Take a trip to a lost world. A world permeated by the
odour of stale tobacco and overflowing toilets; a world
where your feet stick to the carpet and the walls are
covered in peeling flock wallpaper. The Watneys Red
Barrel is warm, but the band on stage is hot. Welcome to
the world of 1970s pub rock. Groups disillusioned with
mainstream music - such as Eggs Over Easy, Brinsley
Schwarz, Kilburn and the High Roads, Joe Strummers'
101ers, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, Ducks
Deluxe and Ace - sought refuge from a musical landscape
ruled by stodgy prog rock heavyweights and fluffy glam
lightweights. The pubs provided the venues they, and a
thirsty public, needed. Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson
(the latter has given a lengthy exclusive interview for
this book) managed some of these bands before starting
Stiff Records, where they turned pub rock caterpillars
into new wave butterflies. Elvis Costello, Ian Dury,
Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Graham Parker were at the
vanguard of Stiff's revolution. Meanwhile, Dr Feelgood
and Eddie and the Hot Rods were placing Southend-on-Sea
at the centre of Britain's musical map. Here are all
their stories.With eye-witness accounts from those
involved, John Blaney explains perfectly how pub rock
started, flourished and reinvented itself as the new
wave: 'A Howlin' Wind' that blew away the cobwebs from a
moribund music scene. If you were there, you'll love
this book. If you weren't, read it and marvel at an era
where the music still mattered. |
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