The Damned Hot Point Festival Lausanne Switzerland 31st August 1988

 

Well it seems to be a busy and poignant week this week for The Damned. Friends are on the Continent this Easter weekend for European dates leading up to their big 50th gig at Wembley Arena. As such it seems right and proper to upload something from them in acknowledgement of another milestone that the band's of '76/'77 did not in their wildest imaginings expect to see, least of all The Damned.... they first threw in the towel 49 years ago in 1977!!

In 1988 they were in Switzerland playing the Hot Point Festival and what a festival it promised to be with a line up of The Damned, Motorhead, Johnny Thunders and Siouxsie & The Banshees. Maybe Switzerland was the place to congregate if you could claim that you were once in a punk band. The Stranglers had played the Paleo Festival the previous month in Nyon, a little further along the banks on Lake Geneva.

I wonder who the surprise guest was?

At this stage in the game, Dave was in the process of metamorphosing from Nosferatu to Dark Elvis... his Phantom Chords project was not far around the corner at this stage.

DVD image: https://we.tl/t-7zcOU0aaiYypvM9c

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GckMuFq9qU9ebTCx

The March Violets Melkweg Amsterdam 7th October 1983

 

Here's another one from The March Violets when they played at the Melkweg in Amsterdam in October 1983. Originally acquainted with and associated with the Sisters of Mercy (via Leeds and the fact that their first release was on the Sisters' 'Merciful Release' label), latterly they were more aligned with the likes of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Xmal Deutschland and they shared the stage with both bands on numerous occasions.

Consistently labelled as 'Goth', more importantly, The March Violets are a band of the post-punk era who were able to offer something edgy and different at a time (early to mid-'80's) when so much music in the UK turned to shit.

The March Violets are playing dates in the UK in the summer.

Thanks as ever to Peter for this one!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-82HUjweqpEg8sGKS

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-XanzbUtMMPN7ZbmS

New Musical Express (8th January 1983)

The Courettes The Tube Dusseldorf 13th October 2022

 

Gigs on board boats seems to be a thing that is rising in popularity in the last couple of years. The Courettes are afloat from today on Little Steven's Underground Garage Cruise 2. This sails from Miami to Mexico... could be worse, imagine the UK equivalent... Harwich to the Hook of Holland over a wet Easter weekend sailing into the eye of Storm Dave!

Flavia's prepared!

With luck, Trump will keep the USAF away from the Gulf of Mexico and The Courettes will make it back to the UK in good time for their appearance with The Damned on April 11th.

Many thanks to Peter for another great Courettes gig. Cheers!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-gfb7Un2mV3umsMdm

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-xnXUoNZFU44O5X16

Le Chabada Angers 3rd April 2012

 

Okay then, here an incomplete recording of the band playing in the French city of Angers on the European leg of the 'Giants' tour. It's a shame that this is both 1) incomplete and 2) a bit bizarrely edited as the sound is quite good. The editing is either an indication that this was a broadcast or that the taper was not a fan of any new material, this being a gig played in 2012 featuring no material recorded after 1986!

But go easy it is this one's birthday!

MP3: https://we.tl/t-PpzmyABGPKfNMZQ0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-2bxwFwuP52zgxp8S

Iggy Pop Manchester Apollo 25th September 1977

 

The return of Iggy Pop to these shores in September 1977 was an eagerly awaited event. On his earlier visit in the year (March) promoting 'The Idiot' he had his mate David Bowie backing him up from the wings on keyboards which was something of a spectacle. At that time the punk was known to the few in the 'in-crowds in the UK's largest towns and cities, people were only just in the process of ripping up their school blazers, but by September the new music was firmly established and Iggy was welcomed back as the 'Godfather of Punk'.

This time around he was promoting the 'Lust For Life' album supported by The Adverts. 

Sounds (13th August 1977)

Sounds (20th August 1977)

Bowie was replaced on this tour by sometime Stooge, Scott Thurston.

Footage from this appearance at Manchester's Apollo was really my first introduction to Iggy Pop, not back in '77, but when material from Granada's 'So It Goes' was repeated to mark the 10th anniversary of punk. 'Oh look, there's a man with a horses tail on stage'... business as usual for Iggy Pop!

'Lust For Life'/Interview/'The Passenger'

So It Goes, Granada TV September 1977

Here is the full audio of that landmark gig. From 101Guitars. Cheers!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-tzyXA9jm83Kxa7FG

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-zrf8cLErmZTRMOkt

The gig itself was reviewed in the 1st October issue of Record Mirror.

Record Mirror (1st October 1977)

This review was written by Steve Morris. I was initially wondering whether the writer was Stephen Morris from Joy Division/New Order, who did some freelance work for Record Mirror back in the '70's. However, digging a bit deeper online, I stumbled across a 'Morrissey in the Press' web site and it would appear that this review was penned by him.

Sham 69 Vortex London 3rd January 1978

 

The Vortex was the snotty cousin of the Roxy opening under the stewardship of Andy Czezowski when his Roxy closed. Located in Wardour Street in the heart of London's Soho, the Vortex played host many bands who went on to greater success, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Ants and Sham 69 to name three. 

Jimmy Pursey and Sham 69 got 1978 underway with a gig at the Vortex on 3rd January. It sounds like a pretty edgy gig with fights breaking out sporadically as Pursey once again tried to control the situation, with little success. He is very vocal in his frustration that no matter what he does every gig his band plays is marred by violence.

This is a great sounding recording that gives the listener a good idea of what a Sham 69 gig was like as 1977 rolled into 1978. It's a great set for sure, but I'm not sure that I would have wanted to be at the front... or even the back for that matter!

MP3: https://we.tl/t-Jo5dKjrxMAMAC55M

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-i7MqVHvnTAG0Ynhf

Sham 69 are forever strongly associated with the Vortex. On 23rd September 1977 Sham played at the opening of the Vortex Cafe in nearby Hanway Street. The other bands on the bill, The Models, Mean Street, Neo and The Outsiders, played in the Cafe itself whilst Sham 69 opted to play on the roof of the venue. The volume quickly caught the attention of the Metropolitan Police, who promptly pulled the plug on the gig and arrested Pursey, or Jimmy Sham as he went by at the time.

Sham 69 performing on the roof of the Vortex Cafe on 23rd September 1977.

The story was picked up by the New Musical Express and run in their 1st October issue. A bit of a debarcle it would appear from the report.

The gig and the subsequent arrest may not have matched a similar stunt by The Beatles, when they played on the roof of the Apple Corps building in Savile Row in 1969, but as they say there is no such thing as bad publicity!

'You're nicked son!'

Guildhall Portsmouth 28th March 1987

 

Thirty nine years ago today and The Stranglers were on the south coast in Portsmouth for the second leg of the 'Dreamtour'.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-CveSQ0TLJNrQM8uH

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-mVsthPjY2Mjyw45w