Youth in Asia

     Another great band that hardly released anything, Youth in Asia may be remembered by few for their one and only cassette realease, along with 'Power and the Glory' which appeared on 'Bullshit Detector 2'. Also, they were musically different than all the other punk bands from their use of synthesizers and especially Kay's opera vocal style approach at delivering lyrics with her powerful voice. Kay Byatt had become inspired by the 1st wave of punk, and was a regular at punk gigs during the late seventies and was briefly in a band called Kaysa Lazerbeam and the Gammatrons. She later began dating 'Punk celebrity' Johnny Moped and travelled  all over the place until she saw Crass in 1979. Crass inspired her to start a band, and she soon replied to an ad in a music paper from guitarist Mark stating that he wanted to start a band somewhere along the lines of Crass, and Youth in Asia was born.

(In this photo: Bassist Wayne and second vocalist/keyboardist Olga)

     The two lived two-hundred miles away, but met up and moved to a squat near Wayne Preston who would become their bassist. After meeting up on several occasions at punk gigs by coincidence, 'Punky Pete' joined on drums and his girlfriend Olga joined as their second vocalist and keyboardist. Even though none of them could really play anything, Youth in Asia hurried up with writing a set and debuted in December of 1981 in Brussels. Shortly after several more gigs, 'Punky Pete' disappeared from the scene and the band completely, until his friends found out he died in prison during the mid-eighties. He was replaced by Mark's friend Eddie, and Lou from the Witches joined on rhythm guitar, making the band a six-piece consisting of three males and three females.

      Several gigs followed, and lots of them were possible through connections such as Olga being Zillah, vocalist of Rubella Ballet's sister(the two bands played several gigs together). In 1982, The band appeared on 'Bullshit Detector 2' with their track 'Power and the Glory'. During December of that same year, Youth in Asia played at the Infamous Zig Zag squat gig going on in between Poison Girls and Omega Tribe. One notable gig they played was when they played with Potential Threat because Potential Threat didn't want to play the gig because the venue was 'too small' and they demanded money to go back home. This infuriated Youth in Asia seeing as though they had seen Crass play even smaller gigs in the rain with the power constantly going out on them, but they played the gig anyways, and Kay told several people what happened and Potential Threat's reputation was somewhat ruined.

     In 1983, Youth Asia recorded and released their cassette tape titled' Sex Object'. It was recorded in the Poison Girl's basement with Pete Fender(guitarist/vocalist from Rubella Ballet/Omega Tribe)mixing at the desk. At the end of the year, Youth in Asia completed a small demo('When the Wind Blows' was in it) and had been asked to do a 7" for Crass, but Eddie was forced to move back(to cure himself from his heroin addiction) and Lou left due to ill health(she ended up marrying Rob who was the founder of 96 Tapes and a member from Faction), forcing the band to recruit new guitarist Mick Clarke and drummer Bernie from Windor's Disease. 

However, their bassist could not keep up with their musical skill, and Olga was about to have her second child, but the band didn't want to kick anyone out, so they decided to end Youth and Asia and start a new band without them(Kay was really good friends with them and didn't want to do it, but it seemed inevitable because she wanted to write a bunch of new material and go for a new sound, slightly farther away from the other 'Anarcho Punk' bands). 

"C.B.S (Cash before Sincerity)"


They made us promises/
But never fulfilled them/
All or the garage bands/
Who rejoined the system/..

It was all just a ploy for
making money/The joke was in us
but it wasn't very funny/They
masqueraded in a 'Punk' disguise
/And all their words were
blatant lies.../

We dressed how
we wanted/Till the 'Chic'
cashed in/And made it a
fashion/That was this year's
thing/

It was all just a ploy for

making money/The joke was in us

but it wasn't very funny/They

masqueraded in a 'Punk' disguise

/And all their words were

blatant lies.../

/You signed to
the majors/Which gave you
the fame/It boosted your egos
/Cos you thought you'd won
the game/

It was all just a ploy for

making money/The joke was in us

but it wasn't very funny/They

masqueraded in a 'Punk' disguise

/And all their words were

blatant lies.../

/It all
tuned sour/When you got a
rough deal/You were still in
the fairground/But trapped on
the wheel

It was all just a ploy for

making money/The joke was in us

but it wasn't very funny/They

masqueraded in a 'Punk' disguise

/And all their words were

blatant lies.../

It was all just a ploy for

making money/The joke was in us

but it wasn't very funny/They

masqueraded in a 'Punk' disguise

/And all their words were

blatant lies.../

"Blind reality"

Do you walk out on

the streets/It's just

another day/Do you think to

yourself/Does it have to be

this way?/Go buy a newspaper/

read how things are getting worse/

Read about all the problems/That

are on this earth/

And it all goes round and it all carries

on/And I'm glad I've realized

that something is wrong/Got to

make a change before it's all

too late/Only got one life don't

want to be a waste...

/Another 

woman raped/ Read the details all

the bits/Small column by page

three/Beneath a pair of tits/

Another trade union calls for its

men to strike/As Poland announces

more rations from tonight/

And it all goes round and it all carries

on/And I'm glad I've realized

that something is wrong/Got to

make a change before it's all

too late/Only got one life don't

want to be a waste...

/More riots on our streets/How

long can it last/Before the place

we live/Becomes a Belfast/Army all

around with guns to prove the men/

The only thing you proved is the

system won again/ 

And it all goes round and it all carries

on/And I'm glad I've realized

that something is wrong/Got to

make a change before it's all

too late/Only got one life don't

want to be a waste...

And it all goes round and it all carries

on/And I'm glad I've realized

that something is wrong/Got to

make a change before it's all

too late/Only got one life don't

want to be a waste...

DON'T WANT TO BE A WASTE!

Downloads:

'Power and the Glory' from Bullshit Detector 2 1982
http://www.box.net/shared/9exkhf89h1d1tuoaqbmf
Live at the Zig Zag Squatter gig 1982
http://www.box.net/shared/92fnjqal654nv3cy4tv2
Sex Object 1983
http://www.box.net/shared/l9fpi3gtvsq7pa4mo4nl
Live at the Ace, Brixton, England 7-22-83
http://www.box.net/shared/kk10tgeqt838c61g0gta
Unknown Demo 1983(Olga and Wayne)
http://www.box.net/shared/gm5shlgz0fupdhiob3l9
Demo possibly meant for a Crass Records Single 1983(bootleg)
http://www.box.net/shared/81fh5kfae2ycr0vjxr24
Unknown demo 1984(Olga and Wayne)
http://www.box.net/shared/nhi5eoykftmkr4nin6nx