And now for something completely different!
i'm feeling a bit surly today so here is some gnarly English punk to match my mood.
when i first heard these guys back in the early 80's this was about the most obscene ugly shit i ever heard and i loved it. A far cry from the dungeons & dragons bullshit of most metal that was going on and these guys weren't a
"political" band, they just seemed to be telling the story of their lives and those lives seemed to be pretty fucked up... i guess it was pretty real.... but to this suburban teenage kid from NJ it was a whole new world.
Anti-Nowhere League are an English punk band formed in 1980, by lead singer Animal (real name Nick Culmer) and rhythm guitarist Magoo (real name Chris Exall), with Bones [real name Tony Shaw] on drums and Baggy Elvy on bass.
Their first gig was at Tunbridge Wells, on the day of the annual carnival, at which they got arrested. This led to their first press coverage with the local newspaper describing their gig as a 'cacophony of noise'. In 1981, Gooky (who left the same year), Hopper and Clive "Winston" Blake came in on lead guitar, drums and bass respectively, although Hopper was quickly replaced with PJ ('Persian John') (real name Djahanshah Aghssa). They managed to get a slot in The Exploited's Apocalypse tour, along with Chron Gen and Anti Pasti. This led to them signing to John Curd's record label WXYZ, with Curd and Chris Gabrin co-managing the band.
Later that year, they also opened for The Damned on a short tour round the north of England and Scotland. November 1981 saw the release of their first single, a cover version of Ralph McTell's "Streets of London", with the song that was to become the group's anthem, "So What" on the B-side.
In 1982, they took part in the 'So What Tour' in the company of such groups as Chelsea, Chron Gen and the Defects, and the release of their debut album We Are...The League. However, the Obscene Publications Squad seized all copies of their records, which were removed from retailers and they were banned from TV and radio. In addition, they were removed from the Top Of The Pops recording studio because Animal was carrying a 3ft axe around with him. The year finished with the 'Hardcore Storms America' tour with the UK Subs.
some other lame shit happened the next few years and they called it quits in 1989 with some more boring bullshit happening with those stupid ass fucking millionaire rock stars metallica and blah blah blah....
looks like they are on some sort of a comeback tour or some shit.... read about it here if you care or dare....
Anti Nowhere League - I Hate People
11 comments:
"I've had crabs and I've had lice. I've had the pox and that ain't nice - So what, So what."
I saw the ANWL live at The Damned's 'Damned Are Five' gig (highlights of The Damned's set are available on the album 'Ballroom Blitz)at London's Lyceum venue in the summer of 81. They were bottom of the bill, and followed by Vice Squad and The Ruts.
Great line up and a mighty night.
Thanks for the introduction... it's great....
Animal? Gooky? Baggy? Djahanshah Aghssa?
The names alone make this post a classic!
HA! HA! Good one dk!
Thanks for tuning in guys!
as always i appreciate the comments!
Thanks for the memories, Devildick. We just about wore out ANWL's "I Hate People" at the nuthouse I shared with a drummer and a black death rocker who bolted from his minister-father's home in Chicago. We were pretty different people, but all agreed on the fawkin LEAGUE!
Hey man... You know New Bomb Turks covered on a 7" with Entombed covering Roky Erikson on the B-side. I have an extra copy if you need one.
I also come from Tunbridge Wells and saw all the League's early 'local' gigs, and my own band used to use the same rehearsal room as them. A bunch of rockers much older than ourselves jumping on the punk bandwagon! They certainly didn't have hard upbringings, they were all nice middle class boys, in fact, from reasonably well off families. Sorry to destroy the illusion, but they were playing. Quite nice guys, though.
it figures.... hahaha!
You criticise us, you say we're shit, but we're up here and we're doing it, so don't you criticise the things we do, no fucker pays to go and see you! hahah
Outside a kebab shop one friday night about 1997 PJ was laughing at me with 2 birds on his arm so i asked him what he was laughing at and he left. About 30 minutes later we met again at the top of the road and he asked for a light but was shaking like a shitting dog! I told him to leave why he still had a chance of getting his dick wet. He decided to do just that lol.
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