YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP.

Went to sign on today, after my last escapade, my partner told me not to “get into any trouble!” Anyway, I arrived well on time for my 10 minutes past 10 appointment, as I’d been told they were strict on time keeping and sometimes applied sanctions; as the bloke in front of me found out. He was a couple of minutes late for his appointment and was told he would have to come back later. Today I managed to find a seat and sat down to wait for my appointment, 10 past 10 arrived, 11 minutes past, 12, 13, 14, 15, I thought about the guy earlier who had been late, and what my partner had said, but when it got to 20 past 10 I thought Fuck this, and went to see one of the security guards, and explained the situation, off he went to get someone from the Job Centre to find out what was going on. 5 minutes later one of the advisors called me over and explained that the reason I’d been kept waiting was that there was no appointment for me today and my claim had been closed as I had failed to attend on 16th June, which as you and I know wasn’t the case. The advisor said not to worry as she had found the piece of paper with my signature on it that proved I did, and she would re-open my claim. Before I left I asked if there would be any sanctions against the person who had kept me waiting today as a result of my claim being closed. The advisor said she didn’t think so, as it was probably a computer error; yeah whatever. I didn’t bother to argue as my issue had been resolved and the advisor had been apologetic about it all, plus I didn’t fancy going back and telling my partner I’d got into trouble again, but still; a bit of a poor show if you ask me. One law for them and all that.

Add yer own image!

So who've you chosen then?

SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS - Live @ The Mean Fiddler, London 2/9/88

This ones for all you Screaming Blue Messiahs worshippers, and I know there’s a few of you out there. Once again thanx to Grant at Blue Heaven for the recording. Rather than me babbling on about this gig, I’ll hand you over to Grant and he’ll tell you all about it.
The second of two nights at the Mean Fiddler. My favourite gig of all time. And the very reason I'm doing this website. The guitars sound awesome (at times completely drowning out the vocals) as it was recorded in the mosh pit right under Bill's guitar monitor. But this gives it a mean, over-the-top vibe all of its own. Kicks off with a drunken, swaggering 'You're Gonna Change', then straight into a storming freight train-like "Sweet Water Pools'. The real stand-outs are an early version of 'Watusi Wedding', with truly evil fuzz guitar licks and surreal rantings, and epic, down and dirty versions of 'I Want Up' and 'Tracking The Dog'. The only disappointments were my drunken flatmate yelling "Oh, Yeah!" into the mike all night and the tape failing during an awesome 'Jesus Chrysler'. So good it blew my tape deck all away.
Right then, it’s me again! Just to say I’d love a live recording of a gig of theirs I went at The Marquee, not my favourite gig of all time, but one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen! All that’s left to do is to tell you where to go……………….if you want a piece of Messiahs action!

IT'S ONLY NATURAL.

I make no apologies for no posting yesterday. I just couldn’t be arsed! Well, no, that’s not strictly true. I could, but once I started thinking about all the recent shit that’s been going down and all the rest that’s getting washed up, I started to get pissed off and felt the need to escape into the fresh air and green of the countryside to get away, from the concrete claustrophobia of modern life. I always feel more positive and re-charged after a couple of hours of open space and bird song. Even when humankind has messed up the natural world through for example quarrying, with minimal interference from humans, nature always manages to restore the balance and turn something that was once ugly into something beautiful again. Shame we can’t say the same thing about our political leaders and our society.

"Their answer my friends is pissing in the wind. Their answer is pissing in the wind!"

An overdose of THE VAYNES....hit it!

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted any music, and it’s been a while since I’ve posted any of this bands stuff, so here ya go with some good old honest no frills, but lots of spills and thrills rawk’n’roll from The Vaynes, captured on three 12” singles; Baby Cruel, Rock’n’Roll Crime and Big Cities, all released between 1987 and 1988. If yer into Iggy Pop and Johnny Thunders and all that jazz, then you really should check these out. One track of interest is Fun Parade from the Big Cities 12”, which pointed to a whole new direction the band could have taken, if they hadn’t split up/disappeared without trace. It’s a shame The Stone Roses beat them to it, cos if they’d carried on in this vein (pun intended) The Vaynes would have been fore runners in the dance/rock sound, rather than a footnote in the annals of 80’s rock’n’roll history. I did wonder where they were now, so made some enquiries via Mick Webster, former Johnny Thunders tour manager and associate of The Vaynes and now Kaiser Chiefs manager. He informed me that Stevie(singer) had moved to America and Mick (guitarist) had gone into medicine!! dunno if this is a reference to drug abuse or a career as a doctor, Mick never elaborated, and I didn’t want to waste anymore of his time. So there you have it, well almost, just gotta post their second album Vayneglorious at some point and that’s pretty much it from The Vaynes. Gone but not forgotten.

FUTURE/NOW/1968/2008

"The future's here right now if you're willing to pay the cost / The power crazy leaders who control your very fate / They steal your will, twist your life and sell your soul away / If you're drifting or wandering lost, you're the perfect target for the double cross / Freedom's yours right now, if you rule your own destiny." - MC5

OVER A BARREL

So Gordon Browns has had oil ‘crisis’ talks with OPEC countries, hoping to have persuaded them to invest in nuclear and renewable energy resources, as well as trying to get the price of crude oil reduced and production increased. I wonder what dodgy deals are gonna be struck? and will they involve guns and ammo? Lets face it Brown’s only gone to try and gain popularity by showing the British people that he’s trying to do something for them and that he cares about them, no other world leaders attended the conference. Well sometimes I think that we’ve only got ourselves to blame! I’m using the royal we here, because no matter how hard you try you can’t completely escape the capitalist charade, but some people play their parts a bit too seriously when things don’t have to be this way. We’re told that fuel prices have risen due to increased global demand, by emerging economies such as China. Why are these economies expanding? Because they are producing cheap consumer goods for the export market, and who buys the products? We do!
The oil producers are saying that the West is not only exaggerating the problem, but also to blame for it due to financial speculators and the plunging price of the dollar. Who knows who’s really to blame, greedy people or greedy politicians, what I do know is that no-one is taking any responsibility for their actions, from the families living beyond their means to the country under Labour living beyond its. One thing that does piss me off is people complaining about everything, I don’t want to sound like an MP telling everyone not to be miserable, the cheek of that fucker, but I didn’t hear people complaining when they were stocking up on consumer goods with cheap credit, Buy Now Pay Later! Well people are certainly paying now, and they’re not happy. Take some fucking responsibility please!, yes I know that they were conned, seduced by the wonders of capitalism into playing the game, but we all make our choices. Just as the people need to take responsibility, so do the government, and that don’t happen with pay rises, expenses, sleaze and corruption, and then they have the cheek to tell people that they aren’t that badly off, this may be true, but people aint gonna take it from politicians, no they’re just gonna demand more, just like they’ve seen the politicians get. As I’m typing this the 24hour news report says that public sector workers are planning strikes, they’re saying it could be a “summer of discontent” , now were have I heard that before, aah yes the 70’s, but it was a winter of discontent then, that was 30 years ago, times have changed, the revolution aint just gonna happen on the Picket Line now. In a world were the traditional politics of Left and Right have become increasingly blurred, because the Capitalist system has changed and the governments that protect it and enable it to function have had to change in order to maintain their power. In the old days it was the bosses that profited, now there are so many other links in the production it’s not so black and white, so rather than the workers risking their jobs and putting themselves into the propaganda firing line for accusations of “being greedy” ,“holding the country to ransom” etc by striking over pay, why don’t the Union as well as taking strike action organise and support their members into taking mass action; picket and protest outside the shops that rip not just their members off, but everyone, they’d soon get the country behind them then. That’s the way to go, consumer rights, consumer riots. People need to be encouraged not to buy the shit and if they must, not at the price that’s demanded. Lets start to barter and haggle over the price we think the goods are worth. If everyone questioned the price of things and refused to pay their price, producers and retailers would have to reduce their prices in order not to be left with shelves full of stock, and in the case of food stuffs, going past it’s sell by date. From consumer to retailer then to producers, if everyone in the chain haggled and bartered for a fair and affordable price somewhere the chain would snap and someone would have to take a cut in their financial profits, in order for their bloody system to survive. This sort of action can only happen from the bottom up, as we the consumer are the only ones that don’t profit from the purchase, all we get is satisfaction and gratification, and that aint guaranteed.

For how much longer is the 'international community' gonna tolerate the behaviour of that murdering madman Mugabe? Sanctions are about as much good as a ballot paper to an oppressed Zimbabwean!

SWELL MAPS - "A real charge, from the radio" (John Peel Session Oct 1978)

Possibly one of the most influential bands to emerge from the punk scene; the SWELL MAPS. They’d been recording in their bedrooms in Leamington Spa since around 1973, it wasn’t until the advent of the Punk attitude of anyone can do it that the Swell Maps began releasing records, then there was no stopping ’em taking the DIY ethic and running with it until 1980 when they ceased to function as a band. Everyone should own at least one Swell Maps recording! In my opinion this Peel Session, from Oct 1978 is one of their best. Everything about the band is encapsulated in these 4 songs; from the rock’n’roll punk blasts of Read About Seymour and International Rescue to the darker drone of Harmony in My Bathroom. (Blur blatantly stole the riff to this and turned it into the one that goes “woo, hoo”) Full Moon In My Pocket goes all experimental and seguines into Blam. I have a feeling this recording may be light of Another Song, but hey I aint complaining. I’m indebted to wolf44 over at the Nikki Sudden forum for providing me with this session, and to the original uploader Save The Wail Productions for sharing it in the first place, without them I wouldn't have been able to pass it on to you good folk. I cant recomend this download enough, so here ya go………CATCH!

Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, This made me and my ego laugh!

With the wonder of technology, I'm able to trace who's hit the blog and from what sites, I do this every couple of weeks just out of curriosity. Today I found a link to a site that isn't one of the usual suspects; audiojunkies forum it was called. Someone had put a link up to NPW, saying that their photography teacher had given them the link because there were some Manic Street Preachers bootlegs available there, then I scrolled down and read the following comment someone else had letf in the thread:

“Thanks just a shame the guys an utter cunt who believes that the revolution will come at any second, The Old Labour party rejected that in 1921, why do these people believe its all new labour thats destroyed the party.If communists believed in true and stable fairness then they wouldn't go to NUS and abstain on every decision, thats it i finally had to say it communists are cunts.Oh and using Divshare one of the worst for advertising of the share sites.....he completely destroys his message.Oh can i state by drawing moustaches on Gordon Brown like Hitler is just childish, couldn't find the Manics stuff but i've left a message on a few about him contradicting himself. He doesn't seem to be even that much of an intelligent leftie, he seems a fucking idiot.”

Well......I nearly spilled the cup of coffee I was drinking and choked on the fag I was smoking! Shit I dunno what ratled their cage? "utter cunt", "fucking idiot" steady on old chap, still there's nothing like a bit of healthy critisicm, can't remember any messages about contridictions, and as for not being able to find the Manics downloads, well they obviously didn't look hard enough, probably to busy reading my communist propaganda and looking at my childish artwork. I was gonna respond but thought nah, there's no point, if you don't like it...Fuck Off, and anyway one of the reasons this blog exists is to provoke a response and a reaction in/from people. Job done!

PRIMAL SCREAM - F***k The Festivals!

There’s not many bands whose new releases I look forward to; Primal Scream are an exception, they have been one of the most consistent and hard working bands over the years, forget their naff debut, but from then on in each release has either reaffirmed or reinvented the power of rock’n’roll. From their MC5/Thunders influenced much underrated self titled second album and on to the dance groove of the groundbreaking Screamadelica, then the sleazy druggy Stones’n’Roll of Give Out But Don’t Give Up. Vanishing Point finds the Scream machine experimenting with a post dance/dub rhythms vibe. My two personal favourites are Xterminator and Evil Heat, which find the band in a harsher, angrier and more political modus operandum. Riot City Blues harks back to their more traditional heads down no nonsense boogie, but still a glorious riot of tunes. So it’s with anticipation and slight excitement I await the arrival of the next scream selection; Beautiful Future, what a great and ironic title considering all the shit that’s going down in Britain and across the world at this point in time. The festival season is also approaching, not that I’ll be attending any. Paying a small fortune to get either sunburned or soaked to the skin, drinking watered down lager watching loads of crap bands while waiting for a few good ones aint my idea of fun anymore, but no doubt there’s plenty of people looking forward to going to one of the many that are happening, me…I think I’ll turn the stereo up and spend 3 days in my garden listening to a few live bootlegs. If anyone fancies joining me, here’s a couple of Primal Scream festival appearances: Reading 1994 and T in The Park 2002 only thing is my garden's full up, so you’ll have to find an alternative venue.

UNTITLED (But I may think of one later)

How are we all doing? Suitably depressed and oppressed, with the economic meltdown and social clampdown that the media are telling us about on a daily basis. It’s a battle for our minds, one they cannot win. Don’t let ‘em scare you, ride the storm, cos one day they will reap the whirlwind. It’s that fear factor again, make ‘em scared and they’ll do and accept anything as a solution to the problem. I presume it’s the same for all of you good folks wherever you are; after all the British government are saying there’s not a lot they can do about the economy, cos it’s a global problem, and some of you have mentioned that you’ve been living with a lot more state control for a lot longer, such are the ways of a New World Order, it may not have been spoken about by political and economic leaders for a few years, they probably think we’ve forgotten about the term, but that’s where we are heading, and getting closer with every passing year, it’s why people like Bush aint keen on a united Europe, they want US to have A multi national, unilateral dominating force, an idea that the world can be controlled by the few, for the few at the expense of the many, this aint a new concept it’s something that the money people have been working towards throughout history. So where does that leave Britain; stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea with an island mentality. Europe or America? Either way our children will continue to die in their wars for their ends, not ours. The choice isn’t ours! That’s their big picture and all we get are snap shots, designed to take our eyes from the canvas, little stories in the press to divide us and get us fighting amongst ourselves, divide and rule, control and conquer, they’ve done it before, don’t let ’em do it again. Here in Britain, the cost of living is said to be as high as it was in the 1970’s, the last time there was a major economic and political crisis. I use the word crisis, but to some it’s an opportunity to push forward their world order from either Brussels or Washington, why is immigration such a contested issue, in a one world order there’s no need for borders, another tool to divide and rule. The media, politicians and assorted bullshitters are calling for ’economic restraint’, asking for the workers not to demand wage increases because cost of living is rising, they say it will make things worse. Worse! are they that bad anyway? Who’s word have we got for it? Yes prices are rising, there is a slump in housing market, still don’t stop politicians and fat corporate cunts, (oops a Freudian slip meant to say cats) awarding themselves above inflation pay rises, and then telling the workers not to. Workers have every right to ask for increased pay, but lets just look back to the 70’s when Unions were demanding pay rises; the workers were slated in the media for being greedy, holding the country to ransom, and it was on the back of this ‘strife’ that Margaret Thatcher came to power, she filled a vacuum in a country that had been divided . Is it greed and not need? and if people have to economise then it’s just a case of valuing what is important, what is necessary, people can go without ’life’s little luxuries’, I mean surely there’s no need for new consumer goods, everyone must have stocked up on the latest must have gadgets when they were maxing out on their credit cards, that would be fine if it was the same for everyone, but it aint. While the poor scrimp and safe their pennies, the rich consolidate and protect their wealth in gated communities watched by CCTVwith a hotline to security patrols, they sun themselves in luxury resorts while the rest of us burn in the heat they created. Well it’s time to turn the heat on them. Each and everyone of us needs to be questioning every little thing, we need to communicate with each other, in the canteen at work, on the bus, in yer neighbourhood down the pub, where ever people talk, we need to be there telling em how it really is. I’m sure there’s gonna be differences of opinion over something’s, Immigration immediately springs to mind, that’s divide and rule for yer, but that doesn’t mean there aint gonna be similarities over what pisses people off, and by talking about an issue such as immigration hopefully people will be able to see just what a ’white elephant’ it really is. So lets start talking to each other supporting each other, and questioning the shit they sell us as the truth, the more people talk the louder the voice becomes until it turns into a scream! Words are their weapon and words are our weapon, it’s just we need to take up arms, then we’ll be doing a lot better!

NEWTOWN NEUROTICS - When The Oil Runs Out(live)

Think about the fat men who wear their slippers to drive they're cars while their machines are running, they wont walk very far they never realise what they've got, one day they will lose the lot because....

What's gonna happen when the buses don't run and what's gonna happen when the, winter comes what are you gonna do,what are you gonna do when the oil runs out?

Think about the record industry and the people its used self indulgent pampered popstars, which ones did you choose? It'll be far more drastic than no-more 12 inch plastic because....
What's gonna happen when the buses don't run and what's gonna happen when the, winter comes what are you gonna do,what are you gonna do when the oil runs out?

Are you prepared, for such a drastic change in life style you say "yeah" I don't believe you, look at your home the things that you own, the job that you work in they all could go
what about the tax exiles who live in the sun when the oil runs out, they'll have no-where to run
And what about the comfortable people who just cant go without they're forever panic buying, in case things run out they never realise what they've got, one day they will lose the lot because....
What's gonna happen when cycling becomes a strain and you need a drop of 3 in 1 on your bicycle chain what are you gonna do,what are you gonna do when the oil runs out.
Are you prepared for such a drastic change in life style you say "yeah" I don't believe you, look at your home the things that you own, the job that you work in they all could go.

(Copyright DREWETT 1980 Published by KRISTANNAR MUSIC)

A NEW POLITICAL WORLD NOT A NEW WORLD ORDER!

NIKKI SUDDEN - i belong to you (3 Track CD Single)

Here’s a bit more Nikki Sudden for ya. In the year of 1990, the roving rock’n’roll minstrel spent a few months hanging out in Athens, Georgia with Bill Berry Mike Mills and Peter Buck from R.E.M; they were all huge fans of Nikki’s, and were more than happy to contribute to some recording with him. The resulting album released in 1991 was called The Jewel Thief, or if you were in the USA, it was entitled Liquor, Guns and Ammo. i belong to you is taken from that record, it’s a steel guitar and harmonica laced little number, the singles b-sides Alley Of The Street and Jigsaw Blues don’t appear on the album. Check ‘em all out here!

IT'S OFFICIAL; BRITAIN'S NO LONGER A FREE COUNTRY !

I find myself at this point in time being ‘on benefits.’ Had to sign on this morning for the first time in 10 years, all change since then; found the security guards a bit unnerving, but hey surveillance society and all that, it’s only to be expected, especially in somewhere like a Benefits Office, where people get pushed to their limits having to deal with immovable bureaucratic staff, saw incidents of violence when I was last living or should that be existing off the state and that was pre ‘knive culture’ I’m digressing. So there I am standing up and waiting; all the seats were taken, so I squatted down with my back to the wall and legs bent, when one of the security guards approached me and said “You can’t sit down here!” which surprised me, as I was in no ones way and doing no harm. My response to the guard was "why?" he replied "because you can't" I then said “I thought this was a free country?” he replied “not anymore it isn’t, but you can sit outside.” “No” I said “I want to sit here” then the Manager of the office came over and informed me again that “you can’t sit here” my response to him was the same as to the security guard, why?,free country, blah, blah, blah, to which he replied “not in here it isn’t” just then my name was called, so any further disagreement was averted. Yes I could have gone and sat down outside to wait and hoped the security guard would come and tell me it was my turn, it was a nice day, but why? I don’t think I was causing any problem, so I didn’t see why I should! after all we are supposed to be living in a free country, I know that’s bollocks, but with little things like the above it is becoming more apparent that it’s bollocks with a capital B, O, double L, O, C, K, S!

SWASTIKA RISE (A PrimalScream Lyrical MixUp/MashUp)

My flesh my bones my soul I own / My mind's a weapon immune from infection /Blood in my eyes my vision is clear / A life of work, is a life of crime /You pay your taxes, you serve your time / All that money, where does it go? /Schools, prisons, hospitals, roads / Government funding of military science /Genetically engineered ultraviolent / DNA, killer genes / To program microchips, marines / See stealth bombers and tomahawks / On CNN, pay-per-view war / Multinational life is cheap / Venal psychic amputees / Your parasitic, your syphilitic /Your soul don't burn, You dark the sun / Scabs police government thieves / You rain down fire on everyone / I see your autosuggestion psychology / Elimination policy /
I'll vent my spleen, I'll keep my dreams / Hey wage slave where's your profit share? / They got ya down they're gonna keep you there / Sweet sixteen dehumanized / Deaths head factory suicide / Freeze your mind, metamorphose / Cocaine karma in the heroin zone / Soldiers, workers, maggots meat / Get on up, protest riot / Are you collateral damage or a legitimate target? / In a military industrial, illusion of democracy! / Rise, rise, Swastika Eyes!//

PRMLSCRM - Swastika Eyes/Rise (Live in Glasgow 2003)

IT'S NOT THAT THEY'RE CLEVER. IT'S JUST THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE STUPID!

HELTER SKELTER - Consume (3 track tape)

This is one of those back of a postage stamp posts; were I know absolutely fuck all about the band Helter Skelter, other than these 3 tracks should appeal to those of you who liked The Doctors Children and Only Ones posts. It’s that sort of sound, good stuff me thinks. An internet search told me that there was a band on Rough Trade records with the same name who released a single in 1989 called Last Train, and that someone is selling a copy on eBay for £5.99, is it the same band? Who knows, it could be as Consume was released in 1990, also on eBay some one is selling the 7” of this for $9.98. It’ll cost you nowt from here, if you fancy giving it a blast.

POLITRICKS

A weeks a long time in politics, well so it appears is 24 hours. Since the debacle of the other nights vote when Gordon Brown showed scant regard for democracy on several levels and bullied and bribed the 42 day bill through parliament, the shadow home secretary David Davis has resigned. Well who would have fucking believed I’d be saying “respect” to any MP, let alone a Tory one, but If David Davis is prepared to stand up for his principles and show the courage of his convictions, who am I to knock him,especially as I have banged on about the same things. True he may well have other Machiavellian motivations, he is a politician after all, but at this present time the fact is he has resigned due to his dismay at the attitude towards civil liberties and the “slow strangulation of fundamental British Freedoms” His resignation means that there will be a by-election in his former constituency, and he has announced his intentions to stand on the anti 42 Days platform and use the by-election to debate the intrusive power of the state. The Liberal Democrats have already said that they wont field a candidate and contest the seat as they are in agreement with Davis over civil liberties and the 42 day issue, at this moment in time Labour haven’t said whether they will or wont. Thanks to Labours bed fellow Rupert Murdoch the media coverage over it all has been rather negative saying it is just a stunt and that it has/will divide the Conservative party, but I don’t see that, as the only MP of theirs to vote with the government was Anne Widicombe. Even if it does, I don’t really care, what I do care about is those in power giving a shit, standing up for their beliefs and having the courage of their convictions, which in my mind is what David Davis has done, this contrasts with my local MP Barbara Follet, who has banged on enough times in the past about Human Rights and her first husband being murdered by government forces in Apartheid South Africa, blah, blah, blah, then surprise, surprise she toes the party line over the 42 days just like she did over not lowering the abortion limit. What price for clean windows hey Babs?

A spot of number crunching!

42 Days
315 For
306 Against
Not a resounding majority was it! Especially when you take into consideration some of Browns Bribes, which helped secure votes for the Bill.
£1.2 million for Northern Island = 9 MP’s votes
£200,000 for ex-miners with lung disease = 2 MP’s votes.
Then there’s the £3,000 per day that anyone who is detained over 28 days will receive if they are released without charge. This may protect individuals, but could prove costly if mistakes are made, and who trusts the government not to fuck up? why only last night as the votes were being counted the news broke (it's all in the timing) that top secret documents relating to Al-Qaeda and Iraq had been found on a train. So where's the money gonna be coming from for all this? I'll give you 3 guesses, Yes got it in 1 us! The taxpayer, as a society we are in reality gonna be paying to have had a basic freedom taken away. I love the smell of democracy in the morning!

"Lets not talk of love and flowers / and things that don't explode...."

The year 1973. Britain was under threat of an IRA bombing campaign. Proto-Punkers (not that anyone knew it at the time, and in true punk Stalinist revisionism it would be many years before people like John Lydon admitted what a hugh influence the band had on him) HAWKWIND released a single; Urban Guerrilla, which was subsequently banned by the BBC and withdrawn by the band. The year 2008. Britain is perceived by some to be under threat from Muslim extremists, and those vital and relevant as ever Rock’n’Rollers PRIMAL SCREAM have just released their take on Urban Guerrilla as a freebie download, (available here!) It rocks like a suicide bomber in the public gallery of The Houses of Parliament!

So MP’s are gonna be voting on a bill that will give the state the power to lock people up for 42 days without charge, I’ve deliberately left out the phrase ‘Terrorist Suspects’ on account of the fact that other laws brought in by the government to keep us safe and secure from terror have been abused by Local Authorities to keep an eye on how much waste households produce and whether people live in the correct catchment areas for schools!! So if the 42 day ruling becomes law just how long will it be before possibly innocent people are locked up for a longer length of time, regardless of their crime, just because they can be?? and what about, if thanks to some political newspeak a protest group such as Fathers4Justice find themselves defined as terrorists? It seems like Gordon the moron has the publics support on this (if polls are to be believed) looks like the government have done a good job in creating a ‘Fear Factor’ around terrorism, where by some of the population would happily let their freedoms be signed away by a Prime Minister that selectively hears what he wants to where the public are concerned. Also lets not forget that a premise of the war on terror was about preserving our freedom…..Well we oil know that was bollocks! A footnote: Since I wrote this post a couple of days ago, the government are telling the public not to panic buy petrol amid fears of shortages due to a tanker drivers strike, and the public are also being prepared for rising prices at the pumps. Well there you go; expect massive queues at petrol stations, because I'm sure the public are gonna take no notice of what the government says about anything anymore, especially after the Iraq debacle. Ironically a war for oil and we have no oil. Enuff said!

SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK - Live in Manchester, Sept 1985

Another well, well, well played bootleg tape of mine. I Saw Sputnik at Abbey Road Studios in Dec 85, and they totally blew my mind, coming on like nothing I’d heard before, a 21st Century space age New York Dolls, it would be a good few months before they released any product, so all I had to listen to was this here recording of a gig in Manchester a couple of months before Abbey Road. Once the product was out there and the hype began , they were everywhere, people had a love hate relationship with the band you either loved ‘em or hated ‘em. Audiences reacted violently, band responded violently and found themselves all over the tabloid press; SICKY SICKY SPUTNIK one headline screamed. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were not yer average Rock’n’Roll band, but one, who largely due to ex Gen X bassist and leading Sputnik figure Tony James saw where the future was at; with their use of samples, repetitive techno beats and visuals it was very similar to the vision of Mick Jones’s Big Audio Dynamite, who in Sputniks early days was their sound mixer. Not the first nor the last time they worked together, but hey we weren’t here to talk about London SS or Carbon/Silicon. Anyway, enough of the bollocks, here’s the music!

What A Gross Spectacle !

While people are dying around the world for the want of basic necessities Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin are gonna spend £5 million pounds on their wedding! How fucking obscene is that?

Ha, ha, ha, ha, Harman !

Today’s post goes out to Fathers4Justice, for taking a stand for the man against the man on the roof top of the Women and Equality Minister Harriet Harman’s house. I’ve been thinking recently that I really should get involved in some sort of non-violent direct action protest sort of thang rather than just sitting on my arse taping at a keyboard ranting and raving about everything that’s wrong with it all. I dunno about fancy dress though, but hey….By any means necessary and all that. From Molotov cocktails and barricades to superman outfits and stunts the weapons and methods of revolution may have changed but the message is still the same; people want control over their own lives and to feel oppressed no-more. Remember when smashing the state to keep a song in your heart, so hears some old skool/new skool anarcho punk pop from LOST CHERREES and some riot on ranting poetry from EDDIE GOLDTOOTH. This is an EP that was released in 2004 as a fund raiser for Fathers4Justice in their fight for Truth, Justice and Equality in family law. Check it out here!

GLAS'fucking'VEGAS

No post yesterday, was feeling a bit fuzzy headed after a few beers on Friday night when I went to see GLASVEGAS in Hertford, what a great fuckin’ night; brilliant venue, good vibe, nice ‘n’ friendly, just like places I used to see bands; a real intimate see in to the whites of their eyes place. Two support bands the brilliantly named THOMAS TANTRUM and the not so well named but surprisingly good KICKS, who specialise in Rock music as it used to be played during the 80’s. Hints of early U2 a slight trace of Killing Joke maybe? a slight drop of Verve/Oasis swagger along with driving guitars, catchy hooks and a real passion and enthusiasm for what they are doing, and nice people for putting up with a gibbering drunk slurring to them about how they were better than shit like The Courteeners etc , which they are. They’ve released one limited edition single, check it out here! and are presently recording their debut album with Youth producing. Here’s hoping they get a little bit more than 15 minutes. My girlfriend wasn’t too impressed with Kicks; she found it a bit ‘lads metal’ ???? yeah whatever, maybe.. but hey I’m a sucker for a bit of cock rock sometimes, not that Kicks were anything of the sort, (it just gave me an excuse for slipping in a dodgy Carry On innuendo.) Now THOMAS TANTRUM on the other hand, she loved, I thought they were OK, a bit twee and jangly for me, but saying that they were a lot better than a lot of the shit the music biz try and sell to the punters. Speaking of which, lets take a look at the headliners GLASVEGAS. The new darlings of NME and Radio One. The next big thing, another bunch of Rock’n’Roll saviours, but are they any good? Well yes they fuckin’ are!, but I knew that anyway having been listening to their Home Tape for the past couple of months and gagging to see if they could cut the mustard live, and yes they fuckin’ could. Dark, intense, brooding but still uplifting. Jesus and The Mary Chain meet a 50’s do wop group on the streets of switchblade Britain 2008. Their songs tell tales of absent fathers Daddy’s Gone, school yard violence Go Square Go, social workers Geraldine, and more violence Gonna Get Stabbed, which they didn’t play live. Now if I was their record company I’d have released that as their new single, not Geraldine, but that’s just my twisted sense of humour. Glasvegas songs are a real snap shot into the live’s of young people today written and played in a way that oldies can sill relate to. Beutifull and brilliant, a very special band who are gonna get a lot more than 15 minutes, but lets hope they don’t lose their and soul and purity, cos they seemed genuine and humble folk. If you wanna check out what all the fuss is about their Home Tapes are here!

Reading the papers, listening to the news, it’s all starting to become like groundhog day. Stabbings, Surveillance, MP’s expenses, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Young People, Immigrants, Economic crisis, blah, blah, blah, blah. Day in day out, week in week out, month in month out, it just goes on. No new(s), just the old. I often find myself starting to write about something I've read or heard recently, and thinking shit I’m sure I’ve written about this before, then I remember I have, dunno what that says, perhaps I’m just a boring bastard with nothing much new to say, or perhaps in the big bad world nothing is actually changing, or has changed for a long while. Perhapes the powers that be are happy with it that way, after all it keeps them in a job controlling our lives, but then on the other hand if people took control over their lives perhaps half these politicians, bureaucrats etc could be made redundant, cos there’d be no need for them as the people would be running the show themselves, but the powers that be don’t want that, so they just keep stirring shit up and moving it round and round and round.

MANSUN - Revlon Revolution (Tape)

The year was 1995 and it was all going a bit Brit-Pop, then along came Mansun. Originally named after Charles Manson, changing the spelling saved on legal fees. Mansun were out there on their own, with a fanatical often obsessive following. A genre defying band with an extreme sartorial excellence and ellegence. Their sound ranged from; Prog to Punk and Pop to Rock, sometimes in the space of one song. They released a string of brilliant E.P’s and 3 albums before disbanding in 2003, during that time they worked with both punk pioneer Howard Devoto and dance music pioneers 808 State. Mansun filled the void left by the Manic Street Preachers after Richey’s disappearance and provided an anti-dote to Brit Pop, for that a lot of music fans were grateful. This recording is a bootleg tape featuring Radio sessions and live tracks recorded between 96-97. It’s just a click away!

U.S Election Report.

So it looks like that at long last the Democrats have sorted out a presidential candidate; Barack Obama, good choice there, maan! that Clinton woman what a nightmare, fuck having her in charge of the worlds ’biggest super power’ , still it could be worse, come the election the voters may choose Republican John McCain. I dunno how true this is, but I heard a story recently; that claimed due to a war injury John McCain is unable to raise his right arm to it’s full extent, so if that is the case, that means every time he waves, it’s gonna look like he’s giving a Nazi salute; how unfortunate!

SCORPIO RISING - Live in Stevenage 18/5/91

In the wake of The Stone Roses, Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets etc redefining the indie guitar sound into something called ‘baggy’ during the early 90's along came a long line of chancers that never stood a chance in the cut throat music biz, where for some 15 minutes meant 10 minutes, a shame because Scorpio Rising were more than chancers they were a bloody good band that deserved more than they got. A phenomenal live outfit, who played in Stevenage several times always going down well with everyone from bikers to punks and dance music fans. They had an infectious sound with funk influenced bass lines, dancey backbeats and heavy often psychedelic sounding Stooges/MC5 style guitars swirling around, more raging on than raving on. Great fucking stuff ! But hey don’t just take my word for it, check out this live recording from the mixing desk of when they first played at Bowes Lyon House. Chop, chop, click, click! What ya waiting for.

LAGER, LAGER, LAGER...SHOUTING!

What is going on with all this under age drinking business? Young people have always supped a few beers before they’re legally old enough, nothing new there! Anyone remember those half cans of Harp lager? I drank a few of those before turning 18, but there was more alcohol in a winos piss than one of those. So maybe that’s one of the problems; stronger lager. Then there’s things like alco-pops, never had them in my day, cheap and plentiful supermarket deals on alcohol, never had that. I seem to remember most pubs had an off licence part attached to them and there was more control over the sale of alcohol. The government are now talking of guidelines for parents about when to introduce your children to alcohol, in order to tackle the binge drinking culture and introduce a continental culture of drinking were children are supervised. A bit fucking late if you ask me, should have done that years ago, before introducing the stronger continental lagers to the market. There are already cries of “nanny state” well if parents aren’t taking responsibility for the bringing up of their children, and it’s causing problems what do they expect? We are now in a situation were people have been given freedoms but taken no responsibility, and as a result these freedoms are now being attacked in order to find a solution to the problem. Ironically the solutions proposed to the problems today, were the problems of yesterday, when Thatcher and co felt that the state interfered in the individuals life’s too much; the solution was to free the market and free the individual. Great, no problem, well not for 25 years, then there's one big fucking problem, and I aint just talking about binge drinking. I dunno, it’s fucked up! Think I’ll go and get pissed and forget about it all.

R.I.P BO !

"THE ROCK 'N' ROLL NURSE"

LUNACY IS LEGEND (E.P) Featuring: Nikki Sudden, Times, The Necessitarians

If you enjoyed the What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen posts, I’m hoping yer gonna like this one, 5 tracks 3 of ’em Marc Bolan covers, courtesy of Nikki Sudden, Times and The Necessitarians, who also provide a couple of their own numbers. Nikki Suddens no stranger to this blog, so I aint gonna rant on about his genius etc, etc. Times are basically former Television Personalities Ed Ball, and The Necessitarians well I know nothing about ’em and the net only sheds light on the philosophy of Necessitarianism which is basically the belief that the natural world obeys the laws of nature and in some sense are necessary, so there you have it all very interesting but I have digressed, so back to this ‘ere music which was released on 12” vinyl by Barracuda Blue Records sometime around 1987/88 and that’s as much as I can tell yer, if you wanna check it out just click!

CHIEFS OF RELIEF - The Singles

When Mick Jones got together Big Audio Dynamite, he certainly helped create a unique sound where Rock’n’Roll rubbed shoulders with a dance groove, it wasn’t long before others picked up the vibe, I’ve already posted some Lightning Strike and Romeo Street Gang, so now it’s time for some Chiefs of Relief. Their guitarist/vocalist Mathew Ashman was no stranger to pounding tribal rhythms, having previously played with Bow, Wow, Wow, prior to that he’d played in Adam And The Ants. Drummer Paul Cook ex Sex Pistol and Professional needs no introductions, the keyboard player used to play in Martian Dance, as for the bassist, who knows. As far as I’m aware the band only released Two singles; Freedom To Rock and Weekend, a self-titled album was also released, but only in the USA. Despite a big buzz in the music biz about the band, a tour with Big Audio Dynamite and appearances on TV programs The Tube and No.73 the band never really took off and faded away into obscurity. Mathew Ashman sadly died a few years back, Paul Cook continues to milk the Pistols for all they’re worth, which in 2008 should be about 50p but sadly retrolution seems to pay well, as for the rest of the band, once again who knows, and Mick Jones, well once again he took the lead with Carbon/Silicon by releasing Mpfree downloads only, an idea picked up upon in recent years by the likes of The Charlatans, Radiohead and a whole host of others. Anyway, enough waffle lets get on with the show. If you wanna hear the Chiefs of Relief singles + b-sides and a remix, just click! Shit, almost forgot; this post is for Harry the sometimes bastard, a regular irregular commenter from way back when I first started this blog, cheers mate.

THERE'LL BE SOME MUSIC FOR YA TOMORROW.

Well, it looks like my weeks up! So here we are again, back in front of the computer, brain ticking over….. (Well almost.) So what’s been happening in the world then? I could bore you with what’s been happening in my world, but I wont, I’ll just bore you with what’s been happening in the ‘real world’ instead! So then; things still not looking too good for Labour, shame for/on the sham, mind you I have no faith in any politicians, especially those that want to keep their expenses secret, the ones that we pay! You wouldn’t mind as much if they were actually doing their job properly and trying to fix ‘broken Britain‘; the one that they broke! rather than bodge the job, but when kids are killing kids on a daily basis and the public are losing faith in the justice system, as household bills rise those in charge of the mess then want more money; for doing what week in week out? Takin’ the piss! Cos that’s what they’re doing, my local MP Barbara Follet had the windows of her London residency cleaned 18 times one year total cost £1,600. Then there’s; travel, stationary, computer equipment total cost £111,193 plus the £22,107 she also claimed for her London home, no wonder she wants to keep her expenses secret. That was the story on the front of my local paper waiting for me after my week away. Hey it’s good to be back!

THIS MADE ME LAUGH!

In some sections of the media the 'Emo cult' is being blamed for the deaths of young people and the rising fuel costs for the death of haulage firms, put both stories together and you've got...... Emo oil!