THE SHOCKWAVES.....Trash blast from the past ! By Dan Whaley.

Now here's a thing, this whole 80's, UK 'Trash' scene thing has started throwing up some remarkable material since we've been digging past the more obvious suspects such as The Sting Rays, Tall Boys, Milkshakes, The Vibes, Surfadelics & even The Cannibals. And by far one of the most interesting to have come crawling out from some dark and dingey garage are The Shockwaves, not only is their sound fair amazing and deserving of a far greater audience but they all went on to significantly contribute to the various burgeoning scenes that came in the wake of the late 80's.
Dan Whaley, upside down, left handed Bassist extraordinaire, late of The Diaboliks and sometime Bassmeister for The Dustophonics gives us the inside tale of The Shockwaves of which he was a founding member...read on and enjoy !

   

(New?!? Album due out on Trash Wax Records late 2015!!!)

The Shockwaves were :

Mark Ashdown - Vocals, Guitar 84-88

Dave "Stick" Carroll - Guitar 84-86

Clive Pearman - Guitar 86-88

Dan Whaley - Bass 84-88

Jon Delafons - Drums 84-88

 

But first of all, back to the mid 80s.

(l-r: Me, Stick, Jon, Mark)

It all started in leafy West Kent sometime back in 1984: a bunch of teenagers with little or no interest in the mainstream music of their generation, and brought up instead on a diet of punk, rock'n'roll, garage and noise decided to pick up instruments and give it a bash themselves. Following a few personnel changes (hello and indeed goodbye Al Cormack and Andy Crane), and bandname changes (by summer 84 we'd settled on The Untold), the line-up coalesced around Mark on vocals and guitar, Stick on other guitar, me on bass and Jon on drums.

 

With the addition of Stick (2nd right), now definitely a Garage(door) Band

Rehearsal tapes from the time (usually recorded round at a parents' house with guitars, bass and vocal and drum mics all going through a hifi system or home organ, with the unsurprising detrimental effects on said "amplification" equipment) suggest we were quite heavily influenced by The Fall around then.

By late 1985 a final name change meant we were now The Shockwaves, and the influences had shifted more towards the 80s trash scene, especially The Vibes & The Purple Things, whose vocal stylings, filthy guitar tone, jazz-inflected rhythms and high-rise barnets we joyfully appropriated.

By early 86, we had amassed a set, roughly half of which were originals and the other half covers, and were ready to play out first gig. The top local venue of the time was The Cavern, beneath Sevenoaks cinema, where we were booked to play supporting local public school rockabilly combo The Memphis Rockets. This being my first ever time on stage, I was nervous as hell, and things looked far from rosy when I slung my bass over my shoulder and the strap promptly broke. This was followed up by me picking up a can of beer with trembling hands, popping it open, and getting a jet of foam square in the mush.

However, it all got better from that point on, no doubt helped by the fact that all our mates were there to cheer us on for our first gig. What also helped was the 2 narcissistic guitarists from the Memphis Rockets decided to engage in onstage fisticuffs as each thought the other was trying to upstage him. The entire audience, and for that matter the Rockets' bass player (top chap Gav Smith, nowadays with The Urban Voodoo Machine) and drummer quite rightly derided these two preening buffoons, and totally unprompted by us, starting chanting "Shockwaves! Shockwaves!" which succeeded in making them even more irate.

Following another gig at Kemsing's St Edith's Hall (bizarrely I've been back there recently to the folk club there...), we decided we could do with beefing up the guitar sound, so we drafted in Clive from pals The Dangerman, and Mark concentrated on singing. A recently unearthed bootleg of the first gig as a 5 piece from 23rd May, 1986, back at the Cavern, gives a good, and frankly quite surprising idea of how tight we were by that point. It also helped to remind me which covers were in the set around then (Courageous Cat, Joe 90, Brand New Cadillac (played twice, once fast and once slow, I Hear Noises and Scratch My Back from the Vibes' Inner Wardrobes... ep).

 

 

Clockwise from front: Me, Mark, Clive, Stick, Jon

After a few more gigs that summer (one of which was supporting mod combo Contrast featuring future Clique guitarist Jon Paul Harper) we went into a tiny recording studio in East Peckham and recorded 4 tracks: 3 originals and another Vibes cover, this time Looking in a Mirror from their Peel Session. Naive kiddies that we were, we didn't even come away with a 1/4" mixdown - all we had was a cassette copy of the mixdown, which amazingly sounds not bad (and has now been backed up digitally for posterity).

Me, before I worked out that if you don't pull a face when you hit a bum note everyone just assumes it's jazz. Either that or I've stubbed my toe.

Following a particularly raucous gig at the Green Hut in Tonbridge that autumn (by the end of the set both Jon and Mark had jumped off stage and were getting busy with the punters down the front), Stick decided he'd had enough and so hung up his guitar. (Actually, he left it round my house, and after 18 months with him showing no interest in having it back, I flogged it).

Stick's last stand, at the Green Hut Nov 86

 

Stick, Mark & Clive, and in orange shirt a very bored looking Paul Hartnoll, a year before he'd play keyboards on a Shockwaves recording session (see below), and a couple of years before he'd conquer the dance music world with Orbital.

The first gig back as a 4 piece was supporting The Guana Batz at the Angel Centre, on 7th March, 1987. I was still at school in Tonbridge then, so had the slightly bizarre experience of playing a set of hi-octane rock'n'roll on the Saturday, then having a PE lesson in the same place 3 days later. This gig was recorded, although the tape appears to be lost, but I do remember in a moment of silence between songs one of the Batz fans, hollering "Ffffaaahhhrrrkkk Orrrffff!", displaying that broad minded attitude for which psychobillies are so well known.

Also around this time we started venturing up into London, playing at some of Mike Spenser's legendary trash nights downstairs at The Clarendon. As well as playing with some great bands, like Folkestone's mighty Green Hornets (not to be confused with the equally excellent Portsmouth combo with the same name), this led to Mike offering to put out a Shockwaves record. We'd recently been back into the studio in East Peckham and recorded 4 new songs, all originals (and had remembered to come away from this session with a 1/4" tape) which gave an indication of how the sound was getting tighter and dirtier. Following a summer of gigs at the sadly long gone Clarendon and another much missed London garage venue, Finsbury Park's Sir George Robey, we were booked into Cherry Studios in Croydon with Mike's mate, the legendary pistols soundman Dave Goodman.

A snap from the Clarendon, 1987

On 3rd and 4th December, 1987 (I had to bunk off school...) we went into the studio to lay down the tracks for the album on Mike's Hit Records. Dave Goodman was a joy to work with; professional, talented, patient (he may have sighed inwardly when we asked him if we could put the whole of one track through a flanger) and slightly bemused when rather than asking about the Pistols, we bombarded him with questions about the recordings he did with The Sid Presley Experience and The Unholy Trinity. Paul Hartnoll, of orange shirt and bored expression above, came in to lay down some keyboard overdubs on a couple of tracks. I bumped into him a couple of years ago, and whilst reminiscing about the session, he gave a whole spin on the tale that I hadn't really appreciated at the time...

Paul was playing at that time in Noddy & The Satellites with Jon, and had agreed to come and play keys with Jon's other band i.e. us. Both Paul & Jon were warmly embracing the emerging dance music scene; the rest of the band less so (I still fucking hate it), so Paul's recollection was that he wandered into the studio with a bunch of synths, effects and other electronic gizmos to be greeted by the slightly intimidating sight of three large bequiffed and bemused blokes staring at him like he'd walked in with a box full of turds.

Anyway, the end result was a collection of 8 expertly recorded songs that we looked forward to seeing released on vinyl. Alas Mike's label was undergoing a cashflow problem at the time, so the record was temporarily shelved. What we didn't immediately appreciate is that shelving period would be slightly longer than expected (28 years so far, although read on for an unexpected turn of events...)

Clive & Mark at the Cavern

1988 started with a flurry of gig activity; The Robey again, supporting a band containing ex members of the very excellent Margin of Sanity, Folkestone with The aforementioned Green Hornets, and a hometown gig back at the Cavern in Sevenoaks. Not that we knew it at the time, but that was to be our last gig, as a combination of the usual elements; disappointment at the record shelving, teenage boredom, diverging musical tastes, me moving to Blackpool(!) meant that the band just sort of ground to a halt. However, there was no animosity - circumstances had just changed in our lives, and we are all still good friends now.

Fast forward 19 years to 2007, during which time Jon has had a stint drumming for The Shamen, and then spent many years with Alabama 3 and Clive and I have carried on down the rock'n'roll path, both together (The Charles Napiers, The McDeath trio/DC3) and separately (Clive with the Gene Drayton Unit and JB & The Wolfmen, me with all the other stuff). In fact it was due to the mention I'd made of The Shockwaves on my website that Charlie Spliff, regular Clarendon gig goer and 80s trash fan, got in touch saying he remembered seeing us down there and how much he'd enjoyed our stuff. A man of exquisite taste, clearly, and pressing on the fast forward button once more to 2015, and Charlie S. is launching Trash Wax records with Darren Ross, a label dedicated to releasing lost and forgotten trash obscurities from that golden age. In the pipeline for a Trash Wax release is none other than those Croydon recordings from late 87! Watch this space for further details...

UPDATE : The Shockwaves recordings are being released on CD in late Nov/early Dec 2015.         (to be followed later by a limited vinyl release)

(with thanks to Jez Nixon for unearthing many of the photos above)

Check the website   www.trashwax.com     for updates and availability.

Dan's website :  www.danwhaley.co.uk

The Bugs & The Halflings...Their story by Charlie Spliff and Rich Smith.

(Doodle) Bugs over Germany.

Ok bozo's, the Ross has been on my case for ages to do a piece about my favourite bunch of creepy crawlies from the 80's, the wonderful fuzz fuelled sounds of.... The Bugs....
 
The first video I ever uploaded for Trasharama on pootube was by The Bugs, I saw them many many times back in the day (though nowhere near as many as The Sting-Rays) & I adored them. They were loud & raucous, they had screaming fuzz guitars and their singer Martin, jumped & rolled around onstage like a freaked out monkey on acid......It was Trash Baby! & I fucking loved it!!

So....Tuning in my Trash antennae, I springtailed it to former guitarist Richard 'Midge' Smith & asked him if it mite be possible for a quick refresh history lesson as we shared a bite to eat & puffed on a few roaches.... this lousy piece is the result (apologies for the Bug puns, can't resist!)

Charlie x

Rich, Lloyd, Malcolm X, Martin & Anton.

The Bugs (or what would be finally called the The Bugs), first crawled into the sprawling twilight world of garageland late in 1985, after The Vibes had split (or were possibly about to).

In a genuine garage somewhere in hometown Colchester, double bass player Lloyd Tripp had started rehearsing with several different line-ups for a new band that didn't contain any members of the old one he had left (or was leaving). One of these early line ups featured Jonny Bridgwood from The Sting-Rays, who was temporarily living with Lloyd at the time.

Meanwhile... less than half a mile away from Lloyd, a bunch of local degenerate teens were working up a set of raging trashy garage sounds in their parents' garage under the moniker of The Half-Lings. They were influenced heavily by The Vibes, The Sting-Rays and The X-Men before turning on to 60’s garage punk obscurities for covers and inspiration.

The Half-Lings comprised of brothers Richard Smith - Guitar & Martin Smith - Stand-up Drums, Sean Smith - Guitar (no relation to the other 2), Jon Clarke - Vocals & Woodsy - Bass.

Promo Shot.

Woodsy left the band before they had started gigging & it was decided that they would just carry out without a bass player & not bother to replace him as they were 'Fuckin' Trash' anyway & too lazy to find someone else. They then went on to terrorise the local community with their raw, teenage fuzz-based trash sounds & got to support their idols, The Sting-Rays, for their first ever gig (courtesy of Jonny Sting-Ray) at The Works in Colchester. The gig itself was a rather bloody affair for one Half-Ling, as drummer Martin cut his hand & bled profusely all over the borrowed Mondrian drum-kit of Alec Palao due to some over enthusiastic skin bashing. This may have been caused by the dubious energy sources that the band fuelled up on, or maybe it was just the fact that they necked loads of booze & degenerated into pissed up mayhem (& a little psychosis).
 
The band went on to gig in London, including Mike Spenser's famous Garage Club, downstairs at the Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith & recorded a 3 track demo at Pathway studios in 1986 assisted by Bal & Jonny from The Sting-Rays. The demo's (which will hopefully turn up on Trash Wax one day), include a cover version of The Live Wires' 'Love' (complete with Bal rattling chains & smashing bottles in the background) and two originals, 'People Land' & 'In Retrospect', the latter of which had Jonny playing bass & would become part of The Bugs set the following year.

However, despite a growing following and burgeoning reputation, a couple of the members parents pulled them out of the band to focus on studying for their futures (singer Jon Clarke allegedly leaving to become an astronaut) & the Half-Lings were laid to rest in the garage graveyard.

Supporting The Cannibals (That's Mike Spenser's back).

It was shortly after this that dejected Half-Ling siblings, Martin and Richard spotted The Vibes transit van with painted logo on the side, parked up somewhere and plucked up the courage to finally meet Lloyd in person. With Jonny Sting-Ray still living at Lloyds, it also presented a further opportunity for Richard to learn how to play guitar properly under his tutelage.

After some original members of Lloyds' outfit went their separate ways, Richard and Martin then started rehearsing with Lloyd & Jonny. Once Jonny had moved backed to London, a permanent and exciting line-up was formed which consisted of: Martin Smith (vocals), Richard Smith (lead guitar), Lloyd Tripp (Double Bass), Malcolm X (Rhythm guitar) who had replaced Jason (?) after the first few gigs, & Anton (Duane Ripley) Rapley (Drums). Anton had earned his place banging on the tubs in the band by previously being the roadie for The Vibes, The Sting-Rays and also The Cramps.

Green vinyl no less !

Bringing an 80's awareness to a bunch of esoteric 60's punk covers & some raw, wild originals, The Bugs struck out quickly and without remorse. The band first gigged in London under the names The Bedbugs & The B-Side Bugs, first supporting The Blubbery Hellbellies (one of Lloyds' former bands) at the Fulham Greyhound, before finally setting on just The Bugs as their name. Within weeks of their first London gig, a 3 track single was recorded for Mike Spensers' Hit records and was produced, no less, by former Sex Pistols producer, Dave Goodman! The single contained 2 cover versions, 'Leavin' Here' by Eddie Holland & 'See If I Care' by Ken & The Fourth Dimension plus one original 'Leave Us Alone', it came out on green wax in early '87.... & it's demented, raw, fuzztastic, garage trash!

After witnessing frantic sets by the boys, offers of record deals poured in from amongst others, Chainsaw, Red Rhino, Big Beat (Ace Records) & Media Burn. The Bugs eventually settled & signed for Big Beat, which delighted the band as Ted Carroll was a decent bloke & they got lots of free records, as well as a bit of cash.

The one and only Big Beat release.

After a slew of gigs in London and around England, the Bugs took to the studio to record their first album, the classic 'Darkside'. The 12 track album contained 10 originals plus 2 cover versions, ('Hate' by The Stoics & the title track 'Darkside' by The Shadows of Knight). Album & promotional artwork was done by Bal Sting-Ray using his Go Teen moniker & the LP went down a storm in the UK & abroad, prompting invites for tours in Europe. With a head of steam & a label that wanted them out on the road, the band went on to promote their debut album with tours of Europe including dates in Holland and Austria as well as the length and breadth of Germany. These tours were the stuff of legend and The Bugs went on to develop a decent sized European fan-base as dates & records sold well.

Unfortunately, the toils of touring took their toll though and the band split months later, with Lloyd eventually moving to the States to start a new career & Malcolm & Anton moving on to whereabouts unknown.

Sorry it's in German.

As the only members left & now living in London, & with potential further European tours in the offing, Martin and Richard sought new recruits and with immediacy hired friend and fan, Miki Berenyi on bass guitar (Miki went on to form indie shoegazers Lush with school friend & former Rover Girl Emma Anderson). Geoffrey C. Clarke joined on drums and Dave Arbon on rhythm guitar, this new incarnation of The Bugs had a much heavier sound but the fans still loved them & they had a number of successful tours abroad throughout the rest of 1987 & 88.

Nicked in Germany!

The band found time between the touring in '87 to record 4 tracks in a Colchester studio which have yet to see the light of day (not if Trash Wax has it's way!). Covers of 'Hate' by The Stoics, 'I Must Be Mad' by The Craig & 'The Bummer' by Lincoln St. Exit accompany original track 'One Of These Days'. Both 'Hate' & 'One Of These Days' appeared on 'Darkside' but these versions are a lot different & a lot beefier.

When Miki departed to join The Baby Machines (who later renamed themselves Lush) in late '87, Mark (?) joined on bass & Pete Long joined as guitarist (replacing Dave) to fulfill yet another European tour. Band members were travelling between London & Colchester & it wasn't much longer before the logistics of the situation caused the band to sadly split up.

By Bal Croce.

Still in London, Martin and Richard teamed up with former Huddersfield based fanzine writers/musicians, Jeff & Suzanne who had published 'The Outer Limits' and had been members of garage punk outfit 'The Tyme Eliment', to form 'The Shiny Hour Watch Company'. Still influenced by 60’s garage punk/psych the band also embraced a more Byrdsy, jangly, psychedelic sound and gigged a couple of times before the inevitable happened and the members got haircuts, had a bath and got regular jobs (or..... just buggered off to India travelling & got into house music & ecstasy).

There was a third incarnation of The Bugs which only Martin was involved with, operating around the early 90's & doing the odd gig in London. Gone was the fuzz filled garage sounds of previous line ups and in came a flute player & a more mellow vibe, needless to say it wasn't what the kids were after & again the band split for the last time around 1993. Old midgey is a bit vague on this period as he wasn't involved & doesn't really know what was going on.

In 2006, The Bugs “Darkside” was re-mastered and reissued on CD by Big Beat, gaining the band a new audience and bringing them back from obscurity. Who knows? A reform? Everyone else seems to be doing it but with Martin now living in Spain. Richard soon following suit, Lloyd in America and other members whereabouts unknown it seems most unlikely.

You never know though & there's always the possibility that some Trash that shoulda got waxed, will get waxed eventually. It's certainly time for people to rediscover this garbage & I'm sure they'll like how it smells.............. some of us know our shit from our shit..... capiche?

Charlie Spliff
Trasharama/Trash Wax
25/10/15

TRASH WAX.......MONDO A GO GO New release.

Well, after the delays from the vinyl pressing plants, due to over demand and with no doubt that those Bee Gee's re-editions will be snapped up in no time ! We will finally be receiving the long awaited LP releases that should have been with us weeks ago ! The first to be arriving is the anthology of Mondo A Go Go, 'In Go Go We Trust' a look back over their 20 year career to date and I'm really happy to say that this will be with us in time for Halloween as we'll start shipping it out around the 23rd Oct.

BUY ME HERE : www.trashwax.com

AVAILABLE FROM 23rd OCTOBER 2015.

Ltd Edition of 300 copies on red vinyl.

Mondo A Go Go started out in 1996 as a group of misfits, brought together by a mutual loathing of the commercial and santised drivel being thrust upon folk in the form of Grunge, Britpop and the ever nauseating boy bands...The ethos of these desperados being to get back to the raw, exciting primal roots of Rock n Roll, with their unique blend of Garage Punk, Dodgy film soundtracks and a smidgen of The Cramps, (they actually have 2 tracks on the 2006 Cramps tribute album 'Trash Is Neat Vol 3').
This will be gone sooner than you can blink, it's twenty (20) tracks, spanning their 20 years churning out this slop !

All you need to know is on the inside !

The tracks have been acrefully selected from their first 3 albums BUT the tracks chosen from the first album are completely different than those which actually appeared as the initial recording was deemed too crude for release, these are the original first attempts in all their glory.
Wendy Phillips did the principal design for the sleeve with her biggest claim to fame before doing this sleeve for us was stuff for L7, so she's going in the wrong direction!  Hahahah!

Here's the track listing:

1. Mondo a Go-Go

2. In Go-Go We Trust

3. Wild Guitar

4. Sister Street Fighter

5. Vigilante

6. Crazy Date

7. Kool in a Gurl

8. Outta Body Rock'n'Roll Experience

9. Shakedown

10. You Dig My Grave

Not sure about 1996, looks more like 1969 !.

1. The Ballad of Dario Banzai

2. 45 rpm

3. Kozure Ohkami

4. Born to Lose

5. Gearhead

6. Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein

7. The Day I Was Born

8. Faceless

9. Lucky the Inscrutable

10. La Comtesse Noire

 

And for once, here's a Scots band which doesn't have Lenny Helsing in it, Bless him, we do love everything he does though !

OK, get your credit cards out and head on over to : www.trashwax.com and grab yourself a copy before they're all snapped up by mad European collectors who'll bubble wrap them before hermetically sealing them in an oxygen free environment so as they can tell folk they have it but have never heard it !

If you buy it now, you get it at the pre-order price of €15.00....On the release date this goes up to €20.00...So no excuses !

 

STAY SICK WEIRDOS.

THE VIBES....From the inside ! by Bob Martin & Darren Ross.

Trash Garage Masters !

Here 'tis folks, 30 years down the line and at last, a pretty much definitive look at the group who, for me, more or less epitomised what the sound was about and defined the genre for a few great years in the mid-80's....A few months ago I had managed to get hold of  guitarist and founding member Bob Martin to get an inside track on The Vibes story and their background...So here it is.  

The Vibes weren't the first band that the various members had been part of and both Bob and Gary (Gaz Voola) Boniface, who'd known each other since their mid teens, had been tinkering for years prior to The Vibes formation. Their roots were most definitely Rockabilly having basically lived, ate and breathed it and that also goes someway to explaining The Vibes look at the time too. Gary lived on Canvey Island (Essex, UK) and Bob in Southend (also in Essex, UK) where the Rockabilly scence was vibrant at the tail end of the 70's and the two of them would be out most Friday and Saturday, frequenting the Southend Rockin' clubs, it was around this time that Bob and Gary first had notions of forming a band, their first foray being a Bill Haley & The Comets style combo which was called The Jumping Jacks. Gary was a drummer then with a stand up snare (ala The Sting Rays) and Bob had tried to take up the sax but without training...They never got past the rehearsal stage !

Down In The Garage

Around this time Bob & Gary had started going to London clubs where Gary met a girl and relocated to West London, they lost touch with each other for a while and Bob became friendly with Lloyd Tripp who'd come down from Colchester with a bunch of mates to the long standing rockin' venue, The Queens Hotel in Southend. Lloyd was a larger than life character even back then and it was inevitable after hitting it off so well and the shared musical passions, that discussions of getting a band together would be soon on the agenda, before he knew it Bob upped sticks from Southend and moved to Colchester where Lloyds parents owned a sizeable guesthouse with a big store house in the back yard.....this is where the best was spawned ! Lloyd bought himself a double bass and taught himself the rudimentaries of playing. The size of it suited him and it's hard to imagine him playing anything else at the time. Bob was the vocalist and the first 'proper' line up was called 'The Hi-Boys'..a full on rockabilly band ! They had the drummer and guitarist from a Canvey Island band called 'The Screaming Ab Dabs' a Dr Feelgood type RnB band (who boasted Alison Moyet on vocals) but due to reliability issues and a lack of a rockabilly background, it was a short lived affair although plenty of cider fuelled rehearsals and their first real gig gave them the appetite for more. The guys were still frequenting rockin' clubs (although Bob's recollections are a bit hazy) and must have bumped into Gary who'd been jamming with various musicians but was yet to actually nail anything down. He was still drumming at the time and it was suggested that they hook back up again so Gary would head over to Colchester at weekends where they'd jam with various local guitarists, going so far as to advertise in the music press but failing to click with any of the guys that turned up, around this time Gary mentioned that he knew a decent guitarist who may be interested.....and so the next weekend he turns up at Colchester train station with none other than Boz Boorer ! Needless to say, Boz's infectious enthusiasm and brilliant guitar work hit the spot and The Megatons were born, Gary on drums, Lloyd on bass, Boz on guitar and Bob on vocal duty, they played in and around Colchester and were well received. Boz even managed to sneak the band into his production company's studio where a bunch of tracks were recorded which have never been released (so far). Unfortunately, due to Boz's other commitments, The Megatons were never really going anywhere, but it gave them the taste and they wanted more.
A little hiatus at this point and the exact circumstances are a tad fuzzy but Bob's reluctance as a frontman and Gary's desire to get out from behind the drums meant a formation change with Gaz taking up the vocals and Bob moving to (rhythm) guitar, so now they needed a lead guitarist and a drummer ! It's not sure how Lloyd knew them but we ended up with a couple of young brothers, Alex (Guitar) and Adam (Drums)..think that Alex was around 16/17 at the time and Adam was only 14 but they could both play really well !
Around this time the band were listening to lots of different music, Bauhaus, The Gun Club, The Cramps and even some nascent electro, it was also at this point that Gary introduced Bob to 60's Garage Punk via the Pebbles and Nuggets which was an epiphany for him (still a big fan now), rehearsals now became a experimental with lots of styles being bastardised along the way. Not sure of the exact circumstances but Alex fell away sometime around this point and we found Martin Parsons, another Colchester lad whom Lloyd had known for quite some time....Martin was an easy going guy and fitted well.

Click to read.

The band did a few gigs with this line-up and then Gary met Mike Spenser (he of The Cannibals) who offered to record a session for the band in his basement with a mobile studio parked on the pavement ! They spent the day laying down the stuff they were playing at the time, a lot of which was never re-recorded again....Wonder if Mr Spenser still has the tapes ?
The band were also having trouble at certain venues due to Adams young age and so the band made a decision to let him go which was unfortunate and a tough decision. Lloyd introduced another guy from the Colchester rockin' scene, John Jobbagy, who he'd known for a long while and got him to come down and jam with the band. John's style was a little jazzy but he could play four beats where others would play one and it just worked for us....This was the first real line-up of The Vibes, Gary on vocals, Lloyd on Bass, Bob on fuzz guitar, Martin on lead and John on drums with Gary being the creative driving force with all the original Vibes songs being written by him at this point, late '82, early '83.
So with The Vibes ready for action and following on from some local gigs in Colchester the band were given their first London gig by Mike Spenser in 'The Garage', the basement of The Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith !  
They were lucky with their timing and hit the scene just as it was blossoming, and with the release of 'These Cats Ain't Nuthin' But Trash' on Big Beat there were plenty of venues and other bands to play alongside. The band were really well received, The Clarendon becoming something of a spiritual home with them playing every month for the best part of a year. Their following was growing and they played with some of the finest bands around at the time including the Sting Rays, Tall Boys, Milkshakes, Prisoners and The Cannibals.

Their first on Big Beat.

Through these connections and their growing reputation, they were soon offered to record for Big Beat Records, Bob recalls meeting Roger Armstrong in a pub, round the corner from the Ace/Big Beat office and ending up plundering their wharehouse, coming out loaded up with vinyl as Ace had just re-issued a lot of classic Rockabilly, RnB and Blues.
They didn't have to think twice and jumped at the chance, quickly getting into Elephant Studios to record the 'Can You Feel' EP....Bob felt it was quite raw and that the production could have been better in hindsight, the engineer didn't quite 'get' the band and they (the band) were too inexperienced of the process. Regardless of that, the record went down a storm and The Vibes found themselves in demand....something they were doing was resonating with the crowds they were playing to at venues such as The 100 Club, Dingwalls and the like. Their musical style just grew naturally, encompassing 50's/60's styles and sounds, there was no concious effort to have a certain sound, it was the bands musical capabilities and limitations along with the vintage equipment which dictated how they sounded and the band were happy that the fans genuinely seemed to like it.
It should be pointed out at this point that The Vibes were NOT a psychobilly band and they tried to make the point very clear stating that they hated the phrase and it's implications...Upon reflection, Bob obseved that none of The Vibes tracks could be construed as such....it was purely the fact that we had a double bass and a couple of quiffs !
Having the 'Can You Feel' EP released on Big Beat opened a certain number of doors for them and they were getting regular reviews and namechecked in the main music press of the time, NME and Sounds, with the latter going onto feature a double page spread ! The band were even requested to appear on the special feature 'Trash On The Tube' for Channel 4, unfortunately one of the other bands which were to later appear on the show had (apparently) kicked up a bit of a fuss about being overlooked, politics prevailed and The Vibes missed out !  
 

Antoine Bernhart Masterpiece.

A French tour soon followed and the band were introduced to the legendary Antoine Bernhart, Rock 'n' Roll artist extraordinaire, his poster for The Vibes tour of France has since gone on to become iconic of the genre. He was a great and macabre man, I (Bob) remember visiting his house, he had a round shaped room, the only furniture was a dentists chair in the centre with shelves ful of oddities lining the walls, including a human hand preserved in a jar with the palm skin missing, showing all the tendons etc...apparently a rather grisly souvenir from a concentration camp ! The tour was a great experience and the band recorded 3 tracks live on French TV, played on a barge in Strasbourg and got their first experience of groupies....Sex and drugs and RnR Baby ! which inevitably lead to friction...Things are a little vague at this point also but as we'd been playing constantly, coupled with doing the French tour in a cramped mini-bus, on top of each other for 24 hours a day...things came to head and the band split not long after getting back from their French adventure. The split didn't last long, a couple of months and they were back together as demand was good, though this time with Johnny Johnson on lead guitar, it's not quite clear how this came about but as he'd played in The Cannibals, it could have been through Mike Spenser. Suffice to say that with Johnny on board their sound hit another level, (Bob recalls that Johnny was one of the best guitarists that he'd ever played with) and the band picked up gigging where thay had left off but as a much more cohesive unit, Gary was becoming more adventurous with his song writing and everyone was on the same page musically.

A Bit On The Trippy Side !

The Vibes were friends with another Colchester based band called 'Living In Texas', a Gothic/Avant Garde type of outfit with great stage presence, both bands were managed by the same guy, Andy Soloman..Living In Texas had decided to form their own label which became 'Chainsaw Records'. Initially, they had only intended to issue their own stuff on the label but was doing well enough for them to consider other bands and The Vibes were one of only a handful considered. Given total creative control, without any outside interference (they were also fans who encouraged the band to do 'their thing'). The band went for it, seeing it as an opportunity to further distance themselves from the psychobilly tag. True to their word, Chainsaw booked The Vibes into Amazon studios in Liverpool for a week and the result was the 'Inner Wradrobes Of Your Mind Sessions' and subsequent 12" release.

Sounds Music Paper.

The response to this was phenomenal, surpassing the plaudits they had received for 'Can You Feel' and garnering great reviews in the music press making single of the week in Sounds and appearing on several 'record of the year charts compiled by various music journalists ! Then, what was possibly one of the band's high points in their all too short career...The phone call from the BEEB...John Peel would like you to do a session at Maida Vale studios ! Initially thinking it was someone taking the piss, it took a little while for it to sink in but it was true enough and turned out to be kosher, so the band found themselves unloading their gear at Maida Vale. Briefly meeting the man himself but due to his notorious shyness and the guys being awestruck it was a quick introduction...Recalling that Mr Peel said 'Keep up the good work' and that was it, he was gone, this legend who had discovered so many great bands since the end of the sixties.
The session went well and four tracks were recorded, with all the band being very happy with the outcome (there are low quality versions on youtube, so look them up) and waiting for them to be aired and hearing John Peel wax lyrical about their  music was an exciting time. Shortly after this, The Vibes embarked on a Dutch tour with great crowds in great venues and with John Peel having a syndicated show there every week the Dutch fans were more than aware of thier stuff which certainly helped. The highlight of the shows in Holland was supporting The Legendary Stardust Cowboy at The Paradisio in Amsterdam, this show was also broadcast live by VPRO and often turned up on cassette later. The band then turned up to play Bastille day in Paris, an open air festival in the afternoon followed by a gig in a crypt that night hosted by a Surf/Jazz combo called The Pasadenas (they gave me (Bob) a copy of their 7"...highly recommended and worth seeking out incidently).

One Of The Best Albums Ever.

After getting back to the UK, the next project was the 'What's Inside' album and again the band headed to Liverpool for a week at Amazon Studios. The recording went well but the general consesus was that it lacked the real power of the 'Inner Wardrobes' sessions, though not exactly sure why. Regardless of the bands personal views, the LP was widely acclaimed and they reached number five in the indie charts, staying there for a considerable time in 1985. More gigging around the UK was followed by the offer to tour Germany and by this stage the band were a tight unit and used to the whole touring thing. Bob remembers thinking this was the tour that they enjoyed most. The tour itself actually started in Zurich then cut through Austria to Germany where the guys were treated to a strip search by Austrian border guards complete with sniffer dogs and a search of the tour bus by armed guards..luckily nothing being found. The gigs themselves were a mixed bunch of venues from glitter balled discoteques to wharehouses in places as diverse as Schotten, Engers, Munich. With the best gig being Berlin, without a doubt, this was before the wall had come down so the guys had to drive through East Berlin, through Checkpoint Charlie with all it's machine gun towers, it was a spooky experience and the difference between east and west Berlin was astounding. The gig was awesome, the crowd was really receptive and we went for it....we went down so well that the promoter asked if we would stay on for the week and support The Ramones who were playing the following weekend, unfortunately we had other gigs lined up but were truly flattered. The Berlin gig was filmed but to date the footage has proved elusive (so anyone know anything ? please do contact me).

Available here : www.trashwax.com

The gig in Enger was released in 2015 by Trash Wax, exactly 30 years to the day it was originally recorded by a member of the audience, this recording is raw in parts but captures the band at the height of their performances.   
That more or less brings the history of the band to an end, a bit of discontent had seeped in during the time spent in Germany and there were internal frictions coming to the fore, possibly because of spending so much time together makes any little annoyance seem magnified and by the time they arrived home, Gary wanted out and the band decided to split in early 1986.
The rest as they say is history with all the guys going on to play in different bands, Gaz went on to form The Purple Things (along with the 2 Johns) and then subsequently Terminal Cheescake.
Lloyd went on to be involved with various bands including The Bugs, Blubbery Hellbellies and The Zipguns before relocating to America where he still plays.
Bob went on to play in The Margin Of Sanity and John Jobbagy is currently the drummer of The Go Go Cult !        

Big Thanks to Bob Martin for his patience and time.

If you haven't already, you can still get the LP & CD here : www.trashwax.com
    
     

Records & Releases.......Mondo A Go Go, The Shockwaves, Harry Violet & The Sharks, The Pacifics !

Ltd Edition, red vinyl and just 300 copies !

What can I say huh ?  Even with the best efforts of the majors and their heinous plans to flood the world with Led Zep, Bee-Gees and Pink Floyd vinyl reissues for those bearded hipster types....it would appear that there are corners of sanity still prevailing, although against the odds it must be said! With some factories now giving delay times of up to 6 months to press 7"s and 4 months+ for 12" vinyl coupled with pricing which is making the production of 7" singles prohibitive (factories would rather press 12" vinyl and so try to dissuade 7" production) it's a small miracle that there have been a good few bits managing to see the light of day over the last couple of months...not least our own !  Here's a bit of a round up of what's caught our eye recently and what you can expect very shortly !

Kicking off with something of a surprise release, Mondo A Go Go (TWLP007) wasn't due out until next year but by some twist of fate, one of the pressing plants contacted us with a slot which became available due to a cancellation....so in we jumped. This is a real beauty of an album, 20 tracks covering their 20 year career ! The title track is a garage classic and should be in everyones collection, couple of covers including Arch Hall Jr's 'Wild Guitar' and The Crazy Teens' 'Crazy Date'. The sleeve design was done by Wendy Phillips who did those sleeves for Girly Grungers L7....very nice indeed ! This will be available in a couple of weeks time so keep your eyes peeled !

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

This little beauty dropped in my letter box this week and blew me away, can't recommend it enough, Harry Violet & The Sharks debut 7"....'Jungle Cavalcade' is a brilliant Sax & Guitar driven toon in the spirit of The Wailers early material with more than a nod to early 60's Surf and a dash of Cramps to round it off nicely....I think you may recognise the guitar parts ! The guys are currently working on writing material for their first album and play regularly around London so if you get the chance to catch them, It'd be well worth it ! They've a few of their songs up on Youtube and they do a blistering cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins 'I Put A Spell On You' which lends itself really well to the sound of the sax.....Also available for Weddings, Christenings and Bah Mitzvahs !

Ltd quantity available from : www.trashwax.com

Another fantastic 7" platter worth tracking down is the recent 4 track EP from Dublin based The Pacifics, if early 60's - Milkshakes style, Rhythm and Beat is your thing ?  You'll be drooling for this release but you'll have to be quick as it was released by the guys themselves and pressed up in (Eire, as it says) as a very limited run. Four original, self penned songs, 'Say You Love Me' & 'Little Ruth' make up the A-side with 'Girls, Girls, Girls' & 'Bavaria Bop' the 2 equally as strong tunes on the flip......If you haven't picked up on these guys yet ? They've been around for a few years now and have a sold out album (and another EP + split 7" with Thee Cormans) under their belt. Not quite sure why they haven't had more exposure and released more material....Would suit State/Soundflat or Screaming apple down to the ground !

Not the worst by a long shot.

Those perrenial Psychobillies, The Meteors have a new double LP out, although new only in as it's just been released, a compilation, it must be said, of some of their better post original line-up tracks...500 copies on Yellow vinyl housed in a decent gatefold sleeve means that it'll be gone soon enough, I'm sure you'll be able to track a copy down though if you look hard enough ! Includes The Crazed, Johnny Remember Me, These Boots Are Made For Walking, Rawhide, Please Don't Touch and fifteen other tracks.

Absolutely Awesome !

Another long awaited release that should be making an appearance soon enough is The Shockwaves CD which will be out before Christmas at the very latest...It's truly amazing that records of this quality and calibre never saw the light of day at the time, in this case they were recorded in 1987...Genuine TRASH FROM THE VAULTS and here's a little taster : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgar64bPxQY  The CD release will be limited to a couple of hundred copies and followed up with a vinyl release in 2016.....slip this baby between your Vibes and Purple Things records ! Big Thanks to Diabolik Dan and Bruce Brand for the greatly appreciated help with the artwork.
More on these dudes to follow later.

Buy Me ! www.trashwax.com

Here's the shameless commercial bit !
More than 500 'one off' titles of Garage Punk, Trash and deranged Rockabilly up on the Discogs page now...head on over and grab yourself something before they all go ! : www.discogs.com/seller/Darrenross
And lots of new stock items on the website/shop including some pretty cool Cramps T-Shirts including the classic 'Rock N Roll Monster Bash' design....: www.trashwax.com