Hi, just thought I'd drop you a note with a few observations on your Mollet St punk article. I've only had a chance to read it once, and that was when I was killing 15 minutes in a magazine shop, so if I'm doing anyone an injustice by what I'm going to say, my apologies.I was 17 at the time Mollet St was going, I used to go every Sunday night to see the bands. I think you would have had a different view of what went on there if you had talked to people like Mike Williams (Johnny V).
Firstly, Johnny Abort (Dick Driver) and The Doomed. Dick's a nice guy, and certainly nobody I knew disliked him. However to anyone under 22, The Doomed were a joke, repeat joke. Dick was not some wonderfully respected Iggy Pop figure. They were an old style hippy band, with a punk overlay. Their set consisted mainly of note for note copies of the tracks on the early punk album, Live at the Roxy, produced by Mike Thorne, who "discovered" Wire as a result.
The Doomed even faithfully reproduced the witty comments made by various band members on the album between tracks. I seem to remember The Doomed having to leave the venue by the 1st floor windows once. I don't think it was because, like the Beatles, their hordes of adoring fans wouldn't let them leave the stage.
The band we all wanted to see at Mollet St was Johnny Velox and The Vauxhalls. They were the nearest live thing to punk available in Chch. Apart from the sped-up Lou Reed covers that they played in their early days, we liked their arrangements of well known local and national TV adverts, I don't think anyone, except maybe Mark Brooks perhaps, recorded their versions of the Griffins Gingernuts song, or the heinous Bob Brown For Sound stereo shop TVC. A pity, though maybe it's better, so I don't have my illusions spoilt.
As we formed our own bands, it was The Vauxhalls that encouraged us and helped us out, lending us amps, and instruments, giving us supports etc.
Secondly. The first time I saw The Enemy at Canterbury Uni Students, I wasn't actually all that impressed. Their long hair, denim jackets and flared trousers put me off. Obviously their sympathies were in the enemy camp, ie people over twenty who weren't David Bowie or Lou Reed.
The second time I saw them was at Forester's Hall, where they played the best set I've ever seen a band play. Talk about entertaining. Chris Knox, had by this time acquired a mohawk, which he'd sprayed fluorescent paint into. What a looney. Again, maybe this is romantic bullshit, that listening to a tape of the gig would destroy.
Knox was in charge of the situation. In an era when inexperienced bands sometimes panicked when a guitar string broke, Knox kept the crowd going. I can remember very rude acapella fillers, one of which was entitled, something like "I want to bite your cunt" while strings were being changed, fuses found or whatever. The song, Iggy Told Me, put the shits up me, I've never seen a guy stabbing himself with a bottle in front of me before.
The only thing I could compere it too, for sheer style, entertainment and great tunes, was seeing The Birthday Party years later, and I think The Enemy were better. The Enemy played Mollet Street a day or so later, I think, and I can remember a Dunedin support punk noise band called The Clean, I seem to remember Doug Hood having something to do with it.
Great to hear Vacuum given some coverage at last. I wrote a letter to Rip It Up at the time complaining about how bands like that were ignored in favour of much less worthy Dorkland bands.
The Christchurch Press published a shot of the Vacuum (Blue Ladder) playing at the Arts Centre in the Toy Love era. Shot from onstage, looking out towards the audience. I still have the picture which is pretty faded now, but you can still pick out Chris Knox, Jane Walker, Doug Hood, Mark Brooks, Scott Brooks (Vauxhalls), various punk faces, and me.
Finally interesting, interesting to here about The Chants in print. Not everyone over twenty was our enemy. We made friends with Robin and Christine Neate, who used to go and see The Chants. Being insecure teenagers (instead of the insecure thirtysomethings we are now), we were interested in hearing about people who had gone before us. Scenes that weren't befouled by Hippy romanticism.
Yes, even now, I have a pathological hatred of Hippies, and their works. What a bummer, man, that young people have taken up with all that shit with such enthusiasm, even made punk part of that alterno-crap.
Inevitable, I suppose. I retreated in the swamplands of Metal, myself, haha.
Thanks for putting up with this pretentious wank from me.
David-James McKenzie,
Christchurch.
Firstly, Johnny Abort (Dick Driver) and The Doomed. Dick's a nice guy, and certainly nobody I knew disliked him. However to anyone under 22, The Doomed were a joke, repeat joke. Dick was not some wonderfully respected Iggy Pop figure. They were an old style hippy band, with a punk overlay. Their set consisted mainly of note for note copies of the tracks on the early punk album, Live at the Roxy, produced by Mike Thorne, who "discovered" Wire as a result.
The Doomed even faithfully reproduced the witty comments made by various band members on the album between tracks. I seem to remember The Doomed having to leave the venue by the 1st floor windows once. I don't think it was because, like the Beatles, their hordes of adoring fans wouldn't let them leave the stage.
The band we all wanted to see at Mollet St was Johnny Velox and The Vauxhalls. They were the nearest live thing to punk available in Chch. Apart from the sped-up Lou Reed covers that they played in their early days, we liked their arrangements of well known local and national TV adverts, I don't think anyone, except maybe Mark Brooks perhaps, recorded their versions of the Griffins Gingernuts song, or the heinous Bob Brown For Sound stereo shop TVC. A pity, though maybe it's better, so I don't have my illusions spoilt.
As we formed our own bands, it was The Vauxhalls that encouraged us and helped us out, lending us amps, and instruments, giving us supports etc.
Secondly. The first time I saw The Enemy at Canterbury Uni Students, I wasn't actually all that impressed. Their long hair, denim jackets and flared trousers put me off. Obviously their sympathies were in the enemy camp, ie people over twenty who weren't David Bowie or Lou Reed.
The second time I saw them was at Forester's Hall, where they played the best set I've ever seen a band play. Talk about entertaining. Chris Knox, had by this time acquired a mohawk, which he'd sprayed fluorescent paint into. What a looney. Again, maybe this is romantic bullshit, that listening to a tape of the gig would destroy.
Knox was in charge of the situation. In an era when inexperienced bands sometimes panicked when a guitar string broke, Knox kept the crowd going. I can remember very rude acapella fillers, one of which was entitled, something like "I want to bite your cunt" while strings were being changed, fuses found or whatever. The song, Iggy Told Me, put the shits up me, I've never seen a guy stabbing himself with a bottle in front of me before.
The only thing I could compere it too, for sheer style, entertainment and great tunes, was seeing The Birthday Party years later, and I think The Enemy were better. The Enemy played Mollet Street a day or so later, I think, and I can remember a Dunedin support punk noise band called The Clean, I seem to remember Doug Hood having something to do with it.
Great to hear Vacuum given some coverage at last. I wrote a letter to Rip It Up at the time complaining about how bands like that were ignored in favour of much less worthy Dorkland bands.
The Christchurch Press published a shot of the Vacuum (Blue Ladder) playing at the Arts Centre in the Toy Love era. Shot from onstage, looking out towards the audience. I still have the picture which is pretty faded now, but you can still pick out Chris Knox, Jane Walker, Doug Hood, Mark Brooks, Scott Brooks (Vauxhalls), various punk faces, and me.
Finally interesting, interesting to here about The Chants in print. Not everyone over twenty was our enemy. We made friends with Robin and Christine Neate, who used to go and see The Chants. Being insecure teenagers (instead of the insecure thirtysomethings we are now), we were interested in hearing about people who had gone before us. Scenes that weren't befouled by Hippy romanticism.
Yes, even now, I have a pathological hatred of Hippies, and their works. What a bummer, man, that young people have taken up with all that shit with such enthusiasm, even made punk part of that alterno-crap.
Inevitable, I suppose. I retreated in the swamplands of Metal, myself, haha.
Thanks for putting up with this pretentious wank from me.
David-James McKenzie,
Christchurch.
0 comments:
Post a Comment