Kermit's Korner
UXB roadie Des 'Kermit' McNamara's indispensable guide to UXB news and rumours.
APRIL 2002 - SEPTEMBER 2001 - AUGUST 2001 - JULY 2001
APRIL 2002
'LONDON CALLING'
It’s finally happened! U.X.B have played their first gig in over 20 years, and it was fantastic! UXB - along with The Zips/Knife Edge/The Negatives, all fellow punk stablemates on Detour Records - played at The Garage in Highbury, North London on March 2nd.
What an absolutely great gig it was, all four bands giving a superb account of themselves. You can find UXB's set list on the night and some cracking band photos by Merv Bennett on the London gig section of this website, plus a full review of the gig on ukrocknet.com.
It was a great day from start to finish: the bands came from all walks of life, all with different styles of playing and from all over the country. The Negatives came down from Bradford along with battlebus and trailer! Knife Edge from Leeds, UXB came down from Cannock, and The Zips FLEW in from Glasgow! It was great to see the camaraderie between all of the four bands! In fact they got on so well that they’ve agreed to do some more gigs together, playing in their home towns/cities. The band on home turf would headline with the others supporting.
Gig details are still in the provisional stages but keep logging onto the new-look UXB website (thanks to Paul) for all the latest info: www.u-x-b.com
The other fantastic news about the gig is that Detour Records boss, Dizzy Holmes, was at the London gig and was so impressed with UXB's set that the record company are set to release a UXB album in the near future!
So its a big thank you to all four bands for a superb gig!
THE NEGATIVES ON TOUR
You can check out The Negs for yourselves, they are playing a few gigs in April which are:
April 5th - Rafters, Bradford, West Yorkshire (UK).
April 6th - Royal Park Cellars, Leeds, West Yorks.
April 13th - MacDermotts, Wakefield, West Yorks.
For futher information about these gigs log onto The Negatives' official website.
JINXED!
A great new band has come onto the local West Midlands scene and they're called JINX.
They are 3 punkskaters from Great Wyrley, close to UXB's home town of Cannock. The band comprise of:
Ryan - guitar/vocals,
Chris - bass/vocals,
Mark - drums.
They seem to have a big future ahead if their last gig was anything to go by. They played at their school (Great Wyrley High) to a really enthusiastic audience, who filled the lecture theatre to full capacity.
I contacted their drummer Mark to ask him a few questions about JINX , this how it went..........
So Mark, what bands do you think most influence Jinx?
The bands that most influence Jinx are probably Green Day, Blink 182 and maybe Nirvana as well. We play songs by all these bands. Ryan and Chris like Green Day best and I like Nirvana the most.
You say on your website that you are a punk band not a nu/heavy metal band just what sound do you think Jinx strive for?
We are definitely a Punk band influenced by the bands above. We play virtually no Heavy Metal. There are some heavy-metal influenced bands round the area, but we stick to Punk as everyone thinks it is better! (We don’t like them much anyway!)
So there's no way you would consider wearing masks/makeup, ie, Manson/Mushroom Head style?
You mean like Slipknot? No we wouldn't, we like to show ourselves to everyone out there.
So what do you guys enjoy when your not playing in Jinx?
When away from playing in the band we like to skate, (or at least I try- I haven't mastered it yet!). We also like to play our instruments, I play guitar outside the band, and so does Chris. We sometimes just hang out as 'young uns' do.
There's always one good looking bloke in a band, so who's the one the girls go wild for in Jinx?
I can't say who is the best looking! But Chris is good at pulling his face about into different expressions, mostly ugly ones. (Some people would say Ryan or me!!)
Jinx live in and around Great Wyrley (Staffordshire, UK), is this a good or bad place to live?
Great Wyrley is a 'crock of sh*te' as there is nothin' to do apart from play football over the rec or skate or make a band. To do anything decent you need to go to Walsall or further.
So here's the tough one, your dad is Col Bennett the bass player in UXB, so what do you think of U.X.B?
U.X.B are ok for their style of music! Nah, they are pretty good, they all have talent for their instruments and I like 'Crazy Today' and 'Go!' Considerin' they're all in their 40s they rock! (Ouch! - Kermit)
You can see JINX play live when they entertain Brownhills Working Men's Club on May 9th 2002.
You can also find out more about JINX on their website.
So all the best for the future, lads…remember where you heard of them first!
Kermit.
SEPTEMBER 2001
KERMIT INTERROGATES…………
Kermit tries to find the truth behind UXB's bass guitarist, the man known as 'bassman', the one and only... Col Bennett.
COL, LETS START WITH AN EASY ONE, PICK FIVE WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF:
Honest, dependable, kind, caring, …… liar.
WHEN I ASKED YOU FOR THE ‘BANG’ FANZINE IN THE EARLY 80’S ABOUT WHAT YOUR INTERESTS WERE OUTSIDE OF THE BAND , YOU REPLIED , “NUCLEAR REACTOR THEORY (BASIC), BIOPHYSICS RELATIVE, EINSTIEN'S THEORY, BANKS'S REAL ALE, AND DRUGS”…. IS THIS STILL THE SAME?
I only do the Banks’s now.
SO, WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIG YOU WENT TO?
Taste… (featuring Rory Gallagher) at Wolves Civic Hall summer of 1970…(yes, I am old!)
WHAT WAS THE BEST/WORST GIG THAT HAVE BEEN TO?
Best gig would be the The Faces various gigs around '71-'72. Worst gig…… T Rex… Wolves again in 1972…… Bolan was as pissed as a fart.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST RECORD YOU BOUGHT?
Let It Be… Beatles…… we didn’t have a record player in our house until 1969…so along with the cloggs and bread and dripping sarnies, and working down t’pit as a boy, life was tough in the olden days.
THE ‘BIRDIE SONG’, ‘GRANDMA WE LOVE YOU’? WHAT'S THE MOST EMBARRASING RECORD/CD YOU HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION?
Probably my Frank Zappa album……the man was a genius, and an extremely gifted original musician, but lets be honest 99% of his stuff is just plain shite!
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR??
That UXB won’t get to go to Japan.
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU WOULD BUY IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY, (NOT FORGETTING ABOUT YOUR MATES IN U.X.B!!)
A decent guitar for Mark.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST UNPLEASANT CHARACTERISTIC?
Not being able to recognise it …whatever it might be.
KNOWING THAT SOME OF YOUR KIDS PLAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE THEM TO STOP PLAYING IN A BAND FOR FEAR THEY MIGHT BE THE NEW SLIPKNOT!!
No way…..That would be well cool.
COL, OUT OF ALL THE UXB NUMBERS WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE MOST, AND WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO COVER IT?
48 Hours………by……The Monkees
OK, SEX PISTOLS OR BLINK 182 ???
Pistols.
IF THINGS WERE DIFFERENT AND YOU COULD CHOOSE ANY BAND TO PLAY WITH WHICH BAND WOULD IT BE ???
The Loveless.
WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS?
Getting my old Fender Precision bass back.
WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF HELL?
Having to keep on playing my Fender Jazz bass.
WITH ORWELL SOCIALIST LEANINGS, AND TOLSTOYS DARK ‘WAR AND PEACE’, JUST WHAT YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?
Mark Radcliffe’s book…….Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Nobody.
THERE HAS BEEN MANY SIGHTINGS OF UFO’S IN THE CANNOCK AREA LATELY, DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS ?
No.
WHAT WAS THE LAST LIE YOU TOLD??!
My age………… (would you like to see some puppies?)
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU LOOKED AT ON THE INTERNET??
UXB Online of course…
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY YOU, IN A FILM ABOUT YOUR LIFE?
One of my boys!!
WHO WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL DINNER GUEST/S?
Will Hay……Graham Moffat…… and Moore Marriott……
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST FASHION DISASTER??
Mullet………circa 1986
WHO WOULD BE IN YOUR ALL TIME GREATEST BAND…
BASS……… VOCALS……… GUITAR/S………………DRUMMER……ETC?
Ronnie Lane… Steve Winwood… John Squire/Gerry Garcia……John Bonham.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK ON 'BORED TEENAGERS 2', OTHER THAN UXB’S?
Say You Will… by Knife Edge.
COL, SO WHAT IS YOUR HONEST OPINION OF ROADIES?
Basically what I think is that we need more of ‘em!……Top Geezers all!
FINALLY WHAT MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL !
‘The Long and Winding Road’ by the Beatles…… mainly to piss Mark off!
Next month I hope to continue this line of questioning on another unfortunate member of UXB... but who!
Find out next month... its rivit-ing!
Ta ta… peace… Kermit.
AUGUST 2001
UXB REUNITED
I dropped into the third of UXB's reunion rehearsals to check out how the band were getting along and, more importantly, to see how close they are to gigging!
On a hot evening in Great Wyrley, which is in the heart of England, it was great to see Col, Mick, Dom and Mark looking really cool and relaxed, despite the heat! Pictures of the practise can be seen in the Photo Gallery. The band rocked through a great set, starting with Imagination and running through Over The Wall, Go!, Don't Walk Away and In The Q. Tweaking here and there with the numbers Can't Stand It and Can't Dance, the boys then went into the sublime reggae beats of Jamaica Road and 2 Steps which were great to hear again, as they are personal favourites of mine!
The band began to really let rip as they went into the legendary single Crazy Today, they then blasted into its b-side Mr Fixit, never letting up the pace as they went into 48 Hours. If this wasn't enough they ended with a manic Ramones version of Let's Dance which was interwoven with the Ramones numbers Rock Away Beach and Sheena Is A Punk Rocker. I can't mention what Col's contribution to the number was (although I'm open to bribes!!), but put it this way it wouldn't do his 'street cred' any good at all!! Tut, tut. My drinking buddies who were also watching UXB on the night - the one Mr. Derek Cooper (the drummer in Col/Mark's new band) and Alan Tyler (friend of the band and whose knowledge of the local rock scene old and new seems to have no bounds!) - all agreed what a cracking night it was and that the band should be back on the road soon!
stop press ...........stop press................stop press.............stop press...........
'BORED TEENAGERS VOL.2' TOUR PACKAGE??????
With fear of breaking UXB's 'Code of Honour', I have inside information? that there is a very good possibility (but still in the very early stages), of a tour happening amongst a few of the reformed bands who appeared on the 'Bored Teenagers Volume 2' CD/LP. The bands would play in their home towns/cities, with the home band headlining and the other bands supporting.
UXB (Cannock) are very interested in the project, with positive responses coming from the bands Knife Edge (Leeds), The Negatives (Bradford) and The Zips (Glasgow). Other bands are to be contacted to see if they would be interested. I will keep you updated on this tour as soon as I hear anything, remember where you heard it first!
KERMIT'S WORDS OF WISDOM
SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROADIE......
To the new roadies out there who are starting out on the rock & roll road, here's a warning to them that yes, its a great lifestyle, but you should know that there are many dangers out on the road! Take it from me, a roadie's life is not just a bed of roses; there are a few thorns as well. Here's a few perils that I have faced during the time I have been a roadie with UXB.......
'THE WORLDS GONE CRAZY TODAY'........
The band turned up to do a gig at the Two Brewers pub, Smethwick, Birmingham, only to find out that the band had been booked on to the 'heavy metal' night instead of the 'punk' night. If that was not bad enough it was frequented by the 'Black Sabbath' chapter of the Hell's Angels!!! But UXB the true troopers that they are, decided that the show must go on!
The band had it easy that night, for I had the pleasure of being hugged throughout the set by a 6ft plus brick sh*thouse of a biker who kept kissing the top my head at the end of each number!! I hadn't the heart to complain if you know what I mean!!! We parted just good friends......
The band enjoyed the banter coming from the punters but I couldn't believe my ears when Col asked the crowd to pogo; had he got a death wish!? But instead of being torn limb from limb, no: the crowd loved the band, and actually shouted for an encore! It just goes to show that you shouldn't judge people until you know them, its great being a roadie!
'FIGHTING IN THE STREET TODAY'...........
On a warm July night UXB played in their home town of Cannock to a full Littleton and mid-Cannock club, the gig was going really well and the local crowd were enjoying themselves. However, things changed when two members of another local band, The Spiders, turned up and were jealous of how well things were going for UXB (they had just had their single released). They were there just to cause trouble, throwing things at the stage and things started to get nasty. I think this was the only time that violence had broken out at a UXB gig.
As Ade Roche - brother of UXB singer Dom and fellow roadie - went to ask them to stop, one of them then tried to hit Ade with a bottle. That was it; I went to help my fellow roadie and it was then that I remembered a piece of advice that my father gave to me (he is Glaswegian from the Gorbals). He told me its a bigger man who walks away from a fight, but if you have to fight make sure that he goes down, and what ever you do don't turn your back on him because he might just jump back up and thump you one! Sound advice, or so I thought?
I went over to the conflict but the guys were not going to give up so I smacked the one holding the bottle and he fell to floor, the other one backed off. Great, all sorted and thinking of my Father's advice I walked backwards never taking my eyes off the two of them. Not looking backwards I walked straight into a dozen or so of their mates, to say I got a good kicking was an understatement! (Thanks Dad!!) Still, no permanent damage done (others would disagree!!). Its great being a roadie!
'WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO SAY'
Confession time, I'm really not sure if I have told the band about this, I think you will understand why.
UXB played the Club Layfette in Wolverhampton (famous for the Sex Pistols playing there as the SPOTS: Sex Pistols On Tour - clever!). I was doing the lighting that night and the lighting desk was situated up in the balcony of the club, I found myself all alone for most of the gig (the punters prefering the dance floor) until a couple of leather-clad punks came up to the balcony.
They were both very polite, the guy said 'alright mate' and she just nodded, I just smiled and said 'alright', trying to concentrate on the lighting. It was then that they both stripped off and, erm, started in the act of making love, oh sod being nice, they had a bonk!! In full view of me! I don't know how good the lighting was that night but I did try to be professional! I didn't realise until then just how much UXB numbers could enhance your sex life, especially the reggae numbers!! I just hope they took notice of the lyrics to the UXB song, RHYTHM METHOD! When they had finished they just said 'goodnight' and off they went, I told you they were polite! Its great being a roadie!
'WHAT'S THE PRICE WE ARE WILLING TO PAY'
Life has its little ups and downs, and yes the bands gets all the fame and the glory, but at least you get to see your favourite bands for free! You know what? It really is great being a roadie!
Lyric excerpts from Crazy Today reproduced by kind permission from UXB.
See you all next month...........Kermit.
JULY 2001
It's great to be back after so long!!
I used to be UXB's roadie/lighting man, (I still am!) I also used to write/edit a fanzine called 'BANG' to publicise UXB's gigs, reviews, etc, don't forget this was in the years BC (before computers!). And with this 'webzine' I would like to do the same as 'BANG' and write not just about UXB but about other bands, gigs reviews old and new, so if you wish to contribute please contact me.
I think the best place to start is the ending of U.X.B and finish with the beginning of the reformation of U.X.B?!? Confused? I am!!
THE FINAL GIG - SHIFNAL STAR HOTEL, NOVEMBER 28th 1981
It seemed only fitting the band's final gig was at the Star Hotel, Shifnal (UK). The band loved playing there and the response from the crowd was fantastic! The band had some great memories at the Star like the time Dom unfortunately forgot that the stage was the old service lift, so when he leapt into the air during a number he hit his head on the framework of the old lift doors, thus gashing his head, blood poured onto his white shirt, and the crowd believing this to be part of the act, went wild!! Also the audience's enjoyment in UXB's party piece when the band all swopped roles/instruments to play a number: Col on drums, Mark on lead vocals, Dom on guitar, Mick on bass, the punters just loved it!! You can see some pictures of the boys looking all mean and moody at Shifnal railway station if you visit the photo gallery on this website.
The Star was run by 'Big' Jim Heath (ex.Clash roadie), and you could tell his passion for punk and new wave by him stocking the Stars jukebox entirely with punk and new wave 45's! Jim wrote for the Sounds music mag, and Sounds printed Jim's 'Real Punk Top 20 Chart' which was based on the most played singles on the Star's jukebox, this showed how popular UXB were at the Star because they were never out of the top 3!!
The 'Real Punk Chart' at the time of the gig was:
1.Circus Games-The Skids
2.Last Night Another Soldier-Angelic Upstarts
3.CRAZY TODAY-UXB
4.King of Kings-The Pack
5.Satellite-Sex Pistols
6.John Wayne-The Dark
7.Banned-The Review
8.Bad Man-Cockney Rejects
9.Police Oppression-Angelic Upstarts
10.Gotta Gettaway-Stiff Little Fingers
11.Transmission-Joy Division
12.Freeze-The Models
13.Bootboys-Slaughter and the Dogs
14.Human Being-The Naked Housewives
15.Little Ole Wine Drinker Me-The Lurkers
16.Ammonia Subway-The Denizens
17.Flying Saucer Attack-The Rezillos
18.C30.C60.C90 Go-Bow Wow Wow
19.Hungry-No Excuse
20.Another Girl, Another Planet-Only Ones.
The support band on the night were "Force 8" which consisted of the one Derek (Dek) Cooper on drums who was also a roadie/sound man to U.X.B. Other members were Dave Moreton (Guitar) and Ian McDonald (Mac) (Bass). The audience really enjoyed the music which was a post-punk doom-leaden mix with techno reggae!! The songs that stood out were - Asphalt Jungle, Jah Lion and Shoot The President. The only problem was that 'Mac' had decided to make a fashion statement by wearing an artic commando ski suit which was slightly too large for him, so it made him look like an anorexic action man!! To say he got heckled is an understatement! I think this was all to much for Dave Moreton, who was to emigrate to Australia shortly afterwards!!
Then on came the headliners, UXB. Ironically I think that this was one the best gigs they ever did despite it being their last; it was a blistering set from start to finish. From the first number Go! the audience never stopped dancing. The set consisted of such classics as Moods, In the Q and Imagination through to the smooth reggae beat of 2 Steps. From the first notes of the single Crazy Today the band went white hot, with Mr Fixit and Rather Stay In Bed coming next, then finishing with Lifetime In Jail. The punters should have been exhausted but no they howled for more, and UXB came back to do Over The Wall as an encore, what a fanastic gig! But then it was over...........or was it??
A NEW BEGINNING
On August 20th 1999 I received a letter from a record company called Detour Records, stating they had just bought a copy of Crazy Today along with a copy of the fanzine 'Bang', hence finding my address, and that they wanted to put Crazy Today on a complilation LP/CD of various punk bands from 1977-82. They also stated that there was interest in the band from Japan!! After reading the letter several more times making sure that someone wasn't taking the proverbial 'PISS', it looked legitimate, but deciding even if it wasn't it would be great to get UXB back together.
I sat down with a note pad and pen and started writing down the band members names, and that was it! I didn't know where they were or what they were doing, I hadn't been in contact with the band for about 18 years! I mean what had happened to them? Could one of them be abducted by aliens? Or transported to Australia for sheep rustling (I said sheep rustling!), or become a monk? (I don't think so!!) or even gone to that great gig in the sky?
I remembered that Col used to work for a telecom company, and I knew someone who worked for the same company (thanks Baz), he said he would try and contact Col. Sure enough Col contacted me after a few days and it was great to talk to him after so many years. I told him why I needed to contact him and, like me, he was very dubious over the letter. However after contacting Dizzy at Detour Records he knew the offer was serious so the other band members were tracked down.
Fate has it that they were all found, and were still living close to the Cannock area, only Pete Higton had left the country to set up business in Tenerife. On September 16th 1999 at the White Hart pub in Cannock, Dom, Col, Mark and Mick, plus Ade (Dom's brother who was also a UXB roadie), Dek and myself met for the first time in 18 years. A great time was had by all, and several memories relived.
The results of the meeting was that UXB signed to Detour Records, with two tracks (Crazy Today and the previously unreleased Over The Wall) appearing on the compilation LP/CD 'Bored Teenagers Volume 2' (available through www.detour-records.co.uk). There is also a possibility of having their own album coming out in the future. In addition, a record company in Japan (1977 Records) are interested in re-releasing Crazy Today in Japan and Asia, with the possibility of doing some gigs in Japan.
UXB are now rehearsing and looking forward to doing some local gigs in the Midlands and hopefully a few in Japan (touch wood!).
So, good luck boys.
K.