The Cramps 10 best 7" bootlegs........By Patrick Bainee.

If ever there was to be a qualification in CRAMPOLOGY then I'd hazard a guess that Patrick would presented with an honoury doctorate. If O.C.D. was Obsessive Cramps Disorder then he would be diagnosed as having the condition........You could say that when The Cramps 'wrote' 'I'm Cramped' they had him in mind !.....he's that bad but he's been decent enough to run through his top ten of Cramps 7" bootlegs, here's what he has to say about them........

Well, our man Darren asked me about my top ten Cramps bootlegs 7’’.

I counted 43 different ones on my shelves (I’m missing a few of those recent Greek crap thick ones) , not mentioning different colours, reish of reish, Amnesty international novelties, Polish postards and Russian flexis (which are official tracks sounding like demos from hell, cut at 2 minutes).

I finally chose 5 old ones and 5 ‘new‘ ones, here’s my list.

*

1) Smell Of San Diego Live!

Issued on Not On Label , in the USA in 1986, as I recall (I bought his one and my # 2 'Ohio Box' the same day at a famous record fair in Paris, when it stood near Austerlitz train station), this 4 songs EP is abfab.

The song s here are 'Domino / Nuthin’ But A Gorehoud / Faster Pussycat / Garbageman', soundboard recording from a 17 songs show (it took me years to find the full set) at Adams Ave Theatre, San Diego ; on June 23, 1984.

Originally issued as 475 numbered copies on black vinyl + 475 on red vinyl (mine is # 210), this single has been recently reissued.

The other ones above ain’t in my fave order, just at they come on my notes.

2) Ohio Demo's 1979

Same label as # 1, this one is a singles box (sometimes sold one by one on Ebay). The 3 – red / blue / green - singles from this Lx Chilton session all feature 4 songs each :
- Twist And Shout / All Tore Up / Mystery Plane / TV Set
- Rockin’ Bones / What’s Behind The Mask/ Uranium Rock / Under The Wires
- Teenage Werewolf / Sunglasses After Dark / Jungle Hop / Mad Daddy
There are lotsa reish of this box set on LP with the same name 'Ohio Demos', or 'Wild Psychotic Teen Souds' or 'All Tore Up'

3) Dance Of The Cannibals Of Sex

This one, issued on :Famous Lux label, USA,first come as a brown cardboard sleeve with cut angles in 1984, then appears one or two years later with a red or green sleeve, then with a black one (1990), followed by lotsa more recent reish.

Two songss –  'Hurricane Fighter Plane' (Red Crayola) and 'I’m Cramped' recorded live at Max's Kansas City, January 1977, featuring Miriam Linna on drums.

4) Leave No Ugly Stubble

Issued on Fan Club, USA, in 1984, as a 700 ltd edition (mine is 441), this double single features 1976 demos recorded by Richard Robinson at Bell Studio (NY, June 1977) with MiriamLinna (second drummer after Pam palam, Bryan Gregory’s sister).

The tracklist is :
- Don't Eat Stuff Of The Sidewalk / I Was A Teenage Werewolf / Sunglasses After Dark / Love Me
- Domino / What Behind The Mask / I Can't Hardly Stand It / I See You On My TV Set

You can find this on LP issued a few years ago under the name of  '1976 Demo Sessions'.

5) Mad Daddy

This one – supposedly sold as a Vinyl record day item –is in fact a boot of what could have been the 3rd (# 667 was deleted too) Vengeance single (# 669), featuring 'Mad Daddy' and 'Rockin’ Bones', both not turning at the right speed (those bootleggers are so lazy, or lacking of imagination …).
This (UK, I guess) single has been issued this year on black vinyl first (300 copies) then orange and transparent (75 each) and there is also a purple vinyl copy that surfaced recently. Are bootleggers now copying official labels, always reissuing the same stuff?

6) A Vicious Cycle

Scatterbrainchild Records, USA 186
The Cramps  'Elvis tribute single', featuring 'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'Do The Clam' (to be reissued with 'Jailhouse Rock' as a bonus one day ? (Just an idea).
Limited to 500 copies on blue or red vinyl. Recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, March 16, 1986.
This cramps line-up feature Fur Dixon on bass.

7) Human Fly

One of those first Greek boots. This one, issued in 2013 is a good sounding (for once !) 1 sided limited edition of 20 copies. Very thick vinyl with a laminated B side.
'Human Fly' and 'Teenage werewolf'  live at Mudd Club, NY, July 24, 1981.

8) The Band That Time Forgot 
Bootleggers sometines ' got good tapes ! ' (well, they rather probably get this on Dime).
This should have been an official single ! Soudntrack recording issued on February 2014, in the USA (I guess) as a (so called) limited edition in scarce opaque red vinyl.
This 33 RMP EP live at NY CBGB’s in August 1979 (probably 8th) features : The Band That Time Forgot / Twist And Shout / The Way I walk / Domino / Human Fly.
The cover sez that 'The Band That Time Forgot' was only played that night, but in fact, this song, based on the Collins Kids’ 'Whistle Bait' was also played by The Cramps one year before at The Showplace, Victory Gardens, August 18, 1978.

                              9) Live In MAPA State Mental Hospital 06-13-1978

This one should also have made it on an official release. Correct date is in fact June 16, 1978.
What we have here is half of this great Cramps show issued on VHS and DVD.
The Cramps had the idea to stop playing there while on  their way to Memphis.
 
The songs are : Mystery Plane / Tear It Up / What's Behind The Mask / Human Fly
This (correctly sounding) single has been issued in Greece in March 2013.
Dark Image Production label, transparent or black vinyl, limited to 50 copies (in total or each colour ?).

10) Live At The Fillmore, SF, CA, US 

Well, this Spanish single hasn’t been issued under that name, but that’s the name I would have chosen if I was a bootlegger (not that I hate them but I got a few friends that do), and i wouldn’t have chosen that Cramps logo ...
Anyway, this was issued in Spain in May 2014. Blank label ; 100 copies on yellow vinyl and 130 black vinyl. The cover is the proof. 'My Flash On You' has been recorded (by me, I also wrote the liner note for this single) during one of The Cramps last shows – their 30th Anniversary – October 30, 2006 at the Fillmore, SF. Same place but a decade before, the B side features a rare version of 'Woodpecker Rock' (Nat Couty & The Braves).
The 'label' sent me a couple of x-tra copies that I hope I can give to Ivy one day.


Have fun tracking these babies down, some will be easier to find than others but even so they won't be cheap.....Thanks Pat,  happy hunting and stay sick ! 

Trash !..........What is it ? part two.

A lot to answer for.

In 1961 Kai Ray (Richard A. Caire) released the sublime 'I Want Some Of That' which The Cramps took and mutated as part of 'The Natives Are Restless'. The B-side of the aforementioned single was called 'Trashman Blues' and this ditty inspired 3 guys from Minneapolis who took a surf holiday in California during the winter of 1962 to call their surf-garage-r'n'r band.......The Trashmen ! (Thankfully they weren't listening to Lonnie Donnegan's 'My Old Mans A Dustman' or things could have turned out very differently). Funnily enough, both Kai Ray and The Trashmen were from the same city and he also went on to write several songs for them as well as providing their name.
'Surfin' Bird' (A mish mash of some of The Rivingtons tunes) is as good a place as any to put as a starting point for what would evolve into the 'Trash' sound and when you throw Link Wray's 'Hidden Charms' and The Sonics into the mix, you end up with a rather potent brew. Fast forward a few years to 81-82, The Cramps had already covered 'Surfin Bird', the gnarly output of The Hammersmith Gorillas was a footnote in musical history and the nascent psychobilly sound was being watered down into cartoonesque parody.

The Sting Rays cover The Cramps.

Fortunately, not everyone was following the naughty schoolboy antics of the 'Ooh walla walla' squad, covering themselves in make-up or trying to convince the world they were satan spawn ! By this time The (original) Meteors had split and Nigel Lewis and Mark Robertson had decicedly gone down the garage punk/trash route with their new band The Tall Boys. Meanwhile the Sting Rays under one of their several personas, as The Banana Men this time had released an EP of 'Songs Made Popular by The Cramps' much like the Damned's alter egos,  Naz Nomad & The Nightares' album 'Give Daddy The Knife Cindy' had caused a bit of confusion among 60's Garage purists, some mistakenly believing it was rediscovered 'lost album', The Banana Men EP initially had the same bewildered johnnys scratching their heads too !     

The Gorehounds. Dublin, Ireland 1984-1990.

While it's true that the majority of the 'first wave of Trash' bands were coming from the UK, the blending of 60's Punk and Rockabilly with a heavy dose of Cramps style was far from uniquely British, Ireland had The Golden Horde as well as self confessed Crampophiles, The Gorehounds (not to be confused with the US band of the same name) who released a couple of fine platters, 'The Big Spud EP' being a fine example where they totally destroy the country (Kenny Rogers) song 'Ruby' and their only LP entitled 'Semtex' is worth a listen too although it does stray off into pastures I tend to shy away from.

1981's debut 7" (beware of bootlegs).

Equally, The Nomads, from Sweden, output 1981-1987 is essential, but post 87' they veer off into a heavier sound (as did a host of other garage bands) which is fine if you like The Dictators, Blue Oyster Cult et al....Their debut mini LP 'Where The Wolfbane Blooms' is fantastic, as is the follow up, also a mini LP 'Temptation Pays Double'. Both of these MLP's were combined for the Spanish LP 'Rat Fink A Boo Boo' and for the UK release 'Outburst' which make either LP de riguer. The 1989 release of 'Punchdrunk' by The Rumblers saw members of The Nomads (along with some guys from The Bottle Ups) going back to their earlier style albeit with a leaning toward the Rockabilly influences rather than the Garage Punk side of things, it's relatively unknown and so can be picked up fairly easily for a reasonable price.

With The Cannibals

In France 'Le Trash' was a rather localised affair, centering around Le Havre and Paris due to members of The Cannibals coming from Le Havre as well as the place being home to both 'Closer Records' and 'Sonics Records', these labels specialising in releasing Garage (in part) from UK, US, Scandinavia and Australia. Where as in Paris, it was more to do with New Rose and to a lesser degree with Skydog that the connections were made, New Rose having been the licensing label for The Cramps in France once they'd exited IRS. France really did take the 'Trash' thing to heart with many of the gigs (Le Havre in particular) being recorded and extensive tours, far more so than anywhere else in Europe except maybe Germany (?) where it was seen as part of the psychobilly scene. No real legacy on vinyl from any French bands (The Gorgons came a bit later) that I'm aware of (please feel free to correct me) but Belgian band (from Brussels, where they speak French) ' Melody Massacre' released a killer of a Mini LP (S/T) well worth tracking down.

Just have to love the artwork of Antoine Bernhart.

Big Beat actually released a CD of The Escalators 'Live in Le Havre 83' and I know for certain that there are other recordings out there as I've heard a few, most of which would be worthy of release. And you couldn't possibly not mention Antoine Bernhart when talking about 'Trash' in France, he's the crazed genius behind the 'Dead Johnny' logo of The Tall Boys, as well as having designed countless posters and record sleeves, a lot of which can be found on his website......look him up !

http://www.antoine-b.com/





More to follow.

The Cramps, The Phantom, Primitive Idols & Back From The Grave and other stuff you need !

Available end of Jan 2015. 

The Cramps.    Coast to Coast  CD.

Ho Hum.....CD release of what appears, at first glance, to be just over half of the 'Live at Club 57 !!  1979' Double LP bootleg, although there are an additional 7 tracks which purport to be a radio broadcast, In fact the CD claims it is two different radio broadcasts which probably is the case. Nothing new here to my knowledge except the format and packaging. From the info on Rough Trade website this is due out 25-26th Jan 2015. (It will also be available at 'Spin CDs'..at a cheaper price, thanks to Ian for the heads up on that).

http://www.rockinitis.com/45s-rockabilly-repros

The Phantom.  Love Me (Alternate version) / Hey Bop Bop (From Acetate)  Ltd 300 copies.

Now here's a little gem that I got my hands on recently. Fantastic little package although very pricey (So be warned) Nice heavy weight vinyl, beautiful, thick card sleeve and a fantastic sound. Released by a little specialist Rockabilly label in France called 'Rockinitis Records' they are well worth checking out for the repros that they stock too.
Obviously a work of passion considering the effort and amount of work gone into it for just 300 copies.......get yours as soon as possible for they won't be around much longer.....I cracked for a 'Phantom' T-Shirt too, sad bugger that I am.  

Ah dadadada da......and other brilliant Hispanic sounding stuff

The Primitive Idols. My Baby Ain't No Square EP. Infringement Records (also available @ bandcamp for 5 bucks). 
A few weeks ago I was raving about the Portland band 'The No Tomorrow Boys' as I like them a lot....Anyways, I had mentioned in the post that the Bassist, Noland Nocount was somewhat 'in abstentia'.... Like dead or serving time.....As it transpires, neither of which is true, thankfully. Prior to taking the role of bass maestro with The NTBs, Noland was in another group where he was guitarist and chief crooner of...The Primitive Idols (Think it's the title of a Cramps bootleg too) way cool moniker nonetheless and they put out a lovely slab of red wax consisting of four tunes....one of which is a storming cover of one of the all time garage greats......DEMOLICION by LOS SAICOS...I flipped when I found this out as apart from Los Peyotes (not English speaking I know, but) I'd never heard of a current band covering them....now the bad news,....... it was released 2 years ago ! never distributed ! and they only pressed 300 copies ! Well, what can I say ?  They even manage to slip in a couple of bars of 'The Munsters Theme' midwaythrough the song ......It was put out on a little known Portland label called 'Infringement Records' and is sure to be a future classic....I'd say, contact them and get yours while you can.....as we say, it's the dogs bollox !

Infringement Records : http://primitiveidols.bandcamp.com/

Happy, Happy Early Christmas !!!

It's Here !  OUT ON CRYPT RECORDS ON FRIDAY, NOV. 21!!!
BACK FROM THE GRAVE Volume 9 (Crypt Records) 18 years after Grave 8, and at last it is here! Grave LPs 9 & 10 on one MONSTROUS 30-song, DELUXE triple FOLD-OUT digipac - with TWO 24-page fullcolor booklets crammed with liner notes, band photos, label scans. The ULTIMATE in 60s punk IN- SANITY!!!! Balls-out, cruder-than-hell, RARER than hens teeth rawness - 13 of which are the ONLY copy in existence, 5 of which there are only 2 copies in existence! 30 cuts from: WARLOCKS, RAEVINS, EMERALDS, WHY-NOTS, TURNCOATS, SHAKLES, KNOLL ALLEN & THE NOBLE SAVAGES, JAMES BOND & THE AGENTS, THE FOUR, ORPHANS, IT’S THEM, NOBODY’S CHILDREN, HOTBEATS, GMC & THE ARCELLS, HARD TIMES, JOHN ENGLISH III, EXPRESSIONS, ETC!
BACK FROM THE GRAVE VOLUME 9 and VOLUME 10 LP's will be out on Dec. 9!

Tav Falco's Wild and Exotic World of Musical Obscurities. DLP        Stag O Lee Recs. 
So, fed up with all of the Born Bad imitators ?....sick to the back teeth with shelling out for for Cramps tie-ins ? Here's something worth throwing a few shekles at.....It's been out a little while and if you haven't indulged yourself recently, now may well be the time to do so ! 
Whatcha get is a Rockabilly purists wet dream to start with BUT it soon leads into 'Terre Inconnu' with the likes of The Harry Lime Theme and other weird stuff, far weirder than the Martin Denny track....Lux would be proud of you, seriously !!! There's even a Panther Burns track of them covering 'Real Cool Trash' a fave of mine from a French band called the Dum Dum Boys, they themselves even doing a musical score to a porn movie in the 90's....nice work if you can get it Huh ? It's out on a double heavyweight vinyl LP on Stag O Lee records (just click on the tab in the mail order list to the right) and it comes with a free coaster too (aka CD). 

More to follow..........

TRASH ?...........What is it ? Part One.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghil469LHFE

Firstly, this is aimed more for our American compatriots and overseas (Non-European) visitors who've contacted me regarding what constitutes a 'TRASH' band or the 'Trash' sound.....for all intents and purposes, particularly in context of this blog, It's a catch all term for the pre-dominantly British bands from the very early 80's to the latter part of the 80's who weren't strictly rockabilly, 60's garage punk revivalists or psychobilly but who had crossover appeal to these genres at the time. Psychobillies generally saw these bands as part of their scene, Klubfoot nights and the like in particular, but apart from sharing some of the more primal root influences, the 'Trash bands' were nothing like groups such as King Kurt, The Guana Batz and their ilk.

This album has 'Hidden Charms'

Drawing on inspiration derived from the first wave of  60's Garage Punk compilations such as 'Nuggets', 'Pebbles' and the releases by Moxie like the 'Boulders' and the 60's Punk EP's, white lable rockabilly compilations featuring artists such as Rod Willis (He of 'The Cat' fame) and evergreens  The Phantom, Link Wray and Hasil adkins who, incidently, were no where near as well known back then. The 'scene' if can be called that ?  was more of a convergence than anything else, The Cannibals had come from the UK 'Pub Rock' circuits with the likes of The Inmates, Dr Feelgood and The Count Bishops & Flying Tigers in particular making up numbers in the never stable Cannibals line ups (35 plus members or so). The Sting Rays brazenly wore their colours on their sleeves openly, giving praise to both The Cramps and The Meteors (original and first line-up, it must be pointed out) on their debut LP. I'm of the opinion that without a doubt they took more musical influence from the former, with more of the attitude and stage presence from the latter. The original line up of The Meteors even got in on the act with a release under the name of The Clapham South Escalators covering The Electric Prunes 'Get Me To The World On Time'. Meanwhile over in Kent,....... Chatham and The Medway areas to be more precise, Billy Childish and his merry band of cohorts had taken their punk sensibilities from The Pop Rivets and mashed it together with  large doses of Beat and Garage giving us first Mickey & The Milkshakes then plain and simply The Milkshakes.

Includes added 'Paralysed Purple Rays' Aka The Sting Rays.

Early in 1982 over the water in Dublin, The Golden Horde had formed adding a rather deranged twist to the mix with their surf/psyche RnR....Bal (Lead singer of The Sting Rays) along with other members of both The Sting Rays and The Golden Horde would collaborate later on the fantastically titled release (1986) of Duane Ripley and The Go Go Set's 'Revenge of the 50 Foot Killer Go Go Girls'....The flipside being an equally disturbing mouthful, as Micheal and The Multi Coloured Rainbow People's  'The Day the Fish Came Out Dancing in Guru Weirdbrains Mind'......acid anyone ?
 

Front page news no less !

Speaking of Bal (Sting Rays, Bananamen, Earls Of Suave etc etc)....he was getting around quite a lot, he graced the front cover of  'Sounds', one of Britains leading music papers at the time, in april of 1983, which shed further light to the sordid goings on in some of the non too salubrious London clubs.
In particular, self proclaimed 'King of Trash' Mike Spenser, Head honcho of The Cannibals was organising regular gigs in venues across the city including the much adored Clarendon in addition to setting up his own label 'Hit Records' which mainly released The Cannibals material although they put out 'The Trash Box' a repackaged box set of the first 5 volumes of Pebbles as well as an EP by The Bugs (which is essential).

Classic Trash line up.

Whilst Big Beat (A subsidiary of Ace Records) were by far and large responsable for the major part of the vinyl output catering to this 'genre' releasing the hugely influential compilation 'Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease' as well as the first Hasil Adkins LP (Yep, even before the faultless Norton Recs), that of The  Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Nervous Norvus just to add to the confusion. It was the label set up by Pogues producer Stan Brennan, Media Burn, which was by far the more focused, specialising almost exclusively in what can be termed 'Trash Garage'.

Absolutely essential......the epitomy of Trash.

Releasing greats such as Ug & The Cavemen (kind of Trash All Stars with members of The Sting Rays, X-Men) The Milkshakes, The Prisoners, The X-Men (See previous posts), The Purple Things, The Golden Horde and The Surfadelics among others, some 18 releases in total, all of which are worth owning. The Vibes, (Pre-Purple Things) for me are one of the very best, origianally from Essex they very nearly didn't make it to vinyl at all but fortunately the fine people at Big Beat put out their killer debut EP and so preventing them from an imminent split...Their one and only LP, 'What's Inside' is about as good as it gets, a thunderous stonker of an album which owes as much to The Cramps Psychedelic Jungle as it does to all those 60's Garage comps they plundered.

You need this folks !

As mentioned, Big Beat were behind a lot of the earliest 'Trash' releases, whether they actually considered it to be such I can't really say, guess it just evolved that way and labelled itself,  but by putting out The Bugs only album, The Sting Rays debut LP, The Tall Boys releases, The Prisoners (Not really Trash but you can't exactly leave them out, not even purely by association as some of their cuts are truly magnificent) The Milkshakes and Mighty Caesars, they kind of paved the way to the sound gaining wider audiences even getting a slot on Channel 4's prime music show 'The Tube' and the EP 'Four on Four' subsequently culled from the show.

In the next part I'll put up discographies and some other bits and bobs but in the meantime checkout Charliespliff's on youtube TRASHARAMA collections.  And no I have forgotten the likes of Emptifish (See previous post), The Trash County Dominators, Bad Karma Beckons, The Shockwaves, The Bananamen, Earls Of Suave  and the host of other noteworthys........just hope this goes some way to explain my take on what 'Trash' is.

Enjoy the trip.            

THE HIGH LEARYS......From OZ to Brighton !

Be There Or Be Square Dudes !

Hot on the heels of the likes of The Teamsters, The Youth, The Grys Grys from France and not forgetting Ireland's very own The Pacifics come the fabulous 'High Learys' all the way from Perth, Australia. They'll be gracing the stage at Brighton's Prince Albert on Friday the 12th Dec thanks to the good folk at STAY SICK !

Bringing their high octane beat to the south coast for the first time, these mop topped freaks have only been together since 2012. Already with a couple of slabs of prime wax to their name, they've just had their debut album released by those fine purveyors of  cool 'Soundflat Records' one of Germany's leading labels for Garage Punk/Beat/R&B.......But who am I kidding, you know that already.

"Here come The High Learys" debut LP out now!
http://www.soundflat.de/shop/shop.cfm?lang=en&artnr=19395

Nice one Lutz............
STAY SICK is back from the grave to present the greatest 60s beat garage rock n roll from down under

★ ★ ★ THE HIGH LEARYS (Australia) ★ ★ ★
https://www.facebook.com/thehighlearys
http://thehighlearys.bandcamp.com/

From the sunny west coast of Australia The High Learys bring you the swinging sounds of the mid '60s, their influence of British freakbeat and rhythm and blues mixed with their love for American garage and psych gives the band their unique sound and their Mod styled sharp dressed manner. Forming in 2012 the band have already released their debut LP on Soundflat Records, Germany and are ready to hit the skies to bring their music to the ears of the masses! Bring it on HIGH LEARYS!!!



                                                                          ★ ★ ★

                                         REX SPEEDWAY & THEE FORTUNE TELLERS
                         fuzzed out f***ed up way out garage rock from the sewers of Brighton

                                                                             ★ ★ ★

THEE JEZEBELS
Fresh from their debut gig on the 7th these three ladies, formed from the NEASDEN BEES & the SINE WAVES, are making fuzzed-up, freaked-out, wild rock 'n' roll!

Tickets are £6.50 adv +bf and MORE ON THE DOOR so save your beer money and buy them in advance from:
PUNKER BUNKER or RESIDENT (tickets in shops on monday)
Online from Wegottickets.com
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/298755

8pm-11.30pm
PRINCE ALBERT Brighton
just down from the station

The X-Men.......Re-union gig at Pompey Rumble.

Snazzy wide angle HD.....didn't have that back in the day !

Crikey !  A surprise of the most pleasant kind !.........following an early start (6am) from Cork airport, going to the wrong train station in London then getting off at another, equally wrong train station in Pompey to get picked up, not to mention being fed a line about the Guinness being sub-standard at the venue, I was mentally prepared for disappointment.......Upon arriving at the Wedgewood Rooms in Southsea I was presented with the spectacle of all manner of weird and wonderful looking creatures....most of whom wouldn't have looked out of place in a Todd Browning movie !  We hadn't missed any bands and not only that but the Guinness was more than agreeable !.....Things were looking up !

Someone please explain the pink boa to me !

I'd been rather eager to catch 'All Cramped Up' live since hearing about them earlier on in the year as well as being somewhat curious as to how a band that plays Cramps covers....(which is kind of funny as The Cramps were basically a cover band....But oh' so much more) would go down having a female doing Lux's job ?  Rather well actually, is the simple answer to that one....gargling, groaning and totally at ease in the role, Caz belted them out with gusto, backed by twin Gretsch's. I particularly liked their take on Teenage Werewolf as it came across as a girlfriends scarey lament about her boyfriend more than anything else which was pretty cool and their killer version of Psychotic Reaction had me after about 15 seconds.....now, if there ever was a 7" single begging to be released that would be a fantastic pairing ! 

Next up on my list of to not only see, but pay attention to, were Chris, Clive & Bob, collectively known as The Hillmans....however it wasn't to be due to the combination of a malfunctioning pyrotecnics device and a bad case of the squits. The last minute stand-ins  'The Dukes of Bordello' doing a Sterling job (They actually took the opening slot).

And the joint was a rockin'

After a brief interlude and closure of the venue to conform with some antiquitated English licensing law. Saw, what was for me, the main event of the evening, it had been an awful long time coming but one of my all time favourite groups had reformed and I always feel a little trepidation about this happening.....sometimes it works and sometimes it's better to just have fond memories....bearing in mind it had been some 26 years since the last time they had played together.....we could easily have been presented with the spectacle of The XXXL-Men (and ladies) but no way....they came onto the stage looking half their age, the only real difference being the height of Mr Star's quiff....a mere 10 inches or so as opposed to the 2ft monster of bygone times.
I probably should mention at this stage, that for the occasion, a ltd edition cd had been made and by ltd I mean very limited...like just fifty hand numbered copies (both singles, the mini LP and the John Peel sessions all gathered together) and the last remaining copies were launched into the audience midway through their set ! The gig was also filmed by a certain Mr Alan Gange (who has filmed the previous Pompey Rumbles too) but I don't have any contact details so you'll have to do the detective bit yourselves. Although if you trawl youtube I'm sure you'll find plenty of clips.

The rather unfortunate 'Gonk' photo, it's just the light.

The venue appeared to be almost full when they took to the stage and they received a more than rousing reception when they broke into the first song. All classic X-Men...Talk, Do The Ghost....Leave My House particularly for me was a stormer. Mark really getting into the occasion, loosing the jacket and rockin' out, rather agile & nimble for a guy of fifty (Yes Mark, you've still got it !). Taking on the role of Voodoo Vicar, he was liberally distributing libation in the form of Jim Beam to those fortunate enough to be close enough ! The sound coming out of the Vox Continental was pretty amazing as was the job done by fellow Wampus Cat on guitar. I can't recall for certain as I was mesmerised but I'm fair convinced they played their entire recorded output with a superbe encore of The Revillo's 'Yeah Yeah'...a fine duet to be sure ! The set was finished of with a crazed rendition of 'Who Do You Love' and then the feckers turned the lights on !   Well worth the trip over and the best news of all is that they'll be playing again !! With a date lined up in May 2015, in the meantime you'll just have to check their facebook page for updates.....and who knows we may even get to see some new material on vinyl ? 

Just a note, Debbie will be in Paris on the 16th Dec bashing the skins for Dutronc ! Allez les gars (Merci Mr Noone).

Cheers to Glyn & Grogsy for the photos. 

The No Tomorrow Boys.......Switchblades and Leathers !

The No Tomorrow Boys.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon. The No Tomorrow Boys play fast and furious Rockabilly with punk attitude a plenty, think The Fireworks, Blacktop and early Guitar Wolf....they do a killer version of 'A-Bomb Bop' too. Just to put things into perspective these guys don't do songs longer than 2 minutes, their debut album has 14 tracks and runs to just about 28 minutes....proper Rock'n'Roll !

You need this album.....REALLY !

They've just had their debut album released in Europe on Germany's 'Hound Gawd' records and it's a blinder. 'Bad Luck Baby Put The Jinx On Me' was originally released late (Sept 2013) last year on Hovercraft Records (some on white vinyl incidently)....What you get is dangerous R'n'R, leathered up delinquents with chains and flicknives knocking out badass tunes, bastard sons of Link Wray (just listen to Firecracker) and Vince Taylor/Gene Vincent with a hint of Heavy Trash....in fact more than just a hint, could say they're cut from the same cloth but with a tad more youthful exuberance. It's rare enough these days for me to get very excited about new releases as there's far too much drivel out there but I have to 'fess up and say I was well taken with this.
One Word.....Brilliant !

Not so juvenile delinquents.

Danny Dodge, frontman and vocalist can belt out a tune with style, oozing menacing cool, Matt mayhem, fret fingerer extraordinaire (I think he looks like a young Nigel Robertson, the original drummer of The Meteors) truly knows his craft, bending those strings and pulling out classic chords where as skin pounder Jimmy Beat keeps it altogether with solid rhythms, Nick Knox without the shades no less.....now that's a compliment !
On their early singles they were a four piece with Noland Nocount on bass but he's either deceased, in prison or out and about in places unknown....why he left is a mystery to me and I guess the guys aren't saying !   
Here's a great retro style clip of them doing a track from the album 'Shy' : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKO1VjWido

This gang got together sometime in 2010 after what looks like a multi pile up between the the Lords of the Flatbush, extras from the Wild Ones and the Fonz on his motor sickle. Their first vinyl outing was a self released 7" called 'Do The Tomorrow Twist' put out in 2011 they followed this with a 2nd 7" 'Animal Eyes' on Rapid Pulse Records in 2012, with the title track making an appearance on the album too.

The departed Noland Nocount.

The last single to be released, a 3 track EP put out by Eli's Mile High (Club) Records is called 'Teenage Vice' and there's a promotional video to go with the title track worth seeing, very nicely done with that kind of 'film noir' feel to it....speaking of watching them and since the N-West of the states is a long drive from here in Ireland, they've been nice enough to have posted a full gig in HD which you can find here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkwF4WvRQTw 

Yeah, I'd travel to catch them live when they eventually get over to Europe (Hint for the folks at Hound Gawd). Until then I'll just have to make do with what I hope will be the first of a good few albums and I'd strongly recommend grabbing any of their vinyl releases as soon as you can, don't think there's going to be much disappointment....and the more cynical of you can always check it first at bandcamp....Try before you buy !
All the info for label etc is listed below and for once I'm happy to say that those of you who only own a CD Player have lucked out !......shame really (Not).

The No Tomorrow Boys at Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thenotomorrowboys
The No Tomorrow Boys at Bandcamp : http://thenotomorrowboys.bandcamp.com/
Hound Gawd Records : http://www.houndgawd.com/shop/en/home/
Eli's Mile Club : http://elismilehigh.com/records/

Enjoy.