Kick Out! - The Story Of The Newtown Neurotics

 

Well, better late than never as we British are wont to say. Has it been three years already. Well never mind, the date is now rescheduled and the long anticipated Neurotics film 'Kick Out!' will get its premier at last at that London 'punk Mecca', the 100 Club (who needs Cannes?).

Ticket options, '£20 seated/£15 standing (Limited availability)'. That last bit on any ticket website never fails to induce in me a mild sense of panic. And what to do? What's the right option, to sit? It's a long evening with a film, a Q&A and a live performance. But to sit at a gig is an anathema to me. In the end I plumped for a standing ticket, reasoning that if I were seated my 54 year old bladder will let me down and I will disturb other seated punters on several occasions in the course of the evening's entertainment. Whatever, I am in.

The Newtown Neurotics/Neurotics have occupied a big place in my heart for 40 years now. I have stated on numerous occasions on these pages that my political awakening was down to two main things, The Miner's Strike and Spitting Image. For 12 long months over 1984-1985 Britain witnessed its harshest industrial dispute, a vicious fight between the trade unions and the government of the day. In that time invariably the evening news would lead with the latest in the strike. As the weeks went by the level of violence escalated and pitch bloody battles became common between police and miners. At this time, bands did there bit, all around the country benefit gigs were played and records released. The Neurotics were very much part of this. The track 'The Mind Of Valerie' from the 1985 album 'Repercussions' which concerns the impact of the strike on miners and their families who endured the strike, takes me straight back to that time.

With their uncompromising left wing and antifascist stance it is far to say that they drew in a fair elements intent on breaking up gigs (The Richmond in Brighton being a nasty one!). Thankfully, live I missed most of that and there were some great gigs indeed, particularly the farewell gig at the Fulham Greyhound in 1988. 

Seven years later, I got a job in Harlow (home town of the band) and moved to Bishops Stortford next door. That brought me closer to the band even though they were at that time no more. Steve Drewett would often be in The Square (surely one of the greatest and most lamented venues in the south) when I was there for gigs. It was interest in the Stortbeat label (a late '70's independent label that hosted bands from the Harlow and Bishop Stortford area) that culminated in a brilliant 2005 compilation, that brought the Newtown Neurotics back.

Since that time they have played regularly including prestigious gigs such as Rebellion. And last year they released a new album 'Cognitive Dissidents', their first new material since 1988.

It should be a great night, especially since there battle cry of 'Kick Out The Tories' is perhaps closer to realisation than is has been for many years.

'Cognitive Dissidents' by The Newtown Neurotics

 

I have often repeated on this site that whilst The Stranglers became the mainstay of my musical listening, my social life and all that that entails, I have always made time for a whole array of bands, most but not all, with a leaning towards punk. Political bands have always been a part of that. I have never subscribed to the view that music and politics don’t mix. Quite the contrary, music is the perfect vehicle for conveying political opinions and ideas… especially to those newly eligible to vote or those for whom this right is almost upon them. Politics is part of our lives, whether we like it or not, it defines how we are able to live.

In the early to mid 80’s, The Stranglers may have enjoyed the most hours on the turntable in my bedroom, but bands like Crass, Conflict and The Newtown Neurotics were not so far behind. Of the last three, they were all clearly overtly political! Crass and Conflict introduced me to many new ideas, some of which still resonate with me 35 years on, but the ballot box approach always seemed to me to be the way to go in my mind. This was especially the case when not so long after my introduction to The Neurotics’ second album ‘Repercussions’ I would spend my evenings in front of the evening news on TV watching shocking scenes that were being played out in the North of England and the Midlands as miners fought with police in our colliery towns during the Miners Strike of ’84-’85.

Gigs in Brighton followed before I was lucky enough to see the band’s ‘final’ performances at the Electric Ballroom and the Fulham Greyhound in 1988.

All went quiet until 2005 when an interest in an old independent punk label, Stortbeat (a label that put out material by bands hailing from the Harlow and Bishops Stortford area). Incidentally, Bishops Stortford has been my ‘home town’ for the past 27 years. A rather splendid compilation CD of the label’s output also encouraged many of the musicians that were involved in the label to reconnect as ‘The Stortbeat Collective’. This in turn seemed to reactivate the Newtown Neurotics a couple of years later as they  played some stunning gigs which for me rekindled that initial buzz that I associate with the term ‘Agitate, Educate and Organise’. 

However, no new material has been forthcoming from the band since 1988’s ‘Is Your Bathroom Breeding Bolshevicks?’. Until now.

‘Cognitive Dissidents’ to my ears picks up where ‘Repercussions’ left off (‘Is Your Bathroom Breeding Bolshevicks?’ was a rather more reflective album). The new album takes on familiar themes from the very local (’Take Your Dirty Hands Off Our Town’) to truly global issues (‘Climate Emergency’). The latter track needs no explanation whereas perhaps the former does. The town is Harlow, a first wave new town created in 1948 under the provisions of the New Town Act 1946. The Luftwaffe had started a job of East End slum clearance that the then London authorities capitalized on, demolishing the rest and creating new environments for displaced Londoners beyond the inner city. 

Originally greeted with great enthusiasm (who wouldn’t be thrilled at the idea of an inside loo!) the new town concept in time fell out of favour. I have worked in Harlow for the last 29 years, but it is not for me to opine about the pros and cons of Harlow. I leave that to Steve Drewett, who by his own admission is around the same age as the town that he has spent his life in. In this song, a love song to the town, he traces his love hate relationship with Harlow which culminates in a fierce pride for the place. Quite a contrast to the sentiments of ‘Newtown People’ from 40 years ago. Then again, I guess that any town with a venue as brilliant at The Square will always have something to shout about…. Don’t get me started on the travesty of the Square’s closure!

‘Liar Liar’, an in your face appraisal of the personal qualities of the now twice former Prime Minister is not my favourite track on the album, although I am fully behind the meaning of the song with its appraisal of the immorality and integrity of Boris Johnson. I wonder whether when the band recorded the track, just a few short months ago, they realized that by the time the track was released on the album the song would be out of date to the tune of not one but two Prime Ministers!!

One of the most pointed tracks on the album is ‘Dumb’. It is a bitter ode to this new, technology enabled, breed of keyboard warriors, those who invest so much time propagating madcap conspiracy theories about how we are all being controlled from on high. Just for the record I am fully vaccinated and if Bill Gates intended to track my every move via a smart implant he will have figured out by now the revolution is not being plotted nightly in the Castle Inn in Bishops Stortford! Sorry to be a frightful bore Mr Gates!

‘We’re dumb, you’re wrong

Embrace your conspirituality!’

The song reminds me of an earlier track ‘Sects’…

‘I have come to the conclusion

That if you refuse the transfusion

Then you’re certainly insane

To cause so much suffering and pain’

As I write this in November 2022, two days after Gavin Williamson reluctantly resigned in the wake of accusations that he had told a member of his ministerial staff to ‘slit his throat’ I am absolutely despondent as to how fractured we are as a country and a Kingdom.

The Newtown Neurotics may not have all of the answers to all of these big issues but I am more than happy ‘To Stand With Them’ whilst we try to figure a way through the bloody mess.

The Newtown Neurotics play the Lexington on Pentonville Road, London on 22nd November…. I’ll see you there.

Do They Owe Us A Living? The Anarcho Scene

 

Back in the early '80's, amongst those with something more than a passing interest in music, the black and white double headed serpent that formed the Crass logo was almost as ubiquitous, but a little way short of the black and white Madness 'M'. However, whilst Madness were a media friendly, hail fellow well met ensemble, Crass certainly were not. 

Within and yet without the punk scene, Crass set a new course for what could be, fiercely independent they sought a means by which the better ideas of the punk train of thought could be harnessed. Records were produced with 'Pay no more than' instructions printed on sleeves that offered affordable product to fans that were suffering under the very same Government policies that the band were railing against. Such stated pricing instructions prevented subsequent mark up by retailers. A master stroke.

Personally, I missed the heyday of Crass and was too young to see the band before they fulfilled their stated intention to split in 1984, but I was aware of them in 1983/1984. 

Formed in 1977, Crass took a year or so to find their feet but with their debut on Small Wonder Records, 'The Feeding of the 5,000' they found a ready audience of people appreciative of their no-nonsense approach to punk. Their stripped down, angry roar pinned down by Penny's military drumming brought things back to what appealed too many in '76/early '77. 

Crass's early material took no prisoners and the old guard of Strummer and Rotten were very much in the band's sights. But then again The Clash of '77 that so inspired Steve Ignorant were a very different proposition to the polished outfit that they had become by 1979.

In the period of '78 to '81 they were a continuous thorn in the side of the music business and the music press, who it appeared either hated them or could not fathom them. However, come 1982, the trivia of the music business took a backseat as Crass became a thorn in the side of The Establishment, which was a far bigger deal for all of the band.

At the beginning of April 1982, under the direction of the military Junta then in power, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, two small islands located several hundred miles from the Argentine coast, the sovereignty of which had long been a mater of contention between Argentina and the UK. Three days after the invasion Margaret Thatcher order that a task force be sent down to the South Atlantic to assert British control over the Falklands and South Georgia. The conflict was concluded with the surrender of the Argentine forces, made up to a large extent of young conscripts, within 10 weeks, but the sacrifice was significant and bloody. 649 Argentine and 255 British soldiers died in the fighting. 

In April 1982, I was 13 and this was the first time in my lifetime that the UK had been involved in a war (Northern Ireland was something rather different to this, at least in terms of how I perceived it) and the images being served up on the evening news throughout those 10 weeks of Spring was truly shocking! As was the nasty, jingoistic reportage served up by the British gutter press, best exemplified by the 'Gotcha' headline that accompanied The Sun newspaper's reporting of the sinking of the Argentine vessel, ARA General Belgrano, on 2nd May with the loss of 323 crew. Misplaced patriotism quickly evaporated just two days later when HMS Sheffield was sunk with the loss of 20 crew, the first of six British vessels lost in the conflict.

Not intending to get bogged down in the details of the war, it is the impression that it made on me that is important here. Crass were equally perturbed by the events of that 1982 Spring, releasing two singles that were highly critical of the role that Margaret Thatcher and her Government in their handling of a diplomatic situation that escalated into a bloody conflict with remarkable rapidity.

At this juncture I would just like to add that I know several veterans of the conflict and and have the greatest respect for what they did and the sacrifices that they made as members of the Armed Forces. But I do think that there is a case to answer as to why it turned out as it did. 

Crass's response was to release two singles, 'Sheep Farming In The Falklands' and 'How Does It Feel To Be The Mother Of A Thousand Dead'.

The latter single was discussed in the House and led to legal action being taken against the band (that was ultimately unsuccessful).

So, back in my world in 1983, in our small school in Lewes, East Sussex, as a one-off as part our twice weekly music lessons, we were invited to share some of our own musical tastes with the wider class. I guess it may have been an end of term thing since every other lesson involved 'appreciation' of various turgid pieces of classical music that were never going to appeal to a teenage boy! (but now appreciated by this near 52 year old!). The teacher was reminiscent of Hyacinth Bucket in her carriage and she manfully (or womanfully) endured during this particular lesson the strains of Bon Scott, Depeche Mode  and yes, probably Madness. My choice was my newly acquired copy of 'Sheep Farming In The Falklands'.....

'Sheep farming in the Falklands, re-arming in the fucklands

Fucking sheep in the homelan.........'

Was just about as far as it got! Were it not for Steve Ignorant's machine gun rapid delivery it wouldn't have even got that far. I was out of the class and directed towards the headmaster's office.

From what I remember of my motives on that day over 40 years ago, I am sure that there was an element of mischief involved, but at the same time the very fact that I was in possession of a Crass record meant that I was starting to form independent opinions of the things that were happening in the world around me. And what a time it was for a political awakening. The Cold War was in one of it's chillier periods, the deployment of Cruise missiles at Greenham Common air base was under dramatic opposition, the IRA were very active in England, most notably with the Harrods bombing of 1983 and the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, not 10 miles from me at the time (Burgess Hill) .... and if that wasn't enough, there was the Miner's Strike.

All of this political and industrial turmoil had, for me, in the background a brilliant soundtrack, from Crass, to Billy Bragg to the Neurotics, whose remarkable album 'Repercussions' addressed in song both the Falklands Conflict and The Miner's Strike! 

I saw the Neurotics shortly after the collapse of the Miner's Strike, but was too late for Crass. Nevertheless, the so called anarcho-punk scene did continue after the demise of Crass. And in that sense, Brighton was a good place to be as the Richmond Hotel (now sadly a gastropub I believe) was a regular host for the bands lumped in with that scene. They all played there but I was only lucky enough to see a few, Antisect, Subhumans and Conflict. 

Perhaps more than any of the other bands on the scene it was Conflict who picked up the Crass baton and ran with it. Crass somewhat took Conflict under their wing for a time and certainly for Steve Ignorant they struck a chord, he joined the band for several years. 

I was at the Conflict headed 'Gathering of the 5000' gig at Brixton Academy in April 1987, a well intentioned, but ultimately a nasty, ill-tempered affair that saw a complete ban on Conflict that applied across the UK. I posted on that gig here.

Leaving Sussex in the late 80's and moving to Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire, via London, I again felt the draw of that anarcho scene, not least because the second most famous band, after Shakatak, to hail from Bishops Stortford are Flux of Pink Indians, formerly The Epileptics, formally The Licks. Moreover, Crass were only a few miles down the road in the Dial House in Epping Forest. The like minded people in the town that I met had all seen Crass and Flux at the Triad Centre in town.... of course they fucking had! The bastards.

Benefit gig for the Triad Centre, Bishops Stortford, 1979.

1980 flyer.

Oh, it was all happening back in the  day in Bishops Stortford, there was also a related record label 'Stortbeat' but that's another story for another day and another post.

Post Crass, the many members have gone on to pursue their own specific interests be it graphic art, poetry, spoken word or a continuation in music. Steve, as previously mentioned, joined the ranks of Conflict for a while before forming the Stratford Mercenaries. Collaboration with Paranoid Visions followed, not to mention a stint as a crew member with the Sea Palling independent Life Boat, before the current and rather good, Slice of Life. Sadly, Steve's 'Ignorant Tour' has been the subject of several COVID-19 related postponements, now out to 2022! But again, it is a tour of Crass material, another potent reminder of that band's influence on the music and politics of a generation!

Love them or loathe them, Crass and the bands that formed part of that particular DIY scene, in the same way that Billy Bragg and The Newtown Neurotics did, engaged youth to take an interest in politics. At the end of the day whether you are left wing, right wing or an anarchist, there is no escaping politics so get involved, for or against, but be never indifferent.

Not Crass, but on theme and I am sure a sentiment that Crass would concur with, The Newtown Neurotics comment on politics in their 'Get Up & Fight' sums it all up rather nicely:

'You say politics are boring, boring and grey

But would you rather see cruise brighten everyone's day?'

Over the next week I will be posting a number of anarcho gigs and articles.

The Neurotics The Square Harlow 10th September 1988

 

The Stranglers may have dictated the way I dressed back in the '80's but this band informed my thoughts on politics (dictated being the wrong word here). I have for sure said it on this site before that it was Spitting Image (the first incarnation) and the Miner's Strike that hammered home the message into my 16 year old brain that politics matter. Whether you like politicians and the wily ways of those same politicians or not, they make decisions that affect your lives for good or bad. No one can afford to let our political leaders ride roughshod over the things that are important in our lives.... and that is true whether you are coming from the perspective of the left or right.

The Newtown Neurotics come/came from Harlow in Essex, the town where I have worked for 18 of the last 26 years. These days they only play a handful of gigs a year. Things have moved on, sadly bass player Colin died a few years ago, drummer Simon lives in Brighton, so its just Steve that can be seen on occasion in Harlow Town in his distinctive shades. 

Back in the late summer of '88, The Neurotics (by that time) had released their final album, the brilliant 'Is Your Washroom Breeding Bolsheviks?', but by that time the end was in sight. Colin Dredd left the band for health reasons leaving the band with just a handful of gigs left to play before they called time. 

I was lucky enough to see a couple of those swansong gigs, an anti-fascist gig at the Electric Ballroom as well as the last gig at the Fulham Greyhound on 29th October 1988. That gig was amazing, but this is the one that I really would have wanted to be at. The farewell to Harlow on 10th September 1988 with a marathon 37 song set.

Here the venue is as important as the band. The Square was an oasis in an otherwise drab new town, and I am not running Harlow down here it's just that that venue was so very special to musicians and punters alike. The land is owned by the NHS and time was called on the contract several years ago. The venue stood vacant for a year or so before being demolished. The plot has subsequently been fenced off for almost three years now... to what end? If no plans existed for the land at the time of the enforced closure why on earth could it not have been allowed to stay open! Rant over.

Anyway, here is what must be one of the best Neurotics gigs ever.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-OVjhOxhwUa

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-6tWu9O9kYk

01. Wake Up

02. Sects

03. Never Hold Your Tongue

04. Oh No!

05. Airstrip One

06. Fighting Times

07. Bored Policemen

08. Local News

09. Agony

10. No Sanctuary

11. Life In Their Hands

12. My Death

13. No Respect

14. Inch Away

01. Angela

02. You Must Be Mad

03. The Mess

04. This Fragile Life

05. The Mind Of Valerie

06. Mindless Violence

07. Hypocrite

08. Never Thought

09. Suzi Is A Heartbreaker

10. Keep The Faith

11. Screaming

12. If Only

01. Afrika

02. Winds Of Change

03. Take Strike Action

04. Newtown People

05. When The Oil Runs Out

06. Stand By Me

07. Living With Unemployment

08. You Said No

09. I Fought The Law

10. Blitzkrieg Bop

11. Kick Out The Tories

Contemporary article from our then local newspaper The Observer (18th August 1988)

Kick Out! The Newtown Neurotics Story

Ticket booked! A culmination of 35 years of listening to this great band...... it's just sad to see that the inequalities of the mid-80's were never resolved...... if anything the gulf is wider than before.

This band, the Miners Strike and Spitting Image, in that order, served as my early political education.

We have a momentous political event on the immediate horizon. I don't care which way you vote (he bravely lied :)).... just don't waste the opportunity!

Barnstormer 1649 and The Newtown Neurotics Dublin Castle London 8th March 2019

Partners in Crime, Attila The Stockbroker and Steve Drewett

(Dublin Castle, Camden 8th March 2019).

The first and second week of March were hectic for sure with a work related Eastern European road trip required. This involved five flights over three days. On the Thursday evening when I put my key in the door at midnight I has not particularly savouring the idea of travelling back into London for a gig on the Friday night. But what was on the cards was a rare gig by The Newtown Neurotics no less, supported by Barnstormer 1949, Attila The Stockbroker's medieval folk/punk outfit at one of my favourite London pubs, The Dublin Castle in Camden's Parkway. So, needless to say Gunta and I took the 5.39 from Bishops Stortford gig bound once more.

The Neurotics and Attila have been part of my musical furniture for 36 years now. Three things were responsible for shaping my political view point back in the mid-80's as I approached voting age. These were the miner's strike, The Newtown Neurotics and Spitting Image..... probably in that order. The Neurotics second album 'Repercussions' spoke volumes to me even in the reasonably affluent commuter town of Burgess Hill and had me running for more in the form of the brilliant 'Beggars Can Be Choosers' LP. Now, at that time (as is the case now) Burgess Hill was a very safe Tory seat. My MP back then was Tim Renton, Margaret Thatcher's Chief Whip so when I did first get to vote in the 1987 General Election I could only take comfort in the knowledge that I had cancelled out a Tory vote. I recall nervously going to the Polling Station at St Andrews Church in the town with my mate Adam McCready. At the door we met our first primary school teacher, a Mrs Coveny who was the Conservative Councillor in the ward who said that she hoped that she could rely on the vote of two of her ex-pupils..... well that wasn't going to happen. After the votes were in I remember calculating Adam and I's contribution to the Labour vote in the ward and it was a round number rather than a fraction! Such was the situation in our neck of the woods. So that was the political position in the area but why did the miner's plight mean so much? Let's face it the nearest colliery was in Kent. However, whilst the paternal side of the family were Brighton based the maternal line were from across North Staffordshire and the relatives that I had back then were largely employed either by the North Staffordshire National Coal Board or in a vast array of jobs associated with the pot banks. In the Mid-80's both industries in Staffordshire were feeling the bite of this new way of politics...... so I had an empathy for their precarious situation.

Talking of Stoke (and I know that this post is intended to be about a Neurotics gig.... sorry), another factor that did much to define my personal politics were the words of my much loved Grandmother who I recall saying to me one Sunday evening (probably during Bullseye!)..... 'If ever you voted Tory I'd disown you!', so I haven't (not that I would have anyway!). As a true aside, bizarrely for about five years before her death at 75 she worked in the kitchen of the Burgess Hill Conservative Club. Here, I like to think of her as something akin to a fifth columnist. One one occasion she recalled being caught red-handed forcing a frozen chicken into her shopping bag just as the aforementioned Right Honourable Member Tim Renton entered the kitchen to enquire about his lunch. 'What are you doing there Mrs Heath?' he asked. In her still broad Staffordshire accent she responded 'Bugger off!' and so he did. That story still makes me smile 30 something years later.

So, sorry about that, back to the gig. Attila opened with some poetry/ranting verse before the Barnstormer 1649 band took to the stage. Described by Attila as ‘Roundhead Renaissancecore and Baroque ‘n’ Roll’ I would say that their position in punk is unique. Stories in song of real landmark events in the countries early social history.... the kind of stuff that that prompts you to fill the gaps in your knowledge....... the Diggers were not only on St George's Hill I learned. With an impressive array of instrumentation including faithfully reproduced pieces last seen in the 15th Century (Sausage Bassoon anyone?), my wife Gunta described them 'favourably' as a less attractive version of the now defunct Scandinavian outfit, Katzenjammer!

Barnstormer 1649.

The Neurotics were on in a trice with the more familiar combination of bass, guitar and drums. It is a shame that they do not play so often these days since they are sorely needed. They always provided an important dissenting voice at a time when the country took the mantra of 'Greed is good' to heart. They were a band that powerfully articulated the consequences of the hardline Conservative principals that history now remembers as Thatcherism. And of those consequences, unemployment ('Living with Unemployment'), rapidly rising levels of poverty ('This Fragile Life'), the very real threat of nuclear conflict and a general disengagement of young people in current affairs and politics as well as a certain nihilism ('The Mess' and 'Mindless Violence') many were reflected in tonight's set. Do these themes sound familiar? Thirty years on and it feels that we are back to square one. Reliance on food banks is increasing seemingly at an exponential rate, major conflict seems to be more of a reality than it has for 30 years as Donald, Kim and Vladimir trade insults and on the back of the Brexit process far right factions in the UK have found a new impetus.

The Newtown Neurotics.

Sorry to say that the band's message from the '80's is as valid today as it was then and that is very sad indeed. Fighting times indeed!

How did it go lads.... 'Agitate, Educate and Organise!'

20 From '86 (9) Attila The Stockbroker The Basement Brighton 11th January 1986

This was my second time of seeing Attila The Stockbroker, the first being in the Autumn of 1985 at the Zap Club (also in Brighton) when he stepped in for The Neurotics who had pulled out (no pun intended) after Steve Drewett had undergone a wisdom tooth extraction.

In early January 1986 all of these Harlow minstrels descended on Brighton once again.

Armed with an early dictaphone (!) I recorded Attila's set. As you can imagine the sound is not pristine but it is listenable and it does capture early-ish Attila.

FLAC: https://we.tl/8h5oUeBWFq

01. Radio Rap
02. Every Time I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think Of You
03. The Livingstone Rap
04. Short Sharp Shock Identity Card Mergermania
05. Spew Up On A Saracen
06. Vomit On A Viking
07. Stick A Pin In A Finn
08. Russians In The D.H.S.S.
09. Russians In McDonalds
10. Rain/Bedtime/River Poem
11. A Bang And A Wimpy
12. My Wardrobe Is Like A Garden
13. Andi Is A Corporatist
14. Airstrip One

The Newtown Neurotics Salle Dupres Blois France 2nd November 1984

Here's a short continental set from the Newtown Neurotics back in the day. 'Repercussions' is just around the corner and the band are on fire.Thanks to the sharer!

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/nOrF6Aqp62

01. The Mess
02. Does Anyone Know Where The March Is?
03. Mt Death
04. No Respect
05. The Mind Of Valerie
06. Suzi
07. Newtown People
08. Fighting Times
09. Agony
10. This Fragile Life
11. Creatures From Another World

'Triumph Over Adversity' - 'New' Album by The Newtown Neurotics Live At Brunel University 4th April 1987

Finally getting a proper release (this was made available online a good few years ago), Steve Drewett has put out the band's gig at Brunel University from April 1987.

It would have been shortly after this gig that I visited the Brunel campus in Uxbridge on an open day and I remember the poster for the gig well, hanging on one of those round display pillars (can't think of the proper term). This prompted me to think 'This place might be alright then'. I eventually arrived at Brunel in late September 1988, but sadly the Neurotics didn't come back. The nearest to an Uxbridge Neurotic event was an appearance by Steve at Uxbridge Labour Club. This was in October '88, but sadly I, amongst a handful of students with limited common sense and zero knowledge of the area, failed to find the venue..... 'Does Anyone Know Where The Gig Is?'. Actually it was only a few minutes walk away from the campus!

Brunel did get me into London in time to see a couple of the last gigs that the band did, a benefit at the Electric Ballroom (for Cable Street Beat if I recall correctly) and the last gig at the Fulham Greyhound on 29th October 1988.

Anyway, here's Steve Drewett's words on the album, which ends with a link to where you can get hold of it should you feel so inclined.

Hi ya,

Here at last, the legendary Triumph Over Adversity. The Newtown Neurotics live at Brunel University 04.04.1997 album.

'Triumph Over Adversity' is a terrific live album, how can it be anything else when the band were declared to be ‘One of Britain’s greatest power trio’s by Q magazine in May 2009 along with The Jam, Doves, Stereophonics, Motorhead, Muse, Cream, The Police, ELP and Manic Street Preachers”.

The band has long wanted this recording to be released as they feel it lives up to the Q magazine accolade perfectly.
The set was also close to being explosive as is explained by the story contained within the sleeve.
This release was in the middle of production when Colin Dredd aka Colin Masters died on the 19th March this year. This is not a cash-in, the artwork had not been completed when Colin passed away, so we updated and dedicated it to his memory.

The album showcases Colin in full flight, tight and fluid bass playing embracing and entwining with the rhythms of the drums, and singing his heart out until he was hoarse.

The cover version of Stand By Me included on this album was played as the last piece of music in this funeral 'set list' service to highlight the bond Simon and Steve had with their old friend and to celebrate his musical exclusivity with the group. Punk rock fact: The Newtown Neurotics was the only band he ever played in.

There is a free 'Triumph Over Adversity badge' given away with each purchase until the badges run out. Buy the album, wear the badge and listen to why he was proud to have only played with one band in his lifetime!
Follow the link on the image or the text to buy.

Here is the link to the album on sale on Amazon any purchases of which are then directed to the Drewett fulfillment Centre, i.e me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Triumph-Over-Adversity-University-04-04-1987/dp/B011A2A7SQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436544006&sr=1-3&keywords=Steve+Drewett

The Members and The Newtown Neurotics at The Square, Harlow 4th July 2015

And so it was a case of hot footing it (literally the case on such a sweltering day) from the 'About The Young Idea' exhibition in Central London to Harlow to continue the day's celebration of all things punk rock.

The Newtown Neurotics were to play The Square in Harlow for the last time as the venue is due to move from its present location. Over its 30 year history the venue and the band have had an association as close as Morecambe and Wise, this stage being almost a spiritual home for the band.

On this auspicious evening, The Neurotics were to be supported by non other than The Members whose 'Solitary Confinement' was given something of a political makeover to become 'Living With Unemployment' a staple of the Neurotics' set for ever. This was a chance to hear both renditions on the same night!

Now I love The Members and I am familiar with more than just 'Sound of the Suburbs' but it was with some trepidation that I watched their opening songs, as friends who had seen them post Nicky Tesco had come away disappointed. However, I needn't have worried as they were actually very good. In between songs frontman J.C. Carroll vied with The Neurotics as to which of the two bands suffered most at the hands of suburban living. He described the band's home town of Bagshot in Surrey as a place 'that made Harlow seem like Paris!'

Nigel Bennett and J.C. Carroll of The Members

The Square Harlow 4th July 2015

Playing as a three-piece their versions of Members' classics sounded pretty faithful to me.

'Offshore Banking Business'

'At A Chelsea Nightclub'

So The Members finished up and passed the baton onto one Steve Lamacq who in his 30 minute guest DJ slot could have been delving into my own record collection! Then, the Neurotics took to the stage under the watchful eye of the recently departed Colin Dredd.

Colin on the backdrop

Here's the set list and I'm sure that those with knowledge of the band will agree that its a corker and fully representative of the band's 10 year career. Really good so see songs in there from the 'Is Your Washroom Breeding Bolsheviks?' album.

The upshot of the night was that a planned one hour set mutated into a two hour celebration of the band and the venue. I sang myself hoarse, funny how these lyrics have never left me, bounded around arm in arm with Mr Lamacq and Mr Stockbroker to 'Living With Unemployment, before ending up on stage at the invitation of the band. What a great night!

'Wake Up' and 'The Mess' by The Newtown Neurotics

Steve Drewett and Attila The Stockbroker

http://www.thesquareharlow.com/about-us/

Colin Dredd - Newtown Neurotic R.I.P.

It is with sadness that I received the news that Colin Dredd, original bass player of the Newtown Neurotics died this week. I have stated on this site previously that The Neurotics, as they became known, formed the musical backdrop to my political education at a time of miners strike benefits, the Brighton bombing of the Grand and gigs played in the face of fascist skins.

I only saw Colin play with the band once. The first time I tried to see them at the Zap Club in Brighton in 1985, the Neurotics pulled out on account of Steve Drewett having his wisdom teeth pulled out (Attila filled the bill on that occasion). The next opportunity was at The Basement, again in Brighton in January 1986. After that I saw a handful of farewell gigs, by which point Colin had ceased playing live with the band through ill-health (replaced by Mac for these gigs).

When the band again played a handful of gigs in 2005, I chatted to Colin at the venue in Liverpool Street. I may have been a little drunk on this occasion, but nevertheless Colin was charming and genuinely thrilled that I, along with everyone else in that room, had made the effort and were there to see his band.

And that is all I can say really, our acquaintance was fleeting in the extreme, but what he left on record is and has been there for many years and is going nowhere fast.

Thanks Colin!!

Here's the Newtown Neurotics on John Peel in March 1983.

FLAC: http://we.tl/wkATgFGIyy

01. Jimmy Jangle
02. Does Anyone Know Where The March Is?
03. Life In Their Hands
04. Wake Up
05. Agony

20 From '83 (17) The Newtown Neurotics John Peel Session 7th March 1983

A short one this, but very important nevertheless. The band, still going, now under the abbreviated name of the Neurotics, released the brilliant debut 'Beggars Can Be Choosers' in '83. An impassioned album which urged it's listeners to make the most of your life despite the odds and told of the frustration inherent in a newtown existence (the band hail from Harlow in Essex, a town created in 1948 to offer a new way of living for residents of the bombed out Victorian dwellings of London's East End). So offered up here are a few slices of highly intelligent political punk rock.

FLAC: http://we.tl/XcEOvuvNpq

01. Jimmy Jangle
02. Does Anyone Know Where The March Is?
03. Life In Their Hands
04. Wake Up
05. Agony

'You're Always Alone With A Neurotic' by Steve Drewett

I picked this e-book up from Amazon some time ago for the princely sum of £1. Originally presented in the form of a blog written by Steve Drewett, singer and guitarist with Harlow punk stalwarts 'The Newtown Neurotics', the book runs along separate timelines which document the final days of the band in 1988 and the run up to reunion dates that the band played in 2005.

Highly introspective the book mixes Steve's thoughts on many of life's more personal events, love, fatherhood and bereavement... oh and there's a band in there somewhere. The confidence struggles described as the band prepared for the 2005 gigs was something of a surprise, not being something that you would perhaps associate with a musician who on and off has spent 30 years plus playing to paying audiences.

This book was all the more enjoyable because I was at the majority of the gigs described within it's 'pages'.

My association with the band goes back to about 1983 I suppose with the release of the 'Repercussions' album. The following year me and my mates got a first taste of politics in the latex form of 'Spitting Image' and The Miners Strike. In that year I was 15, three years away from the 1987 general election (where I calculated that the two votes cast by my friend and I accounted for 2% of the Labour vote on my ward.... that's Mid Sussex for you!), but I was taking this stuff in.

The first PM I consciously remember was Jim Callaghan.... and then in 1979 she came along! From that point onwards, politics seemed to be unavoidable, from the 1981 inner city riots to the Grand Hotel bombing in 1984, via the Falklands conflict of '82.

In the mid '80s, as well as listening to The Stranglers, The Damned and... and... I was listening to more political music. Crass and Conflict were fine, but in the music of The Neurotics and Billy Bragg I saw something that I though was more attainable.

Messers Bragg & Drewett

My first opportunity to see The Neurotics was at The Richmond Hotel in Brighton. For some reason, I didn't make it on that night, but my mates that did go reported something of a pitched battle with right wing Crawley skins intent on disrupting the gig. The next visit to the town was scheduled to be at the Zap Club, but again I was unlucky as on this occasion Steve Drewett had just had his wisdom teeth removed , so Attila did the honours on the night. And so it was that my first gig was in January 1986 at The Basement and the band proved to be worth the wait.

With a ticket price to make you smile

Two years later I found myself at Brunel University. When I got there there were still posters up advertising a gig that the band played there in 1987. This gig has subsequently been released and Steve has described it as one of the best gigs the band ever played.

Two weeks into the course and we got word that Steve was playing a solo gig at the Uxbridge Labour Club. In a scene reminiscent of 'Does Anyone Know Where The March Is?' five of us walked around the dark streets of Uxbridge looking for the venue (which it turns out was about 5 minutes walk from the campus). Handfuls of A levels and not a jot of common sense between us... that's students for you!

Next up was an anti-fascist gig at The Electric Ballroom, with Attila, Howling Wilf, The Neurotics and The Men They Couldn't Hang. Most memorable in my mind was standing next to Shane McGowan at the bar (where else) who to my disgust was wearing a Level 42 shirt!!

Last call for The Neurotics was their gig at the Fulham Greyhound.

'Blitzkrieg Bop'

Fulham Greyhound

29th October 1988

This was the bollocks, a full on celebration of the band's achievements over their then 10 year existence.

Post Neurotics Steve formed The Indestructible Beat who I saw just the once at The Camden Workers Social Club at a Cable Street Beat event. I found the flyer the other day.

The billed International Brigade speaker was ill if I remember correctly, so on the night in stepped Mensi to deliver the anti-fascist message (who was infinitely more sweary than the old man would have been!).

The years then passed during which time I moved with my wife to Bishops Stortford, just down the road from Neurotics Central.

When the band finally reformed in 2004 to mark the launch of the superb 'Stortbeat' compilation, I missed it.... I didn't even know that it had taken place, but I was ready in 2005 when the band made the decision to venture beyond The Square once again. These are some of the gigs described in 'You're Always Alone With A Neurotic'. I bounced for all I was worth, like the portly middle-aged man that I am, in Harlow, London and Brighton. The London gig was particularly joyous until I missed the last train back to Stortford. My attempts to sleep cuddled up to the bronze sculpture of evacuees near the entrance to Liverpool Street station was futile as the hangover kicked in. Pissed as I was that night, it meant a lot to me to have a brief chat with Colin Dredd, original bass player, who despite being unable to commit fully to the band at that time, clearly still shared the passion for what the band were doing.

The Neurotics are still going, albeit without Colin and Simon, but sadly nothing has really changed and the relevance of much of the material is undiminished!

The Newtown Neurotics - The Square Harlow 23rd July 2011

At the time of the miner's strike in 1984 I was 15 year old. In the same year the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, home to the Tory party for the duration of their annual conference at the Brighton Centre. As a Sussex schoolboy at the time, it was pretty heady and exiting stuff. I was extremely jealous of another pupil that I knew, who at the time was in the middle of a week of work experience at The Evening Argus (the daily evening paper for the Brighton area) who suprisingly was taken along to witness the reporting of the biggest news story of the day.

This was the background against which I started getting into music that was much more overtly political. Don't get me wrong, for me like many others, a big part of my political eduction came from Spitting Image! But, really that's a serious point as back then due to that programme I was familiar with the cabinet and the Shadow Cabinet, whereas now I would struggle to tell you the names in the former. With familiarity (as well as contempt!) came interest in what these people were saying.

Crass had just honoured their intention to split in 1984 and in their wake were a collection of similar anarcho bands. The marvellous thing about the anarcho scene was that the records were so cheap at a time when an album would cost as much as a CD today (prices for CDs/DVDs has dropped a great deal in the past few years). The term 'Pay no more than...' was the order of the day. Many such bands played the Richmond Hotel in Brighton which was great, but I could only take aboard so much of that particular political message.

It was the 'Aggitate, Educate and Organise' message conveyed by the likes of Billy Bragg, The Newtown Neurotics and ranting poet Atilla the Stockbroker that struck a more powerful chord in me. They played in Brighton too. Luckily, I missed the Neurotics and Atilla gig at the Richmond with right wing skins from Crawley caused chaos. However, I did see them early the following year and several times after that up to their final gig at the Fulham Greyhound in 1988.

Since 2006 they have sporadically done dates, but over time the line up has changed and now guitarist and vocalist Steve Drewitt is the sole original member. As much as I loved them, the idea of seeing them with only one original member backed by hired hands was a real turn-off. Nevertheless, a couple of weeks ago a gig at The Square was billed as a celebtration of the debut album 'Beggars Can Be Choosers' with lighting done by the ex-Clash lighting engineer. I have to admit, that I saw nothing astounding in the lights, but to hear those songs again so many years on was fantastic. As is the case with The Specials, 30 years on, the songs are still spot on and sadly all to relevant to the political and economic situation Britain finds itself in in 2011 (check out 'Suzi', dealing with love over the CB radio airwaves and riots! ... it's a classic). On the night, the gig was nazi-free and people dispersed after a rousing chorus of 'Kick Out the Tories'.

Here's a pre-reformation short set that the band played in 2004 as part of a celebration of the Stortbeat scene of the late 70's/early 80's... short but sweet!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SVSTJYF3

The Neurotics The Square Harlow 8th November 2004

1. Licencing Hours
2. Hypercrite
3. You Said No
4. When the Oil Runs Out
5. Blitzkrieg Bop