With keeping the 'Do it yourself' attitude, Fred started his own label called Green Vomit Records. With support from Oi Polloi, and money raised from their gigs, Toxik Ephex entered Pier House Studios in Edinburgh to record their 'Punk as Fuck' single. the original singles were handmade and sold out very quickly, so they were repressed, but with printers this time due to popular demand. The three song titles: 'Fallout Shelter', 'Always Skint' and 'Nothing's Permissive' pretty much summed up what the band's views were of contemporary life.
In 1987, Toxik Ephex teamed up with Oi Polloi and released the split L.P. 'Mad as Fuck'. The record was recorded the exact same way the one before it was. It was featured on Fred's label and recorded in the same studio. The record gave the band yet another boost, and they soon began working on their next E.P.
1989 saw a split E.P. release by Toxik Ephex and Shrapnel on the Words of Warning label. During the same year, the band recorded their debut album 'The Adventures of Nobby Porthole the Cock of the North'. The band carried on, but the unemployment and lack of money were starting to get the best of the band. They could had signed on to big labels, but the band refused to sell out which led to their demise.
Fred left the band to play elsewhere, and Chiz followed slightly after. This is when Toxik Ephex disappeared. Fortunately, every now and then the band reappears to play random one-off gigs around their area with a constantly changing line-up, and still do to this day. 2006 saw a new 7" titled 'Civilised' release. In 2007, their retrospective double CD was released titled 'Punk as Two Fucks'.
"Fallout Shelter"
Everywhere you go,
there's a black cloud hanging low
its mushroom shaped,
but it's all in your mind.
But what are you going to do
when your nightmares come true
and you find you've got no place left to hide.
I'll play no part in the world today.
I wanna go lock myself away
from you,
and your wicked world outside.
Do you think I care what happens to you?
I wont come out whatever you do.
I'll build myself a fallout shelter and hide
from you
when your dreams come true.
I can see it through.
I'll build myself
a fallout shelter
and hide.
What's gonna happen to you,
when the warnings come through,
and you find you've got 4 minutes left to die.
You'll come crawling to me.
You'll be begging on your hands and knees
You can do what you like,
but this is what I'll say.
I'll play no part in the world today.
I wanna go lock myself away
from you,
and your wicked world outside.
Do you think I care what happens to you?
I wont come out whatever you do.
I'll build myself a fallout shelter and hide
from you
when your dreams come true.
I can see it through.
I'll build myself
a fallout shelter
and hide.
I'll play no part in the world today.
I wanna go lock myself away
from you,
and your wicked world outside.
Do you think I care what happens to you?
I wont come out whatever you do.
I'll build myself a fallout shelter and hide
from you
when your dreams come true.
I can see it through.
I'll build myself
a fallout shelter
and hide.
"Nothing's Permissive"
You want to make me go to war
because it's good for my country.
it's good for me,
I DON'T WANT TO!
Got to get up at seven o'clock
five days of the fucking week,
I DON'T WANT TO!
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen.
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen
to you.
Make me a killer with a gun in my hand.
Trained to kill for the good of the chance,
I DON'T WANT TO!
You want to make it all compulsory.
Youth unemployment without asking me
I DON'T WANT TO!
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen.
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen
to you.
Mother tells me that my dad
never had the freedom that I had
Too bad.
I want to be just how I feel,
not just some Cog in Society's wheel,
I DON'T WANT TO!
You want to make me go to war
because it's good for my country.
it's good for me,
I DON'T WANT TO!
Got to get up at seven o'clock
five days of the fucking week,
I DON'T WANT TO!
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen.
Nothing's Permissive.
It's just a prison.
That's what you tell them
but they wont listen
to you.
Soon to come Downloads:
'Police Brutality' Bullshit Detector 2 track 1982 Crass Records
http://www.box.net/shared/1c6d0mlgo1dnout1lkd2
http://www.box.net/shared/1c6d0mlgo1dnout1lkd2
Punk as Fuck 1986 Green Vomit
http://www.box.net/shared/p2v21gglxmimekf1zcm7
http://www.box.net/shared/p2v21gglxmimekf1zcm7
Mad as Fuck 1987 Green Vomit
http://www.box.net/shared/lbpgk02b96er0y7fdz0c
http://www.box.net/shared/lbpgk02b96er0y7fdz0c
Civilised 2006 Runnin' Feart Records
http://www.box.net/shared/965l5ly3mujvxzmxj76m
http://www.box.net/shared/965l5ly3mujvxzmxj76m
you will be getting an email from the singer for sure he emailed me last year about me posting Toxic Ephex stuff calling me a scum bag for posting there stuff he is a real asshole make's it hard to listen to there stuff now.
ReplyDeleteHi slaughter, how is the singer an "asshole"?..& why is unfortunate that steve was replaced by frank benzie? Steve started to get into dodgy skinhead politics & views. Dod the singer is no way an "asshole". Pity your views /facts are incorrect
Deletewhether or not it is unfortunate that I, Steve Anderson, left is of no consequence. I should also point out that my political views are now and always have been fuck the lot of them. I have never adopted any dodgy attitudes or views on politics.
Deleteas for Dod being an asshole, he is a thoroughly nice guy whom, had you met him, you would know. He has always been a popular person because of his kind and generous nature.
I Wish the guys good luck for the future and hope they get together again for their one off gigs.
That's weird. Based on their ideals from their history, they should be glad that someone in America is getting their music and ideas out to wider audiences for free, without any kind of personal gain. I can't think of a reason why their singer would get upset unless he is in it for the money from the double CD's to the point where he wouldn't want the music posted anywhere for free, because it would 'harm' the profit from the CD's. I highly doubt that because the band is anti-mainstream, but you never know. Maybe it is something personal.
ReplyDeletei think he is all about the money now sadly people change
ReplyDeleteI.ve meet Dod and the guys a few times and put gigs on with them, they were a great bunch of lads, they would bring their own PA set up play blinding gigs and always only took just enough money to cover their costs.
ReplyDeleteYou,ve got to remember if your posting material that they've officially released people ain't gonna buy their cd when they can download it all for free from you, so they're gonna lose money when they don't sell as many of the cds they've recently had pressed.
If you check it out, nearly all the material on their 'Punk As Two Fuck' cd is what your planning for downloads plus 'S.O.T.I' also has some of their offical material to download.
I have always said I do this all for fun and for folk to enjoy the music I grew up with but if a band doesn't want you to post it them you should have the decency to remove it.
Most bands are okay with it as a lot of the stuff I post was actually sent to me by themselves for trading.
If it's deleted material then okay but I try to stick to the unofficial stuff and put links for poeple to find out or purchase more !!
If it wasn't for these bands we wouldn't be doing this.
Love the blog by the way keep up the great work and the Stalag 17 demo is 5 track also!!
www.ivomit4u.blogspot.com
Thanks! You got a point there. I'll take most of the material off the downloads list for the benefit of their CD.
ReplyDeletei heard there cd is a cd-r
ReplyDeleteDon't know about that ? but here's a link see what you think !!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.topplers.net/toxik/index.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteyou heard it wrong gabe, their double cd is a real cd.
ReplyDeleteso i can also already remove the punk as fuck link, the mad as fuck link as well as the civilized link... they all on the cd!
I was not aware the Steve began believing in dodgy skinhead politics and views. While writing this I was following several sources of information on them, and even the ones that were written by the band themselves did not mention that that was why Steve was replaced.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I left t.e. because I found that playing in a working band was not for me. I have never felt comfortable playing in front of a crowd and this was reflected in my performance. To continue to work with the band would have been to the detriment of t.e. and that would be unfair to all involved, including the band's following. Steve Anderson
DeleteI know this is an old post i'm replying to here but it's the first time i've seen it. I'm Chiz the drummer of Toxik Ephex and what i remember is Dod dealing with a problem that we were informed of by a reliable source. The problem being we found out someone in the USA was selling our material to fill their own pockets without asking our permission which in my eyes is stealing, if they had asked we could've worked something out but obviously they didn't want to do that and the name Slaughter was pointed out. We as a band don't mind people downloading our material for free as nobody makes anything off of that but for someone to rip us off is not on after all the hard work we did to get money together for all the recording sessions, pressing ect. As for Steve, it just didn't work out with him end of. So i hope this clears this up.
ReplyDeleteCHIZ
I know this is an old post i'm replying to here but it's the first time i've seen it. I'm Chiz the drummer of Toxik Ephex and what i remember is Dod dealing with a problem that we were informed of by a reliable source. The problem being we found out someone in the USA was selling our material to fill their own pockets without asking our permission which in my eyes is stealing, if they had asked we could've worked something out but obviously they didn't want to do that and the name Slaughter was pointed out. We as a band don't mind people downloading our material for free as nobody makes anything off of that but for someone to rip us off is not on after all the hard work we did to get money together for all the recording sessions, pressing ect. As for Steve, it just didn't work out with him end of. So i hope this clears this up.
ReplyDeleteCHIZ
I lived in Woodside in the early 80s and I met a member of Toxic Ephex in the now-defunct Seton Lodge alehouse. Great drinking den!
ReplyDeleteAh ... at last ....a comment box allowing me, Fred Wilkinson/Inspector Blake to respond.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the charge re. Dod Copland being an asshole: Well, he can be ... as can all of us, but generally, he is one of the most precious, giving individuals on the planet - even when he's bein' an asshole :D ... I reckon the accusation, regarding the reasons he is being labelled as an asshole, are best directed at me ... cos I am that asshole who, on behalf of the band, as well as myself, foolishly thought that I owned my songs, and as a breadline level self employed musician, with a family to feed, and a home to maintain, on an erratic income, with no benefits other than top up, that folks giving away my music, which I needed to sell ... at a very reasonable cost in order to make the difference between buyin' a cheap white loaf and some other loaf with some fuckin substance in it, were acting in a way which was detrimental to my wellbeing ... via what was mine!!
Toxik Ephex always balanced the costs of recording, travel, production, with the price charged for our records/tapes/cds etc in a way which did not rob buyers, but kept the possibility of future recordings possible. We sold for the lowest viable price we could.
Now? Well.here's where we are. between us, we have a very limited supply of original stock. That same stock is being sold by/to collectors for shitloads of cash ... I find that funny! ... on the other hand, various folks I have never met, will never meet, feel free to distribute my/our music for free .... which might seem like a great thing ... but ... not one has asked me/us in order to negotiate conditions/permissions.
I could go on regarding what has gone in to the creation of said recordings, and pertaining sacrifices, but I sense there is a certain level of intelligence already here, so I will not seek to insult same.
Re. Steve .... the wording above is 'unfortunate' ... Steve, in his time active with T.E. did good, it was indeed unfortunate Steve had to leave, but it was equally fortunate that we found Frank to replace.
As founder of T.E. and as one who takes the lead on all decisions re. T.E. I can state categorically that Steve's personal/political views were never an issue, and had no bearing on his calling an end on his time with T.E.
Another wee error in the text above .....
"With support from Oi Polloi, and money raised from their gigs, Toxik Ephex entered Pier House Studios in Edinburgh to record ...."
Much as I am grateful and respectful of what our relationship with the mighty Oi Polloi brought about, in the interest of accuracy, I/we recorded our E.P., formed Green Vomit Records, and released same E.P. before we 'met' Oi Polloi.
Yeah, we'd heard of, and heard them, but we had no 'relationship' before we/myself and the band were brought together by a full blown riot!
It wa all downhill from there ;)