Tag Archives: Skin Patrol

Rock Section Stories: Insight into the ‘Department Store of the Soul’

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Department Store of the Soul: Rock Section and Other Stories Kindle Edition

by Robert William Courtney (Author)  Format: Kindle Edition

The Legend of Rock Section is the mythic thread woven through The Department Store of the Soul, part alter ego, part spiritual archetype, part cosmic prank. Born from a psychic séance where the spirit of Jim Morrison allegedly dictated a song—“Rock Section”—to a group of young seekers, he emerged not just as a band name or song title, but as an encoded identity. A one-man revolution hidden in plain sight. A psychic download. A mystery school in a guitar riff.

Rock Section is the eternal outsider, forged in a cauldron of broken dreams, creative betrayal, and buried power. He disappears when wounded, retreats into myth, then resurfaces years later when the stars realign—namely, during the spiritual liberation of 2020, when time stopped and everything false burned away. He lives at the intersection of shamanism, glam punk, psychic rebellion, and esoteric truth.

He is the man who can walk through fire because he remembers he is the fire. The silent witness at your most transformative moment. The spirit that never dies, just reincarnates through melody, word, and spark. He is the part of you that refuses to give in to mediocrity. And when you’re ready to return to the truth of who you are, he’s already there—waiting with a leather jacket, a battered notebook, and the next verse of your life’s song.

Rock Section isn’t just a legend. He’s a code in your soul, waiting to be activated.

Department Store of the Soul (Rock Section and other stories)

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Find out about my new book, Department Store of the Soul, watch or listen to the interview, and read an excerpt here at Enlighten Elevate Summit. Free access today only! Don’t miss it, time is running out, less than 24 hours left!

“Have you seen Robert Courtney’s session…. Threads weaving through life ❤️💛💚 and VIP Members get his amazing Manhattanhenge Meditative Experience 🤩. It’s a bonus replay day, so you can still join us for free” https://EnlightenElevate.com/

Dead Time (Live)

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Dead Time (Live) by Skin Patrol

Supercharged, dynamic, Punk, Funk, Rockabilly Agitpop from Skin Patrol in 1980, restored and remastered from a PA desk mix cassette. The Ajanta Cinema put on many punk and post-punk bands at the time, including Joy Division, Psychedelic Furs, Crass and Throbbing Gristle, all bands we loved. It closed after one particularly riotous gig where the seats were ripped out and thrown on stage, not us, honestly.

Link to all streaming sites: https://linktr.ee/omftgsp

Skin Patrol Live at The Ajanta Cinema, 1980

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Recorded live (desk mix) at the Ajanta Cinema, Derby, in 1980, this legendary gig captures this period of Skin Patrol at their best. On the bill with Anti-Pasti, the audience didn’t quite get what they were expecting, hit with a potent mix of funk, punk, and agitpop via Captain Beefheart, The Doors and The Pop Group. The select few of the audience who knew what they were in for loved it. The majority waiting for identikit punk loathed it; they hated us in silence (mostly), and we hated them. The perfect gig at that time.

We Want Our Apocalypse Now (Remix) [Radio Edit]

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Inspired by working on Paris Fashion Shows and the book ‘The Beautiful Fall’ about the 

rivalries and excess that left Rock and Roll standing, this truly genius remix by Ghost Flu Studios finally got the 46 tracks of the original to hang together and turn into the rock classic it was always threatening to be. “The first Roxy Music album meets Bowies Heroes, and then Steve Jones walks into the studio for the chorus; you certainly know how to create a stunning dynamic”.  

“Wow, the end product is very professional! It’s become quite an amazing track. Very surprising!” AQ

“I’m a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, and I think I can hear their influence in this track with the electronic style drums/drum patterns blended with rock/metal guitar flavours. Very, very cool.” LK

“Love the pool of influences, man, especially the first Roxy Music album. Remake/Remodel is absolutely genius, and I’m a huge fan of all things Brian Eno”. LK

Streaming links below:

https://linktr.ee/omftgsp

Skin Patrol – ‘Live 1978’

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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:

https://linktr.ee/omftgsp

It’s A Soul Life

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“It’s a Soul Life” embodies the desire to revisit the purity of our inception, Skin Patrol emerged from a love of nihilistic minimalism of The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, One Million Fuzztone Guitars from the confrontational drum-machine beats of early Suicide and Throbbing Gristle, and the DIY synth-world of SoftCell. The song was captured in one unrehearsed seamless live take and later polished with a touch of finesse for the official release, although it remained remarkably powerful right from the raw essence of the original composition featuring the SR18 Drum Machine and Stylophone. The song’s message centres around returning to fundamentals and embracing positivity amidst the chaos of the present times, representing a back-to-basics approach in its message. We love basic!

Streaming links below:

https://linktr.ee/omftgsp

5EXYA55USA

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5EXYA55USA, by One Million Fuzztone Guitars and Skin Patrol. Inspired by a news story a few years back, some of the young and rich in a country in the Middle East had found that if they translated their number plates into English (allowed), they came up with outrageous slogans. Since removed, it may have been a prank, but the song was born by then and not about to go away as it resonated with our humorous sensibilities. The title of this song is one such: forget sad vanity personalised number plates; this is an uptempo, Euro-Disco, Italo-House inspired, synth-drenched, fuzzed-up, indie disco revolution!

Streaming links below:

https://linktr.ee/omftgsp