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!

Say something with Billy Childish

Looking forward to this lecture by Billy Childish about German pop artist Kurt Schwitters next Thursday.

Venue is the Islington Mill, Salford and is part of the "Say something" season....

VERONA EXPO part two... EVEL KNIEVEL EXHIBITION

The Evel Knievel exhibition was on display at the show. It all packs into a big trailer and is on tour throughout Europe for all of 2011. The blue leathers are the ones he wore for the Wembley Stadium Jump. Also on display was the Canyon Sky Cycle (complete with damaged nose cone) his XR750 he used for the jump over the tank of sharks, the EK Dragster and the Jet-Bike. The highlight of the exhibition was a skeleton showing all of Evels broken bones........I purchased an EK bathrobe!

OUTRAGIOUS!!!.....Screaming Lord Sutch

An in-depth documentary  about Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages.
I've seen the "Jack the Ripper" performance before but here is the entire original UK broadcast from 1964...in four bite-sized chunks.
Listening to Sutch sum up the dynamics of putting a great band together is compelling......he talks about  band-mates requiring "no sense of self embarassment" and a the overwhelming desire to perform and not just be interested in the money at the end of the night.....great advice that still holds true today.
The clip of the band rehearsing whilst doing the Hokey Cokey and moving the drums around is inspiring.
I really envy his use of crazy props and "in your face" theatrics....you would get punched in the face if you tried that stuff today!
I can't help but think Vic 'n' Bob could well have been influenced by the WIG ON STICK prop, and the Sid Vicious "My Way" scene in ROCK 'N' ROLL SWINDLE has more than a passing resemblence to Lord Sutch's Schtick with the blank firing revolver.
Ever the trendsetter, just look at the length of his hair....in 1964!!!
He was a truly original, eccentric and pioneering performer who sadly only seems to be remembered for his political career with his MONSTER RAVING LOONY PARTY in his latter years and not the things he was really good at.......