Originally called the
Tooting Fruities the band mutated into the more punky sounding, if not
commercially suicidal, the Drug Addix. They released one single
before slimming down the name to become the Addix and released one further
single before splitting up. They were also on the same bill as The Vicious
White Kids at the historic Electric Ballroom gig.
Described in Zigzag 93
April 1979 as
"a four piece raunch & roll band" the band were in essence
hi octane rhythm and blues. Also not to be confused with the Suffolk
Adicts who had changed their name to avoid confusion. |
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Gay Boys In Bondage / Addington Shuffle / Special Clinic / Glutton For Punishment
Chiswick Records 1978 |
George Lloyd (alias
Art Noveau): Because of the
‘record everything’ strategy I spoke of I had four tunes recorded at
Wally Brill’s Clifton Road Studios in Croydon on a cassette tape. I
played them to Ted and he said “yeah, lets release it”. There was no
real deal I can remember and I’m sure the returns didn’t even pay for
the one pressing…but someone came up with that great cover and it’ll be
a great conversation piece to show the grandchildren. I think Rick holds
the publishing rights to most and Kirsty's estate possibly the one’s I
co-wrote with her.
According to Record
Collector in 1994, "The band recorded a four track demo which Chiswick
promptly released as a single. It whipped up a mini controversy because,
in Kirsty's words, it was "quite rude". One song, Gay boys in bondage,
became a talking point for obvious reasons. It was meant to be a parody
of the Lou Reed School of Seediness, a piece of camp corn that lent itself
to stage dramatics." The band's mix of Sweet Jane type riffs and
slide-guitar-propelled R&B fell between two audiences." |
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The band were Rick
Smith (aka Sterling Silver) - Vocals, George Lloyd (aka Art Nouveau) -
Guitar, Alan Offa -Bass Guitar, Ron Griffin - Drums and Mandy Doubt -
Vocals. Mandy
Doubt was in fact an 18 year old Kirsty McColl.
Kirsty McColl: All I did on the
record was backing vocals. You can barely hear me... We weren't
actually a punk band, but at the time punk was king and we called
ourselves that just to get some gigs. Everyone expected an outrageous, Sex
Pistols type of band but we weren't. We were all slide guitar and
R&B. I was just the token boiler on backup vocals... Of course
that annoyed me but you've got to start somewhere. If you can't
really sing and you can't play anything, you can't argue about it.
George Lloyd: Kirsty was full of false
modesty. Obviously fishing for compliments. She did feature quite
heavily on lead vocals…I have old demo tapes of songs I co wrote with
her that solely featured her distinctive Croydon whine…I know this ‘cos
I have the same type of ‘singing’ voice and was able to harmonise with
her quite well. |
Kirsty in action with the
band at the Venue in London (photo: Terry Hurley) |
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George Lloyd: She was Rick’s lover
when in the band, which ,traditionally, is the kiss of death for any
beat group. When their teenage, mile a minute, volatile, powder fuelled
liaison started to lose its thrill they split and she left. I got the
blame for it of course…the guitarist or the drummer (or both) always
do….but she did seem to want to move towards dance routines and that
kind of thing…well she was only a girl after all….didn’t see much of her
after her ‘rise’ to fame and fortune…but she kept in touch with Rick and
mutual chum Brian Neville (‘Pigbag’ sax player, legendary Frooties
percussionist and various nefarious… but never hilarious crimes against
music)….someone at work told me of her awful ending on the day she died.
I was impressed at the massive hard won respect she had from the music
industry at large and very sad to hear the news. |
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Influences….Everything
we’d ever heard. I’d say the sentiment of the song lyric writing was
close to Frank Zappa. Just an attempt at filthy humour and cynical irony
sung over fast 4/4 chord bashes.
Other titles apart from
the EP I can remember at this time were:
Marital Bliss
Shoot the Cat
Grill My Sausage
Sweet Little
Richard
Motor On
Let’s Go Live In A Squat
Big Fat Lady
Get Up N Shake
Fool in Love
No Such Thing As A Bad Boy
Brown Eyed Handsome Man
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According to the band in
Zigzag 1979 they complained about the ..." low volume, the lousy
quality" of the single and promised "The next one though, that'll be
the one -wait for it". The next one was on Zigzag records.
Rick Smith: The “Too Blind to See
Release” came out to great reviews and a entry into the Time Out top
10, but the week of it’s release ZigZag records promptly went
bust! |
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It had been
recorded in a single overnight session at Phonogram studios at Stanhope
Gate. At the time budding young studio staff could make use of dead time to
record artists that they talent spotted with a hope to a mutual leg up the
ladder. The session was paid for with
a gram of sulphate and a ¼ Oz of Moroccan, the talent spotting engineer who
at the time was (along with Steve Lillywhite) a lowly tape op at the studio
was Steve Brown who later produced the Cult and the George Michael album
Faith.
The B side was recorded at
Pukka studios next to Crystal Palace football ground (where the original 4
track demo that became the Chiswick release was recorded), but as George’s
girlfriend at the time wouldn’t let him out that night he’s absent from the
recording.
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Too Blind To See / No
Such Thing As
A Bad Boy
Zigzag Records 1979 |
Where are they now...
Rick Smith: I don’t know where Alan
Offa (Bassist) is these days, but I do know that Ronnie Griffin
(Drummer) sadly died last year from an overdose of prescription drugs.
George Lloyd:
Rick now tour
manages for major international rock acts. Alan Offa may be dead…always
a ‘Addixive’ personality...heard a rumour that he started doing smack in
a big way…I could be wrong……Ronnie Griffin was last seen daubing his
estranged children with paint and proclaiming himself to be The Messiah,
shortly before they wheeled him away. I guess I’m probably the worst
sell out in that I work as an engineer for Network Rail…not very rock n
roll but still get out a bit to play. I have all my own teeth, hair and
am still skinny and pretty…56 is looming large but I’m newly and duly
dumped by my latest wife and ready to rock another day! |
Thanks to
Alan at kirstymaccoll.com for letting me use some of his information and
pictures. Update December 2007
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