Wessex '82

WESSEX '82

For quite some time, Dick Lucas had been releasing cassette tapes of early Subhumans demos and gigs on his own Bluurg Tapes label. Buoyed by the success of his band and taking a cue from Spiderleg and Crass Records, the next logical step was to set up his own record label. Bluurg Records was the result and the début release was a 7" compilation EP entitled Wessex '82, featuring one track each from the Subhumans, the Pagans, Organized Chaos, and the A Heads.

With a cover adorned with a photo of the giant white horse cut into the hill at Westbury, the EP was an empathetic gesture of solidarity and support to the Subhumans' Punk neighbours. Apart from their mutual surroundings, all the bands on the record shared a buzzing, tuneful style of Punk that lifted the different vocal styles to a similar level of energised joy.

Lyrically, all the thoughts expressed in the songs shared also an almost world weary cynicism, turned upside down by the music to become celebratory: "No thanks sonny, you're no use any more... You'd better wave goodbye to your dreams... You're just a fucking victim... What's the use in trying too hard?"

If feeling like this was a sign of the times then coming together with like-minded souls was a way perhaps of dealing with it all? Subhumans and the tribe of bands around them as featured on the EP were helping and finding strength in each other to create something from the hopelessness of the world and then moving forward together into a brighter and better future.

Realising that isolation from any centre of activity such as London or any other major city was no hindrance to creativity was a small but very significant step forward. All that was needed was for just one person (such as Dick Lucas, for example) or a small collective of people (such as the Subhumans, for example) to show by example and the ball could start rolling; creating (in Wiltshire, for example) the most extraordinary flowerings (of Punk, for example).

A spark that could light a flame that could start a fire.

Or to quote Situationist Raoul Vaneigem: "From this moment despair ends and tactics begin. Despair is the infantile disorder of the revolutionaries of everyday life."

Violators - Summer of '81

VIOLATORS - SUMMER OF '81

Of much greater appeal and to a larger audience was Summer Of '81 by the Violators, a bona fide classic 7" single of the first degree, released on the No Future label just as 1982 began to draw to a close. Championed by Garry Bushell as fine purveyors of 'street Punk', the Violators were actually from the mean village streets of somewhere called 'Chapel-en-le-Frith', near New Mills in Derbyshire, a place not particularly renowned for its ghettoes. There was something very weird going on in this area, however, as it was also from where Blitz and another very good Punk band called Attack were from.

The Violators were fronted by lead singers Helen and Stylesy, their interchanging and duetting male and female vocals giving them a distinct sound all of their own. On top of this, Stylesy and drummer 'Ant' (along with one of the members of Blitz) seemed to be fully paid-up members of the Clockwork Orange fan-club and in homage to the Kubrick film/Burgess book would dress head-to-toe in full droog fashion - bowler hats, cod-pieces and all.

Summer Of '81 was brilliant, not only for its tuneful but suitably aggressive Punk Rock but for its lyrics, sung in a sweet, mock-Siouxsie Sioux tone by Helen. If only the Banshees were this brazen, however: "There's blood on the streets and the smell is so sweet cos another blue bastard has just gone down. Nightstick in hand, he tried to rule this land but that's no way to make a country great... So it's goodbye to one more fascist clown - we've got a riot, you can't keep us quiet. This is our answer to your law."

Summer Of '81 was a natural, almost instinctive applauding of the previous year's urban riots. A breath of fresh air upon the embers of that month of July, reminding all those who condemned the rioting or even appreciated it that the ghost of civil disturbance still stalked the land, waiting for resurrection.

"We thought the riots were a good thing," said Violators drummer Coley "It was the only way to hammer home to Thatcher that people were pissed off and they weren't gonna take no more."

The song climaxes with a roll call of honour: "Brixton - Riot! Riot! Toxteth - Riot! Riot! Bristol - Riot! Riot! Moss Side - Riot! Riot! England - Riot! Riot!"

It was strange to think that a gravel-voiced Punk Rocker from Derbyshire understood what the riots meant far better than any politician, sociologist or police chief: "If everyone had rioted at the same time on one certain night it would have worked much better," said Stylesy "Think of the power..." Or maybe it wasn't so strange? But yes, there was definitely something very weird going on in that particular area of Britain as there was in Wiltshire also, stamping ground of the Subhumans...

Andy T - Weary Of The Flesh

ANDY T - WEARY OF THE FLESH

Continuing to give succour to bands and artists that no major label would touch with a large barge pole was, of course, Crass, whose next release on their label was Weary Of The Flesh by Andy T.

Anyone attending a Crass concert during this period would in all likelihood have come upon Andy T, seemingly popping up from out of the audience between bands and regaling everyone with a burst of short poems shouted out in a broad Northern accent. Whilst Annie Anxiety would always perform her poems to a backing track of taped sound, Andy T would perform totally unaccompanied by anything or anyone. By performing solo like this, Andy would immediately separate those who were at the gig for the music and a good pogo from those who were there for the whole Crass/Anarcho roadshow experience.

Andy T was the 'Jon The Postman' of Anarcho Punk. Jon The Postman being a legendary, near mythical figure from the 76/77 Manchester Punk scene who would scramble up on stage at early Punk gigs and shout his way through any song that might take his fancy. By all accounts he was totally bereft of talent but of course, being talented wasn't the point. Jon was getting up and 'doing it', and in doing so encapsulated the spirit of Punk perfectly.

The Weary Of The Flesh EP contained 14 Anarcho poems, 'recorded at the Crass bunker and remixed at Southern Studios', dealing with such subjects as ageism, sexism, war, squatting, drug abuse, and violence at gigs; with a specific focus upon vegetarianism and animal abuse.

From the start, it must have been apparent to all involved that a record such as this would have limited appeal, particularly when the words were not being backed by any sort of music but instead by a soundtrack of squealing pigs, discordant guitar and groaning voices. Hopefully, then, nobody was too disappointed when no-one seemed to want to purchase it, even at the bargain price of 'No more than 75p'?

Even though the sentiments expressed in the poems were honest and worthwhile, and the record as a whole was interesting as a piece of avant-garde art; the problem with it was that it failed to invite a second listen or when it did, it was simply to confirm that it was actually as bad as it first appeared on initial hearing.

Over time, Weary Of The Flesh would become known for its peculiar obtrusiveness but like Jon The Postman, it would be live on stage where Andy T's real strength and meaning would always lay; serving as in inspiration to all would-be poets who just wanted to get up and 'do it'.

Conflict - Live At Centro Iberico

CONFLICT - LIVE AT CENTRO IBERICO

Slipping into a position that they were destined to maintain for many a year by continuing to give succour to the Anarcho Punk scene was Conflict, whose next record release was the 7" EP Live At Centro Iberico.

Released on the Poison Girls' XNTrix label, it contained six songs of fair to medium quality, acting primarily as a document of Conflict playing live during that period. Being a live recording, justice wasn't really being done to the songs but served instead as a teaser for what Conflict might actually be capable of producing. Of greater interest was the fact that the recording was taken from a gig at the Centro Iberico, an old school building in West London that had been taken over and squatted by Spanish anarchists.

All the money that had been made from the Crass/Poison Girls split single, Bloody Revolutions/Persons Unknown, had been put toward the setting up of an anarchist center in London. A place where anarchists, Punks and anarchist Punks could go 'to drink a cuppa and meet people of possibly similar views'. According to the sleeve notes on Bloody Revolutions, the aims of the center were both political and social. The political aim being to make anarchist literature and ideas more easily available; the social aim being to offer a meeting place for people interested in anarchy and its various outlets, as in music, etc.

True to the word of all involved, the center was opened in an old warehouse in Wapping, East London, but after just a year the project folded. In the introduction to the Shock Slogans booklet that came with Christ - The Album, an update regarding the center was printed:

'The Anarchy Center closed down after a year in which, apart from some very good gigs, very little happened. The general feeling is that we were ripped off and that a lot of the money that we, Poison Girls and many others put into the center was wasted'.

In this instance, it seemed, the reality fell short of the idea.

After the closure of the Anarchy Center, the people who had been putting on the gigs there moved operations to the Centro Iberico where, under the umbrella of the Spanish anarchists along with The Mob and their entourage a free, autonomous venue was established.

Sometimes, it seemed, the reality could match the idea.

Britain was being a bit slow in catching up with other European countries where squatted, autonomous venues were widespread but through the persistence and hard work of a small number of people, the situation was slowly but surely changing, ably supported by a plethora of bands - Conflict being one of them.