'Is she really going out with him?'

And no record looked like it either!

'New Rose' - the first single by The Damned - was released on Stiff Records on October 22nd 1976. I first heard it blaring... no, blasting... no, SCREAMING out of a transistor radio a few days after it's release. It sounding utterly unlike anything that I'd ever heard before. I'm not sure that I've heard anything like it since. It remains one of the greatest records ever made, a sub-three minute blitzkrieg of melody and noise that completely wiped the floor with all that had gone before it. I had no idea if I liked it or not, but I was desperate to hear it again. And when I did, it didn't disappoint. It's one of those very rare recordings that it soars above and beyond the sum of it's parts - although at this point it must be said that the performances of Brian James, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies are all absolutely remarkable in pretty much every way, and Nick Lowe's still-astonishing production created a soundscape that captured every nuance of the band's blistering attack - to make something that almost stands outside of time. If it were released today it would still sound unique, and that's after 40 years of familiarity. I guess that's art isn't it? Well if it is 'New Rose' is important a piece of art as anything that's ever been created. I think that it is anyway. 

40 years to the day after BUY 6 hit the shops Ruts DC played at Norwich Arts Centre as part of the 'Punk In the East' celebrations. I'd not played or indeed ever been to the venue before but have seen it in gig guides for as long as I can remember - the list of bands and artists that have played there is endless, and it's also well-known as the place where Richey Edwards of The Manic Street Preachers cut '4 Real' into his arm in front of then-NME scribe Steve Lamacq. It's a great - no, make that great - venue, which seems to be well-supported locally as the show was sold out well in advance. This always bodes well for a good gig, and I'm pleased to say that it more than lived up to expectations. Ex - Jim Jones Revue guitar-slinger Rupert Orton joined us for part of the encore, and the whole evening was a pleasure to be part of from start to finish. But don't take my word for it - this review of the evening sums it all up and includes photos and footage from the show. Excellent!

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to play 'Damned Damned Damned'...

Waiting for the man

Well I'm sure that you've heard by now that Lou Reed has died. It's almost impossible to imagine how radical The Velvet Underground must have sounded when they first emerged in the mid-sixties - after all they still sound ahead of their time to me now over 45 years later. There's an often-repeated adage made by Brian Eno that everyone who bought the first Velvet Underground album started a band (well, I certainly did!) and whilst it's a wonderfully romantic notion - and it just could be true! - it's also a measure of Reed's influence on pretty much all rock music (or at least the stuff worth hearing!) since then. As a result it's perhaps easy to overlook his subsequent solo material, but albums like 'Transformer' and 'Berlin' stand every bit as tall as those legendary Velvets recordings. He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work that will continue to inspire future musicians and artists for generations to come.

Meanwhile with no gigs of my own over the last week or so I've had chance to get out and about to catch a few live shows, although somewhere along the line I've managed to hurt my back (Ouch! This 'geting old' lark isn't always much fun!) which is rather annoying. Anyway Thursday evening The 100 Club hosted a night of acts once associated with Stiff Records featuring The Members, Department S and Ed Tudor-Pole. When I arrived E. T.-P. was already putting his all into his performance, his wild 'n' wacky stage persona every bit as over the top as every other time that I've seen him. Department S were up next, with an excellent set of old and new material which went down exceedingly well with all concerned, while the Members (joined by original guitarist Nigel Bennett for the latter half of their show) sounded as solid and reliable as ever. A good night, as was the following evening at Tropic At Ruislip where Larry Miller gave a splendid performance, ably supported by Gary Moore tribute band Moore Or Less. The Miller guitar sounded as mighty as ever, and his increasingly bizarre between-song-comments had more than a few audience members smiling, often in disbelief... and there were more than a few audience members smiling in disbelief last night at The Horns in Watford where bass legend Norman Watt-Roy played a solo gig, and was joined for the last four songs by the mighty Wilko Johnson. Things had been progressing well up until that point, with Norman's playing as mind-boggling as ever and the band on fine form, if a little too jazzy here and there for my not-very jazzy tastes; however as soon as Wilko hit the stage the intensity in the room and indeed on the stage jumped by several hundred percent and the audience erupted in a frenzy of phone photography and filming (as these clips show!) He played "Everybody's Carrying A Gun', 'Casting My Spell On You' (it's been a wee while since I've heard that one - good choice!) 'Out On the Western Plain' and the encore of 'Roxette', and every moment was one to savour. And if that wasn't enough my new friend Pam the landlady has given The Upper Cut a gig next year and wants to book Ruts D.C. - excellent!

I'm back on the boards with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks this weekend, at The Chippenham Hotel in Maida Vale on Friday followed by a return visit to The Dolphin in Uxbridge on Saturday. And I'm up early for a Back To Zero rehearsal on Sunday morning - but more about that next time.

Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

As I think I mentioned a posting or two ago in the midst of various gigging expeditions both near and far over the last couple of months I've also been (somehow!) managing to do some days at Balcony Shirts. With the gigs a bit fewer and further between for the next few weeks it's been back behind the counter for your humble narrator, and I'd all but forgotten how busy it can get in there, with stag and hen parties, holiday shirts, corporate work wear and more alongside the t-shirts that the shop usually produces. Back to work in the real(-ish) world then! Still not playing as much myself gives me chance to get along to see some bands, starting with Lee Thompson's Ska Orchestra at The Dublin Castle in Camden Town on Tuesday evening. A great show saw the band joined by Bitty Maclean for a few songs including their excellent new single 'Fu Manchu'; fellow Ruts D.C. man Seamus Beaghen is on Hammond Organ, and with eleven people in the band the stage was almost as crowded as the venue. After the show Seamus introduced me to former Stiff Records boss Dave Robinson, who I met briefly many years ago when I was playing with Neck - he did a good job of remembering me, although I somehow doubt that he actually did!

Wednesday it was off to Bonners Music in Eastbourne to check out a secondhand Marshall Vintage Modern 2266C 50W combo. My good friend Paul Cope had lent me one when Ruts D.C. played in Southampton last month (you can see and hear the amp in this clip of 'Staring At The Rude Boys' from the show) and I had been so impressed with it that I immediately started looking for one - I found this one on eBay a couple of weeks ago, and as luck would have it Big Al Reed was doing some shows in the area - he went to the shop, tried it and on finding that it sounded good suggested that I went down to try it. Somewhat extravagantly I not only bought the amplifier but got myself an Electro-Harmonix Neo Mistress Flanger pedal as well. There go the wages! Well - the amp sounded great and the pedal will be useful for the dubbier parts of Ruts D.C.'s repertoire. Now I've just got to sell my Fender Blues Deville combo as quickly as possible...

Talking of Big Al Reed I played two gigs with him this weekend, the first of which saw The Blistering Buicks visit The Three Mariners in Bagshot. With Dave the drummer gigging elsewhere Howard made his first appearance with the band, and he did a very good job in my not-so-humble opinion. Mind you he usually plays for Shakin' Stevens so he must be pretty good if you think about it... as a show it was definitely a game of two halves - in the first set it was a case of 'if anything can go wrong, it will' - I had a faulty lead, Big Al's acoustic guitar wouldn't work through the P.A. system and then his electric guitar wouldn't work either before a drink was knocked over all-too-near to his effect pedals; most spectacularly of all Chris's keyboard stand collapsed during 'Hoochie Coochie Man'. He did a heroic job of putting everything back together, to such an extent that he was set up ready to play a solo before the song ended! Fortunately the second set could hardly have been more different, and it was definitely a case of 'all's well that ends well' - in the end. Compared to the dramas described above Sunday's duo gig at The Feathers in Chalfont St. Giles was a straightforward affair - three 30-odd minutes sets, some songs with backing tracks and some without, and good fun all round. As always Al conducted the meat raffle - he pulled the first number out with the words 'and the winner is - Big Al', then when he read what was actually on the ticket he discovered that he had indeed won; I was asked to pull the next ticket out and, you've guessed it, I'd won too. (Yeah I know a vegetarian shouldn't buy a meat raffle ticket - but I thought I'd try to support the pub. Would anyone like some steak? It's no good to me!) From there is back home to make my latest appearance on the Music Scene Investigation podcast. Tom was unavailable due to illness so has place was taken by John who along with Ian and myself reviewed three excellent tracks by new artists - I say it every time I'm on there but the standard of the material submitted really is very high as you can see if you watch the latest episode here - I don't think I was too hard on Ian... was I?

Yesterday it was another busy day in Balcony Shirts followed by a visit to the jam night at The Three Wishes in Edgware - all good stuff, and there's hopefully a good day in prospect today, as Ruts D.C. are rehearsing. There are no gigs on the immediate horizon so we're getting together to run through some different songs from the band's back catalogue and to try out some new ideas. Should be interesting... actually I'd better get going or I'll be late!

Studio tan

Yesterday saw The Flying Squad visit Roundel Studios in Kent to record 3 songs under the auspices of Roger Cotton. A fine time was had by all, and the results should be available on CD at the band's next gig- we're supporting punk legends The Vibrators (really!) in Chislehurst next month and details can be found here...

In case you were wondering, the 3 songs recorded are the Dr. Feelgood / Wilko Johnson classic 'She Does It Right', 'That's It, I Quit' (a Nick Lowe song also recorded by The Feelgoods) and 'Police Car' by Larry Wallis which I remember buying all those years ago on Stiff Records and which I heard again earlier this year on one of those free CD's that come with magazines these days; back in March we were on our way home from a gig in the early hours of the morning and Brian the driver and myself were listening to said CD when 'Police Car' came on- about 20 seconds into it we both said 'what a great song, someone should do a new version of this'. So we have! (And here is a great clip of Mr. Wallis himself playing it...) 

It's been a while since I was last in a recording studio, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. Time to record that album that The Price should have recorded all those years ago then?!? Excellent!