Ruts DC "Electracoustic Vol. 3"

Ruts DC have just released the third volume in their inspired Electracoustic series, where they revisit and reimagine, not only the old classics, but many of the hidden gems, B-Sides and album tracks from The Ruts and Ruts DC impressive back catalogue. “Electracoustic Vol. 3” is slightly different from the previous volumes, in that it also includes a brand new as yet unreleased track entitled "Bound In Blood”, that proves that the band are continuing in their rich vein of form. The Electracoustic series works on all levels, probably because as the title suggests, these are not just the usual bland acoustic versions that some bands and artists put out as filler or a quick, cost-effective and easy release. Not at all. Often, these are complete re-workings of the songs we have come to know and love, and adding in electric guitars and bass allows them to experiment with the arrangements and add a real texture and variety to proceedings. Hearing the familiar tracks in such a different context also makes you re-evaluate the songs themselves and highlights just what superb songwriters The Ruts were, and more importantly that Ruts DC still are. 

I have written before about Ruts DC and how difficult it must have been for Segs to follow on from Malcolm Owen’s unique vocal delivery, and later for Leigh Heggarty to follow Paul Fox’s unbelievable and singular guitar playing and of course, anyone who has seen them play live in their current guise will understand just how remarkable both have done. So, the Electracoustic sessions are also a chance for both Segs and Leigh to add their own skills and personalities to the old Ruts songs and this gives a totally fresh and invigorating listening experience. I guess first of all, most people will be intrigued as to how they are going to tackle the more straight-ahead Punk Rock songs of the early Ruts and on Vol. 3 you get three great examples, well, three if you get the CD version. The vinyl album ends with “Human Punk” and the bonus tracks on the CD include “Criminal Mind” and “Society”. “Criminal Mind” gets twisted into a blistering Rockabilly shuffle complete with handclaps and drummer Dave Ruffy’s fantastic brush work. “Society” gets filtered down to a sprightly acoustic Folk-Punk classic with an electric blast of guitar from Leigh and Segs’ voice doesn’t lose any of the latent aggression of the original, that most of us only heard as a chaotic live recording. 

“Pretty Lunatics” from the last album “CounterCulture?” is the closest they get to an all-out acoustic number and here it’s a stunningly emotional tug at the heartstrings. Some tracks are not that dissimilar to the originals - the take on the Punky Reggae classic “Jah War” for example but “Dope For Guns” slows down and strips the familiar song back to highlight the mightily impressive bubbling bass line and it really takes on a new life of its own. For me, it’s the tracks from the post-Malcolm Ruts DC albums “Formula Eyes” from “Animal Now” and a brilliant laid-back version of “Whatever We Do” from “Rhythm Collision Vol. 1” that really hit the spot, and dare I say, could well improve on the originals. So, please don’t hesitate in adding this fantastic album to your Ruts collection, if you think you might have heard it all before, then think again and give it a try. You won’t regret it and it’ll have you listening to that almighty back catalogue with fresh ears.  

“Electracoustic Vol. 3” comes in blue vinyl and as mentioned, the CD has three bonus tracks, and both are available to order, along with new merchandise, from the band’s official website here. Don’t forget Volumes 1 and 2 while you’re at it! Ruts DC are also out on a U.K. Electracoustic tour at the moment, culminating in a show at the legendary 100 Club in London on Sunday July 28th so please check the band’s site for the full list of tour dates and how to buy tickets. You can check previous reviews of Ruts DC shows in our Retro Man Blog archive and also original live videos at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here. Finally, don't forget our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast with Ruts DC guitarist Leigh Heggarty.

Retrosonic Podcast · Lockdown Lowdown Episode 2: Leigh Heggarty of Ruts DC

 

Ruts DC & TV Smith at Sub89 Reading, May 17th 2023

Ruts DC take the stage of Reading's SUB89 to a Reggae version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and launch into "Faces In The Sky" from the excellent new album "CounterCulture?" It's a slow-burning paranoid number with a throbbing undertow and a snaking Middle-Eastern guitar riff. A brilliant start to a blistering set from Ruts DC as they continued on part two of their "CounterCulture?/Faces In The Sky" U.K. tour. The band are looking very cool, Dave Ruffy in particular is looking in great shape. Then there's Segs in fedora and shades underpining everything with his superb bass playing and excellent voice. Guitarist Leigh Heggarty in black and white polka dot shirt, waistcoat, trilby and round shades is every inch the guitar hero and there's a great chemistry and interplay between the three of them. Next up it's "S.U.S.", "You're Just A..." and "It Was Cold", a triple hit of tracks from their classic album "The Crack" and you realise, probably a little sadly, that the topics The Ruts tackled at the time of recording the album are unfortunately, still all too prevalent today. Certainly, "S.U.S." seems as relevant now as it did 40 years ago and of course "Jah War" too and the haunting line "when the truncheon came down and knocked him to the ground" could be a line from the brand new record.

 

Dave Ruffy jokingly comments after "No Time To Kill" from 1981's "Animal Now" that when they wrote the song they thought it would end all war and they thought Rock Against Racism would end racism. Sadly, some forty years later nothing much has changed but Ruts DC certainly haven't given up on trying and their protest songs that are packed full of social conscience are needed now more than ever. The new album "CounterCulture?" is probably more musically diverse and adds more Reggae and Dub elements to the intense sonic attack of the last album "Music Must Destroy" and this mix of new material perfectly complements the old classics so that the set-list is a seamless non-stop delight of musical gems one after another. I was really pleased they included "Poison Games", one of my favourites from the new album and "Kill The Pain" in particular is a masterclass in anthemic songwriting. Segs and Leigh swapped instruments for a rare run through of "Despondency" from "Animal Now", Leigh proving that he's a pretty damn good bassist too.

 

Of course, I've waxed lyrical many times in these pages of how impressive I think Leigh's guitar work is - not just in replicating Paul Fox's iconic sound on the older nunbers but in the way he's stamped his own identity on the current Ruts DC. I noted a nifty bit of Wilko Johnson style simultaneous rhythm and lead riffing on "Jah War" that was pretty special. The great thing about live music is that it's sometimes the unexpected and out of the blue moments that really hit you and tonight it's "Pretty Lunatics", the low key campfire singalong from the new album. Kind of like The Soundtrack of Our Lives "The Passover" or Pixies "Where Is My Mind?" which on record might seem pleasant and unassuming songs but become transformed into mightily effective and emotional crowd favourites when played live. Of course, we do get the run of classic Ruts singles "Babylon's Burning", "Staring At The Rude Boys", "Something That I Said" and "West One (Shine On Me)" which go down a storm with the adoring crowd as you would expect, but it's the strenght of the new material that really impresses. Certainly, Ruts DC are going from strength to strength and are as vital and relevant today as they have ever been.

 

Don't forget our two special Retrosonic Podcast specials with Leigh Heggarty are still available, always a thoroughly entertaining guest, you can listen/stream download from Spotify or our Soundcloud archive here. For more information on Ruts DC and how to order "CounterCulture?" please check out their official web-site here. Before the show, Leigh introduced me to Roland Link author of the definitive story of The Ruts and Ruts DC "Love In Vain" which is a must-have for any Ruts fan - check it out here if you haven't already got a copy. You can hear Dennis Lyxzén from The (International) Noise Conspiracy and Refused on his new Wingmen style 'supergroup' Fake Names (which features members of Minor Threat, Bad Religion and Fugazi) talking about the impact that The Ruts had on their new band and the 80's Washington DC Hardcore Punk scene in our recent Retrosonic Podcast here. You can see more videos from the show by subscribing to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here

Retrosonic Podcast · Lockdown Lowdown Episode 2: Leigh Heggarty of Ruts DC

It was great to see TV Smith again too - I enjoyed his set with a full band supporting the original line-up of The Damned at Hammersmith Apollo but now he's back solo, just him and his acoustic guitar opening up on a few few dates during the tour. It was a great set that included the best of his solo career including "Expensive Being Poor", "Generation Y", "Immortal Rich" and one of my personal favourites, "You Saved My Life Then Ruined It" and included some promising new songs, with one in particular going down well called "One Minute To Midnight". Despite the quailty of the solo material, inevitably it's The Adverts classics that get the best reaction and the timeless appeal of "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", "One Chord Wonders", "Safety In Numbers" and "No Time To Be 21" prove what an underated band The Adverts were. Like Ruts DC, TV Smith's politically charged protest songs are needed now more than ever and it's refreshing and inspiring to know that the fire still burns bright in both. You can listen to our Retrosonic Podcast special with TV Smith in our archive here.

You can see more videos from the show by subscribing to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here.

Dennis Morris "Super Perry" - Iconic Images of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Exhibition and Book

Dennis Morris at the Super Perry Exhibition - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Yesterday we went along to the Dennis Morris exhibition Super Perry, a selection of superb photos of Lee "Scratch" Perry arranged to coincide with the release of the book Super Perry and timed to commemorate Perry's sad passing in late August last year. Morris has included pictures of the legendary and eccentric Reggae and Dub producer from the late 70's right up to their last photoshoot together out and about in London in 2016. You can also see photos of John Lydon's pre-Public Image Ltd trip to Jamaica and there's even a full size recreation of Perry's Black Art Studio. We were in luck as Dennis was there in the gallery and was happy to chat and explain more of the background to the photos on display. Dennis Morris started off his career in music photography while he was still at school, hanging around a soundcheck waiting for Bob Marley. Marley was impressed and invited Morris on tour with the Wailers and the subsequent photos became famous worldwide and even graced the cover of Melody Maker, all this before Morris was 17 years old. The photos of Marley caught the eye of Reggae fan John Lydon who invited Dennis to take photos of the Sex Pistols when they signed to Virgin Records. These photos are collected together in the excellent book "Destroy" which was published buy Creation Books. When the Pistols split up, Morris continued to work with Lydon and Public Image Ltd, designing their logo and the "Metal Box" packaging. Dennis then worked in A&R for Island Records and joined the Punk band Basement 5. He formed Drum & Bass unit Urban Shakedown, who Paul Weller chose as the first release for his Respond Records label and this was followed by the Hip Hop outfit Boss, who were signed by Virgin. For details on how to buy Dennis Morris prints and books and news on upcoming exhibitions, please check out the official Dennis Morris web-site here. The Super Perry exhibition which is hosted by Gimme 5, is on at 30 Old Burlington Street, London W1 until Thursday September 7th, for more details please check here.

Dennis Morris photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Ranking Roger “I Just Can’t Stop It: My Life in The Beat” co-written with Daniel Rachel and published by Omnibus Press - Feature Including Exclusive Paul Slattery Photos

I went along to the launch party for Ranking Roger’s autobiography “I Just Can’t Stop It: My Life In The Beat” at the Heavenly Social recently. Of course, it was a very poignant affair as sadly Roger passed away before he could see the book published. Co-writer Daniel Rachel took part in an entertaining interview and Q & A session and did a great job in what must have been difficult circumstances. Daniel has already had books published on subjects that include Rock Against Racism, Britpop, 2 Tone and Red Wedge so he was a good choice to work with Roger on his autobiography. The book was available for sale on the night prior to publication so I picked up a copy and have just finished reading it. First of all I must say, that there are some fantastic photos throughout and it was great to see a couple of my Retro Man Blog colleague Paul Slattery’s pics inside, including the famous one of Roger with Joe Strummer backstage at the Mogador Theatre in Paris. Here, Paul shares two of his own favourite photos and gives us some background behind them.

Ranking Roger - Photo copyright Paul Slattery

“I took this backstage photo of Ranking Roger with his top hat after a gig in late 1979 at The Subscription Rooms in Stroud. He was still only 16 at the time but for a young man he was loaded with charisma, good looks and a lot of talent. Although the gig was nearly forty years ago, I’ll never forget it. A cold winter’s night was turned into a cauldron of heat in the upstairs room of the Subs and I felt the floor bounce up and down with the rhythm of the dancing. Ranking Roger was a smiling genius, his toasting on such numbers as “Tears of a Clown”, “Whine and Grine” and “Big Shot” was a real treat – he certainly earnt his “Ranking” moniker in my opinion, comparing with the likes of Ranking Trevor and Ranking Joe. The Beat were certainly one of the best and most exciting bands I have ever seen and Roger’s toasting, along with the legendary Saxa, added a real slice of Jamaica to what was an incredible live act. The second photo is of Rog, still only 17 years old, and Dave Wakeling blowing the crowd away at the Hammersmith Palais in the spring of 1980”.

The Beat - Photo copyright Paul Slattery

Thank you Paul. The book starts with Roger on stage with The Beat. He stops the band three songs into their set to confront a gang of skinheads in the crowd who are sieg-heiling and shouting National Front slogans. Roger gets the crowd to chant “Black and White Unite” until the offending Nazis disappear and the show goes on. The NME ran a review of the gig in which the writer noted that Roger was “almost hysterical with rage and emotion”. Roger’s no-nonsense attitude towards racism and his mantra of “Love, Peace & Unity” are at the heart of this thoroughly entertaining memoir. Gigs in the late 70’s and early 80’s were a hotbed of violence, a fact that we discussed with Buddy Ascott of The Chords in our special Retrosonic Podcast where he reminisces about the time that skinheads disrupted one of their shows with The Undertones. Sadly, a lot of this violence was of a racist nature. There are similar themes explored in “Day-Glo”, the recent emotionally charged biography of Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, which we reviewed in the Blog here. Whereas Roger had the character that could deal with the situation head on, Poly had her own mental health issues, which saw her struggle with the violence and racism of the time. However, both saw in Punk a scene where individuals/outsiders could thrive creatively regardless of their sex or colour. 

Ranking Roger - Photo copyright Steve White

Roger Charlery was born and raised in Birmingham, quite literally in the heartland of the National Front. Their Headquarters were close to his family home and he would often run outside to abuse the regular marches that passed his house. Roger’s parents had come over from St. Lucia, which was a French speaking Catholic country and I’m sure this background must have had some bearing on his open-minded attitude. He mixed easily and enjoyed playing cricket and football with kids from Asian, White and Black backgrounds. He developed a love of music, inspired by his musician father who had a big record collection that encompassed an eclectic mix such as James Brown, Motown, Manfred Mann and even Country & Western. Roger is also exposed to the sounds of Calypso and Ska from various house parties and later on, shebeens and sound systems. Roger talks about MC’s such as Big Youth and U-Roy and the impact of hearing John Lydon talking about Reggae on the radio. He starts to frequent local pubs and venues popular with Punks and at Barbarella’s in Birmingham he gets friendly with the DJ who allows him to toast over Punk records including, rather bizarrely, Angelic Upstarts “I’m An Upstart”. He gets an early taste for toasting in a live environment when he grabs a mic during a stage invasion at a Specials gig. Roger joins a band called Unity as their drummer and later The Dum Dum Boyz, who like many other Birmingham bands at the time, were multi-racial. Soon, another local multi-racial band were bugging The Dum Dum Boyz for a support slot – this band was called The Beat and Roger finds himself drawn to their more Punky take on Reggae, Ska and Soul. He goes to see them support The Au-Pairs and just can’t stop himself from getting on stage to toast during one song. There's an immediate chemistry between Roger and The Beat and soon afterwards he gladly accepts the offer to join the band, but not before turning down a similar offer from UB40. It’s all go from there, Jerry Dammers snaps up the new Beat line-up for his 2 Tone record label and within nine whirlwind months of joining, Roger finds himself on Top of The Pops performing their debut single “Tears of a Clown”. 

What follows is a conversational, unpretentious and honest autobiography where Roger not only takes us on his journey with The Beat, but also throws in many of his observations on the prevailing attitudes towards racism, sexism and the politics of the time. He talks warmly about John Peel, R.E.M and of touring with Talking Heads and The Police and you might be surprised which of the peroxide haired three-piece was the least friendly. However, The Clash really make an impact. He talks in depth about the band and their 8-night residency with them at the Mogador theatre in Paris, which Roger claims were among the best gigs the Beat ever played. The later chapters suddenly take a slightly darker turn and Roger discusses drugs and groupies. He also admits that the fame and adulation, particularly in America, did start to go to his and Dave Wakeling’s heads. He is particularly honest and open about the reasons for the break-up of The Beat but you will just have to buy the book to find out the whole story. Following the split, Andy Cox and David Steele went on to form Fine Young Cannibals with Roland Gift who commercially outstripped The Beat with two superb LPs. Roger and Dave formed General Public, initially with Mick Jones who had left The Clash. They were both persuaded some years later to get back together for a Beat reunion show at The Royal Festival Hall. This was followed by a couple of ill-fated gigs but things didn’t work out too well between them and Dave went back to live in California where he continued playing gigs as The English Beat. Roger carried on with the Beat name over here with his daughter Saffren and son Matthew, otherwise known as Ranking Junior, joining the line-up. The book ends sadly with Roger saying how much he still loved performing with The Beat “The only things that would make me stop are illness or war, it’s a compulsion, I just can’t stop it”. Sadly just days after finishing those lines, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away on March 26th 2019, aged only 56. Despite the ultimately tragic outcome hanging over the book, it still manages to be a hugely uplifting and positive read. You can feel the warmth of Roger’s huge smile radiating through each page. 

- RIP Ranking Roger. Love, Peace and Unity.

Ranking Roger - Photo copyright Steve White

“I Just Can’t Stop It” is available as a regular paperback here and as a special limited edition, which you can ordered from Rough Trade here. Daniel Rachel’s other books can be ordered here. With thanks to Paul Slattery and Steve White for the excellent photos. Paul is currently working on a book and exhibition of his early Joy Division photographs and we will be sure to give you more details in due course. Please do check out Steve’s Flickr page for his superb archive of live music photography and you can see more examples for his work in our feature on the recent Buzzcocks and Guests tribute gig to Pete Shelley at the Royal Albert Hall here. 

Here To Be Heard: The Story of The Slits - New Documentary Screening and Q&A with Tessa Pollitt

We recently attended a screening of Here To Be Heard, an excellent new documentary movie about The Slits at the historic Regent Street Cinema in central London. This was followed by a lively Q&A session with Slits’ bassist Tessa Pollitt, the movie’s Director William E. Badgley and The Slits manager Christine Robertson. “Here To be Heard” is packed full of exciting live footage of the band in all their shocking and colourful glory and it’s easy to understand what an impact and sense of danger they must have exuded in their early days. Throughout the film, the main voice of The Slits comes from Tessa and the story unfolds from the pages of her scrapbook. She’s wearing gloves to protect the book, almost like some sort of Punk Rock historian in a museum archive and as she carefully flicks through the well-thumbed pages there are fascinating glimpses of old music press cuttings, reviews and photos. The film really captures the fear that spread through the establishment at the emergence of Punk and of course the violence that this fear provoked at the time. Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten and Paul Cook were attacked in the street as were many less high profile musicians and fans and girls were not immune either. Tessa shows us a photo of The Slits on stage and she is wearing jeans with a big slash across the backside. In the voiceover, she tells us that they were actually Ari’s jeans and the cut was caused by a knife. Ari was slashed by some outraged nutter yelling words to the effect of “If it’s a Slit you want, I’ll give you one!” The only place they felt accepted was among their Punk and Reggae peers and they received some welcome support and help from Joe Strummer, John Lydon and Don Letts in particular. They toured with The Clash on the legendary White Riot Tour along with Buzzcocks and Subway Sect and appeared in “The Punk Rock Movie”. Although the early UK Punk explosion did pave the way for some amazing individual female performers and artists such as Gaye Advert, Siouxsie, Fay Fife and Poly Styrene it is still hard to believe that The Slits were pretty much unique at the time. There were not that many independent non-industry manufactured all-girl bands around back then. 

The Slits at Thames Polytechnic, Woolwich 4th March 1978 Photographed by Paul Slattery

The Slits were also more challenging and more chaotic than the majority of their contemporaries and I can imagine that the male dominated music industry and media must have been scared witless by them. Scared, not only by their attitude but by their music too. There was Viv Albertine’s spiky almost Avant-Garde guitar work, Tessa Pollitt’s fluid Reggae-inspired bass, Palmolive’s tribal drum beats and of course Ari Up’s fearsome voice and presence all topped off by her unnerving confidence. The movie highlighted an interesting reminder that this definitive all-girl line-up of the band never actually released any official records and were only captured on tape by the BBC for the John Peel radio sessions. In fact, The Slits didn’t get round to releasing their debut LP “Cut” until 1979 and by then Reggae had really taken a hold and they insisted on signing to Island Records and working with producer Dennis Bovell. In the movie, they admit that most Punks were disappointed that it didn’t sound anything like their raucous radio sessions and early live performances.

Viv in 1980 by Paul Slattery

It wasn’t just the music that had changed either. There were only three band members captured topless and mud-covered in Pennie Smith’s iconic album cover photo. Palmolive, who had left to join The Raincoats, was replaced by Budgie on the drums and they were no longer an all-girl band. The movie mentions the influence of The Pop Group’s angular Funk on The Slits’ sound even to the extent of them borrowing their drummer Bruce Smith to replace Budgie when he left for Siouxsie & The Banshees. The band certainly wanted to challenge people and break down genres and boundaries – touring Revue style with a revolving line-up of eclectic bands, taking in Jazz, Soul and Reggae. They would also become enamoured by Don Cherry’s daughter Neneh who would join the band as a vocalist before going on to a successful solo career in her own right. In 1981 they released an underrated album “Return of The Giant Slits” but the band were sadly to fall apart in 1982 and they disappeared off the mainstream musical radar. In the movie and the later Q&A Tessa describes the shock of suddenly finding herself out of music as akin to a war veteran coming back home, full of adrenaline with nowhere to channel it. She honestly admits that this sudden void was filled by a heroin addiction and she jumped at the chance to re-form the band when an opportunity came up in 2005. Viv and Palmolive declined the offer to re-join but Ari was back and her chemistry with Tessa was renewed.

Compere with Christine, Tessa & William E Badgley at the Q&A

They recruited Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook’s daughter Hollie as replacement vocalist for Neneh Cherry and started touring. They released an album entitled “Trapped Animal” in 2009 and played dates in Japan and Australia. In America, they opened for Sonic Youth and it was nice to see Thurston Moore was there at the movie screening. However, it was during one US tour where things started to unravel. The band were getting frustrated by Ari’s increasingly erratic, confrontational behaviour, decided enough was enough, and quit. Even Tessa could not handle Ari any more. In the movie Hollie gets quite emotional when discussing this period as in hindsight they realise that Ari must have known she was ill and her behaviour was possibly a defence mechanism. What comes across in the movie from the start is that The Slits all looked out for, supported and defended one another so it is sad that Ari could not discuss her health with the others and instead, pushed them away in her efforts to deal with her situation. In the Q&A session afterwards, Director William E. Badgley explained that the seeds of the movie were sown during this last fateful American tour. Ari had insisted that Jennifer Shagawat, the Tour Manager filmed everything along the way, it was as if Ari knew she did not have long to live. When Ari passed away in 2010, Jennifer passed the footage to him and asked him to make sense of it all. Luckily for us Badgley did just that and he has created a long-overdue portrait of The Slits that certainly fizzles with as much energy and excitement as the band themselves. The film also includes new interviews with Viv Albertine and Palmolive (now a contented Christian school teacher living in the States) and there are talking head pieces from a variety of friends, fans and contributors including Gina Birch, Budgie, Bruce Smith, Don Letts, Dennis Bovell, Adrian Sherwood, Hollie Cook and the later line-ups of The Slits. 

During the Q&A session I asked Tessa if she had ever considered picking the bass up again and she admitted that she had tried a couple of times but that it had been too traumatic losing Ari. They had such an unspoken connection and so far she hasn't been able to find that playing music and she gets more pleasure as a DJ nowadays. Some other topics covered included discussing how the dole and squatting scene in the 70's meant that people could be creative on little income which is far more difficult now. Tessa felt that music has lost it's vibrancy and she wouldn't want to be starting off as a youngster in the music business now. She's not really into any bands at the moment but did express her love Subway Sect when I mentioned their original guitarist Rob Symmons is still performing with Retro Man Blog favourites The Fallen Leaves. However she is still enthralled by Jamaican music and culture and talked about The Slits interest in exploring new ideas and inspirations from World music. Indeed their admiration for Japanese culture led to Ari singing in Japanese on "Earthbeat Japan". She explained that The Slits always wanted to move on and not become a caricature of a Punk band. Tessa also touched on Pussy Riot and how there was still much to be done for Women's rights around the world. If you enjoyed the movie and you are a fans of The Slits and Reggae then you may like to know that William will be working with the Here To Be Heard team again on a documentrary about Don Letts, which has just started filming.

Compere with Christine, Tessa & William E Badgley at the Q&A

I can also thoroughly recommend Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits by Zoe Street Howe, which was published by Omnibus Press. Faber have just published Viv Albertine’s second autobiography To Throw Away Unopened a follow up to the excellent Clothes, Music, Boys. You can read a report on Viv’s book talk at the Social in our Blog archive here. There is a Pledgemusic campaign running for the Here To Be Heard DVD release and you can check out William E Badgley's official web-site with details of all his movies here. With thanks to Paul Slattery for the excellent archive photos.

The Stranglers & Ruts DC at Guildford G-Live March 21st 2017 with Photos by Derek D'Souza

The Stranglers - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

The Stranglers story started here in Guildford, indeed there was a far from subtle clue in their original choice of name – The Guildford Stranglers. Thankfully they ditched the prefix pretty quickly, I mean it doesn’t quite have the same Rock’n’Roll ring to it as say, The New York Dolls or Hanoi Rocks does it? It’s hard to believe that this green and pleasant area of Surrey could spawn a band that would become arguably one of the most challenging, violent and unpredictable bands of all their so-called Punk peers. The typically English picture postcard idyll of Chiddingfold, Bramley Village Hall and the Scout Hut in Shalford sound more like locations from an episode of Midsomer Murders rather than important landmarks in The Stranglers story. But just like a plot from the unlikely crime series there was something dark lurking beneath the veneer of suburban commuter belt respectability. But the inner cities don’t have it all and probably Paul Weller’s line “I know I come from Woking and you say I’m a fraud” came the closet, not just geographically (Woking is less than 10 miles away from Guildford) but also philosophically to prove that the "uncool" suburbs can also be a hotbed of seething, righteous anger and creativity.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

The Stranglers played their first ever gig in Guildford and were initially buoyed by Jet Black’s local ice cream and off-licence businesses but the band seem to have maintained a rather ambivalent attitude to the town over the years. After all none of the members were born there and tonight there’s none of the usual trappings of a “hometown” gig as such. Indeed during the early years tensions seemed to be fraught between the band and the town and somewhat ironically, tonight's venue, the G-Live was built on the site of the old Civic Hall from which The Stranglers were once banned by the local council. Just down the road from here nearly 40 years ago, The Stranglers walked off stage half way through a gig being filmed for the BBC's "Rock Goes To College" with the parting shot "Guildford University never represented Guildford, we hate playing to elitist audiences so f**k off!" Unsurprisingly, the BBC never televised the show. Luckily nowadays there’s no such animosity between The Stranglers, the town and its local audience and the band are playing to a loyal and enthusiastic crowd where elitism couldn’t be further from anyone’s mind.

The Stranglers - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

There’s nothing quite like that sense of anticipation when the lights go down and the familiar strains of the "Waltzinblack" intro boom out of the PA system. I still get shivers up and down my spine even now. The band takes the stage and they launch straight into "The Raven" which is the perfect opening number with its lengthy, pulsating intro. After last year’s stunning “Black And White” tour tonight, the emphasis is back on the "Greatest Hits". There is a twist though in that we don’t get "Duchess" or "Nuclear Device" but instead we do get "Who Wants The World" and "Bear Cage". These two tracks always seemed to be hiding under the considerable shadows of the band’s more commercially successful singles but tonight both sound unbelievable, particularly “Who Wants The World” which is transformed into a massive terrace chant with it’s slamming singalong chorus. Anyway, with such a huge back catalogue they are always going to miss out a few of your favourites but the one and a half hour show is packed with enough of the old familiar crowd pleasers to keep everyone happy. "(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)", "Nice ‘n’ Sleazy", "Peaches", "Hanging Around" and "Something Better Change" all sounding as fresh and vital as ever. There’s also the occasional album track thrown into the mix, “Never To Look Back” proves that despite “10’s” weak and dated production and its somewhat pedestrian cover versions, there were a few moments of sheer class to be found on the album. From the debut we get “Sometimes” and from the latest album “Giants” we get “Freedom Is Insane” and “15 Steps” which highlights Baz’s excellent guitar work.

Baz Warne of The Stranglers - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

Baz certainly relishes his role and he’s got the balance just right - he can croon “Golden Brown” in his impressive baritone but also exudes that necessary Stranglers menace. He has a great rapport, not only with his band-mates, but also with the fans. I was reading some comments on Facebook after one recent show and someone mentioned that they thought Baz had 'saved' The Stranglers. You know, I think they might have a point in a way, he definitely re-energised and enthused both the band and many of those fans disillusioned with Hugh's departure and the Paul Roberts era. The band certainly look like they are enjoying themselves, at no point do you get the feeling that they are going through the motions despite JJ and Dave performing with the band for over 40 years. JJ has hardly changed over the years and his bass still sounds like a Triumph Bonneville revving up. He makes eye contact with members of the crowd, acknowledging some familiar faces with a grin here and a wink there and tries to upstage the serious tone of “Golden Brown” with some neat ballet pirouettes behind Baz’s back. Dave Greenfield takes a swig of drink while playing one of his trademark keyboard runs one-handed and takes over the lead vocals on “Genetix”. Now this track does your head in just listening to it on record so I’m not sure how they can play it live. With its weird time signatures it’s not exactly what you would call a dance number, well unless you’ve had a few pints and “have your feet the wrong way round” as Graham Day once sang. Although he is still considered part of the band Jet no longer performs live due to health issues and has been replaced full-time by the excellent drummer Jim MacAulay, who even resembles a young Jet! It’s a shame that Jet can’t make an appearance tonight here in the town were he somehow assembled the band from such an unlikely and disparate bunch of people. I bet during those early rehearsals in the Shalford Scout Hut they would never have imagined some 40 years later that they'd still be playing to sold out venues all over the world. So, thank you Guildford!

Segs of Ruts DC - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

You certainly get value for money when you go to see The Stranglers - as support they have had acts of the calibre of Wilko Johnson and The Alarm and on this tour Ruts DC have been invited along to open the shows. Ruts DC, just like The Stranglers, are still producing superb new music and are riding high on a wave of positivity with the release of their excellent new album "Music Must Destroy". Following the "Rhythm Collison Vol. 2" Reggae and Dub orientated collaboration, the new album sees them stripped back to a more guitar based 'Rock' sound. The band have also pared down accordingly to a three-piece featuring the original Ruts rhythm section of bassist Segs Jennings and drummer Dave Ruffy with Leigh Heggarty on guitar. Such is the strength of the new material that it comprises a large chunk of the night's well received set, "Kill The Pain" has a soaring memorable chorus and "Psychic Attack" is an absolute belter, spitting vitriol with a blistering energy that belies the band's age. You can hear what I mean in Episode 24 of our Retrosonic Podcast. Segs is looking dapper in his suit and trilby, he shows us a bright blue plaster on his finger and jokes "I’m struggling, me and JJ had a bit of a fight backstage but I think I got off quite lightly". It didn’t affect his bass playing noticeably! He handles most of the vocals and has a suitably gruff voice which is ideal when you think back to Malcolm Owen's trademark growl.

Dave Ruffy of Ruts DC - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Retro Man Blog

Talking of gruff vocals, on the album itself Henry Rollins provides the backing vocals on the title track "Music Must Destroy", it's a slower paced yet heavy number which played tonight is another stand-out. The quality of the new songs and the fact that they are much rawer means that they fit in seamlessly alongside the familiar classics such as "In A Rut", "Staring at the Rude Boys" and "West One (Shine on Me)". Segs and Ruffy have sometimes been labelled the "Sly & Robbie of Punk", they even appeared in the BBC's "Story of Reggae" documentary. Tonight "Mighty Soldier" and a peerless "Jah War" remind us that they always had an instinctive love and grasp of Reggae that informed, but never overpowered The Ruts sound. It's a treat to watch Dave Ruffy drumming on these tracks. Of course we are treated to "Babylon’s Burning" and they even manage to squeeze in the manic two minute blast of "Society" before leaving the stage to warm and rowdy applause. You can check out some photos and see our feature on the now legendary Paul Fox benefit show at the Islington Academy back in 2007 here. The gig was sadly one of Paul's last ever live appearances with the band and featured some impressive special guests including Henry Rollins, The Damned, TV Smith, UK Subs, Misty In Roots and many more. Leigh Heggarty writes a humorous Blog about his exploits as a touring musician called "Leigh's Mad World of Guitars" and its well worth checking out.

Leigh Heggarty of Ruts DC - Photographed at Guildford G-Live by Derek D'Souza

Thanks to Derek D’Souza for the excellent photographs, you can check out more of Derek’s portfolio at his blinkandyoumissit web-site. Derek spoke to us about his new book on The Jam, "In Echoed Steps: The Jam and a Vision of The Albion" in our latest Retrosonic Podcast. You can listen to or download the episode below or subscribe for free on iTunes or Mixcloud. You can read more about the band’s Guildford connections in Malcolm Wyatt’s interview with JJ in his superb Write Wyatt Blog here and check out more photos of the gig at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here. For our feature on The Stranglers "Black And White" at Brixton Academy and Reading Hexagon last year please check the Retro Man Blog archive here.

Jah Wobble & The Invaders of The Heart at The Half Moon Putney, Saturday October 10th

Jah Wobble's Invaders of The Heart at the Half Moon Putney

The New Oxford Dictionary of English should be done with it and just go ahead and amend their definition of "eclectic" to simply read – "Jah Wobble". It's the first word that pops into my head whenever I think of the legendary bassist and after witnessing a superb two hour set here at the Half Moon in Putney, there's no reason to think otherwise. We are taken on a mind-bending journey that cherry picks from a bewildering array of styles and genres that he has tackled throughout his career. Tonight's set is loosely based around Wobble's latest release "Redux - Anthology 1978-2015" a beautifully packaged 6 CD box set released by Cherry Red Records. I say loosely based as it would take a damn sight longer than a two hour set to completely cover all aspects of his music. For example, we don't get any Chinese Opera or Japanese Dub tonight - but what's a couple of skipped genres amongst friends? He kicks off proceedings with "Socialist" from Public Image Ltd's "Metal Box" which goes to show just how ahead of the game PiL were, as the Krautrock inspired, Drum'n'Bass precursor thunders around the Half Moon. We then get a run through of most of his new 12" vinyl “Cover Versions” album which includes the Dave Brubeck Quartet's Jazz standard "Take Five" and Harry J Allstars’ Ska classic "Liquidator". In a strange way these are surprising choices mainly due to their familiarity, I suppose it’s surprising because we are always so busy looking for the obscure. 

Jah Wobble at the Half Moon Putney

Then we get treated to Jazzy versions of some much loved theme tunes, "Midnight Cowboy", "Get Carter" and "The Sweeney" which ends with Jah telling us, "You're Nicked!". Renowned as a pioneer of World Music we then get a cross section of genre busting songs which take us on a trip across the globe. It’s a cross continental journey with its starting point of course firmly bas(s)ed in Jamaica with that heavy Dub sound. We then travel to the heart of Spaghetti Western land as evident in "New Mexican Dub" and then there are the plaintive, atmospheric Arabic strains of "Java" and "Invaders Of The Heart". Not forgetting the “hits” – “Visions Of You” and “Becoming More Like God” which are personal highlights. Both have Wobble on lead vocals and are swirling with North African, Indian and Far Eastern infused sounds. But as he has proven with his recent collaborations with Keith Levene, he's also not afraid to stay at home to revisit and shake up the past. So, tonight we get a "sophisticated" take on the classic "Public Image" which I would like to hear a recorded version of as it worked so well.

Jah Wobble's Invaders of The Heart at the Half Moon Putney

I have to say the current Invaders of The Heart band he has assembled is something special, you can hardly call them a backing band as Wobble gives them free rein to adequately show off their quite considerable  talents. Jamie Crossley is half hidden behind a computer screen and despite Wobble claiming he "didn't quite know what Jamie does" he did provide a nice undercurrent of samples and atmospheric sounds that didn't detract from what was basically a pretty stripped down outfit. Martin Chung manages to wring some simply mind-blowing sounds from his fluorescent blue Ibanez guitar; he seems to come in for a lot of good natured ribbing from Jah throughout the show, in fact only keyboard player George King seems to escape the Bassist's banter. George switched effortlessly between superb Jazz piano to some great Hammond organ sounds. But it's drummer Marc Leyton-Bennett who almost steals the show with a stunning display behind the kit. Wobble's affectionate put-downs ("I resent them their youth...!") and teasing ("Marc is the brawn and Jamie is the brains...") can't hide the fact that he seems genuinely chuffed to have the band around him. 

Jah Wobble's Invaders of The Heart at the Half Moon Putney

He chats to them as much as to us in the crowd "This is from the Jah Wobble early period Chungy..." and "This is from the Jah Wobble 80's period, Marc you would have looked good back then, in make up and eye-liner". Then he deadpans "Oh no, I'm referring to myself in the third person now..!" The one-liners come thick and fast, he turns to his guitarist "The problem with the music business Chungy is there are too many name-droppers.” Then he turns to us. “Anyway, here's a track I wrote with Holger and Jaki from Can...!" At one point all the banter does back-fire on him though, there’s a bit of an embarrassing moment when he is bigging up the bass as an instrument. "You see, the bass is the Lion of the Jungle, whereas the guitar is more of your meerkat". The bass decided not to work. Cue a bit of an awkward shuffle, a change of instrument and a sly grin from the meerkat in the band! Then it is back to business. The sound man is asked to do a bit of live mixing and then implored to turn the bass up until it hurts. "You have your insurance, don't come crying to me afterwards". The set draws to a close with “Poptones” closely followed by a pounding, extended version of "Fodderstompf" and we all join in singing along, "We Only Wanted To Be Loved..." Wobble coerces Chungy into joining him in an impressive aerobics routine which included star jumps, marching on the spot and finally he machine guns the band and crowd with his bass. There was no encore, but to top that, even with this band, would have been nigh on impossible.

Jah Wobble at the Half Moon Putney

For more information on upcoming tour dates and all the latest news please check out the Jah Wobble official web-site or Facebook page. The "Redux - Anthology 1978-2015" box set is available to buy from Cherry Red Records here. For more photos of the gig please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and hit “Like” if you are not already following.

Jah Wobble's Invaders of The Heart at the Half Moon Putney

Ruts DC at Reading SUB89 by Steve Cotton from Art Of The State

Ruts DC by Steve Cotton

I'm very pleased to welcome Steve Cotton, from one of my favourite web-sites Art Of The State, who has kindly contributed a few words and some excellent photos from the Ruts DC gig at Reading's SUB89 club last Friday. From what I heard and judging by Steve's report, it seemed to be a really great show, and we will be keeping a closer eye on Ruts DC in the future...

"It's a bit of a confession but I'd never seen the Ruts or Ruts DC until last Friday. There, I needed to get that out of the way right at the start. Despite being one of my all time favourite bands I was too young to have seen them before the death of Malcolm Owen and by the early eighties was too into straight down the line UK82 punk to take a chance on Ruts DC. I attempted to rectify this situation in 2007 but failed miserably to get a ticket to the Paul Fox benefit gig. The closest I was getting to the Ruts by this time was listening to DagNasty and Gallows cover versions. Gradually though, I started hearing really good reports about Ruts DC gigs and when an opportunity came up last week to see them at Reading's SUB89 venue I ventured out. Would they live up to my admittedly high expectations?

The band took to the stage with little fanfare and it was immediately apparent that there's now five of them. Drummer Dave Ruffy and John 'Segs' Jennings are joined onstage not only by guitarist Leigh Hegarty, but a female singer and a keyboard player. Kicking off with three decent but mainly reggae numbers had me peering over the monitors to see the rest of the set list. Personal favourite "Backbiter" was up next and didn't disappoint, crunching guitar, thundering bass and rock solid drums. The best known songs of the Ruts then started flowing interspersed with output from the Ruts DC both old and new.

"Mighty Soldier", the opening track of Ruts DC's recently released "Rhythm Collision Volume 2" album sounds particularly fine with it's call for peace as does "Smiling Culture", whose lyrics show nothing much has changed in 30 year in the way we're dealt with by the Police. This is a band that need not rely solely on output from their early years but there's plenty of that too. A mellower version of "Sus", an atmospheric "It Was Cold", "Jah War" and "Love In Vein" are all delivered in style, often with accompanying spoken intros. The Ruts singles are played with passion and the crowd react accordingly. There's plenty of jostling during "Staring At The Rude Boys" and "Babylon's Burning" but the truly standout song was the set closer "In a Rut", which meshes both punk and reggae together. It provides the perfect opportunity for the band, and in particular guitarist Lee, to up the ante and the group leave the stage at the perfect point. We're all very satisfied but we still want more. That'll just have to wait until next time...

To keep up to date with Ruts DC news, info and tour dates please visit their official web-site. Guitarist Leigh Hegarty also does a thoroughly entertaining Blog/Tour Diary entitled "Leigh's Mad World of Guitars", which is well worth checking out. 

Please do take a look at Steve's excellent Art Of The State web-site, as he photographs, not only the underground Punk scene, but also specializes in some excellent pictures of London. From the familiar tourist sights to Art Deco architecture, from churches and monuments to football stadiums and art galleries, he covers everything with a truly artistic eye. Steve also gets into the hidden corners of the East End and the street art and graffiti scenes, and these pictures are particularly interesting and in complete contrast to the more familiar sights of the Capital.

You can read a report on the legendary 2007 Paul Fox benefit concert on the Blog here.

With many thanks to Steve. All photos copyright Steve Cotton Artofthestate 2013.