Mark Perry’s got to be one of my favourite figures from the punk era. From ATV to The Door and Window via The Good Missionaries, you were always guaranteed no guarantees as to what his musical output would be, which to me is the true spirit of punk; pushing the boundaries and breaking down the barriers of convention. Mark reformed ATV in 1981 with original members Alex Fergusson and Dennis Burns and released the album Strange Kicks on IRS records, one of my favourite ATV albums, a dubby, punky, poppy delight. It was this album they were promoting when they visited Stevenage in the summer of 1981. My most vivid memory of the gig was the sight of ATV in bright Hawaiian shirts, possibly a reaction to the black leather and army clobber that seemed to be the choice of fashion for the punks at the time, or just because the weather was nice. The bands set was a colourful one, mainly drawing from the Strange Kicks album, with Love Lies Limp and Action Time and Vision thrown in for good measure. First band on the bill were local heroes Victims of The Pestilence with their pronto lo-fi punk racket. They had some great little tunes that had impressed Gene October from Chelsea so much he personally invited them to play at the gig this recording is from. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get hold of the Chelsea set, so it’s just Alternative TV and Victims of The Pestilence. For best results turn the bass down a tad. I had it a bit too high when converting to digital. Apart from that these are two great recordings. (You even get Alternative TV’S sound check) Enjoy! and thanx to Simon.H for the tape. The Victims of The Pestilence recording goes out to Brutha Bloggers, H and Longy with their Cactus Mouth Informer and Punk Friction, cos they enjoyed the singles.
