NEVILLE WANKER AND THE PUNTERS - '(Sing A Little Song For) The Boys On The Dole'

Lightning GIL-536, 1978.

01 - (Sing A Little Song For) The Boys On The Dole
02 - (Sing A Little Song For) The Boys On The Dole (Instrumental)

Neville Wanker was a pseudonym for Ron Ellis a songwriter, poet and author from Merseyside. American muso Tim Rose plays guitar on this single but who the other musicians were is not clear. Ellis would suggest that Lightning supplied Edinburgh band Bilbo Baggins for the sleeve photo, but the sleeve would suggest otherwise. Though Bilbo may well have played on the record.

'The Boys On The Dole' is a solid punk piss-take but it would have been nice if the B-side offered another song in the same style rather than the basic backing track with added sax.

A very small number of copies were pressed credited to Neville And The Punters (without the word 'wanker') on both sleeve and labels for a failed promotional push.

Ron Ellis would later release a cover of the Jerry Keller hit 'Here Comes Summer' on the Rox label in 1979.

THE FADERS - 'Cheatin''

Rip Off RIP-8, 1979.

01 - Cheatin'
02 - Library Book

Paul 'Kipper' Dickson - lead vocals, Hugh 'Bamber' McIlfatrick - guitar/vocals, Chris 'Cree' Tweed - guitar/vocals, John Henry - bass, Willis Beckett - drums.

The Faders were based in Ballymoney in Northern Ireland. They perfected their blend of pub rock and new wave by playing regularly at Spuds in Portstewart, as well as other venues in the nearby towns of Coleraine and Portrush as part of the 'Golden Triangle' scene with other bands like The Cramp and Xdreamysts.

They also played once at the infamous Harp Bar in Belfast supported by The Idiots. In attendance at the gig was film maker John T Davis who was scouting for bands for his film 'Shellshock Rock', though Davis thought The Faders to be 'too middle class' and 'not punk enough'.

The band's only single 'Cheatin'' surfaced on George Doherty's Rip Off label in June 1979 with the excellent punk/powerpop flip 'Library Book' being the stand-out track. Both tracks were produced by Doherty at his Hyde Park Studios in Templepatrick.

Five or six tracks were later recorded for a album (including 'In It For The Kicks' which recently surfaced on the 'Rip Off' compilation LP on Sing Sing Records), followed by a further three with new drummer Joe Flegg. The album was never released as the band split up when Chris Tweed left to go to university. The others continued briefly as The Persuaders with the addition of guitarist Micky McCauley.

My copy of the single doesn't have it's brown paper bag sleeve, but it was a lot cheaper than it would have been if it did.

THE JETS - 'Tearaway'

Decca F-13867, 1979.

01 - Tearaway
02 - Impossible

John Faulkes - vocals/guitar, Michael Rigg - bass/vocals, Ian Craig - drums.

The only single by this obscure trio called The Jets is easily one of the best pop records to come out of the new wave. If there was any justice 'Tearaway' would have been all over daytime radio and high in the charts on release in late 1979.

Despite being co-produced by the then Decca Records assistant manager Colin McCourt, the label did very little to push the single. Decca's financial situation was at this point at an all-time low and the label would soon be sold to Polygram.

Not a lot of info is known about The Jets. The only thing of note anyone has turned up is that Faulkes and Craig played in a mid-70's rock band called Stagefright. Anyone with any more info, get in touch.

CRACKERS - 'Judy, Judy, Judy'

EMI 2C-004-96687, 1975. (French pressing)

01 - Judy, Judy, Judy
02 - Judy, Judy, Judy (Instrumental Version)

Roger Semon - vocals, Frank Torpey - guitar, Ray Brown - bass, Colin Mackay - drums.

In 1977 the people at Lighning's distribution warehouse suggested to RCA sales rep Roger Semon that he should get his band Crackers to record a punk single for Lightning's newly launched record label. Three tracks were recorded and released in June that year by Lightning under the name Horrorcomic. A further recording session later that year resulted in two more Horrorcomic singles, one for Lightning released in 1978 and the other surfacing on B&C in 1979.

Back in the mid-70's Crackers had appeared on TV talent show Opportunity Knocks and were playing the London live curcuit with a set of covers (Bowie, T-Rex etc). In the book '45 Revolutions' it's suggested that Crackers never recorded, but a couple of years after Mario's book was published details of this single came to light.

'Judy, Judy, Judy' was penned by all four band members with producer John Edward and released in France by EMI in July 1975. Basically it's Mud in a head-on collision with the soon to emerge punk explosion and the sheer energy of the song suggests they earned the right to make those Horrorcomic records after all. 'Judy' also works quite well as an instrumental.

Sometime in 1976 a different more radio friendly version of 'Judy, Judy, Judy' was released in Holland by Negram Records. Though it's the French pressing that wins musically, the Dutch copies do come in a nice band-shot picture sleeve.

BABY'S GOT A GUN - 'Suicide Girl'

MBC JOCK-12-002, 1987. (12" only)

01 - Suicide Girl
02 - I Don't Mind
03 - I Don't Wanna Be Found
04 - She's A Sidewalker

Garry Borland - vocals, Richard Simpson - guitar, Jacqui Crane - bass, Murray Dalglish - drums.

Baby's Got A Gun formed in 1985 in East Kilbride and were noted for the inclusion of Murray Dalglish formerly a drummer with The Jesus And Mary Chain. The following year they moved to Edinburgh where there were more gig opportunities. Jock McDonald of The Bollock Brothers became the band's manager after catching one of their gigs which led to the release of this 12" EP on his MBC label.

Suicide Girl was released in April 1987 and was pretty much ignored by the music press. The 4 tracks are best described as sounding like C86-era Soup Dragons if they had been hooked on 'Fulham Fallout' rather than 'Love Bites'. The first two tracks, produced by Donald MacLeod, were recorded in early 1987. Side two came from a self produced demo recorded the previous year.

In 1990 Baby's Got A Gun would release a single 'Take The Ride' and an album 'Up' for the No Mercy label in a more rockier direction. Though by that time both Jacqui and Murray had been replaced by a new rhythm section.

RIKKI AND THE LAST DAYS OF EARTH - 'Loaded'

DJM DJS-10822, 1978.

01 - Loaded
02 - Street Fighting Man

Rikki Sylvan - vocals, Valac Van Der Veene - guitar, Andy Prince - bass, Nick Weiss - keyboards, Hugh Lillingstone - drums.

You've probably read a lot of negative things about Rikki And The Last Days Of Earth. I've got to admit I'm not a huge fan of their LP but this single is a must have. 'Loaded' is pretty good but the real hit is the cover of the Rolling Stones 'Street Fighting Man'.

Now, Rikki Sylvan was always a little hypercactive at the best of times, but he must have forgotten to take his medication on the day he recorded 'Street Fighting Man'. What makes this even more special is that for once the rest of the band were on the same page.

This was Rikki's 2nd of three singles for DJM released just before the 'Four Minute Warning' LP. There was also a two track one-sided privately pressed single that pre-dates the DJM material. Later Rikki would release a solo album in 1981 on the KRL label.