- Slates, Slags, etc.
- The Container Drivers
- Gramme Friday
- New Face in Hell
- Totally Wired
- An Older Lover etc
- Leave the Capital
- Impression of J. Temperance
- How I Wrote Elastic Man
- Pay Your Rates
- The N.W.R.A.
- Muzorewi’s Daughter
- C ‘n’ C
- S.Mithering
- English Scheme
NOTES
61 minutes
Extensive photos at the This Is Then site.
“This is the new prole art that cannot be bought
Or can it?
Or can it?”
Appears to be a middling quality soundboard – a touch muffled, hissy and some microphone distortion in places – volume tends to fluctuate but all in all very listenable
This time period is clearly adequately covered by the official release “Live in London – the original Chaos Tapes” . Notwithstanding that this is an excellent recording of the band during the Grotesque/Slates period. All of the material is from these two releases with the exception of “Muzorewis Daughter” and the contemporary singles.
Notable points – a name check for Julian Cope (the uh-compere) prior to “Container Drivers”, a manic kazoo vocal exercise in echo manipulation on “New Face in Hell” and a wacky psychedelic version of “Totally Wired” caused by the echo effect being left on Marc Rileys backing vocals for the first part of the song.
The opening “Slates” is cut short but features some interesting observations on academic male slags and there failure to grasp local culture. This provides a fascinating insight into the inner core of the meaning of this song. There is also a slightly different take on the guitar riffs on “Capitol” which adds an angular jaunty feel.
The open lines to “NWRA” feature a declamatory aside regarding Middlesbrough and some spite about football and the closing “English Scheme” is presaged by a barbed swipe about support from one assumes the audience and after the song a closing remark about the food being OK and a cryptic “we said it…Safe House ok!”
Not essential but good for the context of the Acklam Hall gigs a few weeks later and the mysterious closing coded messages.