL BOLLOCKS!

THE ALARM - "Declare yourself an unsafe building"

The Alarm. The Clash copyists from the 1980’s that no-one was supposed to like, thanks to the music press and their snide comments. Fuck 'em because for a time they were a rather good band. Saw ’em a few times live around the time of their debut album Declaration, and they were great, as was/is the album. Big hair, Big hats and Big tunes. After their second album Strength they went a bit Big CoUNTry, (snide blogger comment) and disappeared from my radar until this single in 1990, which was a re-recording of their 1981 debut single; Unsafe Building b/w Up For Murder. (The original single was I believe produced by Scratch who later went on to find infamy as the singer in the mighty Mercenary Skank.) The re-release came nicely retrolutionized and repackaged in a cardboard envelope with copies of original artwork and photos. Didn’t realise how well played a single this was of mine until listening to the vinyl rip, rougher than the roughest badgers arse, but after hearing it again I just had to get a decent copy. I couldn’t find it on any blogs, had to resort to purchasing a digital version, well worth the pennies ’cos it’s a mighty fine single that burns with a passion lacking in so many bands today. As a bit of a bonus here’s their take on Neil Young’s Rocking In The Free World from their 1991 album Raw and here’s a song from the 2000 and something In The Poppyfields #4 Edward Henry Street called Mercenary Skank. By now only Mike Peters remained from the original band, the new line up included James Stevenson from Chelsea and Craig Adams from The Mission. The bands latest album Guerrilla Tactics is well worth a listen. Not so much a return to form but a return to something………

CORRELATION CORNER.

The reported number of swine flu cases dropped last week. Interestingly the amount of media coverage about swine flu also decreased last week. The banks that the government bailed out with our money reported losses for the first half of the year, while those that didn’t need taxpayers handouts made profits. Q) What do these two things tell us? A) Some people are stupid and our Government treat them as such! That’s the real sickness spreading across England’s green and unpleasant lands.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Live @ The Klub Wiv No Name, Stevenage 20/2/93

This one's a re-post/request. Rather than sticking it in the re-post request section of the blog I thought I’d put it up here as it means I can post this picture of the late great Nikki, that I didn’t use for the original post.

NEW YORK DOLLS - Live in Santa Monica, CA 16/3/74

One of the good folk over at the Johnny Thunders Chatterbox forum was after this show, so here yer go Iggy. But this aint just for him/her this is for all of you who like yer Rock’n’Roll loose, raw and sleazy, and they don’t come much looser, sleazier and raw than The New York Dolls. I’ve had to split the download into three parts on account of it being in wav format. I got it from a torrent site ages back and I’m prettysure the uploader didn’t want it converted to MP3 quality, so out of respect to them here it is, as pure as it was then: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the East coasts finest captured live and direct on the West coast. Hope the format doesn’t cause you too many problems, all this flac, wav, MP3, lossy, lossless file business does my head in, I just take it as it comes, whatever way it is. It’s all Rock’nRoll! Enjoy!! The interview comes from the 1975 New Musical Express Greatest Hits, the very best of NME annual.

*THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK* (26/7/09 - 1/8/09)

I get some good ideas when riding around on public transport. Especially when it’s a weeks free travel, courtesy of a promotion by the local bus company.
Why are my local council such a bunch of C***S. Sending me a Court summons for non payment of Council Tax for the month of July. £135.00, I got the summons on 29th July, I’d already paid the money a week earlier, and when the council originally wrote to me on 3rd of July telling me I was £135.00 in arrears I told ‘em when they would get the money. I questioned the Council over the whole affair and was told it had been a mistake and I should never have got the summons. W*****S !
Ironically on the same day I received the Court Summons there was also a letter from my favourite MP, Barbara Follett, saying sorry for her expenses, again. (this was the second one I’d received) apparently she felt the need for extra security as her local constituency office had been invaded and a dead fox had been hung over the gate of her house. Interestingly neither of these were mentioned in her first letter and I don’t recall anything in the local paper about both incidents.
Swine Flu - Some people have had bad reactions to anti-viral drugs. No surprise there then/Didn’t see that coming, and who would have thought that Doctors would have wanted more money for vaccinating people. And fuck me, if the government advisor on swine flu vaccinations doesn’t has vested interests in Glaxo’s. W*****S!
So the British Government are gonna send a man suffering from a mental illness to be tried under anti-terror laws in the USA, all because he hacked into their computers looking for info about UFO’s. Is it a coincidence that the British government refuses to fight his extradition, when the US are talking of cutting security links with Britain over the up and coming enquiry about Britain’s role in the torture of terrorist suspects. A Computer Geek/A Pawn in their games.
“He’s a private in a private army” I only heard this mentioned briefly on the Radio, not much coverage elsewhere, but I do recall an article in a paper a few months about the idea of giving Licensed Security firms Police powers of arrest, seems this is gonna be given the go-ahead. Neighbourhood Watch with muscles.
Stopping Tax Credits for families earning above £50,000 a year. Too right. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, in my mind that’s a lot of money, more than enough to survive, unless you’ve got a swimming pool and paddock to maintain, in which case you’re gonna be doubly pissed off what with talk of Council Tax rising for people who have such things, as well as for those who have nice views, live near a park etc. I’m not 100% in agreement with this, because some social housing could be effected where tenants can’t afford to pay the extra for what the government deems to be a ‘nice view.‘ Now patios and those Japanese Zen Gardens, houses that have those should have to pay more on a purely environmental level; they look ugly. There’s far to much sparse concrete in towns and cities already, and they also stop rainwater being absorbed back into the water table. Talking of rain, it appears that some people aren’t happy with the Met Offices weather predictions for this Summer. For Fucks sake, I remember people moaning cos it was too hot, now it’s too wet, and you can bet yer last Dollar that the Winter is gonna be too cold for some people, and I aint talking about the Elderly either. I mean all this weather prediction. Nature aint some virtual computer simulation, it’s unpredictable and what with all the shit being pumped into the atmosphere all the time, it’s no wonder it does what it likes. While I’m on the subject of doing what you like, what about this assisted suicide right to die stuff. Sure it’s open to abuse, but really who’s life is it anyway? Talking of life, now the Government are trying to pay injured soldiers less compensation. W*****S!
Must remember to re-post some stuff Eater live @ Barbarellas 1977, Nikki Sudden Live in Stevenage 1993, and someone’s requested the Texas album by Nikki Sudden. Need to put one of those GnX6 Word verification things on the comment bit, keep getting bombarded by spam from Japan, which is making the comment bit down the side read like the Tokyo Times, sorry sexy, I’d rather read what people have to say, also need to try and respond to peoples comments a bit more. But time is tight and all that. S**T, it’s my stop. “Thanx driver.”

SMASHED AGAIN!