Bring back boredom....B'dum, B'dum. Well it's better than people being dumb. 'Cos that's what's happening. Everything is done for us/them, all in an instant. Nothing is left to the imagination. Films, video games everything is explained to the last detail in high tech surround sound and HD ready digital. If this is progress you can stick it up yer USB port. Nintendo Wi's, what the fuck are they about? If you wanna play tennis, get out of yer house and go to a tennis court and play a game with a real person. If you wanna kill someone, move away from the consul and get yerself a gun....hang on a minute isn't that's what's happening already? (but it's nothing to do with violent video games of course.) Erm...I suppose then you could say that all this gun crime is a result of people using their imagination and breaking the boredom by putting a bullet in someone....Nah, like I said at the beginning; people are being conditioned to be dumb, and have no grip on reality.

IT'S THE BA, BA, RA, RA, CU, CU, DA, DA, S

Aint gonna bore ya with too much history....... Jeremy Gluck moved from Canada to London when punk rock hit the streets, met Robin Willis who was in The Unwanted, when they split that's basically when The Barracudas were born, they marketed themselves as a 'surf punk band', at the height of punk Gluck could be seen on the underground carrying a surf board. The 'surf' angle got them signed to EMI who released their debut album Drop Out With The Barracudas, which spawned their only hit, Summer Fun. The single wasn't a true representation of the band and screams novelty record. By the time the album was released the band had gone in a far more garagey direction, much to EMI's disgust. Band and label parted company. I covered the rest of their history in a previous post, so that's yer lot. All that's left to say is that these 2 performances were recorded a week apart in March 1981, when I think they were supporting The Stray Cats on tour. Identical sets, but with the inclusion of Codine and I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again at the Lyceum. This is raw rock'n'roll from self-confessed outsiders. I couldn't decide which one to post, cos they both have their merits. On the Leicester one there's some interesting banter between band and audience and a few problems with the monitors, and like I said the London ones got a couple of extra songs. The choice is yours. Interestingly Summer Fun doesn't appear on either of them.

THE BARRACUDAS - Leicester 16/3/81

THE BARRACUDAS - London, The Lyceum 22/3/81

If someone breaks into yer house, let 'em Fucking Have It! They left their civil rights outside.

THE POST WIV NO TITLE #1

Right gonna freestyle this post a bit, co I've gone and lost my scribbled notes. It was something about the European Union, so I dunno what those 2 are doing over there. Iraq, Afghanistan? How much longer? Anyway back to Europe...where was I? right that's it referendums and treaties. 80% of the British public want a referendum on a treaty. Labour said in their last manifesto that they would have a referendum on Europe now they've done a U turn and are saying no they won't have a referendum on it; because the original treaty has been 'abandoned' and there is a new one, which has been 'amended' so what Labour are saying is that the promise of the referendum doesn't count because it is a new treaty and they never promised that the public could vote on the 'new one', just the 'old one' What a load of Bollocks! Regardless of stances on Europe, this is some sort of 'News speak' True 80% of the public might not have a clue what they're voting for, but at least do us a favour. The polls may have been rigged, but Saddam and Mugabe held elections and consulted the people before killing them. but after all why should 80% of the public expect to get a say when they weren't even asked who the leader of the country should be. those 80% needn't kid themselves that there is any difference between Labour and Conservative anymore, it's all about the face of a nation. 'Browns Britain' or 'Cameron's Country' because lets face it Ming the Merciless doesn't stand a chance due to our electoral system. Which just like Zimbabwe's is rigged. We are living in a dying democracy. A slow death through surviellence and intrusion, of new laws and social control, of toy tazar guns, that hurt but don't kill. Right that's it freestyle over. Too much thinking makes yer brain hurt, must remember to put my notes somewhere safer next time. Still I didn't have to post any old shit I suppose, but hey where's the phun in that.

'WE'VE ALL BEEN CAST ADRIFT OFF THE SHORES OF SHOTTER'S NATION'

Power to the people of Burma who are trying to take back their power and defy their dictators. Not an easy task when facing rifle butts, tear gas and baton charges. All the United Nations do is ask the dictatorship to 'show restraint' to the protesters. It'd be a different fucking story if the west had any economic interests in Burma, same as Zimbabwe. Iraq, now that's a different story, but we oil know what that was about.

MANUFACTURED ROMANCE - Time Of My Life (7" Vinyl Rip)

Another fave ever single of mine. Think X-Ray Spex and Penetration, plus a bit more. Get the picture? Time of My Life is a classic slice of power pop punk, and the B-Side Room To Breath is just a beautiful, beautiful song. The single was released sometime in 1980 on Fresh Records, the bands only other recorded output; You and Long Distance Love appeared on the Backstage Pass compilation. (If anyone has this compilation, get in touch, would love a copy.) I was fortunate enough to see 'em twice, in their tragically short 'career', if you can call it that, because this was a time when music and being in a band wasn't seen as a career move it was about passion not fashion. Hear that passion, as always it's just a click away....CLICK!

DOPE, GUNS AND FUCKING IN THE STREETS.

Went to see Russell 'the love muscle' Brand last night. The venue a local leisure centre, converted its 5 a-side/badminton hall into a venue, quite surreal surroundings, a fact not lost on Russell who pored scorn over it, along with certain parts of the town. Don't ya just love it when people rip the piss out of yer manor? Yes. If you've ever been to Stevenage you'll understand. (Social Distortion and The Rockingbirds did) Russell kept the full house entertained for an hour and a half. The majority of the show was improvised with a few anecdotes and revolutionary pieces about materialism and media control of the population amongst self depicating tails of his sex and drugs exploits thrown in. Strange one that, because without the media and it's manipulation Russell wouldn't be able to get away with walking round the audience picking out the females he'd like to shag after the show. He came to the conclusion he'd shag all of row K, fortunately I was in row G. The sight of him eating a banana (which he'd blagged of an audience member) while pretending to be a masturbating chimp, sound effects and all, was funny but undoubtedly wrong. This man has issues! This man is clever! This man is dangerous! This was a great performance! If the revolution needs a joker then Russell Brand is the man, he'd probably be fathering the children of it, rather than 'manning' the barricades. (can I say that in this PC world?, fuck it, too late, already have.)

OLD SKOOL CUT 'N' PASTE.

Here's a couple of scans from an old fanzine. Posting these as an accompany mentnt to some recent posts over at PUNKS ON POSTCARDS and SOUNDS FAIR, who seem to have covered The Fits recordings as have CACTUS MOUTH INFORMER and PHOENIX HAIRPINS with The Membranes. Both bands came from Blackpool and fine examples of the different directions punk took in the 80's. The Rox fanzine was put together by John Robb from The Membranes. Number 12 had these articles in and was the Charles an Di Royal Wedding souvenir Edition. John still rants and raves with the excellent Gold Blade and has written several good music books including: The 90's What The Fuck Was That All About, and the brilliant Punk Rock An Oral History If you aint heard The Fits or The Membranes, hit the links, check out the blogs and dowlnload. If you don't like 'em stick 'em in yer reycycle Bin. Simple what have you got to lose. You can never have enough music and remember what Slade or was it Wizard said......"yer granny used to tell ya, the old songs are the best."

Piss off you mutha fucker, why don't you do yerself a favour if you're reading this and kill yerself you useless piece of shit. (Only Joking) I really shouldn't make light of people abusing their power over others, by making them feel powerless. FIGHT THE POWER. Because people can only abuse power if they are allowed to. Take a stand, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. The white backwards community of Jena in the backwoods of Louisiana have recently been abusing their power over the minority black residents. A series of racial incidents, have taken place were the white perpetrators have had the power of the(ir) law behind them. Anger has turned to arson and protest marches. Once again I turn to The Clash "Black man gotta lotta problems, but he don't mind throwing a brick, white people go to school where they teach you how to be thick" (and get bullied) Look at the recent Northern Rock fiasco. Orderly queue's waiting to get into branches. Where were the bricks going through the windows? And look how much shit the posties will get by going on strike, people will be complaining their mails not on time and their giros late, just like people complained during the recent tube strikes. Fuck You, these people are standing up for their rights against the power of the powerful and should be supported, just like those fighting to free the Jena Six, as should victims of bullying who fight back with their fists when all else has failed.

JAMES KING AND THE LONE WOLVES - Texas Lullaby (12" vinyl rip)

Another gem from the 80's. This time its from legendary Glaswegian James King, and his partners in crime The Lone Wolves. Kings idols were Thunders and Iggy. Not that you'd really guess from the sound of this 5 track 12", which is akin to the Velvet Underground. Another comparison would be Echo And The Bunnymen, but that does the Lone Wolves a hugh injustice, as these guys would chew up the bunnies and spew 'em up again without pausing for breath. This is hard and uglier by far. "Kennedy dies in my Texas Lullaby" Go on, have a listen...It's just a click away. Click

MERCENARY SKANK - Work Of Giants (12" Vinyl rip)

Over at PHOENIX HAIRPINS, Curious Guy posted the first Mercenary Skank 12" No More Dancing, so in order to complete the collection of Skank releases, thought I'd post their second one Work Of Giants. Both are essential listening for anyone with a love of all things 80's and alternative, when indie meant indie and Thatcher meant she would make sure there was 'no such thing as society' There's a lot more I could say about Thatcher, but not a lot more I can add about Mercenary Skank that CG didn't say on his post, and I aint gonna re-invent the wheel. What I can add is that I saw 'em live once, and from what I can remember they were bloody good. But my main memory of that gig was an altercation that took place between the Theatre group and The Assassins over something and nothing, while Mercenary Skank looked on bemused. Anyway enough of that here's The Work Of Giants 12" scratches'n'all, no cover art cos I can't get to grips with scanning and pasting stuff using whatever software, a bit like removing crackles and pops, cos when I do that it seems to sound worse, more muddy. I dunno, computers, who'd have 'em. More than likely a user error though.

Came across a blog today called METRO/SEA, which has posted Holocaust Hymns by CRISIS. This is a must have collection of some of the most politically charged songs ever. It's got all their singles and a few extras. Get it there and listen, there's also some DEATH IN JUNE (the band Crisis became after they split) available, well worth a trip. While I'm at it, (whatever it is), go and buy/steal this weeks NME, which has a great interview with IAN BROWN. Forget about whether you like his music or not, just read what he has to say. We are not alone, you know.

THE HAPPY COUPLE (When Thatcher Comes Marching Home.)

Neither of these two make a pretty picture, put 'em together and it makes for a rather ugly scene. This is the end for the Labour Party in Britain, NEW Labour bare as much resemblance to Socialism as Hitler did to Zionism. Drop the Labour bit and be done with it. What was it The Clash sang? "The NEW Party army is marching right over our heads."

So it's a score draw in the Words/Music poll. A fair result, cos it's all about maintaining some sort of balance in this increasingly unbalanced world.

A SOUNDTRACK TO THE REVOLUTION?

Over the last couple of weeks there have been 4 really great singles released, so good that I actually parted with hard currency for 'em. They're all really relevant and each track on 'em passes comment on the current state of our sad, sick society, (The Enemys cover of Bowie's 5 Years sounds more now than it did then.) plus they get yer feet taping and yer body grooving. What more can you ask from a record?

THEATRE OF HATE - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 9/11/1980

Right then folks. First off this post hasn't gone entirely to plan. Due to a technical difficulty I've had to do this as one whole MP3, (not individual tracks) Was gonna pull the post until I'd sorted the problem. Worked fine last time I used software, just not today. But after listening to it I thought, nah you guys need to hear this, however, whatever not when ever. It's an audience recording be warned, but it's a document of an early Theatre Of Hate gig, and worth a listen. As for the gig, well... I shall hand you over to a 16 year old me writing a review for the fanzine; Verbal Abuse that me and my mate, Del produced...."When Theatre Of Hate came on, they got a mixed reaction from the crowd the rockabilly's certainly enjoyed them. I only remember a couple of their songs 'Legion' and 'Original Sin' (their new single) they use the saxophone well and have an original sound. Also there was no trouble which made the gig even more enjoyable."....Listening to the recording now it sounds wild, feral and animal. I've also got a recording of the second time they played in '81. I'll post that soon, when I've sorted out the issues. Any way enough waffle here's Theatre Of Hate live in 1980.

Aaah! Just tripping back to the 80’s (ripping some non punk vinyls at the moment) after adding a bit of colour to my life after the anarcho days. Started thinking about a few things…hey here we go again, he’s off on one, bastard I only came to see what music he’s posted and he’s going all political on us. Any way just to keep it fair and equitable I aint gonna go all political on ya either, well not in a macro way, more micro.

Thinking and reflecting back to 1980-83 I came to some sort of conclusion . The anarcho scene left me politicised, but something had been missing . Thinking back, at the time it was fucking great going to these weird and wonderful squatted venues and listening to bands. But something changed it became quite oppressive. Very uniform. Black clad individuals in a mass collective and I think that was it, looking back I had no sense of individual identity. I also remember reading a fanzine which had an article in it about cutting your manhood off through guilt and in solidarity?! Maan, I think I started questioning a few things then, certainly weren’t gonna cut mine off for the cause. The scene was also becoming depressing lots of ‘bad drugs’, glue sniffing 10p punks. Then to top it all the most positive, musical thinkers of the scene; The Mob split up. For me that was The Day The Country Died.
I shall start posting the fruits of my vinyl ripping over the next few weeks, months. Be prepared. If you wanna hear what the anarcho scene was all about take a visit to Running Riot in 2007, where MrMagoo has posted a fine collection from the ZigZag squat gig in 1982.

JOHNNY THUNDERS AND THE HEARTBREAKERS @ The Savoy, London 29/10/84

1984 was a busy year for Thunders in the UK, 5 nights in August at the Marquee, brilliant every night, it felt like I'd moved into the place. A co-headline tour with Hanoi Rocks and The Babysitters. Bit ropey at times on that tour; playing the same song twice, falling into the crowd, but still some great gigs. Railway stations are cold and uncomfortable to sleep on, but it was worth it. At the end of October Thunders returned to the capital to play The Savoy, a right dingy venue above the Boston Arms pub in Tufnell Park North London. "The plaster's falling of the walls" A bit of a subdued gig in front of a strange mixed up audience of Rock'n'Rollers, skinheads and goths, amongst the empty spaces. Not a bad performance from Thunders, but nowhere near as electric as he was at Marquee Week. Not really the Heartbreakers, more of a ramshackled band of rock'n'roll gypsies, including Terry Chimes on Drums. On Gloria and Pills Thunders is joined by Mike Monroe and Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks; were it really gets cranked up. Anyway If ya wanna check it out, all you have to do is click!

BANK!BANK!BUST!

Now we see just how safe and healthy our economy really is(n't) when a bank; Northern Rock runs out of money and has to go cap in hand to the Bank Of England for a loan. For fuck sake, a bank borrowing from a bank?! Customers are queeing outside branches to take their money out. Yes this may be a media induced panic, but....... Any way I heard a 'financial expert' telling people not to panic, because The Bank Of England could print "as much money as it needed." I shit you not. Isn't this what happened in pre-war Germany? but this time people will be using motorized wheel barrows from B&Q to carry their cash in.

WHEN YOU ARE AT WORK, ARE YOU WORKING OR BEING WORKED?

LE MAT - Waltz Of The Fool b/w E'vry Dream (7" Vinyl Rip)

Musically this 'ear blog has been going down the old skool punk road, with a few turns of some newer tunes for good measure, now for something a little different, I'm gonna be injecting a few more of these 80's tunes into the usual mix. Right then, yer first hit is LE MAT with this blinding bit of 60's tinged psychedelic rawk and roll. Released in Oct 82. Waltz Of The Fool was their only single, their only other release was an album also called Waltz Of The Fool. Both were released on the Television Personalities Whaam! records. These Southend boys were certainly no fools. They once supported Duran Duran on tour, but were asked to leave after only 8 dates. Rumour had it that they were so good that LeBons Boys were too scared to follow them on stage. Judge for yerselves, it's just a click away !!!!! I'm aware that the quality of this rip good be a bit better, but hey I'm just getting to grips with the software, so what the hell this is punk rock, and anything goes, plus I love this record so much and couldn't wait to hear it again. So yeah there are a few crackles and I could have equalised bits, I dunno you tell me, all ideas for best settings/effects to use for improving and cleaning up sound gratefully accepted. Thanks to Highlander over at Cactus Mouth Informer all future rips will be at bit rate of 192, so If you want better quality you tell me. One last thing, while tripping through my vinyl I thought blimey the 80's were a rich time for alternative genres of music, but society was a poor place with Thatcher in power. Now under New Labour society is presented as being richer, when the reality is that it's the same shit but we're sinking deeper in to it, and currently music is generally a lot poorer. So does this mean we need an even extremer form of governance in order for music to get better. Or is it all a matter of taste. Anyway step out of yer comfort zones and enjoy Le Mat.

Sitting here, scratching my head.....

Read about new legislation that will allow local authorities to demolish 'old' council houses so that they can build 'new' ones.

SIX YEARS LATER/IS THE WORLD ANY SAFER?

'THEY' PREY ON FEAR

Do Not Accept this thievery. It is a con based on a fear of crime amongst the population and sold to them as a way of making crime solving easier. It's the only reason that I've heard as to why a DNA database is a good idea, that and a deterrent. If you disagree with this the argument then becomes... well If you've done nothing wrong then you've got nothing to fear. Well I'm sorry I do have something to fear; The future. I don't want the state holding any samples of my DNA, who knows what sort of government could be in power in say 15 years time. They could be even more dictatorial and controlling than the one in power at the moment. Believe me it is quite possible and very probable. Not only is another bit of our freedom going to be take away with this proposal, but also a little piece of us is going to be taken and stored away. For what? In case we decide to commit a crime in the future!

THE ASSASSINS(OF HOPE)

One band missing from Ian Glaspers excellent The Day The Country Died are THE ASSASSINS OF HOPE. The year 1981 the place London, the music anarcho-punk. This is their only recording and it is rougher than a badgers arse, but great with it. Their musical influences ranged from; The Clash, The Mob through to Theatre Of Hate and Del Shannon, not that you'd know it listening to Slowmotion Suicide. Other influences included the punk scene, the angry brigade, seeing the Anarchy centre at Wapping work and a disillusionment with being on the football terraces. Somewhere along the line they lost their two singers; Peat and Chantal and the Hope. They found a new singer, and another guitarist and became THE ASSASSINS; musically they changed but lyrically and ideologically they remained the same and you could hear more of their influences in their sound The Ruts spring to mind. They recorded one demo and also a planned single Hell is for Heroes, which was never released. Not only were they a great band in both guises but they were top people. I remember going with 'em (when they were the assassins)to a gig in Oldham where they were supporting The Varukers. The band, the equipment and friends all crammed in the back of some box truck with no windows. They when't down like a lead balloon with the mohawks. Then there was the time they supported Mercenary Skank and a punk theatre group, also not forgetting a gig they did with The Stingrays. Anyway enough reminiscing. Here's the music, I've done 'em as two separate downloads: Slowmotion Suicide and Demos/unreleased single. Hopefully this post will plug a hole in the history of the anarcho and underground punk muzik scene of the 80's. Enjoy.

AN OBSERVATION.

Who's idea was it for petrol stations to turn into mini-supermarkets, selling everything the local shops have got even alcohol; now whats that all about. Drink driving anyone? This sort of market expansion along with the growth of multi-nationals is killing the local shops, and also making queues longer when paying for petrol, having to stand behind some one with a basket full of stuff they could have bought elsewhere. Then the person in front pays with a plastic card. Fuck chip'n'pin, what's wrong with cash? Or is it that people aint got the cash and are living on credit. Great not only do I have to suffer endless queuing, but I also have to pay more to subsidise people living above their means. Probably cos they go in to fill their car up with petrol and then become conned by the allure of overpriced stuff on sale, that they wouldn't have considered buying if it weren't on display and the petrol station just sold what it should; petrol. One persons convenience is anothers inconvenience. Petrol stations for petrol, supermarkets and local shops for food stuffs, that's what I say.

Just when you thought it was all over, 'team McCann' score an own goal and turn from victims to suspects. How long before 'Browns bootboys' get involved and the whole thing turns into some sort of diplomatic incident with the Portuguese system of law coming under attack?, or it turns out that they did do it. Either way the story aint gonna go away, just like Osama who's popped up again with a newly dyed beard from his cave or CIA television studio. Bush misses the ball completely at the APEC summit in Australia or was it the OPEC summit in Austria. The only one who seems to have their eye on the ball is Osama. Aaah, the beautiful game.

HIStory

Been thinking…….always a bit dangerous that one. Too much of it makes yer brain hurt, not enough of it and you end up with no brain. Then does it all depend what your thinking about? Anyway, what was I thinking about? Right that’s it yeah…….All this shit that’s going down these days in Britain; It’s nothing new. Poverty, it’s always been there. Throughout history society has needed people to look down on. Makes everyone feel better about themselves. The Yoof, you only need to read Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Drinking, just look at Hogarths picture Gin Street, Drug use, look at DeQuincey. Prostitution, ‘the oldest profession’ The list and the names carries on over the centuries, I’m not gonna carry it on. The point is that through out history there have always been ‘social problems.’ Some things don’t change, no matter what governments have done over the years, there are gonna be ‘problems’ because they have gone hand in hand with the growth of capitalism. To some capitalism in the past may have made us Great Britain. But in the present it is destroying us. We passively sit down and watch it all fall apart live on News 24. Killed by leisure. In the past people did something about it. Now everyone expects it to be done for them or does nothing. We are the only ones who can make it change, just like those in the past did. From The Peasants Revolt, The Tollpuddle Martyrs through to The Chartists and The Suffragettes. They all stood up; they didn’t have TV. Scientific progress has made us passive. Technology has reduced our freedom, so have new laws, just as the Corn Laws and Poor Laws did all those years ago. That’s it. Gotta stop now, my brain is hurting, what do you think?

HORNSEY AT WAR - Dead Beat Revival (a VinylRip, crackles'n'all)

Haven't got much info about this bunch of 'erberts. So I'm gonna have to remember (with the help of a gig review from a local fanzine) back to 1981 when I saw 'em live at Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage supporting Flux Of Pink Indians, it's also were I bought a copy of this EP for the princely sum of 50p from a geezer with a cardboard box full of 'em. Anyway, back to the gig. They played quite a short set from what I remember, "Hornsey at War were on stage and believe me it was as quick as that." They sounded quite shambolic and chaotic. "How come Hornsey sounded so bloody awful?..............why should we put up with rubbish? Just because you're a punk band does not mean you can play a load of shit and expect to get away with it!" I seem to remember the singer wore a balaclava and held his head a lot. "As for the stage act ( I say act, I mean travesty) the lead singer pranced about stage like a fart in a space suit! He kept his ears covered a lot of the time, who can blame him?" Personally I must have thought they were alright, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the EP, which you can get here. As it is it's one of the few records of mine from that era that wasn't stolen, swapped or sold. Dunno what that says about it. Judge for yerself, very similar to Alternative TV. Take no notice of what the fanzine reviewer said, think he was just some muso,who said of another band on the bill; Chaos "..and their playing in general was of a good standard" Good standard, fuck off mate that was punk rock.

ALL BURNT OUT

Arriving at 'Anarcho Central' Brougham Road, Hackney, London in 1981 on the same bus as fellow Yeovilites The Mob. These guys used to pop up everywhere from Centro Iberico, The Zig Zag club and a sqauted church on Pentonville Road in the early 80's, they even came to Stevenage for a gig with Zounds, The Eratics and notorious Crass haters The Special Duties. Like both the Mob and Zounds, Null & Void were a cut above the rest of the anarcho scene, with their rhythmic bass driven tunes with a choppy guitar to groove to and lyrics that smashed the system from a personal level. It's hard not to mention all three bands in the same breath, they even shared the same drummer, Josef. Their Four Minute Warning tape album and only vinyl release, Still are a couple of my favourite releases of the times. I maybe wrong here, but I believe that Null & Void are probably the only band to have worked with the two must important and influential punk bands; The Clash and Crass. Their 1984 cassingle Slow Down b/w Harder to Remember was produced by Andy Palmer from Crass, and their final recordings a cassette EP was recorded with a little help from Joe Strummer in his Lucky 8 Studios in Camden. Their latter recordings took a funkier direction, reminiscent of the Gang Of Four. All Burnt Out is a definitive collection of all Null & Void's recordings; a must for anyone with a love for all things anarcho. Get it here, but yer gonna have to pay. A bargain for £7.21 including postage.

Are our leaders using the books Brave New World and 1984 as blueprints for a new society?, does life naturally imitate art? or were Aldous Huxley and George Orwell just a head of their time? I dunno you tell me!

THE VAYNES - Mr.Fixit (12" vinyl rip)

Straight out of 'Goth'em City Leeds' circa 1985 come The Vaynes. A glorious Rock'n'Roll beat combo, in the vein (pun entirely intended) of Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders and Slaughter and The Dogs. This is pure unadulterated rawk'n'roll. Previously known as The Dead Vaynes, a reference to their notoriety as mainline drug users, surprisingly they got it together to release an album; GTF, on Batfish Incorporated. The record label set up by the Batfish Boys, and produced by Batfish Boy Simon D it came out in 1985. Two years latter, they released this 12" on their own label Vanity Records. A glam slam reference to drug use; Mr.Fixit, co produced by Matt Dangerfield, formerly of The Boys and featuring an appearance by Nev from Leeds punkers the Abrasive Wheels on drums. The B side Cinderella has Craig Adams from The Mission playing Bass. Midnight Gun the final track on the 12" is taken from the aforementioned GTF album. So if you like yer music a bit Punky and a bit Rocky with a hint of Goff then this is a band for you, if it leaves you wanting more then there could be plenty more to come. Anyway it's just a click away. Ready, steady GO!

BLOG COMMUNQUE #3

No apologies for lack of posts over past couple of days. I've been playing with my new gadget, a USB record deck. Maan, technology aint called technology for nothing, cos it can get a bit technical. Tried converting stuff before using old tape player/record deck. My PC received the sound alright, but the recording program weren't receiving any signal. Now with the new USB deck, the signals coming through fine, but no audio. What the fuck's that all about, makes it a bit hard to listen to when cleaning recording up. Then there's getting the bit rate sorted, trying to do 196, but keeps coming out 128. What the fuck's that all about. I dunno, I've managed to convert something for ya, just listened to a copy I burned and it sounds ok but due to time factors, you'll have to wait until tomorrow and judge yourself. Don't panic if you aint just hear for the music, the ranting will continue. Just means I'll be able to post more variety of stuff and try and fill some gaps in the evolving blogsphere of all things 'alternative' in music from times gone past.

Heard yesterday that more police are gonna be issued with tazar guns. Read today that a police man accidentally shot himself in the leg with his gun while getting into a car. Make what you will of those two stories and draw your own conclusions.

The only and lasting memory I have of dead Di is just how easy it was for politicians with the help of the(ir) media to brainwash and manipulate the populous into a state of hysteria for reasons of social control and social construction. This technique of mind control continues unabated through every event that creates an emotional response in the individual. You only need to look at the case of missing Madeline Mcann and the recent shooting of Rhys Jones, to see the hysteria that is whipped up amongst the collective conscience. For example; official statistics (if they are to be believed) say that gun/knife crime has fallen this year. Not that you would think it at the moment looking at the media, but that's the point. I wonder if the medias reporting of gun/knife crime has risen this year? Anyway, it all part of 'the plan'. Political battle lines are being drawn, the battlefield is being prepared for the next election, the social conscience is being manipulated in areas such as crime and punishment ready for the election fight.

LIFE'S A GAMBLE...IT COULD BE YOU.

'The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant.' - George Orwell in 1984.