The Enemy: Five Songs Live1978

The Enemy were one of the most influential New Zealand bands of the Punk era. They broke up before officially releasing anything. These songs were recorded at The Enemy’s final gig at the Windsor Castle pub in Auckland in 1978. We Are The Enemy and Iggy Told Me were crowd favourites. Don’t Catch Fire reappeared on Toy Love’s only album. Tease was later transformed by Toy Love into Squeeze. A point of interest here is Chris Knox’s fake British accent. Three members Alec Bathgate, Mike Dooley and Chris Knox went on to formed Toy Love after The Enemy’s demise.

The five songs in the zip are

1. We Are The Enemy
2. Iggy Told Me
3. Tease

4. Don’t Catch Fire
5. Gone To The Worms

Chris Knox                Vocals
Mick Dawson               Bass
Alec Bathgate            Guitar
Mike Dooley              Drums

We Are The Enemy.mp3
Five Songs From Live At The Windsor Castle 1978

Killing Joke: Requiem 1980

Killing Joke were formed in 1978 in Notting Hill, London. Although they shared an aggressive element with Punk, they were different from most London bands of the time. They played slower, denser songs and they used a synthesizer. Their earlier records were released on their own Malicious Damage label. Requiem was released on EG Records in 1980. It was Killing Joke’s third single. It’s a different version than the one that appears on their self-titled debut album. The B-Side, Change was originally released as limited edition seven inch. Only 300 copies were sold. It appears on the American version of their debut album, but not the British version.

Produced by Killing Joke

Jaz Coleman        Vocals, Keyboards
Geordie Walker                      Guitars
Youth                                          Bass
Paul Ferguson                         Drums

  

Requiem.mp3

Change.mp3 

As a bonus here is the Eighties. It’s the song Killing Joke claim Kurt Cobain copied for Come As You Are. In 1993 they sued. The suit was dropped when Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. 

Eighties.mp3

Discharge: Decontrol 1980

Discharge were formed in Lemmy’s hometown of Stoke-on-Trent in 1977. They were a Punk band, but their songs have been covered by the likes of Metallica, Anthrax, Sepultura, and Napalm Death. Often hailed as the first band to blend Punk and Metal. Their sound was so widely copied it became know as D-beat (D for Discharge). The two songs on the B-side, It's No T.V. Sketch and Tomorrow Belongs To Us typify that sound. Decontrol was released in 1980 on Clay Records. It reached number 5 on the UK Indie Chart.

 Producers John Brierley and Mike Stone

Cal          Vocals
Bones      Guitar
Rainy         Bass
Tezz        Drums

Warning recorded from vinyl. Surface noise can be heard

Decontrol

It's No T.V. Sketch

Tomorrow Belongs To Us

The Saints: One Two Three Four EP 1977

In 1974 Brisbane band The Saints, started mixing their love of 1960’s Pop with their love of high energy Detroit rock. Their set list included speeded up cover versions of Del Shannon, and Ike and Tina Turner as well as Stooges songs. In late 1977 after the release of their debut album, (I am) Stranded, they released the One, Two, Three, Four EP. Which included cover versions of Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High and Connie Francis’ Lipstick On Your Collar. The two other original songs on the EP (Demolition Girl & One Way Street) were different versions than the ones that appear on the (I am) Stranded album.

 

Produced By  Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper

Chris Bailey       Vocals

Ed Kuepper        Guitar
Ivor Hay            Drums
Kym Bradshaw    Bass

The Saints - 1234 EP

Fear: I Love Living In The City 1978

Fear were an early Californian Punk band. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1977.  In 1981 they appeared in Penelope Spheeris’ film The Decline of Western Civilization. This lead to an infamous appearance on the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live. Which coursed $20,000 worth of damage to the studio. This is their first single released on Criminal Records in 1978. It was the only recording to feature the original line up.

Lee Ving                 Vocals
Burt Good                Guitar
Derf Scratch              Bass
Johnny Backbeat     Drums

I Love Living In The City

Now You're Dead

West Auckland Punk Gig Poster 2 1983

 

Firstly, sorry about the poor quality of the poster. It’s a scan of a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. Not many of these West Auckland gig posters survived. This one is from 1983. No Tag were just about to release their album. The Plunket Boys had become Vicious Circle on their way to becoming The Warners.  Zyklon-B contained members of The Mormons and Agent Orange (the Mt Roskill Punk band not U.S. one).

Here’s three songs by bands who played at this gig.

The Henchmen - Bitch Goddess

Zyklon-B - Youth On Our Side

No Tag - Mistaken Identity

Or all of them as a .zip

West Auckland Punk Gig Poster

The Nipple Erectors: King Of The Bop 1978

The Nipple Erectors are today remembered as the first band of  The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan. Formed in 1976 by early converts to Punk, MacGowan and Shanne Bradley. They playing their first gig at the legendry Punk venue the Roxy Club. At a time when Teddy Boys and Punks saw themselves on opposite sides, the Nipples Erectors were punks influence by rockabilly and played songs with the ’12 Bar’ blues structure. They were Punks who wore Zoot Suits. Released in 1978 on Soho Records, King Of The Bop was their recording debut. After its release they changed their name to The Nips and released a further three singles and a live album. Calling it quits in 1981.

Shanne Bradley & Shane O'Hooligan

Roger Towndrow                            Guitar
Arcane Vendetta                            Drums
Shane O'Hooligan  (MacGowan)   Vocals
Shanne Bradley                               Bass

***Warning Ripped from Vinyl. Some Surface Noise.***

King Of The Bop

Nervous Wreck

The Gun Club: Ghost On The Highway 1981

 

Formed in 1980 in Los Angeles by the president of the Blondie fan club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce. But The Gun Club didn’t sound anything like Blondie, in fact they didn’t sound like anyone else at the time. They mixed Blues, Country and Rockabilly playing them with the energy and simplicity of Punk. Their influence can be heard in bands from The White Strips to R.E.M. though a multitude of Alt Country bands.  Ghost On The Highway was their first single. Released by Beggars Banquet, licensed from Ruby Records. Both Ghost On The Highway and the B-Side (Sex Beat) were written by Jeffrey Lee Pierce.

Ward Dotson                       Guitar
Jeffrey Lee Pierce    Vocals/Guitar
Rob Ritter                              Bass
Terry Graham                     Drums

Produced by Chris D

Ghost On The Highway
Sex Beat

Or both as a .zip
The Gun Club

Radio Birdman: Burn My Eye 1976

 

Radio Birdman were form in Sydney Australia by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in 1974. Their name comes from a misheard lyric in the song 1970 by The Stooges. Radio Birdman were a Punk band before there was such a thing as Punk. They made a decision not to be commercial, not to cater to venues, record companies or popular taste. No venue in Sydney would touch them. They didn’t play covers or Aussie Rock. So they started their own venue, The Oxford Funhouse (Funhouse is also a name of a Stooges song). No major record company was interested, so they released a low budget EP on an independent label. Trafalgar Records was Trafalgar studios own label with no national distribution.  During the recording, as a form of percussion, the Band crushed beer cans (VB) on their heads. Their debut EP - Burn My Eye - was released in October 1976, one month after The Saints’ I’m Stranded. You could build a good case to say that these two releases are the start of Australian Punk and Alternative Rock.   

Produced by      John Sayers and Charles Fisher

Warwick Gilbert                  Bass
Ron Keeley                      Drums
Chris Masuak       Guitar / Piano
Deniz Tek            Guitar / Vocals
Rob Younger           Lead Vocals

Smith & Wesson Blues
Snake
I-94
Burn My Eye

Or the whole EP as a .zip
Radio Birdman - Burn My Eye EP

Lightning Raiders: Criminal World 1981

 

The Lighting Raiders are one of those bands that should have been huge, but for some reason never made it. They had the songs, they had the connections and credibility. Original bassist Andy Allan played on the Sex Pistols single Silly Thing. Steve Jones and Paul Cook returned the favour and played on the Lightning Raiders debut single (Psychedelic Musik). They could pull a crowd, and had a fierce live reputation. The critics’ love them, reviews were always positive. They released the Criminal World 7” and an EP in 1981 both on Island Record’s subsidiary label Revenge Records. Who then mysteriously dropped them from the label just as the recording of the album was about to start. And that was it for Lightning Raiders they broke up.

John Hodge (Little John )     Guitar
Gass Wild                            Vocals
Duncan Sanderson                Bass
Bruce Irvine                          Guitar 
George Butler                     Drums

***Warning Recorded off of Vinyl. Surface Noise and a few clicks.***
Criminal World
Citizens

The Boyfriends: I Don't Want Nobody 1978

How good were New York’s The Boyfriends? The Ramones covered one of their unreleased songs (I Need Your Love) on their album Subterranean Jungle. This is they debut single released on Bomp! Records in 1978.  Sadly, this is pretty much it for The Boyfriends. Just after this was released they sign on to Malcolm McLaren’s management. After turning down good offers in order to wait for a great offer, he left them with no record contract and no management. Only 100 copies of their second single (Wrapped Up In A Dream) were pressed in 1981. 

Bobby Dee Waxman     Guitar/Vocals
Paddy Lorenzo              Guitar/Vocals
Jay Nap                                      Bass
Lee Crystal                               Drums

***Warning recorded off of vinyl. Surface Noise***

I Don't Want Nobody

You're The One

West Auckland Punk Gig Poster 1982

This is a gig poster for a local Punk dance in Auckland New Zealand from 1982. No Tag, The Mormons, The Plunket Boys and Red Cross were  cornerstone bands of the early 1980’s West Auckland hall punk scene. They played self-organised gigs in hired West Auckland halls. The gigs were promoted by world of mouth and self-designed photocopied posters like this one. The Plunket Boys put this gig (and therefore this poster) together. It was closed down early by the Police like many were. The reason the Queen says there are four bands playing but there are five on the poster, is because No Tag were added at the last minute.

The Steroids: Mr. Average 1980

This is the debut single of Wellington, New Zealand’s The Steroids. Released in 1980 on  their own White Light Records. It is also the debut recording of Alan Jansson. Who, two years after playing guitar on this record was ‘Pulsing’ all over the radio with his new band The Body Electric. In 1995, he scored a worldwide hit as the producer and co-writer of OMC’s multi-million selling How Bizarre. But this is a great example of an early self-released New Zealand punk record.

Produced by P. Blake

Alan Jimson (Jansson)   Guitar
Andrew Dray                    Bass
Robbie Holmes              Drums

Art work by Claudie

***Warning recorded from vinyl. Surface Noise***

Mr. Average

Out Of Control

Destroy All Monsters: Meet The Creeper / Nov 22nd 1963 1979

Destroy All Monsters were formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1973 by art students Niagara, Jim Shaw, Mike Kelley, and Cary Loren. Conceived as an experimental “Anti-Rock” band. By 1976 Kelley and Shaw had left. In 1977 Ron Asheton formerly of Detroit powerhouse, The Stooges joined along with Michael Davis, ex-bassist for Detroit legends MC5.  Now it was Detroit City Rock. Within a few months Niagara had left her long time boyfriend Loren, for rock star Asheton. Loren left the band. This double A-Side was released in 1979. Singer Niagara got her name as a little girl when her older sister use to lock her in a dark closet and she would cry and cry. So her sister cruelly called her Niagara.

Niagara               Vocals
Ron Ashton         Guitar
Michael Davis       Bass
Rob King            Drums

Ben Miller              Sax
Larry Miller        Guitar

***Warning recorded off of Vinyl. Surface Noise and some clicks***
Meet The Creeper 

November 22nd 1963 
 

Splodgenessabounds: Simon Templer 1980

Punk rock meets Benny Hill. Splodgenessabounds specialized in toilet humour lyrics, many of their songs were about farting and sniggering at sex. With song titles that sounded like a Viz cartoon (Michael Booth's Talking Bum) clearly they were not The Clash. Their live shows feature simulated and some not so simulated sexual acts between singer Max Splodge and his backing singer girlfriend Baby Greensleeves.
Simon Templer released in 1980, was their debut single. It failed to get any airplay but the B-side Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps Please, did. In fact, it became a bit of a radio hit. It pushed the single all the way to #7 in the UK Singles Chart. The BBC situation comedy Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps was named in its honour. It was one of the last releases on Deram Records.  Who gave it the catalogue number Bum 01. 

Max Splodge                                             Vocals
Chrissie (Baby Greensleeves)     Backing vocals
Desert Island Joe Slythe                       Coconuts
Miles Flat                                                   Guitar
Pat Thetic Noble                                        Guitar
Roger Rodent                                    Bass guitar
Wiffy Archer                              Comb and paper
Winston Forbes                                  Keyboards
Squint                                                   Windows

Produced by Mike Robinson

***Warning recorded off of vinyl. Surface Noise.***

Simon Templer

Michael Booth's Talking Bum
Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please

No Tag: Oi Oi Oi 1982

New Zealand band No Tag were part of the early 1980’s West Auckland hall punk scene with the likes of The Mormons, The Plunket Boys, Red Cross and Vicious Circle. Playing gigs in hired halls such as the Owairaka Hall, Mount Roskill Municipal Hall, and the Mount Albert Primary School Hall,  as most venues  banned punk bands from playing. Manly due to the behaviour of  crowds they attracted. In the true tradition of punk, these gigs were organised by fans or the bands themselves and promoted by self-designed photocopied posters. No Tag were the only band from that scene to release a record.  This is their 1982 debut EP, release on Propeller Records (Rev21).  They also released an album. The arm and tattoo  -yes, its a real tattoo- on the cover belongs to the drummer Carl.

Andrew Boak                        Guitar
Paul Van Wettering              Vocals
Carl Van Wettering              Drums
Gary Sullivan                          Bass

No Tag
Mistake Identity
Legalised Dogs

Toy Love Gig Poster 1979

A gig poster from New Zealand band Toy Love. From 1979 when cut and paste meant scissors and glue. It's photocopied not printed. The Island of Real was an "all ages" venue on Airedale street in Auckland. I have never heard of the support act.

Rudi: Big Time 1978

 

Rudi were one of Northern Ireland’s first and best punk bands. Formed in Belfast in 1975 as a covers band. When punk started infiltrating Northern Ireland in 1976. The members of Rudi got it straight a way. They started writing two and half minute, fast, punk/power pop gems. Early on, they wore boiler suits on stage, stolen by drummer Graham Marshall from his employer. The Undertones have cited Rudi’s live shows as an influence of them. Their played with the likes of The Buzzcocks, The Outcasts, Stiff Little Fingers and even shared the bill with another young (at the time) Irish band called U2.
This is their debut single. It was released May 1978 on Good Vibrations. No.1 was the b side. Didn't anyone point out to them that Big Time is a song criticizing fame and the flip side is song  about chasing fame? Still, who cares both are great songs.

Brian Young              Guitar/Vocals
Ronnie Matthews      Vocals/Guitar
Gordon Blair                           Bass
Graham Marshall                 Drums

**Warning recorded off of old vinyl. Surface Noise**

Big Time
No.1