20 From '87 (7) Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff 10th January 1987 - TV Smith's Cheap

 

Here they are again the brilliant and criminally overlooked Cheap, former Advert TV Smith's mid to late '80's band. Starting out of the blocks slowly, Cheap's set was based aroud a collection of demos that had built up in the absence of live work. Initially, there was never any looking backwards for Tim, no matter how good the back catalogue was. Certainly The Adverts material was for now out of the question. Contrast that to the situation today where he is able to play anything from his musical past without fear of critisism... even Cheap got a revamp a few years ago!

As I said, some old and not so old demos were dusted down for inclusion in the new band's set. The set was reinforced with a number of tracks that had appeared on 1983's solo effort, 'Channel Five', 'The Suit', 'Burning Rain' and 'A Token Of My Love', whilst a number of tracks appeared that would go onto be lynchpins of a Cheap gig, 'Leisure Time', 'Silicon Valley Holiday' and 'Luxury in Exile' amongst them.

Cheap never enjoyed the success that they so thoroughly deserved and the band split in 1991, seeing Tim play as a solo performer for a number of years. It took a further twenty years or so before Tim felt comfortable performing Adverts and Explorer's material with a full band. And, whilst it is always a pleasure to see him play solo, it is with a band behind him that the full force of the music that he has written over the past four decades comes across best.

Thanks to Peter for this great gig!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-A9BbpJ1XjS

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GjDA7S2PkH

TV Smith Inked

 

'Life's short, don't make a mess of it

To the ends of the earth, you'll look for a sense in it

No chances, no plans

I'll smash the windows of my box, I'll be a madman

It's no time to be twenty-one

To be anyone'

TV Smith (The Adverts/TV Smith's Explorers/Cheap)

Linoprint 30cm x 21cm (A4)

Black ink on cream card.

TV Smith's Cheap The Square Harlow 1989

Here's one from TV Smith's Cheap..... a hugely underrated and much missed combo. They were a band railing against music mediocrity at a time when the British music scene was perhaps at its lowest ebb. Stock, Aitken and Waterman ruled the airwaves and guitars were definitely not the flavour of the month. Just a rubbish time which Cheap lightened a little when they played!

Here they are at a relatively early gig at The Square in Harlow.

FLAC: http://we.tl/7THC8KN54a

01. Third Term
02. The Newshound
03. My String Will Snap
04. Free World
05. Luxury In Exile
06. Silicon Valley Holiday
07. Ghosts
08. Ready For The Axe To Drop
09. Buried By The Machine
10. Lies

TV Smith Mello Mello Liverpool 12th December 2011

Here's a boot I picked up a while back from Dimeadozen.

TV Smith, front man of the wonderful Adverts, is someone I have been following since the late '80's when he was playing in another great band that he'd pulled together that went by the name of Cheap. They were very much underrated and largely ignored by the music journalists (with the exception of the odd insider operating out of the 'Sounds' office).

TV Smith's Cheap at the Bull and Gate, early '90's

(...and there I am... with hair in a Rattus shirt, bottom right)

I recall that I first saw Cheap at the Anglers Retreat in West Drayton. Back then I asked him if he would record the 'Crossing of the Red Sea' album. At that time, I wasn't too sure about the soundness of the only label to have re released the album. Bless him, he agreed to do it for me, but complained that in doing so it would mean that he would be forced to listen to it!

With the passage of another 20 years, clearly his outlook on his earlier band's material has changed somewhat and thankfully so for those of us who are too young to have seen The Adverts when they were together. TV is now content to play these songs once more and having seen him do it in London, there is no doubting that this is not a nostalgia trip, he still means it maaan!

So enjoy this great gig from just under a year ago.

TV Smith in 2011.... he's still angry!

 

FLAC: http://rapidshare.com/files/1126774149/TVSmith121211FLAC.zip

MP3: http://rapidshare.com/files/1455919944/TVSmith121211MP3.zip

Artwork: http://rapidshare.com/files/1620468789/TVSmith121211AW.zip

 

TV Smith Wasted Festival 13th August 2006

As promised, in response to the excellent TV Smith related posts that have appeared on the 'Music Ruined My Life' blog, here is a more recent solo set from Tim, recorded at the prestigious UK punk festival 'Wasted'.

This is a nice sounding set of material that spans his long career from The Adverts to solo artist (even with a bit of Cheap in there!).

FLAC: https://rapidshare.com/files/3253562918/tvsmith130806FLAC.zip

MP3: https://rapidshare.com/files/911055913/tvsmith130806MP3.zip

Artwork: https://rapidshare.com/files/658015739/tvsmith130806AW.zip

01. Ready For The Axe To Drop    
02. Safety In Numbers    
03. What If?    
04. The Future Used To Be Better    
05. You Saved My Life Then Ruined It    
06. Only One Flavour    
07. Bring The Bull Down    
08. Immortal Rich    
09. My Place    
10. Bombsite Boy    
11. Gary Gilmore's Eyes    
12. Bored Teenagers    
13. One Chord Wonders    
14. Good Times Are Back

'My Place'

TV Smith with Garden Gang

Wasted Festival, Blackpool August 2006

Cheap TV Smith's Forgotten Band

In the late '80s/early '90s I spent much of my time pouring over chemistry text books and trying not to injure myself in the laboratories of Brunel University in Uxbridge. On a night either in 1989 or 1990 I was told that TV Smith was playing a gig down the road at The Angler's Retreat in West Drayton. I was familiar with The Adverts and their 'Crossing The Red Sea' album at that point, but realised that the chances of hearing any of that stuff was slim. Nevertheless, here was a bit of authentic British punk of a '77 vintage, so I was up for it.

TV was playing with his band Cheap on the night. It was low key but something clicked for me and I was bowled over by the sound and visual impact that the band and TV had on me (it is worth noting that TV is one for the high kick and it's fair to say that in comparison John Cooper Clarke has the pins of a rugby prop!).

This was the start of a period where Gunta and I saw Cheap as often as our resources would allow.

A typical night out with Cheap would run something like this. Enter a packed back room of a pub (looks promising), support band play an indie flavoured set to a receptive audience (this could be a good gig), support band pack up and take their gear and most of the audience with them out of the venue (large proportions of the audiences were invariably mates of the support bands and for whatever reason rarely stayed for the headline act). Cheap take to the stage to a handful of enthusiastic fans in a large empty room.... meanwhile Andy Peart continues to peddle his 'So What' fanzine with ever diminishing returns by the exit! And so it was at nearly every gig at which I saw them play, which was a real shame as they were very, very good.*

'That's me in the corner'

At The Bull & Gate, Kentish Town 1990

Here's a good example of a Cheap 'mosh pit'. Gunta and I offer our unconditional and uncoordinated support for the band at an AIDS awareness festival that took place at Fountains Mill in Uxbridge on 27th July 1990.

* They even got a 'Single of the Week' in UK music weekly 'Sounds' for the brilliant and unfortunately prophetic 'Third Term'. At the time there was some scurrilous talk of it being an inside job.... but I'm having none of it!

Flyer for 'Third Term'

Ok, so some music is in order. Here is a recording, again from Uxbridge, but one I was not at for some reason (although looking at the date, I was probably back in Sussex for Christmas). Thanks to the original uploader. I have retained this in MP3 format as per the download I have.

Uxbridge Football Club 22nd December 1990

MP3: https://rapidshare.com/files/3438134660/dge_Football_Club__Uxbridge_England_12-22-90.rar

01. Cheap
02. The Newshound
03. My String Will Snap
04. Luxury In Exile
05. Free World
06. Silicon Valley Holiday
07. Leisure Time
08. Ghosts
09. Buried By The Machine
10. Ready For The Axe To Drop
11. New Ways Are Best
12. 3rd Term
Playing that night as well were The Price, local lads playing music in much the same vein as Tim and Cheap. Leigh Heggarty from The Price is still very busy, working with a number of other bands and musicians (including TV  Smith), but most importantly right now (at least in my opinion) Ruts DC. Please take a look at Leigh's 'World of Guitars' blog and wonder at the lengths he will go to to avoid getting a normal job!

MP3: https://rapidshare.com/files/3635886464/ice_-_Uxbridge_FC__Uxbridge_England_12-22-90.rar

01. Between The Lines
02. Was It You
03. Audacity
04. Getting Us Nowhere
05. Close The Curtains
06. Standing In Your Way
07. Jodie
08. Too Many People
09. What About Love
10. Shattered Life
11. Changing Places
12. This One
13. You Say You Don't Love Me [Buzzcocks]
14. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow [Shirelles]

As a footnote, it was at a Price reunion gig at the same 'Angler's Retreat' pub in 2008/9? that I was reacquainted with some old friends from my time in the Uxbridge/Hayes area... and happily, this time around we have been better at staying in touch...... The Price, bringing people together through punk rock!

The Price

The Angler's Retreat, West Drayton late '80s