To finish this long,and sometimes boring,journey through the annals(or anals) of UK Pub Rock(some of you will be pleased to hear), here's a superb and wide ranging compilation covering everyone from Brinsley Schwarz to Chas and Dave.
I own two t-shirts with musicians emblazened across the breast area, One is ,of course, Motorhead, and the other is, less obviously, Chas and Dave. So its good to see them listed as Pub Rock rather than in the Novelty record section.
There are a few notable omissions, mainly the charlie big potatoes of Pub Rock, like Elvis Costello and Dire Straits;but who cares about that? A fine compilation indeed.
Tracklist:
1-1 –Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers - Goodbye Nashville, Hello Camden Town 2:50
1-2 –Kilburn & The High Roads - Billy Bentley (Promenades Himself In London) 3:02
1-3 –Bees Make Honey - What Have We Got To Lose 3:34
1-4 –Brinsley Schwarz - Country Girl 3:10
1-5 –Country Fever - Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line 2:35
1-6 –Chas And Dave - Scruffy Old Cow 4:01
1-7 –Big Jim Sullivan - If I Could Only Play Guitar Like That 3:02
1-8 –Jerry The Ferret - How Long 3:02
1-9 –Eddie And The Hot Rods - All I Need Is Money 2:28
1-10 –Eggs Over Easy - Runnin' Down To Memphis 3:15
1-11 –Meal Ticket - Day Job 4:25
1-12 –Fabulous Poodles - Third Rate Romance 3:09
1-13 –Kursaal Flyers - Drinking Socially 3:38
1-14 –Writing On The Wall - Man Of Renown 3:08
1-15 –Albert Lee - Best I Can 2:43
1-16 –Unicorn - 115 Bar Joy 3:48
1-17 –Zoot Money - Arkansas 3:22
1-18 –Jo Ann Kelly Band - It's Too Late For That Now 3:48
1-19 –Brunning Sunflower Band - Good Golly Miss Molly 2:22
1-20 –Ernie Graham -Sweet Inspiration 3:19
1-21 –Bees Make Honey - Indian Bayou Saturday 3:26
1-22 –The Johnny Young Band - Country Boy 4:29
1-23 –McGuinness Flint - Ride On My Rainbow 2:58
1-24 –Dr. Feelgood Roxette 2:53
2-1 –Kilburn & The High Roads - Rough Kids 2:24
2-2 –The Count Bishops Train Train 3:19
2-3 –The Pirates - Gibson Martin Fender 3:23
2-4 –Matchbox - Rock & Roll Band 2:40
2-5 –Mick Farren- I Want A Drink 1:45
2-6 –Mickey Jupp - If Only Mother 3:01
2-7 –Black Claw-Another Useless Day 4:58
2-8 –Mountain Line - Midnight Flyer 2:28
2-9 –Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers - Choo Choo Ch'Boogie 3:31
2-10 –Tyla Gang - Fireball 4:04
2-11 –The Cartoons - Lunchtime Love Affair 3:02
2-12 –Chas And Dave -I Am A Rocker 3:46
2-13 –Downliners Sect = Blues Coup De Ville 3:05
2-14 –Fabulous Poodles - Roll Your Own 2:46
2-15 –Bees Make Honey -Dance Around 3:23
2-16 –Country Fever - Mama Tried 2:19
2-17 –Stray -Oil Fumes And Sea Air 4:57
2-18 –Ernie Graham - Baby You're All I Need 4:02
2-19 –The John Dummer Band -Young Blood 3:06
2-20 –Unicorn - Country Road 4:14
2-21 –Nine Below Zero -Homework 2:30
2-22 –Eddie And The Hot Rods -Do The Monkey Man 2:56
2-23 –Kilburn & The High Roads - Crippled With Nerves 3:43
2-24 –Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers - Six Days On The Road 2:50
In 1976, the year Punk Rock exploded onto the front page of the tabloid press, there were NO,Zero, records of said hyped genre. Not surprising as there were hardly any 'Punk' bands to make any singles. So we were told who was Punk,and generally they weren't actually.
Stiff provided some 'real punk' with the Damned's 'New Rose' and a licenced Richard Hell single.The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy" was released by EMI, and there were imports of American Glam like The New York Dolls and The Stooges.
There were records by Eddie and the Hot Rods, who were fast enough but looked like a charity shop Bay City rollers. So,in '76 all the kids had to go on were these, some reggae, and Pub Rockers marketed as a bit punky.
One of these would have been the Tyla Gang's first single on Stiff. A typical slice of American flavoured Bluesy Rock, sung in a Faux-american accent. Definitely Not Punk.
This demands a spot of auto-plagiarism (always wanted to use that word).
I wrote the following synopsis, which I will entitle "Punk Never Happened, like." , in the comments section of The Motors first LP post......which no-one reads I guess.
So i'll quote myself, in an exercise of narcissistic glee,and reproduce it below,as it explains the situation in 76/77 very nicely:
"When one looks back at the 'Punk' era, what is remarkable is the actual lack of Punk Bands...so naturally we had to cast our nets wide and bands like The Motors and Motorhead got roped in.With the advent of Punk Revisionism, it is now apparent that there were actually NO Punk bands during the punk years. The Ramones etc were Proto-Punk, Buzzcocks Power Pop, Stranglers Pub Rock, Television retro proto-post punk, the Jam proto Mod revival, 999/Vibrators Bandwagon Punk, Siouxsie and the Banshees Post Punk/proto Goth,Subway Sect proto-indie, Clash/Damned Pub Rock refugees,Patti Smith,Hippie, and even The Sex Pistols were made up of Prog/Glam/Pub rockers molded into an art object by art school svengali Maclaren......who always referred to it all as 'New Wave'. So Punk didn't actually exist outside the minds of the sensationalist media.....discuss." (J.Zchivago, 5/9/2016)
Tracklist:
Styrofoam 2:37
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Boogie 3:39
Moonproof, in these confused, over-misinformed times(another way of saying Paranoid), means 'proof',or lack of, that NASA landed on the moon. An event that growing numbers of people seem to think didn't happen. In fact NASA, with the aid of Stanley Kubrik allegedly faked it SIX times; and to this day no-one involved has blabbed.....a record in the history of the human race, who notoriously cannot keep anything secret.
These days, we need proof that many musicians even existed, and one of those forgotten figures is one Sean Tyla, late of Ducks Deluxe.
Unlike NASA, I am willing to forward evidence that The Tyla Gang did indeed exist,a few years after the alleged final moon landing, by presenting the second album from 1978.....called 'Moonproof'.
Tylaproof if you will?
No surprises here.Its the same as the first album.Full of competent FM radio rockers in the tradition of Tom Petty and other American boredom inducers. If you like that kind of stuff, this is as fine an example as there is....but with a Brit singing in an american accent.
Just for the record I now reckon they(NASA not the Tyla Gang) did indeed go to the moon, having finally understood how to survive the van Allen belt; and I'm convinced that The Tyla Gang released at least two LP's (mainly because they are both on this blog! Otherwise I've only got my word for it!?
Tracklist:
Tropical Love 3:23
Oakland Red 3:00
It's Gonna Rain 3:25
Did Your Hear It On The Radio 2:52
Rodeo 2:56
Spanish Street 3:04
No Roses 3:18
American Mother 3:16
Suicide Jockey 3:03
Flashing In The Subway 2:31
In this modern era of the growing underclass,where the rich are out of sight of the super rich elite. The Haves, and the Have Yachts.
To be Yachtless means you are excluded from the exclusive club of the 1% who own 99% of global wealth. One can't help but feel sorry for those struggling millionaires who can only dream of owning their own private jet....the Jetless.
Of course as the class divide widens, post 'credit crunch', and the underclass are paid less, forced into zero-hour contracts, and to be 'self-employed' as a way around workers rights. These second tier millionaires are almost certain to get their private Jet, and upgrade their sad little 50ft yacht to something nearer the €340 million container ship size boat that Roman Abramovich spent his stolen cash on. Not unlike the 'yacht' as featured on the cover of ean Tyla's post Ducks Deluxe group, The Tyla Gang's, debut album, "Yachtless".
Tyla's new band played a bunch of faultlessly played hard mid tempo rockers, not unlike a UK version of The Heartbreakers(both Johnny T's and Tommy P's), but without the style. This could easily have been by an american group(yuk), and i'm not surprised they got signed up by an American label. Very FM friendly. indeed.
Tracklist:
Hurricane 3:15
Dust On The Needle 4:35
On The Street 2:59
New York Sun 3:12
Speedball Morning 3:01
Don't Shift A Gear 3:00
Lost Angels 3:43
The Young Lords 3:20
Whizz Kids 3:31
Don't Turn Your Radio On 3:44
