TV EYE - 1977-1978 (*ARTICLE/REVIEW*)

A couple of weeks back I got a surprise package through my letter box. It contained a CDR and some photocopied info on a band called TV Eye. My instant reaction....WOW! and.... YES! Why you may ask well let me tell ya.....Birmingham legends TV Eye first came to my ears back in 1984 on the rather brilliant first What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen compilation album with the track Stevies Radio Station which is a piece of swooning pop'n'roll since then I've wanted to hear more from 'em. Now thanks to those good people at Seventeen records and Stephen Duffy for preserving the recordings I can, and so can you. 1977-1978 is a collection of lost studio and rehearsal recordings by TV Eye.

“2017 is going to see many bands celebrating the 40^th anniversary of their 1977 debut records. There won't be nearly so many from 1977 making their debut 40 years later in 2017. Here is one which is, TV Eye” - Seventeen Records Press Release.

So after waiting 33 years to hear more TV Eye, what do I think? Well....once again let me tell ya....

Opening track Repartee is a short sharp and sweet blast of Power pop Punk. It's followed by the beautiful and brilliant uplifting pure pop of Stevies Radio Station which in turn is swiftly followed by the strutting and swaggering Citizen Then we have the angsty and angular, taunt, tense and narcissistic proto post-punk Let Me Win, more Voidoids than Heartbreakers. The last of the studio recordings is the intense and grandiose Dreaming of Your Cars. The fact that none of these songs saw the light of day at the time is a rock'n'roll crime. The rehearsal tracks (Roses, When You're Gone, Cry, Cry To You and Kites are more unearthed gems, Rock'n'Roll relics that still sparkle and shine through their rough'n'ready no-fi state, they sound in places like something the Cuddly Toys would come out with a couple of years later.

TV Eye sound like The Stooges meet the Stones with a slice of Sparks added to the whole Rock'n'Roll Molotov cocktail mix. Switch-blades swish and slash as the alley cats screech, even at their most sensitive these songs scream with a spikey fuck you attitude and abandon. Dave Kusworths razor sharp guitar riffs'n'licks duel with the rhythmic chops of Paul Adams guitar, while the simple and solid rhythm section of Dave Twist's Drum's and Eamon Duffy's Bass hold it all together and Vocalist Andy Wickets wired and wild whelps, whoops wails and woo woos, add some theatrics to the whole show, which unfortunately was a rather short one.

The demise of TV Eye came shortly after Duffy and Twist joined up to help out The Prefects, Duffy opted to stay, but Dave Twist returned to TV Eye, who stumbled on but eventually fell apart by the middle of 1979 and the rest is, as they say.... history; The Subterranean Hawks, The Rag Dolls, The Jacobites, and Duran Duran....Friends'n'fans of the band Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, soon to be a future member of Duran Duran used to visit the band at their Cheapside rehearsal space and had been taking notes; Stevies Radio Station later evolved into Rio, and there is speculation that many other TV Eye ideas were taken by Duran Duran, once again the rest is history and what could have beens, but never weres but without these there might never have been The Bounty Hunters, The Tenderhooks or The Black Bombers.

TV Eye were new romantic glam punksters; ahead of their time. 1977-1978 is a timeless collection of Rock'n'Roll and it's time is now! Available from 24^th March as a very limited red vinyl pressing of 300 copies on Seventeen Records, you also get a four page photo insert and essay by Dave Twist. A CD release with a couple of extra tracks will follow. What ever the format this album must be heard at all costs, it's a newly discovered masterpiece to shake the wall not to hang on the wall. Lovingly presented and packaged by people that care. This album is indeed a thing of beauty a work of art, and a must have for anyone with a luv of Rock'n'Roll at it's most primal and feral.

For more details hit the TV Eye 1977-1978 Facebook Page.

Acknowledgement to Nikki Suddens book The Last Bandit for background info to this piece. 

NIKKI SUDDEN - Egyptian Roads (*A MPFREE Re-Post.*)

CLICK HERE TO HEAR!

2013....The Beat Went on!

2013....What's been released this year and going round and round on my CD player. Well....In no particular order we have.... JOHNNY THUNDERS with Hurt Me, this album showed his tender side; stripped naked with just a guitar, a brittle and beautiful listen NIKKI SUDDEN, The Boy From Nowhere Who Fell Out Of The Sky is a six CD box set. A lovingly crafted and compiled collection of Nikki’s work. Both these were reissued by the wonderful Easy Action Records. Sweet Revenge by the criminally ignored Punk'n'Rollers the LIGHTNING RAIDERS, was not so much a re-issue, because back in the day it was never released. Knox may not be touring with THE VIBRATORS but On The Guest List shows he's still part of the band, with a collection of songs that rank amongst the best he's written, and all supported by a cast of special guests. The UK SUBS, they just keep going, and going and getting better as they go, maturing with age disgracefully. CHARLIE HARPER and CAPTAIN SENSIBLE, this was a real surprise Too Much Reality....took Punk to a new Psychedelic underworld of neon grey. GLM, released three blinding Rocky yet slightly poppy download only tracks from their website. DEADCUTS, do just that....they cut you dead! A switch-blade to the throat of all the taste-makers and trend-setters. Deadcuts are out there and have got something special going on. BABYSHAMBLES Sequel To The Prequel, a brilliant album, Pete Doherty has been the only real Great British Rock'n'Roller for the last....fuck knows how long. THE MOB returned with a single Rise Up! an anthemic call to arms. THE FITS, reformed legends of the UK82 Punk scene, returned with some Punk Rockin' action with their Lead On EP. NEW MODEL ARMY, released a dark and moody master piece, and JAMES KING AND THE LONE WOLVES crawled out of the wreckage with some sublime swamp rock blues. Finally a couple of Punk'n'Roll supergroups cut through the crap this year. THE CRUNCH with their album Busy Making Noise which is a blast of pure Power Pop Punk, their line up includes former members of the Cockney Rejects, Lords of New Church/Sham 69 The Clash and Diamond Dogs. THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOYS, include a Twenty Flight Rocker (Gary Twinn) Sex Pistol (Glen Matlock) a Gen X/Chelsea (James Stevenson) Blondie (Clem Burke.) released three stompin' tracks via their web page. Hopefully an album will be released in 2014. Finally PRIMAL SCREAM's 2013 was a real return to form, a musical and lyrical statement of intent. Well there you have it a year in my Rock'n'Roll world....Here's to the next one!

NIKKI SUDDEN - Egyptian Roads.

The recording of Egyptian Roads began in 1986, but it remained unfinished and unreleased until 1997. Nikki assembled a great cast for this long lost and forgotten masterpiece; Rowland S Howard, Dave Kusworth, Freddy Lynxx, Phil Shoenfelt and Epic Soundtracks. It's a collection of the reflective and romantic, ragged and raunchy Rock'n'Roll that Nikki did so well and uniquely.  There will never be another. The passing of time is testimony to that fact, when you listen to some of the shite that passes for Rock'n'Roll these days something is lacking....Nikki Sudden, gone but never to be forgotten!  

Some more action from EASY ACTION RECORDS!

Some new releases coming out in the next couple of months for a couple of NPW faves, time to put on the balaclava and withdraw some money from the bank.  Full details of release dates and prices available here at the EASY ACTION website.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Live @ Klub Wiv No Name, Stevenage 20/2/93 (Re-Re-Post)

It's the third time I've posted this little gem. Just Nikki his Guitar, and small gathering of people in the intimate setting of the upstairs bar at Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage. although now I'm thinking about it I seem to remember Glenn Tranter (The Jacobites) being there, can't remember if he joined Nikki for any of the numbers, but I'm getting a vague recollection that he might have.

Unfortunately this recording isn't the full set, there were technical difficulties; someone forgot to hit the record button at the start and then the tape ran out before the end. Shit happens! But hey ho at least you've thirty plus minutes of vintage Nikki Sudden if you want it.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Live @ Bay 63, London 27/10/86

Nikki Sudden and Roland S Howard

Someone asked for some more live Nikki Sudden, so here we go then, lets take a trip back to Bay 63 under the Westway in Ladbrook Grove, London in October 1986. I've gone for this one for the simple reason that I went along to this, not that I can tell you anything much about the evening, other than it was slightly chaotic, as were several of the other Nikki Sudden gigs I went to around 86/87 (Sir George Robey and Camden Palace), or was that just me? Could explain why my recollections are rather limited to remembering lots of paisley shirts and pudding bowel* haircuts, and I would say a sea of scarves, but I don't remember it being that packed. I do remember a relatively unknown band at that time My Bloody Valentine being on the bill, they went on to big things with their lo-fi feedback rumblings, they didn't do anything for me back then, nor did they impress me in their later ear splitting shoegazing NME days. This gig was a launch for Nikki's Texas album, which was his first release on Creation Records, it also marked the beginnings of his musical partnership with Roland S Howard; around the time Texas was being recorded Roland met up with Nikki and played on a couple of tracks on the album. He also joined him for several live performances, including this one, they then went on to record a couple of sublime and suicidal albums together; Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc and Dead Men Tell No Tales, before parting company and going their separate ways.

A big regret was not picking up a copy of this from one of the bootleg tape stalls in Camden Market during the late 80's, probably the same source as this recording came from....???? Talking of which, I'd like to credit t where I got this copy from, but I'm fucked if I can remember who or where it came from, but thanx to whoever from where ever!  and you can get it here ENJOY!

*A spelling mistake I noticed, but I thought I'd keep it as it was for humorous reasons, because I've always thought those bowl haircuts looked shit! 

JOHNNY THUNDERS / NIKKI SUDDEN (Re-Posts)

Today’s music is a double header of re-posts; JOHNNY THUNDERS and NIKKI SUDDEN, it seemed fitting to put them both together in one post as they crossed paths in several ways. Johnny was always big influence on Nikki, both musically and stylistically. Nikki first met Johnny when The Heartbreakers were touring Britain in 1977, they then met up again when  Nikki interviewed Johnny for Zig Zag magazine in 1980, during the encounter they scored and took drugs together before swapping certain items of clothing with each other. Five years later on The Jacobites first tour of Germany in 1985, someone in the audience shouted to Nikki “You're Johnny Thunders in disguise” Nikki responded by gesturing toward Dave Kusworth and saying “and this is Keith.” The only time they came close to a musical collaboration, as far as I'm aware, was when Nikki recorded Johnny’s Have Faith, for a tribute CD, Again...This One's For J.o.h.n.n.y. (Thunders didn't play on it) that and the Thunders covers that Nikki often slipped into his live sets. Sadly both Nikki and Johnny are no longer with us, but their music and memories continue to not only live on but grow.

The Zig Zag interview can be found at Cactus Mouth Informer. Nikki's recollections of Johnny Thunders can be seen at White Trash Soul, and some more of Nikki's writings, about Johnny can be read at What A Nice Way To Turn 17.

You can't put your arms around a memory, but you can get your hands on JOHNNY THUNDERS – Live in Stevenage.... Here, and NIKKI SUDDEN's Lost In A Sea Of Scarves....there. 

Remember kids the drugs do work, but they can screw you up and could kill you!  

Essential Ephemera #11

Remembering Nikki Sudden (19th July 1956 - 26th March 2006), with an article from a 1993 Record Collector Magazine.

SINGLED OUT: Nikki Sudden / The Godfathers / The Derellas

No music with this post, just 3 short reviews of recent singles released by some NPW faves. I say singles, but they aint really singles, well not like I remember singles being, they’re single downloads, and it’s just not the same as buying vinyl or CD, there’s no real product to hold in yer hands, no cover or case, just the music. Quick and convenient maybe, but also sterile and clinical, which is something that can’t be said for the three tracks:
NIKKI SUDDEN - I Know You is a Rocking little foot taper taken from Playing With Fire; a carefully selected compilation of completely unreleased songs recorded for Nikki's last two studio albums "Treasure Island" & "The truth doesn't matter " which is available from Easy Action Records. THE DERELLAS - She Kissed The Gun is action-packed and inspired by the downfall of legendary producer Phil Spector, it spits out classic 77 guitars like The Clash meeting The Ramones.
THE GODFATHERS - Back Into The Future finds the band as rawkuss and angry as they ever were; “What’s the problem? I’ll tell you the problem / You’re slaves to money and it don’t mean nothing”

Essential ephemera #6

A couple of pieces of Nikki Sudden related ephemera for yer. I went to both of these gigs, hazy memories though. The one at The Sir George Robey was in 1987, I think , and the band were late turning up and went on late. Roland S Howard was on guitar for both these gigs, which gave a taut tense sound to the tunes. The Sir George Robey was a pub right next to Finsbury Park Station, bands played in the small backroom. It was a right toilet of a venue, literally because the mens toilets had a habit of overflowing and flooding. Camden Palace on the other hand was a bit of a flash nite club in err…Camden of all places, where the bands used to come on late sandwiched in between the disco. I remember when Nikki played the dance floor was full before and after, but during his set people drifted off to the bars to drink and look cool, leaving only a scattering of people to witness what would be Roland’s last gig with Nikki’s French Revolution band, in 1988 if memory serves me correctly, I maybe wrong though.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Live in Berlin 17/2/06

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any Nikki Sudden stuff , and this is a real treat, possibly the most intimate performance of his you’ll ever hear. Just Nikki, his guitar and voice plus about six other people in a Berlin bar in Feb 2006. Great stuff! A big thanks to my mate Chris for passing this CD on to me.

NIKKI SUDDEN / JOHNNY FEAN / SIMON CARMODY - The Last Bandits In The World.

Sometime in or around 1986 Nikki Sudden got together an occasional band with Simon Carmody from legendary Irish cult psychedelic pop, punk’n’rollers The Golden Horde and Johnny Fean from Irish Celtic Rockers The Horslips. Together they were The Last Bandits, this is their only album; The Last Bandits In The World, and a fine melancholy folky affair it is.

NIKKI SUDDEN & CAPTAIN SENSIBLE - Kill City (MP3)

Here’s a short but very, very sweet post for ya. Only one track. But what a tune….It’s Nikki Sudden and Captain Sensible teaming up and tearing up Iggy Pop’s Kill City. Nikki and the Captain first met in 1977 when Nikki was following Marc Bolan on tour, and The Damned were supporting him, at one point Sensible and co. thought Nikki was a spy for The Clash’s manager Bernie Rhodes, not that that stopped them from keeping in touch over the years. The photo of Captain Sensible is from the Nikki Sudden memorial show were he fittingly played three Marc Bolan numbers along with Max Dechampe and Daryl Bath. In 2005 The Captain visited Nikki in Berlin and collaborated with him on Kill City, which was included on the compilation album He Put The Bomp in The Bomp which celebrated the life of Greg Shaw founder of Bomp Records. Other artists on the album include The Warlocks, The Barracudas, The Fuzztones, Soledad Brothers and loads more. The whole album can be found to download over at Youngmosstongue. So click here for a blast of Kill City and there if you want it all, either way you aint gonna be disappointed. "I'M SICK OF KEEPING QUITE I AM THE WILD VOICE"

NIKKI SUDDEN - The Last Bandits Last Gig.

Four years have passed since that fatal morning of March 26th when in New York, hours after playing a gig Nikki Sudden was found dead in his room. His music has been a constant, through the ups’n’downs of my life his music and words have always been there to escape and get lost in. From the ramshackled DIY punk of the Swell Maps and the lovelorn laments of The Jacobites, to his Rolling Stonesy solo stuff. He could hit a typewriter with a quilt and I’d still love it. So I was quite excited to find a recording of his final gig.
I liberated/lifted/leached it from The Lemonheads forum. No permission was asked, I make no apologies for this, as I wouldn’t have been prepared to take no for an answer with this one, not when some of you guy’s’gals are into yer Nikki Sudden, and may not have heard it, this poignant show needs to be out there and not just left to rest where only Lemonheads ‘fans’ are gonna get a chance to hear it.
I’ve listened to it many times since I procured it. At first with sadness, because in one sense it’s not his finest, in another it is; as at sums up the total Rock’n’Roll attitude and abandon. This is Punk!
The last shows Nikki, the travelling troubadour played in New York City, were either him with just his Guitar or with Drummer Danny Hole. For the gig at The Knitting Factory Tap Bar on March 25th 2006, as well as Danny he invited along Bass player Alan Merrill, who’d previously played in 70’s PopRocksters The Arrows, a band Nikki loved. For some numbers he was joined by a rock star fan; Evan Dando from The Lemonheads, a pop-grunge outfit who’d had their 15 minutes in the 90’s, when Evan would often be photographed in a Swell Maps T-Shirt. Alan Merrill had never played with Nikki before, and had previously shunned live appearances. Evan on the other hand was no stranger to jumping up with geniuses from across the pond, having played with Dan Treacy’s Television Personalities at a gig in Berlin, doing a few Johnny Thunders numbers. I digress. Back to Nikki’s gig, which isn’t a perfect performance, but it’s pure, real and unpredictable. Flawed and frail in places but a compelling and consuming listen. Whether Nikki was high and lonesome we’ll never know, but he was dead and gone at the break of dawn. A sad, sad loss. You can put your arms around a memory! here and here. (I’ve split it in two; The first part before Evan joins him, and the second after.) Gone but never to be forgotten. NIKKI SUDDEN 1956 - 2006.

Here are a few eye witness accounts of the gig that I found on t’internet:

“At 11 PM we took the stage and launched in to "Treasure Island," and it seemed to be working, in a loose, sloppy sort of way. Drummer Danny Hole was great, keeping the solid back beat. I was watching his hands, finding his style so I could get the right bounce on bass, and we locked in as the rhythm section fairly quickly. The songs ran by, one after another, and I was lost in total concentration, doing my best to get the songs right. About halfway through, Evan Dando of The Lemonheads got up on stage with us. I had never heard of him before, but it seems he was a media star with a record deal at some point or other. He has a decent voice and got through a few numbers with us. Then we finished the show, and it had gone quite well, in spite of my initial fear of playing totally unrehearsed music.” - Alan Merrill
“According to reports, he fittingly spent the final hours of his life playing a free, ramshackle, loose show, covering T. Rex and the Velvet Underground, climbing a stage to live his rock star dreams and channelling his heroes, and asking nothing from his audience in return.” - Skunkeye blog
"And I guess this is as good a place as any for me to offer a review of Saturday night's show at the Knitting Factory tap bar. The band, Nikki, Danny Hole (the Warlocks) and Alan Merrill (the Arrows, the man who wrote I Love Rock-n-Roll?) started out a bit shambolic and raw, and it was quickly pointed out that the bass player hadn't even rehearsed with them. Considering that, his/their improvisational abilities were pretty impressive and when they got it together it was quite rousing. They played some old songs, some newer songs and some covers to a small but dedicated and appreciative crowd, myself included. Then halfway through a cover of T Rex's Bang a Gong, Evan Dando of the Lemonheads came on stage and tried to get his guitar to work. It didn't. Only at the end did they get it sorted out, just in time for Bang a Gong to turn into Sister Ray. At this point, I realized I was watching something very special! The rest of the show went along like that. Things would fall apart, they'd pick up, they'd rock out, Nikki would sing some heartfelt tunes, then delve into a classic Swell Maps number, which would somehow morph into Sympathy for the Devil. They also covered The Stone's Dead Flowers.” - Anon

JEREMY GLUCK - I Knew Buffalo Bill

I was meant to post this at the same time as Nikki Sudden's Lost in A Sea of Scarves, another request for someone, but never got round to it what with all the Christmas bollocks, time etc. Now this post has a different significance. On 30th December 2009 Roland S Howard passed away after battling liver cancer. Roland’s musicianship is all over this album; hypnotic kraut rock basslines and a scratchy swamp guitar sound. This album is greater than the sum of it’s parts, and boy did it have some parts to it. Jeremy Gluck, former singer for the surftastic garage punkers The Barracudas gathered together not only Roland S Howard but Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks and Jeffery Lee Pierce to record this master piece of stripped back swamp blues and lo-fi post-punk laced with a hint of 60’s pop. It is both beautiful and brutal, stark and colourful in equal measures. A must have! Get it Here! My respect and sympathy goes out to Roland’s family and friends.

NIKKI SUDDEN - Lost In A Sea Of Scarves (MP3)

Seems that Nikki Sudden is quite popular around these parts, and that’s not just with me. Someone requested Lost in a Sea of Scarves, well, I try not to post stuff that I haven’t actually got a physical copy of but seeing as it’s nearly ConsumerMass here you go with an MP3 of said album, straight from my hard drive straight from somewhere. It’s a compilation originally released in 1985 on German label What’s So Funny About, of his work with Dave Kusworth as The Jacobites, and a great introduction if you’re not familiar with it. If you’re not never mind shame for the angels, shame on you, but that can be easily rectified with a click here! For those that are there’s a couple of scans of some old Jacobites gig flyers to accompany this post.

NIKKI SUDDEN - The Last Bandit

What else can I say about Nikki Sudden that I haven’t said over the numerous post I’ve done on him. Nothing! But that would do him a dis-service and make this post a Rather lazy one. Let’s go then. The Last Bandit is a compilation of 18 of his songs, compiled by Nikki himself. I’ll steer clear of calling it a ‘Best Of’ but it’s a great collection and introduction if you’re not familiar with his work. It draws from his solo albums so there’s none of the stuff he did with Dave Kusworth here, but there’s still a good cross section of some beautiful love lorn laments alongside the lo-fi and the rock’n’roll. For those already touched by Nikki’s magic, it’s a valuable companion to the albums the tracks are taken from and a different way to listen to the songs he chose for us, but also a sad reminder of what we lost when Nikki died. Stay 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!

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.