Effin terrible, that's for sure. Quite a bit later than what I think of, when I think of pub rock -- you know, Ducks Deluxe, Hot Rods, Feelgood, Brinsley Schwartz, etc. That lot, glad to find none of them on your list. 👍
Thanks for commenting! As I say in other videos, Pub Rock in London peaked from about 1972 to the early 1990s and I'd say it was more popular in the "second wave", after 1979/1980¬
Skinhead as it really was died out by 71 & later in more rural areas. The 2nd lot circa the late 70s earlier 80s were merely scruffy gluesniffing unemployable rent boys
Good stuff Jim 😅 straight talk luv it , a lot of controversial opinion but I agree with all selected , even the Mondays and I like their albums , jazz funk is traumatic , hamsters played Colne blues festival and made Hendrix boring and in my humble opinion dire straits have always been dire , the worst pub rock gig IV heard was a band I was in we did bacup football/cricket club absolute chaos but still more fun than jazz funk 🎶❤️💪☮️
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's great to see someone (else) who isn't afraid to voice their opinions on music. Your take on jazz funk and Dire Straits definitely ties on with mine! Cheers!
Haha, I used to love seeing Morrisey Mullen at the Cricketers. We'd also come up Sunday lunchtimes to see Hard Lines, another jazz funk group who were local to me in Kent. Came to see many other bands there just from reading the events posters inside. Miss those days, would also go to the Rock Garden occasionally but we had a pub not far from us in Kent that was legendary (IMO) on the pub rock scene, The Frog and Bucket at Ide Hill, between Sevenoaks and Edenbridge. I seem to recall they live music every evening, except Monday, and Sunday lunch times as well. Can't remember all the bands but Bad Influence, The Hamsters, Nicky Moore Blues Band, Hard Lines, Moonshot Blues Band, Mick Clarke and dozens of others played there, and every Sunday night was a band called Gambler, they were the perfect way to close out a normally very boozy weekend, lots of ZZ Top, Hendrix, Kinks, Stones etc covers and invariably finishing up with Lazy Sunday Afternoon with the entire packed pub on backing vocals. Great, great days!! I really lament the loss of all these great live music venues, it is just not the same anymore!
Great memories: thanks for sharing them (it makes up for the pain of recalling those MM gigs at the Cricketers! 😄😄😄). I remember the Frog and Bucket; I'm not sure I ever made it down there, but we often shared many of the same bands back then. Yes, those days were great and sadly, they'll not be returning any time soon!
No, sorry, The Hamsters were gods. Fantastic shows. "Landscape" were sometimes labelled "jazz rock" - which I loathe - but played one of the best live shows I have ever seen. Saw an early Dire Straits show and it was rather ordinary until they ended with Sultans Of Swing.
Glad we agree on some things! 😄 I didn't mention that the Hamsters used to change into slippers in their dressing room, which I always found funny! Thanks for watching!
One of my greatest memories was watching London based band BETHNAL supporting Hawkwind at Newcastle city hall, They were amazing. I still have the program and the ticket at home,. I've collected just about everything they ever did. 2 great studio albums and a live session album, not much of them on video, There's a great quality 'old grey whistle test ' video BETHNAL -Soldier Boy + Bartok "Live BBC studios" (OGWT) Tunes from their 1st studio album. It just seems like yesterday since I saw them, can't believe it was September 1978 when I was 17.
Thanks for that great story. Believe it or not, I put Bethnal on a couple of times when they first started. Their agent at the time was a guy called Barry Collings, who usually represented sleazy nightclub acts and blue comedians. Him suddenly doing Punk was a big surprise and he threw himself right into it. He's still going now, I see, (mostly representing tribute acts)…
We saw Bethnal at Northampton cricket club back in about 79, we didn’t know any of their stuff we just went on a whim and they were brilliant. great night was had by all.
Wow... you mentioned Man and Help Yourself. Two of my favourites of all time. Skrewdriver? Totally disgraceful... similar to Combat 84, if I remember. Thanks for this.
Ah, the classic battle of the bands! Man and Help Yourself for the creative win, while Skrewdriver and Combat 84 are like the nasty little Nazi pizza toppings no one asked for. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for watching. Please keep watching (if you can stand it). Cheers!
I feel ya bro. I can’t imagine the horror of having to sit through two hours a month of a band like Morrissey Mulehead or whatever the hell they were called.
We used to be regulars at the Concorde Club in Southampton/Eastleigh back in the 60s/70's and early 80's. Three bands that have stuck in my memory from those days are Sam Apple Pie, Brewers Droop and Amazing Blondel. We saw all of these a number of times there and always knew that we were in for a great night!
HaHa, great video ,good subject ,too!!! Yes ,Jazz funk in that era was a real anti climax.....long-time-ago, my band supported the ,Happy Mondays, in Spain, the manager of the club asked me (being British) to tell them to stop stealing bottles of whisky ,as drinks were free for performers anyway......i loved most bands in the 70s ,good or bad ..but in the 80s most bands i found disappointing...👍285...Wishing you all the best ,Jim...
Cheers! That's very kind of you! The Happy Mondays were pretty much a cliché of Madchester scallies and I think they knew no better. Thanks for sharing your tales of the time. Happy daze indeed… 😄😄😄
Yes, that was Gary Bushell. He and Lol were school friends and people said I looked like him. In the 1990s, he was on the telly quite a lot, and I'd be stopped regularly by people asking for my (his) autograph. Very annoying… 😄 Cheers!
@@JimDriver they didn't go to school together Jim, but were friends. Dave Long was the promoter at the Blue Coat Boy. Lol wasn't involved. The year would have been 83, early 83.
I have seen many pub rock bands the worst i ever saw were The Pogues who occasionally used to turn up at the Lady Owens Arms to do impromptue gigs totally out of tune and rambling, opposite funny enough The Blue Coat Boy, on one particular night Mcgowen was so pissed he fell off the stage cracking open his face but carried on with bloood pouring from somwhere, they were back then the butt of a lot of jokes as he (McGowen) had a habit of just picking up random drinks a gulping them down so we would usually put something nasty in a drink left by the stage and sure enough he would neck it.
Thanks for commenting. I occasionally ended up at the Lady Owen Arms for a late drink but I never saw The Pogues there. On a good night, especially in the early days, before Shane believed people when they told him he was a "genius", The Pogues were absolutely brilliant. A couple of nights in the Robey and the Cricketers were magical…
Yes, I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I think youngsters today have their own opportunities, and in 50 years or so, this will hopefully be their golden age… 😎
I'm in my mid 50's from the UK. I used to think the same as you. Then I discovered the Japanese music scene. The best music I have ever heard or seen live is current. This, is the golden age of music. Good music didn't die, it moved to Japan, and got even better. Japanese kids are forming indie/punk/hard rock/metal bands at an alarming rate, and their musical talent and skill is off the charts.
Saw Morrissey Mullen many times at The Half Moon Putney, especially liked their track 'Return to Tooting Broadway'. They were great, my Mum loved them, by the way, Jim Mullen didn't get on with anyone!
Haha! I used to think it was because he was so stoned - in those days he used to light up a big Jamaican doobie the second he arrived and on every opportunity throughout the evening when he wasn't actually on stage. I always considered MM as "Music for Mums", to be honest. Certainly not suitable for a thrusting young music mogul like myself… 😄😎
@@JimDriver I remember Dick Morrissey getting very popular with the prog rockers for a couple of months when he appeared on a Peter Gabriel album. Jim Mullen was far from impressed and told them they were all welcome to 'sling their hook' during the interval. I seem to remember most of them did! He was a good guitarist though.
See your point with most of these and pretty much agree. Especially with that first lot. Sounded like somthing from "The Fast Show"................Great! Saw the Hamsters at Cambridge Corn Ex' well over two decades ago, think with Wilko Johnson and John Otway, vaguely remember they were still playing quite a bit of Hendrix but also ZZ Top and a couple of others too. We thought they were pretty good but as you say, why buy their recordings when you can just as easily get the originals, which are probably better?
MM also had a singer (Noel McCalla) who was a very nice chap but whose phrasing only made it worse for me! It was a tribute to Barry's business acumen that The Hamsters played venues as large as Cambridge Corn Exchange, Aylesbury Friars, and Exeter Phoenix, but I'm betting a tiny number in each audience paid to see them and not Otway or Wilko… 😄
Thanks for putting this series together. I for one have found it interesting, entertaining and educational. I grew up, mainly in what was a small village in Hampshire. I had a passing interest in music in the 70s glam period. But in early '77 some of my friends but together a band that went all the way to one of their parents garages. Sadly I have no musical talent what so ever. But it brought bands like Pistols and Ramones into my existence. Now back in those days you had basically the old grey whistle test the music press word of mouth and to a very small degree TOTP. On 20/5/77 I went with a couple of mates to see the Damned & Adverts, a gig that mythically was said by some never to have happened, it did. Now there a lot of cliches about events that changed you're life, but this did. Up until lock down I regulaly ventured out to see live music. Now Pub rock interested me some time back. But where I lived there was no pub rock scene. Some time back I started trying to source records and cds of bands from that time. I personally found it limited. I was a fan of the Hot Rods for a long time. as I'd seen them on the pops. I do recall a limited amount of criticism as they were wearing flared trousers on the live at the Marquee e.p.. I couldn't get to see the band until the reunion the Marquee in 1983 which is still one of my most liked events. I did speak briefly to Barrie Masters briefly on a couple of occasions and always found him charming and engaging. In fact I bought him a drink when they played the Stranglers convention and he name checked me from the stage. I briefly masqueraded as a lighting tech in the Tivoli in Buckley when the current band supported Stiff little fingers,(2019?) I have no musical talent but I can press switched and move sliders up and down. I had hoped to use my position as staff to have a chat (like I did with Pete Way, R.I.P.) but Barrie was too ill to attend. The whole pub rock scene is still of interest to me and whilst I have heard and even have material from several of the bands you mention I'm still finding out about events and bands I've never heard of.
I really appreciate your kind words! I'm thrilled to hear that you found the series interesting and educational. Your experiences around the edges of the Pub Rock scene are inspiring-thanks for sharing!
I believe M Knopfler was in the London pub band Brewer's Droop for a while. Never heard of Morrissey Mullen before -but from the snippet there it sounds to me like they would have worked well as a backing band for the Raymond Revue Bar at the time! 😂
Brewers Droop divided us the audience into ‘Fkrs’ and ‘Wnkrs’. We on our side had to shout ‘’Wnkrs’ at the other side and they ‘Fkrs’ at us. Great moment in Rock, it wasn’t. But it was fun!
Yes, I definitely remember Chuck Farkey whose name was a spoonerism (or whatever) as a statement about the (then) young Prince Charles. Great venue: I hear they pulled it down a while ago. Sad…
in about 2001 i was minding my own business in my van gawping at a magazine whilst waiting for the elderly ex Trinidadian & lady customer to return to her cabin at an ideal location along a gravel road on the coast of The Solent. i looked up to see a very tall guy pushing a kiddie & pushchair plus black Labrador . “ Alright ? “ I enquired to this guy “ yep ! “ he smiled cheerfully then made brief small talk about the weather & he winked then carried on . On her returning I asked Marieann “ is that your rock star neighbour with kid & black lab “ she immediately fumed “ if his Labrador has shit on my front porch again , it’s going straight back & if he’s not careful, through his letterbox ! “ My point is , the apparent Bassist of Dire Straits seemed way more sociable than half the population of strangers one would encounter in SW new forest & had unknowingly to me clocked the saucy magazine which was propped upon my steering wheel ( it was Rear View - sold at Jet in Shirley) but it still didn’t have me listening to their sound . The only pub band in our small town in the 1980s was Stukas Over Disneyland feat Adam whom later became Adamski but our entertainment was cowpunks The Cropdusters ( previously Peeping Toms )bless them & the epic Sunny Jim Cyanide although there was a rival folksy band 6 miles west had supporters whom would best be described as “ the waistcoat brigade “ cos they were snobs . Thankyou for your work 😁👍🐢
Thanks for sharing your very interesting stories and for the kind words! Funnily enough, the Cropdusters played a few times at the Cricketers and are on my list of "Underrated Pub Rock" outfits. Please keep watching…
There were quite a few bands I saw during the 'Pub Rock' era that were bloody awful, but after a few pints most weren't booed that much, but they certainly didn't get shoouted back on to do an encore... ; - ) Great stuff, Jim. Cheers!
Thanks again for your kind words! I’m starting to blush. Yes, there were some terrible program bands, but at the same time quite a few were after this world.!
Looking for a punky gig in late 1977, I turned up at a pub in Putney because I thought the name Dire Straits sounded like they might be a punk band. They were playing in a room upstairs. Could this have been the White Lion, Jim?
@JimDriver that would explain the bounciness of me and the two people I was with. I don't recall anyone else being very amused, and DS were shite. I ran across them again a few months later at the St Albans Civic where the band I was in was opening for them. They were at best unmemorable at that gig.
Yeah The 🐹 Hamters were Massive in The 80s played The Horn of plenty St Albans once a week always a full house l never appreciated them Conflict l Liked them until they Ripped me off on their Mail order site l grew up in Hemel Hempstead in the early 80s there was a Local pub Rock act called the Chiltern volcanos There was another band called The Late Road Lunatics.
Interesting to read so many comments adoring The Hamsters who were, if I recall correctly, strictly a covers band that played a huge number of gigs all over the country. It seems they could play their set list in their sleep and frequently did. They shouldn't really be classed in the same league even as Dire Straits who IMHO had about three good songs. Landscape seem to have been mentioned, and they made a great second album of innovative electro-rock that was deservedly successful, a terrible follow-up and then rightly split.
Thanks for sharing that: I can't disagree with much you say. People have reminded me of other bands I could have mentioned: The Boogie Brothers being one I missed out! Cheers!
I came across the Hamsters twice - yes you really couldn't escape them. The first was when i went to see Pink Floyd play in Paris in 89. We went by coach and the Hamsters were also part of the coach party. They insisted that their cassette played endlessly on the journey and smoked the coach out with wacky backy. The Floyd gig was outstanding but on the journey back the coach got searched by customs - there was a lot of quick movement from the rodents to rid their stash! Anyway they succeeded. Bizarrely a few years i paid to see them play in a club in Macclesfield - it was as you say the first tribute band to ZZ Top. They were good.. much better than their earlier cassette!
The Hamsters and Dire Straits had the same flaw as live bands: predictable competence is dull. Dire Straits were definitely the kind of band who typed out their set lists (HMHB reference there), who had obviously rehearsed everything meticulously, even their 'spontaneous' comic asides to the audience. They sounded EXACTLY like their records, though their audience probably preferred them that way. I enjoyed seeing The Hamsters play in the 1990s but they did frequently slip into autopilot. Admittedly The Hamsters on autopilot still sounded pretty good, at least to me, but they lacked any sparkle or spontaneity. Performing hundreds of gigs a year does that to you. Plus like you said, being a cover band made their albums pointless beyond having a memento of a night out. I never saw The Happy Mondays perform, but Black Grape (Shaun Ryder's next band) were pretty good, what the Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches era Mondays would have sounded like if they had not overindulged and imploded.
@@JimDriver Thank you! The first time I saw The Hamsters they were supporting 'Lee Brilleaux plus random mates' era Dr Feelgood. It must have been 1989, maybe 1990? The Hamsters were wearing these really 1970s baby blue flared three piece suits. And I went to one of their farewell gigs in 2012 at the Putney Half Moon. Barry's (AKA Snail Pace Slim) eyes were closed almost throughout, performing on muscle memory alone. They sounded great as always, but as I said, entirely on autopilot. And that Dire Straits gig circa 1991 at Wembley Arena was the dullest and most workmanlike 'proper' gig I have ever attended. I should have asked for my money back, but the venue would have laughed in my face if I said Dire Straits had been too boring. What did you expect, Sunshine? What did you expect?
Did see the Hamsters doing Hendrix in a kind of review thing years ago. What they did, they were very good at, unfortunately I think they bored themselves to tears doing it and that translated to anybody attending one of their many gigs.
I think you make a good point. I despaired of the Hamsters when I saw that they all changed into slippers in the dressing room! I think, to be fair, that they considered it a job, like plumbing or working in a shop, and the lack of creativity got to them in the end. Thanks for joining in!
@@JimDriver: it’s tricky for bands who choose to do covers. They get good at doing a certain thing, get paid and booked on the strength of it. Fans turn up because they know what they’re getting. Before long it becomes a straight jacket and the band ends up in a rut. And yes it becomes a job you check in and check out of.
I heard Charlie Gillette play the demo of 'Sultans of Swing' on his 'Honky Tonk' show and went to see Dire Straits live at one of his free shows at Clapham Common Bandstand. I loved their 1st album , but nothings since. Well, I liked 'Money For Nothing' for about 5 minutes!
Those were the days; £3.50 to see Roy Harper. That was more of an 80's scene which I saw in North London, George Robey etc. Great nights even the 2 hours of excruciating jazz funk! Shouldn't have booked them then; they must have brought the money in.
Those indeed were the days. Thanks for commenting! I think you should watch the MM segment again: you obviously missed the reasons why they were booked and the 90% (free PA) deal they were on. Or brush up on your maths. 😄😄 Cheers!
Well, Jim Mullen was both in Kokomo but, more famously, in the Average White Band. AWB was touring the USA, and Dick Morrisey was in New York City recording with Herbie Mann. They met up in a NYC hotel, jammed and decided to form a band together, which they did when both returned to London. So there… 😄😄😄
@@JimDriver btw. You're right about The Hamsters. I really enjoy your vids. I was an agent during that time and you bring back lots of great memories.
@@JimDriver I think I've solved the mystery (sad, I know, but it was bugging me). Mullen was never a member of AWB (although he knew them early on) but he was a member of band put together by Arif Mardin for the 1977 Montreux Festival which also included members of AWB and Dick Morrisey (source: AWB website). Phew!
I made enquiries of a mutual musician friend and found out the Jim Mullen occasionally "deps" on live shows for AWB and has done so since the mid-1970s, when he was in New York with them and met Dick Morrissey in the Sheraton Hotel..
Yes, Shaun and Bez are very good at watching TV and showing how little they know about the world. But perhaps I'm being unkind… 😄 Thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts!
Yes, I never really enjoyed them, especially in the early days when they were called the Guildford Stranglers. I mention this is another video, I'm pretty sure (though at my age you never can be totally sure)…
I loved the Hamsters. Only saw them once when they were supporting Walter Trout at Rafters in Manchester sometime around 1990. They were great, and gave Morrissey a right good slagging off which went down well with the Manchester crowd!
Sultans of Swing was going down the charts until they were the late substitute on TOTP for the great Gang of Four who had to pull out at the last minute because the show’s producer tried to make them replace the word ‘rubbers’ (in the line ‘the rubbers you hide in your top left pocket’) with ‘rubbish’. So I blame the BBC! I was dragged along by some friends to see The Hamsters at a Kingston pub in the early 1990s but for some long forgotten reason they were also replaced by another band who played blues covers. So out of the frying pan into the fire!
Jim back in the day used to go to The Swan Hammersmith where i used to watch a band called The Lesser known Tunisians do you know or remember anything about them love the content
Looks a bit like a dishevelled Garry Bushell in that pic at 7:07? Skunx? Was that before "Oi" or thereabouts? That would put Bushell in the frame. He was promoting some of those bands when he was a writer at Sounds magazine. I remember seeing Skrewdriver at the Railway Hotel in Bishops Stortford. They were the second punk band I saw there. They were an odd group, they had a drum kit with broken cymbals. That is my enduring memory of them. They looked a bit menacing, but were disappointing after seeing the Rage, (The Sods) a Harlow punk band who at least had the chops and a singer who did a good impression of Johnny Rotten. They came on to the sound of an echo box feeding back. There was a prog band who went Punk overnight....vastly improved! I probably still have a copy of Sounds from 1976 which covered a festival of pub bands including the 101ers, Eddie And The Hotrods, Crazy Cavan, and the wonderfully named Duke Duke and the Dukes. I wonder what happened to them? Their name has stuck in my mind ever since! .
Wish I'd seen Duke Duke & The Dukes! Thanks for sharing those great memories. That was Gary Bushell with Lol: there was a rumour they were unofficial partners because he used to mention Lol's label's bands a lot in Sounds. But who know? I think they went to school together. Cheers!
Yes, the guys in the band certainly knew how to strum, pic, and dash the drums. 😉 Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope you'll stick with the channel. Cheers!
Not everyone loves Jazz. Not everyone who loves jazz loves it fused. Fair play (I do). Funny to hear Dire Straights were a bit wobbly starting out! I can believe that. I don’t think they thought of themselves as anti punk though? They just did them.
I didn't mean they were actively anti-Punk, more that they ignored its rise. Mark and David lived on a trendy "alternative" council housing estate in Deptford called Crossfields at the time and I'm told my musician friends that they didn't hang out with the Puink element, preferring to mix with the long-hairs and beatniks. I tended to mix with everybody because I'm a social slut… 😄
Great vid , i went bluecoat boy / skunks many years ago to see 4skins and combat84 , was actually a great gig ,no trouble and had good night ,i was only about 18 then ,im 60 now and still remember ...panda of 4skins singing ...what a eonderfull world !! Aint got any better had it .. oh last time i see chubby chris of combat 84 was outside arsenal tavern ,arsenal and chelsea ki king off , he was chelsea i believe ..😊
Oh yeh ,morrisey mullen , see them also, not by choice though I was a pot boy at regal theatre ,hitchin and they played there while I was working , as I was a punk then I just didn't take ant notice of them ,sorry morrisey mullen fans !!
Blimey, Redskins and Combat 84 was a nightmare pairing that seems to me about as incendiary as a warehouse full of dynamite! Glad I wasn't there for that but grateful there was no trouble. Part of my problem was that the two doormen I was lumbered with by the pub were firmly on the side of the skins and I heard afterwards that one of them was the father of a notorious skinhead musician. Interesting times for sure. Thanks for sharing those memories. Cheers!
@JimDriver no worries, love your trips down memory lane ,wouldn't want to go back knowing what was coming !! I remember at skunks my mate put some tunes on the jukebox, first time I heard dead wretched and also demob...no room for you, great tracks ..
Haha! Thanks for expressing your opinion: you should make a video and show what a d**k I am! The primary aim of my channel is to inform, entertain and inflict my biased opinions on the world at large!! Thanks for commenting and for watching. Cheers!
Fantastic story! That’s the kind of comment I like to see on my channel. I can’t say I have her came across NW10 but I bet they packed a solid punch. Cheers
Loving these videos. If I could only suggest one thing, look into the camera, not the viewfinder. It looks peculiar otherwise. Please don’t be offended and please don’t let people come at me! It’s just a thing.
It's funny how some bands can really change like Dire Straights but that Morrisy Mullen act sounds like it was more musicians than the regular music fan.
True! Dire Straits took the scenic route, while Morrissey-Mullen seemed to have a VIP pass to the musician's club! Sometimes, it’s all about who’s holding the instrument...
@@JimDriver I think the current crop of full band open mics like The Rebel inn in Stretham and the Man of Kent are a spital successor to the Pub rock venues.
Colin Jerwood of Conflict was a formidable front man. 5th dan black belt, ex painter and decorator from Eltham and did security work on the side. There's no way Skrewdriver would have been able to put one over Conflict
I did tell the full story in one of my other videos, but the fuller version is: Conflict were loading in their gear, a van pulled up, around a dozen skinheads armed with baseball bats got out and kicked the living shit out of the three or fo guys who were in the road then drove off. The gig had to be cancelled. This was early on conflicts career and I think Colin was still at school. If you want any more details, ask him… 😎
Screwdriver were not skinheads they were boneheads & Skunx was always full of South London Boneheads(same lot who smashed up punk gigs all over London)who hated punks & thought it was their venue & i definitely would Not call them a pub rock band
Thanks for the extra info. I always considered them blockheads, but that's another story. Having thought long and hard, I wouldn't call Skrewdriver for any reason…
They were skinheads, just not at first, in regards to the first inception of the band. The members however, (almost all of them, at least) were skinheads during the first wave. Punk came along and changed things quite a bit. This is a very bland description of the band. Yes, Ian Stuart went far right, but far from initially froming the band. A lot of stuff prior to their "outing" was/is considered top notch punk and/or Skinhead rock and roll. He experimented with styles quite a bit, but most of his tunes after 83 or 84 is....well... Meh. I see the reason to not like them, but they DID put out decent tunes, and many people just are not wanting to admit to listening to them. Rightfully so. They also didn't "hate punks". Many punks supported Skrewdriver up until their demise in 93. It was an odd atmosphere at their shows, to say the least. That isn't to say they didn't have their quarrels with Punk's and other Skinhead firms/Oi! Bands. It just wasn't This whole "skins vs punks" that many tend to think was the prevailing attitude. It was there, it just was far from encompassing the entire scene
Had bought "youre so dumb" (a good punk single) same day as radiators from space (another lost band) so embarrased when they turned up in Aylesbury for the iggy, bowie tour start, think it was Talking Heads first U.K gig they ere twats but scary af twats, still shudder at the memory
Friday night early 1980’s ‘Trashy Virtues’ ‘Stork at Rest Gravesend ’ New Romantic band it was the equivalent of Duran Duran playing at the wheel tapper’s and shunters 😅 one song I remember ? looking for a rainbow looking for a smile 😊 it wasn’t a pleasant evening 😅.
Haha! Great story: thanks for sharing it! People forget that for every band that makes it, there are a thousand who fail miserably. Hopefully, they have some fun along the way. The music business always has been cruel… 😄
I mention in another video that Juice on the Loose were one of the greatest of the Pub Rock bands: th-cam.com/video/RH4v3CGDj24/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ur-k2BP3pB_j2FbO Thanks for watching!
"On the night of 23 September 1993, Ian Stuart was involved in a car crash in Derbyshire that resulted in his death the following day, at the age of 36." 😁
That was a surprise at #1. Surely The Hamsters are due the title of "Hardest Working Pub Band", their schedule was bonkers, could be London one night and then Edinburgh the next with the 3rd night in Cardiff.
Just think how it was in the 60s in a commer Bedford or Thames van band just took any gig so could be Scotland back to London than Scotland again never new who you would meet in star cafe on a1
Jazz Funk is the music of the Devil. I included Burlesque in one of my videos not so long ago and was agent for Trimmer & Jenkins in the late 1970s/early 1980s: th-cam.com/video/_-IYMbeqKtk/w-d-xo.html Not sure about Way of the West: I'll check them out. Cheers!
My worse as heavy metal was seeing listening to ESP at a club it was noise could not hear the singer was not fun at all. I found the Hamsters were really good they used to do a walk through the crowed and that sort of thing never spoke to them but Slim did hit me in the Nuts with his guitar once. So might not be good as people.
It sounds like you had quite the experience with ESP! Live shows can be hit or miss, but it's great to hear you enjoyed The Hamsters when you saw them. Those crowd interactions make for memorable moments, especially being hit in the nuts by Barry Martin. I hope you subscribed for more videos! Cheers!
My jazz-loving alter ego wants to defend M&M, but it's hard - a clear case of misdirected talent. Can't argue with the rest, though - here we have four distinct types of "bad".
I do feel sometimes that the Factory Records cult does the Happy Mondays a lot of favours. I wonder how much interest I would ever have taken if they hadn't had that cache. Also, their second two albums - 'Bummed' and 'Pills and Thrills 'n' Bellyaches' (both of which I like) - were blessed with great producers in Martin Hannett and Paul Oakenfold respectively.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! It's always great to hear from those who appreciate more than just the hype. Martin and Paul brought out the best, that's for sure. Cheers!
Pub bands are just that. They don't have to be great, they just have to entertain you for low cost while you have a few beers with your mates. The Hamsters did just that, I saw them many times, usually at The Cartoon in Croydon during their ZZ Top/ Hendrix period. So, for that reason, they should be taken off your list, immediately, lol
Haha! The Hamsters were on the list purely because they changed into slippers in the 100 Club dressing room the last time I put them on. Plus I knew including them would annoy a lot of people… 😄 Having said that, some Pub Rock bands were absolutely great and did more than simply entertain whilst people got pissed and chatted with their mates. Stcik around, I'll share a few of those bands with you! Thanks for taking part in the conversation. Cheers!
I saw the Hamsters several times because they used to turn up at biker events in the 80’s and 90’s on an unfortunately regular basis and I thought they were dreadful. Dumpy’s rusty nuts also fell into this category for me.
I quite agree. The Mac Lads and Brewers Droop were similarly disappointing but with added smut in the case of the former. Thanks for sharing your thoughts: very much appreciated!
@@JimDriver Fully agree jim but you remember sarf lunnen back then Level 42 land, lol Pro muso musos or up there own backside noodlers. time has spoken. Quick aside Eater yaas and why? they were so good live total lightning in a bottle. big up dee Generate.
Sorry, The Happy Mondays were awesome, but then I was living in Manchester. They weren't a pub rock band... But I agree, Screwdriver were awful and it was not just musically... I also agree, Dire Straits are a great way of falling asleep
It's great to hear your perspective on The Happy Mondays! They definitely had a unique sound that set them apart. A pity they were tw*ts. And I totally get what you mean about Dire Straits - sometimes their music is perfect for falling into a coma! Cheers!
Skrewdriver and Half Man Half Biscuit? Half Man Half Biscuit would hate everything Skrewdriver stood for. How do you make a connection between the two?
I’m very happy for you! 😀 as I always say, different strokes for different folks. I hope you subscribed and that you’re going to watch more of my videos. Cheers!
@@JimDriver yes, subscribed and definitely be watching more. Only recently discovered your videos but really enjoying them. I may have missed somewhere, I know you were an agent, promoter and manager etc, but were you in a band yourself?
@@camerondavis9416 Great! Thanks for subscribing! No I was never in a band. I wouldn't want to show up any of the acts I worked with … 😊 The serious reply is that I believe people should do what they're good at. I was good at putting bands in front of people and they were better at making music than I was.
Each to their own, as they say. 😄 I quite enjoyed Bees Make Honey TBH and as for Toad, I have only a vague recollection. Thanks, I'll check them out… 😎
Well, mate, our Play-Lists are very much alike...😂😂😂 keep on share it. Cheers (altough yours is twice bigger than mine, no doubt) About Skunx, its a big No-No. I cant stand a White Skin. Red Skins, on the other side, are not so bad.
Thanks for taking part! It was an exciting time and lots was going on, as you probably remember! I never really got on with skinhead or teddy boys for some reason. Cheers!
Jazz funk? Oh dear me no. Sounds like a series of big build ups to yet more noodling. Quite the thing in the 1980s, with clubs that played little else.
And I don't really enjoy repetition. I don't really enjoy repetition. And repetition is what Jazz-Funk is all about, at least that's how it seemed top me! Did I say, I don't really enjoy repetition? 😄😄
Morrissey-Mullen were NOT one of the worst 5 pub rock bands - it's just that YOU didn't like them! 🤣 It's also very telling that you chose a very - ahem! - 'television-friendly' song of theirs to represent their entire body of live work.
@@JimDriver they were excellent musicians, of course. But they also generated a wonderful atmosphere in the room whenever I saw them play (at the Torrington, mostly). At the tender age of 16, they were one of my gateway bands into jazz, for which I'll be eternally grateful to them!
a rollercoaster of hilarity and disgust (skrwdriver, oh nooooo!) I had to fast forward a few times to curtail the song extracts a few times.... Good! (electric hamsterland ain't a bad band name ....them and dire straits!!!fuckin technicians of The Electric Guitar! they drive me mad with boredom)
Haha! Thanks for kind words. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to live through some of those days. Mind you, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thanks for taking about: please keep watching and commenting!
Dire straits were dire then they ripped off Sniff and the tears and the rest is history, I hate jazz and pseudo jazz is even worse Santana do the same track over dozens of records. I have a couple of Hamsters cds but they are not something I play. Skrewdriver had the energy irrespective of their politics. The other side of that coin is two tone , UB40 and level 42 ripping off black music and diluting it. Can you tell me something about Roogalator
Thanks for sharing your thoughts; I'm pleased we can agree on many things! I did include Roogalator in a recent video: th-cam.com/video/t8Tok-k3NzQ/w-d-xo.html.
Cheers! Even listening to the Morrissey-Mullen stuff when I was editing this video brought me out in a cold sweat (and it was 28 degrees here in sunny Ramsgate!). I forgot to mention my favourite way of "getting my own back": by misspelling their name in different ways on flyers, posters and ads. -
I quite agree. The Hamsters were fantastic. How Jimi Hendrix had the nerve to play his stuff first is beyond belief! But seriously, thanks for commenting. We all have different tastes and that's great. Vive le difference and all that!
Thanks for the memories, great video. PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE ❤❤.
Thanks, I really appreciate the comment. Peace and Love to everyone indeed! Cheers!
Effin terrible, that's for sure. Quite a bit later than what I think of, when I think of pub rock -- you know, Ducks Deluxe, Hot Rods, Feelgood, Brinsley Schwartz, etc. That lot, glad to find none of them on your list. 👍
Thanks for commenting! As I say in other videos, Pub Rock in London peaked from about 1972 to the early 1990s and I'd say it was more popular in the "second wave", after 1979/1980¬
Did you ever own any albums from the 101ers and the Count Bishops?
Hamsters were brilliant saw them few times
The bestest band in all the world.
Ever.
Thanks for watching and for commenting!
The Hamsters were great.
Best band ever… 😄😄😄
I saw Morrissey Mullen in the early eightes. Im an old pub rocker, but i also love jazz, and I thought MM were great.
Each to their own! Thanks for watching and for commenting. 😄😎
I had one of their albums. I can't remember why ...
Skinhead as it really was died out by 71 & later in more rural areas. The 2nd lot circa the late 70s earlier 80s were merely scruffy gluesniffing unemployable rent boys
Good stuff Jim 😅 straight talk luv it , a lot of controversial opinion but I agree with all selected , even the Mondays and I like their albums , jazz funk is traumatic , hamsters played Colne blues festival and made Hendrix boring and in my humble opinion dire straits have always been dire , the worst pub rock gig IV heard was a band I was in we did bacup football/cricket club absolute chaos but still more fun than jazz funk 🎶❤️💪☮️
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's great to see someone (else) who isn't afraid to voice their opinions on music. Your take on jazz funk and Dire Straits definitely ties on with mine! Cheers!
Haha, I used to love seeing Morrisey Mullen at the Cricketers. We'd also come up Sunday lunchtimes to see Hard Lines, another jazz funk group who were local to me in Kent. Came to see many other bands there just from reading the events posters inside. Miss those days, would also go to the Rock Garden occasionally but we had a pub not far from us in Kent that was legendary (IMO) on the pub rock scene, The Frog and Bucket at Ide Hill, between Sevenoaks and Edenbridge. I seem to recall they live music every evening, except Monday, and Sunday lunch times as well. Can't remember all the bands but Bad Influence, The Hamsters, Nicky Moore Blues Band, Hard Lines, Moonshot Blues Band, Mick Clarke and dozens of others played there, and every Sunday night was a band called Gambler, they were the perfect way to close out a normally very boozy weekend, lots of ZZ Top, Hendrix, Kinks, Stones etc covers and invariably finishing up with Lazy Sunday Afternoon with the entire packed pub on backing vocals. Great, great days!! I really lament the loss of all these great live music venues, it is just not the same anymore!
Great memories: thanks for sharing them (it makes up for the pain of recalling those MM gigs at the Cricketers! 😄😄😄). I remember the Frog and Bucket; I'm not sure I ever made it down there, but we often shared many of the same bands back then.
Yes, those days were great and sadly, they'll not be returning any time soon!
Thank you once again. It's invaluable to hear these snippets of info and anecdotes about this lost world!
Glad you enjoyed it! If people didn't watch them I'd be mad to keep making them. Mind you, I am a little crazy, so who knows?!
I'm afraid I have to disagree with your choice of the hamsters one of the best bands around
Each to their own. I know I was always outnumbered at gigs. A couple of hundred adoring supporters… and me!
Thanks for commenting! Cheers!
I knew I was always outnumbered at gigs: a couple of hundred adoring supporters and me!
Thanks for commenting! Cheers!
No, sorry, The Hamsters were gods. Fantastic shows. "Landscape" were sometimes labelled "jazz rock" - which I loathe - but played one of the best live shows I have ever seen. Saw an early Dire Straits show and it was rather ordinary until they ended with Sultans Of Swing.
Glad we agree on some things! 😄 I didn't mention that the Hamsters used to change into slippers in their dressing room, which I always found funny! Thanks for watching!
One of my greatest memories was watching London based band BETHNAL supporting Hawkwind at Newcastle city hall, They were amazing. I still have the program and the ticket at home,. I've collected just about everything they ever did. 2 great studio albums and a live session album, not much of them on video, There's a great quality 'old grey whistle test ' video BETHNAL -Soldier Boy + Bartok "Live BBC studios" (OGWT) Tunes from their 1st studio album. It just seems like yesterday since I saw them, can't believe it was September 1978 when I was 17.
Thanks for that great story.
Believe it or not, I put Bethnal on a couple of times when they first started. Their agent at the time was a guy called Barry Collings, who usually represented sleazy nightclub acts and blue comedians. Him suddenly doing Punk was a big surprise and he threw himself right into it. He's still going now, I see, (mostly representing tribute acts)…
What ever happened to Bethnal they used to do a cover of Baba O'Rielly didn't they .
We saw Bethnal at Northampton cricket club back in about 79, we didn’t know any of their stuff we just went on a whim and they were brilliant. great night was had by all.
Wow... you mentioned Man and Help Yourself. Two of my favourites of all time. Skrewdriver? Totally disgraceful... similar to Combat 84, if I remember. Thanks for this.
Ah, the classic battle of the bands! Man and Help Yourself for the creative win, while Skrewdriver and Combat 84 are like the nasty little Nazi pizza toppings no one asked for. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for watching. Please keep watching (if you can stand it). Cheers!
@@JimDriver I certainly will, Jim
I feel ya bro. I can’t imagine the horror of having to sit through two hours a month of a band like Morrissey Mulehead or whatever the hell they were called.
It was very pleasant for me. of course, other people loved it! Thanks that great comment. Please keep watching and commenting!
We used to be regulars at the Concorde Club in Southampton/Eastleigh back in the 60s/70's and early 80's. Three bands that have stuck in my memory from those days are Sam Apple Pie, Brewers Droop and Amazing Blondel. We saw all of these a number of times there and always knew that we were in for a great night!
Thanks for commenting! One of those almost made it into my list. I won't reveal which one… 😄
Sorry Jim, i have to disagree with you about The Hamsters 😱 i thought that they were outstanding
The Hamsters were certainly alone in their field. 😄 Cheers!
HaHa, great video ,good subject ,too!!! Yes ,Jazz funk in that era was a real anti climax.....long-time-ago, my band supported the ,Happy Mondays, in Spain, the manager of the club asked me (being British) to tell them to stop stealing bottles of whisky ,as drinks were free for performers anyway......i loved most bands in the 70s ,good or bad ..but in the 80s most bands i found disappointing...👍285...Wishing you all the best ,Jim...
Cheers! That's very kind of you!
The Happy Mondays were pretty much a cliché of Madchester scallies and I think they knew no better. Thanks for sharing your tales of the time. Happy daze indeed… 😄😄😄
Was that not gary bushell in that laurie pryor pic, he was into all the skin and OI! stuff, he had a band called the gonads
Yes, that was Gary Bushell. He and Lol were school friends and people said I looked like him. In the 1990s, he was on the telly quite a lot, and I'd be stopped regularly by people asking for my (his) autograph. Very annoying… 😄
Cheers!
@@JimDriver they didn't go to school together Jim, but were friends. Dave Long was the promoter at the Blue Coat Boy. Lol wasn't involved. The year would have been 83, early 83.
I remember Bushell writing for Sounds in the 70s/80s, often pushing those dismal Oi! bands like Cockney Rejects.
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xxoh hush. Oi! is amazing
@@fletchkeilman2205 It's not though...
I have seen many pub rock bands the worst i ever saw were The Pogues who occasionally used to turn up at the Lady Owens Arms to do impromptue gigs totally out of tune and rambling, opposite funny enough The Blue Coat Boy, on one particular night Mcgowen was so pissed he fell off the stage cracking open his face but carried on with bloood pouring from somwhere, they were back then the butt of a lot of jokes as he (McGowen) had a habit of just picking up random drinks a gulping them down so we would usually put something nasty in a drink left by the stage and sure enough he would neck it.
Thanks for commenting. I occasionally ended up at the Lady Owen Arms for a late drink but I never saw The Pogues there.
On a good night, especially in the early days, before Shane believed people when they told him he was a "genius", The Pogues were absolutely brilliant. A couple of nights in the Robey and the Cricketers were magical…
Sam Apple Pie from Walthamstow were excellent back in the day.
I only saw Sam Apple Pie once or twice. I don't know why they didn't gel with me. Cheers!
You have a wonderful history, having lived through the golden age of music, never to return.
I feel sorry for kids today.
Yes, I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I think youngsters today have their own opportunities, and in 50 years or so, this will hopefully be their golden age… 😎
I'm in my mid 50's from the UK. I used to think the same as you. Then I discovered the Japanese music scene. The best music I have ever heard or seen live is current. This, is the golden age of music. Good music didn't die, it moved to Japan, and got even better. Japanese kids are forming indie/punk/hard rock/metal bands at an alarming rate, and their musical talent and skill is off the charts.
Absolutely awesome have a wonderful day 😊❤
Thank you! You too!
Saw Morrissey Mullen many times at The Half Moon Putney, especially liked their track 'Return to Tooting Broadway'. They were great, my Mum loved them, by the way, Jim Mullen didn't get on with anyone!
Haha! I used to think it was because he was so stoned - in those days he used to light up a big Jamaican doobie the second he arrived and on every opportunity throughout the evening when he wasn't actually on stage.
I always considered MM as "Music for Mums", to be honest. Certainly not suitable for a thrusting young music mogul like myself… 😄😎
@@JimDriver I remember Dick Morrissey getting very popular with the prog rockers for a couple of months when he appeared on a Peter Gabriel album. Jim Mullen was far from impressed and told them they were all welcome to 'sling their hook' during the interval. I seem to remember most of them did! He was a good guitarist though.
I saw MM many times and they were brilliant every time.. Proper band.
@@frflinstone of course you’re quite right: Morrissey Mullen were the best band in the whole wide world… 😊
@@PWMoze Morrissey played on some godawful Numan albums of the 80s.
See your point with most of these and pretty much agree. Especially with that first lot. Sounded like somthing from "The Fast Show"................Great!
Saw the Hamsters at Cambridge Corn Ex' well over two decades ago, think with Wilko Johnson and John Otway, vaguely remember they were still playing quite a bit of Hendrix but also ZZ Top and a couple of others too. We thought they were pretty good but as you say, why buy their recordings when you can just as easily get the originals, which are probably better?
MM also had a singer (Noel McCalla) who was a very nice chap but whose phrasing only made it worse for me! It was a tribute to Barry's business acumen that The Hamsters played venues as large as Cambridge Corn Exchange, Aylesbury Friars, and Exeter Phoenix, but I'm betting a tiny number in each audience paid to see them and not Otway or Wilko… 😄
Thanks for putting this series together. I for one have found it interesting, entertaining and educational. I grew up, mainly in what was a small village in Hampshire. I had a passing interest in music in the 70s glam period. But in early '77 some of my friends but together a band that went all the way to one of their parents garages. Sadly I have no musical talent what so ever. But it brought bands like Pistols and Ramones into my existence. Now back in those days you had basically the old grey whistle test the music press word of mouth and to a very small degree TOTP. On 20/5/77 I went with a couple of mates to see the Damned & Adverts, a gig that mythically was said by some never to have happened, it did. Now there a lot of cliches about events that changed you're life, but this did. Up until lock down I regulaly ventured out to see live music. Now Pub rock interested me some time back. But where I lived there was no pub rock scene. Some time back I started trying to source records and cds of bands from that time. I personally found it limited. I was a fan of the Hot Rods for a long time. as I'd seen them on the pops. I do recall a limited amount of criticism as they were wearing flared trousers on the live at the Marquee e.p.. I couldn't get to see the band until the reunion the Marquee in 1983 which is still one of my most liked events. I did speak briefly to Barrie Masters briefly on a couple of occasions and always found him charming and engaging. In fact I bought him a drink when they played the Stranglers convention and he name checked me from the stage. I briefly masqueraded as a lighting tech in the Tivoli in Buckley when the current band supported Stiff little fingers,(2019?) I have no musical talent but I can press switched and move sliders up and down. I had hoped to use my position as staff to have a chat (like I did with Pete Way, R.I.P.) but Barrie was too ill to attend. The whole pub rock scene is still of interest to me and whilst I have heard and even have material from several of the bands you mention I'm still finding out about events and bands I've never heard of.
I really appreciate your kind words! I'm thrilled to hear that you found the series interesting and educational. Your experiences around the edges of the Pub Rock scene are inspiring-thanks for sharing!
I believe M Knopfler was in the London pub band Brewer's Droop for a while. Never heard of Morrissey Mullen before -but from the snippet there it sounds to me like they would have worked well as a backing band for the Raymond Revue Bar at the time! 😂
Yes, Brewers Droop were close!
Brewers Droop divided us the audience into ‘Fkrs’ and ‘Wnkrs’. We on our side had to shout ‘’Wnkrs’ at the other side and they ‘Fkrs’ at us. Great moment in Rock, it wasn’t. But it was fun!
OMG the f"""ing Hamsters. They were awful. Couldn't avoid them in Southend for a while.
Haha! Yes, they were very hard to avoid, weren't they? Thanks for taking part. Cheers!
Does anybody remember a band called "Chuck Farley" I worked at The Red Lion Brentford (early 80s) and they were on every Thursday brilliant
Yes, I definitely remember Chuck Farkey whose name was a spoonerism (or whatever) as a statement about the (then) young Prince Charles. Great venue: I hear they pulled it down a while ago. Sad…
in about 2001 i was minding my own business in my van gawping at a magazine whilst waiting for the elderly ex Trinidadian & lady customer to return to her cabin at an ideal location along a gravel road on the coast of The Solent. i looked up to see a very tall guy pushing a kiddie & pushchair plus black Labrador . “ Alright ? “ I enquired to this guy “ yep ! “ he smiled cheerfully then made brief small talk about the weather & he winked then carried on . On her returning I asked Marieann “ is that your rock star neighbour with kid & black lab “ she immediately fumed “ if his Labrador has shit on my front porch again , it’s going straight back & if he’s not careful, through his letterbox ! “
My point is , the apparent Bassist of Dire Straits seemed way more sociable than half the population of strangers one would encounter in SW new forest & had unknowingly to me clocked the saucy magazine which was propped upon my steering wheel ( it was Rear View - sold at Jet in Shirley) but it still didn’t have me listening to their sound .
The only pub band in our small town in the 1980s was Stukas Over Disneyland feat Adam whom later became Adamski but our entertainment was cowpunks The Cropdusters ( previously Peeping Toms )bless them & the epic Sunny Jim Cyanide although there was a rival folksy band 6 miles west had supporters whom would best be described as “ the waistcoat brigade “ cos they were snobs .
Thankyou for your work 😁👍🐢
Thanks for sharing your very interesting stories and for the kind words! Funnily enough, the Cropdusters played a few times at the Cricketers and are on my list of "Underrated Pub Rock" outfits. Please keep watching…
sorry if it warbled on but thanks for sticking to it & your appreciation. Great Co incidence re the Cropdusters ! 😁👍
The Hacienda and The Happy Mondays. A lethal financial combination. Just ask New Order.
Yes, in deed. There's a story to be told on video right there. Sadly, I'm not the man to do it. Cheeers!
BTW have you done a Best Of Pub Rock bands by any chance? If you have and The Pirates aren't in it then there's something wrong 😀
I've done several videos of that kind and The Pirates are certainly mentioned. Cheers!
There were quite a few bands I saw during the 'Pub Rock' era that were bloody awful, but after a few pints most weren't booed that much, but they certainly didn't get shoouted back on to do an encore... ; - ) Great stuff, Jim. Cheers!
Thanks again for your kind words! I’m starting to blush. Yes, there were some terrible program bands, but at the same time quite a few were after this world.!
Looking for a punky gig in late 1977, I turned up at a pub in Putney because I thought the name Dire Straits sounded like they might be a punk band. They were playing in a room upstairs. Could this have been the White Lion, Jim?
Yes, that would have been the White Lion. The room upstairs had the most exquisite sprung dance floor that the Punks loved to pogo on!!
@JimDriver that would explain the bounciness of me and the two people I was with. I don't recall anyone else being very amused, and DS were shite. I ran across them again a few months later at the St Albans Civic where the band I was in was opening for them. They were at best unmemorable at that gig.
Yeah The 🐹 Hamters were Massive in The 80s played The Horn of plenty St Albans once a week always a full house l never appreciated them Conflict l Liked them until they Ripped me off on their Mail order site l grew up in Hemel Hempstead in the early 80s there was a Local pub Rock act called the Chiltern volcanos There was another band called The Late Road Lunatics.
Great memories of the era. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
I didnt realise Half Man Half Biscuit were an actual band. They were referenced in an early '90s episode of Byker Grove!
Haha! Many would say they were a "proper" band, though I enjoyed them! I suspect I was there to catch the support abnd on this occasion, though…
I Hate Nerys Hughes!
Interesting to read so many comments adoring The Hamsters who were, if I recall correctly, strictly a covers band that played a huge number of gigs all over the country. It seems they could play their set list in their sleep and frequently did. They shouldn't really be classed in the same league even as Dire Straits who IMHO had about three good songs. Landscape seem to have been mentioned, and they made a great second album of innovative electro-rock that was deservedly successful, a terrible follow-up and then rightly split.
Thanks for sharing that: I can't disagree with much you say. People have reminded me of other bands I could have mentioned: The Boogie Brothers being one I missed out! Cheers!
I came across the Hamsters twice - yes you really couldn't escape them. The first was when i went to see Pink Floyd play in Paris in 89. We went by coach and the Hamsters were also part of the coach party. They insisted that their cassette played endlessly on the journey and smoked the coach out with wacky backy. The Floyd gig was outstanding but on the journey back the coach got searched by customs - there was a lot of quick movement from the rodents to rid their stash! Anyway they succeeded. Bizarrely a few years i paid to see them play in a club in Macclesfield - it was as you say the first tribute band to ZZ Top. They were good.. much better than their earlier cassette!
Thanks for sharing those great memories of the hamsters! Very much appreciated! Please keep watching and commenting. Cheers!
The Hamsters and Dire Straits had the same flaw as live bands: predictable competence is dull.
Dire Straits were definitely the kind of band who typed out their set lists (HMHB reference there), who had obviously rehearsed everything meticulously, even their 'spontaneous' comic asides to the audience. They sounded EXACTLY like their records, though their audience probably preferred them that way.
I enjoyed seeing The Hamsters play in the 1990s but they did frequently slip into autopilot. Admittedly The Hamsters on autopilot still sounded pretty good, at least to me, but they lacked any sparkle or spontaneity. Performing hundreds of gigs a year does that to you. Plus like you said, being a cover band made their albums pointless beyond having a memento of a night out.
I never saw The Happy Mondays perform, but Black Grape (Shaun Ryder's next band) were pretty good, what the Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches era Mondays would have sounded like if they had not overindulged and imploded.
Great insights: thanks for sharing them. Have you thought about maki ng videos?!
Totally agree with practically everything you say. Cheers!
@@JimDriver Thank you! The first time I saw The Hamsters they were supporting 'Lee Brilleaux plus random mates' era Dr Feelgood. It must have been 1989, maybe 1990? The Hamsters were wearing these really 1970s baby blue flared three piece suits. And I went to one of their farewell gigs in 2012 at the Putney Half Moon. Barry's (AKA Snail Pace Slim) eyes were closed almost throughout, performing on muscle memory alone. They sounded great as always, but as I said, entirely on autopilot.
And that Dire Straits gig circa 1991 at Wembley Arena was the dullest and most workmanlike 'proper' gig I have ever attended. I should have asked for my money back, but the venue would have laughed in my face if I said Dire Straits had been too boring. What did you expect, Sunshine? What did you expect?
The Hamsters were brilliant. I still play their stuff today.
Each to his own. I also don't eat McDonalds burgers. Go figure! 😄
@@JimDriver neither do I.
Did see the Hamsters doing Hendrix in a kind of review thing years ago. What they did, they were very good at, unfortunately I think they bored themselves to tears doing it and that translated to anybody attending one of their many gigs.
I think you make a good point. I despaired of the Hamsters when I saw that they all changed into slippers in the dressing room! I think, to be fair, that they considered it a job, like plumbing or working in a shop, and the lack of creativity got to them in the end. Thanks for joining in!
@@JimDriver: it’s tricky for bands who choose to do covers. They get good at doing a certain thing, get paid and booked on the strength of it. Fans turn up because they know what they’re getting. Before long it becomes a straight jacket and the band ends up in a rut. And yes it becomes a job you check in and check out of.
Happy Mondays could be in line for worst band ever, let alone pub rock!
I totally agree with you. I don't even like the two of them on Celebrity Gogglebox! Cheers!
I heard Charlie Gillette play the demo of 'Sultans of Swing' on his 'Honky Tonk' show and went to see Dire Straits live at one of his free shows at Clapham Common Bandstand. I loved their 1st album , but nothings since.
Well, I liked 'Money For Nothing' for about 5 minutes!
To be honest, I've lived my life not sure whether I like Dire Straits or not. Biy like Pink Floyd…
Thanks for commenting. Cheers!
Those were the days; £3.50 to see Roy Harper. That was more of an 80's scene which I saw in North London, George Robey etc. Great nights even the 2 hours of excruciating jazz funk! Shouldn't have booked them then; they must have brought the money in.
Those indeed were the days. Thanks for commenting!
I think you should watch the MM segment again: you obviously missed the reasons why they were booked and the 90% (free PA) deal they were on. Or brush up on your maths. 😄😄
Cheers!
Jim Mullen was the guitarist of Kokomo, not AWB. Also, I'd be surprised if they formed in the USA. They were both based in London.
Well, Jim Mullen was both in Kokomo but, more famously, in the Average White Band. AWB was touring the USA, and Dick Morrisey was in New York City recording with Herbie Mann. They met up in a NYC hotel, jammed and decided to form a band together, which they did when both returned to London.
So there… 😄😄😄
@@JimDriver btw. You're right about The Hamsters. I really enjoy your vids. I was an agent during that time and you bring back lots of great memories.
@@JimDriver I think I've solved the mystery (sad, I know, but it was bugging me). Mullen was never a member of AWB (although he knew them early on) but he was a member of band put together by Arif Mardin for the 1977 Montreux Festival which also included members of AWB and Dick Morrisey (source: AWB website). Phew!
I made enquiries of a mutual musician friend and found out the Jim Mullen occasionally "deps" on live shows for AWB and has done so since the mid-1970s, when he was in New York with them and met Dick Morrissey in the Sheraton Hotel..
@@JimDriver Great detective work!
Music aside, Shaun Ryder and Bez are the best thing on Celebrity Gogglebox.
Yes, Shaun and Bez are very good at watching TV and showing how little they know about the world. But perhaps I'm being unkind… 😄
Thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts!
Stranglers should be on the list. Saw them at Hope and Anchor, early days, DIRE! They emptied a small crowd out
Yes, I never really enjoyed them, especially in the early days when they were called the Guildford Stranglers. I mention this is another video, I'm pretty sure (though at my age you never can be totally sure)…
The Macc Lads Sweaty Betty My Pub Dead Cat. 😅
The Macc Lads were never my favou rite and the people who followed them never really liked me. 😄😄😎
Cheers!
I loved the Hamsters. Only saw them once when they were supporting Walter Trout at Rafters in Manchester sometime around 1990. They were great, and gave Morrissey a right good slagging off which went down well with the Manchester crowd!
Haha! The Hamsters were certainly very popular. Thanks for sharing those great memories. Please keep watching: cheers!
Sultans of Swing was going down the charts until they were the late substitute on TOTP for the great Gang of Four who had to pull out at the last minute because the show’s producer tried to make them replace the word ‘rubbers’ (in the line ‘the rubbers you hide in your top left pocket’) with ‘rubbish’. So I blame the BBC! I was dragged along by some friends to see The Hamsters at a Kingston pub in the early 1990s but for some long forgotten reason they were also replaced by another band who played blues covers. So out of the frying pan into the fire!
Sadly, the Whistle Test was never particularly rock 'n' roll. They even got an ex-copper to present it!
@@JimDriver “Mock rock!”
Jim back in the day used to go to The Swan Hammersmith where i used to watch a band called The Lesser known Tunisians do you know or remember anything about them love the content
Thanks for the kind words. No, I don't know about the Tunisians (they definitely were "lesser-known") but I'll check them out…
Looks a bit like a dishevelled Garry Bushell in that pic at 7:07? Skunx? Was that before "Oi" or thereabouts? That would put Bushell in the frame. He was promoting some of those bands when he was a writer at Sounds magazine.
I remember seeing Skrewdriver at the Railway Hotel in Bishops Stortford. They were the second punk band I saw there. They were an odd group, they had a drum kit with broken cymbals. That is my enduring memory of them. They looked a bit menacing, but were disappointing after seeing the Rage, (The Sods) a Harlow punk band who at least had the chops and a singer who did a good impression of Johnny Rotten. They came on to the sound of an echo box feeding back. There was a prog band who went Punk overnight....vastly improved!
I probably still have a copy of Sounds from 1976 which covered a festival of pub bands including the 101ers, Eddie And The Hotrods, Crazy Cavan, and the wonderfully named Duke Duke and the Dukes. I wonder what happened to them? Their name has stuck in my mind ever since!
.
Wish I'd seen Duke Duke & The Dukes! Thanks for sharing those great memories. That was Gary Bushell with Lol: there was a rumour they were unofficial partners because he used to mention Lol's label's bands a lot in Sounds. But who know? I think they went to school together.
Cheers!
I saw the Hamsters more than once. As I'm not a great Hendrix or ZZ Top fan, I also didn't really appreciate them. Great musicians though.
Yes, the guys in the band certainly knew how to strum, pic, and dash the drums. 😉
Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope you'll stick with the channel. Cheers!
Not everyone loves Jazz. Not everyone who loves jazz loves it fused. Fair play (I do). Funny to hear Dire Straights were a bit wobbly starting out! I can believe that. I don’t think they thought of themselves as anti punk though? They just did them.
I didn't mean they were actively anti-Punk, more that they ignored its rise. Mark and David lived on a trendy "alternative" council housing estate in Deptford called Crossfields at the time and I'm told my musician friends that they didn't hang out with the Puink element, preferring to mix with the long-hairs and beatniks. I tended to mix with everybody because I'm a social slut… 😄
Great vid , i went bluecoat boy / skunks many years ago to see 4skins and combat84 , was actually a great gig ,no trouble and had good night ,i was only about 18 then ,im 60 now and still remember ...panda of 4skins singing ...what a eonderfull world !! Aint got any better had it .. oh last time i see chubby chris of combat 84 was outside arsenal tavern ,arsenal and chelsea ki king off , he was chelsea i believe ..😊
Oh yeh ,morrisey mullen , see them also, not by choice though I was a pot boy at regal theatre ,hitchin and they played there while I was working , as I was a punk then I just didn't take ant notice of them ,sorry morrisey mullen fans !!
Blimey, Redskins and Combat 84 was a nightmare pairing that seems to me about as incendiary as a warehouse full of dynamite! Glad I wasn't there for that but grateful there was no trouble. Part of my problem was that the two doormen I was lumbered with by the pub were firmly on the side of the skins and I heard afterwards that one of them was the father of a notorious skinhead musician.
Interesting times for sure. Thanks for sharing those memories. Cheers!
@JimDriver no worries, love your trips down memory lane ,wouldn't want to go back knowing what was coming !! I remember at skunks my mate put some tunes on the jukebox, first time I heard dead wretched and also demob...no room for you, great tracks ..
It was 4skins ,imagine redskins ,certainly would have been an insane thing 😳
I saw Morrissey Mullen many times at the Cricketers, I loved them!
Despite my moans of spiritual agony, I notice… 😄
Is this for real, Morrissey Mullen worst pub rock band? Sad that your dislike of a musical genre has so badly prejudiced your opinions 😥
Haha! Thanks for expressing your opinion: you should make a video and show what a d**k I am! The primary aim of my channel is to inform, entertain and inflict my biased opinions on the world at large!!
Thanks for commenting and for watching. Cheers!
My brother Pete was a roadie for a London pub band called NW10, in the early eighties. They were once reviewed by NME, their proudest achievement.
Fantastic story! That’s the kind of comment I like to see on my channel. I can’t say I have her came across NW10 but I bet they packed a solid punch.
Cheers
Skrewdriver = Nigel Farages favourite pub rock band.
Haha! Not sure the Farago is much of a music lover. If anything, I can see him enjoying "light classical"! 😄😎😄
Cheers!
@@JimDriver Pretty sure Farago as you call him isn't a music fan but would prefer to listen to himself! 😉
Skrewdriver is not a Pub rock band,they are nazi skins
Probably the Hrst Wessel
Loving these videos. If I could only suggest one thing, look into the camera, not the viewfinder. It looks peculiar otherwise. Please don’t be offended and please don’t let people come at me! It’s just a thing.
Thanks! That's a helpful suggestion.
The more of these videos you watch the more you;'ll realise I;m a bumbling amateiur. Cheers!
It's funny how some bands can really change like Dire Straights but that Morrisy Mullen act sounds like it was more musicians than the regular music fan.
True! Dire Straits took the scenic route, while Morrissey-Mullen seemed to have a VIP pass to the musician's club! Sometimes, it’s all about who’s holding the instrument...
@@JimDriver I think the current crop of full band open mics like The Rebel inn in Stretham and the Man of Kent are a spital successor to the Pub rock venues.
Colin Jerwood of Conflict was a formidable front man. 5th dan black belt, ex painter and decorator from Eltham and did security work on the side. There's no way Skrewdriver would have been able to put one over Conflict
I did tell the full story in one of my other videos, but the fuller version is: Conflict were loading in their gear, a van pulled up, around a dozen skinheads armed with baseball bats got out and kicked the living shit out of the three or fo guys who were in the road then drove off. The gig had to be cancelled. This was early on conflicts career and I think Colin was still at school. If you want any more details, ask him… 😎
My mate plays guitar in Conflict
I've seen Colin and Paco chase Nazi out of a gig with bats, good lads
Paco (RIP) walked it like he talked it. Colin is a pretend anarchist/punk.
Tje Hamsters regularly played the Nags Head High Wycombe, so much so I thought they were from Wycombe. I dont think they were tho!
No, they were from Southend. They also played the London pub circuit ad nauseam. Ah, happy days…
Screwdriver were not skinheads they were boneheads & Skunx was always full of South London Boneheads(same lot who smashed up punk gigs all over London)who hated punks & thought it was their venue & i definitely would Not call them a pub rock band
Thanks for the extra info. I always considered them blockheads, but that's another story.
Having thought long and hard, I wouldn't call Skrewdriver for any reason…
They were skinheads, just not at first, in regards to the first inception of the band. The members however, (almost all of them, at least) were skinheads during the first wave. Punk came along and changed things quite a bit. This is a very bland description of the band. Yes, Ian Stuart went far right, but far from initially froming the band. A lot of stuff prior to their "outing" was/is considered top notch punk and/or Skinhead rock and roll. He experimented with styles quite a bit, but most of his tunes after 83 or 84 is....well... Meh. I see the reason to not like them, but they DID put out decent tunes, and many people just are not wanting to admit to listening to them. Rightfully so.
They also didn't "hate punks". Many punks supported Skrewdriver up until their demise in 93. It was an odd atmosphere at their shows, to say the least.
That isn't to say they didn't have their quarrels with Punk's and other Skinhead firms/Oi! Bands. It just wasn't This whole "skins vs punks" that many tend to think was the prevailing attitude. It was there, it just was far from encompassing the entire scene
@@fletchkeilman2205 you have your story / info very mixed up
Had bought "youre so dumb" (a good punk single) same day as radiators from space (another lost band) so embarrased when they turned up in Aylesbury for the iggy, bowie tour start, think it was Talking Heads first U.K gig they ere twats but scary af twats, still shudder at the memory
Friday night early 1980’s ‘Trashy Virtues’ ‘Stork at Rest Gravesend ’ New Romantic band it was the equivalent of Duran Duran playing at the wheel tapper’s and shunters 😅 one song I remember ? looking for a rainbow looking for a smile 😊 it wasn’t a pleasant evening 😅.
Haha! Great story: thanks for sharing it! People forget that for every band that makes it, there are a thousand who fail miserably. Hopefully, they have some fun along the way. The music business always has been cruel… 😄
Jim... Pick up a guitar, try and play like Barry Martin trying and playing like Hendrix, then we'll see...
Each to his own, I say. Maybe you should make a video showing me how to do it… ? 😄😎
Thanks for watching and for sharing your views. Cheers!
@@JimDriver- No, I can't, sorry Jim... Try and ask Barry Martin himself... Every 10 lessons you'll get one for free!🎵
Pub rock , London I bought their album , Juice on the loose , do you recall them ? They were actually really good but their album not so much
I mention in another video that Juice on the Loose were one of the greatest of the Pub Rock bands: th-cam.com/video/RH4v3CGDj24/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ur-k2BP3pB_j2FbO Thanks for watching!
"On the night of 23 September 1993, Ian Stuart was involved in a car crash in Derbyshire that resulted in his death the following day, at the age of 36." 😁
Good riddance in my opinion. No guessing which way he went.
Thanks for sharing that. Cheers!
Was a few years before my time but Dire Straits supported Planet Gong at Hitchin College (or headlined? Around 77) .. seemed like an unlikely pairing!
Blimey! That certainly is an interesting pairing. Thanks for sharing it. Cheers!
That was a surprise at #1.
Surely The Hamsters are due the title of "Hardest Working Pub Band", their schedule was bonkers, could be London one night and then Edinburgh the next with the 3rd night in Cardiff.
If you're judging on quantity over quality, The Hamsters were a great band and McDonalds Fries are way better than Tom Kerridge's triple-cooked chips…
@@JimDriver my pal was into them, but luckily the ‘venues’ meant we’d usually had a yard of ale by the time they came on 🤣
Just think how it was in the 60s in a commer Bedford or Thames van band just took any gig so could be Scotland back to London than Scotland again never new who you would meet in star cafe on a1
Totally agree with the Jazz funk thing! Do you remember, Way of the west? "Don't say it's just for white boy's?" or Burlesque?
Jazz Funk is the music of the Devil. I included Burlesque in one of my videos not so long ago and was agent for Trimmer & Jenkins in the late 1970s/early 1980s: th-cam.com/video/_-IYMbeqKtk/w-d-xo.html
Not sure about Way of the West: I'll check them out.
Cheers!
My worse as heavy metal was seeing listening to ESP at a club it was noise could not hear the singer was not fun at all. I found the Hamsters were really good they used to do a walk through the crowed and that sort of thing never spoke to them but Slim did hit me in the Nuts with his guitar once. So might not be good as people.
It sounds like you had quite the experience with ESP! Live shows can be hit or miss, but it's great to hear you enjoyed The Hamsters when you saw them. Those crowd interactions make for memorable moments, especially being hit in the nuts by Barry Martin.
I hope you subscribed for more videos! Cheers!
Saw Happy Mondays a couple of times, saw Black Grape once
It doesn’t get worse than that
Haha! Great comment, Malcolm! Cheers!
Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers.
Personally, I always enjoyed them. I suppose it depends on what you're into doesn't it? Thanks for watching. Please stick around and keep commenting!
My jazz-loving alter ego wants to defend M&M, but it's hard - a clear case of misdirected talent. Can't argue with the rest, though - here we have four distinct types of "bad".
Haha, excellent! Thanks for sharing that. Please keep watching and commenting! Cheers!
I do feel sometimes that the Factory Records cult does the Happy Mondays a lot of favours. I wonder how much interest I would ever have taken if they hadn't had that cache. Also, their second two albums - 'Bummed' and 'Pills and Thrills 'n' Bellyaches' (both of which I like) - were blessed with great producers in Martin Hannett and Paul Oakenfold respectively.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! It's always great to hear from those who appreciate more than just the hype. Martin and Paul brought out the best, that's for sure. Cheers!
The Happy Mondays were terrible at Finsbury Park - they were barely able to play even when not totally intoxicated at that point in their career.
I think that was their style of playing at the time… 😄
Pub bands are just that. They don't have to be great, they just have to entertain you for low cost while you have a few beers with your mates. The Hamsters did just that, I saw them many times, usually at The Cartoon in Croydon during their ZZ Top/ Hendrix period. So, for that reason, they should be taken off your list, immediately, lol
Haha! The Hamsters were on the list purely because they changed into slippers in the 100 Club dressing room the last time I put them on. Plus I knew including them would annoy a lot of people… 😄
Having said that, some Pub Rock bands were absolutely great and did more than simply entertain whilst people got pissed and chatted with their mates. Stcik around, I'll share a few of those bands with you!
Thanks for taking part in the conversation. Cheers!
I saw the Hamsters several times because they used to turn up at biker events in the 80’s and 90’s on an unfortunately regular basis and I thought they were dreadful. Dumpy’s rusty nuts also fell into this category for me.
I quite agree. The Mac Lads and Brewers Droop were similarly disappointing but with added smut in the case of the former. Thanks for sharing your thoughts: very much appreciated!
I 100% agree about The Happy Mondays, I never got this band at all
I blame the parents… 🤓
Thanks for sharing that (very accurate) thought! Cheers!
Loved Fischer Z in the late 70s early 80s.
I remember Fisher Z more as a name than for the music. I'll have to check them out again.
Thanks for the suggestion!
agree with ya re the Mondays
I think it's quite usual for people not to like the Mondays… 😄
morrisey mullen , little fluffy clouds sample? The Tyler gang rocked so hard
I enjoyed Tyler Gang but MM… you know my thoughts 😎
Thanks for joining in! Cheers!
@@JimDriver Fully agree jim but you remember sarf lunnen back then Level 42 land, lol Pro muso musos or up there own backside noodlers. time has spoken. Quick aside Eater yaas and why? they were so good live total lightning in a bottle. big up dee Generate.
Sorry, The Happy Mondays were awesome, but then I was living in Manchester. They weren't a pub rock band...
But I agree, Screwdriver were awful and it was not just musically...
I also agree, Dire Straits are a great way of falling asleep
It's great to hear your perspective on The Happy Mondays! They definitely had a unique sound that set them apart. A pity they were tw*ts.
And I totally get what you mean about Dire Straits - sometimes their music is perfect for falling into a coma!
Cheers!
@@JimDriver haha, yeah i'm definitely not commenting on them as human beings...
Happy Mondays were musically mediocre. More about image & attitude
@@JimDriverDiarrhoea Straights lol. Good musicians but oh so bland
Skrewdriver was class as was Half Man Half Biscuit
One of those bands was very good, the other was scum…
Skrewdriver and Half Man Half Biscuit? Half Man Half Biscuit would hate everything Skrewdriver stood for. How do you make a connection between the two?
Dire Straits have got a track on the Live at the Hope and Anchor benefit album - the worst. One to skip.
Yes, it was always one I skipped! Cheers!
The Hamsters were a fantastic band. Saw them several times and was blown away each time
I’m very happy for you! 😀 as I always say, different strokes for different folks.
I hope you subscribed and that you’re going to watch more of my videos. Cheers!
@@JimDriver yes, subscribed and definitely be watching more. Only recently discovered your videos but really enjoying them. I may have missed somewhere, I know you were an agent, promoter and manager etc, but were you in a band yourself?
@@camerondavis9416 Great! Thanks for subscribing! No I was never in a band. I wouldn't want to show up any of the acts I worked with … 😊
The serious reply is that I believe people should do what they're good at. I was good at putting bands in front of people and they were better at making music than I was.
Nice one Jim
Thanks for the support! Glad you enjoyed it!
Morrisey Mullen were on every where... like a rash... I too hate that Jazz-funk sound
Very well said. I can tell you a true musical aficionado. Cheers!.
Gosh. Sour grapes indeed.
In my mind, my grapes are more factually accurate than sour…
Bees Make Honey...Toad the Wet Sprocket...
Each to their own, as they say. 😄
I quite enjoyed Bees Make Honey TBH and as for Toad, I have only a vague recollection. Thanks, I'll check them out… 😎
Well, mate, our Play-Lists are very much alike...😂😂😂 keep on share it. Cheers (altough yours is twice bigger than mine, no doubt)
About Skunx, its a big No-No. I cant stand a White Skin. Red Skins, on the other side, are not so bad.
Thanks for taking part! It was an exciting time and lots was going on, as you probably remember! I never really got on with skinhead or teddy boys for some reason. Cheers!
Hi Jim. I once accidentally went to a Skrewdriver gig. WAargh! 💐
Skrewdriver were vile! Even the doorman at the venue wanted to "nut" Ian Stuart. I thought that was too good for him…
I had a black mate who accidentally went to a Skrewdriver gig once! He didn't hang around.
Jazz funk? Oh dear me no. Sounds like a series of big build ups to yet more noodling. Quite the thing in the 1980s, with clubs that played little else.
Haha, well, at least the noodling sounds kept jazz funk fans from clogging up proper gigs!
@@JimDriver Donald Byrd- "Love Has Come Around". Nuff said. Basically Mods v Rockers. Some folk love to dance, some don't.
Not sure why you rate MM so poorly…saw them a couple of times and they were superb. Perhaps because as you say, you’re not a jazz fan
And I don't really enjoy repetition. I don't really enjoy repetition. And repetition is what Jazz-Funk is all about, at least that's how it seemed top me!
Did I say, I don't really enjoy repetition? 😄😄
Throbbing Gristle: painful.
Not among my favourite bands! Thanks for reminding me. Cheers!
Morrissey-Mullen were NOT one of the worst 5 pub rock bands - it's just that YOU didn't like them! 🤣
It's also very telling that you chose a very - ahem! - 'television-friendly' song of theirs to represent their entire body of live work.
You’re perfectly right, of course. Morrissey Mullen were the best band that ever set foot on a stage. I don’t know what I was thinking… 😀😀😀
@@JimDriver they were excellent musicians, of course. But they also generated a wonderful atmosphere in the room whenever I saw them play (at the Torrington, mostly). At the tender age of 16, they were one of my gateway bands into jazz, for which I'll be eternally grateful to them!
I had to do the sound for The Hamsters in Brighton pretty much once a month, nice enough people, but I detested them, dreary covers band.
That's pretty much how I felt. Thanks for confirming my bias 😉
Cheers!
@@JimDriver Did you ever put on the Playn Jayn, Jim? Now, that was an epic live pub rock band.
a rollercoaster of hilarity and disgust (skrwdriver, oh nooooo!) I had to fast forward a few times to curtail the song extracts a few times.... Good!
(electric hamsterland ain't a bad band name ....them and dire straits!!!fuckin technicians of The Electric Guitar! they drive me mad with boredom)
Haha! Thanks for kind words. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to live through some of those days.
Mind you, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thanks for taking about: please keep watching and commenting!
Dire straits were dire then they ripped off Sniff and the tears and the rest is history, I hate jazz and pseudo jazz is even worse Santana do the same track over dozens of records. I have a couple of Hamsters cds but they are not something I play. Skrewdriver had the energy irrespective of their politics. The other side of that coin is two tone , UB40 and level 42 ripping off black music and diluting it. Can you tell me something about Roogalator
Thanks for sharing your thoughts; I'm pleased we can agree on many things! I did include Roogalator in a recent video: th-cam.com/video/t8Tok-k3NzQ/w-d-xo.html.
i can totally understand on all of these . they were all shit when the got bigger too - and don't get me started on JAZZ!!!!
Cheers! Even listening to the Morrissey-Mullen stuff when I was editing this video brought me out in a cold sweat (and it was 28 degrees here in sunny Ramsgate!). I forgot to mention my favourite way of "getting my own back": by misspelling their name in different ways on flyers, posters and ads. -
The Hamsters with the great Dave Bronze on bass guitar were fantastic!
I quite agree. The Hamsters were fantastic. How Jimi Hendrix had the nerve to play his stuff first is beyond belief!
But seriously, thanks for commenting. We all have different tastes and that's great. Vive le difference and all that!
@@JimDriver Brilliant!!! Stay safe Jim.