Cockney Rebel

Paul Fox would have been 65 years old today. I miss him as both a fabulous musician and as a lovely bloke - here he is in 1979 with The Ruts in the promo video for 'Something That I Said'. Great stuff!

With the ever-improving finger ever-improving gigs are thankfully getting a bit easier to get through - Thursday with Big Al and co. at The Sunningdale Lounge and Friday's Upper Cut show at The Dolphin in Uxbridge were both much more enjoyable from my point of view than last week's pain-powered performances so hopefully things will continue to get even better this week. I was due to play with The Buicks in Northwood on Saturday night but I rather extravagantly decided to take the night off (if you ever hear me moaning about not having any money feel free to poke me in the eye!) to go to see The Cockney Rejects at The 100 Club. I went with my brother Terry who has long been a big fan of the band - he used to play 'Greatest Hits Vol. 1' and 'Vol. 2' so often when they first came out that I think I know them even better than he does… we met up with Cadiz Music supremo Richard England at The Ship in Wardour Street around 7.15 and made it down to the venue as Geoffrey Oi!Cott were roaring through their set - it was all a little bit one dimensional for me (or I guess to be precise a bit two dimensional, as their songs are mostly about Yorkshire and / or cricket) but they certainly went down well with all concerned, especially the comedy compere who at the end of their set asked them to repeat 'Robin Hood Was A Yorkshireman'; it transpired that that they hadn't played it at all. Oops! Next up were The Heavy Metal Kids who in their first incarnation were just a bit before my time; I'm very glad to have caught them this time around though - 'They should have been as big as AC/DC' bellowed Manic Esso as their set thundered to a close, and I'm bound to say that on this showing I'd have to agree with him. And what can I say about The Cockney Rejects that hasn't already been said? They hammered through an hour or so of classic punk rock, driving the assembled multitude into a veritable frenzy in the process. Terrific stuff - and after having been a fan of the band for over 30 years my little brother finally got to meet his heroes after the show. Excellent!

More Big Al gigs this weekend. Don't point your finger at the guitar man, as previously discussed…

Hot in the city

Here's a pop quiz question for you - 

What song title do Wreckless Eric and The Temptations have in common?

Any idea? I have to hurry you... no? It's 'I Wish It Would Rain', five points if you got that one. 

They're both really great songs too, as you can hear here and here...

Actually I for one don't wish it would rain, but it feels as though everyone else does. Aren't people moaning about the hot weather a lot? They'll be complaining that it's cold soon. Mind you my hay fever is approaching new highs - or perhaps that should be new lows? Hmmm... maybe the heat is getting to me...

With no gig of my own on Friday night I decided to catch a couple of local shows, starting with Covered In Skas at The Carpenters Arms in Hayes. I'd heard a fair bit about the band (a couple of their biggest fans Kate and Tony get band shirts printed at the shop) and had been trying to see them play for what feels like ages but their appearances always seemed to coincide with my gigs so it was good to catch them at last. They play everything from original ska classics to material from the Two Tone era and on the evidence of their first set on Friday they play it very well indeed. From there it was off to The Crown in Cowley to see the second set from Tiny Tina. I've known their singer Miri for a while - she's sung a couple of numbers with The Upper Cut from time to time and it's great to see her out with her own band now. As you might expect there are a fair few Tina Turner songs in their set, and the band made a pretty good job of things especially considering that dep drummer Mark only got offered the gig earlier in the day. A good evening all round.

Having seen two bands on Friday it was time for me to play in two bands on Saturday, starting with Back To Zero at The Borderline in London at The 'Summer In The City' all-dayer. We were originally due to play at 4 o'clock in the afternoon but that was changed to 6.40pm earlier in the week - as amps and drums were provided I went up on the tube and got to the venue around half past five in time to see an excellent set from The Aardvarks. Well let's face it, any band that plays 'Run Run Run' can't be bad can they?
I'm pretty sure that the venue had air conditioning although as we went on stage it was so hot that it was difficult to tell. Squirrel's bass cut in and out during the first number - the sound engineer apparently said to him that it was due to vibrations making the lead come out of the back of the amplifier and that it was 'always happening'. Eh? If it's 'always happening' then why not do something to, er, stop it, er, always happening? Or is that just me? Given these sorts of problems I thought that we played very well under the circumstances, with Craig again joining us for several songs (including 'London's Pride') and our encore of 'Land Of 1,000 Dances' bringing the proverbial house down. There was time for a drink after the show (good!) and to see a song and a half from Squire before wending my way to The Dolphin in Uxbridge where Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks were playing a set at guitar dep Pete's wife Elaine's birthday party. Again it was ridiculously hot but again the band played well. It was a long evening though...

I spent a fair bit of Sunday asleep. What with the heat and the hay fever I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Ooh now I'm moaning about the weather... still I made it back up to The West End with John King and Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes to see The Crows at the 12 Bar Club. We got there at half past eight just as they were starting - Richie from Biteback on acoustic guitar and Jennie (one of the people behind The Rebellion Festival) on vocals (joined for the first time by Sarah Pink on harmony vocals for a few numbers) gave an engaging performance which was well received by all concerned. And afterwards there was time for much drinking and conversation - always a good end to the weekend don't you think?

And there's just time for a quick plug for this Friday's Upper Cut show at the aforementioned Dolphin - it's the Friday before my birthday (that's on the 24th) and in my world is the nearest that I get to a birthday party - if you're in the area then it would be good to see you. The night after that Big Al and co. play at The Rowan Arms in West Drayton and on Sunday The Upper Cut return to Colnbrook for a 5pm show at Ye Olde George Inn - another hot weekend's gigging in prospect then. Good!

'Radio waves... move like pollen in air...'

Commercial time - here are a few things that have caught my eyes and ears over the past couple of weeks :-

GLM - the band formed by original Lurkers members Pete Stride (guitar), Nigel Moore (bass) and Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes (drums) - have put a new track 'A Perfect Storm' up for free download on their website. There is also an interview with Mr. Stride on the always-worth-visiting Louder Than War website in which among other things he talks of the band playing some live shows later this year. To fans of The Lurkers (and indeed GLM) like myself this is splendid news! In addition Esso has made an extraordinary appearance with Garry Bushell on the Radio Litopia podcast. Have a listen here - it's very funny, but it's not for the faint-hearted...

It's been a good time for drummers on the (Internet) radio, as Dave Ruffy from Ruts D.C. appeared on Shoreditch Radio last Friday, telling some great stories and playing some of his favourite music. You can hear it here, and it's well worth a listen. And while we're on the subject of Ruts D.C. our new album 'Rhythm Collision Volume 2' is now available on vinyl as well as CD - you can get it now from Amazon or from the band at forthcoming gigs. A record - a proper record! Great stuff!

And I've just heard the extraordinary news that Wilko Johnson is apparently planning some more shows despite being diagnosed with terminal cancer and indeed playing a series of farewell gigs earlier this year. What can I say? Well 'thank you God' springs to mind... in the meantime you can click here to hear the great man's recent appearance on the BBC Radio 4 show 'Mastertapes' - highlights are many and varied, not least when he's asked if he has ever used any effects on his guitar -

'Pedals? Listen man, I'm a guitarist, not a cyclist!'

Comments like that go a long way towards explaining why he's also a hero.