Ghost Dance Opera House Blackpool 5th August 2023

 

How about a bit of goth now that the sun had gone in! Here are Ghost Dance from 2023's Rebellion. Many thanks to Peter for this one. Cheers.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-AES7MtODGm0BvR1g

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-J2npHcdVtuGi368r

Mitt Gamon and Ruts DC 'Whatever We Do' The Fleece Bristol 24th October 2015

 

Mitt Gamon on stage with Ruts DC

The Fleece, Bristol (24th October 2015)

Last week the digital version of Ruts DC's latest offering, the 'Bound In Blood' E.P. landed in my inbox, an advance warning of the imminent arrival of the 10" on the doorstep. Track 2 is entitled 'Born Innocent - Mitt's Immortal Mix' The Mitt of the mix was the late master of the harp, Mitt Gamon.

This reminded me of an afternoon spent in Bristol some eleven years ago now (24th October 2015). Gunta and I were invited into the band's sound check ahead of the gig at the Fleece. Sat down on a bench in the venue whilst Ruffy sorted his drums out, a rather hirsute chap came and sat down on the same bench and introductions were made. Now I did not know that Mitt (for it was he) had previously played with Ruts DC as he started waxing lyrical about harmonicas. Throughout our chat in observed that he was very protective of a mid-size case that he had by his feet... shades of Dave Greenfield I thought! It was at this point that I asked him whether he carried a harmonica with him. 'I do better than that!' he retorted reaching for the case. Upon opening this mysterious case I was presented with orderly racks of the things! Must have been about 20 or more in there!

Later in the middle of the gig Mitt was invited up and taking centre stage he revisited his harmonica contribution to the band's 'Whatever We Do' 30 or more years on from the recording 'Rhythm Collision Volume 1.

Sadly, Mitt died in 2022, but it was a pleasure to meet him on that day in Bristol and see him perform that much missed song from the Ruts DC set.

'Psychic Attack'/'Whatever We Do'

The Fleece, Bristol (24th October 2015)

Gig Review - Tubeway Army/The Skids 'Last Bastion' White Hart Acton (Sounds 8th July 1978)

Originally posted on the 'Listen To The Sirens' site.... but it concerns The Skids and the punk incarnation of Tubeway Army... 

I was very happy to come across this particular gig review this evening. This was the infamous gig that almost stalled a career before it started. The night out in West London when Dunfirmline's Skids supported Tubeway Army at The White Hart in Acton. As I recall, by rights The Skids should have been topping the bill as they had been hitting London quite hard in the summer of 1978. Who knows, had the running order been reversed, then perhaps musical history may have taken a different course. Had The Skids headlined and therefore been on stage at the point that fighting started in the audience, would they have managed the situation differently. I cannot vouch for the other members of The Skids, but Richard Jobson was by all accounts quite handy in fight situations and maybe he could have deescalated the altercation. Had Tubeway Army supported, it is possible I suppose that they could have packed up and been half way home by the time that trouble flared.

As it was, little did the band know as they plugged in to their amps that night that this would be the last gig that Tubeway Army, the punk band would ever play. This gig looms large in the Numan story in that it galvanised Numan into action. No more punk gigs played in the back rooms of pubs to audiences more focused on blood letting than anything going on on stage.

New Musical Express (24th June 1978)

Last Bastion Flyer (Summer 1978)

New Musical Express (24th June 1978)

Sounds (24th June 1978)

Sounds (8th July 1978)

Sadly, in what I believe is the only live review of the band to appear in the mainstream music press, all the focus in terms of Tubeway Army’s performance is focussed in the violence that marred the gig. No mention is made at all to anything that the band played which is very disappointing. As mentioned in Paul Goodwin’s book ‘Tubeway Daze The Untold Story of Tubeway Army’ it is very difficult to chart the evolution of the band through 1978. This is a real loss to the music fan as 1978 was perhaps Numan’s most prolific year as a songwriter, as borne out by a number of archive releases in the 1983 and 1984. It’s a rule of geometry that it takes at least two points to draw a line and unfortunately there is no second point in Tubeway Army’s live fossil record! The one point that we have is the ‘Living Ornaments ‘78’ set (from a gig on 21st February at London’s Rock Garden). In the 3 or 4 months between appearances in Covent Garden (Rock Garden) and Acton, how had the set changed I wonder? Numan acknowledges his propensity to change the band’s set through the regular introduction of new songs. At the time of the ‘Last Bastion’ gig Tubeway Army were about to record the first album, begging the question (for me at least) did the Acton set include material that would go on to be on that first album? Of the non-released material (i.e. the singles) played at the Rock Garden, only ‘My Shadow In Vain’ made the album cut.

The upshot of Numan's first retirement from playing live was the the majority of the material on the Blue Album/Tubeway Army was never heard live as it appeared on record. The revamped versions played on the '79 tour are fine versions, but by the same token so are the originals.

Ever the dreamer, I have a proposal for Gary. This year there have been many events to mark the 50th anniversary of punk. However, second wave bands such as Tubeway Army and The Skids came just that little bit later. So here’s the plan. A special one off gig to take place on 28th June 2028… ‘Last Bastion 50’ (venue TBD… The White Hart still exists but may be a tad small!). Gary and Richard come together once again (The Skids are very active on the live scene at the moment) to recreate that gig 50 years ago…. albeit without the fighting (I don’t think that the ‘Ealing Skins’ are much of a force to be recognised these days). Order of appearance to be decided by the toss of a coin. I think it’s a sure-fire winner! Well as I said I can dream...

The 'Guildford Incident' Through The Eyes of Record Mirror (October/November 1978)

It was a storm in a tea cup really and one that unnecessarily reignited extreme wariness, if not undisguised animosity towards the band. ‘Rock Goes To College’ was a BBC music programme that ran from 1978 to 1981. Over the course of its existence it was responsible for the broadcast of an eclectic tally of gigs. The idea was simple enough. A band was booked to play a gig for an hour or do of which 30-40 minutes would be broadcast. The venues, unsurprisingly considering the name of the series, were selected from the many halls associated with British academic institutions. Thus selected bands would play a fairly intimate gig to maybe 1,500 punters. Some of these earlier broadcasts were simultaneously broadcast on BBC Radio 1, in  recognition of the limitations of television technology to broadcast such events in stereo.

The Stranglers were lined up to appear on the fourth episode of the show, with a ‘homecoming’ gig at the University of Surry in Guildford on 19th October 1978. Problems emerged when it came to ticket allocation. Seemingly as part of the agreement, a proportion of the tickets would be made available to people out side of the university (i.e. non-students). To me it has always been rather unclear as to the extent that this arrangement was either honoured or ignored. Either way, in the hall on that day there was certainly a mix of students and non-students. In the assessment of the stunt that appeared in the XX October issue of Record Mirror, Tim Lott makes a valid point ‘at what point did they know….. walk away from the gig’. Why indeed wait until the cameras were rolling before unveiling this latest Stranglers as bad boys wheeze? This leads on to another consideration, the role that academic institutions and their associated event venues played in the evolution of rock and pop music from the 1960’s onwards. For so many bands, such venues have been pivotal to the live music circuit. Just take a look at the Stranglers’ gig listings for 1976 and 1977 and it is clear that university/college venues were pretty much as ubiquitous as the pub venues. This being the case, it should also be remembered that when bands played gigs within academic institutions some degree of access control was the norm. I remember NUS rules requiring me to sign in friends for the few on-campus gigs that I attended at Brunel University.

Another point that Tim Lott takes issue with is the idea that attendance at the University of Surrey and being a fan of The Stranglers were mutually exclusive. Again, the band’s early gig history completely debunks the idea that students could and would not be into The Stranglers. The idea that all students were corduroy and scarf wearing hippies with a complete collection of Genesis (Gabriel era of course) and King Crimson records is just lazy stereotyping. Punk interest in the late ‘70s was not strictly limited to those living in the shadow of the Westway. For every Tony Parsons there was a Jon Savage (Classics graduate, Magdalene College, Cambridge!).

Ticket allocation misdeeds aside, this highly visible act of petulance rather backfired on the band. Whilst the band had finally got to play London the previous month after a protracted dispute with the Greater London Council, certain organisations and venues still baulked at the Stranglers name and by extension the name of Burnel. The bass player struggled with venues willing to host his ‘Euroman’ tour and it may very well be that this latest ‘incident’ with the BBC contributed to the unwillingness of venues to book him. In this way, it may be that the repercussions of the band’s dressing down of ‘elitist audiences’ in Guildford in October 1978 actually negatively impacted non-student fans access to the band.

From my point of view I now see the outburst  in terms of a loss of documentary footage of a band at the height of their powers. I know that the BFI have the footage, but this could have been 12 or 13 song set…. Later to be rebroadcast on BBC Four in a state of pristine quality.

Anyway, presented below is Tim Lott’s opinion on the issue followed by the Record Mirror’s responses published a couple of weeks later. As I said at the top of this post, all told this was a storm in a teacup. It did not go on to damage the band’s relationship with Record Mirror, a rare example of a publication supportive of The Stranglers. Come February 1979, the paper’s Barry Cain was jetting off to Japan to cover the band’s first tour of the country. Moreover, to the best of my knowledge, Tim Lott was never on the receiving end of the anticipated kicking from a slighted Jean Jacques Burnel.

Record Mirror (21st October 1978)

Record Mirror (4th November 1978)

Great audio of the truncated gig can be found here.

Ruts DC Button Factory Dublin 2nd March 2019

 

So enough of this high praise for 'The Crack'. Let the music speak for itself. In 2019, the band toured the album, playing it in it's entirety, even dare I say it, the throwaway 'Human Punk', to mark the 40th anniversary of its release. Just... what a set!

Thanks to the original Dime uploader (Kagee).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-S2oTZXLxQ7bFyEBn

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ExSiW8wrJHFypTpp

Top 30 Punk Albums #11 The Crack - The Ruts

 

Not sure even where to start with his one. This is probably the case for most music lovers, but of all of the albums that I have amassed over the last 46 years there are perhaps half a dozen or so with which I feel a deeply personal connection. One of those is the 'The Crack', the debut album by The Ruts. It was released in the UK in September 1979, so I was only 10 and the reality was that I did not get to know who The Ruts were until many years later... after an awful lot of other music has passed under the bridge. The reason for the connection is all down to the fact that I spent four years from the late 1980's at Brunel University in Uxbridge. Now student life was not really my cup of tea, so much so that whilst my course mates were wearing their Inspiral Carpets 'Cool As Fuck' T-shirts, I was parading around in 10 hole DMs, red braces and a hand painted Ruts T-shirt (this was 23 years before Ruts DC reformed so there was no merch available... hence the DIY job). The shaved head was a necessity rather than a political statement, but the general look used to earn me some filthy looks from young Asians on Southall Broadway, how were they to know the connection that The Ruts had with RAR and Southall in particular.

Oddly enough an effort to clear our loft (abandoned for now due to heatwaves) brought down two laundry bags that are now sitting in the 'spare' room. These bags are stuffed with old T-shirts including that hand painted Ruts one circa. 1988 rather than 1978!

As mentioned I was never a studenty-type student, so I spent a lot of time outside of the university environment seeing punk gigs in the local area and in London. I was also seeing Gunta, who at that time was living in Ealing Common so I was also a regular 207 bus commuter. Seeing bands locally brought me in to the social sphere of a group of people from Uxbridge and Hayes. These people were intensely proud of the connection that the place where they grew up had such close associations with a band such as The Ruts, even though they had been out of existance in any form for many years at that point. 38 years on from my first arrival at the end of the Metropolitan Line, I am still in contact with those people and as such I retain a strong affection with this extreme of West London. It just so happens that The Ruts/Ruts DC are all rolled into that sentiment. One of those local bands was The Price with Leigh Heggarty on guitar.... I wonder what he's up to these days?

So what of the album then?

Well, like lots of bands popular in '78/'79, The Ruts played punk rock and a kind of punk/reggae fusion. The difference was that, with the possible exception of The Clash, The Ruts did it better than everyone else! Of the other bands following this path, the most notable (and successful) were The Police, a trio comprising a jazz bassist, a prog drummer and psychedelia influenced guitarist, who knowingly created their own style of reggae fusion... a 'Reggata De Blanc' for which they were frequently taken to task by reviewers (criticism that never harmed their bank balances). And The Members, well they came from Surrey!

Conversely, The Ruts were rather more in the thick of the action. Notable songs on the album are 'Babylon's Burning' and Jah War' songs influenced by the pervading race fuelled political tensions. These tensions boiled over on 23rd April (St George's Day of course) 1979 when the National Front staged a rally at Southall Town Hall. In the course of the day's troubles, teacher Blair Peach died at the hands of the notorious SPG (the 'Special Patrol Group' of the Metropolitan Police) and Misty In Roots's manager, Clarence Baker, was hospitalised with a fractured skull and brain injury after the police stormed the People Unite Community Centre in Southall (The Ruts' first single 'In A Rut' was released on the 'People Unite' label).

'The spark of fear is smoldering

With ignorance and hate'.

('Babylon's Burning' 1979)

'The winds were blowing and stirring up reaction

A storm broke out a militant action

Hot heads came in uniform

Thunder and lightning in a violent form'.

('Jah War' 1979)

Misty In Roots did not only provide The Ruts with lyrical inspiration, as a reggae band of some standing they nurtured the young punks playing many shared gigs and also sharing time in rehearsal rooms which leant The Ruts a more authentic grasp of how reggae should be played.

'The Crack' is a heady collection of songs that exude the atmosphere of political tension that was so prevalent in 1979. In addition to the aforementioned 'Babylon's Burning' and 'Jah War', songs like 'SUS' held a mirror up to society, highlighted well known policing issues and pre-empted the riots that exploded across many British inner-city areas some 18 months later. The Ruts were never an overtly political band, it was enough just to exist in that environment and write about it. It was never doom and gloom with the band though. 1979 was their breakthrough year and they enjoyed it to the full. Sadly, the bubble burst when heroin took Malcolm Owen in July 1980.

I have located reviews of the album from three of the four major UK music weeklies. Two are with me in that the reviewers loved the album. Only Tony Stewart of the New Musical Express dissented with repeated references to heavy metal shortcomings. Personally, I think that Phil Sutcliffe's summing up is a fair reflection of The Ruts at the time of 'The Crack'.

'They've got real front line experience and the judgement and imagination to use it powerfully'.

New Musical Express (6th October 1979)

Record Mirror (6th October 1979)

Sounds (29th September 1979)

Signed as they were to Virgin Records, The Ruts upon release of 'The Crack' enjoyed an extensive promotional campaign.

The Icicle Works Aston University 4th December 1987

I cannot recall now how I became aware of The Icicle Works, a Liverpool band fronted for many years by Ian McNabb. 'Love Is A Wonderful Colour' had been a hit in 1983 so I suppose it was that. Later in 1987 they released the album 'If You Want To Defeat Your Enemy Sing his Song', a cumbersome album title perhaps, but a great album. They were on the bill of the Reading Festival the same year and they were one of the bands that I made a point of watching.

This is a recording, albeit incomplete of the band playing at Aston University an the year of the 'Enemy' album release. Thanks to the original Dime uploader.

30 years down the line and I saw Ian McNabb again when he played in a friend's living room for his 50th birthday. After his set, I said hi at which point he mentioned The Stranglers shirt I was wearing and the fact that he was a fan. I mentioned that I'd seen The Icicle Works on the Friday of the Reading Festival ahead of The Stranglers playing on the Sunday. Clearly this lead on to the occasion on which his path crossed with The Stranglers leading to something of an audition for a potential replacement for Hugh. He confirmed that something along those lines did occur.... but unfortunately, it being a party close to Christmas, 24 hours later any detail that he did impart on this event was erased from my memory!!

Ian McNabb didn't land the job as we all know, and to be honest, I don't think that he, or any other established, known musician would have been the right move for The Stranglers.

The Icicle Works are playing again with Ian and Chris Layhe (the original bass player).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-fYT2JSJYRhXqr0D3

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-vhCDEcXEttHKR1Df

 

Victoria Theatre Halifax 11th November 1997

 

Here's another one, courtesy of yesican. Cheers, appreciate it as always! On tour with 'Written In Red'. 

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-VVbBNYXLGS0cf79V

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

Elastica Liberty Lunch SXSW Festival Austin Texas 17th March 1995

 

Earlier this week I posted the following on Facebook.

"I noticed recently that I was seeing quite a few Elastica posts turning up on my Facebook feed. Couldn't be a reformation I thought, although a return after 30 years would be in keeping with the sense of urgency in the band. No, the increased traffic would appear to be linked to the upcoming deluxe reissue of the first album, 31 years on. This must have been one of the last vinyl albums that I bought back in March 1995 (before resuming two or three years ago) with the catalogue insert (after the 'Kings of the Wild Frontier' album). Such a great album, even if a tad derivative of other bands' material in parts!

I was also reminded of the fact that at around the time of the release of 'Connection', Gunta decided that she wanted more than anything to be in Elastica! She is still waiting for the call..."

The reissue is something to look forward to and I may even go for the T shirt too!

As a reminder of just how good they were back when the music press deemed Elastica to be the coolest band that Cool Britannia had to offer, here is a great 'first album recording' from Austin, Texas. Undisputedly, many of their songs did not attempt to hide the inspiration behind their composition.... 'Waking Up' (The Stranglers), 'Line Up' (Wire), 'Vaseline' (Blondie), 'S.O.F.T.' (Adam & The Ants)..., they had so much good material. As I remember, in the legal dispute with The Stranglers over similarities between 'Waking Up' and 'No More Heroes' it was the publishers who went after the money whilst the band remained in the background, even publicly stating something along the lines that 'mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery'.

For me, whilst Brit Pop offered something great in comparison with the utterly disposable music that was filling the charts at the time, it was in itself rather contrived. The media set up rivalry between Mancunian swaggerers, Oasis, and mockney scamps, Blur, was a blatant attempt to recreate the Beatles Stones face offs from the 1960's, the previous occasion when a British 'music scene' had garnered the interest of America, being the best known example of biz interference. 

Aside from record company self-interest, Brit Pop did for a very short period appear to be a mirror held up to reflect a positive version of Britain. Of all the bands lumped into the scene, for me it was Elastica and that first eponymous album that represented Brit Pop's finest moment, this ultimate 'girl band' (in the same way that The Slits even with Budgie can't escape the label!) had the most verve and attitude of them all (more so than Oasis!).

Thanks to the original Dime uploader, markp.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-NoLaEXDODKdMcG0L

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Z9iwAUL7jgk1EuQ2

Hugh Cornwell Interview (Record Mirror 7th September 1985)

Apologies if this is a hard read, it is manageable if you click on the image to enlarge, but the font is still small and the contrast (white on light blue) is not the easiest. See how you get on. 

The 'Aural Sculpture' tour is done and dusted as Hugh turns his attention to the promotion of his new single 'One In A Million'. With talk of his appearances on stage and screen along with talk of his extracurricular ventures into making music for film, it is clear that it this stage Cornwell was seeking something beyond the realms of his current quartet and more importantly something vastly different to what he was able to do within the confines of The Stranglers structure.

With some understanding of tensions that existed within the band at this time coupled with Hugh's efforts to branch out and experience other aspects of the creative industries, I have always been a little surprised that the split did not come in 1985 rather than in 1990... discuss.

Alexandra Palace London 11th August 1990

 

A mere 36 years ago The Stranglers played Alexandra Palace in North London. A gig that I missed as on the night I was in Whitehaven in Cumbria at my brother-in-laws wedding. I have said it on these pages before that having heard the gig I don't have any real regrets about missing this one (despite its significance). It was a lack lustre gig... perhaps due to the cavernous and soleless nature of the venue (an iconic building but a crap one for gigs) or it could have been the knowledge of what Hugh was to do within a couple of hours that perhaps unconsciously affected the band on the night. Whatever, it wasn't the swan song that Hugh deserved.

Here's a link to the full gig posted back in 2016.

Ally Pally 1990

Listen To The Sirens Is Live

Just a reminder, since the original announcement post is by now deeply buried, as is the link on the site's right side bar.

'Aural Sculptors' has a sister site that goes by the name of 'Listen To The Sirens', a site run along similar lines but focussed on the career of Gary Numan. Like Aural Sculptors, the content extends to cover other bands that could broadly be said to occupy the same musical space. I decided to run these as separate sites because The Stranglers and Numan are indeed very different. However, I do know for sure that there is a reasonable degree of cross-over in visitors interests sufficient to warrant the occasional reminder of its existence.

https://listentothesirenslive.blogspot.com/

This morning I posted a Numan gig from the US leg of 'The Touring Principle' recorded at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on 8th March 1980. It is one of the best unofficial recordings from this early period in his career.

Tiffany's Leeds Review 7th February 1982 (Melody Maker 13th February 1982)

Back in the day I hated reviews, singles, albums, gigs whatever, that left you none the wiser as to whether the gig was actually any good! Melody Maker's Frank Worrall was clearly nonplussed by his evening's entertainment.

He is clearly echoing the sentiments of the time as held by the UK music press in general i.e. that by the beginning of 1982, The Stranglers were washed up and had nothing more to offer. Couple the garbled review (an attempt as some manner of satire?) with a stock photo many years out of date and it amounts to lazy journalism.

I suppose that it is the music journalist's dream and perhaps their primary function to get their claws in to a new act early so they can take the credit and kudos to be the first to give a band truly destined for bigger things their earliest coverage. This being the case, an instruction from your editor to spend a cold February night in Leeds in the company of a band that you consider to have passed its sell by date back in 1978 probably does inject a bit of poison into your pen.

Early coverage of The Stranglers did the likes of Chas de Whalley and Barry Cain no harm! However, it takes many nights out enduring bands, for which 15 minutes of fame is perhaps 10 minutes too long, in order to strike it lucky with a band that will endure.

Sharing the live review section of Melody Maker's 13th February 1982 issue are:

True Life Confessions (Fulham Greyhound, London)

Machito (Venue, London)

The Onlookers/The Times (Marquee, London)

Mood Six/Miles Over Matter (The Fridge, Brixton)

Cockney Rejects/The Business (The Bridgehouse, Canning Town)

Ruby Braff/Scott Hamilton (Pizza Express, London)

Aztec Camera/The Secret Goldfish (Kings College, London)

Altered Images/Vic Goddard & The Subway Sect/The Bluebells (Hammersmith Palais, London)

Drastic Measures/The Gymslips (The Starlight, West Hampstead)

Hula/The Surface Mutants (Limit, Sheffield)

Animal Magnate (The Venue, London)

Flip Phillips (Canteen, London)

To the best of my knowledge of those bands reviewed only the Cockney Rejects, The Business, Altered Images, Subway Sect, The Bluebells and Aztec Camera achieved any sort of longevity.

The Stranglers have done better than that!

Unfortunately, I don't believe that this night in Leeds was ever recorded so you will have to judge it through Mr Worrall's eyes and ears... or maybe not.

Rotterdam Festival Stockholm August 1977

 

Always something of a mystery this one. Occurring on an unspecified date in August 1977 this free (?) festival features a blistering 'No More Heroes' era set. The only problem with this one is that the sound quality is pretty poor. As such, although there is a small error in Meanie's artwork ('No More Heroes' and 'Sometimes' are in the wrong order), the quality of the recording does not really warrent the time and effort to put the error right.

Still it is The Stranglers in 1977 and therefore it deserves a listen... even if just the once!

Oh, and can anyone confirm or dispel whether or not a 'Rotterdam' festival took place in Stockholm?

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-4RrBx5CM4NPtiZXO

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-LUjY0BQW3KnQKWB9

Short Piece On Rebellion 2026 (BBC Radio 4 7th August 2026)

If you can put aside for ne moment that the current image of the Blackpool Tower looks a little bit like the cover of one of those 'What If?' alternative history scenario books, the flag atop of the tower announces that it is Rebellion weekend!

This year, by virtue of the fact that punk is 50 and Rebellion is 30, there has been quite a bit of media coverage of the event both on TV and radio. This morning I woke to the following report on BBC Radio 4.

WAV: https://we.tl/t-dmtEDVBeSmG0YA41

Annual Subscription Covered in Full!

 

This morning I received a notification of a donation that took the total up to 100% of the crucial WeTransfer subscription fee that will now take me through to 18th July 2027. Really, a big thank you to all to contributed. I truly do appreciate it along with many of the kind words that I have received about the site.

Remember, I am always on the lookout for Stranglers recordings that I am missing (and there are a lot... especially from my 'wilderness years'). If you can help, please get in touch. 

With Rebellion 2026 now ongoing, I am hopeful that, if I have been a good boy this year, I may land a few recordings from Blackpool so keep a look out for those.

Cheers!

Adrian.

The Skids Cambridge Junction 17th January 2026 (10 For Rebellion #10)

 

Earlier in the year The Skids were on the road celebrating their 1980 album 'The Absolute Game'. This gig was recorded on my doorstep (almost) in Cambridge. Great set from a great band who have given us a great deal of entertainment since they got back together. Thanks to Soledriver for the share.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-TbJR6BsNE6d18M1D

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-RFZ5PhjheyWiRbmC

The Skids play Club Casbah on Saturday (23:20 - 00:20).

Jobbo pulls off a more convincing Rejects' face than Olga!

Cockney Rejects The Voo Doo Lounge Fukuoka 21st February 2023 (10 For Rebellion #9)

 

Always good value. The Cockney Rejects, here in their near original form, fronted by brothers Jeff and Micky. I am not sure what happened internally with the band. At one stage it was agreed that having been playing post reformation for a number of years they were planning on winding down, limiting appearances to bigger festival shows. Then Jeff Turner seemingly had a change of heart and decided that he was not ready to throw in the towel, but Micky and Vince were not in tune with this plan and so buggered off. Jeff subsequently put together the current version of the Rejects whilst Micky formed the Punchdrunk Saints.

Here are the originals (Jeff, Micky and Vince ) in Japan in 2023. Thanks to the original Dime uploader (smores).

WAV: https://we.tl/t-5ptW4qOAw38Tpqq0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-X9EPHx4saNKXNV29

The new line up playing the Empress Ballroom on Saturday night (21:55 - 22:55).

Olga goes for the mean Rejects glare but doesn't quite pull it off!