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

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

RUTS DC - Live'n'Direct.

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

A Post With No Title.

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

PHIL SHOENFELT - Backwoods Crucifixion

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

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

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

The Face Of Modern Britain.

Brutal, Beaten, Battered and Bruised !

NIKKI SUDDEN - Texas

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

NO MOTIVATION. NO INSPIRATION.

MindlessTeenageVomit.

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

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

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

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

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

and....no birds do sing.

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

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

COINCIDENCE CORNER.

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

The I's have it!

Nothing changes except the clothes.

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

THE ALARM - "Declare yourself an unsafe building"

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

CORRELATION CORNER.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMASHED AGAIN!