Retro Man Blog

Spiders at Sweden Rock Festival - Photos by Josefine Larsson

2013-06-19T16:26:00.000+01:00

Ann-Sofie of Spiders - Photo by Josefine Larsson

The Gothenburg Non-Stop web-site has published some excellent pictures of our favourite "Retro Rockers", Spiders taken at the recent "Sweden Rock Festival" by the very talented photographer Josefine Larsson. Josefine had complete backstage and onstage access and her photos are certainly well worth checking out. Josefine has already contributed pictures of Mattias Hellberg and The Movements to Retro Man Blog and I am sure we will see much more from her in the future. You can check out the full set of Spiders photos on the Gothenburg Non-Stop site and see more examples of Josefine's work at her official web-site.

Ricard and Matteo warming up backstage - Photo by Josefine Larsson

John and Ann-Sofie backstage before the gig - Photo by Josefine Larsson

Spiders will play at Club Destroyer, Sundsvall in Sweden on June 29th before heading off on an Iberian Tour to continue promoting their superb debut album "Flash Point", with the first date in Barcelona on July 01st. They will then play at the Rockfest in Rengsdorf, Germany on July 27th and then there will be a couple more appearances at festivals in Sweden in August. Visit the band's web-site for all the dates, venues and ticket details. Spiders will hopefully start recording the follow up to "Flash Point" in Autumn. Their single "Fraction" is so good it even made it onto our Retro Man Blog "favourite 7" singles" header logo above, amongst some very exalted company...!

Taking the stage at Sweden Rock Festival - Photo by Josefine Larsson

You can check out our interview with Ann-Sofie from Spiders and hear some of their tunes in our special edition Retrosonic Podcast on Swedish music at the Soundcloud site.

With many thanks to Josefine Larsson.

The Art of The Button Badge: Blondie

2013-06-18T18:34:00.001+01:00

When I first started up the Blog just over two years ago, it was really just meant to be somewhere to share some of my music related "stuff" such as Button badges, 7" Single picture covers, Gig tickets and Photos. I didn't really expect things to expand so quickly into doing Reviews and Podcasts and Gig promotions and such-like so I kind of lost touch with the original idea a bit. Hopefully I will get round to scanning and sharing some of my items soon, but in the meantime, Blog reader Marc Talbot kindly submitted some of his huge collection of Blondie badges. It's quite an impressive haul, so here is just a small part of it...

Marc has been collecting Blondie button badges for over 35 years and has amassed over 400 of his own and has scans of about 500 different designs. He is always looking to add to his collection and is considering setting up a web-site to share other badges, so if you have any spares for sale, swap or share then contact the Blog and I'll hook you up with Marc. All Badges and Photos contributed by Marc Talbot.

Dirt Royal at London Callin' 12th Anniversary Party at The 12 Bar Club June 07th

2013-06-17T08:39:00.002+01:00

Dirt Royal at The 12 Bar Club - Photo by Steve Worrall

Tonight's gig at the 12 Bar Club was the 12th Anniversary party for Barnet Mark's London Callin' Club night, and he picked a great line-up to celebrate the event. The first band on were Dirt Royal who have already picked up some impressive fans. Andy from The Past Tense recommended them and was there at the front of the stage, proudly wearing his Dirt Royal button badge. The Brighton based three-piece are young, guitarist Leon, bassist Charlie and drummer Loz all being in their early twenties and Barnet Mark mentioned to me that they were the band he wished he'd been in when he was their age...! I can see why, as Dirt Royal are full of confidence and have a great set of fully formed, tight and tuneful songs that does belie their age. Starting off with "Sick Boy Method" you are struck by the chemistry between Leon and Charlie, who share lead vocals duties as they crash about the stage, attacking their songs with real aggression, it's a great performance. Dirt Royal have a classic three-piece sound, and with the importance of the melodic backing vocals and Charlie's prominent bass, it's easy to think of The Jam. However, the band have a bit more of a varied palette which is evident in the second song "It Was You", and later on in "Factory Fodder", which both have a Fifties/early Sixties Rock & Roll feel. It's on these two songs, and their cover of Bobby Freeman's classic "Do You Wanna Dance?", that shows they have a lot of varied influences to draw from. So, a very promising band to watch out for, and I'd recommend getting hold of their great six track E.P. called "About Now", which they were selling for only one pound, and you really can't much better than that!

Dirt Royal at The 12 Bar - Photo by Steve Worrall

Here's a video of "Bobbys Without a Cause" filmed on the night. Check out the band's web-site for more information on upcoming gigs and to order their excellent "About Now".

TV Smith + Louise Distras at The 12 Bar Club June 07th

2013-06-16T22:57:00.002+01:00

TV Smith and Louise Distras at the 12 Bar Club - Photo by Steve Worrall

It's the 12 Bar again and the 12th anniversary of Barnet Mark's London Callin' club night. TV Smith is standing behind his merchandise table, a table that's almost groaning under the weight of over thirty years experience in music. From a rare recording of his pre-Punk band Sleaze, to albums by The Adverts, TV Smith's Explorers, Cheap and of course his many and varied solo records, an impressive back catalogue lay in front of him. Behind him were hanging T-Shirts for sale, some showing extensive dates from his relentless touring schedule.

TV Smith at The 12 Bar Club - Photo by Zig Criscuolo

Then there are the three volumes of his autobiography, or "Punk Rock Tour Diaries" as they are titled, which are a must-read for any self-respecting music fan, as they document warts and all, the truth about trying to get along as a self-sufficient Musician. There is no place for Rock Star excess in these books, no Limos or Lear jets - just the bus or the tube to the airport or train station. Travelling, not with record company finance but with a support network of independent promoters, bands or friends and often with only a bag of clothes, a box of CDs, a guitar and an emergency sandwich for company. All for the chance to perform to an audience, whether it is in an arena supporting Die Toten Hosen or a decent venue to a derelict squat or a tent in the middle of a forest, it's all worth it just to get on stage and play.

Louise Distras by Paul Osborn

Next to TV Smith is another merchandise table, not quite as laden with goods, but impressive nevertheless with an array of T-Shirts, Badges and CD's. Behind this table stands Louise Distras, the Wakefield based singer songwriter. Louise is probably not quite ready to write her autobiography yet, but these are early days, she's due to release her Pat Collier produced debut album "Tales From The Factory Floor" very soon and people are starting to take notice of her raw and uncompromising protest songs. Seeing both Louise and TV Smith standing there chatting to fans, I'm struck by the similarities in their approach and I wonder if Louise has read any of TV's books. They are both steeped in that D.I.Y. spirit of trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, music is their life and their livelihood and those merchandise tables are an important part of their set up, and not just for helping to bring in important revenue but as a way of building a strong relationship between themselves and their fan-base. It's obvious they take great pride in the quality and design of the goods on display, not to mention the reasonable pricing for fans.

TV Smith by Zig Criscuolo

Their accessibility and friendliness to all who wish to chat is apparent, both are song-writers with strong ideals and values and this is a great chance to communicate. I talked to Louise after her excellent set where she stunned the crowd with her raw, powerful voice and the quality of her songs. I noticed she was wearing a "Strummerville" badge, which I felt was quite apt. I think there is a lot in common with what Joe Strummer believed in and where Louise is coming from. She sings about the effects of social injustice in modern Britain, the aftermath of bullying and hate crimes, in fact her single "Standing Strong Together" was a fundraiser for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, the charity set up in memory of the Lancashire student murdered by two teenagers for no more reason that she was a Goth and looked different. Louise is sticking up for the underdog, promoting individualism, another single "The Hand You Hold" was released to help promote International Women's Day, and I can see why Joe Strummer might be such an influence. Louise Distras is cool and charming with a friendly down-to-earth character, "I felt shy and a bit nervous tonight", she told me, "I'm not used to playing to so many smiling faces..!" At first I found this comment a bit strange and I worried about what sort of audiences she has been performing to! But then I could kind of understand where she is coming from. Again, like TV Smith, she has important things to say, and I suppose it's probably just as rewarding to play to a hostile or inquisitive crowd and at the end have at least a few people going away saying "you know, I never never thought of it like that..." than it is to have a room full of people cheering and clapping without even considering the subject matter of the songs themselves. But it's also about that balance between entertainment and getting a message across, and Louise and TV both have a humour and self-effacing quality that means you don't get the feeling you are just being preached at. But most importantly they have the songs, both are playing it as stripped back and as honest as you can get, just vocals and guitar, nothing to hide behind, so the songs have to work and they certainly do. Of course TV Smith has a great back catalogue of classic songs in his armoury, and despite having to miss half his set to catch my last train home, I manage to hear a superb, passionate performance including "The Lion and The Lamb", "No Time To Be 21", "Complaints Department", "Coming Into Land" and "It's Expensive Being Poor". TV also plays two brand new numbers, "Replay" and "Long Gone", which were both excellent and promise good things for his next album which will be released sometime in 2014.

Louise Distras - Photo by Steve Worrall

Oh yes, I mentioned his humour. TV notices me checking my watch as I consider if I have just enough time to hear one more last song before shooting off in the dash for my last train. "I usually save this song for the encores", TV says, "but I can see Steve has to rush off..." and he slams into "Runaway Train Driver", thanks Tim, very funny! So feeling honoured to have a song dedication but slightly embarrassed about the circumstances, I make my excuses and leave, very quickly!

Don't forget our TV Smith Retrosonic Podcast special Edition which features TV talking us through his career and picking out some important songs along the way. We were also treated to an exclusive acoustic session so we hope you enjoy it!

Here's a video of TV Smith performing The Adverts classic "No Time To Be 21" on the night. For a bonus video of Louise Distras playing "The Hand You Hold" please check out the Retro Man Blog YouTube Channel here.

With many thanks to Zig Criscuolo from The WitchDoktors and Paul Osborn from The SuperMinx '70 for allowing me to use their photos. Both are not only great photographers but also in excellent bands, so please check them out. Thanks also to Barnet Mark, TV Smith and Louise Distras. You can check out more photos at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page, please head on over and "Like" for access to the Photo Album.

The Joe Strummer Mural London W11 Unveiling Party Thursday June 13th 2013

2013-06-14T10:03:00.000+01:00

Mick Jones and Ray Gange at the unveiling - Photo Copyright Peter Stevens

Last night saw the unveiling of the Joe Strummer mural on the junction of Portobello Road and Blenheim Crescent, right in the heart of The Clash's old Ladbroke Grove stomping ground. I went along to visit the event and there was a great turn-out with some live acoustic performances and a few beers to go along with it. Mick Jones turned up to lend his support and so did Ray Gange from the Clash movie "Rude Boy". It's a long time coming, as New York has had a fantastic Joe Strummer mural for a few years now and it was about time that London paid tribute to Joe too, so credit to Gary Loveridge and Emma Harrison for making it happen.

Mick Jones of The Clash - photo by Steve Worrall

Gary and Emma unveil the Mural - Photo Copyright Peter Stevens

Here, Gary explains how the mural came about: "I've been a Clash fan for over 35 years. Two years ago I was in New York on the anniversary of Joe Strummer's death (22nd December) and to pay my respects, I headed to the Lower East Side because I heard there was a mural of Joe there. I found it. It was good to see him and stand with him in one of his favourite cities. In November 2012, I was asked to create an exhibition of Joe Strummer and The Clash posters from my collection for the "Arms Aloft" gig at the Tabernacle W11. They wanted me to hang the posters, coincidentally, around a photograph of that same mural in New York. Seeing as the anniversary of Joe's death was coming up, it got me thinking that we should have a mural here, in West London, where Joe used to live. I found myself looking out for a wall. The space I was lucky enough to find is at the side of Lydon's Stitch and Bead Shop. The owner said that he liked art and the wall was mine.

Gary, Emma and Mick Jones - Photo Copyright Peter Stevens

I then had a chance meeting with Emma Harrison and during a conversation about Punk Rock posters I discovered that Emma was a mural artist and I asked her if she could paint a Joe Strummer mural. We sat down and designed our mural. We decided to use an older image of Joe with his trusted Telecaster guitar along with a quote of something I'd heard him say on a late night radio show..."Without People, You're Nothing"."

Ray Gange and Gary Loveridge with original sketch - Photo Copyright Peter Stevens

So, great stuff from Gary and Emma, if you're visiting Portobello market be sure to pop along and check out the mural for yourselves and pay tribute to Joe Strummer, it's located on the junction of Blenheim Crescent and Portobello Road, close to Rough Trade. Here's a short video of the unveiling

Many thanks to Gary Loveridge, check out more about his poster archive and exhibitions here. For more info on Emma Harrison please visit her site here. Also, many thanks to Peter Stevens for allowing me to use some of his excellent photos, please visit his photography web-site here.

For more photos "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Photo Album.

The Fallen Leaves + The Phobics at The 12 Bar Club June 05th

2013-06-09T21:44:00.000+01:00

The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall

So, it's the first Wednesday of the month, a date that is block booked in the calendar as it's The Fallen Leaves residency and their "Minimum R 'n' B" Club night at the 12 Bar Club. It's becoming a real highlight of my live music schedule, even more so as The Fallen Leaves always pick a good selection of three or four other bands to play on the night, and this time round, the bill included The Phobics, who I'd been looking forward to seeing for some time. I had actually seen a couple of the band members play an acoustic set at one of Gaye Advert's Art Exhibitions before, but this was the full line-up, so I was particularly keen to catch their show tonight. The band kicked off with "Punk Rock Show", the opening track from their superb album "Deptford Calling", and they weren't wrong, as they treated us to a masterclass in raucous yet tuneful old school Punk Rock.

The Phobics (L/R) Jeff, Shaun, Moyni and Tom - Photo by Steve Worrall

"Won't Let Go" thunders along, reminding me of the great Canadian Hardcore band D.O.A. It's this Trans-Atlantic Punk culture-hopping that gives The Phobics an edge over a lot of contemporary Punk bands. One minute, with the excellent "Split Personality", they are taking us on a trip to the downtown New York of Max's Kansas City and CBGB's, and then on the supremely catchy "One Girl" the Ramones suddenly enter the room and in the corner, the Dead Boys are hanging out with Richard Hell. We are then transported back to the tough streets of South London with "Boy Band" which is bovver-boot rock at it's best. Drummer Charlie keeps things thundering along at some pace, with his rhythm section colleague Moyni on bass, centre stage, a picture of concentration.

Tom and Charlie of The Phobics - Photo by Steve Worrall

They both lay down a solid foundation for the impressive lead guitarist Shaun to play some cool riffs and Johnny Thunders style breaks. With vocalist Tom Crossley, a charismatic but statically cool front man hanging on his mic stand, it's left to rhythm guitarist Jeff to provide the visual assault, with assault being the operative word. The stage of the 12 Bar is small enough, and it's certainly too small to contain Jeff who spends a good part of the set playing guitar amongst the crowd, sitting on the stage or leaping about, he adds an edge of aggression to the band and his enthusiasm is certainly infectious. Great to finally get to see The Phobics and I recommend getting hold of a copy of "Deptford Calling" and seeing them live, just try not to leave it as long as I did...

The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall

There's been a real buzz of positivity around The Fallen Leaves recently, what with their sessions with Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music and on Resonance FM and a glowing review in the Sunday Times by comedian Stewart Lee for their latest album "If Only We'd Known". They just keep on getting better gig by gig, and more people seem to be turning up to the 12 Bar each time they play. Rob Symmons seems to be intent on wreaking as much damage to his guitar as possible without actually smashing it on the stage. Banging it and shaking it to get optimum power, he twists the strings to breaking point, spilling out classic Garage Rock riffs to songs such as "Passing By" and "Trouble".

The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall

Drummer Bill Lewington had a particularly good night, his drumming really stood out and he didn't even shatter a drum-stick over me this time! Bassist Matthew Karas, in his crushed velvet smoking jacket and Cheshire cat grin, is a calming presence as it all goes off either side of him. Vocalist Rob Green's wonderfully English eccentric performance with his tweed, pocket watch and tea ceremony is a delight every time and you think that this is the sort of band that we should be able to watch on "Later with Jools Holland" - they deserve a much wider audience. The Fallen Leaves will play at our next Retro Man Blog night which will be the official launch party for Thee Spivs new album "The Crowd and The Sounds" at The Half Moon Putney on June 29th. We are also pleased to welcome special guests The Past Tense to the party so please come along, it promises to be a great night!

For more photos head over and "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Photo Album. Here's a video of The Fallen Leaves on the night with "Against The Grain".

The pUKES - Debut E.P. and Fanzine out now!

2013-06-08T20:42:00.000+01:00

The pUKES - Photo by Paul Slattery

Damaged Goods Records celebrates its 25th year in 2013. That’s 25 years of releasing glorious and riotous punk rock, new-wave, garage rock and vintage pop by all manner of mavericks, geniuses, odd-balls and lunatics…and this Spring is no exception, with the release of The pUKES debut EP on 7” vinyl with poster sleeve. The EP was produced by Dick Crippen from Tenpole Tudor, and features one original, "Will I Learn", plus covers of Menace, Elton Motello and Cock Sparrer songs. The EP release party was held at The Dublin Castle, Parkway, Camden on Friday 24th May with support from CASE and B-Movie Britz. Photographer Paul Slattery was there to document proceedings (before he sped over to the Buffalo Bar to capture Giuda), and a full set of photos can be seen at the pUKES web-site Photo Gallery. The EP can be ordered from the Damaged Goods On-line Store.

The pUKES - Photo by Paul Slattery

The pUKES are a 20-strong (nearly) all female punk ukulele band based in London. They play songs by the likes of Dead Kennedys, Exploited, X-Ray Spex, The Clash etc like you’ve never heard ‘em before. Their massive stage presence and raucous live show has landed them slots at Rebellion Punk Festival and Shoreditch 1234, as well as gigs with many of the bands who inspired them, including Sham 69, Bad Manners, Chelsea and Peter & the Test Tube Babies. Around half the pUKEs were non-musicians before they learned the uke, the others have been in bands such as UK Subs, Extreme Noise Terror and Lost Cherrees. The band have lots of gigs and festivals lined up for the summer – including Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool.

Here's the video for the Cock Sparrer cover version "Because You're Young" from the new EP.

You can read more about The pUKES at The Art of Punk book launch at The Tate Modern last year, and see the video to another track from the EP "Will I Learn", on our previous Blog feature here. You can also see a video of "White Riot" on the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel.

The pUKES have received funding to set up their own Uke workshops and it's also enabled them to publish their own fanzine, entitled "Here’s 3 Chords". Issue 1 is out now for only £2.60 including p&p (UK and consists of 24 pages of Punk Uke awesomeness written and designed by members of The pUKEs – featuring Amanda Palmer, Itch (King Blues), UkePunk, Marjinal, chord charts, play along lyrics and tabs and lots more! Copies are available from their on-line Store, for overseas postage costs please contact the band.

With many thanks to Paul Slattery, Clara and Lorna.

Competition: Spot Thee Spivs Flyer and Win a Signed Copy of "The Crowd and The Sounds" and complimentary Guest List entrance to the Album Launch Party

2013-06-08T09:10:00.002+01:00

We've been busy plastering London and the Home Counties with flyers and postcards advertising our joint promotion with Damaged Goods Records for the upcoming album Launch Party for Thee Spivs at the Half Moon Putney on June 29th. In the run up to the gig I thought we'd arrange a little competition. The first prize is a place on the Guest List for the June 29th album launch party, a signed copy of the "The Crowd and The Sounds" and a CD by each of the evening's special guests, The Past Tense and The Fallen Leaves. The runner up will win a signed copy of the "The Crowd and The Sounds". So, if you find a flyer, get a photo of yourself taken with it in the place you found it and email it, along with your contact details, to Retro Man Blog. Facebook users can "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and contact us via message there. The first two entries received will win the prizes...Here are some photo clues of where you may well find the flyers. Of course they come and go quickly and there are more in other venues, clubs and pubs, so you never know when and where they will pop up...! Closing date for entries is Friday June 21st...

THEE SPIVS + The Fallen Leaves + The Past Tense

Saturday June 29th - Doors from 7:30pm - Live music curfew 11pm - Tickets £8.00 advance or door.

The Half Moon Putney, 93 Lower Richmond Road, Putney SW15 1EU Tel: 0208 780 9383.

Closest Tube: Putney Bridge (District Line Wimbledon Branch) - Mainline Station: Putney (direct access to/from London Waterloo, Richmond, Twickenham, Windsor etc.)

For more details on the gig itself, please check out the Half Moon event page here.

Crash 74: Glam Beat Garage Freak-out from ex-Sparks and Revillos members at the 12 Bar Club May 31st

2013-06-07T17:32:00.000+01:00

Crash 74 at The 12 Bar Club - Photo by Paul Slattery

This was another contender for the coveted prize of "Gig of the Year", yes another one! Although I should add that, despite the fact that the 12 Bar Club was sold out and people were being turned away at the door, there may not be another Crash 74 gig ever again. The band were only ever concieived as a short-term project by two drummers, California resident Harley Feinstein, the original drummer from Sparks - or Halfnelson as they were called when Harley first joined - and Nicky "Rocky Rhythm" Forbes from The Revillos. It was a shame that Harley and Nicky didn't play drums together on the night, except for a brief drum-off with Nicky on a snare, but then again there's barely space on the 12 Bar stage for one drum-kit let alone two, and that's before you take into account the seven band members that make up Crash 74.

Crash 74 at The 12 Bar Club - Photo by Paul Slattery

Lee Sullivan and Stevie Savage - Photo by Paul Slattery

The band performed an eclectic mix of mainly Sixties and Seventies cover versions and a selection of songs from The Revillos and Sparks back catalogue. As well as Nicky and Harley the band comprised of Harley's glamorous wife Michelle, who shared lead vocals with Nicky and on bass, their Californian friend, Paul Jensen. Lead guitar came courtesy of Stevie Savage Nicky's bandmate in The Roadholders and the brass section was Lee Sullivan on Sax and Dexy D'Angelo on trumpet. Each band member brought a clearly defined character and personality to the party, as well as some top notch playing. Kicking off with an instrumental with Nicky playing drums, he then gives way to Harley and moves to centre stage for a fun thrash through Mud's "Tiger Feet", holding up placards with "Neat" and "Right" written on to encourage some audience participation. Nicky is then joined on vocals by Michelle and they play the brilliantly titled "I Can't Believe That You Would Fall For All The Crap In This Song...", actually my favourite song from Sparks' latest album proper, "Exotic Creatures of The Deep".

Lee and Dexy in the background, Michelle and Paul Jensen - by Paul Slattery

It was a welcome surprise, with Nicky and Michelle performing a choreographed routine to illustrate the cynical love story at the heart of the song. They both make a great double act, Michelle really takes to the role with a huge smile and bags of energy and Nicky throws his guitar around, nearly knocking my head off at one point! Stevie Savage's crunching guitar chords herald T-Rex's "20th Century Boy" and then it's a bouncing rendition of The Honeycombs' great Joe Meek produced hit "Have I The Right". The Move's "Fire Brigade" is probably a little bit out of kilter compared with the rest of the set, but then it's The Revillos track that sparked off the unlikely formation of the band, "Rev Up!", although Nicky needs to read the lyrics from a crib sheet. He's then back behind the drums for The Revillos instrumental "Manhunt" before Harley takes over at the kit for a brilliant run through of "(No More) Mr. Nice Guys" from the "Halfnelson/Sparks" album and then the stop start let's confuse the audience "Whippings and Apologies" from "A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing" which was excellent, with Michelle really nailing the vocals. Sherbet's throwaway novelty hit "Howzat", is surprisingly catchy but then we get a double whammy of Sparks classics with "Amateur Hour" and "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both of Us". They are not the easiest songs to cover but they both work perfectly and the crowd go a little bit crazy. The Revillos brilliant single "Motorbike Beat" is easily a match for the previous two songs and the band finish off with The Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over", London's answer to the classic Merseybeat sound, famously covered by The Rezillos, and it was a suitably stomping finale to a superb, colourful and exciting set by Crash 74. A great gig, full of fun and spontaneity. So let's hope Harley and Michelle come back to the U.K. on holiday soon, bring Paul with them and hook up with Nicky, Dexy, Lee and Stevie again so we can have another Crash 74 gig to look forward to.

Original Sparks drummer Harley Feinstein in action - by Paul Slattery

Crash 74 - Photo by Paul Slattery

Nicky Forbes excellent book about life on the road with The Revillos, entitled "The Rhythm Method" is available from The Revillos web-site. We're planning to arrange an interview with Nicky for our Retrosonic Podcast to discuss the book in more detail. We are also very excited to annnouce that soon we will be releasing a very special episode of Retrosonic with the true gent that is Harley Feinstein, where he gives us all the background to how this Trans-Atlantic band got together and tells us more about his Crash 74 colleagues. He also treats us to an in-depth talk about his time as the original drummer with Sparks, one of the most original and influential bands to come out of the Seventies. This is a fascinating look at the very early days of the band and his relationship with the Mael brothers, and I am sure that any fans of Sparks will thoroughly enjoy this Episode. Keep an eye out on the Blog or Retrosonic Podcast Soundcloud site for an announcement of the release date. You can also "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for updates.

Michelle and Nicky of Crash 74 - Photo by Paul Slattery

For more photos of Crash 74 at The 12 Bar Club then "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the photo album. With sincere thanks to Paul Slattery, Nicky Forbes and Harley Feinstein.

Paul Slattery: Spotlight on a Legendary Rock Photographer...

2013-06-05T16:50:00.000+01:00

Paul Slattery by Steve Worrall

Although we do pull his leg and joke about his "legendary" status, I have to admit that my good friend, Retro Man Blog colleague and co-presenter of Retrosonic Podcast, the Photographer Paul Slattery really is, when all's said and done, a bit of a legend! A lot of the praise and positive comments I receive about the Blog are directed towards Paul's photos and we are indeed very lucky to have him on board. Not just for his brand new photos, but of course for his amazing archive that we can plunder to add a bit of contrast and to prove that even 30 years later, some bands and artists are still out there rockin' as hard as they ever did. Take for example Charlie Harper, we went along to see Charlie play an acoustic set at Gaye Advert's "Punk and Beyond" Art Exhibition, Paul took the cover photos for the U.K. Subs very first 7" singles and Charlie invited us to the U.K. Subs gig later that evening. It had been over 30 years since Paul had last seen Charlie or the Subs, and yet they still put on an amazing show full of power, energy and vitality. Through the Blog, Paul has got back in touch and met up with some of his earliest "subjects" such as Gaye Advert, TV Smith, Rob Symmons of Subway Sect, Fay and Eugene from The Rezillos and Paul Slack and Alvin Gibbs from the U.K. Subs. Paul has contributed rare early photos including Wilko Johnson and Dr. Feelgood, Felt, The Fall, The Undertones, Protex and The Adverts amongst others to the Blog, so please feel free to have a browse around and check them out. However, it's not all nostalgia with Paul, he's far more interested in what's going on now rather than looking back, and he's still as enthused about raw Rock 'n' Roll as he was when he first saw Wilko Johnson and Dr. Feelgood on the Naughty Rhythms tour back in 1974. It means that bands such as The Len Price 3, The Fallen Leaves, The Past Tense, The SuperMinx'70, The Jetsonics and others, may just get him popping up at the front of the stage one night.

Paul and Noel Gallagher of Oasis

Paul was inspired by seeing Dr. Feelgood on the Naughty Rhythms Tour, not only by the impressive visual impact of Wilko Johnson and Lee Brilleaux but by Wilko's take on the guitar style of The Pirates' Mick Green, one of Paul's musical heroes. Just missing out on the very first stirrings of Punk Rock in London due to a stint in America working on the fishing boats of Cape Cod, he returned and became immersed in the scene, getting his first taste of this new musical and visual revolution down the front of a gig by The Adverts. He soon got work on the weekly music paper Sounds, where he was amongst the very first to photograph bands such as Joy Division, The Fall, Motorhead, U2 and he began his very close relationship with The Clash. Paul was at the side of the stage at the Ramones gig at the Rainbow that became immortalised on the live album "It's Alive" and was also on stage with the Sex Pistols at Brunel University, where he has just discovered he inadvertently took a photo of a young Billy Childish in the crowd. Little did Paul know that he would, one day be working closely with Billy as he became an established musician, author and artist in his own right. Paul and Ian from Damaged Goods Records talk about Billy Childish, Thee Headcoats and Thee Headcoatees in Part 1 of our Damaged Goods Special Retrosonic Podcast.

Paul Slattery taken by Johnny Marr

Paul then went on to work with The Smiths, taking some of their very first and most iconic photos, including the inner sleeve of the "Hatful Of Hollow" album. His first book was a marvellous collection of these early images "The Smiths: The Early Years" published by Omnibus Press. He then went on to work with two more of Manchester's biggest bands, The Stone Roses and Oasis. Last year saw his involvement in the big Stone Roses "Third Coming" exhibition at Whiteley's in London in conjunction with fellow photographers Ian Tilton and Kevin Cummins. Paul's second book "Oasis: A Year On The Road" was also published by Omnibus and included great shots of the band's very first tour of Japan. He took some of the first photos of the Manic Street Preachers, but slowly got disillusioned by the music business and the music scene, giving it up to travel across Tibet and China to photograph the Three Gorges area of the Yangzi River. But now re-energized by the great live music scene and the diversity and energy of some great young (and old...) bands, Paul is back where he thrives, down at the front of the stage with camera in hand, and my Blog is all the better for it...

Paul with his Rock 'n' Roll mentor, Lemmy of Motorhead

Paul's photographs have been used in over one hundred books, on numerous album, single and CD covers and in countless magazines and newspapers. He has had various exhibitions of his Photos and given a lecture at the British Music Experience at the O2. Most recently Paul was approached by Paul Simonon of The Clash to contribute photographs, including the cover to a new copy of the "Armagideon Times" fanzine which will be included in the brand new reissue/remasters box-set "Sound System", due to be released in September this year. When he's not relaxing photographing the British landscape or supporting his beloved Brentford FC, Paul can mostly be found playing air-guitar at The Fallen Leaves gigs...

You can see a great slideshow of some of Paul's classic images here, and Paul's books "The Smiths: The Early Years" and "Oasis: A Year On The Road" can be purchased from Amazon or from any decent bookshop.You can hear Paul talking about his early experiences and playing some of his favourite songs and influences, in these special episodes of Retrosonic Podcast. In "Part 1: Pub Rock and Pre-Punk" Paul talks about Dr. Feelgood, The Flamin' Groovies, Mick Green and The Pirates and Link Wray.

In "Part 2: The Punk Years", Paul talks to Steve from Retro Man Bog and Adam from The Jetsonics about The Ramones at the Rainbow, being on stage with the Sex Pistols, The Adverts, avoiding Richard Jobson's flailing limbs, Penetration, The Runaways, Elvis Costello, U.K. Subs, Johnny Thunders, Charlie Harper and the U.K. Subs 30 years later and being led astray by Lemmy...but more importantly, find out which Punk Rock band bought Adam chips! All this and more...

"Little Big Head": New Solo Album from Duncan Reid of The Boys

2013-06-05T00:04:00.000+01:00

Duncan Reid by Paul Slattery

Born in a small, English cathedral town, Duncan Reid's early dream was to be the next George Best. There was only one thing standing in his way: a complete lack of football talent! So, having discovered a vintage bass guitar in his father's cupboard, Duncan headed to London in his teenage years to land smack bang at the birth of the 70s punk explosion. Duncan's future fellow band member, Matt Dangerfield, had a basic 4 track studio in the coal cellar of his Maida Vale apartment. It was at this flat that members of The Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, Generation X and others took their first recording steps along the path which would change Rock 'n' Roll forever. One of the bands which coalesced out of this youthful melee was The Boys, with Duncan Reid joining as the bassist who would also go on to sing lead on some of the songs. The Boys became known as "the Beatles of Punk", a title given to them due to their, at that time, unique fusion of harmonies and pop sensibility with raw punk. By the time The Boys had recorded their 4 albums and toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, their influence had spread far and wide to groups like Green Day and Die Toten Hosen, as well as being quoted by the likes of Joey Ramone as his favourite group.

Photo by David Apps

It was during a tour with The Ramones that Duncan, together with fellow Boys member Casino Steel, provided backing vocals for the live version of their hit, "Baby I Love You". In this way Duncan became one of only 2 people in history to play with The Ramones while not themselves being called Ramone! The Boys also recorded periodically as The Yobs creating a whole genre of comedy punk with their versions of "The Worm Song" and "Christmas Carols", a genre much copied since. 18 years after they first split The Boys were persuaded to reform for 2 gigs in Tokyo.

Pressure for new gigs came from a new generation discovering The Boys for the first time. For the last 13 years the band have again played worldwide, headlining in front of audiences in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, Japan, United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and elsewhere. After a further recording with other Boys members under the name "The Mattless Boys", and writing songs for other bands such as The Cute Lepers, Duncan has finally recorded his first solo album, bringing a unique angle to the pop punk genre, and taking it into new realms of melodic sweetness.

Photo by David Apps

Opening track "The One" is a great start, it's pure melodic Pop and paves the way for the delights to follow. Next up it's the clever lyrical word-play of "Thinking", which makes me think of the intelligently crafted guitar pop of Marshall Crenshaw. This is followed by the hand-clapping and stabbing organ of the rousing "Montevideo", which has a chorus to die for, and echoes of Cheap Trick and Tom Petty. "Too Late" is a slower, piano led Beatles influenced number which is followed by the excellent "Kelly's Gone Insane" which is a bouncy Power Pop delight of a song.

"His Name" has a sort of slide guitar Replacements feel to it and then it's probably the album's highlight, the stunning "Gotta Call Simone" which is a faultless piece of song-writing, perfectly timeless with it's tale of having your head turned by pretty girls and it even has a cool little Bass break too. The Country-tinged "If That's what You Want?" really tugs at the heartstrings before you are jolted back down to earth by the muscular Pop of "77" and it's love story played out first of all in a crammed, hot and sweaty Marquee on Wardour Street. The romantic couple then move on, and we find them hanging out at the Speakeasy with Lemmy playing on the fruit machine in the background and The Boys themselves making a fleeting cameo appearance, trying to fit in with the Punk scene.

Album cover art by David Apps

"All Fall Down" is another slower ballad and "Shot In The Back" lightens the mood with it's amusing take on trying to stay on the right side of an angry loved one. "Aren't Women Wonderful" is almost like an immediate follow-up, an olive branch or at least a nice bunch of flowers as way of apology. "Little Big Head" draws to a close with the beautifully drawn "Rolling On" which Duncan claims is "his life story in 3 minutes 12 seconds..." It's a nostalgic, but contented, look back on growing up in a small town, moving up to the big city and forming a band. But it doesn't just dwell on the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle, instead, Duncan admits to growing older gracefully and realising the importance of his family. It's an honest and heartfelt song that rounds things off perfectly and leaves you with a nice warm glow as the album fades and the melodies continue to linger in your head.

Here's the great video to "Gotta Call Simone" - there are more on Duncan's YouTube channel.

Check out the Duncan Reid official web-site for news, gig news and updates and to find out how to buy the wonderful "Little Big Head" album, which is a must-have for any record collection...!

Thanks to Paul Slattery for the superb portrait at the top. The album cover and official Photos of Duncan were designed and taken by David Apps of Artifical Designs.

Caviare Days featuring Ebbot Lundberg "When The Light Is Breaking"

2013-06-04T14:02:00.000+01:00

Maja and Lina of Caviare Days by Johannes Helje

The excellent Stockholm based band Caviare Days, have just released a collaboration with Ebbot Lundberg, singer with, the now sadly defunct, The Soundtrack of Our Lives. It's a reinterpretation of a previously released song entitled "When The Light Is Breaking" that has been re-mixed by Ebbot, who also adds backing vocals. It's a perfect Summertime song packed full of Sixties Haight-Ashbury pastoral folk melodies, Abba style harmonies and the Psych undercurrent of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. It's a superb track, and so nice to hear Ebbot's voice again, you can check out more info here at Pre-fix Magazine or at the band's own web-site.

You can also check out more about Caviare Days here in our previous Blog feature.

Introducing: Jonny Cola and The A-Grades

2013-06-03T22:00:00.000+01:00

Jonny Cola and The A-Grades - Photo by Caz Hellbent

It's time to welcome Jonny Cola and The A-Grades to the Blog, a band I first saw at the The Buffalo Bar back in March when they played on the same bill as The Fallen Leaves. The next time I caught them, they were playing a big part in what must be the best gig of the year so far - when, at the same venue, their blend of smudged eye-liner flashy trashy Glam Rock was the perfect mood setter for the headlining act, Giuda. It was an impressive show, their evocative tales of London life are weaved into some perfectly crafted anthemic Rock 'n' Roll. The excellent "Marlborough Road" with it's great chorus, is book-ended by two new songs, "In The Woods" and "Blow Up", from their forthcoming album and both promise that the new record will be well worth getting hold of.

Jonny Cola and The A-Grades - Photo by Steve Worrall

"Straight To Video" is based around a neat piano intro and slowly builds and swells into a bit of a masterpiece, with so much going on the band are almost bringing classical arrangements into their songs. But having said that, it's the Punky "Rain Stopped Play" that's one of my highlights, as the band let loose from their tightly arranged sound and you feel like the roof will come off the Buffalo Bar. The shuddering bass intro to the epic "Halo" is something special, this track could almost be their calling card as it distills pretty much the essence of the band into an absolute masterpiece. The too-short set is brought crashing to an end with the raucous "The Party's Over", with it's crunching guitar and shades of "Aladdin Sane" Bowie, it's a perfect finale to a great performance. So if you like "Watch That Man", the Manic Street Preachers (with Richey of course), Super Furry Animals, "Personality Crisis", Pulp, "Queen Bitch", Suede, "Virginia Plain", Mott The Hoople...then I am sure you are going to love Jonny Cola and The A-Grades...!

Photo by Caz Hellbent

Jonny Cola and The A-Grades were originally formed by singer Jonny and guitarist Mauro Venegas, who helps to run the excellent Some Weird Sin club nights, and they released the download only album "In Debt" in 2010. Following a line-up change Jonny and Mauro were then joined by bassist Simon Drowner, drummer Marco Testa-Ryan and Jez Leather on guitars and they went on to put out the superb "Postcode Wars" E.P. on Scratchy Records, with the brilliant accompanying video to the title track. A Christmas single and then the classic "Halo" E.P. followed in March 2012 and it all seemed to point to big things for the band. But everything was to come to an abrupt halt when, out of the blue, Jonny was diagnosed with advanced kidney failure. Tour dates were cancelled, album plans put on hold and, for the next eight months, the band retreated to playing just a handful of dates. While the gigs had a particular intensity as every one felt like it could be the last - it was only after November, when Jonny received a kidney transplant (from his own fiancée, no less), that things could begin to move forward again. At the start of April 2013, Jonny Cola & The A-Grades returned with "Straight To Video"/"Marlborough Road", which was released on orange 7” vinyl, with two ambitious, interlocking videos and now with a series of gigs lined up in the capital - many of them self-promoted - alongside leading lights of the Punk and Rock scenes, and the second album well under way, the band are eagerly anticipating a year which is eventful for all the right reasons.

Photo by Steve Worrall

The band set up a Pledgemusic campaign to help fund their new album and they hit their target in just four hours, meaning that they will be pressing the album on 180g vinyl and will have enough to produce another one of their fantastic trademark videos. However the various Pledgemusic options will still be available right up until August 01st, the scheduled release date of the MP3 version of the album exclusively for pledgers. This means that anyone who pledges will get access to the album a full month ahead of the general public.

On top of that, pledgers will get updates from the band with extra exclusive stuff such as access to videos of an acoustic session, first sight of the album artwork and tracklisting once that's ready. To get involved, just head over to Pledgemusic and, if you've got a little spare cash, choose from an array of extras to suit every taste, from the vinyl edition to the harder stuff - a song written and recorded especially for you, the original demos of the whole album, a naked calendar, one year gig "season tickets", test pressings, poster and T-Shirt packages, Cola's JC top (as featured in the "Straight To Video" promo) and loads more, including the enticing Number One Fan package.

Jonny Cola and The A-Grades have a couple of dates in London lined up, first of all Saturday June 08th at The New Cross Inn with Duncan Reid and The Big Heads and then at The Buffalo Bar with The Priscillas on July 11th. Here's the great video to "The Party's Over"...enjoy!

With many thanks to Caz Hellbent for the photos. Check out Jonny Cola and The A-Grades and the Some Weird Sin club night at their Facebook pages for updates and info.

Introducing: The SuperMinx'70

2013-06-02T13:11:00.001+01:00

The SuperMinx '70 have just emerged from the studio with four brand spanking new tracks - their first recordings actually, and rather good they are too. The tracks are "Farringdon's Finest" which was co-written by Alan May, the DJ at Retro Man Blog's favourite radio show, Glory Boy, which goes out live at 7pm every Sunday on 6Towns Radio, "Adrienne Posta", "What Would You Change?" and "Jeffrey's Song". I first saw the band play at D.J. and man-about-town, Jeff Munday's, birthday party earlier this year and I was really impressed. The thing is, they were really hard to describe, sometimes a nightmare when you're trying to review a band, but this is what struck me at the time. "It was my first time to see The SuperMinx '70 and they were a pleasant surprise - off stage I'd always seen singer and guitarist Paul Osborn dressed to the nines, perfectly suited and booted, so I was expecting their sound to be more of the Mod persuasion. However, the band are refreshingly different - on stage Paul was more casual - wearing a Mott The Hoople T-Shirt that gives a slight clue to their sound. They play brash South London street-tough tunes nicely augmented by Sax and Trumpet. There's hints of the rougher bovver-boot end of British Glam Rock such as The Hollywood Brats and Jook. If you've ever heard the early demos of the Sex Pistols where Glen Matlock plays his melodic bass lines then you might get an idea where SuperMinx are coming from. Paul's a great singer and his lyrics are also original and amusing".

The SuperMinx'70 - Photo by Steve Worrall

Get a good feel for the band by checking out their list of "interests": Nice clothes; Waltzers; Adrienne Posta; Candy-floss; Adam Faith in 'Budgie'; David Essex in 'That'll Be The Day' and 'Stardust'; Football; Novels by David Lodge, Kingsley Amis and Malcolm Bradbury; Black Forest Gateaux; Six Million Dollar Man; The Ipcress Files; The Likely Lads; Curly Wurly bars; Port and Stilton; Mott the Hoople; David Bowie; The 12Bar Club; Late night drinking and cheap minicabs home...

The SuperMinx'70 - Photo by Steve Worrall

Paul R Osborn (Vocals & Guitar) was in The Peppermint Airgun with Carl Eugene Picot (Dave Kusworth/Nikki Sudden) in the early Eighties playing Psychedelic Pop and gigging with PWEI and The Wonderstuff. In the late Eighties his band The Overself, part of the Rugby Town scene along with the Spacemen3 and The Guaranteed Ugly, released the drone E.P. "Watchmen/Wings" and "Upsidedowntownthing", also appearing on the "Ahimsa" compilation album. Paul then gave up music for 15 years until Rob Symmons (Subway Sect/Fallen Leaves) advised him to start another band and so, suitably inspired he did just that and in 2012 he started The SuperMinx'70. Tom Slatter (Bass & Vocals) is a well known solo artist on the Steampunk circuit playing folk-prog and with his brother Joe produces independent videos. Matthew Irvin (Lead Guitar) is a painter who produced backdrops for Led Zeppelin and worked on the gold statue of Freddie Mercury in Tottenham Court Road, he was previously in North London avant-punk surrealists, The Twits. Drummer Johnny 'Bam Bam' Birdiani is a 'businessman' from Bromley with interests across South London, he recently took up drumming. Joe Squatt who plays Sax, Trumpet and Keyboards is a very talented young musician.

Here's one of their new tracks, if you like it, head on over to their Facebook page and hit "Like"...

The SuperMinx '70 will be playing at The Fighting Cocks in Kingston on June 14th with The WitchDoktors and The Bermondsey Joyriders, more details can be found here.

Sheila Rock PUNK+ Book Signing and Talk, Rough Trade East May 29th

2013-06-01T13:36:00.000+01:00

Sheila Rock takes the applause - Photo by Dave Patten

Last night, Rough Trade East hosted a talk and book signing with renowned photographer Sheila Rock as part of a series of events to promote her excellent new book PUNK+. Sheila was accompanied by legendary DJ and Big Audio Dynamite member, Don Letts, who joined her to talk through a great slideshow of her classic images, many of which were previously unseen. Don talked about his experiences working at seminal Punk stores such as ACME Attractions, which he admitted were probably amongst the best days of his life, and of course his DJing at The Roxy. After the talk, Don played some great reggae tracks as Sheila chatted and signed copies of the book. Also in attendance were Viv Albertine, Harry Pye the ex-colleague of Steve Strange and Chrissie Hynde in the short-lived Moors Murderers, ex-Subway Sect guitarist Rob Symmons, now of The Fallen Leaves (who you can see in action at our next Retro Man Blog gig on June 29th), The Roxy owner Andy Czezowski, designer Pam Hogg, author and Joe Strummer biographer Chris Salewicz, Martin and Paul Kelly from Heavenly and there was a surprise appearance by the ex-manager of Iggy & The Stooges, The Doors and Ramones and full on rock music legend, Danny Fields.

Danny Fields - Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

Chris Salewicz and Pam Hogg - Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

PUNK+ chronicles both designer and street styles between 1976-9 that had such an effect on fashion, society and politics, including Vivienne Westwood’s shop SEX as well as BOY, Robot and Acme Attractions. It is a fascinating insight into one of the most influential transformations of music and celebrates the scenesters who were the punk audience, and the designers that clothed the movement. As Paul Simonon (The Clash) comments: "This book is a great photographic record of a major shift in British street fashion". Sheila’s conversations with Chrissie Hynde, Tony James, Don Letts, Jeanette Lee, Glen Matlock, Chris Salewicz, Jon Savage, Steven Severin, Paul Simonon, Jah Wobble and more, provide an illuminating commentary on the punk phenomenon. As she observes "Punk was all about changing and surviving". All books are numbered and signed and feature 199 full colour and black and white photos from Sheila Rock's personal archive.

Rob Symmons with Viv Albertine - Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

Don Letts - Photo by Dave Patten

Photo by Steve Worrall

Sheila Rock and Don Letts talk us through some photos - Steve Worrall

PUNK+ is published by FirstThird Books, an independent publishing company specialising in high quality music photobooks. PUNK+ is Limited to 2000 numbered and signed books, including 300 deluxe versions exclusively available through the FirstThird Books website. PUNK+ is the second in a series of limited edition titles, following the soon to be sold-out book on the legendary Indie icons Felt. This book features some excellent early Felt photographs by Retro Man Blog's regular contributor Paul Slattery. Here are some more photos from the signing.

Rob Symmons with DJ Jeff Munday - Photo by Dave Patten

Don Letts - Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

Sheila Rock signing copies of PUNK+ - Photo by Dave Patten

You can read more about the book and see some examples of Sheila's fantastic photographs in our previous Blog feature here. We have also previously published a feature on the excellent Heavenly Films documentary "Lawrence of Belgravia" and FirstThird's Felt book here.

With many thanks indeed to Rhiannon Ifans and Dave Patten for contributing the excellent photographs of the Punk+ Party. You can view a full set of Dave's photos at his Flickr site.

The Undertones live at Reading Sub89 May 27th

2013-05-30T21:16:00.000+01:00

The Undertones at Sub89 Reading - Photo by Steve Worrall

Tonight, The Undertones were quite simply magnificent, they played with an energy and commitment that could put bands half their age to shame. Come to think of it, apart from a few grey hairs here and there, they pretty much do look half their age. In fact, as the band take the stage my mind conjures up a Portrait of Dorian Gray scenario, and I imagine there must be some old Undertones photo hanging in a dusty attic somewhere (probably taken by Paul Slattery…), corrupted and ravaged by over 30 years of rock and roll, while the band go about their business looking remarkably youthful and sprightly. Of course absent from that old photo would be The Undertones current singer Paul McLoone, who joined back in 1999 when the band got back together, at first with the intention to only play a couple of gigs. Paul had been in The Carrelines with drummer Billy Doherty and was invited to take up the unenviable challenge of replacing charismatic front man Feargal Sharkey. Feargal had left the band in 1983 to embark on a short-lived solo career and then to take up a position on the other side of the barricades as a record company A&R man.

Michael Bradley and Paul McLoone - Photo by Steve Worrall

With Paul settling in well and some excellent new material recorded, the band decided to make the reunion a little bit more permanent and released the superb album “Get What You Need” in 2003. Of course in The Undertones case, it does help that the band itself and the main song-writing nucleus remains intact so the sound is, of course, as authentic as you’re going to get. Now comes the tricky bit, replacing that all important original front-man/vocalist. To be honest the first time I heard the “new” Undertones was the track “Thrill Me” – a mighty headlong rush of a song propelled along by a great guitar riff and then Paul’s voice comes in and my first thought was “oh dear, sounds a bit too close to Feargal”. But then as the album progressed it became apparent that, yes, there is a resemblance, but it really works and I was soon blown away by the album completely on its own, and Paul’s, merits.

The Undertones - Photo by Steve Worrall

Tonight at the excellent Sub89 in Reading, a great venue which even has polite bouncers - in fact it would almost be perfect if not for the £4.00 they charge for a plastic glassed pint - The Undertones take the stage and kick off straight into “Jimmy Jimmy” and the place erupts. Paul has certainly grown in confidence since the first time I saw the new line-up at the Brighton Concorde 2 back in in the summer of 2003. It must have been daunting stepping into Feargal’s shoes, but rather like Baz Warne has done in The Stranglers, he has grown into the role and seems to have built up a rapport with the crowd. Both Baz and Paul have taken on a tough task but get the balance just right between being able to express their own style and individuality, doing justice to the older material and avoiding turning into their own cabaret tribute band.

John O'Neill - Photo by Steve Worrall

Paul is an energetic performer to say the least, he runs through a gamut of classic rock poses, kicks and jumps, whipping his microphone lead like Morrissey one minute and then giving it the old Elvis hip-swing routine another. At one point he quips “is there a physiotherapist in the house, I think I’ve done my neck in.” By the time the familiar intro to “Jump Boys” rings out, Feargal is all but forgotten, then it’s “Here Comes The Summer” and the atmosphere in the venue noticeably cranks up another few notches. The genial Michael Bradley is an underrated bassist, and I was over the moon when his wonderful riff to “Tearproof” is played, it’s one of my favourite Undertones songs and when they followed that with “Girls That Don’t Talk” I didn’t think it could get much better. It did. We got treated to thirty, yes you did read that right, 30 songs of Punk Pop perfection. All the classic hit singles like “You’ve Got My Number”, “My Perfect Cousin” and “Wednesday Week” to some cracking album tracks such as “Billy’s Third”, “I Gotta Getta” and “She’s a Runaround”. There’s some overlooked gems “When Saturday Comes”, “The Love Parade” and “It’s Going To Happen” and some picks from their excellent new material such as “Thrill Me”, “I Need Your Love The Way It Used To Be” and the superb new Record Store Day single “Much Too Late”.

The Undertones - Photo by Steve Worrall

Guitarists John and Damian O’Neill are on fire, their melodic riffs just keep on coming and the ever youthful Billy Doherty drums his heart out, it really is an impressive performance. “Teenage Kicks”, somewhat surprisingly, is not held back for the encore but comes about three quarters of the way through the set. Unsurprisingly, it gets the most rapturous reception of the night but there are still more great songs to come. The band finish on the sublime “Get Over You” but are soon called back for an encore that is quite simply stunning. “Male Model”, “True Confessions”, “Hypnotised”, “There Goes Norman” and a frantic finale of “Mars Bar” – you just can’t ask for more.

The Undertones - Photo by Steve Worrall

Paul McLoone - Photo Steve Worrall

Damian O'Neill - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Undertones - Photo by Steve Worrall

You can check out some excellent early photographs of The Undertones by Paul Slattery, here, in our previous Blog feature on the "Good Vibrations" movie about Terri Hooley and his vital Belfast based record label that originally released "Teenage Kicks". For more photos "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Photo Album. Here's a video from our YouTube channel...

Giuda live at The Buffalo Bar Islington May 24th

2013-05-30T00:23:00.002+01:00

Tenda from Giuda - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

I’m beginning to wonder recently just how many times I can get back from a show, sit down and write “best gig of the year!” I mean, it’s not like I’m working for any of the bands or have any vested interest and I'm certainly not trying to appear flippant, it just happens to be true. I have been spoilt rotten with some excellent live music this year. So, the latest recipients of my "Best Gig of the Year" award must go to the Rome based Giuda, who were back on British soil for a one-off show in the tiny, crammed to capacity Buffalo Bar in Highbury last Friday. It was, at first, a choice of venue that raised eyebrows as I was sure that Giuda could fill a much larger place considering the buzz following their previous gigs and the ecstatic response to their immense debut album “Racey Roller”. Still, the organisers of the fantastic Club night “Some Weird Sin” pulled off a coup getting the band to play here, as demand certainly outstripped supply, and it created one of those “you just had to be there” moments; one of those gigs that I am sure will be revered as something very special in years to come. It could happen, Giuda have the image and the attitude and the buzz about them, but most importantly, they have the songs. Timeless terrace chant anthems that stick in your head and give it a right good kicking.

Tenda, Lorenzo and Michele - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

Tonight, after a really superb set by Jonny Cola and The A-Grades (more about them on the Blog in due course…) Giuda fight their way through the crowd to take the stage and hit us with a three song blast of “Wild Tiger Woman”, “Rave On” and “Fat Boy Boogie”, which I guess are from their forthcoming second album as I wasn’t familiar with them. Well, not until the first verse and chorus of each that is, as Giuda have that knack of writing melodies that hook you in immediately and you feel like you’ve been listening to these songs for years. Then we are on more familiar territory with tracks from “Racey Roller” and the band slam out “Tartan Pants”, “Back Home” and the fantastic “Coming Back To You”. Vocalist Tenda is an imposing front-man, with tattooed biceps the size of my legs, he has the physique of Idris Elba’s Stringer Bell in The Wire, and I feel thankful that I don’t have to write a bad review about Giuda. When he’s not pressed against the crowd, fists pumping the air, he’s playing air-guitar along with his superb guitarist playing colleagues Lorenzo and Michele, who back him up with their consummate riffing.

Danilo and Daniele - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

“Get It Over” is a prime Giuda anthem, a repetitive, foot stomping classic where all the best moments of the Seventies Glam Rock scene are distilled into one song. The Glitter Band, The Sweet and Slade of course spring to mind, and on this number drummer Daniele and the street tough looking bassist Danilo come into their own, laying down a rock solid foundation. The absolute perfection of latest single “Number 10”, is somewhat predictably one of the night’s highlights with its footie related imagery and clap-along audience participation, but there’s another more surprising hit with the instrumental “Racey Roller”. Here Tenda takes a well deserved breather and hands over to his band mates to show us what they can do. The crowd surge to the front, bodies are scattered and everyone sings along, well not exactly as there aren’t any words, make that mimic what must surely be one of the most insanely catchiest guitar riffs ever. There’s a classic TV show theme tune there all ready and waiting. Giuda fuse all the greats of the Seventies whether, it’s the street-fighting Boot-boy sounds of Jook or the Hammersmith Gorillas or the Punk energy of the Ramones and the harmonies of Buzzcocks to Slade, T. Rex and The Faces – it’s all distilled into a fresh, exhilarating and yet thoroughly modern, wall of sound.

Giuda - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

There’s a surprise special guest appearance from Clive Jones of the short-lived late 70's/early 80's outrageously theatrical Agony Bag, who takes over lead vocals on a run through of their Rocky Horror Punk masterpiece “Rabies Is a Killer”, apparently one of the first songs Tenda learned to sing in English. Clive revels in the role and puts on a great show with his shock of blonde hair and swirling black cape adding a bit of theatrics to the proceedings. Giuda then take the reins again and treat us to some more thumping tracks before ending on the immense anthem, “Here Comes Saturday Night”. The band are soon called back for a well deserved encore of “Give Us a Goal” and the floor shaking “Roll On”, which leaves the audience dazed and bruised and very, very happy.

Clive Jones of Agony Bag - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

Giuda’s second album will be released on Damaged Goods Records who have also just put out a stunning looking vinyl version of the “Racey Roller” album. It’s a real work of art, with its grey vinyl and authentic Seventies retro cover and inner sleeve, check it out at the Damaged Goods store here, you’ll want to frame it! A reminder that you can listen to Giuda on Episode 5 of Retrosonic Podcast and also in Part 2 of our Damaged Goods Records Story special.

Tenda - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

Michele - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

Lorenzo - Photo Copyright Paul Slattery

Here's a little bonus video, up very close & personal with Giuda live at The Buffalo Bar...for more videos please head on over to the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel...

With many thanks to Paul Slattery for the excellent photos. For more pics please "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Giuda photo album.

King Salami & The Cumberland 3, Suzi Chunk & Groovy Uncle and Les BOF! Live at the Hipsville Weekender

2013-05-27T19:22:00.000+01:00

Photo by David Williams

It was such a shame that the first ever Hipsville Weekender coincided with a very busy weekend for me, but I was determined to try my best to get along to sample even a small part of it. When I saw that King Salami & The Cumberland 3 were appearing, that was it, I definitely had to go, and I arrived at Bisley Pavillion on the Saturday evening just before Les BOF! took to the stage. The band, comprising Angus from The Thanes on guitar and impressive mutton-chop sideburns, Colin on Bass and Ross on drums, kicked things off with "Rue Marcel Sembat", the instrumental opener to their excellent album "Nous Sommes...Les BOF!" which is released on one of Retro Man Blog's favourite labels CopaseDisques. Suddenly, livewire vocalist Laurent made his entrance from the crowd, jumping over the crash barrier at the front to join his colleagues on stage, dropping to his knees to burst through some exceptional harmonica skills. Laurent's Marseilles background injects a Gallic twist to their brand of Garage Rock and gives them a welcome shot of individuality. The crunching chords to "Ils Vont Tuer Le R'n'R" brings to mind The Sonics and then there's the wicked fuzzed guitar of "P-Club" and "Vivre Avec Toi" which are both superb songs. The band throw in some well received cover versions such as "Hanky Panky", "Jezebel" and "Leaving Here", and Laurent leaps into the crowd to join in the dancing. Les BOF! are a great little outfit, summoning up the spirit of some of the best of Sixties French Ye-Ye such as Jacques Dutronc, Delphine and France Gall.

Les BOF! - Photo by Steve Worrall

Next up was the delightful, soulful voice of Suzi Chunk, backed by the Medway based Psych Power Pop band Groovy Uncle, tonight featuring Bruce Brand from The Masonics on guitar. They played a great set, drawing mainly from the must-have album "Girl From The Neck Down" (State Records). Songwriter and guitarist Glenn Pragnell sings lead on the Groovy Uncle tracks such as "Play Something We Know" and "Got Any Mantras?" with Suzi doing backing vocals, they reverse the roles on Suzi's songs and it all works out really well. The upbeat Motown styled Soul of "For The Millionth Time" and romantic smoocher "Got My Eyes On The Prize" are complimented perfectly by the Beatles Hamburg-era rockers such as "Tripwire" and the 60's guitar riffs of "Look Back and Laugh". The highlights for me were "Girl From The Neck Down" and the great Power Pop of "Vanity, Snake Hips and Hair" and I was left hoping that this won't be the last we see of this excellent collaboration.

Suzi Chunk & Groovy Uncle - Photo by Steve Worrall

Glenn Pragnell of Groovy Uncle - Photo by Steve Worrall

And then it's the moment I'd really been waiting for, King Salami & The Cumberland 3, and they were everything I'd been hoping for and more! The multi-cultural line-up of Caribbean, French, English and Japanese cram as many ingredients into their music as their combined backgrounds suggest. Garage Rock, Soul, Ska, Rockabilly...all infused with a manic Punky edge and a dash of Looney Tunes style cartoon humour, it's a dream party concoction that defies anybody to stand still. King Salami himself is like a manga styled cross between James Brown and the Tasmanian Devil and is one of the most charismatic front-men I have seen in many a year. The band don't stand around waiting to be upstaged though, in fact they don't stand around at all, and the combined antics of each are a joy to behold. Drummer Eric Baconstrip seems positively miffed that he has to sit down to play and drums with an energy that makes it seem like he's itching to get up and join in up front.

King Salami & The Cumberland 3 - Photo by Steve Worrall

"Betti Moretti" is fantastic and "Do The Climb" and "Yosemite Sam", which includes a snippet of The Batman theme, crank up the fun factor notch by notch. "Just My Kind" sees the brilliant guitarist Pepe Ronnie slam out the great Dr. Feelgood Wilko Johnson intro and it's one of my highlighs of the night. "Trubble Trubble" is a delight and then it's the Bo Diddley beat of "Ma Juju Girl". The band then don Red Indian head-dresses and saxophonist and percussionist Chuchi Sobrassada a comedy arrow through the head for "Big Chief". There's a mind blowing bass line from Kamikaze U.T. Vincent who then bravely proceeds to climb a precarious PA speaker stack to finish the rest of the song. The great tracks keep on coming with King Seb Salami rattling his maracas and imploring the audience to join in on "Less Bone More Meat!", "Howlin' For My Woman" and the classic "Do The Wurst". Then there's a brief blast of the "Looney Tunes" theme to end on a suitably manic note and the band exit to rapturous applause. We're treated to a great crazed encore of "Mojo Workout", with the crowd all joining in singing along and then that's it, it's all over! A quite brilliant performance from what must be the hottest band on the block right now.

All King Salami & The Cumberland 3 photos above by Steve Worrall

As well as the live music, there was much more on offer at Hipsville, such as vintage and retro clothes stores, record stalls from Dirty Water Records and Soundflat Records and an impressive selection of cool classic hot-rods, motorbikes and vintage cars parked up outside. Of course there was also the fabulous array of Go-Go dancers, such as the wonderful Linda Go-Go and the The Meyer Dancers, who really added to the party atmosphere and helped get the crowd into the swing of things. I was also really impressed with the DJ set by Farbror Fuzz from Norway, especially as he played one of my all-time favourite Lyres songs, "Help You Ann" from "Lyres On Fyre", and some other great tracks such as The Bluestars "Social End Product" and Shocking Blue's "Send Me a Postcard", his set went down a storm. Here are a few more photos of the evening...

Photo by Steve Worrall

Photo by David Williams

Photo by Steve Worrall

Suzi Chunk and Bruce Brand - Photo by Steve Worrall

King Salami - Photo by Steve Worrall

Although I was only there for the one evening I was really impressed with the organization and smooth running of things, there was a decent sized crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and entered into the spirit of things. It must have been a tough job to keep it all going over the whole weekend, I know I get stressed out enough just doing a one-off gig, so this must have taken it out of the Hipsville organizers and let's hope that they decide to go ahead with a Hipsville next year too - I will make sure I keep the whole weekend free this time!

Photo by David Williams

With many thanks to David Williams for allowing me to publish some of his excellent photographs. For more photos of my visit to Hipsville's Saturday night activities, please "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Photo Album.

The Killer B's + Sid Sings + Horse Face: Live at The Half Moon Putney, London May 09th

2013-05-25T13:01:00.003+01:00

Chris Thompson of Killer B's and Horse Face - Photo by Steve Worrall

This was a real treat for me as I have been a huge Screaming Blue Messiahs fan ever since their raw full-on rock and rhythm and blues rescued me from that terrible, bleak musical wasteland of the late 80's early 90's. The Messiahs and The Godfathers were just two of the very few bands at the time getting out there and burning it up for us lovers of primal guitar music, so I will always be grateful! Tonight, I got the chance to see two thirds of the Screaming Blue Messiahs play together live again for the first time in many years. Original Messiahs rhythm section, bassist Chris Thompson and drummer Kenny Harris have reunited under the name Horse Face, with Chris taking over on guitar and vocals. Although usually augmented by a double-bass player, tonight they played as a two-piece and blasted out some impressive blues. It was particularly great to hear Kenny's superb drumming again. You can check out some Horse Face songs at their Soundcloud page.

Chris Thompson and Kenny Harris of Horse Face - by Steve Worrall

Kenny Harris of Horse Face - by Steve Worrall

Sid Sings were a revelation live. I'd been blown away by their track "Caught In Black" and went out and snapped up their great full length debut album "Notes From Underground" and the mini-album "Make Me Howl" and was really keen to see them. Playing tonight as a three piece with the excellent drummer Dan Peranic (excellent drummers being a recurring theme throughout the evening actually...), Sid Sings didn't disappoint, hitting their stride immediately with the storming "Death Rattle Boogie", the band were on fire from the off. Singer Nikki Brooks and guitarist Sandy Michie are a live-wire duo up front and although at first it's easy to see the glamorous Nikki as the main focal point, she is after all quite stunning, they are very much a double act.

Sid Sings - Photo by Steve Worrall

Sandy throws himself and his guitar around the stage. Bending and contorting his body as he does the guitar strings, he's really channelling the music into the performance and it's great to watch. Nikki clutches her mic stand, swaying along to the beat and swirling her hair as she delivers her superb vocals. She has a great distinctive voice and the way she switches to sultry French for the verses of "Caught In Black" is really something special. They only play a couple of tracks from "Notes From The Underground" tonight, but they do plough through all of the near faultless "Make Me Howl". Sid Sings also slip in a great mash-up cover version of The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" and Dusty Springfield's "Anyone Who Had a Heart", it's very clever and works really well. Their brand of Blues has a nice bit of power and a Garage Rock rawness to it and I thoroughly enjoyed the set. Nikki has her own radio show "House Rent Boogie" on Resonance 104.4FM and a great Blog to go along with it. She recently did a show with Rob Symmons from The Fallen Leaves which is definitely well worth a listen.

Nikki from Sid Sings - Photo Steve Worrall

Sid Sings - Photo by Steve Worrall

A quick change of hat and Chris Thompson takes to the stage for the second time tonight with his main band The Killer B's, who proceeded to play a storming selection of their own special brand of kicking killer Blues. I wasn't familiar with a fair chunk of the set, which featured only a few songs from their excellent Pat Collier produced Track Records released debut album "Love Is a Cadillac Death Is a Ford". Chris is joined in the Killer B's by another top drummer, Dave Morgan and yes, there is a bassist in the house, the dapper Ricky McGuire, once of The Men They Couldn't Hang. The Killer B's are not your average Rhythm & Blues band, they are certainly pretty far removed from straight forward R&B boogie, there is a darker undercurrent with an edge that elevates the band to another level. Sometimes it's in the dark humour of "Low Watt Light" and other times it's the occasionally unsettling and challenging chord changes and tangents that they spring on you. Captain Beefheart and Zappa are probably as much an influence as the more traditional Blues names. "Head Hive & The Honey" is a slow burning classic with some amazing slide guitar work from Chris. The band end a great show with "You Bug Me" and a really excellent night of music draws to a close. The Killer B's have a great web-site with some cool graphics that's well worth checking out here.

The Killer B's - All Photos above by Steve Worrall

For more photos "Like" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page for access to the Photo Album.

Here's a little bonus - a video of Sid Sings taken from the Retro Man Blog "YouTube Channel:

Thee Spivs New Album Launch Party June 29th at The Half Moon Putney - with The Fallen Leaves & The Past Tense

2013-05-23T11:06:00.001+01:00

I am extremely pleased to announce that the next Retro Man Blog Night will be at the The Half Moon, Putney on June 29th. This will be the official Launch Party for the brand new album by Thee Spivs entitled "The Crowds and The Sounds", which will be released on Damaged Goods Records on June 24th. Copies of the new album will be available for sale on the night and the bill will be completed by special guests The Past Tense and The Fallen Leaves. Tickets are just £8.00 on the door or in advance from The Half Moon, click here to buy. Be sure to book early to guarantee entrance as this is shaping up to be a great night..!

You can hear exclusive tracks from Thee Spivs superb new album "The Crowd and The Sounds" on the latest Retrosonic Podcast, "The Damaged Goods Records Story". This is split into two Episodes, "Part 1", and "Part 2", which are both now available to listen to or download for free, from the Retrosonic Soundcloud site. Ian Ballard, the boss of Damaged Goods Records, talks us through some of the pivotal releases throughout the label's history including tracks from Billy Childish, Manic Street Preachers, Buzzcocks, Graham Day & The Gaolers, Holly Golightly, Giuda, Fabienne Delsol, Cowbell and of course Thee Spivs!

With many thanks to Ian, Thee Spivs and to Adam Donovan from The Jetsonics for the gig poster.

Dr. Feelgood Exhibition extended to June 30th at the Canvey Club, Canvey Island

2013-05-22T17:14:00.002+01:00

The Dr. Feelgood Exhibition, a superb collection that brings together 40 years of musical mementos and memorabilia from throughout the band's career, has now been extended to June 30th. It's being held at the Canvey Club, 162 High Street, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 7SS, right in the heart of Feelgood's territory. Photographer Paul Hughes, went along and has kindly contributed some of his excellent photographs of the exhibition which I am very pleased to share.

With many thanks to Paul Hughes for contributing the pictures. For more of Paul's superb photography please check out his FLICKR page. You can also check our previous Blog feature on our own little Dr. Feelgood's Canvey Island and Southend-on-Sea tour here. This features some famous landmarks such as The Kursaal, THE Jetty, The Admiral Jellicoe, the Monico and the iconic Labworth Cafe. As a bonus there are some classic Dr. Feelgood pics from the 1975 Naughty Rhythms Tour by the legendary photographer, and friend of the Blog, Paul Slattery. All photos copyright Paul Hughes.

For more details on the Exhibition please visit the web-site Dr. Feelgood Exhibition.

The Damaged Goods Records Story Part 2: A Retrosonic Podcast Special

2013-05-20T11:34:00.001+01:00

In this second special episode of our Retrosonic Podcast, Steve from Retro Man Blog talks to Ian Ballard, boss of the legendary Punk and Garage Rock record label Damaged Goods. Ian talks us through some more of the label's pivotal releases including songs from French chanteuse and ex-Bristols vocalist, Fabienne Delsol, and he explains his pride on finally getting to work with one of his all-time favourite bands, the Buzzcocks. Damaged Goods Records strong Medway connections are highlighted with a trio of the Delta's most successful artists in Billy Childish & The Singing Loins, singer-songwriter Pete Molinari, and ex-Prisoners legend Graham Day & The Gaolers. There's also a track from the debut album from The Wolfmen, featuring ex-Adam & The Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni. We then play some of the latest Damaged Goods releases, including the promising Cowbell and some stomping Italian Glam Rock from Giuda. We are pleased to have some exclusive new songs too including one from Thee Spivs excellent forthcoming album "The Crowd and The Sounds" and The pUKES ukulele take on a Punk Rock classic! For more info on Damaged Goods releases and merchandise please visit the Damaged Goods web-site.

Part 1 of The Damaged Goods Records Story is available to listen to or download for free on the Retrosonic site. In this Episode we are joined by Rock Photographer Paul Slattery who talks about his involvement with Damaged Goods acts including the Manic Street Preachers and Billy Childish and The Headcoats. There are also great tracks from Thee Headcoatees, Helen Love, Holly Golightly, Slaughter & The Dogs and an exclusive from Thee Spivs forthcoming album "The Crowd & The Sounds".

Retro Man Blog along with Damaged Goods will be hosting the official Launch Party for the brand new album from Thee Spivs entitled "The Crowd and The Sounds". This will take place at The Half Moon Putney on Saturday June 29th, with very special guests The Fallen Leaves and The Past Tense. This looks set to be a great night, so book your tickets here to guarantee entry!

For updates and further info on the Launch Party, Facebook users can register at the Facebook Event page here. Otherwise please keep a check on the Blog for all the latest news.

The Transients live at The Rising Sun, Slough May 18th

2013-05-19T20:32:00.001+01:00

Kieren of The Transients - Photo by Steve Worrall

I saw The Transients play a great set of unusual covers, and a couple of promising originals thrown in for good measure, at the Rising Sun in Slough. The band are singer Kieren, guitarist DC, drummer Freezer and bassist Mark Leech, who used to play in the excellent 80's Psych band The Onlookers. The Transients choice of cover versions could have been the playlist to one of our Retrosonic Podcasts as they included Radio Birdman, The Kinks, Pere Ubu and more top tunes.

Mark, DC, Freezer & Kieren - The Transients by Steve Worrall

The Transients kick off with a cover of "Cast a Spell" by the Putney based 60's Psych band The Open Mind, it's a great track and it's catchy chorus "...it's all in the mind..." snares some casual drinkers into paying a bit more attention. They follow this with Subway Sect's classic "Ambition" and then Wimple Winch's Freakbeat gem "Save My Soul", with Mark nailing the superb bass intro and guitarist DC capturing the stinging guitar riff perfectly. The song builds to a crescendo with drummer Freezer flailing away and vocalist Kieren letting loose. "i-94", a rare one from Australia's Stooges, Radio Birdman, is a nice surprise choice and then they mellow the mood with The Kinks "See My Friends".

The Transients by Steve Worrall

There's nothing mellow about their great rip through Television's "See No Evil" though, it motors along. Kieren straps on what looks like a vintage Vox guitar and joins DC in having an admirable stab at Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's intricate guitar work. "Specs of Dust" is an original track and that and "Tube Ride Away" hint that The Transients could certainly move away from the covers in the future. The best of the originals however, is "The Hatfield Twins", which is about two early Punk King's Road faces who were apparently responsible for the "never mind the bollocks" catchphrase. It's an excellent Garage Rock track. I hope the band can get into a recording studio soon and get some of these songs released. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers "She Cracked" is followed by a rather obscure choice of Small Faces track, "Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire", and the set finishes with a raucous "Non Alignment Pact" and a great mash-up of The Vibrators "Whips and Furs" and The Only Ones "Another Girl Another Planet". It was a great fun night out and I recommend going along to catch The Transients live if you get chance.

You can keep up to date with all The Transients latest news on their official Facebook page. Here's a video of their original track "The Hatfield Twins"

Thanks to Freddie - top man!

Good Vibrations: Terri Hooley and a Tale of Teenage Kicks, Undertones, Outcasts, Music & Mayhem..!

2013-05-17T15:39:00.000+01:00

Richard Dormer is sensational as Terri Hooley in Good Vibrations

"Good Vibrations" is the heartwarming and uplifting true story of Belfast music legend Terri Hooley, the man responsible for discovering The Undertones and recording "Teenage Kicks". Terri is a radical, rebel and music lover in 1970's Belfast, when the bloody conflict known as The Troubles shuts down his city. As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city's nascent underground Punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley bunch of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an Alternative Ulster, to bring his city back to life.

Feargal Sharkey by Paul Slattery

Richard Dormer puts in a stunning performance as Terri Hooley, expertly portraying the wide-eyed, sorry make that, wide-one-eyed, almost childlike enthusiasm and passion for music in all it's forms, bursting with energy, ideas and scams. As Terri recounts in his excellent biography "Hooleygan", people think he was just into Punk but he was probably Northern Ireland's biggest Reggae fan and was first awakened to the joys of music by Hank Williams "I Saw The Light" at a very young age. It was that power of music to unite and uplift people that moved him to call his record store "Good Vibrations" right slam in the middle of a place where good vibes were a very rare commodity. A radical and politically driven hippy in the Sixties, he was constantly demonstrating and campaigning against whatever injustice he saw in the world at large, "Hey Terri, what are you rebelling against?", "whaddya got?". Although wary of aligning himself to any particular party or movement for long, mainly due to his somewhat maverick approach, he managed to take this neutrality and outsider persona into the dark days of the Troubles. In fact it's the unifying spirit he found in the Northern Irish Punk scene that inspired him as much as the music - Protestants and Catholics braved the curfews to go to gigs together and this created a camaraderie, united against the religious bigotry, paramilitary violence and the brutality of the R.U.C. All this played out on Belfast's war-torn, dangerous streets, something that the Punks in London, safe in the boutiques of Chelsea's Kings Road, could not even comprehend.

Protex outside the Harp Bar in Belfast - Photo by Paul Slattery

Intrigued by punters coming into his shop asking for records with strange and violent names, he is persuaded to go and see the band RUDI. Terri enters the venue and finds himself amongst the crowd of Punks and he slowly lets himself go, lost in the euphoria he ends up joining in the pogoing. I'm not sure a film such as "Good Vibrations" would ever get anywhere near the Oscars, but Dormer certainly deserves one for this scene alone. Terri is so inspired by this Rock & Roll epiphany that at the end of RUDI's set he rushes over and offers to sign them up on the spot despite not having a label at all. It's this naive enthusiasm and total disregard for money, contracts and business acumen that makes Terri such a likeable and inspirational character. He then, rather reluctantly at first, signs up The Undertones from Derry, but as soon as he hears "Teenage Kicks" he releases it on Good Vibrations Records, convinced it will be a massive hit. The scenes where Terri desperately shops the single around London are magnificent, faced with the utter cynicism and disregard of record company moguls (in his book, he admits even Rough Trade turned him down), he is distraught. Only John Peel is impressed, and historically played the song twice in a row on his influential late night radio show much to the delight of Terri and his friends back in Belfast.

The Undertones - Photo by Paul Slattery

It all goes a bit wrong for Terri from there, he famously signed away the rights for "Teenage Kicks" to Sire Records for the price of a new van and his failure to get RUDI's single released in time for a high profile TV appearance sees the band lose patience with his haphazard business planning. He has to close the doors of Good Vibrations due to mounting debts and then loses money on one of the biggest Punk gigs in Belfast due to the longest Guest List ever known. But the irrepressible Terri, with a gleam in his one good eye, will not be beaten and you are left with a feeling that another scam is just around the corner. The movie shines a light on some excellent and totally underrated bands such as RUDI and Terri's loyal helpers and friends The Outcasts, who he refused to manage as they had a particularly violent fan and a dangerous reputation. Of course The Undertones might get the attention, as they were the only Good Vibrations band to break through, but check out the brilliant Power Pop band Protex, or Ruefrex or The Moondogs...there's so much great, uplifting music to have emerged from such a troubled period, thanks mainly due to Terri Hooley.

Protex with Good Vibrations' iconic Elvis - Photo by Paul Slattery

Terri is still involved in music, he now has a new Good Vibrations store at 89-93 North Street, Belfast and he helped to set up the Oh Yeah Music Centre, a charity dedicated to helping local musicians, so he remains a truly inspirational figure for all those passionate about making things happen. His story can be followed in the fantastic book "Hooleygan", in which, written together with Richard Sullivan, Terri weaves his autobiographical musings alongside stories and tributes from other characters such as RUDI guitarist Brian Young, Greg Cowan from The Outcasts, journalist and broadcaster Stuart Bailie and Gary Lightbody. Good Vibrations was nominated for three Irish Film and Television Awards, and is the second film from "Cherrybomb" directing duo Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn and is scored by David Holmes with a screenplay by Colin Carberry and Glenn Patterson. The movie was released via The Works.

With sincere thanks to both Lucy Fleet at The Works Film Group for the film stills, and to photographer Paul Slattery for the superb, and truly evocative, black and white photos.

Check out Punkerama Records another Belfast based label that specialises in great vinyl picture disc releases from bands such as The Defects and Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs' Harbour Rats project.

Krister Henriksson as Doktor Glas at Wyndham's Theatre

2013-05-16T16:48:00.002+01:00

It was such a treat to get the rare opportunity to see Krister Henriksson, one of my favourite actors, appear on the London stage recently, performing in the one-man play Doktor Glas at Wyndham's Theatre on Charing Cross Road. Henriksson is the star of the Swedish crime TV drama "Wallander" and more recently the movie "Kiss Me" with Ruth Vega Fernandez, the wonderful actress from "Upp Till Kamp". When I mentioned to people I had seen the play, the general response was "oh, I bet that was depressing then..." and I suppose the subject matter of Doktor Glas - rape, revenge, jealousy, religious and moral corruption - doesn't do much to dispel the dark and brooding image that now immediately springs to mind following the success of Nordic-Noir crime dramas such as "Wallander", "The Bridge" and "The Killing". However, Doktor Glas is no contemporary crime story but is adapted from a 1905 novel by Hjalmar Söderberg, which at the time of publication caused outrage.

Henriksson puts in a quite remarkable performance as the Doctor which is not a million miles from his portrayal of Kurt Wallander, the slightly shabby and unhappy loner in his scuffed shoes and ill fitting suit, struggling to find companionship in middle age. An unassuming man who has a "pleasant way of keeping quiet", beaten down by the unfairness of life in general, where everyone else always seems to be having a good time except him. We learn that Doktor Glas is infatuated by one of his patients, the beautiful Helga, who unfortunately happens to be married to the loathsome and arrogant Pastor Gregorius, who's rasping cough and frog-like demeanour Glas mocks incessantly - behind the Pastor's back of course. It's these merciless impersonations that provides much of the comic relief in the play and certainly highlights Henriksson's consummate skill as an actor as he flits between the characters with ease. The Doctor's hatred of Gregorius and his own self-loathing increase as he struggles with that age old challenge to the male ego..."what is a beautiful girl doing with such a repulsive man when she could have me?". Then one day Helga appears at the surgery and, probably well aware of the Doctor's infatuation, uses her charms to suggest a rather unorthodox plan. Fed up with her disgusting husband's demands for his "marital rights", she asks Glas to fabricate an illness of the womb to put off the unwanted advances.

Photo by Steve Worrall

Thinking that this might be a way to ingratiate himself into Helga's affections, Glas agrees and summons the Pastor into his surgery to explain the situation. Gregorius is furious but reluctantly promises to keep to the Doctor's advice. The promise isn't kept for long, a couple of days later Helga visits the Doctor to explain that the plan to keep her husband at bay had not worked as he had raped her. She also confides that another reason she no longer wants to have sexual relations with her husband is that she is in fact secretly having an affair. Doctor Glas realises that he knows her boyfriend, the handsome Klas Recke, and is driven into fits of jealousy. Klas Recke, the man who's looks he admired and wished he resembled - Klas Recke, Henriksson wrings every syllable out of the last name, seething with jealously, it sounds like the English word "wrecker" which is apt, considering Klas is the man who, in the Doctor's mind, stands in his way, wrecking his dreams of a romance with Helga. Then his thoughts turn to the Pastor Gregorius and the rape, the disgust and hatred toward this so-called religious man swells and he summons him to the surgery again. He takes great pleasure in telling Gregorius about an exaggerated heart condition, making the Priest squirm and suffer before announcing his diagnosis and instructing that a long trip to a Spa is in order.

Photo by Steve Worrall

That night Glas has a vivid dream where he exacts terrible, and surgical, revenge on the Priest, and Henriksson perfectly captures that fleeting moment when you wake up and think that the dream had really happened. Glas then goes from plotting and fantasising about murdering the Priest to struggling with his guilt, and he is tormented by thoughts of love, death and morality. Would you kill to take revenge on behalf of someone you love, or is it just a murder borne out of jealousy? What about the Hippocratic Oath? Should he take his own worthless life? Henriksson is a remarkable actor, I thought that anyone trying to perform alone would be full of grand, over exaggerated gestures to hold the attention of the audience, but not so, the subtlety in his performance was so impressive. The play ends with the Doctor finally administering a lethal pill, under the guise of medicine, to Pastor Gregorius and the curtains draw to a close to the strains of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" - a deliciously ironic, if somewhat incongruous choice of song. The audience reaction was warm and polite rather than rapturous, I rose to my feet to join in what I was sure would be a standing ovation. There wasn't one. I turned slightly and realised I was in fact the only one standing! Considering I was right at the front row centre of the balcony, I felt a slight twinge of embarrassment at first, but then again, why should I? I'm not a theatre-goer so I'm not sure of the protocol. Maybe it was because it was a matinee performance, maybe it's not the "done" thing, but all I know is that Krister Henriksson certainly deserved nothing less than a thunderous reception, a standing ovation and repeated curtain calls to acclaim a quite stunning performance.

Krister Henriksson takes the applause - Photo by Steve Worrall

So, you may be thinking "...what's a theatre review doing on the Blog?" Well, here's the thing, there is a link, an albeit somewhat tenuous link admittedly, to Krister Henriksson and my favourite Swedish band, The Soundtrack of Our Lives. So as a bit of fun, here we go...six degrees of separation...

1. Krister Henriksson starred in a 2009 TV movie of Doktor Glas directed by Mikael Marcimain.

2. Mikael also directed Krister in two Episodes of Wallander Series 2, "The Ghost" and "The Heritage".

3. Ruth Vega Fernandez featured in "The Heritage" and also starred in the movie "Kiss Me" along with Krister.

4. Sverrir Gudnason featured throughout Wallander Series 2 as new police recruit Pontus and both he, and Ruth, went on to star in the Marcimain directed TV Series "Upp Till Kamp".

5. "Upp Till Kamp" also featured Ludwig Dahlberg, Kim Fransson and Mattias Bärjed from the band Free Fall, who had a song played in an episode of Wallander. Mattias also wrote the soundtrack music to "Upp Till Kamp" and Marcimain's latest movie "Call Girl".

6. Mattias was the guitarist with The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

So, there you go...how to link your favourite actor to your favourite band in six steps!

The beautiful Wyndham's Theatre - Photo by Steve Worrall

Krister Henriksson on stage at Wyndham's - Photo by Steve Worrall

Krister Henriksson has an official Facebook page brilliantly organised by Karen Gillett, so please join the group here for all the updates, including news on the brand new series of Wallander.