Andy Dunkley, RIP

Andy Dunkley

Andy died suddenly yesterday morning of heart failure. He was an inspiration and a good man.

Poster Boy For The UK Underground

A frequent punishment for us 'fags' (new boys) at the 2nd division British public school I was made to attend was to get up at morning bell (7.20am) and run a couple of miles to another house across town. Wake up a crabby senior boy, get him to sign a chit, hoof it back, shower, and be ready for breakfast at 8am. If your transgression was bad enough, you might have to run to three different houses and if you didn't make it back in time for breakfast, you'd have do it again the following day and so on. Until you got it 'right'.

These were known as 'tish calls' because one had to visit a 'partition' in a dormitory where a boy was supposed to be able to sleep soundly without being molested. These sadistic penalties would be handed out by some little Hitler or senior creep (most likely a junior municipal politician or ambulance-chaser in-the-making) because one might have talked during prep or polished their shoes inadequately.

If a senior boy had a menial task that was 'beneath' him, all he had to do was yell "FAG!" and the first year lads (three of us) would have to sprint down the corridor toward the source. If you were the last to reach him, you got the job. It blew, and basically you just had to ride it out until it was your turn to terrorize some other poor kid four years hence. This was a school where you had to have your trouser pockets sewn up so you couldn't slouch around with your hands in them. Young gentlemen in the making, ha!

One day, I stole a copy of something a senior boy had left in an area forbidden to us lowly scum. It was called International Times, and I think it belonged to Martin Atkins. He was probably the coolest guy in the house at the time simply by virtue of possessing the Small Faces' 'Tin Soldier' in a picture sleeve. It didn't take much. I was deemed a miserable little toe-rag. My parents had sent me - a soccer player - to a school that played fucking rugby, a barbarian sport for thugs and thickos. Just about the only thing that offered me any solace was knowing I already had a better record collection than all of them put together, thanks to my uncle who worked for Decca. None of them had a test pressing of the first Them album or, for that matter, 'A' labels of The Rolling Stones' 'Come On' (given to me a week before it hit the streets), The Small Faces' 'I've Got Mine' or 'A Legal Matter' by The Who (as heard on "wonderful Radio London".

Them
(Decca, 1965)
The Rolling Stones: 'Come On'
(Decca, 1963)
The Who: 'A Legal Matter'
(Brunswick, 1966)
The Small Faces: 'I've Got Mine'
(Decca, 1965)

I was nearly 15, and up until now my preferred reading was Disc & Music Echo, The New Musical Express, Melody Maker, The Aquarist, Charles Buchan's Football Monthly, Ring Wrestling, Health & Efficiency and anything with the name Harrison Marks on the cover. But the International Times opened up a whole 'nother world. One that seemed far more exciting, and not only because it printed words like "fuck" and showed the odd pube (something H&E and the like saw fit to airbrush, leaving June Palmer, Jayne Tracey and Pamela Green not only 'bald' but sporting a gussett most unnatural. I knew that because Chloe, a choreographer for the Western Theatre Ballet, had shown me hers when I was 10. But that's another story.

We were seeing 'freaks' like Arthur Brown and The Pretty Things on Top Of The Pops or A Whole Scene Going, but the mainstream media had always looked down its nose at this stuff. Articles in The Sunday Times or Observer colour supplements on contemporary artists like Chris Burden or Otto Muehl always seemed condescending and derisive of their far out performance art 'events'. And surely this awful 'music' would eventually go away and musicians would all fall in line, start playing proper instruments and get their hair cut. But here was a publication that encouraged freedom of expression in all forms, be it cultural or sexual and suddenly radical new ideas were being presented. In fact, the 'revolution' was encouraged! I hated school, didn't much like authority and started to feel a kinship with anything that kicked against boring oppressors. The oboe gave way to the saxophone. The only advantage of being an oboe-ist in a traditional orchestra layout (by my reckoning) is the glimpse of mature, white panty when the first 'cello positions her instrument at the start (and repositions at the end) of a piece.

School Orchestra, June '68

So my hair gradually crept over my collar. I was already as big a fan of the Mothers Of Invention as someone with barely any money stuck in the middle of Rutland could be and, in the classifieds in the back of the paper, there was an ad for a poster of a naked Frank Zappa sitting on the toilet.

Another depicted a large, pink blobby figure was pointing to smaller version of the same thing exclaiming "Sod Off!" I felt this was more appropriate for my 'study' wall (a 6' x 8' cell I shared with Edmunds, M where we stashed our tuckboxes, brewed our own ginger beer and might have glanced at the occasional biology or geography text book) than the wrestling posters currently adorning them.

So I sent off some money and hoped for the best. 2 weeks later a tube showed up and the Farleigh housemaster, Ian Pringle, immediately confiscated the Sod Off poster, probably to give to his son..or wife. Still, there was a catalogue included that contained other items on offer. I wanted them all. Gorgeous, multi-colour posters advertising concerts (Traffic at the Saville Theatre), bands (The Move, Tomorrow), 'happenings' (14 Hour Technicolour Dream, Legalize Pot Rally), clubs (UFO, Middle Earth), featuring works by Martin Sharp and something called Hapshash & The Coloured Coat.

Some were printed on silver or gold heavy-duty paper, others used day-glo ink and all were beautiful examples of ground-breaking, psychedelic graphic design. I rustled some money together and ordered a Mr. Tambourine Man

and a Max Ernst poster

and they came - this time - with a letter inviting me to become an 'agent' for the company - Big O Posters. For every 10 posters I sold, I'd get one free (but not one involving a 5th colour or larger than 20" x 30"). My first job! And it lasted as long as it took to get enough posters to cover my share of our study wallspace. One of which was this beauty.

Had I been a couple of years older, I would have somehow inserted myself into this weird and wonderful new scene, but I got stuck doing 'O' Levels, learning to roll joints and trying to lose my virginity. Anyway, Mick Farren - whose name and abundant afro cropped up regularly during those times (not only as the vocalist for the first do-it-yourself indy band, The Social Deviants but occasional columnist/reviewer for IT) writes brilliantly and hilariously about what I missed in 'Give The Anarchist A Cigarette',

one of the most entertaining and enlightening books I've ever read. In fact, it was this book that gave me pause with the blog a few weeks ago. It just made me feel inadequate as a 'writer' and I needed to regain some confidence. Try and find it, it really is great.

Next thing I know, I'm failing all my exams, discovering sherry and Southern Comfort, stacking shelves at Tesco in Crouch End, snogging with and eventually getting Sonia the checkout girl next to the maraschino cherries in the warehouse upstairs and getting thrown out of the house by my mother after she discovered a lump of Lebanese Gold worth about 10/- or 50p as it was now known. Time was spent reading mags like Oz and Friendz, books by Burroughs, Thompson, Castaneda, comics like The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, in fact, anything with Gilbert Shelton in it, Nasty Tales and grooving intently to The Deviants, the Pink Fairies, The Pretty Things, The Edgar Broughton Band and mighty space-groovers, Hawkwind. You might enjoy reading about some of them in Rich Deakin's Keep It Together!: Cosmic Boogie with The Deviants and The Pink Fairies and, as I've said before, I enjoyed getting turned on to new stuff by ace djs like Andy Dunkley, Jeff Dexter, Pete Drummond and John Peel.

All of this prepared me nicely for my imminent start in the music business...making the tea.

In March 1994, Mick Farren, very kindly, sent me a copy of his 'The Lonesome Death Of Gene Vincent...and 44 Other Poems And Lyrics' for my "amusement".

It came with a note saying he and founding member of Blodwyn Pig, Jack Lancaster were working on "an electronic-music poetry project that we believe is a hell of a lot more sophisticated than a lot of what's going on in that field" and that when they had "some recordings that we're satisfied with, we may well come and bother you".

Unfortunately, they never did.

Incoming...

Some good mail showed up at NoFoSo Towers this week. What used to be a double LP is now a triple cd - yes, the Greasy Truckers Party at the Roundhouse in 1972 is now available thanks to the gentlefolk at Liberty Records in London. So now we get cds of whole sets by Brinsley Schwarz, Man and Hawkwind, not to mention a song by Magic Michael, silence from Byzantium (thanks to a power failure) and commentary from founding Curry Club member and all-round NoFoSo fave dj, Andy Dunkley, (The Living Jukebox).
The Greasy Truckers was an outfit formed by (Hawkwind manager)

Doug Smith
Gramercy Park Hotel, NYC (late 80s)
photo: ht
scanned from a 3-D lenticular print

Doug Smith and (Brinsley Schwarz manager and - later - Stiff Records co-founder) Dave Robinson based on the Diggers, a San Francisco anarchist/street theater group who doled out advice to folks who'd been busted for drugs and free food for the homeless, amongst other things. According to the booklet, Liberty U/A's Andrew Lauder described the Truckers as a "loose organization of individuals whose aim was to recycle money into worthwhile causes that would benefit the 'underground' community in Britain". This particular concert practically launched the careers of space-rock jammers Man and spaced-out rockers Hawkwind, who would soon re-write this early version of 'Silver Machine', put Lemmy into the vocal spotlight and have a top 5 hit in the UK with it the following year.
Who can forget the magnificence that is Stacia?

Alas, Brinsley Schwarz were condemned to remain slogging around the pubs and clubs of the UK, nevertheless leaving a very tasty catalogue of albums in their wake. Brinsley himself (guitar), went on to play with Graham Parker, Ian Gomm (rhythm guitar) had a top 40 US hit with 'Hold On' and Nick Lowe formed Rockpile with Dave Edmunds, produced Elvis Costello, Paul Carrack, The Damned, Wreckless Eric, Dr. Feelgood amongst many, became Johnny Cash's step-son-in-law by marrying Carlene Carter while continually putting out great, great albums.

Ok, so if that doesn't make you want to fly to England immediately, how about the latest in the Suicide 10" ltd. edition vinyl series with Lydia Lunch giving us her take on murder/infanticide/suicide subject Frankie Teardrop and Primal Scream taking the piss out of Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne? C minus, Gillespie...can do better.

Lydia Lunch: Frankie Teardrop
art: "Undated X-Ray of 16 year old youth"
courtesy of London Metropolitan Police

Primal Scream: Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne
art: detail from Untitled 2007 by Fang Lujin
courtesy alexanderoch-galleries.com

Just as I posted my Cure piece, a cd showed up right out of the blue: 'Just Like Heaven - A Tribute To The Cure (American Laundromat Records) - featuring the delightful Julie Peel, Joy Zipper, Tanya Donelly and our faves, Dean & Britta, who also have a new, very good Christmas 45 out, called 'He's Coming Home' (Chimney Rocks Records). It's the old Wailers song, but don't ask me which Wailers we're talking about. It doesn't sound like the Bunny/Tosh/Marley version, nor does it sound anything like the Washington state band who did Out Of Our Tree and Louie Louie. Get it now, 'cuz I got #369 out of 500 and it'll be gone soon.

Paul Weller's new favourites, Little Barrie sent a package. Sad to say, the cd tray in my computer just wheezed its last, but since one of the items was a 7", that'll go on the radio until we're fixed.

Also, this week I re-connected with ex-Ant, Marco Pirroni. So I asked him to send the new album by the Wolfmen, his triffic new group. I heard their version of Eno's 'Needle In The Camel's Eye' 45 on Little Steven's Underground Garage and if the rest of the alb is anything like it, then it's going to be a 'year's best'.

ht, Marco Pirroni
CBS Records UK, 1981

"Hey Mr. DJ"

In the early 70s, I used to frequent places like the Roundhouse, the Marquee and the Lyceum. These venues would hire a dj to spin records while audiences would wait for the main attraction. I remember being profoundly affected by certain tracks these guys would play and after a while, seeing Jeff Dexter or Andy Dunkley’s names listed in the ads meant it was worth getting to the show early, as they would often play stuff that you'd never hear anywhere else. Dunkley - or as he's sometimes known, The Human Jukebox - once played 'Only You Know And I Know' and it took me nearly 5 years to discover that it was Dave Mason who’d recorded it. It wasn't until I checked a Dave Mason “best of” test-pressing at Island Records that I recognized that distinctive lick and best of all, I now didn't have to buy it! Andy also 'introduced' me to Tom Rush, The Ventures, Caravan, The Soft Machine and Miles Davis, amongst many others. Andy found himself in New York for a while DJ-ing at all the Irving Plaza shows. He (along with John Stainze, Frank Gallagher, Peter Leak and I) was a founding member of the Curry Club, an every Tuesday night gathering at 6th Street's Good Karma restaurant. The rules were simple. You couldn't be American, female or a div. You had to tell a joke and bring 2 litres of Suntory Japanese beer. First timers had to pick up the bill.

Andy Dunkley, John Stainze
Austin, late 80s

When Jeff Dexter played 'He’s Gonna Step On You Again' by John Kongos at the Roundhouse, he announced that it “sounded like 400 freaks locked in a studio” and I couldn’t wait to get hold of a copy. It turns out, a few weeks later, Gus Dudgeon would produce its follow-up, 'Tokoloshe Man' at Trident Studios and I got to watch that single get mixed. Years later, when Elektra celebrated its 40th anniversary, I invited Happy Mondays to cover 'He’s Gonna Step On You Again'. Kongos had been released on Elektra in the US and we’d asked the current roster to pay tribute to Elektra’s history by covering its 'classics' for a double cd, which ended up being called 'Rubaiyat'. Good idea, BAD title. Because their version turned out so well, Factory Record's Tony Wilson held it back so he could release it as a single in the UK and 'Step On' became their biggest hit. This forced us to find an alternative and in the end, we made-do with a questionable version of 'Tokoloshe Man' instead. 'Step On' was a massive club hit for us (thanks partly to a Brit dj in NYC clubland called DB) and it did well on the alternative charts here, also. To return to Jeff D for a moment, I remember him coming to Trident with his pal and colleague, Ian Samwell, where they produced their latest discovery, America, who subsequently hit it big with 'A Horse With No Name'. In 1958, Ian Samwell had written and played on the excellent 'Move It', originally recorded as a b-side for Cliff Richard's first single, but flipped on Jack Good's advice to become a huge hit and arguably Britain's first, great rock & roll single. 'Sammy' had also produced and written the lyrics to 'Watcha Gonna Do About It', the Small Faces' fantastic debut single ('65), so he's clearly the business, too. When I was doing some research for the 'MC5 * A True Testimonial' film, Jeff was enormously helpful in naming and locating some of the 'players' around the underground scene in the UK when the band played there and recently, he tipped me to Pete Frame's marvelous book about the birth of skiffle and the beginning of the UK rock & roll scene in 50's London, 'The Restless Generation'. I've plugged it before and I'll do it again. It's one of the most enjoyable books - on any subject, including smut - I've ever read.

John Peel would drag some of his collection around the country opening and closing for bands - sometimes he was the main attraction - but his radio shows on (pirate) Radio London and the BBC throughout the years were always essential listening. As an a&r person, I'd use John's show as a resource for new, up-and-coming, bands/artists and would always want the bands I worked with to record 'John Peel Sessions' at the BBC studios in Maida Vale. I had one of those 'pull-over-and-park' moments when I was driving home from Dingwalls one night. He was playing 'O Superman' by Laurie Anderson...something so foreign, so beguiling, so extraordinary that I just had to stop everything and listen, have a bit of a think, you know, take stock.

Fan letters would sometimes arrive at Island Records, mostly for Roxy Music, Bad Company or Bob Marley. The receptionists would open them and we'd have a good laugh at some of the polaroids that were sent to Robert Palmer. In Oct '76, an envelope bearing the logo of an American radio station landed on my desk. It was addressed to Eddie & The Hot Rods but instead of forwarding it to Sheila Martian (their fan club secretary) I opened it. This was the first time anyone from the U.S. had written to the band, (their 3rd release, 'Live At The Marquee' e.p. had just come out in England). At the time, I was very naïve about the States and had no idea how many radio stations there could be in any one town, let alone the country, as we in London only had 2 (the BBC's Radio One and Capital Radio, launched in '73) that were devoted to “pop” music. Naturally, I thought if I sent this dj a few singles, we’d end up gaining some interest for our artists in America, so I sent Kevin Patrick a bunch of 45s and some publicity pics and it wasn’t long before he was sending me all the cool, new US singles (like Little Johnny Jewel by Television and 45s by Blondie, The Ramones, the Talking Heads etc). I'd send him the Sex Pistols, the Stranglers, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, The Jam and all the Island and Stiff records on the days of their release and he'd often be the first DJ in the States to get them on the air. Later I found out his station - WITR - was a college station, but that didn’t matter to me as we were trading 25-count boxes of 45s by this time and significantly improving our collections! Kevin turned out to be a very dear friend and we’ve had many good times together, both professionally and socially. Furthermore, he introduced me to the glory of Suicide - the band - who, if you’re a regular listener, you’ll know is a perpetual staple around these parts. I'm tired of banging on about Suicide only to be met with blank stares and "who?" so pick up the November 08 issue of MOJO for Kris Needs’ brilliant 6-page appreciation to see why they're so important. And watch out for their 6 cd limited edition box set 'Live 1977-1978' coming soon on Blast First Petite (UK).

Kevin Patrick
Rochester, NY, '77

Other djs who had a strong influence on me over the years include Brian Matthew (ITV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, and the BBC Light Programme’s Saturday Club), Keith Fordyce (Ready Steady Go), Jerry Floyd (The Marquee), Pete Drummond & Kenny Everett (Radio London), Johnnie Walker (Radio Caroline), Emperor Rosko (Radio Caroline, Radio Luxembourg), Stuart Henry (Radio 1), Charlie Gillett (BBC Radio London) Bill Bahlman (Danceteria), Johnny Dynell (Jackie 60), The Purple Knif, The Hound (WFMU) and the great Hugh Nolan, who I’d listen to whilst in bed, at school, on a crummy little crystal set that had a crocodile clip on a cord which you’d attach to an 'earthed' pipe to get a feeble Radio Geronimo signal into one very uncomfortable plastic 'earphone' like deaf people used to use in the 60s. I remember thinking how groovy it was listening to him play ALL 6 sides of the Woodstock soundtrack uninterrupted before it came out. Um, I’m not so sure I’d ever want to do that again, but at the time it seemed pretty radical. It’s where I first heard 'Ohio' by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and he’d play the crap out of Balls! Geronimo was my favourite station and their theme song was a neat psychedelic version of 'Amazing Grace' by The Great Awakening. They had a studio in Harley St. but broadcast from Monte Carlo. Go here for more info - Geronimo