Generation Sex Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts Worthy Farm Pilton 24th June 2023

 

I did not watch much of the Glastonbury Festival at all. It just doesn't appeal when there are smaller, more intimate festivals on my doorstep (Sign Of The Times and Stone Valley South for example). Not only do these festivals cater much more to my hoary old taste in music, but they are affordable and on a scale whereby to get to the stage is not a half day hike... listen to me. what an old codger! But seriously, whilst not a seasoned festival goer I went to Reading in '87 and '89 when that festival (one of the biggest in the UK at the time) was still transitioning from a metal festival to an indie festival. As such I was far more comfortable with the image of the festival goer as someone in a leather jacket with four cans suspended from a bullet belt. On the first morning at Reading in 1987 I threw up... to deal with this I went down to the river's edge and ate a tin of cold baked beans washed down with a couple of cans of Webster's Best Bitter (there was nothing best about it!). Now, no doctor was ever going to commend me on my festival diet, but rather that than a jog around a festival site perimeter before a granola breakfast!

So you get it, Glastonbury is not for me and whilst I must admire Elton's talent and longevity, I didn't watch him either. But I did see this... Generation Sex... perhaps what the Sham Pistols could have been! And now I am gonna moan again, As much as I like the Pistols and The Professionals, I have never got on with Generation X, bar a couple of singles I have nothing by them and yet they were the real deal, Class of '77 and there are not many bands of that ilk that I don't like (Boomtown Rats). What it is about them that always put me off I don't know... they looked sharp, they had mod sensibilities in image and music (and I love the Small Faces), so on paper they would be a good fit. It's probably sneering Bill that has put me off... and before you ask it has nothing to do with JJ's antipathy towards him. Tony James went to Brunel, as did I, not that that fact would sway me one way or the other... but I didn't like SSS or late Sisters of Mercy and I never really got to hear his short lived collaboration with Mick Jones, 'Carbon-Silicon'.

But let's be objective for a minute about Generation Sex. Cook and Jones sound fabulous, those songs still pack one hell of a punch even on a balmy Somerset afternoon and James nails the bass. As for Billy I can't fault him on the Gen X material, it's his after all how could anyone do a better job. As far as the Pistols' renditions go, he does a good job I think. It's not Lydon, but then we must make do as the prospects of seeing Cooky and Jones treading the same boards as Johnny are pretty slim in the wake of 'Pistol'.

See what you think.

I hope that the DVD works OK, it's the first DVD edit that I have done for several years and I had to teach myself all over again. Fingers crossed.

Incidentally, whilst this DVD is the full BBC broadcast, the band's set also included Stepping Stone, Kiss Me Deadly, Dancing With Myself and Silly Thing.... I would have preferred to see Silly Thing over Black Leather!

DVD Iso Image: https://we.tl/t-QA6oaN1zcP

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-3APdXJF9Hl

'Yes We Know! But Who Is Celia?'

 I have mentioned before my partiality for 'Celia & The Mutations (here). That post features pretty much all there is to be had in print about this rather enigmatic 'spin-off', just a couple of 'non-interviews' and a handful of promo adverts for the singles that carried their name.

It was an odd move for United Artists to make in my unqualified opinion. In The Stranglers they had a band which was rapidly becoming the principal punk cash cow. To dilute that signature Stranglers' sound with the refined vocals of Celia Gollin must have been thoroughly thought through... or maybe it was a nice punk idea. It was a strategy more suited to a label like Stiff than UA. That is not to say that UA were aiming to deceive anyone. The campaign for the first single, 'Mony Mony'/'Mean To Me' featured the instantly recognisable silhouette of the band. It was also a clever way however to release an early Stranglers' original that was now perhaps less representative of their band's recognised studio output.

It is to be regretted that the band's discography did not stretch to more than the two singles (and even then the personnel changed considerably). But, then again would the release of three albums within the space of a year opened the band to accusations of cashing in. Who knows?

Whatever the case, here is the elusive lady lino printed in black ink on cream card (21cm x 29.7cm).

The Apollo Glasgow 30th September 1978

 

Once in a blue moon this happens. I can think of two or three occasions upon which this has been so for the Aural Sculptors web site. A new recording surfaces that to all intents and purposes is a first for all. It may be that it is out there but in a very limited circulation or that it has genuinely passed people by.

That it is visible is not doubted as it appears on the http://www.rescuedrecordings.co.uk/ website, a non-profit making site dedicated to documenting the contribution to popular music as made by the Glasgow Apollo.

This was one of the last gigs that the band played in 1978, the year perhaps above all others when The Stranglers made their mark. The difficult third album had been a critical triumph and the band were taking full credit for it. On stage the band were never more belligerent, their relationship with the music press upon which most bands relied for some degree of support was at an all time low. The band seemed to be in a near state of paranoia... the world and his wife pitched against them. True, the press didn't like them but at the same time would you as a music journalist relish the prospect of interviewing the 'enfants terrible' of punk? The kids however loved them. Listen out for the audience chanting 'We Want The Stranglers!' at the end of 'Ugly'... it's almost 'Roller' behavior!

Early doors Hugh warns the audience not to goad the security with attempts to get onto the stage (I presume). 'Don't try and climb this 'cos they're fucking dangerous (the bouncers)... there were a few fractured skulls the other night' (a reference to the band's gig at the Manchester Apollo two days earlier that ended in violent disarray). How you scaled the Apollo stage is a mystery.

I believe that this was the only live outing for 'Walk On By' in the year of its release.

This is a great addition to the record so many thanks to the folk at Rescued Recordings for their ongoing efforts to bring so many of the great shows that the Apollo hosted and thanks to DomP (as ever) for passing this on to me! Highly appreciated!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-r39OUoJCU5

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-xUDyZ5Im7S

01. Ugly

02. I Feel Like A Wog

03. Burning Up Time

04. Bring on the Nubiles

05. Something Better Change

06. Hanging Around

07. Princess Of The Streets

08. Peasant In The Big Shitty

09. Walk On By

10. Curfew

11. Do You Wanna? 

12. Death And Night And Blood

13. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy

14. Threatened

15. Sverige

16. Tank

17. 5 Minutes

18. No More Heroes

19. Toiler on the Sea

Stranglers 2000 - Communication on the Edge of the Digital Age

 

1997 saw the sad demise of 'Strangled', our oracle and gateway to the band. This august publication told us most of what we needed to know in order to effectively follow the band, not always in a timely manner but hey. What information could not be gleaned from its pages could be obtained by means of a letter to the SIS offices or even by a letter to a member of the band.... accessibility to the band always appealed to me. The Stranglers seemed to have a relationship to their fanbase only bettered by The Jam!

After 'Strangled' folded, Marian Shepherd and Owen Carne picked up and created 'Stranglers 2000', what was to be a short-lived stop gap that filled the needs of the fan base between the cessation of 'Strangled' and the digital revolution that put paid to paper based/S.A.E communication across the board. 

Running to just two issues at around the time of the release of the 'Coup De Grace' album they do make a good read and provide an insight into the dynamics within the band at that time. In a lengthy interview in issue 2, JJ opens his heart. Even without the benefit of hindsight the fact that the late '90's incarnation of the band were floundering is painfully obvious. JJ is in reflective mood looking back on a career that may or may not be over at that point. The writing on the album (mostly JJ's) questions the band's relevance and validity. Not that my opinion carries any weight, but at this point the band were at their lowest ebb, if there were any positives at this time it was only that the sole direction available was upwards! Anyway, see what you think.

Strangled 2000 Issue 1 (pdf): https://we.tl/t-RfwZEate15

Strangled 2000 Issue 1 (pdf): https://we.tl/t-dtK8vDJDNK

SIS Magazine Query

 After the demise of 'Strangled' as I recall (I have them somewhere) there followed a short lived fanzine. It ran for just two issues. Issue one was associated with a live recording. Can anyone shed any light on this 'SIS' release (venue, date , track list) Apologies, but here my MIB knowledge falters a bit, this period being part of my Stranglers' wilderness years!

Punk Spring 2010 Osaka Japan 2nd April 2010

 

Here's another find from the 'to be sorted' disc piles. A short festival set from Japan's annual 'Punk Spring' festival in 2010. Talk from the stage minimal if non-existent language barrier I presume.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-gZk3vemYdv

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-7yxOH8uWAT

01. 5 Minutes
02. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
03. Nuclear Device
04. Something Better Change
05. Peaches
06. All Day & All Of The Night
07. Spectre Of Love
08. No More Heroes

Ruts DC Hammersmith Odeon 21st October 1980 - Full Set?

 

Sorry for the cock up! The extra tracks are actually the band's Peel Session.... I am disappointed too.... must pay more attention.

Upon sorting through a few hundred half labelled and unlabelled discs, I was very pleased to find this gem in a lossless format. It's an early outing of Ruts DC supporting The Skids at the Hammermith Odeon in the autumn of 1980. I had previously uploaded a version in mp3 format (5 songs) that can be found here. This version adds ' Mirror Smashed', 'Parasites', 'Fools' and another rendition of 'Different View'. And, like the lossy version, this is also of good sound quality.

I was making the assumption that this version represented the full set played on the night, my thinking being that the set may have ended with a rerun through 'Different View' which was/would be the new single. However, upon reading Garry Bushell's review again, mention is made of 'SUS', 'Staring At The Rude Boys', 'It Was Cold' and 'Savage Circle' having been played. Regardless, this would appear to be the fullest version in circulation and it is a great addition to the Ruts DC collection.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-O4t8UwxjEN

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-okICasKE4

01. Love In Vain
02. Different View
03. West One (Shine On Me)
04. Society
05. Babylon's Burning
06. Mirror Smashed
07. Parasites
08. Fools
09. Different View