Wilko Johnson

So there I was, in Room 207 of the Holiday Inn Express in Stoke this morning, wondering what to wear for our next batch of gigs. I had clothes all over the place and was trying them on, like you do when no one’s looking and you can kid yourself that you’re some sort of rock star whose adoring public cares about such things and indeed is desperate to find out what look they’ll all be salivating over next… time for some suitable music methinks. 

‘Started out, feeling good…’ 

There’s no better record than ‘Walking On The Edge’ by Wilko Johnson is there? Well, I don’t think that there is. Oh hello, the phone’s ringing…

You know what they said to me.  

Wilko Johnson has died. 

I first became aware of Dr. Feelgood when I saw pictures of them in the music press. They looked to me like they could be a gang of villains in The Sweeney, which to us just-about-teenaged lads was as good as it got. Articles on them always seemed to use words like ‘menacing’, ‘brooding’ and ‘fearsome’, particularly when they described their guitarist who frankly looked and sounded as mad as hell. What on Earth was their music like?

I found out when I stumbled into our front room sometime in February 1975 to watch a teatime pop music programme called The Geordie Scene. This was an interesting show as it featured bands playing live rather than miming, and this week I was very excited as it featured the afore-mentioned Dr. Feelgood. This should be good. 

Thirty seconds into their performance I was screaming at my mum to come in from the back kitchen. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They were astonishing. She seemed to like them or at least not hate them, which if nothing else boded well for an album as a birthday present… by the end of the show I’d seen the future, and it involved my new mates from Essex. At bloomin’ last. 

Or did it? At school the next day I couldn’t stop raving about them, but I was all but alone. No, said most of my chums, they were awful. They couldn’t play. The singer couldn’t sing. The guitarist looked like a nutter and the other two looked daft. I should like real music like Yes and Genesis, you know, like our older brothers and cousins do. 

I thought about it all day. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they were right. Hmm. 

Then that night I heard ‘Roxette’ on The Nicky Horne Show on Capital Radio. It sounded magnificent. It still does. I was right and my chums were wrong. It was time for some new chums. Ones that liked Dr. Feelgood. 

So began my journey with Wilko Johnson. Since then I’ve seen him play countless times, searched out any recording that features him, played on the same bill on quite a few occasions and generally been inspired by his works and indeed by him personally more times than I’ll ever know. For me only Pete Townshend has played with more rock ‘n’ roll firepower, and even that’s a close run thing. His and indeed The Feelgoods’ influence on punk is well documented, and with his well-publicised battle with cancer making headlines a few years ago he seemed to finally get the greater recognition and respect that he’d always deserved. 

My journey with Wilko Johnson isn’t over yet, and hopefully nor is yours. The Canvey Assassin, The Telecaster Master, the man who I’ve seen play guitar more times than any one else - thanks for doing it all Wilko. It wouldn’t, indeed couldn’t, have been the same without you. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play ‘Roxette’. Again. Cheers Wilko!

70 not out

It doesn't seem that long ago that the name Wilko Johnson was everywhere. And it's not that long ago that it was, in relative terms at least, nowhere. Everywhere and nowhere baby... it's certainly been an unprecedented few years for the Canvey Island assassin, from his unforgettable appearance in the Dr. Feelgood documentary 'Oil City Confidential' and his subsequent 'who'd have thought it?' recruitment to the cast of 'Game Of Thrones' to his now-well-known diagnosis and subsequent cure from cancer it's been an extraordinary time. Last night he played a 70th birthday show at no lesser venue than The Royal Albert Hall. Strange days indeed. I went along with my good friend Pete Sargeant who was reviewing the night for 'Blues Matters' magazine - as we settled into our seats we reflected on how we - all of us - had got to where we were. Pete used to see The Feelgoods in the London pubs before they started making records whereas I missed the band with Wilko on guitar - I was a bit young, and anyway I didn't have any friends to go to see a band like them with. But however you look at it the band made an indelible impression on us both as they did with so many people.

Our evening starts by coming full circle (if that's not too much of a contradiction in terms) as Eight Rounds Rapid take to the stage. Simon 'son-of-Wilko' Johnson prowls around as Dave the singer tells us that his mate's a bit tight, but he's alright. They're a great band - see them in a pub or club and they'll blow your head off, but in The RAH they have trouble ruffling each other's hair. It's not their fault of course - this is simply the wrong venue for them, they're not loud enough and seem dwarfed by their surroundings. Mind you, who wouldn't be? After their set I bump into Cadiz Records supremo Richard England and Vive Le Rock editor Eugene Butcher. They're even more disappointed by what they just saw and are looking for a bar to drink away the memory in - there are enough of them to choose from but I can't help thinking that there isn't enough money in the world to get drunk here. 

Next up is Benjamin Tehoval, a one-man band who manages to operate an electric guitar, some bass pedals, a kick drum and his voice simultaneously and at the same time. He also manages to get much of the audience wondering what the hell he was doing there. When he was told that there was only time for one more song he played 'Like A Rolling Stone' - that's six minutes of our lives that none of us will ever get back again. Pete thought it was funny, I thought it was the sort of thing that only a hopeless hippie who was sufficiently self-obsessed as to not care about the rest of the evening would do. Oh well - it wouldn't do for us all to like the same thing now would it?

Next up ladeez 'n' gennelmen, The Bard Of Salford himself, Dr. John Cooper Clarke. As a long term fan of the great man I was naturally delighted by his presence whereas Pete took the opportunity to catch up some much-needed sleep. Well as I say, it wouldn't do for us all to like the same thing... among the unmissable moments he, er, missed was a previously unheard (by me at least) tale of our hero making enough money to hire a 'snooty butler' who he assumed would be available whenever his services were required; when he came in from a gig at 2 a.m. to find said butler wearing a 'wife-beater vest' and responding to his asking for 'a couple of rounds of Mickie Most and a mug of splosh' with the words 'your dietary requirements are no concerns of mine' he replaced him with a chimpanzee. Genius.

Interval time - looking around the venue it was all a bit... 'nice' if you know what I mean. Whilst it was impossible not to be impressed by our surroundings, having seen Wilko countless times over the last 40 (40!) years it was all a bit incongruous. For every rocker in t-shirt and jeans there seemed to be several people who looked as though they'd come straight from Harrods. Maybe they had? 

9.40 on the dot and it's time for the main event - Norman Watt-Roy looks out into the auditorium and mouths 'Wow!' as Wilko plugs in and 'All Right' crackles into life. 'If You Want Me, You've Got Me' follows before the always-excellent 'Dr. Dupree' slows things down a bit - but only a bit. There's already drops of sweat on the floor of Norman's side of the stage as they swing into 'Roxette' - and suddenly it's early 1975 and I'm calling my mum in from the kitchen as Dr. Feelgood roar through an unforgettable (for me at least) rendition of the song on 'The Geordie Scene', changing my life in the process. I didn't stop talking about it for days - to be honest I'm not sure that I've stopped talking about it much ever since. Here it gets the muted approval of the all-to-polite audience, as does the rest of the set - how often have the band played for over an hour to a fully-seated audience? It takes the final one-two sucker punch of 'Back In The Night'  and 'She Does It Right' to finally break the spell and get a few people onto their feet - the security staff who up until this point had been unsubtly stopping people from doing anything as anarchic as taking photos swung even more unsubtly into action, but at least there was a bit of atmosphere at last. As demands for an encore grew Simon's amplifier was set up and speculation as to who would be joining the band was rife - I doubt that few if any had expected that the special guest to be JCC playing Simon's barely audible Telecaster on 'Bye Bye Johnny', but that was what they got. As the crew readied themselves to take the gear off the stage the band returned once more, sending the security staff into meltdown in the process - 'Route 66' bombed out the last pockets of resistance, and everybody (except I suspect the afore-mentioned security staff) went home happy. 

Or did they? On the train home I reflected on what we'd all just seen. As previously stated I've been watching Wilko play live for four decades. I saw him on his first post-Feelgoods tour and I've watched him ever since through thick and thin, playing blistering, heart-stopping shows everywhere from  small, smoky, sweaty back rooms of pubs to large outdoor festivals and all points in between, in front of handfuls to hundreds to thousands of people - it's strange to see him now, after the trauma of the last few years, as a successful act playing bigger and bigger venues to so many people wearing his name on their chests. This wouldn't, indeed couldn't have happened at any other point in his career, and it's great that it's happened now - but has he lost something in the process? It was a great gig and an event to have been at, but I have a suspicion - indeed, a sneakin' suspicion - that he just might have...

Tougher than the rest

Well, you know how this is going to work by now don't you? I make some weak (increasingly weak to be honest!) excuses about having no time to do anything other than work in Balcony Shirts, then I bang on about the things that have happened to me when I haven't been working in Balcony Shirts. Simple eh? Except this time it deserves more… or is that just egotism on my part? After all, it doesn't really matter what I write here does it? Not compared the death of Muhammad Ali anyway. Mind you, not much matters next to that does it? Whatever your opinion of boxing it's impossible to deny that Ali was one of the great figures of the 20th Century, and given the reaction to the news of his passing it's surely difficult to think that he won't be one of the great figures of the 21st Century and beyond. For what my opinion is worth he was, is and always will be a truly remarkable figure in history who transcended sport, politics, race and religion to inspire countless people to achieve things in their lives that they never have otherwise been able to do. That goes beyond any analysis - put simply, the world has become a better place for him having lived on it.

Right - let's get onto the 'I haven't had much time this week…' stuff - 

- I saw Wilko Johnson at Rough Trade East.
The extraordinary renaissance of The Canvey Island Assassin continues with the publication of his autobiography 'Don't You Leave Me Here', and last Thursday's early evening event saw the man himself interviewed by Zoe Howe about the new book and more. Hang on a minute - didn't she write a book with him a while back? Well yes she did, which has prompted more than a few 'so what's in this book that wasn't in the other one then?' questions; sadly I've not had time to read the new one yet (obviously!) so I can't answer that potentially rather awkward query, but I can confirm that both were on good form during the admittedly often rather contrived inquisition. I managed a quick chat with Zoe and her husband Dylan afterwards as well as catching up with Wilko's son and Eight Rounds Rapid guitar man Simon, after which I hightailed it across town to Denmark Street…

- I attended The WitchDoktors's album launch night at The Alley Cat Club.
…where I arrived just in time to catch a couple of songs by The Healthy Junkies before The WitchDoktors gave a blazing performance in support of their new release 'Voodoo Eye'. I've seen them a few times here and there - they always give a good show and this was no exception. Great stuff - and the album is excellent too.

- Roger Cotton died.
I played quite a few shows with Roger, and The Flying Squad recorded with him in his studio - he was a great bloke and and a fabulous musician who I'm very proud to have known and worked with. A very sad loss.

- I played a show in Rickmansworth with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks.
A lively evening at The Halfway House saw Big Al's two daughters winning friends and influencing people with their, erm, 'flamboyant' style of dancing. That's all I'm saying here, as I'd like to keep my job.

- I didn't play a show in Bethnal Green with The Upper Cut. 
Our run of bad luck at The Salmon And Ball continued when the PA system went wrong during our second number - despite repeated attempts at continuing we eventually gave it up as a bad job and went home. Bugger!

- I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium.
On June 5th 1981 I witnessed a (literally) life changing performance from The Boss and the boys (no ladies in the band in those days!) at The Wembley Arena. 35 years to the day later I saw him and The 'heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making, legendary' E-Street Band put on a 3 1/2 hour show that might not have been quite as transcendent as the one that I saw all those years ago, but still left little if any doubt that they are indisputably one of the greatest bands of all time. Highlights were many and varied, but a mention has to be given to a devastating version of 'Candy's Room' - is there any greater moment in rock music than the first note of the guitar solo? - and 'Because The Night' which was as intense and powerful a performance as anything that I can remember seeing from him or indeed anybody else. Magnificent. 

And talking of magnificent, what better way to end this posting than with a quote from the late and undeniably great Muhammad Ali himself - 

'Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power that it takes to win when the match is even'.

There's nothing to add to that is there? Thanks Champ.

'Don't point your finger at the guitar man...'

And this week has indeed proved to be better than last week. Good!

I've spent much of it working in Balcony Shirts due to the shop being so busy; much time has been spent printing shirts for various Brunel University sports teams that are off on tour (for 'on tour' read 'drinking heavily'. Good on 'em!) this week in Europe. It's amazing what some people will walk around with written on their shirt... we also had an embroidery machine delivered this week which caused an uncommon, nay disproportionate amount of excitement in the shop. And why not?

I've also spent a fair bit of time caring for my (still!) ailing finger. In addition to having been prescribed antibiotics I was also have been obliged to soak it in salt water every day (which is apparently the best treatment for this sort of thing - it turns out that your nan was right all along!) and keep it covered the rest of the time. I've had to search out hypoallergenic plasters as I'm allergic to the usual ones but compared to the madness of a week ago it's all pretty straightforward. It's definitely getting better, to such an extent that I managed to play a gig with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks last night, at the rather loftily-named Town And Country Club in Watford. The occasion was Bernie's 60th Birthday Party, and with Dave gigging elsewhere Bob Pearce returned on drums for the first time in ages. It's always good to see him, and he did a typically excellent job - although his comment 'sorry, I forgot that it was a shuffle!' after 'The Boys Are Back In Town' did follow a rather, erm, unusual performance of said song...

The band also played on Thursday night (in Sunningdale since you've asked) but I chose to miss that show, partly because of this exchange between the doctor who had just attended to my finger and your humble narrator last Monday afternoon - 

Doctor (cheerily) - 'So when's your next gig?
Y. H. N. (equally cheerily) - 'Thursday'
Doctor (still cheerily) - 'And when's the one after that?'
Y.H.N (still equally cheerily) - 'Saturday'
Doctor (nowhere near as cheerily, and with a rather serious expression whilst nodding her head) - 'Saturday...'

- and partly because there was a rather splendid evening in prospect at The Half Moon in Putney. Regular readers (assuming that I actually have any) will be aware of my interest in the much-maligned musical genre that is Punk Rock so an evening featuring a band made up of members who have all been involved in acts from said genre was not to be missed if at all possible. Class Of 76 feature Barrie Masters and Steve Nicol from Eddie And The Hot Rods on vocals and drums respectively, Nigel Bennett from The Members (and more recently The Vibrators) on guitar and former Tonight and Wilko Johnson (ok I know neither of these are exactly punk rock, but they get in under the wire!) bass player Russ Strutter and play a set that mostly consists of song from bands that they've been involved with. But more about them in a minute - support came from Headline Maniac who are three current members of The 'Ot Rods and whose excellent set went down so well with all concerned that when I attempted to buy their recently-released album I found that it had sold out. A good band, well worth looking out for in the future. It was Class Of 76's second gig, and as such they're still finding their feet with some of the material; that said versions of 'Dead Or Alive' and 'Chinese Rocks' by Johnny Thunders (Nicol played with him for a while) were suitably sleazy, and somewhat inevitably the Hot Rods and Members songs sounded about the best of all. Definitely a band that I'll be keeping an eye on, although I suppose that if someone like me didn't like them they really would be in trouble?

This week, Upper Cut and Big Al gigs, some time in the shop and no doubt more besides. Provided my hand keeps getting better of course...

'Turn and face the strange...'

41 years ago today, on the 7th February 1975, Dr. Feelgood recorded this still-extraordinary live performance which was broadcast a few days later on the teatime television show 'The Geordie Scene'. I remember it oh-so very well - I was 13 years old at the time, and came in from school just as the programme was starting. After the suitably cheesy introduction (this was the 1970s after all!) from Dave Eager (whatever happened to him eh?) Wilko, Lee, Sparko and The Big Figure roared into what for them was probably just another live performance but what was for me and people like me literally life-changing. As Wilko tore into his first jaw-dropping guitar solo I dragged my Mum in from the back kitchen to watch it with me - she was a bit of a rock 'n' roller back in the day and said that she liked it although she could have just been humouring me I suppose... anyway she went back to making our dinner while The Feelgoods hammered the riff to 'Roxette' home. By the time the credits rolled over 'Route 66' things had changed, and more than I could ever realised at the time. I went up to my room in a daze - I'd heard of the band and that they were supposed to be good, but nothing had prepared me for what I'd just seen. Amazing. It still feels exciting to be writing about it just over four decades later. 
I went into school the next day as usual but as I say, things had changed. I enthused to my music-loving mates about the show that I'd seen the day before - a couple of them liked it but most of them didn't, they thought that the band looked a bit daft especially that weird guy on the guitar, surely you didn't think that they were any good did you? No you should listen to 'real' music like ELP, Yes and Genesis, not some bunch of herberts from the seaside.
Hmmm. Maybe I'd been wrong. After all when you're 13 you don't want to be the odd one out do you?
Except of course, I hadn't been wrong. And it took me a while to realise it, but it's actually alright to be the odd one out. 

Incidentally Mum died 15 years ago today. How I wish she was here to watch the show again with me now.

It's been a busy week - I spent a day recording guitars with James Knight, two days rehearsing with Ruts D.C. at The Music Complex in Deptford working on songs and arrangements for this week's recording sessions, played with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks at The General Eliott in Uxbridge on Friday and with The Upper Cut at The Salmon And Ball in Bethnal Green last night as well as working a couple of days in the shop. But this week it's all about more 'Psychic Attack' album sessions - oh and a gig at The 100 Club on Saturday. We haven't played live for over two months, so we'd better rehearse for that too. I told you that it's ok to have a quiet couple of weeks sometimes didn't I?

Still that all starts tomorrow. Today I'm going to play 'Down By The Jetty'. Again. See you in 1975.

Everybody's carrying a gun

Well I don't mind admitting that I've not felt great today - possibly as a result of 4 late nights in a row, possibly as a result of what I've been doing during those late nights, more likely due to combination of both. I knew Friday, Saturday and Sunday were going to take their toll but after a very busy day in the shop yesterday I went down to RnR Studios in Uxbridge to catch the end of a Department S rehearsal. With Phil from Bug now installed on guitar and new drummer Alex getting to grips with the material they are preparing for some upcoming shows which depending on founder member Mike Herbage's availability may or may not feature your humble narrator on guitar; with this in mind we repaired to The Dolphin to discuss tactics - after spending several hours in there and The Queen's Head I fear we were still no nearer to working out where and when I may appear with them. Or maybe we were - it's a little tricky to remember...

Friday night The Upper Cut found themselves in the somewhat incongruous surroundings of Buckinghamshire Golf Club. We played there almost exactly a year to the day ago (once again on the evening of their St. George's Day event) and I received a call this week asking if we'd like to make a return appearance. There is of course only one answer to a question like that, and it isn't 'no'... as with last year we arrived to the general confusion of the staff, although after asking around in the bar we soon found the right people to talk to. One of the chaps who was there the previous year was on top form, telling us that he'd instructed the person who was paying us to adopt a generous approach to the evening. Well what he actually said was 'I've told 'im, don't be a c@nt, pay the boys wot vere facking werf', but I think you know what I mean. By the time we started playing at half past nine it was clear that with a few participants having been there for getting on for 12 hours a noisy night was in prospect, and a suitably raucous show ensued. Could it all happen again next year? We shall see!

Yes, it does look like
 a gun doesn't it?

The next day Ruts D.C. journeyed up to Bedford for a show supporting The Neville Staple Band at The Corn Exchange. With much of the journey spent singing copies of our new 'Jah War' single (now there's something that I never thought that I'd ever type. It's true though!) the mood was good, and the air of jollity continued for the rest of the day which saw opening act New Groove Formation getting things off to a suitably lively start. Our show took a few songs to get going, although by the time we got to the afore-mentioned 'Jah War' things were definitely moving in the right direction. Time constraints meant that we couldn't play an encore but we all pronounced ourselves pleased with proceedings. The evening ended with The Neville Staple Band mixing Specials songs with ska classics and playing an excellent set in process. A successful night's work.

And last night Wilko Johnson continued his remarkable renaissance with a blistering performance at The Shepherds Bush Empire. Support came from the always-worth-seeing Eight Rounds Rapid, whose splendid 30 minute set found favour among the rapidly-arriving audience, many of whom seemed to be recent converts to the cause judging by the number of Who t-shirts on display. As Wilko took to the stage to a hero's welcome it was clear that we were in for an evening to remember, and as always the great man delivered a storming show which bought the proverbial house down. As I say it was clear that some songs were better known by the audience than others, with material from 'Going Back Home' getting a big reaction and other songs seeming to pass some people by, but none of that seemed to bother the band who all played brilliantly. A top evening all round, not least because those splendid chaps from 8RR managed to get me into the after show party. That's another drink I owe you boys...

Rudie can't fail

I finished my last posting with the words 'strange days indeed', a phrase I often use when things get, for want of a better word, 'strange'. I've found myself using it a lot lately. It's unashamedly stolen from 'Nobody Told Me' by John Lennon (so far I've stopped short of saying 'most peculiar mama' but I guess that's just a matter of time) and was used last time to make a vaguely Fab Four-related attempt at referring to the frankly astonishing news that I was to visit Abbey Road Studios on Sunday afternoon. So what was a herbert like me doing on such hallowed turf? Simple - Dave Ruffy and Tom Edwards were participating in a recording session there, and the chance to drop in and see them was just too good to miss. As I came out of St. John's Wood tube station I became all too aware of the number of people intently looking at maps or mobile phones - I rounded the corner into Abbey

Hello from Studio 2!

Road itself to see 20 or so people either side of that zebra crossing (you know the one!) taking photos of each other and causing traffic chaos in the process; as I walked up the steps to the front door I thought of some of the people who would have walked up those same steps on their way to work. I buzzed the entry phone, mumbled something about visiting Studio 2 and opened the door into the reception area where the cheery but weary face of a security man invited me to sign the visitor's book. Next to it a handwritten envelope read 'F.A.O. PAUL McCARTNEY c/o ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS'. Here we go then... down the corridor, past the stairs, first door on the right - as I went to knock on said door Tom opened it and greeted me with a hug, I thought he'd been watching me on CCTV but no, he'd just been going out to get something. I walked into the control room to see Dave picking up his phone to see if I'd texted him to let him know that I'd arrived - I was supposed to but had forgotten. Nervous? Maybe... suddenly I'm walking down the stairs into what has to be the most famous recording studio in the World. And there it is, just like it is in all the photographs. Oo-er! 

I was only there for about 30 minutes - I didn't want to outstay my welcome, and anyway I had a gig to go to. But it was a great - make that great - 30 minutes. I can very easily get hopelessly over-romantic about things like this, and let's face it, I normally do - but that was a half an hour that a Beatles Bore such as myself will never forget. But there's been a few things lately that I'll never forget, not least Wednesday night's show at Koko. It was I suppose everything that we hoped that it would be, although it wasn't without it's problems. Last minute letdowns by various people (not mentioning any names...) meant some eleventh hour changes to proceedings, one of which resulted in me sitting in dressing room 4 with no lesser figure than Charlie Harper running through the arrangement of 'Tommy Gun' - now there's something that I never thought I'd do. Mind you I never thought I'd play 'Kick Out The Jams' with MC5 guitar hero Wayne Kramer but as this footage shows that really happened too. Everybody involved was on top form, with the short opening set from The Crunch getting things off to a splendid start before Chris Salewicz read a passage from his acclaimed Joe Strummer biography 'Redemption Song' then introduced the documentary film 'I Need A Dodge! Joe Strummer On The Run' - sadly I missed most of this as I was getting ready for the gig but the bits that I did see were very interesting, making it a must-buy when it comes out on DVD from Cadiz Music later this year. As the credits rolled we took our places ready to start playing as soon as the screen was raised - as we began 'London Calling' with Mr. Kramer joining Dave, Tim, Tom and myself in the band and Paul from The Urban Voodoo Machine tackling the vocals head on it became clear that we were in for a memorable night. Everybody - Chris Bailey from The Saints, Tymon Dogg, Segs from Ruts D.C., Tara from The Duel and the afore-mentioned U.K. Subs legend Charlie Harper - gave their all, and by the time Wayne Kramer re-appeared for 'Jail Guitar Doors' excitement was at fever pitch. He sang well, sounded great - the loudest guitarist that I've ever stood on stage with! - and the two MC5 classics 'Looking At You' and 'Kick Out The Jams' bought a truly monumental evening to a unforgettable close. It really was an extraordinary thing to be part of - great stuff all round.

Two night's after (ahem!) blowing the roof off Koko I played at The Black Horse in Eastcote with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks. With Dave the drummer gigging elsewhere Rudi joined us for the first time (thereby giving me the chance to use the name of a Clash song as the hopefully all-encompassing title of this posting - I don't just throw this stuff together you know!) and made a great job of things. I often get asked how I play a (relatively) big gig one day and a small one the next - the truth is that when shows are as enjoyable as this one it doesn't matter if you're playing to a few people in a small pub or hundreds or even thousands in a bigger venue. It's all about the music, and if the music is good then the night is good too. And talking of good nights...

He's back!

Ruts D.C. played at Koko back in October 2013 - the headline act that night was a certain Wilko Johnson, who at that stage of the game was, as the saying goes, living on borrowed time. He'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the start of the year and given just a few months to live, but against all the odds was still playing live. Now a year-and-a-half later he's back in more ways than one, having had treatment for what was previously thought to have been an inoperable condition. I like many thought that the show we played with him would be his last, but having just seen the great man on Thursday night at The Albert Hall I can confirm that he's playing better than ever - with the familiar figures of Norman Watt-Roy on bass and Dylan Howe on drums he stormed through a 30 minute set that got an audience reaction that many headline bands would have been proud of. He was supporting The Who, meaning that I got to see probably my two favourite guitarists ever on the same evening. I'd already seen The 'Orrible 'Oo at The O2 Arena on Sunday and Monday (that's where I was going after visiting Abbey Road Studios) playing two shows rescheduled from before Christmas, and while none of the shows were bad I think the R.A.H. gig just beat the other two in the 'best gig of the three' stakes. But not by much - it was great to hear 'Slip Kid' on Sunday, and the Monday show included a particularly good 'Eminence Front' among the usual highlights. 50 years on from their first record release they sound better than ever - you've got to love 'em haven't you? 

So there you have it, a memorable week in mad-guitar-land. And this week is looking pretty good too, with Ruts D.C.playing in Paris on Friday followed by two London shows the next night for your humble narrator - The London Sewage Company support The Men They Couldn't Hang at The Shepherd's Bush Empire (oh yes!) early in the evening while Neck play The Water Rats in King's Cross later in the day. Happy Easter y'all!

'We're a garage band, we come from garageland...'

In a week that saw the extraordinary news that Wilko Johnson is 'free of cancer' the music world lost reggae singer extraordinaire John Holt, glam rock hero Alvin Stardust, Chas & Dave drummer Mick Burt, 'Baker Street' sax man Raphael Ravenscroft and Cream bass legend Jack Bruce. Talk about not getting something for nothing eh?

On Saturday night Ruts D.C. headlined The Garage in Islington. We gathered at The Music Complex in Deptford on Friday to rehearse for the show - our time together began in the cafe opposite for what Segs dubbed a 'bonding breakfast' and a tactical discussion. Sometime in the next few hours we also found time to visit a secondhand clothing shop (I bought a black jacket which I wore next night at the show) and a Vietnamese restaurant (sweet and sour tofu - excellent!) as well as putting together a 75 minute set which included 'Different View' for the first time since 1982. I remember seeing them play the song several times and have always thought it to be one of the band's best songs so it was great to see it on the setlist at last. Needless to say we then repaired to The Little Crown for a couple of pints of their always - wonderful Guinness, during which Segs and myself suddenly remembered that we'd had a conversation with U.K. Subs guitarist Jet a few weeks earlier when we'd discussed the idea of him playing with us at the gig; text messages were sent, phone calls were made and a plan came together...

4.30pm the next day and we've just soundchecked with the afore - mentioned 'Different View', it's sounding great and spirits are high. We've got Bob behind the mixing desk, Owen is stage managing the evening and we've finished well within our allotted time. But surely we've forgotten something... as if by magic another guitarist appears, plugs into my spare amplifier (a Fender Blues Junior in case you were wondering; I'm using my 'usual' Blues Deluxe) and within seconds we're blasting through 'In A Rut' and sounding, well, like we usually do but with Jet joining us on guitar - in other words, pretty good!  
After meeting up with various people at The Wig And Gown (an excellent punky pub just along the Holloway Road) it was back in time to catch most of the set from opening act The Duel, who sounded the best that I'd seen them for quite a while. Evil Blizzard were up next - with only 30 minutes to work with (I'm sure that they've got songs longer than that!) they got straight into things and left many - an audience member looking bewildered by the end of their first song. Surreal moment followed surreal moment - at one point they even had someone mopping up on the stage! - and I'm sure they had five bass players instead of the usual four at one point. Great stuff, and not an easy act to follow. We'd better get on with it then... and get on with it we did. Even though I say so myself we started well and got better as the show went on, with the only hiccup being a fault with Segs's bass during 'SUS' (Dave stated 'I bet you never thought you'd hear a drum solo at a Ruts show' then proceeded to play one!) Once that was fixed we carried on where we left off, with 'Different View' going down particularly well. In no time at all we're at the end of the set, and Jet joins us for a thunderous 'In A Rut' that brings the proverbial house down. We're on a curfew (there was a club night after our gig) but there's still time for an encore of 'Something That I Said' and 'Society' to finish a truly memorable show. Afterwards there time for a few drinks and to chat to quite a few people, after which we return to The Wig And Gown for, er, a few drinks and, er, to chat to quite a few people - which explains why I didn't get this written up yesterday. Well, I wasn't feeling too good...

But I felt better after reading this review from the always - excellent Elvis In The Clouds blog. Thank you Mr. Presley!

Different gear, still speeding...

Of course when I say 'time I got that bloody tax return finished then' what I actually mean is 'time I put all those receipts that have been in those two plastic bags for over a year in some sort of order then attempt to marry them up with bank and credit card statements before wrestling with the online tax return service'. Something like that anyway. Still I got it all done in the end - now I've got to start saving up to pay them...

As mentioned last time this is a relatively quiet week in Leigh's Mad World Of Guitars, although with quite a few gigs on the horizon it's very much a case of 'the calm before the storm'. Good! But I managed to see a couple more bands this week, starting with The Fallen Leaves at The 12 Bar Club. I met up with John King before the gig in The Champion - well to be more accurate I met him outside The Champion, where he was stomping about in a state of no little annoyance. 'There's only one guy serving and it's chaos' roared he, looking suitably disturbed. We decided to have another look inside - there were now two burly-looking chaps behind the bar and an air of calm prevailed so we ordered some drinks; from there we walked down the road to The Blue Posts, then along to The Tottenham... we made it to the 12 Bar Club in time to catch a fiery Fallen Leaves show, although by the time we got there I for one was feeling the effects of the previous few hours. And I certainly felt it the next morning...

Friday night it was time for a visit to Tropic At Ruislip to see Virgil And The Accelerators. I'd seen the band once before (back in April 2012 supporting the mighty Wilko Johnson) and was keen to see how things were developing for them. On Friday's evidence the answer would have to be 'rather well', as the good-sized audience loved the 2 hour show although I have to say that it all went on a bit for me in places - is a 20+ minute guitar solo legal?!? Still the encore medley of 'Thru And Thru' and 'Are You Experienced?' was undeniably impressive, and judging by the number of people who bought CDs and t-shirts the band are definitely going in the right direction. I still say that those solos were a bit long though...

My only gig of this weekend was with The Upper Cut at a private party in Ruislip. We'd not played together for a while so it was good to all get together again - we were playing in a marquee in the back garden of Tracy and Dave's house and overall things went well, with Mark from ME Guitars joining us for a few songs and plenty of dancing and merriment from all concerned. We're playing at The Admiral Nelson in Twickenham this Saturday in the midst of what promises to be a good weekend for your humble narrator, as Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks are also gigging all weekend (I'll be with them on Thursday and Sunday) and Ruts D.C. are at The Hare And Hounds in Birmingham on Friday. And if that wasn't enough Wednesday evening sees the first FFRUK night at The Intrepid Fox (formally The Archway Tavern) in Archway. Segs will be DJ-ing and there are several bands playing - well as I said earlier, things are about to get a lot busier...

In the name of love

This piece has taken quite a while to write, which is probably not that obvious from reading it. I'm not entirely sure that it's any good, or if it covers all or even most of my feelings about the extraordinary weekend that I've just experienced, but for better or worse here it is...

So there we are then, The 2014 Rebellion Festival. And what a wonderful event it was - well, I had a good time anyway! I spent a fair amount of it working behind the Cadiz Music merchandising stall with label supremo Richard England and his assistant Blaise, and although it was hard work (yes ok, not as hard as digging a hole or something like that, but you know what I mean!) it was generally really good fun. In addition to various Ruts and Ruts D.C. items (including the re-issue of 'Rhythm Collision Volume 1' and our new live album 'Live On Stage') we had albums and t-shirts from Wilko Johnson, The Cockney Rejects, Electric River, Eight Rounds Rapid and more, and over the course of the four days of the festival we met and spoke to literally hundreds of people; yes there was the odd nutter but overall it was something that was a real pleasure to be part of. 

It was good to catch up with various people too, many of whom I hadn't seen since last year's gathering while some like John King I'd arranged to meet at the festival. Somewhat inevitably this involved late nights and lots of drinking - well, why not eh? It's only once a year after all... 

However the real reason that I was there was of course to play with Ruts D.C.; following our performance at The 12 Bar Club back in February we were invited to play an acoustic show on Saturday evening as well as headlining The Pavilion Stage (formally known as The Bizarre Bazaar) the following night. In addition to these two gigs Segs and Dave were interviewed by Garry Bushell on The Literary Stage on Sunday afternoon, which was an amusing and lively session ostensibly to discuss the upcoming book on the band ('Love In Vain - The Story Of The Ruts and Ruts D.C.' which should be out in October) but which ended up covering all sorts of unrelated topics featuring much banter between all concerned. All good entertaining stuff, as was Bushell's interview with Pete Haynes earlier in the day, where Pete spoke of his new book 'Cool Water' and even gave your humble narrator a name check for encouraging him to pursue his gift for writing all those years ago. Well - I did!
The acoustic show took place at 9.20 pm on Saturday evening in the bar - throughout the preceding days I'd been aware that while many visiting the stall were looking forward to Sunday's electric set it was the acoustic show that had really caught people's imagination. 'What are you going to play?' was a common question, as indeed was 'how are you going to play it?' In an attempt to answer these and many other queries Dave, Segs and myself gathered in Segs's hotel room at half past three in the afternoon - well, there's nothing like leaving it until the last minute is there? As we were setting up before the show it became that we were going to be playing to a full house, to such an extent that by the time we kicked off the show with 'Something That I Said' there were so many people in the room that a visit from the local fire department would have surely resulted in the show being closed down. Given the unusual nature of the gig we chose some less likely songs from the band's back catalogue (including 'Dangerous Minds' and 'Despondency' from 'Animal Now') as well as giving the first-ever public performance of a new song 'Second Hand Child' - as the set progressed I for one was aware of the growing intensity of the show, and by the time we got to 'Babylon's Burning' things were at fever pitch with our last song 'In A Rut' instigating the sort of standing ovation that people like me can usually only dream about. Amazing. But things didn't end there, as next up was the mighty T.V. Smith. He began his set as a solo act but then invited me to join him and bassman Jonathan from his band The Bored Teenagers for a couple of songs before getting the rest of the band up to finish the show with three Adverts songs. You can see how it all ended by clicking here - yes, that is Attila The Stockbroker joining me at the microphone near the end, and yes, the drummer really is playing a cardboard box!

But if that was a good gig then the electric set the next evening took things to another dimension entirely. I wrote last time about how we were following Glen Matlock whose band was to feature Earl Slick on guitar - I'd hoped to meet him and so was well pleased when I bumped into him (literally - he came through a door as I was about to walk through it in the other direction!) and he turned out to be a very nice chap, as did drummer Slim Jim Phantom who was also playing with Glen. I missed most of their set as we were getting changed and working out a set list - as I walked towards the stage to get ready for our show I saw Mr. Slick again (I'm starting to sound like a stalker now aren't I?!?) who's comment 'all black - that's the way to go man!' has all but guaranteed that I'll never wear any other colour clothing on stage again. Well I will, but you know what I mean!
We were introduced on stage by Irvine Welsh, who is a friend of Segs's and who had also appeared on The Literary Stage earlier in the day; as he wrote 'Trainspotting' there was of course only one possible opening song... we usually open with a reggae - style song so starting with 'H-Eyes' caught everyone by surprise. Once again some less-than-obvious songs featured in the set, not least 'Demolition Dancing' which has always been a big favourite of mine - judging by the audience reaction quite a few other people like it too... without wishing to sound too big-headed there are some shows that you just know are going to be special, that are just that little bit better than usual, and as we neared the end it was clear that this was going to be one to remember. Despite being told that there was a curfew and that we couldn't come back for an encore the audience simply refused to leave, even when the crew began dismantling the drum kit. We eventually returned for a blazing romp through 'Society' which ended what was a truly unforgettable performance and - dare I say it - one of the best things that I've ever been part of.

Gatherings such as this seem to contain so many high points, and yet I've found that there's often a defining moment which somehow focuses the overall feeling into a few words or a single statement - this time the one that sticks with me occurred in the backstage bar in the early hours of Sunday morning after our acoustic show. Segs and I were talking to Doug, who knew Malcolm Owen when he (Doug) was in his early teens. I said something about how it must have been an extraordinary experience - Doug just smiled and said 'he taught me dignity, and he taught me pride'. 

His words hung in the air. I can still hear him saying them now. I hope that I hear them forever. 

Quo vadis?

I'd made enough of a recovery from the dreaded food poisoning by Tuesday to journey to Guildford to see The Stranglers supported by Nine Below Zero at G-Live. Nine Below Zero sounded pretty much how they sounded when I saw them in Watford before Christmas i.e. excellent if a little slower than I remember them sounding back in the day. Dennis Greaves still plays the cheeky chappie persona well, and remains an underrated singer and guitarist. I don't think I can recall seeing him play a Telecaster before although it sounded good to me, and I was close enough to the stage to hear him telling the band off a couple of times when they made mistakes - clearly not a cheeky chappie all the time then! Meanwhile The Stranglers were celebrating their 40th year as a band with a two hour long set that (I'm told) included at least one song from each of their 17 albums and which featured a three song-long mid-set appearance from veteran drummer Jet Black, which I believe is a rare occurrence these days. The audience seemed somewhat subdued until he began 'Golden Brown'; after 'Always The Sun' and 'Genetix' he left the stage to tumultuous applause after which the audience then seemed to me at least to return to their subdued selves. Strange - mind you I don't think I was the only person there that found the four screens suspended above the band to be something of a distraction during some songs. Still by the time we got to 'Five Minutes' and 'Hanging Around' things were getting a bit more lively, and the final encore of 'Tank' bought the proverbial house down. A good evening.

Friday Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks returned to The Crown in Cowley for the first time since Christmas Eve. That was a suitably noisy evening, this was rather quieter both in terms of audience numbers and band volume. We'd heard that there had been a few complaints from neighbours so both Pete and myself decided to take smaller amplifiers in an attempt to keep the noise down, and it certainly seemed to work as there were no complaints this time. Well, not to our faces anyway! When you play quieter than usual it can sometimes lead to a scrappy performance due to people not being able to play 'properly', and while there was the odd wrong turning here and there overall it was a good gig. We could have done with a few more people there though - I'm told that when the band played without me the next night several hundred yards down the road at The Three Steps it was an altogether more raucous affair. I was at The Brunswick in Hove playing a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show with Back To Zero. We arrived just in time to miss Robby Allen And the Kite Collectors - a shame since I really enjoyed them when we played with them in Stoke back in February although I did manage to by their (excellent) album 'Mildred's Room'; I did manage to catch most of The Hiwatts's set of mod and mod-related covers before going off in search of food. The Legendary Groovymen, The Loop, The SuperMinx70 and The Past Tense all delivered strong sets, but sadly by the time we went on things were running a bit late and we were obliged to not only cut our set down but also finish before we were due to play 'Your Side Of Heaven', a situation which left some audience members somewhat disgruntled. I must admit it was all a bit frustrating in the end from our point of view, but hopefully they managed to raise some money for a very worthwhile cause. 

On Sunday afternoon I accompanied Big Al Reed in his 1959 Cadillac (!) to The Sportsman in Croxley Green for a jam session that featured among others High Voltage, some Swedish friends of Good Old Boys guitarist Pete Parks - I believe he goes out there and plays several times a year and organises shows over here for them in return. When we arrived High Voltage were roaring through an AC/DC song or two, and sounding very good indeed; later Al and I joined Pete on guitar, Bill on bass and the drummer from High Voltage (I can't remember his name! Sorry!) to play 'Peter Gunn' and 'Why Why Me', and jolly good fun it was too. 

If you're my age you've got to like Status Quo, or at the very least have a soft spot for them. Well I think that you have - I can remember seeing them on 'Top Of The Pops' when I was a lad playing songs like 'Caroline' and 'Down Down' and thinking that this rock 'n' roll lark looked like a pretty good thing to be involved in. Even my mum and dad liked them. With this in mind a chance to see the original line-up (the so-called 'Frantic Four') at The Hammersmith Odeon (or whatever the hell it's called these days!) seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, not least because the mighty Wilko Johnson was supporting. He sounded as great as ever - actually he sounded even greater than ever, with his 45 minute set going down so well that he could perhaps have played an encore. Everyone seems to love Wilko these days - as we all know his profile has been higher than ever since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and let's hope he continues to play for a very long time yet. And what can I say about Status Quo that hasn't already been said? Terms like 'industry standard' don't cover it - they sounded, well, exactly like Status Quo should sound, with Rick Parfitt's rhythm playing remaining one of the touchstones of British rock'n'roll guitar and the band reminding everyone present why they liked them in the first place. There could have been a few more hits (I believe the set was based around the 'Live!' album) but I think the current line-up plays them so I guess this was a night for diehards and old fans rather than followers of the chart material. But however you look at it they sounded great - and I imagine that they always did. There are some things in life that you can rely upon, and I'd say that Status Quo are one of them. And that's alright don't you think?