UK Decay Communities R III
Band's, Artist's and DJ's
Event Line Up
This year the event venue relocates to the University of Bedfordshire
Student Union Sub Club and Long Bar. This is a 350 plus capacity venue,
which makes it larger than last year’s event. The Sub Club has regular
gigs throughout the week including Club NME that regularly stage bands
featured by the New Music Express. It hosted the Luton Live Aid and
Sub Club based promoters DTA, regularly pack the place out with the
latest generation of bands and their fans.
Live entertainment will be in two areas, The Sub Club and The Long Bar.
The 7 or 8 bands will performing in the two areas, a full program will be
available on the website nearer the time.
Bands
UK Decay Communities are proud to present
Appearing Live!
For only the second time in 25 years The return off..
UK Decay
Having made their triumphant return after 25 years albeit for only one
song played twice at last years Reunion II, UK Decay are set to make
their proper comeback at the forthcoming UK Decay Communities
Reunion III event on June 7th 2008.
It’s quite fitting that UK Decay should return to their hometown for an
event that promises to be an even bigger and better party than that of
last years Reunion II..
According to Steve Spon,
“We are aiming to play significantly more than we did at last years bash.
Provided rehearsals and everything else goes to plan and we can get our
heads around the old songs, I don’t see why we can’t put together a
decent 30 or 40 minute set this time”
The Line up of the band for the evening will include Abbo on vocals,
Steve Spon on guitar, Ed ‘Twiggy’ Branch on bass and replacing the late
great Steve Harle on drums ex Party Girls, Bright Four and Jesus Christ
Supercharger drummer, will be Ray Philpot.
Ex bassist Martin Segovia Smith may also make a guest appearance.
UK Decay Communities are proud that we can now realise one of the
original aims of the formation of the web resource. Not only to bring
forth UK Decay back to the light of the world stage with the re-release
of the back catalogue, but also Live to a new generational audience,
as well as to those that were there back in the day.
UK Decay Communities website contains much information about the
band, thousands of pages and pictures not only of UK Decay but of a
whole generation of bands and the scene that existed in Luton and the
surrounding Home Counties during the eighties.
UK Decay were an important band in the developing Post Punk – Goth
movement, don’t just take our word for it, this is what others have to say!
UK Decay are one of the original bands to cross over from punk to what
was then becoming called "gothic", in the early '79 London scene, before
the gothic and even post punk bands like Bauhaus, Theatre of Hate, the
Southern Death Cult, and more. In fact they were already established
when many of those bands were not, and helped get many of them on
their feet with gigs.
(Deathrock.com)
Around the same time as Bauhaus were emerging, UK Decay were
discarding their punk roots and developing their own independent "gothic"
sound. Although never as popular as Bauhaus, Joy Division or the
Banshees, UK Decay were far closer to the second wave of Goth bands
and were an important influence on them.
(History of Gothic Culture and the Goth Scene)
UK Decay came straight outta Luton and began messing about with staid
punk rock traditionalism almost immediately. Serving up brash, trouncing
sides heaped up with helpings of brooding sex and sullen menace,
massive sales in the underground and a seminal legacy should have been
theirs…
(Stylus Magazine)
UK Decay were arguably a major influence on an emerging wave of bands
such as the Sisters of Mercy, Sex Gang Children and Southern Death Cult.
These bands together spawned the emerging postpunk and Goth movements
that still resonate today. UK Decay had a major role in developing these scenes,
but had ceased to exist by the time these other bands started getting serious
press coverage and sales.
(Wikipedia)
In an interview with Steve Keaton from Sounds in February 1981, Abbo
from UK Decay inadvertently named the Goth movement:
"he said 'it's
gonna be a movement' and we're going nah, we'll be gone in six months.
He said you've got to get a name for it, it's not dance or alternative or
New Pop or mod... and I remember saying 'we're into the whole Gothic
thing'... and we sat there laughing about how we should have gargoyle
shaped records and only play churches. Course he put it all in the
interview.. for six months everything went quiet then when the album
came out everyone was asking 'what's this Gothic thing you're into?'
And it's a total joke!"
Two months later, in an interview with the US magazine "Flipside", he
used "gothic" again to describe their style:
Flipside: Is your music political?
Abbo: Uh, well yeah some of it, the early stuff is real political, "For My
Country" was sort of an anti-nationalist thing, pacifist. Our lyrics are now
sort of based on sex and death, mystical, gothic is how we describe it in
England, the new single is about violation of privacy, unexpected guest in
the house, surreal...
(Origins of the term Goth at Scathe Demon)
Appearing Live!
In Luton, at UK DK COM III, the legendary.....
Rubella Ballet
Day-Glo-Anarcho-Psychedelic Punksters, Rubella Ballet to join party!
[i]
“These young dayglo warriors would became the main nucleus and
mainstay behind the biggest explosion of colour to hit the late 70's/early
80's bleakness of the UK punk scene. Rubella Ballet created that rare
bright hue of primary dischord amongst the hordes of combat black.”[/i]
Rubella Ballet began in early1979 after Zillah & Sid recruited ex Fatal
Microbes Pete Fender & Gemma. Hailing from the Crass, Poison Girls,
Flux of Pink Indian’s Anarcho Punk stable, they soon found themselves
playing on the same bill as those bands and then later under their own
right. They toured the UK and parts of Europe over the next couple of
years. In true DIY style, their first recording; Ballet Bag , was a nine track
cassette in a bag with a badge, poster & lyric book. It was released in
1982 reaching number 9 in the UK independent LP charts. Later that year
their first vinyl single, Ballet Dance, went on to reach number 1 in the
independent single charts and led on to a session on the legendary John
Peel show, the first of two sessions by Rubella Ballet.
In 1983/4, they toured with Death Cult and were riding high again in the
independent charts with ‘42f’ a 3 track EP, released on Jungle Records.
Although the bands line up fluctuated from time to time, the core of Zillah
& Sid (vocals and drums) kept the band together. This they did throughout
the mid eighties releasing further singles and 3 studio albums and a
double live album.
In the 90’s Zillah & Sid collaborated with various members of the dance
collective, Spiral Tribe, to create Xenophobia, an act they would showcase
at various illegal raves.
As Xenophobia, they released a techno dance track for the compilation
‘Beyond the Threshold‘ and subsequent singles appeared under that title.
Into the 2000’s, Zillah & Sid’s Rubella Ballet returned to their punk roots
and headlined The Anti Society festival 2000 in the Czech Republic and
Across the Decades 2 day punk festival at The Sanctuary in Milton Keynes
in 2000. This big event featured bands like The Damned, Stiff Little
Fingers, Selector, Steve Ignorant and the Subhumans etc.
October 2007 Zillah released a film about Punk Rock women entitled,
'She’s a Punk Rocker UK'. (see below) An hour long documentary
including interviews with Poly Styrene, Eve Libertine, Julie Burchill, Gay
Advert, Vi-Subversa and many more.
Rubella Ballet are currently riding a wave that will see them headlining
the Gothic Pogo Festival in Leipzig Germany in May and the Drop Dead
Festival, Lisbon Portugal in October. The band are now appealing to a
new, young generation who want some of that
Day-Glo-Anarcho-Psychedelic Punksters, DIY ethos!
The band have become infamous for their different and innovative style
of music and the shock value of wearing ultraviolet day-glo clothes to
brighten up London's east end, dark, violent, poor, ghettoized, drug
dealing, working class shithole that they lived in into a different land as
everywhere they went people smiled and laughed instead of wanting to
kill them.
(Wikipedia)
We are honoured and proud to present to the party….Rubella Ballet!
Rubella Ballet official site…
Rubella Ballet at Myspace…You can hear some of their music there
Milton Keynes very own oldschool, hardcore punx...
Dun 2 Def
Hailing from Milton Keynes in 1996 after being known as "77" they
changed the name to Dun2def in 2001. There has been a few
line up changes and the addition of a second vocalist and some changes in
the sound dun2def is now more rampant than ever before. The line up
includes, FERRET/vocals MAD JON/vocals FLOYD/drums RALPH/bass and
TOM/guitars.
The band have played with many old skool bands such as:
the Varukers, U.K subs, Meteors, the Vibrators, T.V smith, G.B.H, Angelic
Upstarts, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Subhumans, Slaughter and the
Dogs, Demob, Foriegn Legion, Ed Tudor Pole. Described as Old School
Punk, Dun 2 Def have made a couple of albums and are fast becoming a
force to be reckoned with, in the resurgent UK Punk scene.
Expect a mosh pit, this band will give the UK Subs, Crass and The
Damned a good run for their money!
Ferret and Floyd are well known 'Faces' from back in the day, indeed
photos of them can be found our UK Decay Communities 'Faces Gallery'.
See you in the mosh pit!
Dun 2 Def at Myspace
For the 3rd time at UK Decay Community Reunion events,
we are proud to present, Leicestershire's finest, Blink's..
Los Cyclones
Main man Blink is a regular at our events, known to many around the
Luton area during the Eighties, he is now living in the town of his birth,
Leicester.
For the Blink's Los Cyclones, UK Decay Com Reunion events have
become a regular pilgrimage and they never fail to liven up the party with
their firebrand sound, "storming garage punk and raw soul with a dark
twist" We look forward to them appearing again at this years event.
(taken from the bands myspace profile)
IN MAY 2006, FOUR LIKE MINDED HOODLUMS FROM LEICESTER GOT
TOGETHER TO CREATE THE SOUND THAT THEY ALWAYS WANTED TO
PLAY. FUSING TOGETHER A LETHAL COCKTAIL OF WILD ROCK'N'ROLL,
STORMING GARAGE PUNK AND RAW SOUL WITH A DARK TWIST. HAVING
CUT THERE TEETH IN SUCH NOTABLE BANDS AS THE AROUSERS, THE
POKERS, RAZORFACE, LAZY DOG AND THEE DIRTY STOOGES, LOS
CYCLONES HAVE CREATED THEIR OWN UNIQUE SOUND.
THE RECORDINGS ON THEIR WEBSITE FEATURE TWO ORIGINAL
COMPOSITIONS SHOWCASING THE BANDS BROODING ROCK'N'ROLL
SOUND.FEATURING THE MURDEROUS BLUES OF BORN UNDER BAD
STARS AND THE STEPHEN KING-ESQUE LIVE FAVOURITE FIRE AND
CHROME...PLAY, ENJOY THEN PLAY AGAIN ONLY THIS TIME LOUDER AND
GET BLOWN AWAY BY LOS CYCLONES....
Los Cyclones at Myspace
The finest of Luton today, in the UK!
For the second year running, the return of those Punky Luton darlings...
The Adenoids
Anyone who was at last years party, couldn't failed to have missed or
have been impressed by Luton's very own The Adenoids.
The colourful youngsters have a reputation for keeping things short and
sweet often firing off 18 songs in 17 minutes! Very reminiscent of the
early Punk ethos, they are a very big fun band with often poignant
message. They have more than earned their right to return this year and
they promise an even more zany show than last year!
(taken from the bands myspace profile)
Adenoid (ad-e-noid, noun):
A part of your nose which swells up when you drink or smoke too much
and makes you sing like a twat. The Adenoids were formed in 2005 in
Luton and have yet to be removed.
The Adenoids are:
Rebecca the Wrecker (vocals) who wants to be a punk when she grows up.
Stevel Knievel (bass) who likes toast!
The Smoking Katiepillar (drums/vocals) and shouts a couple of her own
RANTS!
Trixylicks homicidal muisli puffs alphabet krinkle scrotum smack head
cum and violence with cartoon porn creatures Adenoid (guitar) is very
silly and he is the original MATTALAN!
The Adenoids at Myspace
Making their debut to UK DK Com R3...Luton's most unreputable but loveable..
Rogue
Rogue one way or another have been around since early 2002, after a
few line up changes, last year Matt Ellis took up the reigns and announced
"We're the worst band you will ever hear".
Matt then recruited new drummer Kenny and with the addition of Rosie
on vocals, Boulder on guitar and Chris on Bass they now comprise a
colourful if improbable collection of individuals.
The new line up has a harder Punk-ier Metal edge and their gigs have in
the true spirit of Punk, become notorious in the Luton area. They have
just released a 4 track EP which should be available on the night.
Recently they supported Neville Staple's Specials at the Hat factory in a
storming performance. We shall look forward to their colourful
shenanigans at this year’s event.
Rougue at Myspace
Presenting Luton's very own Techno-Punk, Asbo kids.....
S.W.A.N.K.
This is one act from Luton that we at UK Decay Communities can't
wait to present to the party!
Straight-talking electro punks SWANK (Special Weapons And Nice
Keyboards) have been described as "Awful in all the right places",
"Somewhere between a drunken blow-job off Gary Newman and
electro-shock therapy" and are undeniably one of the most gritty acts
from the Luton punk scene around today.
With classic song titles like Asbo Kids, Fly Tipping and Sex Zombies to
chew over, we can't wait to see your faces!
SWANK at Myspace
DJ's
From the Legendary Swich Club, we proudly present..
Nick Switch
Nick 'Switch' ZinninosNick Switch was the co founder and partner DJ, with Bernie James of the
legendary Switch Club, which began in January 1985. The Switch Club is
permanently etched into a generation of Lutonian Post Punk's memories,
many relationships and friendships were forged in the ten years or so
that the Switch ran.
The Switch started in the Elephant and Tassel and throughout its history
migrated to many other venues in town, eventually spreading it's wings
and playing in Oxford, Cambridge and Northampton. Folks would dance
away the night to Marc Almond's Tainted Love, Spear of Destiny’s
Liberator, Baby Turns Blue by the Virgin Prunes, the Sisters of Mercy’s
Alice, Dark Entries by Bauhaus and The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary and
many more classics from the first generation of Gothdom.
The Switch Club, in retrospect played an important early role in
consolidating the entrepreneurial Goth Club with sustainability, post Bat
Cave.
Nick will be making a welcome return to our UK DK COM Reunion event
and spinning some of his classic poppadoms, so get your giro's and
crimpers out!
(tune-list thanks to Neil Orr's fantastic 'History is made at night: The politics of dancing and musicking' weblog)
From The Coven Club and Thursday Fury we proudly present..
Nephilimbabe
Nephilimbabe is a dedicated DJ and promoter for the Luton alternative
scene who has run Luton’s only gothic night The Coven since its opening
in July 2002. He also runs and DJ’s for Thursday Fury (new-wave & post
punk night) having been a part of the goth scene since the early 80's
History:- The Coven started back in July 2002 at it's first
venue Flame. Having firmly established itself as one of the driving forces
of the gothic club scene, plugging the gap between London and
Northampton, we moved locations to our current venue in January 2006
to The Hat Factory.
He has also played at London’s Electric Ballroom and at top Deathrock
club Dead & Buried. Specialises in gothic, industrial, punk and 80s, but
whose tastes excel the norms!
Nephilmbabe will be making a welcome return to this years party
The Coven at Myspace
Thursday Fury at Myspace
From The Attic Club and Club Ska we proudly present..
Andy Attic
Andy Attic
Andy Attic returns to this years event after smashing up the punky
turntables at last years bash.
Owner of Vinyl Revelations, Luton's only remaining independent record
shop. He started putting on gigs as Revelations at the end of the eighties.
Formed and ran the Attic Club in 1995 first at the 33 Arts Centre and
various other locations around theLuton area. Recently he DJ'ed the Paul
Fox - Ruts last show tribute night with Henry Rollins on vocals alongside
UK Sub's, The Damned etc. . Currently Andy is the main resident at north
London's Club Ska also running a new monthly Ska- Punk club at Luton's
Charlie Brown's and up and coming presentations include The Beat,
Symarip, Neville Staple's Specials and more
Vinyl Revelations
Club Ska website
POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
please check back later.
:roll: :roll:
Pity the poor Goths who never saw UK Decay, or experienced the kind of days which may never come again, where, with a fully functioning music media, Goth started and grew effectively in the UK because small amounts of coverage were enough to get a hard working band sufficient exposure to spread their name throughout the country. If their records were any good they could be playing to thousands within months. Word-of-mouth was like a plague back then. Bands who ventured abroad spread their reputation further, and assumed a larger form onstage, as confidence inflated their imagination. While nobody was bigger than Adam & The Ants in the underground channels, UK Decay were one of the biggest bands behind them. If they had mainly concentrated on the UK they would eventually have got onto a bigger label, as they were quite capable of headlining the largest venues.
‘Rising From The Dread’ is a lolloping spree of rusty sparks, ‘Twist In The Tale’ cavorts with wordy jousting and ‘Unexpected Guest’ has one of the greatest bass openings ever, out of which the rest crawl into a punishing roaring, semi-commercial style, where the macabre intensity festers beautifully. ‘Testament’ is as mesmerising now as it was then, with gaseous guitar drifting over rhythmic barbed wire, on which Abbo is caught, roaring happily. Then they flip backwards and give us the early ‘Black Cat’, charming by comparison, before they pound to a finish in Hammersmith with the brittle ‘UK Decay’, a Pistolian ‘For My Country’ and another ‘Unwind.’ The bonus tracks included then come from St. Albans, four months earlier. These are more faded in quality but include a blunt ‘Duel’, frantic ‘Jerusalem’, jerking ‘Mayday Malady’ and a rumbling ‘Stagestruck.’
