Patrik Fitzgerald - Small Wonder

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Tired of playing other people in the theatre Patrik again decided to give his songs another go. Since the London SS rehearsal he had little success. His last band was at the end of 1976 and who had rebelled against his suggestion they should attempt to play ‘Anarchy.’

I had been a customer of Pete and Marion Stennet’s Small Wonder for a long time. Like the theatre group, it was the only other thing going on at that time that interested me. Apart from Petticoat Lane where you could get imported reggae records there was only one other shop in Leytonstone that wasn’t bad. But Small Wonder was the only decent shop. I used to go there in all the time and buy punk records. I used to hang out there every other day with Pete, helping him abuse the customers, putting them off buying records and getting them to buy others.

Pete had mentioned about wanting to do a record label. I made a cassette and popped it through the door. I probably thought he thought I was quite obnoxious so I didn’t name the tape hoping he would give it a listen anyway. But he knew it was me despite my efforts!.

   

A band? I suppose I always wrote my stuff as if it was a band. That was the done thing and I couldn’t really picture it any other way. I had had reel to reel tape recorders and used to record myself but I always thought of my songs as having drums, bass and keyboards that everyone has to back them up. Pete would have had as little joy finding people as I did and I didn’t have a band at the time because I couldn’t find people with imagination or spark.

The solo thing was an accident of fate and I think Pete thought it differentiated me. It was funny because I thought one of the reasons Ken Pitt and the publishers couldn’t understand my stuff was because I didn’t have a band and with one the songs would have come over as being more commercial. One of my problems of working with bands is that I don’t like to follow the party line as it were. I don’t go ‘1234’ and off. I don’t even use a set list. You don’t have the same freedom with a band.
   
Most of the other bands Pete recorded and released on the Small Wonder I just didn’t get and I just thought ‘what’s that all about?’ I didn’t understand Crass. I thought like the Clash; they were just a bit showbiz, geared towards world domination.

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