Red Beans & Rice

Red Beans & Rice - That Driving Beat/Throw It In The Grass
Chiswick CHIS 124. Released 7 March 1980.
Produced by Pete Wingfield
engineered by Alvin Clarke
Lavern Brown: vocals
Jeff Coleman: guitar
Mike Paice: saxophone, harmonica
Benny Herbert: bass
Tom Riley: drums

That Driving Beat by Red Beans & Rice is one of Chiswick's should-have-been-hits. A Willie Mitchell tune that gets a powerful Sam & Dave-like treatment, it's a sure fire floor filler. Released in the midst of the mod revival, it was the right record at the right time, but things were not to be. There's little info to be found on this band. They had a track on Albion's The London R&B Sessions featuring the same line-up, and there was an E.P. on either Ace or Big Beat (SW 68) that I've yet to track down. After singer Lavern Brown left, a new line-up recorded Live At The Dublin Castle for Ace (CHM 72, 1983), that features fun, but workman-like, blues work-outs that lack the spark of the 45. What else is there to tell? Lavern Brown is a mainstay on the London blues circuit and later worked with Van Morrison, while Tom Riley (who took over vocal duties after Brown left) had worked with Dave Edmunds. Oh, and producer Pete Wingfield had a 1975 hit with Eighteen With A Bullet.
Besides the standard U.K. issue, there were A-label promo copies (see below and please excuse the fuzzy eBay swipe) and a rare German picture sleeve (above).

Hamburg 1978 punk fest

Another scan from Roger Armstrong's archives. Even with the Pistols non-apperance due to their split six months earlier, this is one heck of a line-up! Johnny Moped among cosmic krauts! And how did Dutchies Captain Coke ever get on this bill? I've put up this link before; but right here, you can check some cool pictures of this event...

(not so) Dirty Pictures

Muchos gracias to Chiswick's own Roger Armstrong who send in a CDR full of archive material. Promo pictures, advertisements, stickers, label shots, posters, you name it. All will be posted here in due time, but in the meantime, check this ad for the Radio Stars' Dirty Pictures.

Cramps ad

Little Bob Story promo pic

Radio Stars ad

Cramps ad

Damned ad

Let's open the floodgates!

The initial idea was to go through the Chiswick catalogue chronologically on this here blog, and then slowly move onwards into documenting the label's many offshoots. This would have worked out fine if what I call my "archives" were ordered in some kinda sane fashion. But looking around at the piles of what can only be desrcibed as "stuff", it's obvious that I can only keep this blog going by posting things at random. But look at it this way; doesn't life itself appear just like that? Variety, surprises, whatever drops from the shelves first. The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Elmore James, Super Rail Band Of The Buffet Hotel De La Gare De Bamak Mali or the Drug Addix, it's all earcandy to me. So sit tight, hold on to your seat and dig this ride...

Rock On ad

Rarities (3)

Ultravox/Damned split LP. De Agostini IGDA 1145/46, 1990.
Tracklisting:
Ultravox: My Sex, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Slow Motion, Maximum Acceleration, Man Who Dies Every Day.
Damned: Love Song (live), Machine Gun Etiquette, Smash It Up Pts 1&2 (live), Wait For The Blackout, Therapy.

Now here's a strange one; not necessarily rare, but a real curiosity. Apparently this is part 72 (!) of an ongoing series entitled Il Rock that was sold at newspaperstands throughout Italy, even tho' all copies state that this disc is "Non in Vendita" (not for sale)... As with so many Italian releases there's plenty to ponder upon. Look at those pictures! That's Midge Ure, who had absolutely nothing to do with these earlier (and frankly much more preferable) Ultravox recordings from their days at Island. Likewise the Damned pic stems from their stint at Stiff with Brian James still aboard, and predates these Chiswick recordings by about two years. The track selection seems almost random; why the live takes instead of the real deal? and, come on, Therapy? probably the least representative Damned tune to pick from their Chiswick material...

Count Bishops Italian picture sleeve

The Count Bishops - Sometimes, Good Guys Don't Wear White/You're In My Way
Chiswick CH 201, 1978 Italy

Now here's a real curiosity, an Italian only coupling of these great tunes off of the Bishops' first LP. The label sez campione non commerciable which might mean it's a promo copy, but then again, one of those on-line translation services tells me it means "champion not commerciable"...
Anyway, if there's one there's gotta be more. The Italian Chiswick discography is a big blank space here at HQ. Who's gonna fill me in?

Damned From The Start

Damned - Damned From The Start (no label, LP)

You'd figure that with the recent anniversary editions of Machine Gun Etiquette and The Black Album, the number of tracks recorded during the band's stint at Chiswick would be taken care off. And I guess it does, unless of course you take the various demos the band recorded at this time.
This 2004 LP (a limited edition of 293 copies) features six tracks from said period (3 demos for each album). Sound quality is reasonable and there are some interesting variations compared to the final versions. Melody Lee has a guitar intro rather than the more familiar piano one, while Plan 9 Channel 7 is an instrumental take. The Black Album material is less obviously different but still worthwhile. The Damned discography mentions various other demos from this period but these still have to make their way to vinyl.
On a side note: Back in the 80s, when tape-trading was all the rage, the Damned's first ever demo session (recorded in 1976 and produced by Matt Dangerfield) was always mentioned as bein' "the Chiswick demos". Anybody know if there's any truth in that?

Radio Stars picture from the vaults

From Dutch magazine, July 1978.

Radiators From Space picture from the vaults

Radiators From Space pictured in Rock On, from Dutch magazine, nov 1977.

Skrewdriver

It might be stating the obvious, but just in case: I have absolutely no time for Skrewdriver's, or better make that singer Ian Stuart's, post Chiswick "career". Nor do I want to go into any details of that on this here blog. But if you really wanna read the entire sad saga, I suggest picking up Cranked Up Really High the excellent book by Stewart Home.
That said, I really dig the band's thug-punk style recordings for the label. I'll post something on their recorded output someday soon, but in the meantime, check this very informative interview with original member Phil Walmsley. Not only for the Skrewdriver historical facts, but it also gives some insight into the way Chiswick worked as a label.

Radio Stars BBC recordings

Radio Stars - Good Personality The BBC Live Anthology. (Punk Vault CD)

From Japan comes this excellent, but probably not very legal, CD with 22 songs recorded by the Radio Stars for the BBC. Two In Concert live sets and their third, and final, Peel Session. Sound quality is pretty good, AM mono taped from the radio, and the performances pretty darn solid. Best of the bunch is the May 1978 (and not 1976, as the sleeve states) In Concert recording, which is just a hit-after-shouldhavebeenhit blast with the bands in it's prime. The Peel Session dates from September of the same year and has great versions of Radio Stars and Boy Meets Girl and as an extra bonus you get Squeeze doing Sad Girl (Must be some Japanese joke I don't get). By the time of the June 1979 In Concert set, the Radio Stars had lost some of their spark. The older songs still sound great, but newer material like Wall Of Death and Nice Girls don't really measure up. That said, I don't think any fan would want to be without this CD. Check the usual auction sites for availability...

Geef Voor New Wave

My introduction to the Chiswick label came courtesy of a Dutch-only compilation album entitled Geef Voor New Wave that featured (a.o.) Johnny Moped, Motorhead, The Radiators From Space and Radio Stars.
By late 1977 the Dutch branch of Ariola had, through various licensing deals, a solid stack of new wave artists. Trouble was, this "new" music wasn't selling. In late December Jonathan Richman had just entered the charts with Egyptian Reggae and before that only the Stranglers' Something Better Change and the Pistols LP had dented the charts. A marketing plan was conceived in which the consumer didn't buy an actual record, but donated his hard earned pay to these starving young musicians ("they are banned from radio and tv", "they live in such poverty, they use safety-pins to keep their worn-out clothes together" etc) and in return received a record by said artists. A competition was held ("create something that you think of as very new wave, and win a trip to London"), thousands of small leaflets were distributed around the country announcing the entire shindig, there was a short item on national TV (that I've sadly never seen) and finally there was the budget compilation album. Obviously it didn't work out quite that way. The general public didn't catch-on to anything new wave related until Blondie hit the TV screens two months later and dominated the charts for the next three years. And to the handful of fans of punk-ish sounds, any campaign set up by a major label was pure blasphemy.
The album tho' was perfectly suited for someone like me who, depending on paper-route money and parental hand-outs, wanted to hear as much of this new music as possible.
Looking at the track-listing today, I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's a great comp. It also shows the diversity of what was considered punk or new wave back then.

A1 Rubinoos - Rock And Roll Is Dead
A2 Motors - Dancing The Night Away
A3 Johnny Moped - No One
A4 Eddie And The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do
A5 Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes
A6 Generation X - Your Generation
A7 X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours!
A8 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll
B1 Jonathan Richman - Roadrunner
B2 Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
B3 Motorhead - Motorhead
B4 Dwight Twilley Band - I'm On Fire
B5 Radiators From Space - Television Screen
B6 Radio Stars - Dirty Pictures
B7 Earth Quake -Trainridee

What impressed me most about those Chiswick tracks was that they were so impenetrabley LOUD! Tho' god knows what Lemmy would make of his band ever being considered new wave... (my copy of the first Motorhead LP proudly boasts a Geef Voor New Wave sticker!).

The Rings - I Wanna Be Free

The Rings - I Wanna Be Free/Automobile
Chiswick S 14, released 20 May 1977.
Line-up: Twink: vocals
Alan Lee Shaw: guitar, vocals
Dennis Stow: bass
Rod Latter: drums
Produced by Martin Gordon

The Rings were formed by Twink (real name John Alder) veteran of many psychedelic bands including Tomorrow and The Pink Fairies. While primarily a drummer he took on the role of front man in the band while Alan Lee Shaw played guitar and wrote the songs (Shaw also appeared on Chiswick off-shoot label Big Beat with a record produced by Sex Pistol Paul Cook (Physicals - Be Like Me/Pain In Love NS 58)). Songs at the time included a mix of originals and Fairies numbers. Rod Latter played drums (later to join the Adverts). The band was completed by Dennis Stow on bass. After Ted Carrol saw the band at Dingwalls, they signed a one off deal with Chiswick that brought the excellent single I Wanna Be Free/Automobile in May 1977.

Twink: "It was fun, and of course I was the lead vocalist with that band. Things were starting to happen and then we got a booking at the Mont de Masson, the festival in France on the Spanish borders. That's when thing started to fall apart. There was a whole load of stuff going on in the background which I wasn't aware of. The rest of the guys were forming another band to capitalize on the event, so what happened was that I was able to put another band together as The Rings. I phoned up the promoters and told them what was happening". The "other band" were the Maniacs (with Robert Crash replacing Dennis Stow).

Twink kept The Rings going for a while, and a follow up single was announced in Sounds 22.10.77 as being called Psychedelic Didgerdoo as the precursor to an album ! It never happened, at least not as The Rings.

Mark P. reviewed the 45 in Sniffin' Glue (issue 12, August 1977): "Christ,this is a burner.Goodn'yes a classic R&B,fast, breakneck,ex-Fairies,now split.Right Game,the Gorillas,the 101'ers,the Razors and now the Rings all split.Bad luck ...I hope they have better luck with MOTORHEAD!!!"

There are at least four different issues of this single: The usual Chiswick set: S 3 (in glossy sleeve) and NS 3 (in both cardboard and paper sleeves) plus the rare French issue (Chiswick/Barclay 640.126).

Resources: Alen Lee Shaw discography, Liner notes to the Chiswick Records Story 2CD, punk77, Sniffin' Glue, The Essential Punk Accessory, Terrascope (pdf file)

Chiswick bands on YouTube

Hope You're all aware of the joy that is YouTube. Did some diggin' and came up with the following videos from bands on Chiswick/Big Beat. Enjoy:

Cramps - Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? (The Tube)
Cramps - What's Inside A Girl (The Tube)
Cramps - You've Got Good Taste (The Tube)
Damned - Drinkin' About My Baby (Something Else)
Damned - I Just Can't Be Happy Today (Old Grey Whistle Test)
Damned - Love Song (German TV)
Damned - Love Song (Top Of The Pops)
Damned - Plan 9 Channel 7 (video)
Damned - Smash It Up Part 2 (video)
Radio Stars - No Russians In Russia (Marc)
Rocky Sharpe & the Replays - Come On Let's Go (?)
Rocky Sharpe & the Replays - Imagination (?)
Rocky Sharpe & the Replays - Ramalama Ding Dong (German TV)
Skrewdriver - 1977 news clip
Sniff 'n The Tears - Driver's Seat (Top Of The Pops)
Sniff 'n The Tears - Driver's Seat (video)

Obviously, if you're aware of other goodies, please drop 'em in the comments box...

E-mail from Xerxes!

Jeroen

I suppose strictly speaking I shouldn't be responding to you on this link as I have no information to pass on about obscure punk bands; well I probably have if I put my mind to it, but that isn't the reason I'm writing.

I could have signed up as a blogger, but to an elderly person like myself it seems too much trouble.

Anyway the reason I'm writing is to thank you for tracking down those lovely Moped pictures, especially the Camden ones (the Syd Barrett of the blank generation?) and the Hamburg ones, for seeing Fred again.

Last night I had the honour of buying Johnny a few pints, along with Slimey and Berk, and of course Brenda, and I'm happy to report he's in fine form. Obviously he lives like a king off all the royalties from his back catalogue and only does his job in the supermarket to ensure he doesn't loose the common touch.

Last night we were talking about the old days - and here is something you could do for us. We want to find the Moped fan. There was only one - he came to most of the gigs (which is a darn site more than some of the band could say) and wore a diving mask. Who was he? What was his name? Where is now? Does he still go out wearing the diving mask?

Not sure the best way of advertising this plea, I'll leave that to you, but the top prize is a winner. A night out in the Dog & Bull in Croydon buying all existing members of the band beer (and one cider, and a dry martini with ice) all night. What a prize - I hope we don't get too many pretenders.

happy to discuss

best wishes

John " Xerxes" Skinner

OK, all you sherlocks out there, the search is on! Any information that might lead to the man in the diving mask can be send here...