POLY STYRENE PASSES AWAY ....."OH CANCER UP YOURS!!"

Another idol of mine claimed by cancer at the age of 53. With her band X-RAY SPEX she really was a unque artist. I played the early singles to death IDENTITY, OH BONDAGE and DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAYGLO.

I met her backstage once in London in 1989 on a Youth of Today/Jailcell Recipes tour . She had Krishna beliefs and was friends with Y.O.T. vocalist Ray Cappo, a new Krishna convert. She came down to see what the current punk scene was like. I remember her being very positive about the gig...very sweet and soft spoken and not looking any older than she did in 1977!

R.I.P. PEK....THE KING OF PUNK

SAD BUT TRUE.......The death of Pek...punkest guy in Liverpool. Dead at only 44 years old, I don't know any details other than he suffered a stroke a few weeks back but was reported to be making good progress. Pek was one of the guys behind UNDER SIEGE promoters booking all the Punk/HC/Crust gigs in Liverpool, mostly staged at PLANET X in its various incarnations. He put on some amazing gigs for touring US and European punk bands and also local bands too...my own band included. Before taking up running the gigs and almost single-handedly creating a "Scene" Pek was also vocalist for DISATTACK  precurser to CARCASS..here is a youtube clip

Mark Radcliffe remembers Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

It's been a painful couple of weeks for me since the death of Chris Sievey. Chris/Frank has been an idol of mine for almost 25 years and I got to know Chris as a close friend over the last 5 years. He was a real  inspiration to me and I feel honoured to have known him.
It was Chris's funeral yesterday. It was a relatively small, private service for family and close friends only. This Thursday 8th July is FRANKS FANTASTIC FAREWELL...a free public send off to be held at the Castlefield Arena, Manchester, 7pm-10pm
It's gonna be a celebration of Franks life in showbusiness, spanning 25 years. Lots of videos on the giant screens...his most loved work and some rare, unseen footage too. Guest speakers, music and a performance from the OH-BLIMEY BIGGEST EVER BAND.....every one we can get in touch with that did some time backing Frank!! It will be funny and sad in equal measures.
Heres ex Oh-Blimey member Mark Radcliffe remembering Chris.....

Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler....

This is a picture that hangs on the wall of the British Legion in Wigan. This was the host venue for last weekends Sideburn Magazine launch party.

Davida helmets kindly brought along a selection of images from the MOTO-PHOTO exhibition and diplayed them on the British Legions walls.

In order to do this, the existing picures hung on the wall had to be removed. It felt like the right thing to do was to leave this picture up and include it in the gallery. the new caption reads:

"Warrington-on-Sea Home Guard"  Dad's Army.

Private Sponge aka Colin Bean (far right standing) appeared in every episode of the popular tv series "Dad's Army" between 1968 and 1977. A local actor and author from Wigan, Colin was a member at this club for many years and a patron of many local arts groups. Colin sadly passed away last year.

Photographer unknown. Submitted by Dennis.

Death of Bob Biniak....

Sad day......Just found out from Trawler that 'Dogtown' skater, Bob Biniak has died from a heart attack, aged only 52.

Here are a few words from Glen E. Friedman. Pictures by G.E.F.and C. R. Stecyk:

Bob Biniak was someone I've known since I was probably twelve years old. You can read in my DogTown book how we first met--it would not be appropriate to include it here. But as his wife said in her note to some of his personal friends thursday afternoon: "Bobby loves Life and lived more in his short life than many us of can ever imagine to do." From what I knew of Bob I can attest to this not being an exaggeration or a cliché.

Back in DogTown's heyday Biniak was known as one of the toughest, hardest skating dudes out there. Few could match his skills skating the infamous pipes out in Arizona or on the vertical flat wall of Mt. Baldy. In pool skating he was a clear innovator as witnessed by my lens, and Craig Stecyk's even earlier when he was interviewed in SkateBoarder magazine's first ever "Pool Riding Symposium." Bob early on received the coveted "Who's Hot" bio, and later, only for the most respected riders, a full length interview in SkateBoarder. He was also voted as one of the top ten Skateboarders of the year in SkateBoarder magazine's first annual poll held in 1977.

In my personal experience he was far and away the toughest guy on the original Zephyr skateboard team. Bob drove a "Beemer" way before most of his comrades even had cars, or were rock-starring out. He led a life that early-on, spanned everything from rumored, sinister behaviors to a career in professional golf, while the rest of us were still just acting like kids. Bob waited for no one and was the ruler of every situation I ever saw him in. He leaves behind many friends and family including his wife Charlene and baby daughter Brie. He suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Sunday and passed away Thursday at 12:51pm EST in Florida. He will be missed.