This almost unlistenable cassette,found at the back of a cupboard in the Cog Sinister Office,was recorded live at the Stretford Civic Centre on 23 December 1977, and features John The Postman on vocals for an encore of 'Louie Louie'; his signature tune.
It's also the earliest known recordings of The Fall, in the classic original line-up. For me this IS The Fall, and not the Mark E. Smith Band, which it was to become.
Notably, this was Tony Friel's last performance with the band,er.... sorry mark...Group. Whose departure was the beginning of the end of The Fall, and the start of Mark E. Smith and backing group.
Friel was the one who came up with the name after all.
The recording is pretty ropey, and noisy,with the vocals being somewhat over saturated,but its interesting to hear the early Fall being rather more 'Punky' than they had latterly intended.
Tracklisting:
1 Psycho Mafia 2:40
2 Last Orders 2:14
3 Repetition 4:42
4 Dresden Dolls 3:45
5 Hey Fascist 2:50
6 Frightened 5:22
7 Industrial Estate 2:23
8 Stepping Out 3:32
9 Bingo Master's Breakout 2:40
10 Oh Brother 4:10
11 Cop It 3:04
12 Futures And Pasts 2:50
13 Louie Louie (With John The Postman) 6:36
A compilation of Mark E. Smiths mates on his label Cog Sinister,including three John The Postman tracks that are surprisingly, rather good!? John had just returned from living in San Francisco by this time, so it must have had an inspiring effect on him.
Marks old DIY 'legend' mates ,The Hamsters, have a couple of tunez too, but you can get their entire unreleased back catalogue on Bandcamp HERE!
Industrial cassette making enigma, Phillip Johnson also crops up, with a musique concrete version of the Fall's infamous B-side manifesto, "Repetition".
The rest is a mixture of standard Indie (Beatrice),Felt-a-alikes (The Lowthers),a no-budget Gun Club (Obi Men),and tongue in cheek working mens club muzak (Mr A. Valler).
Wasn't 'God' that industrial metal group with Justin Broadwick and Kevin Martin of Godflesh fame within the ranks?...if so, they were once really good, or really God?
MES himself makes a brief, uncredited appearance, between sides, doing a reading over a bit of "Tempo House".
Tracklisting:
A1 –The Obi Men - Her Address
A2 –The Hamsters - Ole Spain
A3 –The Hamsters - Stupid Songs
A4 –The Lowthers - Sylvia
A5 –John The Postman's Peurile - Kowalski
A6 –John The Postman & The Legendary Lost - Come To The Sabbat
Interlude - The Fall
B1 –Beatrice - A Girl Like Me
B2 –God - Sounds Like Thunder
B3 –Mr. A. Valler - Mr. A. Valler
B4 –Andrew Berry - Unsatisfied
B5 –The Next Step - Pseudo Drama Time
B6 –Philip Johnson - One Forthy Three
B7 –John The Postman & The Legendary Lost - Work
Well, he didn't give up his dayjob, and here's why.
"I think the Buzzcocks left the stage and the microphone was there and a little voice must have been calling 'This is your moment, Jon.' I've no idea to this day why I sang 'Louie Louie', the ultimate garage anthem from the 60s. And why I did it a cappella and changed all the lyrics apart from the actual chorus, I have no idea. I suppose it was my bid for immortality, one of those great bolts of inspiration.For some reason it appeared to go down rather well. I suppose it was taking the punk ethos to the extreme – anyone can have a go. Before punk it was like you had to have a double degree in music. It was a liberation for someone like me who was totally unmusical but wanted to have a go." (J T. Postman 2008)
Yes. punk the great leveller.
At first it was Ex-clusive, then it became In-clusive;then there are moments like this when we wished it was Ex-clusive again, or better still, didn't happen at all,as it seems to have not today.
The DIY ethic unhatched much buried genius,but also a lot of no-marks high on cheap weed left their skid-marks on this particular musical toilet. Should have been 'Keep It To Yourself' rather than 'Do It Yourself'. These same also-rans then learned to play an instrument and became The Exploited or a NWOBHM band.
The main thing Punk lacked was a Filter tip to keep the smoke pure;but we love a bit of tar don't we?
Never ask the Public anything or you'll get Heavy Metal ,Brexit or Trump.Beware the Hive mind.
Tracklisting:
A1 A Well Known Jewish Tune
A2 G.L.O.R.I.A.
B1 Senegal
B2 Mahatma Ghandi's Heartbreakers
Stoner,drunken reprobate and Manchester Punk ligger, John "the Postman" Ormrod (RIP), was around at an opportune epoch for the likes of himself.Anyone worth the label of 'Punk' were destined to get the chance to release product in 1978.
I don't think there has ever been a more descriptive title of an album,probably ever? Its full of Peurile nonsense, recorded by a bunch of stoned and drunken wasters in between fag breaks.
Mark E. Smith and Karl Burns of The Fall make a comeo appearence too, on backing vocals and percussion.
They seem like they're having fun anyhow.
Tracklisting:
A1 Louie, Louie (Version)
A2 Louie, Louie (Slight Return)
B1 Toothache
B2 Not Righttt
B3 Kawalski Of The Seaview Has Got The Best Hairstyle I've Ever Seen
B4 PJ Meets TD
B5 Flaming Aeroplane