Kevin Ayers 1944 - 2013

R.I.P. Kevin

Kick #3, 1980

 

“The vagueness of our discontent is the mark of its permanence”. Ahhh, it’s refreshing to come across a choice Orwell quote as a foreword to this fine fanzine. To be clear though, vagueness does not appear to afflict the Kick organisation’s enthusiasm for the spirit of Punk – that enthusiasm being particularly evident in Richard Cabut’s input here – itself bolstered by contributions from Anne Crawford, Chris Gibson and Lill (“if you’re reading get in touch”). Kick #3 sees The Fall, Bauhaus (David Jay), and Pneumania interviewed; gigs by This Heat/The Elevators, Simple Minds/Martian Dance/Wasted Youth, and UK Decay/The Wall/The Dark reviewed. Richard Cabut and Lill offer brief essays on Punk in, Occult Chemistry and A Rather Suss Piece on Punk & Life Thru a Foreign Punk’s Eyes respectively. Luton Punks sneaks a peek at UK Decay, Pneumania, Statics, Urban Warfare, Cinematix, Nervous Surgeons, Project 4, Dresden Maniacs, The Mandies and The Demons. There’s no playlist! Thank Clapton then for the short fanzine round-up and props to Better Badges, without whom (the inestimable Joly MacFie) many of the fanzines posted thus far on ee may never have come into being let alone enjoyed such a wide distribution. I tell ya, a proper celebration of BB on ee is well overdue. In the meantime, if you haven't seen it already, you’ll enjoy this excellent BB article.     

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Kick #3 

Sunday The 7th #2, 1981

Following Bubs' departure Sunday The 7^th became largely a sole effort by Martin "Cobby" Cobb, though Bubs does contribute...and Paul does too, er, so that’s clear enough then. Anyroad, there’s no doubting the quality of this 32 page bristling blighter! Featuring: profiles and interviews with Vice Squad, Toxic Power, The End (Matt McLeod, Trev A. Beckett, Ann Dee Martian, Zoff and Gary) + a plug for Sunday The 7^th house band, Primal Chaos. Other interviews with: Chelsea’s, Gene October (an interesting comment from Gene on being asked about the frequent line-up changes could have come straight from M.E. Smith’s mouth, uncannily so really); and a decent 2 part interview with UK Subs’, Steve Roberts and Nicky Garratt, the latter proving particularly illuminating. Elsewhere there’s a delve into the Tribal Warfare issue; a rather astute look at TV, the press and advertising in Don't Believe the Media Lies; 6 Minute War warns about cruise missiles, and a review of The War Game in Banned by the BBC. Opinions has contributions from Bubs, Richard and Michelle with poetry and points of view about war and work + Ann Dee Fucking Martian holds fourth on The Anarchist Dilemma (and just in case a shitstorm kicks up about certain elements therein, just remember, I DIDN'T WRITE IT, OK?!). There are no record or tape reviews but Cobby does offer a snappy little rationale for eschewing such fripperies – though there are a couple of live reviews of UK Subs/Chelsea/Stiffs/Anti Pasti, and Vice Squad/Anti-Establishment + a neb at a few fanzines, some collage and Discharge lyrics. Good stuff! 

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Sunday The 7^th #2

UrBAN D.K. #3, 1983

 

101? Now there's a number with which to conjure! Here in UDK #3, Dubliners, Freud Eggs, Mick Kennedy, Mairead Mullins, Pete the Roz and Art O'Leary rustle-up: With the Same Fervour with which We Came We Plough the Earth; Biased Reviews (LPs: Pillows & Prayers Comp, Dambala); a profile of  Max (Marion Woods, Ingmar Klang, Conor Kelly & Johnny Byrne); interviews with Virgin Prunes and Crass (postal jobby with Penny). 12 pages. Job done! 

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UrBAN D.K. #3

Between The Lines #1, 1979

Not a straight-forward fanzine at all really – more a thoughtzine in which Anna, with recourse to writings from elsewhere, shares with us her inner machinations. Sure, there are interviews with Gloria Mundi and Poison Girls but those are resolutely of the searching variety –there’s barely a whiff of the, “what’s your favourite colour” school of interrogation. As was standard with Poison Girls, Anna’s encounter with Richard and Vi is particularly illuminating – more discussion than interview as we witness the subject and host on an equal footing. Anna’s ruminations on Thinking and Thoughts are ably bolstered by contributions from Di and Abe, along with: poetry from D. H. Lawrence, Jackie, John Betjeman and Wilfred Owen; a short extract on Swearing from George Orwell’s, Down and Out in Paris and London; and a reproduction of the widely distributed CND Leaflet, No More Hiroshimas. I've noted this as issue 1 though I understand it is in fact a one-off. All told, Between the Lines is a real gem.

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Between The Lines #1

To compliment this post I’m uploading a recording of Poison Girls live in Leeds. The recording was made by Troy Bunn. Troy happened to be an inveterate bootlegger and was often to be found rooted to a spot throughout the proceedings of many a gig frantically hushing any approaching souls with a finger to lips gesture lest any intrusive natterings spoil his recordings. Sadly, most of Troy’s live tapes were lost to a rash bout of recycling during the nineties but those that survived - including 2 more PG’ sets - will appear here eventually. This is a reasonable bootleg though those aurally delicate types may need to allow their lugs to adjust to the slight coarseness of the recording quality - the songs however remain as beautiful as ever.     

Poison Girls live in Leeds, Fforde Grene Hotel, 1 July 1983

Where’s The Pleasure?

Are You Happy Now?

Underbitch

Too Close For Comfort

Old Tart’s Song

Rio Disco Stink

Cry No More

Too Proud

Tension

Total Exposure

One Good Reason

Cream Dream

Persons Unknown

State Control

I’ve Done It All Before

Situation Vacant #2, 1978

Here we go, the first for 2013 and it’s “Derby’s first new wave mag”! Worth noting that the Situation Vacant editorial team, Martin Roper, Russell Maw, Dugi Bell et al would go on to form Anti Pasti. In this issue of SV we have: interviews with Sham 69 and The Adverts; Seven Inchers – TRB, The Only Ones, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Radiators From Space, Magazine, XTC, Buzzcocks, Penetration; Larger Vinyl – The Only Ones, Buzzcocks; live – The Vibrators, Cherry Vanilla, Anti Nazi Carnival (X Ray Spex, Patrik Fitzgerald, The Clash, Steel Pulse, TRB, 90° Inclusive; Charts + a 1 page ad for The Skids.

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Situation Vacant #2 

Printed Noises #2, 1979

 

The 60c pencilled top right corner on the cover of this Printed Noise hints at a journey across the Atlantic and back to finally reside just across the Pennines from its Chorlton-cum-Hardy home. There’s a fine assemblage of bands for this second issue with Martin Clayton and Dirk R.E. Matrix interviewing A Certain Ratio, Joy Division (a choice typo has Peter Hood on bass! Rob Gretton gets his tuppence in, and bless Ian Curtis for exclaiming, “fanzines, you are the future of the world”),and The Teardrop Explodes (Julian Cope in comical messianic mode and Mick Finkler recalls Wire – just as Gretton did – just as Charlie Chainsaw did....). There’s an article on The Mediators and Manchester for Beginners puts the spotlight on venues (just the Factory and Band on the Wall really + a mention of City Fun fanzine Ed., Andy Zero reopening The Mayflower as Fun House). Modern Life, Modern Man & the Future offers a schematic for survival + PN’ take on the playlist with their Trendy/Matrix Earlists. Admirable.

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Printed Noise #2

Chainsaw #5, 1978

It's Chainsaw time again! Here's issue 5 of Charlie Chainsaw's smashing fanzine. Replete as ever with Charlie's charming comments. The editorial notes the move to double-sided printing and promises, “if I make a profit on this mag I’ll use it to get the bleeding N fixed!”. There’s a fetching snap of Charlie by Jon Romney of Negative Reaction fame and Mr. Chainsaw tells us that the rest of the photos were self-shot using his recently acquired “Boots Beirette that cost £12 new (good eh?)” – how sweet... Anyroad, Chainsaw #5 features: an interview with The Users; Money Corrupts discusses the allure of major labels, photo-fit punks, the “absolute bullshit” nature of the “New Wave” scene and offers props for Wire and Siouxsie & The Banshees; live reviews of The Soft Boys, Squeeze, The Boys/The Force, Slaughter & The Dogs, Siouxsie & The Banshees; LPs  - Live at The Roxy comp (Wasps, Mean streets, Neo, Bernie Torme, Art Attacks, Suspects, Maniacs (the Art Attacks review is ace - “it just sounds like a singer with a Northern accent, with a distant rumbling...”)), Raw Deal comp (The Users, Raw Sewage Co., G.T.s, Bloodclots, Sick Things, Psychos, Killjoys, Zhain); 7”s – Magazine, The Wasps, Devo, Blitzkrieg Bop, The Panik, Metal Urbain, Chelsea, The Pigs, Sham 69, Alternative TV, Menace; a review of Julie Davis, Punk; a short article on Charlie’s band, The Buttocks and neat ads for The Panik and Johnny Moped. Oh, and we mustn't forget Willie D’s Hitler’s Kids cartoon...HACK!

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Chainsaw #5         

NN4 9PZ #4, 1980

 

It has a dead swanky textured cover does issue 4 of NN4 9PZ; a lovely accompaniment for its sterling internals. Excellent work all around sees Chris, Mick, Neil, Tim, and Alan interviewing UK Decay, and Killing Joke (it must be said, the favourable write-up of the KJ encounter shows astonishing goodwill on NN4 9PZ' behalf). There's a mini-feature on Bauhaus; live reviews of 999/Pinpoint, The Zeros/Bauhaus/UK Decay, Antibodies, Killing Joke, UK Decay, The Crew/The Zeros/The Russians, Bauhaus/The Scars, Athletico Spizz 80; poetry from T. Sheppard, and a couple of interesting letters pages (T42 Seaman Stockton (Eklektik) corresponded), along with some of Chris' thoughtful responses. Of course there's the obligatory Playlist and a brief fanzine round-up. Pleasing indeed.

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NN4 9PZ #4

Adventuring Into Basketry #2, 1981

 

Here's an actual request fulfillment - issue 2 of Neil Burrows' and Andrew Hulme's AIB (featuring contributions from Monica Bryce, Jonathan Tait, Anna Watson, and Roger Horberry). A wonderfully well-rounded fanzine, issue 2 sees: interviews with Pigbag, The Raincoats, The Comsat Angels, Crispy Ambulance; Submerge Funk One and Submersibles Funk Two focus on "funky Music" (Haircut One Hundred, Heaven 17, Level 42, Blue Rondo A La Turk, Spandau Ballet); reviews of LPs - David Thomas & The Pedestrians, Dislocation Dance, The Diagram Brothers, WNW6 compilation (Artery, Out On Blue Six, The Pinkies, The Room, Dr. Mix & The Remix), Matt Johnson, Depeche Mode, Girls At Our Best, New Order, Ian Dury, Poison Girls, Jowe Head, Richard Earl - 7"s- Method Actors, Vivien Goldman, Lora Logic, Virgin Prunes, Girls At Our Best, Fallout Club, Pigbag, Scritti Politti, Rip Rip & Panic, The Associates, 23 Skidoo, The Cure, Dif Juz, Cabaret Voltaire, The Comsat Angels, John Marlon, Blackouts, Stephen Mallinder, Dance Chapter, Artery, A Certain Ratio - Gigs - Depeche Mode/Blancmange, Linx, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Altered Images, Rip Rig & Panic, Heaven 17; and Spitfire Parade (that's the AIB playlist in Basketmaker's parlance). The lovely lot of it neatly squeezed into 12 perfectly formed pages...hear me hear me - heaR ME HEAR ME!    

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Adventuring into Basketry #2  

Dry Rot #1, 1979

"AT LAST" indeed! This Dry Rot is a firm favourite of mine - just one of a handful of exceptional items I've been holding back. Produced by Rob Callous from the fabulously low-fi D.I.Y. stalwarts, Six Minute War. As far as I know 3 issues of Dry Rot saw the light. There's no flashy front cover for this fanzine, it just gets right on down to brass tacks from the get go with news on Proles, The Unknown, Riot/Scrambled Acne, Benny Normal, Doggy Ryan, Belgrade, The VDUs, Dyno Rod, The Red Plague, Crass. Great interviews with The Epileptics, Crisis and Crass. Live reviews of AD 1984, The Administrators/The Leopards, Brockwell Park including Stiff Little Fingers/The Verdict/The Spoilsports, Spizz Energi/The Last Words, Splodgenessabounds, Graf X/The Mass/The Licks/Klingons. Featuring Dummy, starring Captain Armpit, Shag Nasty, Mekons (selling out to Virgin), and Manicured Noise + Rob's charts (top and bottom 20 of 1979). Excellent stuff!

 

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Dry Rot #1