The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There are whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd days of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on display shelves of record shops.

There is hundreds of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

Jarrow Lad Tony Higgins now lives in Murcia, Spain. He is author of ‘Homage to Murcia: a season of football anarchy’.

The book follows a lower league Spanish football club whilst capturing the history, politics and culture of the place that Tony now calls home.

As well as helping run an English Academy in Murcia, Tony is currently working on a new book about his families exploits in World War 1.

The book has many stories about characters from Tyneside and elsewhere, whilst tying in events that were happening in the wider world at that time. Tony tells me it’s a bit like Peaky Blinders and Catherine Cookson all rolled into one. 

(Link to book) – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Homage-Murcia-Season-Football-Anarchy-ebook/dp/B0146ZCL74 

Intrductions over, here are Tony’s 7 songs that shaped his world.

Whiteman in Hammersmith Palais – The Clash (1978) This was the first single that I ever bought. I purchased it in 1978, from a record shop in Jarrow called Records from the Past.

The shop was at the bottom of Ellison Street, next to the newsagents – come toy shop, called Freddy Furlongs.

In Furlongs you could buy Airfix soldiers and Subbuteo teams but at that time I was slowly shifting to a different type of moulded plastic, the flat pressed vinyl kind that played music.

As an impressionable eleven-year-old I had no idea what the lead singer, Joe Strummer, was singing about. It was only later in life that I would get the lyrics about Delroy Wilson, Leroy Smart and Ken Boothe.

The messages in the lyrics of this track are just incredible and still resonate today, especially the one about “if Adolf Hitler flew in today they’d send a limousine anyway”.

The artwork of the pink sleeve and smoking pistol in the middle of the disc is just something else too.

The Murder of Liddle Towers – Angelic Upstarts (1978) – Shortly after my purchase of Whiteman my search for more Punk vinyl took me to nearby South Shields and another small record shop, on Ocean Road, called Pete Edmonds Records, those in the know reckoned you could get all the new sounds there.

Anyway, this time I was in search of The Murder of Liddle Towers by local band Angelic Upstarts. The song is about the death, at the hands of the police, of a thirty-nine-year-old electrician and amateur boxing coach from County Durham, called Liddle Towers.

On the B-side is the fantastic Police Oppression, which basically told the life of a teenager growing up on the streets of Tyneside, through the eyes of the lead singer Mensi.

I also owned a Who killed Liddle badge and t-shirt and you had to be careful when wearing them as Northumbria’s finest weren’t too keen on the sentiment.

Public Image –Public Image (1978) – I was just that bit too young really to be into the Sex Pistols when they were in their prime and literally I just caught onto their shirt tails, as they imploded on that infamous last tour of the USA.

However, shortly after, The Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten, who had changed his name back to his real name John Lydon, was heading up a new band called Public Image Limited or PIL for short.

Their first single, called Public Image, is a classic and I think I may have bought it in Newcastle when it first came out. I still think it is a brilliant song and the single was originally packaged in a fake newspaper that made outrageous statements such as “Refused to Play Russian Roulette”, “No One’s Innocent, Except Us”, “Donut’s Laugh saves life”.

Apparently the song’s bass line was named as the 18th best bassline of all time by Stylus Magazine in 2005 but if you’ve heard it you know that it is even better than that!

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles – Cockney Rejects (1980) – I really don’t know where I first heard the Cockney Rejects or how I grew to really like the band.

Nevertheless, they became one of my favourites, as punks began to give way to Boot Boys and Skinheads. The Rejects were a post punk band that around 1980 seemed to morph into a new musical street movement called Oi!

This new musical faze was led by Garry Bushell, a journalist with the Sounds newspaper, and it became the flagship of the new wave of Skinheads that hit the scene around the early 80’s.

In my opinion the movement was wrongly labelled as racist after some trouble erupted at a big Oi! gig in Southall.
The Rejects were and still are big West Ham fans and I remember them appearing on Top of the Pops, whilst drunk, performing this track.

The song is a cover version of the West Ham football anthem. You can still see this performance on YouTube, it’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time. This all happened just before the 1980 FA Cup Final which West Ham went on to win, beating Arsenal 1 -0.

Remember these were the days when FA Cup Final day was a big event in most British households and the whole world seemed to come to a standstill for a couple of hours.

I recall the cover of the single being in the style of a West Ham shirt. I actually got to see the Rejects do a gig in Murcia a couple of years ago.

Baggy Trousers – Madness (1980) – Around the same time as Oi! we had a revival of SKA music in the UK. Bands such as The Specials, Selecter and Madness were all attached to the Two-Tone label and around 1979 these bands and others did a UK tour.

This new British version of SKA however was a bit punkier than the original bands from Jamaica and although I loved all of the new groups, I think my favourite was Madness.

Madness soon moved from the Two-Tone label and got their own record deal. I had bought their first and second album and the band released Baggy Trousers as a single, which I dutifully bought.

This song was all about the bands school life and it seemed to reflect how I had grown up too. Of course, I don’t suppose that I am alone in that feeling.

The cover of the record had most of the band decked out in Crombie coats and the following Christmas yours truly was bedecked in one too.

I must have seen Madness over a dozen times now, but I remember, around 1980, a mate and me bottling out of an opportunity of seeing them at Newcastle City Hall.

It was at the time of the big skinhead revival, and I think we were worried about if we would get there and back in one piece, as violence at gigs was quite common then.

Nevertheless, I do recall going to the cinema to see Dance Craze, a movie about all the new SKA bands and I remember skanking in the aisles with loads of other likeminded youths.

Too Much Too Young – The Specials (1980) – The Specials came a very close second to Madness for me and again they are a band that I have continued to listen to throughout my life.

I remember buying this single in Jarrow Woolworths, a place you could get many a vinyl bargain in the cheap 50p rack. Anyway, Too Much Too Young got to number one and it was released as a five-track live EP in January 1980.

As well as Too Much Too Young it featured cover versions of the old SKA tracks the Guns of Navarone and Skinhead Symphony – a medley of Long Shot Kick De Bucket, The Liquidator and Skinhead Moonstomp.

Some of the tracks were recorded at Tiffany’s in Coventry, the bands home city, and the single had an iconic photo cover of the crowd.

Many years later I got to see the band play their comeback gig in Newcastle and also later on in Coventry. Again this is another band whose lyrics still resonate today.

All Together Now – The Farm (1990) – Whiz forward to the ’90s now but vinyl was still in vogue, just I think. Liverpool band The Farm are one of the most underrated bands ever in my opinion.

I was right into them from the off and bought their first album Spartacus that went to number one. People say they were part of the Baggy or Madchester scene but I just like to say they were an indie band.

They released from Spartacus one of the most iconic tracks ever, All Together Now. The song was written about the famous unofficial treaty, during World War 1 between British and German troops, that happened on Christmas Eve 1914.

The track was produced by Suggs, the lead singer of Madness, and had a British Tommy in a Subbuteo style on the cover.

As we know from the beginning of this piece, Subbuteo, toy soldiers and Madness had already played a big part in my life so that cover was just perfect!

At any rate the single got to number 4 in the charts and the band were the first group that my wife and me ever went to see. They played that iconic Newcastle venue, The Mayfair, sometime around late 1990 or early 1991.

Through the mysteries of social networks, I have become quite friendly with the band and recently I attended the guitarists wedding in Liverpool.

The Farm are actually back making music and I have been to see them play on numerous occasions over the past few years. I even got to see them support Madness earlier this year!

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017 – MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Intro by Gary Alikivi September 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There is whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd day’s of the 70’s and 80’s, but they are up on display shelves of record shop’s. 

There is hundred’s of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

Neil Newton is guitarist with North East punk band Angelic Upstarts.

‘I’ve written and recorded two albums with the Upstarts – Bullingdon Bastards which was released in 2015 on the BossTuneage label & The Dirty Dozen, which was originally released on I Hate People label in 2011 and later re-released on Randale Records.

Plus I’ve written and recorded two albums for a side project from the Upstarts in a band called The Dipsomaniacs. Those albums were on the Mad Butcher label and called Gambrinus (released 2008) and Well Connected (released 2012).

I’m currently in the process of writing more new tunes for a vinyl release too. That project I’ve called Sounds for Hounds with 100% of sales going to shelters for retired/abandoned greyhounds and lurchers’.

‘The Upstarts have shows booked for next year already. We still keep getting offered great gigs all over the world and we’ve just played to a packed-out Rebellion Festival for the second year running.

So the interest is still there for the Upstarts and as long as that remains, then I suspect Mensi will want to continue’.

Introductions over here are the 7 songs that shaped Neil’s world.

1) The Hotshots – Snoopy versus The Red Baron: The very first single I owned (I still have it in fact) I just loved its groove, which isn’t surprising considering that the ‘Hotshots’ on this fine piece of wax were in fact the Cimarons, who had migrated to the UK from Jamaica where they had sessioned for loads of artists including a certain Jimmy Cliff.

I was barely 5 years old at the time but the groove just hooked me and is most definitely responsible for my love of anything on Trojan and related labels.

2) Lou Busch Orchestra – Zambezi: One of my great-uncles had this ancient, battered owld wind up gramophone caper, which today would probably be worth a fortune to some beardy London hipster type and the only records you could play on it were old 78s which were canny heavy in weight.

They were like roof tiles and probably worth a fortune to some beardy London hipster type, who’d use them as fucking dinner plates or some other pretentious, crockery based catastrophe.

Anyway, leaving such bearded buffoonery aside, I was nebbing through all their old 78s and giving them a spin when I happened upon this tune.

It had, to my mind, a calypso style intro and that grabbed me straight away as calypso is very similar to mento, which massively influenced reggae & ska. Again, just as with the Hotshots/Cimarons, it was all about the groove baby!

In addition, there is some fantastic parpage going on and I love a good slice of the owld parpage caper (Parpage = Brass/Horn section, ye dig?) all of which led me to discover big band swing music which I also have a great fondness for.

By the way, Lou Busch also went by the name of Johnny ‘fingers’ Carr and this pic of him at the piano is mint. Look at him man, how can you fault someone displaying such top drawer dudery!

3) Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue: I queued up outside Pete Edmonds Record shop on Keppel Street in South Shields for this. It was really special for a number of reasons, not least of which were the brilliant tunes!

It was the first slab of coloured vinyl I can remember getting my hands on and the first double album I owned. In addition, I loved the artwork on the cover, a feature that the introduction of CD’s tragically diminished.

Just think of all the superb album covers from that time man, Motorhead, No Sleep til Hammersmith being one of the best ones. The respect for and appreciation of the effort that went into producing these slabs of glorious sonic delights, was probably the reason I carried Out of the Blue back home like I was carrying a fucking Ming vase!

I also remember buying a belt buckle with the album front cover artwork on it from, I think Image Records over the road from Pete Edmonds shop.

I definitely remember going into Image Records but as memories get a little fuggy as the years pass, it might not have been where I got the belt buckle from?

Still it’s nice to remember a time when Shields had lots of vinyl shops to choose from with Callers, at the Nook, being my usual vinyl/badges/posters hunting ground.

I really hope in this era of virtual cyber products, that people decide they’d like more physical product. The pleasure of relaxing while browsing through racks of vinyl is, I feel, a lost delight the younger generation may never experience. I hope I’m proved wrong.

4) Angelic Upstarts – Teenage Warning: I was considering leaving this out and picking another punk album, lest I be accused of bias but no, fuck that, this band certainly did shape my life because prior to the Upstarts, while I loved the energy and anger of punk, it wasn’t until after listening to this that I began to understand WHY.

I already had a fuzzy understanding of punk but the Upstarts slid everything sharply into view as they were writing about what people in our region could see happening to their family, friends and community.

As for the album itself? Hey, that feedback at the start man! It just starts menacing the listener straight away hahaha and then it crashes into the track like a brick hoyed through a window. Fucking magnificent!!

5) Eddie Cochran – C’mon Everybody: In an earlier interview I explained how my dad gave me this to learn on guitar when I was just starting out and it opened my eyes or more importantly, my ears, to early rock and roll and further back to the blues.

At the time I didn’t realise nor, I suppose, appreciate what a huge favour my dad had done for me. I was essentially learning the underpinning knowledge to all that came after it.

By that I mean for Rock/Punk/Alternative music. I don’t mean jazz which, to me, was far too up its own arse and learning it would’ve felt a bit like I was some posh kid learning Latin at Eton!

Mind, I have grown to respect those who play it but 30 years on and I still can’t help blurting out “self-indulgent smug wankery” when I attempt to say “wow, aren’t you fucking fabulous”. Oh dear!

So aye, cheers fatha for not being a cord wearing jazzy bastard and thanks for the steer to Eddie C, it really was something else.

6) AC/DC – If You Want Blood: Now this album shaped my view on how an electric guitar should sound. Which is that there is absolutely no place, nor valid excuse, for a rock guitarists’ tone platter to contain any salad on it whatsoever.

Nay, not even the merest waft of lettuce or smallest squeak of cress. Nein, nein, nein, it should only contain the thickest, juiciest, meatiest slabs of chunkment and the Young brothers deliver the choicest of cuts on this superb live album.

I’m not arsed over who was best chanter between Bon and Jonna nor do I give a fuck what the purists think, I enjoyed listening to both of them and it would not have made any difference to me which one of them had sung on this album, for me it is all about the huge blanket of chunko molunko unfurled by the Youngs. Marvellous!!

7) The Clash – London Calling: This album got me through the lowest, darkest time of my life. I’ve obviously no wish to go into details here about that time but if anyone tells you that music isn’t therapy? Tell them they’re are talking out of their fucking arse and are not to be trusted!

In contrast, there are one or two records from that time that I find very difficult to listen to.

The power of music? You’d better believe it tiger and this particular album really was a lifebelt for me during that time.

The tracks on the album?…. It’s the Clash!…. It’s London Calling!…. What? Do people really need to be told how good an album this is? Bloody Heathens!

Next up for Angelic Upstarts is North East Calling at Northumbria University on 30th September 2017.

A full line up including Cockney Rejects, Anti Nowhere League, Ruts DC and from Tyneside, Gimp Fist and Panic Report.  

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017 – MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Vinyl Junkies into by Gary Alikivi 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There are whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd days of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on display shelves of record shops.

There is hundreds of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

Colin Smoult was owner of Jump, from 1991 until 1998 it was a second hand record shop in South Shields. Then he relocated and slowly phased out all second hand records, cassettes and DVD’s to concentrate on selling alternative lifestyle products. Colin is also involved in freelance sound and lighting production for bands around the UK.

JUMP Records, Station Road, South Shields.

1. All The Young Dudes – Mott The Hoople. My first ever vinyl purchase! Bought the new 7″ single during the summer of 1972 at the tender age of just 8 years old – I had cool taste even back then. I think it cost around 45p.

I got it from Savilles Music Store in Keppel Street, South Shields. A fantastic place that had its musical instrument department upstairs, and the records sold downstairs, complete with listening booths.

That song just jumped out to me on the radio, and I knew that I had to have a copy to listen to whenever I wanted to.

2. Time – David Bowie. From my first ever album, Aladdin Sane, it was a present for my 10th birthday. Was really getting into Bowie, and both my brother and sister often played the Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust albums.

Finally joined the world of getting albums and not just singles. Time for me was such a dramatic tune with lots of musical light and shade going on.

Although bought for me, I was there at the time, and remember it coming from Pete Edmonds Record Shop in Frederick Street. On a Saturday afternoon in 1973, and it was very busy in there too. Oh how the times have changed.

3. Emerald – Thin Lizzy. Taken from the band’s 1978 double live album Live And Dangerous. Took a punt on this one as I’d heard a few of the previous singles by the band, and hoped that this album might be decent.

Only turned out to be regarded as one of the greatest live rock albums ever! Loads of great songs on it, but Emerald always stood out for me as such fabulous moment.

Only the second song in and the band were totally kicking ass. Purchased the record from Callers at the Nook, my regular haunt as I only lived just around the corner. So many hours spent in that shop. A staple part of my youth.

4. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas. An incredible song, introduced to me by my older brother, but I then went out and bought the live version from the band’s Two For The Show album.

Back then these double live album made for great samplers of what the bands were like, usually containing their most popular tracks up until then.

Bought this one from Pete Edmonds Record Shop, which was now situated in the downstairs of the former Savilles shop, continuing on the legacy of the premises.

5. Motorhead – Motorhead. At the time the band were rising in popularity with their Overkill album. Their original record label were cashing-in with the band’s rising fame, and re-issued the self-titled anthem on 7″ single.

Such a good song, raw and unyielding. Picked up this one from Second Time Around Record Shop (S.T.A.R.S.) on Boldon Lane. A fab place that later on I would frequent on a fortnightly basis, as it was next door to the Unemployment Office, and was dead handy to pop into after I signed on.

I always tried to keep a bit money back for my next visit, hoping the album I had spotted two weeks earlier was still there. And often it was and would be yet another one for the expanding collection.

6. Imagine – John Lennon. I was may more of a Beatles fan than Lennon’s solo stuff, but I do love this song, and whenever I hear it I always remember Images record shop at the bottom of Fowler Street.

The reason being is this is where I was when I first heard about the shooting and death of John Lennon. I overhead the shop assistant and a customer talking about it.

Rushed home, put on the radio, only to find out that it was all so horribly true. The cold December of 1980 got a lot colder that day, and for a lot of music fans, a little bit of them also died that day too.

7. Jump – Van Halen. Two reasons for this choice. Bought the album it came from 1984, the day it came out, and as a Van Halen fan I also feel in love with this album.

Purchased it at Volume Records, as at that time I was working in Newcastle just behind the Handyside Arcade, and I would peruse the record shops every lunch break.

Second reason is that my friend named his second-hand shop after this tune, when he first opened it up back in 1984. I took it over in 1991, kept the name, and finally made my love of music and records become my job.

Times changed, the shop moved location, and the business evolved into something else. But I’ve never lost my passion for music, as that will forever be a driving part of my character.

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017 – MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Intro by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There is whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd day’s of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on the display shelves of record shop’s.

There is hundred’s of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

‘The End of the Pier’ is a new play that Neil Armstrong wrote and is about to perform at The Customs House, South Shields. Neil is an award winning actor/writer/director based in the North East of England.

Over the last twenty-five years he has directed shows for dozens of companies, has been nominated by B.A.F.T.A, The Writers Guild of Great Britain and the National Comedy awards.

His play ‘Remember Jim’ which he wrote, starred in and directed, won Best Performance at the Sunderland Echo W.O.W Culture Awards.

In 2015 and 2016 he wrote, co-directed and starred in Durham Gala Theatre’s Pantomimes, both broke all box office records to become the most successful productions ever to be staged there.

Introduction’s over, here are Neil’s 7 songs that shaped his world.

1 ‘One of the first songs that got me into music was I Feel Fine by The Beatles. I didn’t actually buy it, my Aunty Nora gave me an old 45 of it in about 1972 I think. This really started me on my way to buying records.

I think the feedback at the start of the song drew me in. How the hell did they do that? I wondered, when I was eight. I still think it sounds great today.’

2 ‘Given that I earn my living poncing about on a stage, I thought I should include something theatrical in my pick of the pops. So jumping back in time to 1970, I was in London, aged six and on holiday with me Mam, Dad and our Julie. We went to see the film version of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver !

I didn’t want to go I think the picture of Fagin on the wall outside the cinema scared me, but I did go and came out singing ‘You’ve got to pick a pocket or two’ with me sister whilst we tried to steal loose change from me Dad’s pockets. I know it’s not exactly Rock but there’s some great tunes in it’.

3 ‘By the time I was fourteen I had my first guitar and had moved on to now loving The Beatles later period when they ‘Went weird’ as all me Aunties used to say. I had the Blue Album which I paid for through me Mam’s Kay’s Catalogue. I played it over and over again, it was me only LP at this point apart from a K-Tel chart toppers compilation thing.

I loved every song on it. If I had to pick a favourite I couldn’t, but Here Comes the Sun would be close’.

4 ‘By the time I was fifteen it all went a bit Prog! The Musical Box by Genesis from their 1971 album Nursery Crime was largely what did it. I’m from Seaham and it wasn’t as posh as it is now, so listening to these Gothic tales of people getting their heads knocked off with croquet mallets in English Stately Homes and Gardens was for me, a perfect escape.

I didn’t care that most of the band were ex-public schoolboys or that my mates were listening to the Sex Pistols or Sham 69 or whoever. I was off on one with Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and the rest, to hell with punk! Let’s Prog! Ten years too late admittedly but never mind.

I still love this song today. I don’t even think it’s pretentious, preposterous maybe, but not pretentious’.

5 ‘Hazy Jane #2 by Nick Drake. I discovered this song on an Island Sampler called Bumpers that I think I bought in The Old Durham Bookshop in Sunderland.

I was about 16 at the time and for some mad unfortunate reason I was working in the Civil Service. The only good thing about working there was you got flexi-time so I used to bugger off early on a Friday afternoon to spend my hard earned money from what I considered to be the worst job in the world on LPs.

I think this song is gorgeous. I love music that evokes pictures and places in your head and this did for me. It still does and always will’.

6 ‘La Rossa by Van Der Graaf Generator from their albunm Still Life. It’s angry, it’s noisy, it’s got Peter Hammill screaming his head off. I met him once when he was supporting Marillion at the Mayfair in Newcastle. Me and me mate Geoff weren’t that bothered about Marillion so we sneaked into his dressing room to see if he could offer us any advice on how we might become rock stars.

He was a lovely bloke, and even sent us a Christmas Card wishing us well in our quest later that year. VDGG I know are an acquired taste, but I loved how they never gave two hoots about anything other than their music. I saw them at the Sage in 2005 when they reformed and they were amazing’.

7 ‘I was on YouTube about a year ago and discovered a song called Le Soir Du Diable by French band Ange. It was live footage from a gig they did in 1977.

Here we had a hairy singer (Christian Decamps) with two sock puppets on his hands – one an angel, the other a devil and they are both playing the xylophone for him as he sings. I’ve tried telling me mates this is tremendous. I mean let’s face it you’re not going to see some twat like Ed Sheeran doing that anytime soon!

But unfortunately I seem to be alone on this one. Nevertheless I stand by this band and say ‘They don’t make ’em like that anymore!’ and I wish they did. But just in case they never do, I went and tracked down every 1970’s Ange album.

There’s a bloke at Chester le Street market on a Saturday who can sort you out French Prog with Puppets if you fancy it…….no?….just me then?’

Neil’s new play ‘The End of the Pier’ is on at The Customs House, South Shields from 22nd – 26th August 2017.

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017 – MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Intro by Gary Alikivi 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There are whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd days of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on display shelves of record shops. 

There are hundreds of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

John Heston has been a Tyneside musician for 30 years and is currently in ska punk band The Panic Report. These are John’s 7 songs that shaped his world.

1. New York Groove – Ace Frehley: This was the first record I ever bought from the Handy Shop in Frederick Street, South Shields when I was about ten years old. A few of my mates were into KISS, and as an impressionable youth I was immediately attracted to the image. Being a fan of horror films, I loved all the blood and fire breathing etc.

I saw this record in the racks and when I got it home was surprised that it wasn’t some demonic metal tune but a funky ode to New York City. I loved it then and still do now.

2. At the Edge – Stiff Little Fingers: I was a heavy rock fan until I was about 14, but this is the song that made me cut my hair and lose the denim jacket. I first heard it at Buddys nightclub in South Shields on the 14-18 night, and I was transfixed straight away.

The lyrics totally summed up the teen angst that everyone faces at some point, and what a tune! Yet again I paid a visit to the Handy Shop and bought Hanx!, their live album. It turned me into a big fan, and they’re probably the band I’ve seen most times live.

3. Should I Stay Or Should I Go/ Straight To Hell (double A side) – The Clash: I first consciously heard The Clash in the Eureka pub in South Shields when I was about 14. We used to get in and play pool even though we were underage, and they used to have a great jukebox.

From the moment Should I Stay Or Should I Go kicked in I was hooked, and found myself singing along before the song had even finished. I immediately walked 100 yards up the road to the Handy Shop to see if they had it in stock, and I was in luck, they had the 12″ single.

I got it home and after a few plays I put the other song, Straight To Hell on. This is the moment I totally fell in love with The Clash, this song just stopped me in my tracks. A haunting, eerie track that sounds like no one else, telling the tale of abandoned children of the Vietnam war, and the troubles the veterans faced when they got back to America. This is still probably my favourite song of all time.

4. Lady Stardust – David Bowie: I ‘borrowed’ the Ziggy Stardust LP from my cousin Jill in the mid 80’s. She had left home for London so I liberated it from her house as I was a casual fan of his Let’s Dance-era stuff.

This was something else altogether and immediately fell in love with this album. Every song is a winner but Lady Stardust is my favourite, just an amazing vocal and brilliant piano from Mick Ronson. I still have the LP somewhere, I’ll give it back one day Jill, I promise!

5. E=MC2 – Big Audio Dynamite: The Clash are my favourite band but they’d split up by the time I got on board. The next best thing was guitarist Mick Jones’ outfit. They were quite groundbreaking at the time, one of the first bands to use samples etc, and this track remains one of my favourites.

It’s a great lesson in making two chords go a long way, with different melodies interwoven on top. A strangely hypnotic song, it had me hooked straight way, and was a sizeable hit in the UK.

6. Senses Working Overtime – XTC: One of the most underrated bands ever. This is probably their most well known song, and another one I picked up in the Handy Shop from the bargain bin.

It has strange medieval sounding verses then explodes into one of the catchiest choruses I’ve ever heard. This led me to digging deeper into their catalogue and what a treasure trove it is.

It’s a shame they packed in touring in 1982 because I would have loved to have seen them live. Fiercely intelligent music and totally original, one of my favourite bands.

7. Good Morning Britain – Aztec Camera: As we entered the Nineties I was buying less and less records but this one came as a breath of fresh air. A great lyric with each verse dealing with a different country of the British Isles. The river Tyne even gets a mention which always helps for a local lad like myself.

Scorching guitar solo as well leading into one of those key changes which get the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Unfortunately the Handy Shop had closed by the time this came out, I think I ended up buying it at the rather soulless WH Smith.

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017 – MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Intro Gary Alikivi July 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There is whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd day’s of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on display shelves of record shop’s.

There is hundred’s of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

North East based Will Binks, a photographer, record collector and was editor for the 1980’s punk fanzines Hate and War and Still Dying.

Will said ’The year was 1982 and I was 16 years old. I had been buying records and attending gigs since I was 13. I never had the luxury of a chance to learn to play an instrument so what was I gonna do to contribute to our local Punk Scene?

I had access to a typewriter and an admiration for Acts Of Defiance fanzine. Together with my cousin, Paul Briggs, we’d follow around Hebburn Punk band The Public Toys. That was basically how the whole thing started’.

‘We needed a name and had cut out HATE AND WAR from a magazine so that was sorted. My Grandmother worked as a cleaner at Keppel Street Police Station in South Shields and on the sly would use their photocopier to copy the pages we had written.

Two basic issues were published between July and November ’82, before we met up with Gary Payne at a Total Chaos gig in Newcastle. He suggested a new venture together with myself, the result was a new fanzine STILL DYING. My cousin had lost interest by now.

The two of us really upped the ante and set about putting together some really special reviews, articles and interviews. It only lasted three issues during 1983 but what an excellent time to be involved in such an endeavour’.

‘By the second issue we had to seek out a printer where Ian from Testament Of Reality fanzine helped out. Issue three was printed by Edition zine. We probably sold around a couple of hundred each.

We sold loads at gigs at The Station in Gateshead, The Bunker in Sunderland and even some at Volume Records in Newcastle.
Looking back I’m really proud of what we achieved even if it was just a small involvement in the North East Punk scene, but incredibly important to us’.

These are Will’s 7 songs that shaped his world.

1. Rezillos – Top of the Pops: ‘I was only 11 years old in 1977 when Punk Rock shocked the establishment to its core. Even at such a tender age you couldn’t escape the furore and excitement surrounding this new music and fashion that had exploded onto the world thanks to Rotten & Co.

Top Of The Pops was staple viewing in our household every Thursday night, so even though I was at an age where my pocket money wasn’t enough to buy myself a record, I still saw lots of the first wave of Punk bands and I distinctly recall watching the Rezillos in 1978.

I loved the zany colours, the catchy tune and the wrap-around sunglasses. It wasn’t until the following year when I earned cash for babysitting my brothers and sister that I had enough to purchase my first record’.

2. Blondie – Heart of Glass: ‘So there I was a few months short of my 13th birthday but now with enough pocket money to buy my first record. Wherever you turned you couldn’t escape the fact Blondie were the biggest band on the planet and the stunning Debbie Harry was every schoolboys dream, I was smitten with her !

So I ventured to my local record shop, Callers, in South Shields. I passed this shop on my way to school every day and strangely it sold furnishings downstairs and records and tapes upstairs!

I parted with my 65p and in my mitts was a slab of plastic, Heart of Glass. That would be the beginning of my love affair with buying and collecting records’.

3. Dead Kennedys – Kill the Poor: ‘I used to take a short walk from my house to Boldon Lane in South Shields to visit S.T.A.R.S. (Second Time Around Record Shop) where they stocked second hand records and new releases.

I remember one visit I bought Kill the Poor by Dead Kennedys and hurried home to make up a new compilation tape for myself with this song taking pride of place as the first track on it.

Back then my hometown had at least ten record shops and it was great visiting them all, sometimes without a penny in my pocket it was just a thrill to flick through the singles and albums, taking great interest in the sleeves of the bands I loved’.

4. External Menace – What The Hell : Is an absolute cracker of a track from one of Scotlands finest bands from that era. Taken from the Total Anarchy compilation LP on Beat The System Records released in 1982.

I recall buying this album from The New Record Inn in Sunderland. A place I frequented a lot back then. I remember the fella who ran the shop had a square jaw and his missus always had her shirt unbuttoned just enough to tease the blokes ha ha.

However it wasn’t just that what drew me to the place, ‘coz they stocked all the great releases from back then. I bizarrely recall the records on a pegboard resting on golf tees !

External Menace released two classic E.P.’s back then and in April 1983 I saw them as part of the Beat The System tour at Dingwalls in Newcastle. Leaving the shop that very day I bumped into Stu from Uproar who were also included on that album’.

5. Onslaught – Power from Hell: ‘The Station in Gateshead was a legendary venue. I’m really grateful to the promoter Toot who brought some amazing bands up to the North East between the Summer of 1983 and September ’85.

That was when Onslaught headlined the last ever show there, Power from Hell one of my favourites.

There wasn’t a bar so you brought your own grog and the only rule was no glue or glass bottles. I’ve gotta say the scene changed a lot in those two short years. Basically it went from a carefree, do as you please attitude to the introduction of unwritten rules.

Some of the more influential and vocal in the scene were asking things like why do you eat meat, why do you wear leather, how can you like that band when you wear this bands t-shirt and so on.

Already, for quite some time I was aware of the rise of the bludgeoning thrash scene thanks to tapes I exchanged with Final Curtain fanzine editor Paul May and I instantly loved the sound and attitude of bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Venom and Slayer.

Punk bands Discharge, English Dogs, Onslaught, Sacrilege and Broken Bones were by now in full crossover effect. So with the demise of The Station I took it as my cue to break away from the rule-laden Punk scene and I branched off down a more Thrash/Metal avenue.

It’s not as if I suddenly hated Punk, I loved both genres as much as each other. I kept all my records and played them both side by side. I just needed to escape the Punk scene’s stringent regulations. I stuck with it for about another three years or so.

The last gig I attended in the 80’s being Slayer at The Mayfair in April 1987 and the last record I bought was the Metallica double album …And Justice For All in 1988.

It wasn’t long after this that I took a total break from gigging and record buying when other things in life became more important you know, the responsibility of a job, house, mortgage and all that other shitty stuff ! Thankfully I returned after myself imposed exile by the mid-90’s’.

6. Offspring – Come Out and Play: ‘No longer owning a turntable I succumbed to the CD. At the beginning of 1990 still not reacquainted to the Punk and Metal scene I found myself only purchasing a handful of albums from bands I heard mainly on Radio One while I was working as a delivery driver.

Never Loved Elvis by The Wonder Stuff, Manic Street Preachers album Generation Terrorists, there was Nirvana with Nevermind and Irish band Therapy? released Troublegum.

Gig wise I had only accompanied my wife Tracey to a handful of gigs mainly at Gateshead Stadium’.

‘Fast Forward to October 1994 and I’m watching Top Of The Pops. Simon Mayo introduces a band from California making their UK TV debut. I thought wow! these are great! who the fuck are these? It was Green Day playing Welcome To Paradise live. The very next day I finished work and drove to Our Price in South Shields and bought Dookie.

Coincidentally two other things happened – Firstly, around this time wor kid gives me an old hi-fi with turntable that was destined for the tip if i didn’t want it. Great! I started to play some old records and even made up a few mix tapes.

Secondly we get cable TV installed in November ’94 so now I’m watching Headbangers Ball and getting accustomed to loads of fantastic bands that are part of the new and exciting Yank Punk explosion. That was the catalyst that got me interested again.

I started eagerly buying CD’s. Going to see Stiff Little Fingers the following year in March 1995, that is when I consider my proper return to gigging. Come Out And Play by Offspring got heavy MTV rotation during this period and instantly transports me back to that time every time I hear it!’

7. Rancid – Fall Back Down: So, to wrap this up I’m gonna pick a song by a band that has always maintained a level of high quality in whatever they do. Constantly releasing excellent albums throughout their twenty plus years and having the ability to mix song styles effortlessly from Ska to Hardcore Punk with so much more in between.

My introduction was the mighty Rancid album…And Out Come The Wolves. An album that ranks in my Top 10 without question. A truly superb record that has great songs with stories, tunes and song writing to match. It seems impossible not to sing along.

Saw them for the first time at the Reading Festival 1998 and they didn’t disappoint and, to be fair, they have always delivered every time I’ve witnessed them live.

Pretty difficult to pick one track but I’ve chose Fall Back Down on account of it bringing back a grin on my face. Recollections of road trips to Manchester and Glasgow in September 2003 to see them on the Indestructible tour. A song that exudes positivity and optimism. ENJOY!

Recommended:  MARTIN POPOFF July 12th 2017 – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Introduction by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

The love for vinyl has always been there and many stories are attached to it. There is whispers in some quarters that vinyl is back, and they are getting louder.

Not in the same numbers that it was in the pre-cd day’s of the 70’s and 80’s, but the records are up on display in record shop’s.

A lot of people listen to songs in different ways. They download a song and in some cases they don’t know what the track is called or the name of the band. Does music mean as much as it did years ago?

There is hundred’s of reasons why we like a certain song. Vinyl Junkies is looking for the stories behind them.

A new feature for the blog is Vinyl Junkies: 7 songs that shaped my world.

First up is Martin Popoff who is a Canadian author of 70 books, including ‘Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers: The Rise of Motorhead’ he has also wrote ‘Rush – Album by Album’ plus his recent release ‘Metal Collector: Gathered Tales from Headbangers’.

Many of his books are translated into French, German, Czech and Italian. Martin has also worked on CD liner notes for Dio, Anvil, Twisted Sister, Mahogany Rush plus many more.

These are Martin’s 7 songs that shaped his world.

1.The Damned – Love Song (1979): The Damned are one of my favourite bands, let alone favourite punk bands, and they did that delightful thing of cranking out singles with songs that aren’t on the albums. This one included a raging near heavy metal gem called Suicide.

As well, I believe this was one of those where you could get it with a different member of the band on the cover, making a total of four covers. Mine has one of the sickest pictures of Rat Scabies ever taken.

2. Gillan – New Orleans (1981): The New Wave of British Heavy Metal did the punk thing and put out a lot of singles, and within that, Gillan were one of the best, certainly of the major label acts, that had B-sides that weren’t on the album.

Didn’t care much for the tired blues cover, New Orleans but it was cool getting b side Take a Hold of Yourself. If you’re noticing a trend here, I was found it pointless buying domestic singles, because I would just usually opt for the album. But these trips down to Magic Mushroom and Strawberry Jams in Spokane, Canada, to buy imports, some of the greatest memories of my life.

3. The Clash – (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais (1978): This was one of the few early punk singles I managed to hang onto all these years.

I love the die-cut cover, the yellow, the custom record label with the gun pointing at you. The A-side was non-LP and even the B-side was non-LP, and I liked the B-side more than the A-side at the time, but alas, Hammersmith Palais became known as a great, great Clash track and rightly so.

The Clash were one of the first bands allowed into my sphere that weren’t heavy metal or heavy punk. Thanks forever go to them for opening my mind, most notably with the London Calling album.

4. Sex Pistols – Holidays in the Sun (1977): Managed to buy few Pistols singles in the day, but this one was cool because I did buy the UK copy of the debut album, which didn’t have Satellite on it. Soon after, had to have the domestic version as well, and in Canada, at least, that did have Satellite, as a straight ad-on. But loved the colourful cartoon cover of this, and then the punk iconography on the back.

Plus the a side was one of the bands cool, considerably heavy rockers. Which is what we loved about the Bollocks album: by the end of 1977, it was only this record, Rainbow Rising, Motörhead’s debut and AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock, where every last song on the album was heavy. And Motörhead just barely, because we were quite suspicious of Vibrator. Too happy.

5. Witchfynde – Give ‘em Hell (1980): One of the creepier, blatantly evil New Wave of British Heavy Metal artefacts from the early singles apartment, Give ‘em Hell backed up the talk by being a scorching rocker, and Gettin’ Heavy wasn’t too shabby either.

Too bad both the first and the second albums weren’t quite as intense by the percentages. But yeah, getting this in 1980… that beat Venom, and it even somehow seemed more serious than Venom.

6. Sweet – Action (1975): Okay, now I did say that I didn’t drink domestic, but this unassuming non-picture sleeve single burned on my flame as a 13-year-old.

Sure, me and my buddies were already captivated and on a heavy metal sugar high with Give Us a Wink and its flagship song, Action. But the beauty of this little number is that the B-side was a super-smart, sharp progressive metal rocker not found on any LP, called Medusa.

As gorgeously appointed and executed as the band’s other highly professional heavy metal during this golden period, just the title and the rarity of it made Medusa like a little secret handshake or Freemason symbol amongst me and my schoolmates.

7. D.O.A. – World War 3: Being from BC, we were always snobs that the only heavy punk there was came from Vancouver, and that was by D.O.A and Subhumans, where the closest thing that the twice the size Toronto had was The Diodes. We didn’t really count The Viletones because they couldn’t get it together to get a full-length album out.

World War 3 was issued in 1979, with the first album coming in 1980. Yeah, I know, it’s all quite late, but the song, kicked ass, even if the B-side, Watcha Gonna Do? was almost post-punk. Love the black and white, love the band pictures, love Joey Shithead!

Recommended: WILL BINKS July 7th 2017  – JOHN HESTON August 3rd 2017 – NEIL ARMSTRONG August 11th 2017 – COLIN SMOULT  August 29th 2017 -– NEIL NEWTON September 12th 2017 – TONY HIGGINS October 11th 2017 – VINCE HIGH December 11th 2017.

Introduction by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

Welcome. This blog will include interviews with Folk, Punk, Rock, Soul, NWOBHM, musicians….. ‘Musicians are always good at telling stories –  it’s all about the story isn’t it?’  Gary Alikivi, South Tyneside, UK Documentary Photography & Film Maker.