I was going through a stack of my 7" when I came across this little gem, at first I thought "oh crap its just a cover, how did I lose a sperm wails single!" then I remembered it was a flexi....the blighter hugged the turntable pretty well but I stacked some coins on it anyway just for old times sake. I love this song, something of a personal anthem for me and many others of my generation too I guess.......
So, Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to pause a moment, and spend a quite period of contemplation : considering the enduring legacy , the majesty, the divine genius that was the Sperm Wails... This is one is off a later 12".... Boy Hairdresser - The Sperm Wails
So if this blog was a count down of the punk greats we would pretty much be at the end now. I could never (and still cant) get into the macho "boys own" hardcore of your Black Flags and ilk, Ive always preferred the expression of internal rage to that against the world. And no one has ever done that better for me than these boys..
People often talk about records that changed your life: I once bought one for 80 pence from notting hill record exchange : Metal Circus. It didnt have a cover so my brother made me one ...a pencil version of one of my photos in a homage to the original and Zen Arcade sleeves.
Fast forward to 1985, I picked up tickets from some video production company who wanted a crowd for a show they had to film at the Camden Palace, my brother got a train down from Essex , we were running late - as we walked in "New Day rising" was already melting the mirror balls and bouncing off the walls like a trapped tornado.
Theres a nice shot of said brother and his mohawk at 38 secs in to "Powerline", and my leather jacket and big hair can be seen bopping away all through the gig (if you know what your looking for!!!) :
It was one of those nights when the world is turning round you, and theres not a trace of a doubt that you wouldnt live forever..... Ok, so it probably wasnt and christ knows you dont, but it still leaves me with one of my fondest memories : my brother and me walking back from chalk farm in the rain, jumping in the puddles to splash each other and laughing our heads off. I only caught up with the video a couple of years back and its as good as it gets: tracks with the bands early fury ,their mid period confused introspection , and a taste of the pop that would come in the future .
Its not on the video track listing but this clip , a performance of the byrds "8 miles high" rules ...nothing I can say about this.. except it is perfection, and that the single was the first song I played on the day I found out my brother had been killed.
The Cricklewood Hotel, is it still there? probably the place was built like a castle, built to last. Anyways we were excited cos everyones favorite blackpoolians The Membranes were going to play a show in our back yard at ye olde Cricklewwod hotel...super!!! You gotta understand however that C'wood was really Kilburn North and that pub was a Guiness swilling -card carrying - nest of republican sympathy, they had an IRA collection box on the downstairs bar ferchrissakes.....so why not book Skrewdriver to play with the Membranes? 'Stroke of friggin Genius - Works for me!!!The Skrewdriver fans, as expected, fulfilled every stereotype of the not-so master race but luckily didnt perceive John Robb and his boys as a threat and the visitors got through their set (nervously and rapidly ) without incident : and , as always they were superb.
This vid (not of the cricklewood gig Im afraid) is from a top notch copy of the commercially available (back then) Jettisoundz release...
Tree and me hung around for the main feature. Aparently half the band didnt turn up but luckily (!) one of the audience (who didnt appear to have a neck) knew the words to Skrewdrivers hit: "White Power" and they happily played that, like 4 or 5 times. In a completely unrelated incident the pesky IRA bombed a road bridge just north of this pub , big bomb, much damage but it famously didnt even wake me up...... I got my hearing aid soon after.
One day I will find the original of this photo (this is from a photo copy) its Mr Yow at Reading festival 1993 or 4, I wasnt that near to the front and he got a long way before the mike cable ran/got pulled out...dont under estimate the luck of getting an in-focus picture of an airbourne psychopath with an old school SLR...from underneath.
Might be due to over exposure , but I have to say I feel the same way about Jesus Lizard as I do about Shellac: yep great, yep cool, yep do the job, yep yep...but...they aint no Scratch Acid ( or Big Black).
The Video is another from the Hunter Compo, filmed at the Underworld Camden. We were probly there (Note to Keith: check diary) and and if so Cindy (mother of my children) would have been up front perilously close when the inevitable wardrobe malfunction occurred. That guy was simply unable to keep his dick locked up for a whole set..
So I got off pretty lightly the only time I tried to heckle Shellac, Mr Albini was sporting the new "faux hawk" at the ULU and I called out "Oh No! - hes got a Joe Strummer haircut" he just pretended not to understand responding with "yes it is a jolly super haircut" in what was presumably meant to be an english accent and then moved on to a more worthy adversary.....
This is "spoke" the last track from Phoenix festival: its so good : a scream fest descending into chaos as Steve and Bob fight for a go on the drums at the end.
And this "song of the mineral" from the Garage.....
These clips are from a bootleg I bought (probly from Camden Market) quality on the Phoenix fest gig is pretty good, the other from the garage less so.
In hindsight putting Bastard Kestrel on the Godflesh tour was a bit odd: Intense, metal loving dopeheads do not mix well with irritating oi fans on whizz. We were informed after the first gig that we were not welcome to ride in the van after all, and continued the tour by train.
The tour was supporting the release of their Streetcleaner LP : the guys still had a drum machine and had only just aquired the second guitarist. They sounded absolutely colossal , I didnt even know you could get steel guitar picks till I saw JB's and the squalling shrieks he gouged from that poor guitar were terrifying.
This video is a from a bit later on at the Underworld (spot the pillar in stage centre) and apparently there be Mick Harris from Napalm Death on drums. Theres photos around from the other side of stage but I couldnt spot Hunter filming in them.
Headbutt started out as a completely unlistenable post-Bastard Kestrel solo/studio project and mutated to a rotating lineup of all star noiseniks including rejects from Sperm Wails, Silverfish, Loop Guru and err what ever Stef was famous for...all the while retaining that trademark unlistenability.
This is the legendary Falcon video , remastered and optimised for viewing on a phone or a elevator ..from the "Hunter" Compilation. .
I just want to know who takes shopping trolleys to gigs anyway? Asking for trouble really.
