Civilised Society?

     Civilised society? played punk music that was fused with metal, yet had brilliant lyrics. They were from Batley in West Yorkshire and started out with Dinger on vocals, Stan on drums, his brother Jerry on bass and Mick on guitar. Mick apparently 'sucked too much' and was replaced by Jerri. Afterwards, their roadie named 'Slops' took over on bass, and they got two more additional vocalists named Bev and Jowan. All of the members pointed out that early Metallica and Anthrax(the metal one) had become influences on their style, as well as Crass's ideas.

     They immediately recorded their first demo titled 'You must be Joking' but Jowan apparently 'got pissed and left'. Afterwards, the band recorded their second demo called 'Who would have Thought?'. By this time, the Instigators had split, and they asked their ex-drummer Hammy to join them as their third vocalist. The band released their demo tapes with the help of Dick Lucas from the Subhumans and Simon Mooney from the Instigators.

     Their first record would had been through Bluurg, but something that has not been explained yet happened between the band and the label which led them to Manic Ear Records instead. With a budget of two hundred, and forty-eight dollars, the band recorded their 'Scrap Metal' album. Some say it marked the new era for the 'Thrash' genre. It was described as 'Virtually Heavy Metal Music, played at Punk speed with meaningful lyrics. And even a touch of 'harmony' thrown in!'

     After he album, Civilised Society went through a nasty fallout with another anarchist band called Conflict. According the Civilised Society?, they disagreed Conflict's idea of fighting the system which was 'Fight Fire with Fire'. The band said 'Two wrongs don't make a right' and cautioned the activists that were getting exposed to Conflict(I have nothing against either bands). Conflict countered this by calling the band 'Pacifist Headbangers' and threatened them with a reception committee at a show in London. Soon after, Dinger left the band to focus on his activist activities, but he was incarcerated for four years after a big A.L.F. conspiracy.

     This didn't stop the band, and they quickly recorded and released their second album titled 'Violence Sucks!' on the same Manic Ears label. Kerrang's Paul Miller awarded the album 4.5 K!s and Bernard Doe(editor for Metal Forces) gave it a 90 out of 100. However, the band began losing hope in itself, and split in 1987, playing their final gig at a very special Christmas party on 23/12/87 in Adam and Eves in Leeds where it all began for them. Several tracks were recorded after 'Violence Sucks!' for several compilation albums that were considered to be their 'finest and most advanced work' but they were ultimately lost over time. Civilised Society? managed to release a retrospective double record release in 1990 titled 'You have been Warned' but the band was unable to find their last recordings so it only featured their two albums in one release.

"I Can be Free"

Can it really be true?
Can it truly be real?
Can they really lock me up
for the way that I feel?

Can they tell me - What to say?
Can they tell me - What to do?

Can someone please tell me.
Please tell me it's not true.

When they give me advice.
When they tell me what's right.
Does it really mean
I've got no other choice?
When they tell me to be quiet.
Not to make a lot of voice.
Are they really telling me
They've got no use for my voice?

If they tell me when to laugh
Then they tell me when to cry
Are the keeping me in practice
To be told what to buy

When they tell me - What to eat
When they tell me - What I need

Do they make me a consumer
Just to satisfy their greed?

No of course it's not true
No it's not right

If I really wanted to
I can live my own life
I can make my own rules
And ignore the fools
All the ones who tell me
What to say and do

If I open my eyes so that I can see
That if I open my mind then

I can be free!

More lyrics coming soon(I don't have my lyric sheets with me)

Soon to come downloads:

You must be Joking July 1984 Peaceville
http://www.box.net/shared/g1r5kn1zoy7cgon97czi

Who Would have Thought? March 1985 Peaceville
http://www.box.net/shared/6sps0dsddp9t684ac2t3

Unreleased Demo from October 1985
http://www.box.net/shared/4gf5fyfxvr6cki5r1hm7

Live in at Leeds University 20/10/86
http://www.box.net/shared/pjqhh11pa54mzk5i9ndg

Unreleased Demo from March 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/50oib78rbcq56uk08gkc

Unused L.P. Recordings August 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/53rkggqp0eayd9ib9oey

Scrap Metal 1986 Manic Ears
http://www.box.net/shared/xj79ztnehhqytms1bm48

Violence Sucks! 1987 Manic Ears
http://www.box.net/shared/izrkjldmndu8h8lrzxdu

Live in Brixton 7/3/87

http://www.box.net/shared/80feo5dq7ejuvfxarmyn

The Instigators

Aeptember 1985 at the Eschhaus, Duisburg, Germany, photo by Helge Schreiber.

       The Instigators were a brilliant band that were at their strongest during their first five years before changing into just another energetic 'Rock' band in the mid eighties with almost an entirely new line-up. In 1980, two school friends from Thornhill High named Paul 'Hammy' Halmshaw and Simon Mooney began The Instigators. Hammy played drums, and also started the Peaceville label in his bedroom which sold tapes, records, and fanzines, and eventually it became one of the most respected metal labels around. Simon Mooney took up the guitar. Soon after they were joined by Simon 'Semi' Bridgewater on vocals and Nicky Djorjevic on bass. They began by practicing in Semi's parent's garage, until they were kicked out and got a much better practicing spot at the Thornhill Youth Club.



22.10.83 YMCA Beeston, Leeds, photo by Jenny Plaits.

 
     At every practice they had an audience, and soon enough they were known by everyone in Dewsbury. This is when they came up with their name the Instigators, and a certain friend of theirs named Ritchie 'Perv' Calvert(who's band was going for the same name, but he let them use it instead) tagged the bands name all over town.

Their debut gig had been planned for their school's 1981 Christmas dance but it was ultimately cancelled due to bad weather(the band became frustrated because they had to travel there on foot, carrying all their gear through the snow), so the band's first gig was at the Morley Youth Club during the middle of 1982. During this time, Hammy had really gotten into Crass. He often wrote Crass letters asking them what anarchy meant to them and if pacifist anarchy could work, and in return, Crass would send him long, in depth answers explaining their philosophy, along with several badges, art work and fliers.

     Unfortunately, bassist Nicky was then replaced by 'Tompo' for being a drug addict, and that line-up went on to record the band's first demo. Afterwards, the band began buying anything associated with Crass and got into all the other anarchist bands. They noted Flux of Pink Indians as a big influence, who's 'New Smell' E.P. turned all of the band members except for Tab into veggie's.

22.10.83 YMCA Beeston, Leeds, photo by Jenny Plaits. Pictured here is a young Hammy.

     They sent their first demo out everywhere and eventually got a call from Colin, the vocalist of Flux of Pink Indians, to come down and open for them and The System, but after the show, vocalist Semi left the band and was replaced by Darren 'Daz' Dean from Sheffield, but he came back and replaced him when 'Tombo' got replaced by 'Tab' on bass. The band then recorded two more demos, and released all three of their demos together as the 'Demos 81-83' tape on Hammy's own Peaceville label.

     On May 15Th, 1983, The Instigators played a gig with the Subhumans which was organised and ran by punk poet Nick Toczek. Dick Lucas of the Subhumans liked the band's performance so much that he released it as a live tape on his Bluurg label. He then let the band record their first single the following year called 'The Blood is on your hands'. Before this, the band had already sent two tracks named 'Old Soldiers' and 'Monkey Man' for the Pax compilation called 'Bollox the Gonads'.

     During January of 1985, Dick Lucas helped the band release their first album called 'Nobody Listens Anymore'. The album was finished and released during the Summer of that same year. This album proved to be their finest work, in my opinion, and helped the band greatly get across to many, many people and it appeared in the top 5 on the Melody Makers Indie Charts. The track 'Dine Upon the Dead' appeared on Mortarhate's 'We don't want your Fucking War' compilation album, and two more tracks named 'Free' and 'The Blood is on your Hands' appeared in the U.S. label Pusmort's 'Cleanse the Bacteria' compilation that same year. However, things turned to the worst soon after a gig with Chumbawamba at Haddon Hall, Leeds.

September 1985 at the Eschhaus, Duisburg, Germany, photo by Helge Schreiber.

     Now that the band were at their highest, Hammy and Semi began discussing a Yugoslavian tour, but they got into an argument because Semi wanted to stay with his girlfriend in case she couldn't go, which led to him just shouting 'I'm leaving!'(their friendship however, was not broken and they continued to be good friends). They got a new vocalist named Tez Turner from the Xpozez, but Hammy and Tab didn't didn't feel like the band was working out so they left too. The remaining members Tez and Mooney recruited Andrew 'Trimble' on bass and Steve 'Cuzzy' Curran on drums, and they carried on the band and released lots of material, but sadly the old Instigators were gone and this new band named 'Instigators MK II' became a completely different band that their drummer Hammy disliked and looked at as just another fast 'Rock' band. I will stop here seeing as though the band changed into something else, but they did release an album called 'Shock Gun' in 1988 which was liked quite a bit. The old Instigators were now gone, but the original Instigators co-founder and drummer Hammy wanted to continue on with his Peaceville label and decided to join an entirely different anarchist band named 'Civilised Society?'


"The Church Says"

THERE IS NO GOD!
THERE IS NO GOD!
THERE IS NO GOD!
THERE IS NO GOD!

There is no God, just society's lie.
Another clever trick, to keep us all in line.
The chance to go to heaven stops them fighting back.
Never stop to care about looking at the facts.

The church says: no contraception.
The church says: no alcohol.

The Irish are fighting all because of the church.
While Maggie's military forces are waiting in the lurch.
The population's booming, 'cos the Pope has banned
the sheath.
So they cull the population by getting armed to the
teeth.


"Ignorance is Bliss"


Learn the quotes, say the words.
Follow the leaders to get yourself heard.
Another disciple to the deadly race.
Same points of view, just another face.

A disposable race to the leaders who hide
behind a smiling face; it's just another lie
while they hide in the shelters and watch us die.

Ignorance to their suicide's bliss.
You know you can't take much more of this.
We've got to put this to a stop
and remove these lunatics from the top.


"Ugly People"


A distant land as far as I can see.
A chill fresh wind from the ice blue sea.
A mother playing with her newborn child.
Peace and contentment in this desolate wild.

The infant's fur, so white and clean
is the prize of the men arriving on the scene
with a club in his hand, the man delivers a blow.
The skull is smashed, blood runs into the snow.

She looked through the window at the lovely fur coat.
The ink flowed like blood on the cheque that she wrote.
'This coat is so warm, so lovely and white'
but that looked like blood as she turned to the light.


'All Creatures'


The doctors feel the time has come
to kill all the animals under the sun.
Whether for meat or inhuman experiments
their lives are not ours to forsake and torment.

All god's creatures, a human disease.
To die for us, for vanity.
What right have we got, to kill and maim?
Not at all, and they call us 'humane'
MUDER!


"Monkey Man"


You think that you're a man.
Grow your muscles
as big as you can
with violence
as your tool.
You'd better
get back to school.

OOH! OOH!
Monkey Man!

You drink
seven pints a night.
Then out with the boys
looking for a fight.
Blinded by your
desire for pain.
Monkey Man
You ain't got a brain.

OOH! OOH!
Monkey man!


"Old Soldiers"


War is trapping
of all our fears.
To be released
like a cornered rat.
Politics 'divine'
to affirm the con.
That war..
is a necessary fact.

It only takes
the time to realize
that while we fight
they keep their hold.
A hopeless action
for none to gain
together..
We must be bold.

A country's young
are off to war.
Who decides what
they're fighting for?
Bloody generals.
They don't fight.
They deal in death.
But is it right?

Old Soldiers
never
never DIE.

The government
don't care
as people cry.
Mourning for someone
who shouldn't have died.

They gave him
a medal
to prove he was someone.
Old soldiers don't die.
It's only the YOUNG ONES!

OLD SOLDIERS
NEVER, NEVER DIE!


"Dine Upon the Dead"


Dine upon the dead,
cremate the living flesh.
Served upon a dinner place,
the stench today is fresh.

Onward Christian children,
march to the cold store.
Wield the axe of jesus,
Thirsty as before.

Scythe the flesh of human,
or carve up an animal's life.
Destroy the myth of phallus,
just stab them with a knife.

Crumbling gluttonous fools,
never realize how.
Shake the hand of death,
this hand that bites you now

We want to eat the masters.
show them what it's like.
We have to give resistance,
our life must be a fight.


'The Fix'


No need for a screen,
just pump into the brain.
No need for different channels,
it's all the same.
No need for opinions,
tell them what to say.
No need for withdrawal,
pump it out all day.
We are the race of the media fix.


'Wrong Word'


In the evening air prey the silver wings.
To the men in the silos the stale air rings.
Lights are green and the code-word's 'go'.
It's five to midnight, the time goes slow.
At four the doomsday kneecap flies
and the red aggressors' ultimatum dies.
A solar scar tears the cerulean sky
and not even time for a pointless 'why?'.
Two minutemen fly unleashed to the sky.
The sequence ends, now only time
and distance keeps, but not for long
to preserve a life which soon is gone.
Your time is up.
Desolation, destruction, doom.
Vaporized ash sits in blinded rooms.
Human freedom gone forever.
With the shit politicians who promised never.
Life gives the unique chance
to affect the changes you feel we need.
So take this sole opportunity
and eliminate this greed.
The morning sun breaks the cloudless sky
in a faraway land, warmongers shouted the cry.
A town awaits, another day begins.
Unaware of the war no one can win.
We're all ignorant to the power of those.
They make decisions we don't even know.
We are led by fools, and like fools we are led.
Fools who never listened to the words that were said.
Warning flash onto your TV screen
in another language, we don't know what it means.
Intellectuals theorize and women protest.
The curtain is drawn on the east and the west.
A wrong word said, a bad move made.
The end of us all, but we'll be saved.
War games become reality.
If you're looking for blame, then it's you and me.
The wrong word was said.


''Free"


You're hiding from the real world
that rules your everyday.
Sitting by a TV screen
while your world just wears away!
Another shocking picture comes on your TV screen.
You just try and turn away
from the things you hate to see.
You go into the kitchen to make yourself a meal.
Thinking about those awful things that happen on TV.
Violence, rape and slaughter, starving on the streets.
These people who are suffering
are just like you and me!


"The Blood is on your Hands"


We torture, discriminate and hate.
Use, abuse and dictate.
Your ignorance is the bliss on which it's fed.
With a plan so structured we'll all end up dead.

The blood is on your hands.
THE BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!

Depression exists outside the public eye.
Behind closed doors innocent people cry.
The word of the minority keeps a nation in fear
and the crushing jackboots to an orphan's tear.

The blood is on your hands.
THE BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!

We torture, discriminate and hate.

Use, abuse and dictate.

Your ignorance is the bliss on which it's fed.

With a plan so structured we'll all end up dead.

The people in chains we choose to ignore.

The horrors we condone in the name of war.

Tortured faces, hands grasping the air.

While we stay silent but for the few who care

The blood is on your hands 

THE BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!

A people guilty of the crime of thought.

Creating martyrs for the ones who fought.

Your ignorance is the bliss on which it's fed.

With a plan so structure we'll all end up dead.

The blood is on your hands.

THE BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!

"Old is Sad"

Today I saw lonely old lives, determined by habit.

Their families outgrown their need,

dependent on a welfare state.

Communities giving so little, yet taking so much.

Pride ground into dust appears on the shelf.

Stored amongst the cobwebs.

Clutter and remains a latter day.

Friends lost, mumbled names.

Homeless some, vagrant.

These disillusioned souls, waiting for death.

"It's got to be Stopped"

Fed lies and lies and lies and lies, that rule our

lives.

From the men at the top, it's got to be stopped.

Pumps out packages, neatly shrink-wrapped.

Pumps out lies and tricks and tricks and tricks.

From the meat on your plate to the shops in the

street.

From the shit that you sell to the shit that you

eat.

Soon to come Downloads:
(There's way too much music to upload for them, so I'll only upload the most important tapes and records)

Demo 1983
http://www.box.net/shared/ytp5yg7a6lvecc3mx68q
The Blood is on your Hands 1984 Bluurg
http://www.box.net/shared/iszjtir4b24ir31gf746
Nobody Listens Anymore 1985 Bluurg
http://www.box.net/shared/ju1afbcsf5060cjor0sb
Phoenix L.P. 1986 Bluurg
http://www.box.net/shared/nnvxkzu8u388iac26ftc
Shock Gun 1988
http://www.box.net/shared/mh7dcjzccynyufp3sq7r

Andy T.

Photo from Al Hicky.

     Andy T. was known for being one of the few anarchist solo artists that was also a poet. Andrew Thorley took the idea of punk that 'anyone can do it' and carried on as a solo performer, regardless of what people thought of him. However, he had a bit of history musically before he was called Andy T.

     In 1977, he formed Reputations In Jeopardy with him doing vocals, Chris on bass, Siobhan on guitar, Jane on drums and later on Chris 'The Joiner' on second guitar.As time went by, the girls left and they had John Mayer from The Buzzcocks play the drums. This was the line-up that recorded the track 'Girls love Popstars' in the first Bullshit Detector album.

     By that time, Andy T decided to continue on his own, so two more of the tracks were of him alone. A fourth tracks was also Andy T. as 'Fuck the CIA'. Now Andy had met Crass and they became interested enough in his style to help him release a single on Crass Records

     During the end of 1982, Andy T. released his 'Weary of the Flesh' single on Crass records and it didn't make it to the charts, but that wasn't the point. There is also a picture inside the sleeve revealing three people wearing animal masks slaughtering each other(Phil Free, Steve Ignorant and Annie Anxiety). Andy managed to then play several gigs with bands such as Crass, The System, Dirt and Flux of pink Indians, and often times those bands drummers would back up Andy while he recited his poetry(he also had these tapes that would play weird sounds).

     There was talk of an L.P. coming out after the single, but it was never finished because sometime around 1983, Andy gave up performing after becoming overwhelmed with idiots in the scene, his kids and working. However, Andy T. began performing recently and still continues to gig today.

"Get That Addict Habit"


While the papers talk of hippies using dope and L.S.D./ There's a far more dangerous
dealer and he's got a P.H.D./ He's writing out prescriptions to cure all kinds of ills
His answer to all life's problems is in a little jar of pills/ His addicted patients
stagger like zombies for another fix/ Doctor death obliges with his little black
bag of tricks/ When the pressure is too great and you just can't seem to cope/
Let the doctor blow your mind cos not only hippies take dope.


"No Freedom In Escapism"


Where's the revolution when you're too stoned to stand/ How do you pose a threat/
To the military plan/ When the mind numbing substance/ Takes a hold on your
activity/ You so called peace is just selfish escapism/ Drowning in apathy/
Show me the freedom you possess/ The freedom to vegetate ...To die/ While
the preparation for war builds up/ You swallow your own lies ..


".... Or Worse:"


Product of their stagnant sex life/ Strangled by their loving touch/ Molded
by their selfish dreams/ Twisted by their lack of trust/ Torn apart by Petty
quarrels/ Forced to choose between their lies/ Craving for their pound of
flesh/ burning hatred in their eyes/ created by their loveless act/ To
satisfy their greedy minds/ Repeating all the part mistakes/ Safely walking
expected lines/ Hiding their natural feelings/ For fear of retribution/
Becoming another faceless corpse/ In the family institution.


"Freshly Skinned"


A hundred bodies wrapped in leather/ A hundred accessories to cold blooded murder
No screams of pain no carcass at your feet/ Just a piece of clothing to
satisfy your needs/ You wear with pride an animals skin/ Warm living flesh
now decent and clean/ Is it so essential when alternatives exist/ Will
your traditional uniform be so badly missed/ Would you wear the skin of a
dead relation?/ Would you carve up the corpse of your own mother/ All
life is equally precious/ But you'd rather see animals suffer/ What makes you
so high and mighty/ That you can kill for the sake of a coat/ How would you feel
if the butchers knife was slicing through your throat?


"And the Bands played on"


People are suffering in silence/ Their plight is being ignored/ They're trapped
in the isolation/ Of their own private war/ The rebels are forgetting the problems/
Too busy searching for farm/ Nursing inflated egos/ And waiting to jump on the train/
There's a war in the high street/ But no one counts the dead/ There's a war in a foreign
land/ Worldwide the hatred spreads/ On the stage the hero stands/ His body
mutilated by war/ next to him the rebel sings/ the same old crap as before/
The business men are building/ Bigger and better bombs/ the world dies before
our eyes/ and the band played on.


"Death is Big Business"


You buy the hit record with a message of piece/ The big record company has
money in the arms trade/ The five big corporations sell money to the world/
Sell weapons to the world/ They make money from the records/ They make money
from the blood/ Thousands slaughtered by company bombs/ Thousands brainwashed
by company lies/ Ask the mercenary who pays his wages/ The big business kills
and they rake in the cash, all our cash/ The pretty picture on the L.P.
sleeve can't hide the smell of blood and guts/ The entrails of a child in the
war/ Read between the lines on the lyric sheet/ The people who buy are just
pieces of meat/ Pieces of meat on a battle field/ Massacre of innocent
people financed by your favorite record label any big big record label you'd
like to chose/ You finance the slaughter with blind unseeing eyes/ You
finance the death willingly with blind unseeing eyes/ Big business kills
your senses murders you with lies... the record company lies!!


"Techno Cock Up"


Got up in the morning on the wrong side of bed/ The four minute warning
still ringing in my head/ A false alarm or so the papers wrote/ The panic
in the city sticks in my throat/ How near did we get to the ultimate end?/
How many suicides and frightened friends?/ How much longer before the next
mistake?/ How much more can the people take?/ The computer screwed up the
fortunate fled/ Far away and left the world for dead/ New technology
governing life and death/ The world waits with batted breath/ Another cock up
they think is real/ is all we need our fate is sealed/ So next time you hear
the four minute warning stay in bed and kiss goodbye to the morning.


"Morbid fascination"


"Someone got run over today just outside the school/ Should've looked where
he was going/ Stupid little fool"/ It's the news on everyone's lips/ The
gory details spread all around/ they wish they could see forever the dead
boy on the ground/ Then one week later it's just a memory/ But not for the
victims loved ones/ They suffer the agony/ The morbid fascination that
brightens up our lives/ disappears until another day/ When the next road
accident dies/ "Standing by the roadside/ Why do you stare?/ Is it the
excitement?/ Or do you really care?


"Weary of The Flesh"


You disguise the truth with pretty names/ A living thing is now a joint of
beef/ You shift the blame but you cant hide/ Your sickly smile your blood
stained teeth/ You are the butcher not the man in the shop/ But you haven't
got the guts to kill your meal/ If you saw the pain it would make you sick/
Just think how the animals feel ... Just think how the animals feel ! !


"Wasted Life"


I'm numbing my senses pumping shit in my veins/ My heads so full of glue/
I ain't left with much brains/ I'm too much of a coward to try and slash my
wrists/ So I kill myself slowly/ getting stoned and pissed/ I can't face
reality in this god awful place/ But I'll end a wasted life with a smile
on my face.


"What about the Old?"


Living in fear of tomorrow/ Another day another lonely life/ Out of touch with the
outside/ Waiting for something waiting to die/ Thinking about being young again/
The same old dream gone stale/ Now all that's left is memories/ As all around turns
pale/ A knock on the door a gang of youths/ Got any money give it here quick/
Can't understand what's going on / A kick in the stomach the world looks sick/ On
the floor hearing no sound/ Slipping away it won't be very long/ Tomorrows
headlines an epitaph/ So that's what it's like to be young.


"Bloody Money"


The board of directors demand a murder/ Attention catching headlines to sell their
papers/ A war, a crisis/ a death in the royal family/ they butter their bread with
someone else's misery/ Behind leather top desks they gloat over pain/ Suicide,
genocide, just more personal gain/ Sordid exitement on the printed page/ Juicy
destruction the readers crave/ Typewriter on overtime as a president dies/
Cos bad news is spelt M.O.N.E.Y.


"Chamber of Horrors"


The rouge on your cheeks is the blood of innocent creatures/ Your mascara is
charred flesh burnt to enhance your features/ Your lipstick is a severed limb
removed by the scientists knife/ Your beauty is the worst kind of ugliness
that destroys an animals life/ In the lab on a marble slab it's epitaph for
all to read/ "I gave my life for your pretty face that you so desperately
need".


"Phallic Metallic"


In his hands he holds his power, his prick, his doomsday machine/ To rape the
flesh of womankind, to burn the flesh of mankind/ The tool of mans sexual
violence, the tool of mans ultimate violence/ domestic war, total war,
domestic destruction, total destruction/ Who's got the biggest bomb? Who's
got the biggest prick? / Who will tear the biggest holes ? Who will inflict
the greatest pain ? / One life ! to live, or to destroy! One earth, One
space, one choice! / A place to cherish, or an eternal grave / It's
about time we made the choice.


"Gold Mines / Cold Mines"


Miners dig deep into the beautiful earth/ Natural rocks and minerals are
plundered for their worth/ In rich men's safes secure and well hidden/
While poor workers mine the wealth they're forbidden / For precious
stones you'd sell your soul/ Your dreams are lined with silver and gold/
But all I crave is a lump of coal/ To light up my life and warm my home/
You treasure possessions and forget the things/ That can never be bought
with bracelets and rings/ Like the air you breathe the ground on which you
walk / the real beauty about which you never talk.


"Blood Stained Glass"


In the high street the Butchers shop window is crammed with meat/ Exposed
flesh hung in horrible rows waiting to be consumed/ Pigs, sheep, cattle
poultry all innocent in their nakedness/ Butchers apron stained with the
of many cruel murders. abattoir death smells stale in the midsummer heat/
So sticky/ Mother chooses the Sunday roast carefully, dinner for the
family/ Cattle in the farmers field know nothing of the racks of leather
the high street boutique with its belts jackets and handbags / Cattle
truck rolls slowly down the country lane so dark and ordinary / Rules
forbid them to drive down country lanes, might frighten the cargo /
Little Susie pushes the steak away she doesn't like the taste/ Eat it up
there are people who would be glad of that says mummy / Little Susie forces
forces the chewy meat down so as to please mummy / In the high street
The butchers shop window is crammed with death/ Dewhurst the master butcher
rubs his greasy palms together with glee/ No blood on his hands no guilt
in his eyes no mercy in his abattoir / Adolf Hitler was a butcher but
dewhurst is the master of the trade / Genuine one hundred percent real fur
perfect for the high class lady/ Products of death in the market place
a traditional slaughter house/ In the interests of hygiene the inspector checks
the bloodbath arena / Pretty packages of corps in the supermarket store,
Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys / Vietnam memories revived for the family dining
Room, beef from Cambodia . Steak and kidney pie, Kidney disease heart
disease, sinews stretched to cut / Sharp butchers knife swings down to
sever the head of a fattened calf / Christmas turkey on the table, twenty
million every year are slaughtered / Rare steak blood still oozing out
onto the blue willow Chinese patterned plate / In the high street the
butchers shop window is crammed with your morality.


"Sexuality"


All the other girls at school / Had boyfriends in their life/ But Suzi
never played the part of mother whore and wife/ People didn't want to
know her / They couldn't understand / Why Suzi wasn't interested / In the
life her parents planned / The dolls she never played with / The clothes
she never liked/ Possessions of tradition / Mum and dad considered right /
They took her to the teacher / They took her to the shrink / The social
workers circus / Didn't know what to think / breaking down the Boundaries /
of normal sexuality / Striving only to be free/ But they're questioning her
sanity / Underneath the pressure / She eventually snapped / Desperate to
escape the world / And all it's crap / Suicide, an unhappy end / Society
sheds no tears / No right to choose / only there rules to fear.


"False Friends Flock"


They never visited him in the hospital/ Too busy to show concern / But now he's
a death in the family / The worms quickly turn / Sadness on their plastic
faces / Tears forced from ugly eyes / their conscience forbids them sleep
reminds them of their lies / These vultures flock to pick the bones / To
devour material possessions / Then crawl back under their stones / Till
The next funeral procession..


"Tunnel vision Sect"

It's a terminal addiction, twentieth century affliction / A brainwash machine, a
controllers dream / Family entertainment, portable propaganda / Conversation killer
square eyes never wander / Hidden messages, information seepage / Closed circuit,
technicolor cabbage / State approved, publicity scheme / clever subtle, two way
screen / Religiously watching, whats been allowed / Censorship committee, cater
 for the crows / No subversion, enters a program / Unless ridiculed, put on a
stand / Mass prescribed drug taken with pleasure / Ignorant public drown at their
leisure / Creates greed, with glossy advertising / Like lambs to the slaughter,
Slowly dying / Materialistic lifestyle,devoid of compassion / Money makes
misery, capitalist oppression / Nationwide reception, worldwide division / Cultural
lobotomy, electrical incision / Dull acceptance, no self respect,/ Subconscious
orders, destroy all intellect / Tunnel visionaries, truth can't get through /
Watch the goggle box or is it watching you ?


"Food For thought"


The roast is on the table, It's daddy's turn to carve / Obsessive overheating,
while half the world starve,/ Food is in plentiful supply, so we eat more than
our share / the poor could live on our leftovers, but we don't seem to care /
A large percentage of what we eat, is useless, man made chemicals / White
flour, sugar, sweets and cakes, are poisonous to animals . Mental and psychical
diseases, can be caused by what we consume / Your body needs looking after,
it's mechanism is finely tuned,/ Millions die from malnutrition, in far away
parts of the Earth / While we suffer from ill health, caused by gluttony right
from birth / The world hunger problem, is is created by our selfish existence /
Our overfed minds , refuse to hear the pleas for assistance / As the tiny
starving infant, gasps his last feeble breath / The fat city business man
on his steak he chokes to death.


"Self Crucifixion"


I want to cry real tears / To show my hopes and fears / To let loose my emotions /
Without the bitter taste of guilt / In which this life is built / To let free
my true feelings / to love without chains / o share my inner pain / To
experience real freedom.


"Innocent Threat"


This box has six square sides / I've been here all my life / Staring through
the opening / At the world passing by / I'd like to venture elsewhere / But
I see no point in moving / My food and drink are provided / And the bright
lights are quite soothing / I feel no pain my senses are numbed / What they fail
to understand / Is safely locked away.


"P.C. Plod"


The boys in blue are out again / Getting paid for inflicting pain / Panda car creeps
slowly round / Four men inside make no sound / Another raid is on the cards / Routine
work for Scotland yord / Squatters are the target tonight / they're always good for
a fight / No trouble To bash a few heads / Chief inspector hates the reds / Prejudice
down at the station / Knows nothing of race relations / Black, yellow, red, all the same /
Afraid / Drugs are the best excuse / For the police to blow a fuse / Too spaced out
To try and fight back / Easy pickings for a surprise attack / Mark them with a size
ten boot / Teach them what life's about / If they step outside the law / They'll wish
They'd never been born / radio message livens up the night / a group of blacks have
started a fight / Panda car roars into action / the time is nigh for satisfaction /
Helmets on to protect the face / The black van is on it's way / Six are arrested
thrown in the back / The cells will be full of meat tonight / Let's hope no one knows
their rights / Empty all your pockets lets see what you've got / You look the type
that likes smoking pot / It's been a good night for P.C. plod / He will smash a few
before knocking off / Careful not to bruise their poor little flesh / If the judges
found out it could be a mess / They know it happens but there's no proof / If you fight
the police your bound to lose / They get away with cold bloodied murder / In the name
of law and order / A uniform protects the killer inside / Gives the sadist a place to hide
raid the gay clubs where so called perversion breeds / But never interfere with
middle class needs / Football hooligans need to be stopped / But we'll have to use
every sadist we've got / The riot squads ready for the minorities / Their job is
to clean up society / Any blemish needs to be wiped out / Can't have subversives
walking around / The boys in blue certainly know their job / Let's have three
cheers to P.C. Plod.


"Mans Life"


Five years in the army then end up on the dole / Ben to northern Ireland think you
know it all / Seen the blood and guts strung across the street seen the faceless
enemy another piece of dead meat / Fighting for a country that doesn't really care /
Searching for a future that isn't really their / Proud to wear a uniform pride like
that can kill / Looking for the glory that's the ultimate thrill / Travel to far off
places fight other countries wars / Try to end the battles that politicians cause /
Return home to find no heroes welcome, no thanks / Risk life and limb against enemy
guns and tanks / for God, the same God the enemy knew as theirs, / For queen, The
figurehead too false to even care/ For country, to which no one really belongs /
For whatever reason wars will always be wrong / armies are used to protect the countries
masses / To protect the privileges of the ruling classes / The glory of war is a lie
and a mythical con / There is no glory in death war can never be won / heroes don't
exist ask any widow of world war two / Don't join the ranks of the dead / Or the
dead will laugh at you.


"Desire For Life"


Why must we compete / With everyone we meet ? / What's so strange about sharing ?/
Whats so wrong about caring ?/ I don't want to fight you / I don't want to Fuck
you / I have no need no desire for hate / Why is it so hard / To communicate ??


"Family joy"


Daughters found her man at last, but things are different from the past / Marriage
does not interest them, they say they are more than friends / They can see through
their parents lies they want to be free to live their lives / Not bound together
by legal regulations, not forced together by old fashioned relations / Don't
believe in bits of paper, mutual trust is so much safer / Never been to church since
birth to them religion has no worth / To wed in church is a contradiction full
of all the usual restrictions / Two people are easier to control if they can be
treated as a whole / Family life is supposed to be great but it's a breeding
ground for hate / Oppression starts off in the home the seeds of a society
are sown / Father is always the big boss treats mummy AA dead loss / Man beats
woman child stats to cry he doesn't understand why his parents fight / But
if they do it it must be okay they must be showing him how to behave / So the
child has learnt to fight and he believes violence is right / Another
generation worse than the last, don't blame them blame the past / Christened
in church right from the start is it tradition or a feeling from the heart /
Baby grows up with Jesus Christ taught that hos was the perfect life / Never
knows that he's being conditioned being prepared for a higher position / He
won't be chained to a production line, Won't have to follow leaders all his
life / The Church will teach him how to behave, how to treat people as his
slaves / Now he has the power to start a war, to protect the possessions
he lives for / Money is that cause of all sadness, created by the boss
man madness / The people blindly follow his instructions they start a massive
war production / The bomb for the capitalist society kills people but don't
damage property / Wonderful inventions of death and blood cannot be used for
anything good / a deter ant they may be for a while but always they dominate
our lives / All around we see our fate in the mirror it is only we who can
refuse to be killers.


"Vivisection"


In the second world war the Nazis / Performed experiments on the Jews /
With the progress of medical science / They've found a different species
to use / The scapegoats of today's mad scientists / are monkeys, Mice
dogs and rabbits / Their bodies are poisoned with deadly chemicals /
To test man kinds bad habits / No anesthetic is given to relieve the
suffering death is the only escape from the pain / Force fed
substances like bleach and alcohol / Cruelly tortured for financial
gain / In secret laboratories with government aid / Millions of
innocent creatures die / for all this we are non the wiser / But
we choose not to hear when the poor buggers cry / No ones allowed
access to inspect the tests / A blanket of lies cover up the truth /
The authorities argue their games are humane but they never produce the
proof / This countries leaders condone the slaughter / What else will
they choose to allow / Tomorrow's mice will be human beings we must
fight for the animals.


"Ode To Stupidity"


Brainless Bailiffs with pick ax handles / Enter uninvited at the councils
request / Forced eviction of homeless families / With bricks, facilities are
lovingly caressed / Potential homes, now empty shells / Broken monuments to
needless poverty / Destroyed by heartless greedy men / Who sacrifice people /
For sake of property / Children die unnoticed by the public / As the smiling
councilor canvasses votes / Hopeless policies create pointless deaths /
Another desperate mother, writes a suicide note / We continue to tolerate
selfish stupidity/ On behalf of a twisted local authority / Who see no
further than the next election / It's time ti demand their resignation.


"Frozen North"


The windows cracked and broken / The Chimney stacks have fallen / Premature
demolition / Brought on by the recession / Blank faces, cold and staring /
into space, no longer caring / Minds tortured by the memory / Of a once
prosperous factory / Lives shattered in a second / As the hopeless dole
queue beckoned / Now they face the harsh reality / Of mass forced redudundancy
expressions void of feeling / As many mouths need feeding / But pantry's now
lie empty / When once they held plenty / They see no brighter days ahead /
Drained of reason, the living dead / The market was swamped by cheaper goods /
Loss in profits meant fewer jobs / The textile firms could survive no more /
They bade farewell to the frozen north / The noisy looms now make no sound /
A silent heartbeat of a crippled town.


"Progressive Destruction"


They're screwing up the weather with their scientific tests / Satellites
and rockets, from both east and west / The worlds climate is disrupted,
by the freak conditions / We are thrown into confusion, by their nature
controlling visions / The worlds wealth is squandered, in their quest to
conquer space / They've raped the planet Earth, so they search for another
place / They've plundered our natural resources. bled them dry/ Now the
power mad scientists, want to start on the sky/ We are destroying Earths
protective layers, with aerosol sprays / polluting the atmosphere , with
chemical waste / They spend vast amounts of money , putting men on the
moon / But what if all those pictures ., were taken in a disguised room/
Made to look like a distant planets surface, for our benefit / To hide the
real reason, for journeys into space, from the public, / Spies in the sky,
armed to the teeth / Under the guise of exploration, their weaponry is
complete / Secretly built, poised ready to descend / Undetected by radar
Until the bitter end / They plot the scheme in their mansions, behind
our backs / playing with the world, and never disclosing the facts /
We have only one life, and only one Earth to live it in / We have the
choice, enjoy it or destroy it, .... Decide what you want.


"State Indoctrination"


In the playground the little children scream / Trapped in the pain of a
recurring bad dream / the conditioning process is a very subtle ploy/
To whitewash the minds of every girl and boy / Christian morals are forced
down children's throats / The twisted straight and narrow path, a steep
immoral slope/ Lined with the battered bodies of many blind believers / Torn
apart by the blatant lies of the family sickness / The teacher preaches
hatred, punishment, and fear / Ready to denounce true compassion wherever
it may appear / Props are provided to keep the eager occupied / Toys,
games, and books, weapons of mental genocide/ The preparation for motherhood
begins with plastic babies / They're taught to think,and look and act, like
perfect little ladies / Manhood is associated with strength and leadership/
Ability to take command of any relationship / They're taught to use their bodies to achieve their aims / To be submissive or aggressive and never
use their brains / the education system creates pre programmed puppets/
Who'll never question their desire for greed and profit / The vicious
circle keeps on turning with every child born / Generation after generation
sticking firmly to the norm / without the indoctrination a child's mind can
be pure / The realization of the problem is the first part of the cure.


"Dirty Squatters"


Male and female young and old / Thousand locked out in the cold / Thousands of
homeless walk the streets / Nowhere to go no food to eat / Can't afford high
council rates / Long housing lists aren't worth the wait / All we want is the
right to squat / Free from the threat of eviction / The right to live in
derelict houses free from police restriction / Loads of houses all over
town / All you do is knock them down / You don't think of people sleeping in
a ditch / You only bother about the fortunate rich / You'll take notice of
squatters someday / Cos whatever you think we we won't go away!


"Tiny Revolutions"


Police can't control the situation / Safety in numbers is no solution / The
people retaliate with mindless violence / It seems the only way to make them
see sense / But it don't achieve nothing but a bloody face the M.P.S. are
convinced it's all to do with race / It''s a lot of things all rolled into
one / this countries sitting in a loaded bomb / Coppers are getting to big
for their boots / Inciting the youth raid and loot / They've taken too much for far
too long / It's easy to see both sides are wrong / No one can see no answer at all /
They're banging their heads against a solid brick wall / Discussions conferences
just a load of talk / It don't make our streets safe to walk/ We can't live in peace
there has to be fighting / So the tension and the heat make life o frightening /
Somebody's got to put a stop to this madness / We're creating this misery with our
own blindness / Do you want to leave your kids peace and quiet ? / Or do you
want them to be killed in a riot ? ?


"Tomorrow"


I had a dream of tomorrow / I dreamed there would be peace / People living
together as one / I dreamed that wars would cease / I had a dream of tomorrow /
Of flowers, birds and trees / Of life as nature intended / With everything set free /
I had a dream of tomorrow / I wish the world could see / I wish it could be
tomorrow / For today there is no peace.


"Big Boys"


It's not organised violence / It's not racial hate / It's just a bunch of idiots/
Following their big mates / They don't like the band so they smash up the gig /
If they spoil it for everyone it makes them feel big / The press just love it /
They only print bad news / They don't wanna know a good gig / Don't wanna hear
our views / But we won't let them spoil it/ We won't give them a fight/ We will
win cos we believe to live in peace is right.


"Exploitation"


Girl on page three got nothing to hide / Hard cash for soft porn she forgets her
pride / Sex starved maniac don't have to look far / For his needs he buys the sun
or the star / daily rapist works with eyes not tools . If you think it goes no
further you're being fooled / This sort of crap breeds lunatics / Does your husband
think with his prick? / Everyday bloke don't have to be the ripper / The geezer
next to you could be your killer / Pornography cheapens women / I know I'm a bloke
But I try to understand / Women Ain't a tool for services to man /

FIGHT BACK!

FIGHT BACK!

FIGHT BACK!


Soon to come downloads:

Bullshit Detector 1 tracks(four tracks using three different band names)
http://www.box.net/shared/ftldvpo7ln4tkm4g6ovo
Weary of the Flesh 1982 Crass Records
http://www.box.net/shared/xyfu073c76i3kdm58ra6
Live at the 62 Club, Aberdeen 14/04/83
http://www.box.net/shared/qxrbpponcnsymr0379fh
Live at Old Queens Head, Stockwell, London SW9 14/08/83
http://www.box.net/shared/h0cju083ybcmi9t8y0sa
Live Unknown date and location 198X(Only two tracks)
http://www.box.net/shared/e5skzgz2z27xtksqpp3g

Flowers in the Dustbin

     Flowers in the Dustbin were very different and not as fast as the other anarchist punk bands, but they were still regarded as a big part of the scene. In the beginning, they were called The Anabollic (Sic) Steroids, and were around from 1980 to 1982 because their vocalist Gerard Evans became tired of the usual fast, barre chords, screaming side of punk and wanted to do something completely different. That was when Flowers in the Dustbin were born(after around ten lineup changes), and they were Gerard Evans on vocals, Charlie 'Chas' Loft on bass, Joanne Mead on drums and Samantha 'Noname' on drums.

     They played their debut gig that same year at the Lee Centre in South London. Their two female members left immediately after the show because their vocalist Gerard had been cutting himself pretty badly on stage while they were playing.

     Soon enough a demo was recorded titled 'Always Another Door' with just Gerard and Chas switching instruments in the studio(Chas did guitars and bass, Gerard did vocals and drums). At this point they became involved with the Kill Your Pet Puppy collective and where stuck between the anarchist punk bands and the goth anarchist bands. They regarded themselves in the same kind of field as The Mob, Rubella Ballet and Poison Girls. Several gigs where played, and some big ones were turned down because the band didn't believe in playing shows that were expensive for the audience to go to.

          In 1984, the band came to a stable line-up with guitarist Simon Barry and drummer Bill Mahoney from the band London's Fear. The Mob quickly approached them and helped them release a 12" record on their own All the Madmen label. It was called 'Freaks Run Wild at the Disco' and it was very different from the majority of punk that was being released at the time. Afterwards, the band got in contact with Rob from Faction and he also helped the band release a tape on his 96 Tapes label.

     'All the Best People are Perverts' became the name of that tape, and it was released in 1985. It was followed by another single titled 'Nails of The Heart' which was released on Conflict's Mortarhate label since at the time All The Madmen was having financial problems. A copy was sent to John Peel to play on his show. It contained some of the bands best work(some tracks were live and others were studio).

     Shortly after, guitarist Simon was replaced by Antje Klaehn after Si decided to bail out to pursue college, and John Howells was also added on keyboards.

     This would be the line-up to write and release the 'Lick My Crazy Colors' single. Their new guitarist had a much more softer sound so the band's sound evolved into something even more passive and bizarre. Several more gigs were played, and this was when Flowers in The Dustbin where at their best.

     Lots of material was recorded for an album meant for Cold Harbour Records from Brixton, but the label ended going going bankrupt and the album was ultimately lost(November's Song was one of the tracks). Now Flowers in The Dustbin had left the 'Anarcho Scene' and were on a separate road towards something different.

 
    Around 1986, the scene around them had lost, and no one really knew what to do besides bail out. The band had removed itself from that so they tried to continue, but Chas and Bill got into a really bad fight where Gerard had to try and split them, but he ended up getting his leg broken in the process(it was so bad he almost lost his ability to walk). That sparked the beginning of the end, and the band felt unsure as to where they should go or what should be done next. Fortunately, enough material was recorded for an L.P, but the band split prematurely before it could be finalized, thus it became the 'Lost L.P'(Ko).

      If the curious reader wishes to watch a small glimpse of these Flowers, some kind man or woman was uploaded some live videos of this magnificent band from out of the dustbin(pathetic attempt to be funny):

"Is it Real?" performed live in 1987

Music video(surprisingly enough, I never thought something like this would still exist) for 'Like my Crazy Colors"

"Is it Real?"

The man on the TV is strong in mind, inhumanly kind
He never feels lust
I didn’t see because I didn’t want to
See you walking away with my trust
Thats why sometimes love films tear me up
Sometimes they remind me of you
For those sweet short weeks I thought I was falling in love
Well that’s still true…

You’re not supposed to ask but just ask him
Why does it hurt?

You sold me a beautiful dream
And I bought it without hesitation
I fell in love with your innocence, I just dived in
Without contemplation
I don’t think you ever really loved me
Now it cuts me up thinking of you
They say that time is the healer and time will heal love
Now I know that’s not true

You’re not supposed to ask but just ask him, but ask him, break him, find out
Why does it hurt?

The following are explanations Gerard Evans gave for some of the band's songs:


"Stuck on a Stick"

     A subconscious rebellion against the Greek inspired concept of logic,and all the tragedies it has left in its wake. Alice in Wonderland, with it's childlike take on psychedelia, seemed a good metaphor to present anti-capitalist balls of childlike confusion and defiance, without dogmatic certainties. The only dogma was no dogma. The 'Hey Alice...' spoken middle eight was a more straightforward CV for a potential girlfriend. It didn't work. I'm still stuck, still stuck on a stick. Live out your dreams, don't dream out your life. Don't dream it, be it, as someone once wisely advised, whilst wearing stockings.


"Pocketful of Gold"


     Inspired b meeting an old Irish guy in a pub by Waterloo station, on the way to see Rubella Ballet play in Feltham. His mixture of sympathy for us devils and condescension about how we'd grow up and give in sparked the song. It also sparked a determination within me that I'd prove him (and maybe my dad, who he was maybe symbolic of) wrong. I could be wrong, but I could be right... Quite dogmatic, looking back in irony.


"True Courage"


     Ironically (or maybe not), the nearest we came to a straightforward anarcho-punk lyric was musically the most far away from the anarcho-standards... as much of a trade-off as we ever made. True courage is the courage it takes to say no... one fingered piano from Chas in both senses of the words. I'm 43 now and I still think NO is the most beautiful word in the English language. As lonf as I'm saying it and not hearing it of course.


"Aim for the Sky"


     All my teenage insecurities in one easy-to-swallow package! The chorus was a direct lift from 'Don't laugh at me cos I'm a fool', from an old Norman Wisdom film. The idea was to challenge the audience rather than entertain them. It worked: our audiences were never that big. I cringe when I hear this now - but I'm glad if it makes others cringe too.


"The Journey's End"


     Chas's take on the same theme as above - teenage angst, suitably married to a Joy Division inspired bassline, and lyrics by someone who'd clearly enjoyed a better education than me (Chas was influenced by Wilfred Owen, who I'd never heard of. But Wilfred Owen was educated in Brikenhead, where I was born - circles and roundabouts). Claire turned it into colour and gave it love.


"Last Tango in Vietnam"


     Inspired by a dream - the sort you have asleep - about a friend dancing on a nuclear weapon, which may in turn have been inspired by the film Dr Strangelove. A journalist (now a friend) described this as 'metaphysical', which had me scurrying for the dictionary. I often had nightmares about the nuclear holocaust and still occasionally do - wild, huh? Dancing in a third-world-war-torn country...


"Vethixo Disco"


     Adam Ant )particularly in his punk years) had 'Antmusic', in an attempt to throw off the shackles of genre-labels. We had 'Vethixo Music' for the same reason. I always loved the idea of punk rock discos, where punks could dance without the macho testosterone moshing that went on at gigs. In this respect, an attempt at finding non-macho likewise heads. Or maybe subconsciously referencing the early days of punks in gay discos because there was nowhere else yet. The time has come to illustrate our freedom...


"Temples"


     From our first ever demo, with Gerard on drums and vocals and Chas on bass and guitar. A pure pure song about the right to cross-dress. Not that we ever got round to actually doing it. Warning:contains a double-entendre of a childish and biological nature. Freedom of feeling, the feelings appealing...


"Covent Garden"


The original lyric took metaphysical to the edge - 'I was walking around Covent Garden / with my head in a sling...' It got replaced by a Chas lyric decrying followers of fashion. Which I was a touch uncomfortable with when I saw the dumbed-down leaden alternatives...but a fair point at the time, as we spotted a new anarcho uniform reintroducing conservatism via clothes and the perceived desire to belong. Spikey topped tune.


"Cowboys and Indians"


Probably the best song we ever recorded. La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. First verse was anti-Thatcher (obviously?). Second verse was for a friend who hated her body. Third verse was me as Jesus Christ being crucified. All connected by the goodies / baddies simplicity of cowboys and Indians films, with flowers and co as the Indians of course.


"Nails of the Heart"


Straightforward feminist song. Burning memories just to keep warm' was originally 'burning crass t-shirts' - a slight not on Crass but on the paradox of how people bought their t-shirts despite their lyrics. Guitar solo sounds very like a Spear of Destiny song - as we pointed out to Si at the time! I hope some of the money made from this went to Animal Liberation. Stealing the lid from his eye to show him...


"All Fools Day / The Reason Why"


Chas originally sang All Fools Day whilst I played bass on it. Once I played so hard that my fingers bled - somehow it felt apt to the band and the song, so I just played harder and bled more. The reason Why came about when a fan of the band described seeing the phrase graffitied on a wall and touchingly saying somehow our band explained it to her. So I wrote the song for her in a way, heavily influenced by Patti Smith with the bass line at the end ripped off Modern English. Earth first. Don't bury me, I'm still alive...nature will stand when the concrete is torn down to he ground - tear it down.


"Novembers Song"


About a young soldier who, on seeing the carnage caused by WW1, commits suicide just as peace is declared. Every band had jumped on an anti-war bandwagon at this point (early 80s) and it was our instinct to try and go beyond their shitty cliches because we actually took it seriously. Still do.


"Outlaws in the Woods"


Visions of Errol Flynn as Robin Hood mix with walks in my local woods with straights staring at my pink hair and fantasies about a tribe of punk indians living in the woods. Which - via certain soul mates - would come true via the road protests a few years later. Oo-ee-oo!


"Lick my Crazy Colours"


Heavily influenced by very early Bowie. An attempt to inspire the spirit of the spirit that has inspired all the young dudes from the 50s through the swinging sixties up till what was then the present day and is now the distant past but could still be the future. Is there any tea in the pot? Is there any pot in the tea?


"The Continuing Tragedy of Mr Smith"


More straightforward punk rock, given a 60's punk tinge by the keyboards. A simple lashing out at the pin-striped commuters and their straight-jacketed lives - we constantly had these cunts in our face and we were the enemy within - hello thatcher. I wish we'd done more straightforward punk, but the times were just wrong. Hindsite is a luxury.


"The Web"


Pagan chant - we are the flow, we are the ebb, we are the weavers, we are the web. Says it all.


"Wouldn't that be Fine"


Written on the morning after the skint night before: of getting a dolecheque after being skint for a few days beforehand, in the tenth year of that cycle. An expression of solidarity with our fellow poor. Hope is an oasis in the desert, but is it also a mirage? Maybe one day we'll turn water into wine...wouldn't that be fine ?!


"South London"


What do you do when all your friends seem to be leaving for better lives and you're still here? You hit the bottle... and record your displeasure, wondering all the time whether this is positive creation or pathetic straw-clutching.

Only this isn't the straight biographical. I gave up on the concept of 'truth' in this song. Because when you catch up with your dreams, you realize you've exaggerated them. The rest is obvious. But, still, Braidwood Road SE6 was something back then...


"Anarchy Panky"


Made it ma! ...Finally, the technology to realize the Vethixo Disco! Rediscovering playfulness and the mood for dancing, romacing - we were giving it all that night.

Soon to come downloads:

Always Another Door Demo 1983
http://www.box.net/shared/2nhvmlbpf2v12vkc7xyq
Live at Adams Arms, London W1 – 24-11-83
http://www.box.net/shared/9kis3hsi2jqqi5zai38h

Freaks Run Wild At The Disco 1984 All The Madmen
http://www.box.net/shared/juqqa3lp1qm5nk6uobdy

Nails Of The Heart 1985 Mortarhate
http://www.box.net/shared/bqhi2f7cga8yinhuhdt6
All the Best People are Perverts 1985
http://www.box.net/shared/uz44zg2spgo08is1feqo

Live At Brighton Richmond 22nd Jan 1985
http://www.box.net/shared/09x36h7ixotcz6tvkctg
Live in Nottingham 86
http://www.box.net/shared/5iea6bscspilcfn07l1n

Lick My Crazy Colors 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/qkjrupbfop8ybkip4q7h

Live at Leeds Poly 9th December 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/8894v2anqljivpei7brj

Ko(Unreleased Album) 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/oztgq7jx9exnds7781bq
Unreleased Single 1986
http://www.box.net/shared/2uk7axq30o9mgdstgqps

Live At The Timebox, Kentish Town, London ‘87

http://www.box.net/shared/zofoqvxjkh0q1njz9uv5

Exit-Stance

"

     Exit-Stance was known for being one of the more powerful and heavier sounding 'Anarcho' bands and were also one of those 'Conflict' bands that were lucky enough to meet Conflict and have their music released by their Mortarhate label. They were from Milton Keynes and were formed in 1982 from an earlier band called 'Fuck Authority', but even before that they were known as Ethnic Minority. That bands guitarist Dave Bancroft and their vocalist Alison Wyn-de-Bank left the band to get married, and that resulted in the name change to 'Fuck Authority' and the remaining members were bassist Mark 'Jevs' Jeavons(had to move to drums after the name change), guitarist Dave Paul, and drummer Sean Finnis(moved to vocals after the name change). However, their name eventually got them into court and they had to change their name to Exit-Stance which had to do with the word 'existentialism', but they admitted that they just stole it from a Poison girls poster. At first, they were heavily influenced by The Clash, but not so much by The Sex Pistols, because they could relate to the Clash's lyrics, and only found the Sex Pistols as a 'shock band'.

     It wasn't until drummer Mark was replaced by sixteen-year-old Andy Williams that the band started to get their intense sound(Andy was more influenced by Killing Joke). Their first rehearsal room was an art room in an old rectory since they were unable to find venues or support from local bands. They decided to take matters into their own hands and recorded a small set and had their friend Tom Dallen help them go on a small tour away from their hometown to start playing. They were eventually banned from playing gigs for displaying disturbing art behind themselves on the walls(while they played) that attacked religion. They had to go back home, but quickly received a call from Colin Kerwood of Conflict, whom invited the band down to Alaska Studios to record a track for the 'Who? What? Why? When? Where?' compilation.

     They managed to record their song fast enough to record several more songs, which were ultimately released as their first E.P. titled 'Crimes Against Humanity'. The band then prepared for a U.K. tour with Conflict, but they got in a bad car accident before it started where Andy had to get taken to the hospital unconscious over someone's shoulder, and their van got taken away by police which led through a big struggle where they had to get back to Milton Keynes with no money the next day. Then, after their second van suddenly broke down, the band ended up crammed together with Colin in Conflict's van. After the tour, Andy left the band due to an illness which took the band by surprise, and was replaced by their friend Darren 'Daz' Pugh who played some shows with the band until he ditched them at a gig(Conflict's drummer 'Paco' had to fill in on drums). The band then managed to get in touch with Andy and they begged him to rejoin the band, which he agreed to do.

     Andy returned just in time to record the 'While Backs Are Turned' 12" which was released in 1986, and a tour was played with Conflict to promote it. The tour involved several gigs were they had to fight back against constant threats from skinheads and the police. Unfortunately, they became disillusioned with the scene, claiming to have gotten tired of the 'constant criticism... being judged all the time, attacked for not being perfect,... people always wondering if we were conforming to the 'anarchist rule book'! That wasn't what I got into all this for; in fact, that kind of attitude was what I wanted to change!' The band began work on the next album after their 12", but they split while their where writing the material. The band reformed in 2003, but they didn't last that long and split soon after.

"The Voiceless Now Have A Voice (Part 1)"


A fox or a minx coat made to measure
Gives credence to the murderers who hunt for pleasure
A creature scared shitless
Tormented then caught
Slaughtered by mindless cunts who call it fucking sport

The voiceless now have a voice

The voiceless now have a voice

The voiceless now have a voice

The voiceless now have a voice

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Or more usually in the eyes of a rabbit
Blinded by cosmetics, blinded by profit
Blinded by vanity, blinded by science
Have we the right to inflict such torture

Liberation not experimentation

Liberation not experimentation

Liberation not experimentation

Liberation not experimentation


"Slaughterhouse"

Victims of science; morality and violence
Victims of progress and victims of profit
You've seen the tortured, slaughtered
But still you choose to ignore it
Animals suffer and animals die
Nobody shouts but we all whisper why

Needless experiments in the name of science
Medical research is how they justify their violence
Whilst they amass prestige wealth and fame
The end result of their sadistic experiments is
Yet more death and pain

And we teach compassion, love and caring
But with torture under the guise of knowledge
These sentiments have no bearing
If we see a battered child we stand shocked and appalled
But a smoking beagle or limbless rabbit
Are too easily ignored

Animals burnt, beaten, blinded
Sadistic slaughter given no real reason
While backs are turned, bodies are burned

Knowledge is power but ignorance is bliss


"They Kill Dogs"


In the name of science, they kill dogs
Testing new detergents to cleanse our bogs
Dumb animals can't answer back,
How scientific to murder a dog or cat
All in the name of scientific progress
Innocent animals never resist
We're a nation of dog lovers or so they say
But we condemn them to suffer every fucking day
Distorting innocent animals
To cure what disease
In the name of science and progress
They justify just what they fucking please
And what have they got to show for all this pain and sorrow
Will the slaughter of the innocent make a better tomorrow

In the name of science, they kill dogs

In the name of progress, they kill dogs

In the name of humanity, they kill dogs

In your name, they kill dogs


"The Voiceless Now Have A Voice(Part 2)"


From the pasture to the small town
Where the abattoir stands
There lurks the slaughterer
And he's got blood on his hands
Off to the supermarket
Bits of animal to buy
They die
Need to say
When we ask why?
Who profits?
The farmer, the slaughterer, the butcher
The cunts

Would you eat if it you had to kill it?

Would you eat if it you had to kill it?

Would you eat if it you had to kill it?

Would you eat if it you had to kill it?


"Christian Militia"


The cross hangs foremost in your mind
Religious piety cover up the crime
Centuries of corpses piled upon the alter
In christ's name they justify the slaughter

The cross you gave as my reward
Christian militia, army of the lord
Christian militia, christ's army unite
Bible in the left hand machine gun in the right

Mine is the blood on the battlefield split
Mine is the blame, the sacrifice and guilt
You gave me a gun and a prayer
A cross and a crown of thorns to wear

I can see the marching of the christian militia
I can see the hatred in their eyes
I can see a million kneeling in prayer
I can see a million feeding off their lies

Centuries of corpses a nations loss
Centuries of corpses nailed upon thy cross
Centuries of corpses a nations loss
Centuries of corpses you nail upon your cross


"I Have No Gun(But I Can Spit!)"


Rule by fear from their ivory tower.
Rule by force from their temples of power.
Remember the empire and the stories they tell
of exploitation, slavery and how India fell.
The spirit of the empire of grand old British rule
is seen with frightening regularity in the
corridors of white hall.

Millions killed in our search for glory.
Millions slaughtered but that's another story.
Another cover up which we choose to forget.
The actors are ready, once more the stage is set.
Across the water the natives are unrestful.
Across the water on an Ireland once green.
So we sent the army not to kill or to bully,
but to keep the peace but not to go peacefully.

I have no gun but I can spit.

I wont fight for the sick profit.

I despise your empire. I deny your crown.
The boat may be sinking but I wont fucking drown.
I pledge no alliance to any flag or nation,
your sick history, your greed and exploitation

I have no gun but I can spit.
and I wont fight fight for your war profit.

Shall we re-capture India on Monday?


"The Shit still Stinks"


Morality conditioned into us from birth
Hungry for life they fed us death
They replace innocence with fear and guilt
And on our acceptance their dominance is built

The morals you gave, digs another grave
Normality, convention, words to enslave
Young minds trained, free hearts chained
On top of the deadpile the flag flies torn and stained

With the blood of centuries of others moralities
They talk of morality then let millions die
In poverty, the knowledge between right and wrong
They talk of peace then build a bomb
I want to know what the fucks going on
Their lies are easy to follow
Their banner easy to follow
Yet millions lay slaughtered
And millions more are tortured

And the shit still stinks

The shit still stinks

The shit still stinks

The shit still stinks

We swallow, we follow
Knowledge between right and wrong
Whose wrong, whose right
Eyes that are open but lacking sight
Young minds trained free hearts chained
On top of the deadpile the flag flies torn and stained

They talk of morality then let millions die
In poverty, the knowledge between right and wrong
They talk of peace then build a bomb

I want to know what the fucks going on
Their lies are easy to follow
Their banner easy to follow

Yet millions lay slaughtered
And millions more are tortured

And the shit still stinks

The shit still stinks

The shit still stinks

The shit still stinks


"Ballykelly Disco"


I bear the scars, do they show
from the night we all got legless at the ballykelly disco
drinking and dancing behind the wire mesh
a blinding flash and the smell of burning flesh
corpses stink at the ballykelly disco
dance of death at the ballykelly disco
scarred for life, where it does not show
the night i lost my mind at the ballykelly disco

Bombs in your pubs, carnage in the dark
solders blown to bits in the bloodshed at hyde park
national outrage, vengeance sought
under the guise of protection lives are easily brought
two armies face each other across the barbed wire mesh
the result - misery and the smell of burning flesh

Violence no matter, under any pretence
be it pursuit of freedom or in national defence
is a crime against humanity, a sick and violent lie
it will be part of our lives, until we give
peace and trust a try
the end never justifys the means
irish or english - we are all human beings

I bear the scars, do they show
from the night we all got legless at the ballykelly disco
drinking and dancing behind the wire mesh
a blinding flash and the smell of burning flesh
corpses stink at the ballykelly disco
dance of death at the ballykelly disco
scarred for life, where it does not show
the night i lost my mind at the ballykelly disco


"Mankinds Hand"


Toxic chemicals from mankinds hand
poison the air, poison the land
poison the sea, poison our earth
they see all around only in terms of what its worth

Mankind sees only profit, where others need
where others see beauty, big business sees greed
factories depose of waste in our lakes
destruction of the countryside
thats what the price of progress makes
housing estates where once stood fields and trees
now its TC ariels not flowers that sway in the breeze

And their shit fills the streams
and their shit fills the sky
when mankind sees room for expansion
then something must die
so they cut down the forests
our oxygen supply

Chemicals dumped by mankinds hand
in ignorance we poisoned the land
where the animals graze and the vegetables are grown
the seeds of our destruction carelessy sown
and we eat the products from the poisoned land
poisoned bodies, poisoned winds

Toxic chemicals from mankinds hand
poison the air, poison the land
poison the sea, poison our earth
they see all around only in terms of what its worth.


"Blinded By Fear"


Religious carnage for religious gain
holy inquisition or trial by flame
control of the human mind in the name of truth
look at the history books not hard to find the proof
our inheritance is on of the religious slaughter
from the holy crusades to britains war across the water
through peoples ignorance and fear
they seek to control
religious dominance the ultimate goal

Christianity has been the cause of so much hatred
through a god they exist
a god ignorance has created
your faith is blind no more than a con
to exploit peoples insecurity must be wrong

Blinded by an age old superstition
blinded by a biogted control
their buil their evil institution
on who they killed and what they stole
our inheritance is one of religious slaughter
from the holy crusades to britains war across the water
through peoples ignorance and fear
they seek to control
they built their evil institution on who they killed
and what they stole

History proves that jesus loves us all


Soon to come downloads:

Randomly assorted tracks from their first and second demo + random live tracks
http://www.box.net/shared/2b8l9630sp5ysgxulsfd
Crimes Against Humanity1984
http://www.box.net/shared/lnnyn6o7jylr07zkv8by
Live 198?
http://www.box.net/shared/rl3q9emocud8unud0rom
Live Brighton 03-15-84
http://www.box.net/shared/hk7yreapylyej7uk0tmg
Live at the ambulance station, London 1983/1984
http://www.box.net/shared/h5cuqic7nfnor1p4bucq
When Backs are Turned 1985
http://www.box.net/shared/fljrgbi4dmyplmsjba5j