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The Zips
1) How did you come to join the zips and what sort of music were they
playing then?
The Zips, hmm. I haven't thought about them much since, but I did like them.
There was Johnny Fontaine the lead singer, and it used to piss him off that he had to play the drums when I first joined the band. Good frontman though,
I liked his drumming too. Double jeopardy. We spent the first month seeking drummers. At one point Jon Moss grabbed the sticks at rehearsal and said he'd
be my Rat Scabies. He was just kidding unfortunately for the band. We ended up with an actual live living drummer whose name escapes me. The Bass player
was Gus, and the piano guy who wrote the music was pretty integral too, but I can't remember his name. The one time I wondered about the previous drummer
they kind of shuffled about and cleared their throats and mumbled of this and that in the way that you do when you have a dark family secret. As to whether
it was Jim and his predilection for the naughty stuff I couldn't say, but these Zip boys were clean. They later had a hit with a thing called
"The Beat" as a band called 'The Look', with portraits of themselves on
the Transit van. The piano player switched to guitar and recreated my guitar lines which was very gratifying.
Stewart Copeland had played with the Rockets on a few gigs. One of them was
with the Adverts when we replaced the Damned at the Nashville at a few hours notice. That was a day or two after the night of the notorious
""biting off and chewing the ear incident"" in the audience at the 100 club. The
Damned were banned, I knew Miles Copeland from around then. Later he tried to hook
me up with Chelsea, but I didn't want to do it. He also managed the Zips who needed a guitarist and I joined them. They had a set of high energy proto
""power pop"" with a punk edge. if you'll excuse the
expression. They were very 'Pop' and I liked them a lot. I went to see them after I'd quit, and I
thought they were really good. Mick the tunesmith for the band had switched from keyboard to guitar and I believe he was playing the guitar lines I'd got
for the songs, so I was flattered. He knew about relative keys and Gershwin and stuff. My mate didn't like 'em much though.
2) What sort of reaction did they get, how long did it last and how did it
end? Were any recordings made?
Gigs were always good at that time 'cause the audiences were so great. We
spent a lot of time looking for a drummer, and I know I did some gigs but I can't remember how many. I quit to form Warsaw Pakt after a few weeks. No
recordings were made.
3} Did you try and join any other bands?
I wanted to get my own thing together. It was the height of Punk.
4] How did Warsaw Pakt come about and what was the aim of the band?
John Manly, Wolf and I built a rehearsal room out of concrete blocks in the
basement of Forbidden Fruit on Portobello Rd, called it The Bunker. And started Warsaw Pakt. Instrumentally we wanted to be the Who/MC5 of the scene.
Ace up the sleeve was Mick Farren's lyrical output. Check out 'Nosebleed' on the CD. That's what passed for emotion in those days.
5] Lucas Fox was an interesting addition after his stint with
Motorhead.
He was a local lad and fitted in well. Good times. After Motorhead Lucas had
a point to prove, and we'd play for hours a day in the Bunker. We got pretty fast, and when it came to the adrenaline rush on-stage we got even faster.
Still every note was in place.
6) How did the deal come about with Island what was it and why did you take
it? Were there any other offers from other labels?
Island approached us through Mim Scala to make an Instant Album. We'd
achieved a lot in an 8 hour session at their Hammersmith studio, so we were booked to record an LP with no overdubs or mixing. Side one, break, tune up.
side two. Straight to mastering vinyl. Bloody technical considerations. Goldfish bowl. Crowd hangin' in there. 3 takes of both sides..In the shops
the next day. Guinness book of records. 15 minutes. We were warned it was all experimental. They treated us well, but they didn't hear us. It was a bit
like being a contestant on a Game Show. This was at a time when some of their bands were still getting it together in
the country for a few months. We said we'd do it and we did. They paid us off
and haven't called us in 23 years. We were also talking to Miles and wanted to go on Illegal, but somehow it
didn't come through in time, and we were in a hurry to get recorded.
7] The Automatics were on the same
label and they reckon they were dumped because of punk nazi accusations. Do
you think as the other punky band on the same label this had something to
do with it considering the other artistes Island had.
I don't know about the Automatics case, but the label was not right for Punk
rock. I don't think they heard it as music. If they had nazi lyrics Island can't be blamed. Nazis are incredibly stupid people. Their new act at the
time was Bad Company, and they were the antithesis of what we were trying to do. MC5 Back in the USA and Iggy's
Raw Power came
at at the beginning of the '70s, and after that nothing happened until The Feelgoods in'75. and then
Punk. A lot of people still didn't get it at that time. If you wanted to hear any fresh honest rock n' roll you had to go back to ever more obscure '50s
and '60s records. Island wasn't about to become the Chess records of the angry urban white underdog.
8] You say you played a lot of gigs? What was audience reaction to you like? Did you get your fair share of phlegm ? Best places played and best bands
played with ?? What were other bands reactions to you like?
We played the Red Cow the Nashville and Dingwalls a lot. Our last gig was at
Dingwalls with Ian Dury and was truly great. I think we played all the London
venues and some Colleges out of town. Yeah the gobbing became tedious. When we played Enfield College, Jimmy Pursey stopped
Sham 69 mid-song and read some version of the riot act to these gobbers. It was very effective. I'd never
seen it done before. I think he kept on doing this and eventually the phlegm abated all over town. We were all grateful for that. We played the Marquee
and they were wild gigs. Of course there'd always be the odd gig where we'd be met with utter bafflement. The Rockets had a residency in Germany for a
while, and with 5 sets a night me and Jimmy had got some pretty instinctive stuff going. When we were with Warsaw Pakt it was really a continuance of
that. Other bands reaction? Hard to say. We're all doing this strange performing
thing. We may be competing. Obviously we had some great times with other bands. There may have been this slight suspicion that as we had Lucas on tubs
we were seasoned session guys. Absolute crap. It was John's first band.
9] As 77 turned into 78 what differences did you notice happening on the punk
scene? Was there a noticeable difference between audiences in and out of London?
Always. In places like Cirencester you knew that some of them wanted to smack
you around really.
10] Your singer had an excellent voice. Where did you get him from and
whatever happened to him?
He joined the Rockets through a Melody Maker ad. I don't know where he is
now. He had a band called the Argonauts in the Maidenhead area. If anyone knows where he is I'd like to know too!
11] What was your best and worst experience during the era? Who did you rate
out of the bands and who did you think was rubbish?
My worst experience of the era was the second Warsaw Pakt gig up in
Aylesbury. Me and Jimmy were doing this new set and it was not going well. So we both jumped off stage to attract attention. It was a far higher stage than
we had anticipated. We landed awkwardly and got crocked up pointlessly. The best was getting the girl who is now my wife Helga, and getting on the
guest list. The Damned were the best band of that era.
The Rockets.
12] How would you describe the music you were playing at the time?
Influences?
In 1975 we were all heavily into
Dr Feelgood who had a residency at the Kensington Pub round the corner. It was Brit R&B, and it just got faster
and faster. They told me to write some numbers. It got more hard edged and high energy than the drummer wanted. He quit.
13] when did you first become aware of punk and how did it affect the way you
played? Did it change the way the Rockets played ?? How and why did the Rockets end?
When the Stooges and the MC5 started getting played again in '76 we thought
it was long overdue. And you've got the Ramones, Patti Smith and the Pistols. The Rockets had a review in NME where they said we couldn't make up our minds
as to whether we were the Ramones or the Pretty Things. I think that was fair enough really. We were both. With the drummer and replacements gone, we
decided to go further out and planned Warsaw Pakt.
14] On your CD you have a handbill supporting the Clash? What did you make of
them ... contrived or sincere?
Mick was always a friendly bloke, smart too. He got Strummer to front the
band. We all used to go to the 101ers' gigs, and were on the same circuit. Joe Strummer was the Eddie Cochran of the scene. The Clash political shtick
was well handled. More Art College than lefty student. On the cool side of that fine line. I believe they sincerely wanted to succeed.
15] The Zips and Warsaw Pakt both played the famous Roxy. What did you make
of the atmosphere, the audience and the reaction there?
The atmosphere was fantastic. It was like a mod club. As if hippies had never
existed, A new Identity.
16} Looking back what do you make of the punk scene then and did it achieve
anything?
It was a generation thing. McClaren modeled his style on the New York scene.
There was a whole DIY thing where anyone could perform. The ethic is still around, but then again it's always been alive on the fringe. At that time it
moved to the center. Punk '77 style put the Major Record COs on the spot. They were open to any
punks who knocked on the door. John Manly and me arrived unannounced at CBS
and only moments later we were ushered in to play the the Rockets demo to the head A&R honcho Today only lawyers get to do that, after months of
negotiation. It's time for another shake up isn't it ?
Andy is currently
recording for Captain Trip Records and has a cd out called 'Pick Up The Phone
America' also featuring ex members of Motorhead , The Pink Fairies and Mick
Farren and its not bad either. Check it out.
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