As the show starts the weary road home, to rest after five years in the punk rock forest, you may notice some of my all time favourites making appearances. Like the Modern Lovers song which is to be found on their best LP, the one which was made up of demos recorded in 1972 and then released in 1976. Although that's only four Earth years later, it's the equivalent of twenty punk rock years. Things had changed beyond recognition. Short hair good, long hair bad. I yearn for such simple rules these days. Ending tonight with John Otway, who may not be classified as punk rock in the Ofcom files, but qualifies for outings on this show under rule 21(b) of the Sniffing Glue Rule Book.
Modern Lovers - She Cracked
Dentists - I Had An Excellent Dream
Dexys Midnight Runners - Let's Make This Precious
The Beat - Work A Day World
Electric Eels - Accident
McCarthy - The Funeral
Godfathers Ìý- Birth School Work Death
Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City
Penetration - Don't Dictate
Go Betweens - That Way
Dr Feelgood - All Through The City (live at 91Èȱ¬)
Last Gang - Spirit of Youth
The Wipers - Romeo
John Otway - Cheryl's Going 91Èȱ¬
Some vintage Damned tonight .... hold on , it's all vintage, and many are damned ..... starting with their Stooges tribute, which only suffers from an extended thrashing that pads their first LP out by an extra minute and a half. Brevity was indeed the soul of punk, although some people didn't read to the end of the manifesto. There's also a lean towards Californian punk tonight for no good reason apart from the strength of the records. The Urinals started off, they say, as a parody of punk rock at UCLA. What's the point of a parody of punk when we already had (insert name of least favourite band here) ? I do like the band's singles, which are short, sharp, etc. Speaking of which , Black Flag's recording of Louie Louie is quite possibly the first time the archetypal garage punk song has been aired on this show, in the very week that I have learned the official cut off date for this particular After Midnight. July 19th will be the last one, as Radio Ulster will be closing at midnight from July 21st.Ìý
Damned - I Feel Alright
Urinals - I Am A Bug
Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel
Suicide Commando - No More
Devo - That’s Pep
Red Kross - Linda Blair
X Ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours !
The Dicks - Dicks Hate The Police
Plastic Bertrand - 54321
The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around
Guana Batz - King Rat
Stingrays - Come On Kid
20-20 - Yellow Pills
The Tidal Waves - Action Speaks Louder Than Words
Black Flag - Louie Louie
New York Dolls - Courageous Cat Theme
Tonight is the 34th anniversary of the Good Vibrations Battle Of The Band, held in the McMordie Hall. Not too many were injured, no one was declared a winner, so it's good to play both Rudi and The Outcasts, two of the troupers on the night. Also a hearing for Slaughter And The Dogs's 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?'. A title which raises two questions. Where, indeed, have they gone ? And why do people not say 'bootboys' any more ? Is it because we live in less troubled times? That's three questions, sorry.
Elvis Costello's finest 108 seconds was the b-side to his Clubland single, another example of the b-side outperforming the a-side. 'Hoover Factory' is the specky one's love song to a prime example of Art Deco architecture. Prime real estate as well, being , in Elvis's words, 'five miles out of London on the Western Avenue'. It's now a Tescos. A very nice Tescos, of course.
Ìý
The Fall - Totally Wired
Wire - Champs
Rudi - Overcome By Fumes
Holly & The Italians - Tell That Girl To Shut Up
The Lines - On The Air
Slaughter & The Dogs - Where Have All The Bootboys Gone ?
Sparkles - No Friend Of Mine
Chesterfield Kings - She Told Me Lies
Bohemia - Unconventional Boy
Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin' For Jesus Pt 1
SSD - Get It Away
Eddie & The Hot Rods - Horseplay
Elvis Costello - Hoover Factory
The Shoes - Tomorrow Night
Those Naughty Lumps - Iggy Pop's Jacket
Outcasts - Don’t Want To Be No Adult
Tenth anniversary of Dee Dee Ramone's passing this week, at his home in Los Angeles. Heroin overdose, since you ask.ÌýTheÌýRamones weren't like The Beatles - they didn't have a Quiet One, a Serious One, a Pretty One. They had four DumbÌýOnes.ÌýExcept they weren't dumb. Dee Dee, despite his public utterances, wrote some of their best songs, came up with the 'They'reÌýAll CalledÌýRamone' concept andÌýshouted out the '1 - 2 - 3Ìý - 4' before each song. Sadly missed, as indeed are Joey and Johnny. Also tonightÌýthe very first recording made by Echo And The Bunnymen, without a drummer, and without many guitars , by the sound of things. Historical curio, rather than must hear record.
Ramones - You Should Never Have Opened That Door
Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes
Echo & Bunnymen - Monkeys
June Brides - Every Conversation
Pop Group - We Are Time
Jangletties - Happy All The Time
Buzzcocks - You Say You Don't Love Me
Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Confidential
Smithereens - Beauty & Sadness
Boys - See Ya Later
Clash - Police On My Back
Blondie - I Didn’t Have The Nerve To Say No
Action Pact - London Bouncers
Chris Stamey & Dbs - I Thought You Wanted To Know
Apologies forÌýany offence caused byÌýplaying God Save The Queen just as celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee get underway. It is, indeed, too obvious. But what a record. How many other singles have caused such a row thatÌýthe charts had to be manipulated so that it didn't get to number one? In its honour I reprise the song at the end of the show, playing the original title 'No Future' which was what we readers of the NME knew it as when it was just one of the songs the band played live. It's the demo that the band recorded in the basement studio of EMI in London in December 1976, while upstairs the board of the company were deciding to dump them from their label. While there, the Sex Pistols ran up the stairs to get their photograph taken leaning over the bannisters , the same pose the Beatles did for their first LP. Rattling the establishment while paying homage to the Fab Four. Who else ever did 'being in a band' with such style ?
Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
Spongetones - She Goes Out With Everyone
Subhumans - Firing Squad
Stranglers - Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)
Deviants - Garbage
Re-Runs - Since You Gotta Cheat
Angelic Upstarts - Leave Me Alone
Expelaires - To See You
Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
Plug Uglies - All Done In
Patti Smith - Piss Factory
The Unclaimed - No Apologies
Sex Pistols - No Future
