The Boys - Brickfield Night

Just to cheer myself up after the artwork calamity i've posted one of my favourite also-ran punk era songs "Brickfield Nights" by the Boys. I don't know why but i love this (i think it's the drum sound). Anyhow, enjoy!

Whoops!

Just a quick one this - there's been a problem with the artwork on the cd so were waiting to find out what we're gonna do. Should only be a slight delay but we want to get it right so bear with us. The same image appears on two pages of the booklet and one page has been missed out completely and it needs to be re-done.

This is what Paul did to his guitar when he found out.

Kilmersdon - rock city

Tagged along with The UK Stiffs to Kilmersdon village hall on Saturday where they were supporting top Who tribute band Who's Next. After dropping off a couple of bits of gear it was straight down the Jolliffe Arms for a pint. This is where Grant performs his pre-gig ritual of getting the delicate balance between junk food, pints of beer and sweariness exactly right.

Paul, Steve and Chris returned to the venue to do technical stuff but Grant felt he was a pint and a half short of optimum verbal rubbish spouting so we stayed on.

Later at the show he proved to be on top of his game baiting some of the older villagers and relating how he had shaved his conker sack for a recent visit to France. I think that was probably a bad move - if you want to fit in on the continent grow all patches of bodily hair to at least two inches in length. However i digress, both bands were superb on the night and well worth the admission money. I missed a small section of the Who's Next performance when the organisers distracted me with free hog roast but not as much as they distracted Chris who had six portions!

The hall wasn't packed but this was one of the most enjoyable shows i've seen from these two outfits - thanks to Alex, Craig and co for the full on sweaty performance. Kilmersdon is home to the famous Jack 'n' Jill hill so i was disappointed that the comatose ale casualty lying in the beer recovery position at the back of the gig wasn't attended to with vinegar and brown paper, still can't have everything.

Wrap Party

Friday evening saw the end of term awards for the Frome FM community radio project and all the band attended. Phil Moakes handed out awards in various categories for the shows and we were proud to win one for the most downloaded spot. The prize was a 1972 NME annual purchased by Phil from e-bay and Paul would not let it out of his clutches for the rest of the night (i think he liked the photos of Robert Plant and Rod Stewart). Other vintage annuals (no, not Over Fifties magazine) were given for best interview show etc along with Phil's powerpoint display of "skin of our teeth" broadcasting.

It is planned to revive the station, funding permitting, in time for the Frome Extravaganza later in the year and hopefully we will be involved again. Thanks to everyone who listened to us, friends who dropped by and all the organisers at the station. Most of the work from the bands point of view was done by Paul, Andy and Ivan who hosted all the shows with Chris and myself turning up when we could.

As the crowd thinned out the red carpet was rolled away and we were last at the bar, as usual, so we headed for the bright lights of the town and made it as far as the Blue Boar - twenty yards away. Here we were incredibly lucky to witness some fantastic karaoke performances up to the standard of early rounds of the x-factor. Except for my wife Gill who was in fact superb!

Looking forward to next time.

Dr Feelgood - She Does It Right

This clip is from a program called the Geordie Scene it used to go out in the H.T.V. area at about midday on Sunday just about the time i usually arose from a night out. The presenter was a dreadful Jimmy Saville wannabe called Dave Eager who dressed in the most appalling deckchair striped jumpsuits and once fronted a band called Dave Eager and the Beavers!

This was the first time i saw the Feelgoods on t.v. They had quite a few other groups on, i seem to remember seeing Shakin' Stevens, Mungo Jerry and The Sweet but nothing could touch this performance from the Doctor. I have a pirate copy of the whole show but the quality is poor and it's in black and white - someone somewhere has a reasonable colour rip and i envy them. If you ever see it watch out for the bit where Mr Eager tries to force feed young girls in the audience with stotty cakes. Oh yeah i've just remembered there was a dreadful cabaret style performance by Showaddywaddy one particularly hungover Lord's day morn'.

Cannabis Cabinet

I see in the papers that Labour M.P.'s are queueing up to admit they smoked a bit of blow in their youth. The provisos with this are, they only did it a couple of times, it was peer pressure at a party, they didn't enjoy it, it was someone else's stash, they're very sorry and that they feel it gives them an advantage in dealing with the issue of drugs in society. Mr Cameron however is remaining "tight-lipped" on the subject.

Tell you what it would be nice for one of them to actually tell the truth and say "Yeah i did all sorts at Uni', bloody loved it - smashed off me tits every Saturday night. I'd love to do it now, get back from the Commons after an all nighter, skin up a big bifter, Marley on the stereo, bass up to eleven. Bangin'!!! Only i can't because some fake sheik from the News of the Screws or one of those persistent bleeders from the Daily Mail would catch me out and ruin my cushy little earner". Pity - i'd vote for them.

In town centres all over England the police have set up testing stations using swabs to find out if pub and club goers are on anything. This they will inform you is in the public interest in the war against drugs. They should set one up in the bars at Westminster catch all those coked up spin-doctors as they're glad handing the leaders of industry for peerages and donations (allegedly). Only that would, in all probability, not be in the public interest at all but would be an enormous violation of their human rights.

Free Beer

Went out to the Griff' last night for some ale. They pay us in beer for the gigs we play so we can get caned free for a few sessions i also pick up some tab for designing pump clips. Whilst partaking of the free beverisation provided i began to get a sneaking feeling of guilt in the back of my mind then i realised what it was - taxation!

Obviously we need to pay taxes on the buckshee neck-oil but the way forward is not so clear. Sending roughly a third of a pint, per round, through the post is problematic. My solution is this - the local excise department needs to send an officer to sit in on the drinking sessions and he should drink every third sip. The man for the job should be of a thirsty nature as sessions involving whole bands could take a bit of a toll on his constitution and he should also be required to provide thirty-three and a third of the conversation. The person concerned would also need to make sure that he was up to date on his tetanus shots etc specially when sharing a glass with the Detectives/Stiffs.

How can this benefit the nation as a whole i hear you say. The proceedings could be recorded on a video camera and podcasts supplied via the Internet for people to download and enjoy. Early morning showings on the televisions in electrical shop windows would enable tramps and dirty stop-outs to feel included in the initiative. I shall be e-mailing the new chancellor with my proposals so read the financial sections for more news.

Biggles

We were talking in the pub at the weekend about the success of Harry Potter and Ivan wanted to know why no one read Biggles books any more. Maybe it's the loss of empire, changing attitudes to our European neighbours, etc but i think it's the lack of good swearing in them.

You see during the war swearing was rationed and only certain low-impact cuss words were allowed "oh sugar" i hear you say "that's a bit of a shakey-do" and you'd be right! Right up to 1957 the word "bollocks" would cost you a weeks worth of swearing coupons. The stronger exclamations could often only be uttered by societies who had pooled their vouchers and would take turns to pronounce a syllable whilst marching in tight formation. The best of these was known as The Blue Arrows they would perform swearing displays at local pageants and country fairs. The general public tired of standing in swearing queues (some younger children didn't even know what "bugger" sounded like until four years after the war) ate it up but the gradual increase in imported swearwords from America, under the Arsehole plan, led to a decline in interest.

This makes the books too tame for modern tastes so gorblimey guvnor they're not gonna come back into flippin' fashion. Lumme what a swiz!

Glastonbury

I see Michael Eavis has told the N.M.E. that he wants to attract younger festival goers next year as the "vibe" was unbalanced this time. I went over on the Sunday when the Who, Bootleg Beatles, and Shirley Bassey were on - surely with a cutting edge line-up like that on he couldn't fail to pull the teenagers in. Last time it was Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney next year Eartha Kitt might be appropriate.

I know there is a diversity of fine young bands but there is also the most family friendly atmosphere as well. Circus acts and a whole field of children's entertainment are not gonna pull in the teens to twenties. His idea of selling more tickets by phone as he believes that middle aged punters have greater access to broadband doesn't ring true either (not in this house anyway). I can't prise my kids off the computer with a crowbar!

Then there is the loyalty factor i've been attending and supporting this festival for years, i like it and i'd like to go again even though i'm getting a bit rusty in the joints - nah, not that kind.

This might be doing Mr Eavis a disservice but perhaps his corporate sponsors are worried about his demographics, maybe he's become ageist or could he just be sucking up to the N.M.E. If he really wanted more youngsters he'd make the tickets cheaper. Yeah fat chance!

Still i like him and he's doggedly kept the show going all these years under enormous pressure 'till the powers that be have had to accept it's here to stay - perhaps that's the problem the Glastonbury Festival isn't fighting the man any more and is leaking "cool".

Good luck Michael but i'm not with you on this one.

Stripchords + Bad Detectives

Just been to pick up the gear from the pub. Last nights gig was great fun. Despite tough competition from two of the Stranglers there was a good crowd at the Griffin and they were treated to a unique entertainment.
The Stripchords mission statement is "tits "n" twang" and that was duly delivered - they served up some crisp retro sounding instrumentals whilst projecting some vintage pulchritude for the audiences delectation. This is just the stuff for the festival, entertaining, barrier breaking, audio visual meltdown. Tasty and tastefully tasteless. Well i know what i mean.
With a new album due out in a matter of days, alongside some old faves, the Bad Detectives previewed some of the tracks from the new disc. Bubble Car, Double Neck Guitar , Who Cut Your Hair and Rattlesnake Oil to name but many. The crowd was up for it and the show was over all too quickly. Apologies for the lack of an encore but there was a strict curfew on the music as the neighbours are revolting. Does that sound right?
Thanks to the Griffin, the Stripchords - for trekking all the way down from London, Craig for the sounds and everyone who dropped in.

U.K. Stiffs + Nocturnal Sunshine

Dead busy up the Griff last night with the debut gig for Warminster band Nocturnal Sunshine. They really hit the spot with churning punk rhythms containing just a hint of their ska/pop influences. The funniest thing is that the singer is the long lost younger look alike of the U.K. Stiffs singer Grant. For a first time appearance they were tight, confident, and their front man is an absolute natural performer. Great aggresive drumming and choppy guitar work go and see 'em if they are in your area.
Grant's just back from France and the Stiffs hadn't played in a while but they performed a sloppily brilliant set even though he decked a litre (he's gone metric now) of neat vodka - or so he tells me - from what appeared to be a mineral water bottle. Mmmmm.......
The place was packed and the audience was up for it from the start. Steve shrugged off his injury worries. Paul and Chris bashed out the hits of '77 in double quick time with the audience singing along if it wasn't for the local environmental health enforcement order they could have played all night.
We're on tonight with the Stripchords so come along if you can.
p.s. Grant is 50.

B-Movie Beat

We've got our new c.d. coming out soon - in an unbiased fashion i have to say it's jolly good. This means our next release will be the "difficult" third album. Due to our regional location we may be looking to call it "Be 'Yer Now", or maybe not.

This is what the cover looks like, all the tracks were produced by Alan Wilson and us at his Western Star studio near Bristol.

When it clears the pressing plant (i don't think they still call them that do they) i'll post some more information about the various songs and lyrics.

Live Earth

Here's a thought, instead of being lectured to by insincere millionaire singers with nine homes to heat/air-condition about leaving your t.v. on standby why not lower your carbon footprint by going to watch a local band. If you live in the Frome area go and watch the U.K.Stiffs tonight at the Griffin Inn or us, the Bad Detectives, on Saturday night.
You get support from Nocturnal Sunshine and the Stripchords, it all runs off a couple of thirteen amp sockets, they brew the beer out back, and entry is FREE!

Pub Rock

Pub rock has become derided these days and is viewed as a postscript to Punk but i think it was far more important than that.
Here's why.
Gigs where you were supposed to sit down in a fog of dope smoke and quietly nod your head.
Bands who had songs that took up four sides of a double album.
The same songs that required an honours degree in music to attempt playing.
Remote dinosaur musicians living on trout farms in Surrey (or on entire personal islands in Scotland).
Giant concerts where the musicians look like ants.
Tie dyes and flares.
Double neck guitars.
Anything by Yes.
Fawning music reporters initiated into the backstage lifestyle providing arselicking reviews of the latest concept album.
etc etc etbloodycetera....
The pub rockers started the process that blew away the worst of these excesses - you could get near them, they had a bit of balls, the songs were simpler an shorter and in my case you thought "hang on - i could have a go at this".
These days even bands like Blondie admit to being influenced by Dr Feelgood (the first line-up, but more of that later) and certainly the attitude of young bands like Eddie and the Hot Rods paved the way for punk and the venues they opened up in London gave the punks more places to play.
It was a turning point for me - three chord songs, not much gear, small venues that looked full with about eighteen people in them and all your mates jumping about having a good time. Heaven in a pint glass. You could have a punt at it and the Bad Detectives are still out there still trying to nail it.

Bad Radio

This week the Bad Detectives have been given a local radio show to promote the Frome festival. This is an annual event designed to showcase drama,art and music in the town.
I'm gutted i can't do all the shows because i am on night shift but i have been listening in. The lads - Paul, Andy, Ivan and Chris have been doing a bang up job playing a mix of rock 'n' roll, punk, surf, soul and blues. To say they haven't been treating the radio format seriously is an understatement with rambling competitions featuring dubious winners, tenuous links, and a reduction in reviewing techniques to "that was good/rubbish".
On second thoughts thats just what radio needs - you know when you listen to most mainstream presenters they have been given a playlist and on many occasions are playing songs they absolutely hate but have to call "fantastic, great , wonderful and poptastic". I didn't always like what John Peel played but i knew that he did!
So long live the Bad Detectives radio hour (and a half) broadcasting mavericks one and all.