Our first gig at the legendary punk club The Sandpiper, Nottingham, on Friday 13th, 1978. Sonically reflecting my roots in a Stooges and Velvet Underground covers band (unfortunately unrecorded but led to Andrew Dickinson wanting to join on bass) with the addition of guitarist Andrew Turnbull, a Dire Straits aficionado who lived above me.
A swap of musical influences birthed a transformation. I handed him the New York Dolls ‘first album and said, “Play like this.” And play he did. His strings wail like Johnny Thunders at his finest, and you can feel the electricity.
Lyrics and vocals from the soon-to-be-famous Rick Elgood, who would later make his mark in filmmaking. You might know him from “One Love” (2003) and “Dancehall Queen” (1997). A creative force, he’d later form a video company with Don Letts of Big Audio Dynamite.
Only one rehearsal in the Art Student living room of original bassist Kent Hewitt. Drummer Leon left immediately before the next gig on the 16th and was never seen again, to be replaced by Bob Fawcett of Some Chicken, who just happened to be in the audience. Unpolished, unapologetic.
It’s not the media’s fairy tale; it’s the truth of 1978 Live. The wildness, the imperfections, what it was really like at the time.
Streaming links below:
One Million Fuzztone Guitars / Skin Patrol 