30-Day Song Challenge Week 4

Day 23 ( the last week! )
A song you think everybody should listen to A classic, caustic dissection of the UK by Punk's most underrated songwriter, TV Smith, which still unfortunately resonates today:
"The great British mistake was looking for a way out / Was getting complacent / Not noticing the pulse was racing / The mistake was fighting the change / Was staying the same / We couldn't adapt so we couldn't survive / Something had to give / The people took a downhill slide / Into the gloom into the dark recesses of their minds"



Day 24
A song by a band you wish were still together Although I could have gone with an obvious, "classic" band ( Led Zep, REM etc ), instead here's one of my fave bands of recent years - The Sunshine Underground
Typically for me I discovered this band not long before they announced their split and, to make things worse, they were one of the few bands that Sarah and I both liked. Hopefully they'll get back together at some point  -  most groups seem to do this eventually, as the recent reunions for LCD Soundsystem and My Chemical Romance demonstrate. ( Okay, Covid-19 has delayed the much-anticipated MCR reunion but it's still apparently on the cards for next year if the world ever gets back to "normal" )



Day 25
A song you like by an artist no longer living I was a big fan of Whitney's and it's just tragic that her life ended so prematurely. This is a wonderful remix of an old song that was a posthumous hit last year. Hard to believe this song was originally only a B-side as Whitney's vocals are amazing on this Steve Winwood cover.



Day 26
A song that makes you want to fall in love Perfect Skin by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions "She's got cheekbones like geometry and eyes like sin"
Who wouldn't want to fall in love with someone lik that? Oh, and she's "sexually enlightened by Cosmopolitan"? Can't have it all, I suppose...




Day 27
A song that breaks your heart Reminds me of a girl called Jo Day I had a major crush on at school. We kinda, nearly, almost went out but stayed "friends" and then she left for another school and I never saw her again...



Day 28
A song by an artist whose voice you love One of my fave modern artists, Annie Clark / St Vincent has a deceptively powerful voice, tough and tender at the same time, and is a true inheritor of the art-pop style of Bowie etc. Never quite figured out why she hasn't become a bigger star.




Day 29
A song you remember from your childhood Of course, there had to be an Abba song in here, and what a belter it is, a Glam stomp with the trademark Abba hooks and harmonies. My my!




Day 30
A song that reminds you of yourself Last day of the challenge and it's this self-explanatory tune from Glasgow's underrated Britpop songsmiths The Supernaturals




Well, that was a lot of fun! I had talked about doing a film challenge next but, after discussions with my fellow Twitterers ( that's a word, okay? ), we've now decided to do a 30-Day Comic Challenge where we talk about our favourite super heroes, swamp monsters and slices of life from paper pamphlets of years gone by. Should be interesting...
Hopefully after all that I'll get back to the film challenge. ( Sorry Paul McScotty! )

The Skids at the Bristol Bierkeller

Things have been very quiet on the blogging front here at TGW-S recently for no real reason, so I thought I'd better try and catch up with a few recent events. First off  -  a truly fantastic gig by long-lost Punk heroes The Skids. I've been going to see bands since I was 14 years old, way back in the dark days of 1981, and I estimate in that time I've seen around 200 bands ( some multiple times ) but I have to say that this gig was truly, genuinely one of the best I've ever seen.
The Skids were one of the first Punk / New Wave bands I really got into, even though by the time this happened they were pretty much over  -  typical for me! They were quite a unique proposition at the time  -  a very young group of musicians from Dunfermline who played a very different, art-rock version of Punk. No three-chord thrashes here, but a multi-layered strangeness built on Stuart Adamson's unique guitar sound and Richard ( Jobbo ) Jobson's cryptic, poetic lyrics.

I bought the band's first three albums ( Scared To Dance, Days In Europa and The Absolute Game ) on second-hand vinyl and played them to death but The Skids had already split up. Jobbo, ever the aesthete, tried his hand at poetry, TV presenting, film directing and even had another shot at rock 'n' roll success with the short-lived Armoury Show. Adamson, however, founded Big Country who went on to briefly become one of the, er, biggest bands of the '80s with their epic, windswept Celtic rock. Tragically, Adamson committed suicide in 2001, another great musician sadly lost to alcoholism.
After all this I never expected to see The Skids live  -  they became just another lost band, their records remembered by the faithful few, occasionally popping up on repeats of Top Of The Pops on BBC 4. But then... it was the band's 40th anniversary ( this year! ) and, amazingly, a new tour was announced. I had to be there! I snapped up tickets for myself and my mate Glenn and we headed down to Bristol's dingy Bierkeller for one incredible gig...

( Apologies for the blurred photo  -  believe it or not, this was the best one I got! I've been suffering with sciatica lately so didn't want to get too close to the front and get caught in the crush. This goes against the grain for me but, for once, I was sensible and kept out of harm's way. )
We missed Charlie Harper's solo set ( not too upset... I've seen Charlie loads of times with the UK Subs ) but did manage to catch the legendary Tim"TV"Smith, former livewire leader of The Adverts. Tim was on top form, bashing away at his acoustic guitar as if his life depended on it, and singing his increasingly political anthems... on the eve of the disastrous General Election. He finished with some crowd-pleasing Adverts songs ( Gary Gilmore's Eyes, One Chord Wonders ) and then it was time for the main event.

Bounding out onto the stage ( well, Jobbo did ) The Skids plunged into first song Animation and the crowd, as they say, went wild. This track from Days In Europa set out the band's stall from the first minute: obscure lyrics wedded to massive, terrace-friendly tunes, plenty of "Whoa whoas" to sing along to, Jobbo's commanding stage presence and an absolutely note-perfect take on the original Skids sound. They then jumped straight into the stop-start lunacy of first-album cut Of One Skin  -  Glenn and I gave each other a look  -  a "this is going to be awesome" look, and it was. The band were clearly loving this as much as the audience. At one point Jobson confided that he'd been unsure about this reunion tour, wondering if The Skids were still wanted. I think he got his answer in Bristol. The cheers that greeted each song nearly blew the roof off the place as the band pulled classic anthem after classic anthem out of the bag. Circus Games, Out Of Town and Masquerade ( Jobbo's fave Skids song apparently ) were Punk / art / rock Godzillas, crushing all before them, and the segue from Melancholy Soldiers to Working For The Yankee Dollar was sublime and inspired. The avuncular and self-deprecating Jobson regaled us with a few tales from the old days ( like how he auditioned for the band and got the gig by telling the other applicants to "get tae fuck" ) and dedicated the beautiful Scared To Dance to his lost comrade, Stuart Adamson. This, coupled with a stunning version of A Woman In Winter, brought a tear to this hardened gigger's eye.

Although no-one could truly replace Stuart Adamson, his compatriot from Big Country, Bruce Watson, did a sterling job in recreating Adamson's  guitar sound, aided by his guitar-playing son Jamie Watson. Along with Skids stalwarts Bill Simpson and Mike Baillie they played with power, energy and subtlety, as though this band had been touring for years. And Jobbo was a legend! Constantly involving the audience, telling tales, cracking jokes, twirling and shadow-boxing around the stage like a man half his age, and booming out that still mighty voice, he was a delight to watch. I had a stupid grin plastered to my face for the entire set  -  just like the front man.
All too soon the gig came to a close with the inevitable TV Stars ( updated to include the names of Tory and UKip MPs  -  who didn't come off too well... ) and closing anthems ( there's that word again ) Into The Valley and Charade, with a final treat  -  a fine new song called World On Fire from their upcoming new ( NEW! ) album. What a fantastic gig! I think the real reason I loved it so much ( as I remarked to another blogger recently ) was that here was an absolutely cracking band playing beloved songs which I never, ever, thought I'd get to see played live.
World On Fire? Band On Fire!

Soundtrack: Come on! What do you think?

Black and white beauty

Girls with guitars

Sing if you're glad to be Gaye ( Advert, that is... )

Back in the day, Gaye Advert was the Punk Pin-Up bass-player ( TM ) with spiky, seriously-underrated misfits The Adverts. Apparently never happy with all the media attention that focused on her looks and drop-dead cool attitude ( often at the band's expense ), Gaye retired from music after the band split up, whilst her other half Tim "TV" Smith carried on in his own, idiosyncratic, inspired way.

Long time readers of this 'ere blog will know that I'm a huge fan of TV Smith and the Adverts and that I met the great man at a gig in Bristol last year, where he turned out to be an absolute gentleman as well as a fantastic performer. And last weekend I got to meet Gaye as well...

This was at a benefit gig for SWARD ( an anti-toxic waste-dumping charity ) in the genteel surroundings of Bishop Cleeve's historic Tithe Barn. Most of the music played that evening was of the Maroon 5 / dreary acoustic genre, but the fresh-faced lads above ( Prodigal Sun, ex-schoolmates of my daughter, Sophie ) provided a little touch of Punk-pop fun with some fine songs and pretty good vocals. Ones to watch.

I've vaguely known Gaye Advert's sister, Wendy, for a little while and she was kind enough to introduce me and my mate Glenn to her ex-Advert sibling. Here we are, looking suitably star-struck :-)

I'd heard that Gaye was a very private person who shunned the limelight nowadays, but I found her to be lovely - very chatty and down to earth, with an infectious laugh and a wicked twinkle in her eye. We talked at great length and I managed not to embarrass myself too much by rambling on about days gone by and bands from the dim and distant past. Gaye is an artist as well as a curator of exhibitions, so she had plenty of interesting tales of the art world... as well as stories of her and Tim's youth back in Devon, and her love for Black Metal. And I must say that talking about the history and purpose of Tithe Barns with a former Punk Goddess was a truly bizarre experience...

So, a great evening with some wonderful, relaxed company. We even gave the two lovely ladies a lift home, something I never would have imagined when playing Crossing The Red Sea all those countless times as a wannabe teenage Punk - an Advert in the back of my car? WTF?

Of course, I couldn't resist asking Gaye to sign my copy of the first ( and best ) Adverts album. Hey, I'm only human...

TV Smith and The Valentines play the Best of The Adverts

OK, this is where any remaining shred of objectivity goes out the window. I've been a fan of The Adverts for nearly 30 years and their debut album, Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts, is one of my all-time favourite records. Typically for me I got into the band long after they'd disbanded and frontman TV Smith had moved on to his not-hugely-successful solo career.

The Adverts are remembered, if at all, for their topically tasteless 1977 single, Gary Gilmore's Eyes and for the "Punk Pin-Up" status of female bass-player, Gaye Advert. But they really had much more going for them. Tim "TV" Smith was a sardonic, intelligent frontman in an era of often deliberately dumbed-down Punk personalities, as well as one of the finest lyricists to come out of that time. His songs were often ironic commentaries on the UK in general and the Punk scene in particular, dressed up in a unique world-view of crumbling decadence.

So, there was no way I was going to miss the chance to see Smith perform his classic Adverts songs at Bristol's grimy rock 'n' roll emporium, The Fleece. And on my mate Glenn's birthday, too. Perfect.

But would TV live up to expectations? I mean, I would count The Adverts as my favourite Punk band after the Pistols and The Clash; I'd first bought their debut album on cassette when I was a teenager, wore that out , then bought it again on red (!) vinyl; bought every second-hand single I could get hold of; spent literally years hunting for their ( ultimately disappointing ) second album; etc. etc. That's a lot to live up to...

I didn't need to worry. After sinking a few pints in the pub next door ( with a bunch of friends including, bizarrely, Gaye Advert's sister, Wendy... ) and watching a lackluster support set by Charred Hearts, I headed down the front to the sounds of Punk classic No Time To Be 21.

TV Smith is a wired, wizened, lightning-bolt of barely-suppressed energy. With his hair left to go grey and his strange, slow-motion stage moves he's like a Punk Albert Steptoe , albeit a Steptoe singing some of the sharpest lyrics ever, in a voice still clear, strong and distinctive.

The Valentines are a fine, no-nonsense band from Italy who capture the scratchy, slashy sound of The Adverts perfectly. There will never be an Adverts reunion ( the bass-player's retired from music, the guitarist's dead, the drummer... who knows? ) but this lot are the next best thing and clearly love what they're doing. And so does Mister Smith. He treats us to classic after classic, screeching Punk rock bombshells bursting over the crowd...

( That's my copy of the set-list, nicked from the stage. )

I have to admit to becoming quite emotional as the set went on: I never thought I'd hear songs like On The Roof or Newboys played live by their author and I found it quite overwhelming. TV thrust the mike into my face so I could "sing" along to Bombsite Boy and Great British Mistake - my absolute fave Adverts song:

The great British mistake was looking for a way out

Was getting complacent

Not noticing the pulse was racing

The mistake was fighting the change

Was staying the same

The venue properly erupted for the last three guttersnipe anthems, as TV took the Adverts story full-circle to their first single, One Chord Wonders. They encored with Coming In To Land, the title track from his new album ( pretty damn good! ), the festive-but-funny whinge of Christmas Bloody Christmas and Adverts classic Cast Of Thousands.

Here I am at the front of the stage, looking as happy as a dog with two dicks. ( And that's pretty happy! )

And here with the man himself, Mister Tim Smith, who turned out to be a lovely, funny guy, who was quite happy to have a drink and a laugh with starstruck fans like me and seemed genuinely happy that he'd made my day...

Here he is again with me and birthday boy Glenn...

And with the same two reprobates, but with added Punkette glamour from Angie and Carol.

I've heard it said many times that you should never meet your heroes, they'll always disappoint. Well, not in this case. It was a pleasure to meet such a proper gentleman after half a lifetime of enjoying his music. Maybe I shouldn't leave it so long next time...

Scratchy old Punk 45s

First of all I have to admit that this is an idea I ripped-off from someone else's blog/website. Can't remember whose, so apologies etc. It's an attempt to whittle my dozens of old punk singles down to a definitive Top Ten: not an easy task. There are loads more I'd like to include, especially from later, less well-known bands. ( So there may be a Part 2, you have been warned.)

In this Nick Hornby-esque frenzy of list-making I decided there should be some rules, so I've limited this to one single from each band ( mostly to prevent the 10 singles being solely by the Pistols and The Clash ), and to give precedence for singles with b-sides that stand comparison with the a-sides ( sorry, Homicide by 999, you don't make the grade ), and for singles that have iconic Punk graphics on the sleeve or label. So, here's my Top Ten and, in the true spirit of Punk, if you don't agree, tough s**t :)

1. Holidays In The Sun / Satellite by The Sex Pistols

My fave Pistols song is Anarchy but as I don't own / can't afford that single, I'll go with Johnny sneering about the Berlin Wall ( Google it young 'uns! ) on one side and moaning about groupies on t'other. As well as Satellite pushing the Pistols' sound as far as they could go towards heavy metal, the single boasts quintessentially Punk, Jamie Reid-designed sleeve artwork.

2. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais / The Prisoner by The Clash.

White Man is probably the best Clash song ever, although Straight To Hell comes close. It starts off with Strummer singing about being intimidated at a reggae gig he went to with Don Letts, goes on to imagine Adolf Hitler being welcomed to a frighteningly racist 1970's England, and ends with some of Joe's most poetic lyrics about being a "drug-prowling wolf" who "looks so sick in the sun." All to the patented, Clash Punk-reggae beat. B-side The Prisoner is a great showcase for Mick Jones' vocals, and the record's label features a smoking gun on one side and a human target in the cross-hairs on the other side. "Ha! You think it's funny, turning rebellion into money..."

3. Television's Over / Back From The Dead by The Adverts.

The Adverts were a criminally underrated band with one of the most intelligent songwriters to come out of Punk in Tim "TV" Smith. Mostly known for their hit Gary Gilmore's Eyes and for Punk pin-up bassist Gaye Advert, they produced a flurry of exciting, energising singles and one great album, Crossing The Red Sea. They split after too many lineup changes and a badly-produced second album, but left behind some great songs like this single's Back From The Dead, co-written by Smith and Steve Strange, later of Visage.

4. Into The Valley / TV Stars by The Skids.

What a fantastic band! Again underrated, but they did have a few Top 20 hits to their name. With Richard Jobson's melodramatic vocals and pretentious lyrics and the late Stuart Adamson's unique guitar sound, The Skids were far removed from many of their 3-chord contemporaries. Into The Valley is their most well-known song with its often mis-heard lyrics ( who remembers that old Maxell tape advert? ) and shouty chorus. B-side TV Stars is a fun, drunken singalong recorded live at The Marquee Club. "Albert Tatlock!!!"

5. Staring At The Rudeboys / Love In Vain by The Ruts.

Rudeboys is one of Punk's greatest songs about one of the movement's biggest problems, violence at gigs. The Ruts' singer, the late Malcolm Owen, captures the feeling of being stuck in "a very small world in the middle of a crowd" where "there's no room to move 'cos the floor's packed tight." Claustrophobic and intense, the song builds to a crescendo of screams and broken glass: "someone hits the floor, someone takes a dive." It's almost a relief to flip the single for Love In Vain, a dub-reggae tale of broken hearts.

6. California Uber Alles / Man With The Dogs by The Dead Kennedys.

America's greatest ever Punk band, the mischief-making, piss-taking Kennedys with their caustic, sarcastic frontman Jello Biafra. If you only ever listen to two DK songs, make sure they're California Uber Alles and Holidays In Cambodia. Two savage attacks on the American middle-classes with biting lyrics and surging tunes. The band charged off down a Hardcore blind alley in later years, playing faster but less tuneful songs, but this was the good stuff: "Zen fascists will control you, 100% natural, you will jog for the master race and always wear the happy face." Scary!

7. Oh Bondage Up Yours! / I Am A Cliche by X-Ray Spex.

One thing Punk started which previous rock movements ignored was to break down gender roles. From Patti Smith and Debbie Harry to The Slits and the Poison Girls, women began to take their place as equals in the scene, but it was a long struggle. Frontrunners in this were X-Ray Spex, fronted by the irrepressible Poly Styrene. This single was their manifesto with Poly chuckling and shrieking: "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think... Oh Bondage Up Yours!!!"

8. Suspect Device / Wasted Life by Stiff Little Fingers.

While English Punk bands were fantasising about police oppression and sten-guns in Knightsbridge, kids in Northern Ireland were experiencing it for real. SLF chronicled these hard times in 3-minute howls of anger torn from the rasping throat of Jake Burns. Suspect Device is the clarion call for people stuck between ideologies, politics and violence: "They take away our freedom in the name of liberty. Why can't they all just clear off, why can't they let us be?"

9. The Friday 13th e.p. by The Damned.

Cartoon Goth-Punk at its finest. Probably the best of The Damned's many lineups, with some of their finest songs, and a Rolling Stones cover thrown in too. Disco Man is always an excuse for mad moshing and pogo-ing when played live. See you down the front!

10. Public Image / The Cowboy Song by Public Image Ltd.

The Sex Pistols' madman/frontman splits the band that could never have contained him, reclaims his real name and forms an arty, experimental group to wind up his old fans. John Lydon in the days before reality shows and butter adverts, what a star! From its booming bass-line, courtesy of Jah Wobble ( one of the best noms de rock ), through Lydon's "allo, allo, allo" intro and into the propulsive lead guitar, this song grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, a serious statement of intent. Goodbye Punk, hello Post-Punk...

That'll do for now...

Soundtrack: All of the above.