Bastard - Classic Pre-Punk

Bastard

The unusually named Bastard ran from August 1974 to August 1975 and were a Sussex based band playing the Crawley/Brighton area, though they did two gigs in London.

After 6 months, they moved to Belgium due to nothing happening for the band in the UK and because Alan Ward had a job as a record engineer there in a new studio. Three songs were recorded by Bastard as demos which have never seen the light of day and the band managed to last six months before Brian quit to join the London SS.

The band in Belgium comprised of Brian James on Guitar, Nobby Goff on Drums, Yves Kengen on Bass and Alan Ward on Vocals. With James gone Mike Butcher replaced him and the band then morphed into Elton Motello who released the classic punk toon 'Jet Boy Jet Girl.' Yves Kengen would later form French punk band Raxola. Plastic Bertrand would have a smash hit with 'Ca Plane Pour Moi', Motello's tune to different lyrics. And to cap it all off Captain Sensible would record a version of 'Jet Boy', with the Softies. Got that!!

^{Brian
James and Alan Timms}

Brian James (1977) Bastard played high-energy originals, based on the sort of stuff that the MC5 and the Stooges did. Its funny because hardly anyone was playing that kind of music then... now everybody does it.^*

Another story.....

"It happened in 1975. Brian James was messing 'round in Brussels with a friend from
Crawley, drummer Nobby Goff. He met Alan Ward at RKM Studios. Brian was
personally managed by a weird casting agency specialized into topless biz het
met through his girlfriend and Alan's one. They were looking for a bass player
when they met myself. At the time I was playing guitar and singing with my own pubrock band Evergreen but was I was excited to get a chance to play with a genuine English band? You bet !

I joined and we started under the name The Strip, which soon changed into Bastard. We played some gigs in Brussels and Antwerp playing some kinda Stooges shit which people were somewhat astonished by. We also played unusually loud for the time. Finding a rehearsal room was big challenge as far we were fired after each first attempt.

In 1976 we recorded 2 songs at RKM's:"Comfort"/"Dr Gong", music by Brian and lyrics by Alan. I have to mention that "Dr Gong" is, according to myself, a first step to "New Rose". After a while, Brian had contacts in the UK and asked us to cross the Channel with him. I declined, 'coz I had my other band goin' on where I was the front man, you know... The one who gets the chicks easily;-)

I think I made a good choice coz it reveals that Brian's contacts were to join the London SS where there was no room for us. Then he met Vanian, Sensible and Scabies to form The Subterraneans which became The Damned and got signed to Jake Riviera's Stiff Records label to release the first punk single ever.Brian lives now in Brighton, UK, and we are still good friends. Alan has a mastering Studio in Brussels, Electric City. Nobby lives near Cognac."

Yves Kengen May 2007 www.raxola.net

^*^{Pete
Frame Zigzag 76 September 1977}