Sept 28. This is the next BIG Ska happening folks. Stranger & Patsy at the 100 Club on 22nd November. And if you don't know who Stranger is you're not really much of a Ska fan... Don't miss this rare chance to see the Jamaican legends, backed by original, authentic rocksteady masters, the Paradimes, with the Club Ska Sound System DJs (ReggaeMattic, Phil Enthucol and Andy Attic) spinning platters. Online tickets available from wegottickets.com and stargreen.com
Sept 27. Fat Col is calling on our army of readers to either PICKET or BOYCOTT the big Bootleg Ball being held at Bognor Regis next month. Why so? "They are all effing cover bands," he fumes. "Like effing Green Date, Bootleg Blondie and the Antarctic Monkeys. It's a travesty. Cover bands are putting proper bands out of business." But didn't you go and see the Small Fakers earlier this month, we ask? "Erh, yeah," he replies. "But they're quality." Oaf.
Whatever happened to Gonads tribute band the Gomads? Anyone know? We heard they drew bigger crowds than we do.
Butlins events that even Fat Col approves of are Madness's House of Fun weekender at Minehead in November and the Great British Alternative Music Fest at Skeggy (with Damned, Bad Manners, Boomtown Rats, ATV, Anti-Pasti etc) next month.
It's re-release week on the classic albums front, with fresh vinyl version of The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette (Drastic Plastic), Rancid's Rancid (Hellcat, limited edition colour vinyl) and Slaughter & The Dogs' Do It Dog Style (on Taang) all out for your delight and edification.
Reminder! This time next week, it's...
Sept 25. Gal's new podcast is up and running here with a studio session from Buster Shuffle and hot tracks from 1 Eye, The Q, The Wrath, The Courtesans, No Resistance, Blackwolf, Supertonic Sound Club, Iaeshaa, the Riders Of The Night, DDC, The Antagonizers ATL, the Damned Vandals, Edelweiss and young English upstarts, The Fallen who have their say on the West Lothian question with a song that might sound familiar to a few of you. The Fallen are releasing 'Line In The Sand' in December...
Also available now: the audio-book version of Gal's pulp fiction novel Facedown. Audio books of The Face and Two-Faced will follow next year. Here's the link.
Sept 24. Random news: sadly Malcolm Young won't be rejoining AC/DC... The Levellers have teamed up with Frank Turner to record a new version of 'Julie' for their soon-come greatest hits double album... Southend indie rockers The Horrors have hit out at the 'Labour' Party for playing their song 'I See You' at conference. Keyboardist Tom Cowan tweeted 'For fuck's sake' and 'Leave it out, Ed.' We were hoping the two Eds would come on to Suburban Rebels.
Sept 23. Good news! The new SkaNads seven inch will be released in the first week of October by Randale Records. It's a split single with Girls Next Door that couples The SkaNads' 'Rude Boy's On The Rise' with 'Too Late' by GND. 'Too Late' is an extremely rare track by the South London women who have been described as "a female Madness"; it's also the first ever recording by last year's X Factor winner Sam Bailey.
Sept 22. The Gonads today officially add our weight to the campaign for an English Parliament. Our spokesman, Fat Col, says: "Calls for an English Parliament have finally gone mainstream but let's not forget that Gal has been arguing for this for at least ten years." He adds, off his own back, "The real battle though is for a new Federal UK of freedom and fairness, so our message for Brussels is F.U. K. – O.F.F." How pleasant.
Sparrer and SLF played Chicago the other day and as good as these veterans were, a lot of people are talking about the hard-hitting US Oi band Victory who opened the show. Now signed to Oi The Boat, Victory are from the Midwest and are made up of former and current members of the Subversives, Eightysixed, The Virgin Whores and Pist & Broke. They tell us their songs are based on the experiences of Afghan war veteran and front man Dan and the band's "struggles with being working class in a crumbling economy."
Sept 21. Gal recorded his latest podcast today with special guests Buster Shuffle and an eclectic mix of sounds ranging from Brummie reggae herberts 1 Eye to the very angry Antagonizers from Atlanta, Georgia. Other featured bands include the Riders Of The Night, The Wrath, The Q, Blackwolf, The Courtesans and more who we'll announce in full when the pod is up and running later this week. In a related story Carrie Griffiths is co-writing new song 'Bermondsey Cocktail' for Gal's solo album next year and will also be taking part in a yard of ale challenge at the next big Street Sounds event in a couple of months time.
Buster Shuffle: Carrie, Jet and Jimmy. Wot? No Debz?
Sept 20. Seen at tonight's Buster Shuffle album launch party in Camden, England legend Peter Crouch dancing through the entire set... and also towering over the crowd like a tipsy giraffe...
Talk about lowering the tone, Emma and Tiffany a couple of self-styled Gonads groupies from way back turned up at a photo session organised by Fat Col for the next album in Lewisham today. They were making such a racket that nothing was getting done. "Shhh," said Em eventually. "Col is trying to focus." "What," replied Tiff. "Both of us?" She then leered coquettishly at Gannon who made his excuses and left.
*Rhoda Dakar tells us that contrary to rumour, she is NOT re-forming her seminal 2-Tone band The Bodysnatchers. She is however recording an album of unreleased Bodysnatchers' songs, many perhaps as cheerful as 'The Boiler'. And if you want to make that happen you can pledge towards it here. Rhoda has already got 86 per cent of the dosh, and plans to launch the platter at an exclusive 'Rhoda Dakar sings The Bodysnatchers' show at Camden Town's legendary Jazz Cafe on Halloween (Friday 31st October). The seven piece all-girl group never released an album back in the day, and did a lot of covers, but clearly they'd been writing new material before their split in 1981. Most of them went on to become the Belle Stars which is when our mate Jennie enters the story and the big bouncy hits start rolling in.
Sept 16. Saturday night in London town is busier than a one-legged man in a forest fire. You've got Buster Shuffle's album launch at the Jazz Café in Camden; The Uppercuts are playing with Pope at the 12 Bar in Denmark Street, while The Phobics from Deptford play the Shacklewell Arms in Hackney, along with The Homosexuals and the Featherz. Alternatively Dale Winton's on the telly.
Random news: tickets for November's Cockney Rejects + Argy Bargy O2 Academy
show are on sale here... Evil
Conduct's new album, Today's Rebellion is released on 1st October on Randale
in Europe and Six Feet Under in the USA... New York hc legends Sick Of It All
are streaming new song 'DNC (Do Not Comply)' from their latest album, The
Last Act Of Defiance (due out at the end of the month)...
It's the big question of the week, and every other week: what exactly will Gal's long-awaited solo project sound like? Could the picture on the right possibly be a clue? (I doubt it - weary Ed). Other questions include: is he dyeing his hair (again)? Isn't Fat Col normally the one of the fiddle? And isn't that showbiz legend Joe Longthorne with the squeezebox?
BTW, a list of prominent punks and herberts partial to a drop of Just For Men hair dye will be published here unless the usual consideration is forthcoming. You know who you are. You know what to do. Cash only.
Pranksters announcement (advertisement): please welcome our latest recruits: Norman 'Mr Spoons' Stirrer (Sidcup & Old Bexley), Lyndsey Lustall (Fanny Barks, Durham), Ranting Sean Forgan ("he's always right", Mottingham), Connie Macready (Juggs Close, East Sussex), Sid The Lip (rejoined) – keeper of the goat, Billy Muffet (Likar Moor, Northumberland), Georgie Lashwood (Birmingham), Vic Valenti (Dollis Hill, formerly of Italy's feared Giocatori Umoristici), Petrina McGoblin (Little Horwood, Bucks), and Harry Relph (Cudham, Kent). For ad rates, see your Tyler.
Sept 13. These fine metallic Buckfast badges are being sold in Oi Oi The Shop, in Camden – all the proceeds will go to the family of the late, great Buckfast enthusiast Colin Mcquillan of Runnin’ Riot. Another good reason to visit Oi Oi The Shop, London’s premier oi emporium.
Sept 9. We're back, bitches, and we've brought you news of an early
Christmas present: the Bootboy Xmas Knees-Up hits the 100 Club on Friday
19th December, with the Last Resort, Infa Riot, The Pukes, Hazard and Knock
Off. It's also likely to feature our own Fat Col in the prestigious role of
'first drunken prick getting slung out by the bouncers'. All for £16.50 in
advance - a John King/Human Punk Promotion. Good tidings of comfort and
Oi!
The Gonads' England song 'A Line In The Sand' is rebooted here by Kid Punk's new band The Fallen.
Random guff: Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina of Pussy Riot have formed a news service called Mediazona focusing on abuses by the Russian prison system... Bruce Springsteen is to play a mortuary boss in the Norwegian gangster series Lilyhammer, which already stars Stevie Zan Vandt as fictional New York mobster, Frank 'The Fixer' Tagliano... Out now. Noi!se's debut album THE SCARS WE HIDE on CD & vinyl from Randale Records. Produced by some geezer called Lars Frederiksen...
