HALLOWEEN!

How ironic….Society condemns acts of violence, torture and evil, then for one night a year people celebrate the ghoulish, gruesome and macabre. HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!!

WOW! What a sickening spectacle the media have created…The Death of a Devil. GOTCHA!….The politicians celebrate with retribution and revenge for Lockerbie, Yvonne Fletcher and victims of Libyan semtex used by the IRA. The hypocrites….no mention of the Western weapons sold to Gaddafis regime over the years and used to suppress the Libyan people. Still at least NATO’s ’just war’ came at a fair price for Britain….£300 million, I mean who wants new schools, hospitals and homes when we’ve got bombs to build? Oh yeah, that’s right, the people of Libya cos they’ve had theirs destroyed in the revolution/uprising/war. Still….democracy costs, and perhaps we take our freedoms for granted here in our safe European homes, like free speech and the right to protest. That is unless I start suggesting that people go out and start a riot, then I could end up in prison for four years, and anyone turning up at said riot with their faces covered up would be asked by the police to remove them. Our leaders are no better than the dictators they oppose in a World Of War!

JAYNE COUNTY - Betty Grables Legs (5 Track mini-album vinyl rip)

Back in the 70’s Jayne County was the real deal, man enough to be a woman. The Dolls had the frocks but were full on heterosexuals. Wayne as he was known then was a transsexual or is it transgender performance artist working the same New York joints as the Dolls. In 1977 he relocated to London and formed the Electric Chairs, who became infamous in the punk scene thanks to their foul mouthed ballads like; Fuck Off and Toilet Love. By 1980 Wayne had become Jayne and The Electric Chairs were no more, although Jayne continued to release records throughout the decade, including this one from 1989, a 5 track mini album on Jungle Records. What you hear is what you get….back to the garage New York Rock’n’Roll. get yer hands on Betty Grables Legs here. In 2011 Jayne is still giving it to the man, just go and check out her blog.

It's a funny old world, but who's laughing?

So then Colonel Gaddafi is dead….No surprises there then, it was only a matter of time. Another dictator found hiding like a rat in a drain. One less obstacle in the way of the Westernization of the World, but a whole lotta problems in Libya and the rest of the Arab Spring uprising nations fighting for democracy as their leaders clinging on to power, thanks to less involvement by Western NATO forces. Factions will be fighting in the power vacuums that are going to develop. Western politicians will be breathing a sigh of relief as all their dodgy dealings with Ghadaffi will be buried in the hole where he was hiding. He could have been taken alive but was executed instead, by rebel forces loyal to the USA, the UK and the French. I wonder who’s gonna be getting the contracts to help rebuild Libya? It’ll be people like that best friend who former British defence secretary Liam Fox took to work.
These are trouble torn and interesting times. The British state stuck the boot in first at The Dale Farm travellers camp by sending in riot police with Tazars and shields, no wonder they got piss thrown over them. Anti-Capitalist protests are taking place across the world from New York to Athens; people want an alternative to the bonus culture of greed. People aren’t happy with the cost of living; Chelsea football fans have taken a stand at the price of tickets to see their team play.
Still The Stone Roses have reformed and are gonna make us all happy, as people sit shivering and in darkness cos energy prices are too high, or are beaten down by the authorities when they exercise their freedom to protest.

THE STOOGES - My Girl Hates My Heroin (Vinyl Album Rip)

Not much to say about The Stooges that hasn’t been said, so I’ll get straight to the point. Here’s a rather crackling, but still cracking rip of an album released by Revenge Records in 1989 of some Raw Power era Stooges rehersal recordings from 1973 in Detroit. Enjoy! Or Destroy!

Notes from the cutting room floor.

With all the politicians talking about economic growth, and how it is or isn’t happening but more importantly to them how it needs to be happening, has got me thinking…..The Frankenstein monster of capitalism which over the years has been all consuming has now become out of control and can’t be fed anymore, it is now starting to eat itself. Our economy can’t grow anymore because it is sick, fat and obese through over consumption. People are in debt for the stuff they didn’t need but wanted, so they now can’t afford the stuff they do need. The end result is that we are now sinking into the shit that capitalism has produced, and our present leaders can’t or don’t want to see this because that would make them and their ideologies responsible for not only what has happened in the past, but more importantly what is gonna happen in the future, which is anyone’s guess. I mean they tell us to pay off our credit cards, and in the next breath are encouraging us to spend, because its good for the economy. You can’t have your cake and eat it! Especially when ‘fatty foods’ aren’t good for you.

The longer we keep our heads in the sand the longer and harder they will fuck us up the arse and that goes for our politicians who’ve let our country get fucked by pandering to special relationships with America and complying to directives from Europe, while all the time making sure they’re alright by letting the money makers gamble our money away on stock exchanges and the public services waste it on layers of bureaucracy and middle management with their great and costly ideas of how to improve services, which has resulted in services being cut back for the public and job losses for the workers. Is this the equality of opportunity capitalism offered? No it’s the opportunity for inequality to grow, which it has over the past decade.

You fat bastards!

In a bid to stop Britain sinking under the weight of its unhealthy and obese citizens politicians have been talking/thinking of introducing a tax on foods that contain too much fat. It’s the consumer that will pay this tax, not the producer. Studies have shown that it is the poor that have unhealthy diets. Let them not eat cake! The producers need to be stopped from manufacturing and marketing their junk foods. Make the producer pay! It’s the weight of their wealth that’s making Britain sick and unhealthy!

Life's a gas!

“Arbeit Macht Frei”- Work makes you free. People think that freedom is having the choice between a thousand different products that do the same thing. I think that’s slavery and people have becomes slaves to and for the machine in a world of concentration camp capitalism!

TV nature programs, well I'll be damned!

While watching BBC2’s Autumn Watch wildlife program last night, I couldn’t help but notice that at several places during the program presenter Chris Packham dropped in the names of at least 3 Damned songs (Grimly Fiendish, Neat Neat Neat and Smash It Up) into sentences when he was referring to all things feathered and furry….Bizarre!….I have heard that Chris is a ‘punk rock fan’, but is this the sort of thing we pay our TV Licences to hear? Yeah too bloody right it is! I’m wondering if next week we’re gonna hear about Badgers in their Safe European Homes and how Wild Boars Stay Free in the New Forest or how London’s Calling for migrating geese.

SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS - Live @ The Paradise Club, Boston 6/4/88 (FM Broadcast)

One of Britain’s great long lost bands. The Screaming Blue Messiahs were a mutant Rock’n’Roll hybrid of Punk, Rhythm and Blues and Rockabilly. Howling and hollered vocals, guitars chopping and slashing with destructive abandon over the thumping, threading bass and machine gun attack drums.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything by them, so here we go with a FM Radio Broadcast of a show they did at The Paradise Club in Boston USA on 6th April 1988. The band had been booked to do two shows at the club and were expecting a relaxing couple of days there. On the way to the gig they were told it was in fact two back-to-back shows that night. This is the second of the two, and what a show….Enjoy!

It's only words.

“HATRED AND PREJUDICE SPREAD THROUGH OUT THE LAND / WHERE PEOPLE CRITICISE WHAT THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND / THEY LOOK NO DEEPER THAN WHAT THEIR EYES SEE / THEY LOOK NO DEEPER THAN WHAT’S ON T.V“ I wrote those words in 1988. In 1992 they formed the basis for lyrics to a song by a band I was playing in. I’ve re-issued them for this post in 2011, because something’s never change.

Paranoia Paradise,

With where I live being close to Essex, and the impending eviction at Dale Farm, my local council have decided to build barricades, I say barricades…. they’re piles of chalk, at the entrances to several of the parks in the town, in order to block access to any travellers moving in. What an eyesore, these piles of chalk are, and not just that the kids have been practising their writing and drawing skills or making a mess depending on your point of view on the pavements and paths with chalk they’ve got from the piles. Still that will be washed away in the rain, unlike the local councillors, and journalists with their paranoia and sensationalist scaremongering. In 1930's Germany the Nazi's came for the gypsies first….and people did nothing. In 2011 Britain, people are doing something....persecuting them! Sounds and looks like we're living in a Fascist State!!!!

IGGY POP - Live Zombie!

No music for ages, then just like waiting for a bus two come along at once ….Yep here’s some more Iggy Pop for you good people. This ones from 1982, not Iggy’s best year, some might say it was cursed. On a trip to Haiti early in the year Iggy upset a voodoo priest when he got up and danced during a voodoo ceremony. Things went down hill from there with a series of bizarre events like a car crash and the death of a dentist for whom Iggys girlfriend was working for on the island, in order to raise the cash to fly home, as Iggy had given all their money away! At the end of the year after a brief stay in a Mental Institution Iggy hit the road to promote the not very well received album Zombie Birdhouse, which features the playing and production of Clem Burke and Chris Stein of Blondie. This live recording from Toronto in Canada on 28th Oct 1982 was originally issued as a bonus disc with a re-issue edition of Zombie Birdhouse, and finds Iggy in fine frazzled‘n’fraggled form, during the tour his band members including Blondie Guitarist Frank Infante found Iggy “more crazed than ever.” Enjoy! You'd be crazy not to!!

IGGY POP - Garden of Evil (Vinyl Bootleg)

This collection from Iggy Pop was originally released as a bootleg album in Germany with only 600 copies pressed. I aint got a copy, but found that some kind soul had uploaded it to a torrent site, so here you go! The tracks on it are what you’d call Oddities; Iggy squealing like a pig for a few seconds, and a bizarre appearance on a 1974 American radio show. Outtakes; from his post Bowie daze albums New Values, Soldier and Zombie Birdhouse, and Rarities; the title track to the film Repo Man, well I’ll leave you to decide that. Personally, I’ve been playing this quite a bit recently as it’s an interesting and enjoyable listen, even the track Ig The Pig surpasses his recent Swift Cover insurance ad work. Why Iggy Why???? You indeed are a dog with your money in your pocket!

A Snapshot and Some Scrambled Scribblings.

So then 10 years since 9/11 has been and gone. No Al-Qaeda celebratory attacks on the West then, despite the anticipation. The war on terror will only be won when people have conquered their fears. So long as people believe they have something to fear they will continue to be scared. It’s a way to control the people. Fear sells, and people are buying. After the first Gulf War, The Hummer became the motor vehicle of choice, to many Americans, it made them feel safe and secure. Sales soared and other similar large vehicles started being mass produced across the world, 4x4’s, off road vehicles etc. Now it’s all about surveillance systems, to keep people safe in their place of work, at home and on the streets. Fear has invaded our freedom. Big Brother might tell you he’s watching out for terrorists, but the reality is he can watch out for whatever he wants. Electronic tags for kids, keeps them safe from paedophiles, military technology produced for the paranoid consumer market. You’re never alone with a mobile phone.
Rejoice and come all ye faithful consumers, to Britain’s largest retail cathedral, Westfield in Stratford East London, right near the 2012 Olympic Stadium. 10,000 jobs have been created, and it’s great for the economy apparently. Some might say it’s good that people are employed producing and selling all the products. I say there’s too much stuff, without all the products there’d be no need for the pursuit of money to spend on products, because there’d be less stuff in the market place to purchase.
Just because things create jobs it doesn’t naturally mean it’s good. Clothes for young children….it’s taken years for people to realise that it wasn’t good to dress children as mini-adults in clothes that sexualized them at a young age. The writing was on the wall with the Spice Girls and their branded girl power. Shit sells!
Playing with peoples fears for profit. The fear of getting old, going bald and body insecurity. The market is full of anti aging creams, beauty products for women to hide behind and cures for hair loss. Why bother….deal with it we get old we go bald and then we die! What a waste of money trying to slow down the process. The only reason people feel the need to feel good about themselves, is because all the time they’re being made to feel bad about themselves through big businesses partners in crime….The media, with its images of the beautiful people and adverts for the ugly products! Talking of ugly people and products….Wayne Rooney pays £30,000, twice what I (and millions of others) earn in a year on a hair transplant….and still looks like a cunt!
I know the seasons are getting messed up with the changing weather, but as far as I’m aware Christmas is in December. So why then are supermarkets and shops getting their displays ready and Christmas stock out in December? (One of today’s Sunday papers is seducing people with the offer of Fabulous Free Christmas Gifts if you join their Christmas reward club.) Let me guess….It’s good for the economy! Well….Fuck their economy!! I aint religious, but this takes away any meaning from anything other than complete consumption capitalism. That’s the only god people worship, and the powers that we let be are happy for it to be like this. Shopping is the heroin of the people. A blind devotion and addiction to a hollow and empty gospel where nothing means anything anymore, and the only bible is the Argos catalogue.

The 10^th anniversary/remembrance of 9/11 is nearly upon us. Time flies when yer having fun! A lot has happened in the 10 years since war was declared on terror. The global economy for one has taken a battering. It doesn’t take an economist to work out that wars are expensive, or a mathematician to tell us that the estimated cost of post 9/11 wars $4 Trillion is a lot of money. I’m neither an economist or mathematician, but I think that this sort of expense by the USA and the UK over the last ten years may have had some effect on the present global financial crisis. That and people living beyond their means Which begs a question Who’s actually winning the war on terror? when people with the fear of unemployment are too scared to spend on the high street, in case their families finances come crashing down around them. Apparently this lack of spending isn’t good for economic growth. Politicians preach austerity but paradoxically still want people to part with their pounds and pence. Fear of terror has seen civil liberties threatened in the name of security, while around the world societies foundations are shaking. So what do our leaders do? They get us involved in more military action in Libya, great….there goes a few more million pounds/dollars up in smoke. Well….lets hope the cost in human life from the Twin Towers, to the civilians and soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq has been worth it. Somehow I don’t think it will have been. Human life is cheap in global politriks and there’s plenty to spend, and other terrors to be sorted out in a world where political leaders are the real terrorists. Iran and North Korea in 10 years time?

More Rambling Rantings.

The ethnic cleansing, or eviction as the powers that be are calling it of the ‘illegal’ Dale Farm travellers site in Crays Hill Essex is just another example of Britain’s slow slide towards being a rather un-free democracy.
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 made it impossible for travellers to travel, and took away the duty of councils to provide sites for them, so they have been buying land and building communities on it, often without planning permission, but when a large percentage of planning applications by travellers are turned down, is it any wonder they build illegal homes, especially as other ‘green belt land’ has been developed for housing. Seems like there’s one law for some people and another for others. We can see that with the disproportionate sentencing by the courts for those involved in the recent riots, compared with what MP’s received for ‘looting’ our money under the guise of expenses.
Here are a few more examples of how our democracy is being threatened.
Post riot paranoia has seen the banning not just of a English Defence League march, but any marches in London for next 30 days. Parliament Square peace camp being shut down. An official counter terrorism notice has seen The Met Police encouraging people to report anarchists to the authorities.
The clampdown continues. Just because we have a ‘democratically elected government’ doesn’t mean we are not getting closer and closer to living in a totalitarian dictatorship, it’s just that the majority of people can’t see it, or are happy being told what to do and what to think, or they are too scared to do anything. Unlike the various people gathering at Dale Farm to support the travellers, or the Pro Palestine protestors who managed to disrupt the broadcast of the Israeli Symphony Orchestras performance at the recent BBC Proms.
Human Rights at times favours the rights of some people over the rights of others and Health and Safety legislation which removes any need for individual common sense or free thinking from some situations. Treat people like they’re stupid and it wont be long before they become stupid. Take away freedoms in the name of safety and security and people won’t question anything. Label and demonize section of society as being bad and the people will believe it’s all right to have their freedoms reduced, I mean who cares if you’re followed home by CCTV because if you’ve done nothing wrong what have you got to worry about? not a good climate for people to be living in….one of fear that has been sold to them as security. Where the only people that remain secure are those in positions of power. What would really scare them is if all the groups of people who want to protest, the ones they’ve kept divided in order to rule, put their differences aside became united as one and took to the streets against this and any future government that refuses to listen to the people. Vive Le Difference! Vive Le Revolution!
The artwerk/flyer that companies this post comes from the Old Punks Never Die website.

Sad news....

Former Chron Gen and Chelsea bass player Pete Dimmock died earlier this month. I’ve fond memories of watching both those bands live, and also his first band Optional Xtras and the last band he played in, King Rizla. Pete, always almost motionless on stage apart from his fingers moving up and down the fret board. Sympathies and condolences go out to his family and friends.

COCK SPARRER - Live @ The Fulham Greyhound, London - 3/9/83

Cock Sparrer’s 1983 debut album Shock Troops is one of my favourite albums, I say debut album, technically it’s not but before we get to that lets re-wind a few years. Cock Sparrer formed in 1972, school friends playing Small Faces songs, then eventually writing their own numbers.
Legend has it that in 1976 Cock Sparrer were approached by Malcolm Mclaren who was keen on managing them alongside the Sex Pistols. He watched them rehearse then took them to a pub but didn’t get a round of drinks in, the band were then less keen on being managed by him. In 1977 they signed to Decca Records and released a couple of singles Running Riot and We Love You. In 1978 Decca dropped the band, despite them having an albums worth of material recorded, which was rather bizarrely only released in Spain. The band then fizzled out, their working class football terrace roots weren’t in keeping with the London punk elite. Guitarist Garry Lammin left the band to become an actor, and in 1980 the band split up. In 1982 thanx to the band appearing on a couple of the Oi compilations Cock Sparrer reformed, and released Shock Troops a collection of street punk rock’n’roll songs. Their debut album didn’t get a UK release until 1987, when Razor Records issued it under the title True Grit. The band are still going strong, if not stronger, and are receiving the credit and acclaim that alluded them over 30 years ago. Anyway enough waffle here’s the music, recorded live at The Fulham Greyhound, London in the Autumn of 1983, some top quality…..forget the labels, it’s all Rock’n’Roll unless it’s disco. Wait up a bit more waffle….
This recording was originally posted on either the Running Riot or Nation On Fire blogspot, I can’t remember, but respect to them for the original download, which started life as just one long MP3, I’ve separated the different tracks and tried to clean up the sound, which is raw, as it was recorded from the audience, but it’s not too rough and it’s certainly ready to listen to. Enjoy!