The straps
1977 Punk Rock at its very best
1
songs
22
plays
AND NOW THE BASTARDS HAVE REFORMED 2005
Jock Strap... Vocals
Mark Hobbs... Bass
Diesel Reeves...Guitar
Stu Philips Lead guitar
And Introducing our new boy
Raffeye... on the Drums
For more info and stuff related to this original London punk outfit check out the below links
myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomthestraps
www.thestraps.co.ukBand/artist history
The story of The Straps is one so similar to many other punk bands from the late Seventies/early Eighties,
and indicative of the volatile creativity of that period. Together as a serious recording unit for but a few short
years, the band were responsible for a clutch of great records but, frustrated by the cynical music industry and
plagued by fragmentary line-ups, split before they ever realised their true potential. Still, as this long-overdue
retrospective CD so ably demonstrates, the music they rushed onto tape with the wild impetuosity of youth
over twenty years ago stands up to scrutiny even today.
Formed in Battersea by guitarists Steve Macintosh and Dave Reeves, the original short-lived incarnation of
The Straps featured Howard Jackson on vocals, Brad on drums and Green on bass, but things started moving
for the band when John ‘Jock’ Grant took over behind the mike.
“It was in Glasgow, in 1977, when I first came across Jock Strap,” recalls Dennis Fallen, one-time manager
of the band. “We met in Renfield Street, and our meeting was rather a strange one that led to us stealing a transit
van full of musical equipment belonging to the band that I sang with at the time! Basically we stole the van for a laugh - not really to nick anything - and parked it up further down the road, leaving the bass player of the band all bemused when he came out of the music shop to find his van was missing! We became good friends and looked after each other for many years after that event.
“We moved down to London after going down there for The Clash gig against racism and ended up squatting in
Abercrombie Street, Battersea, which is where The Straps first came about. There was a geezer called Brad who
used to come round to visit us and Dave ‘Diesel’ (Reeves) would turn up on his moped - no parka just his school
uniform! They had this rehearsal one day and Jock was fucking about with the bass and Green came in and asked him if he could sing and that basically is how Jock ended up in the band, and I ended up working with them.”
The band made their public debut supporting the UK Subs at the Streatham Park Tavern, before suffering their first casualty. “Green died of a heroin overdose very shortly afterwards,” sighs Dennis sadly. “They had to play the Latchmere pub in Battersea with Andi Sex Gang [from the Sex Gang Children] standing in on bass; he had only a few days to learn how to play, but he did okay although his fingers were all cut and bleeding afterwards!”
Andy Forbes (nicknamed ‘Heed’ by Rab Fae Beith from The Wall ‘because of his big head!’) took over on second
guitar, Stan Stammers joined on bass and Luke Rendell on drums, before the band relocated to what would become their spiritual home, Brixton.
“Jock got a part-time job in [fashionable London punk emporium] Boy, down the Kings Road, but he wasn’t really
that interested in it and I ended up working there instead, as did Stan, whilst Jock focused on his music. Dave also
worked occasionally in Boy - he got paid in T-shirts! and yes, it is true that I used to have The Straps play in the
window of the shop! That was fun ‘cos they were like fish in a bowl and caused total chaos with the passing trafficand, of course, the Chelsea Old Bill came and pulled the plug and I got nicked! Or, should I say, Boy got nicked but we went on to do this on several other occasions when the owner John Krivine was away on business in The States.”“We used to finance our rehearsals by ripping off all the foreigners that were shopping in Boy by overcharging them for goods,” laughs Dave. “I remember that there was a spare piece of red tartan cloth about 12” x 30” long, and we sold it to an American girl for 30 as a mini skirt; we just put a safety pin at the front to hold it together. 30 was a lot of money in 1979, it was nearly a week’s wages to me back then! That 30 paid for a rehearsal and a decent meal.”Stan and Luke left to join Theatre Of Hate (the band formed by The Pack vocalist, Kirk Brandon), and Heed departed for The Wall, with Canadian-born John and Simon Werner joining on bass and guitar respectively. Another Canadian, Jim Walker, joined on drums, fresh from a stint with ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd. (he played on their first single and album) to complete the definitive Straps line-up.
“I think the first time I actually saw The Straps was onstage, at the Music Machine... with me on drums!” laughs Jim.
“I’d been offered to sit in for one gig and as I was between bands at the time I thought, ‘Why not?’ So I just showed
up and we played to - I think - around 1,500 UK Subs fans, it was a great gig.
“Before PIL I had been in a cool little punk rock band on the West Coast called The Furies... then along came PIL,
which wasn’t really a punk band, was it? It was more post-punk, I think well, I don’t really know what you’d call it!
But The Straps was like going back to my roots, real primal stuff...”
And it was actually Jim who set up his own label, Donut Records, and released the debut Straps single, ‘Just Can’t
Take Anymore’, a slightly surprising choice for an opening gambit from the band seeing as it’s almost-Rockabilly vibe wasn’t really in keeping with the rest of their set.
“It was recorded at Rollerball Studios in Charlotte St., London,” reveals Dave. “By the bass player from the Glitter Band can’t remember his name, sorry - who owned the studio. The cover was designed by a friend of the band called ‘Grey’,who lived in a squat in Brixton with Simon; the sketches of the people on the front cover are supposed to be me and Jock , Jock’s the one with the big nose, haha!”
The 7” sneaked into the Indie Charts at No. 49 for a week upon its release during February 1981, no doubt helped by a UK tour the band had just undertaken with The Damned.
“That cost us 2000 to get on!” exclaims Dennis. “I’ve got no solidarity with the oily rag who was tour managing The Damned then; it’s well documented how he buggered off with all their cash as well. But that tour really showed how mature The Straps had become as regards their discipline and performance; it was a great feeling seeing them on all those big stages across the UKand the pranks that were played were unbelievable. The Damned switched the power off at one gig, and The Straps could only hear the monitors but no sound was going out front to the punters, so Jock decided to get his own back and threw a bucket of cooking oil over the stage just before The Damned came on! Haha, talk about a fast entrance! I also remember Lemmy from Motorhead coming on stage at Hammersmith with a brush, as if he was the caretaker cleaning the stage; that was not scripted and even The Straps had to laugh”
“My favourite gig memory of all has got to be the one we did supporting The Damned at Durham University,” adds Jim. “Just before going on I consumed a bottle of rum, and between each song I stood up, walked over to one of the guitarists’ mikes and harangued the university crowd. We ended up totally winding them all up and stealing the show from The Damned! However, that entire tour was a case study in getting wound up, and there were many more gigs almost as memorable.”
The second single remains to this day the band’s crowning glory. ‘Brixton’ was recorded at Hillside Studios in Streatham, released once again by Donut, and made No. 43 in the Indies during July 1982. An incredibly raw, energetic affair that captured the band at their fiery best, it was backed by the enjoyably moody semi-instrumental ‘No Liquor’.“The cover was designed by Jim Walker and John Werner,” reveals Dave. “It was a photo of the Brixton riots and summed up how dangerous and rough it was living in such a deprived area at that time. It was a bit of a no-go area really, and that’s probably why such a lot of punks moved there, as they felt that they could fit in.”
Unfortunately Jim left following its release to start his own band The Human Condition, leaving The Straps without a drummer or a label. These days he actually makes horror films! “I just had to get out due to a complete lack of business competence; my heart just wasn’t in it, to tell you the truth. Also, no one was showing the slightest bit of interest in us... which is a shame, ‘cos we had some incredibly cool fans that really deserved to have followed their band all the way to the top. No regrets though... what’s the point of regretting anything?”For the band’s sole, self-titled album, this time on Simon’s own label, Cyclops, The Straps enlisted the help of the UK Subs’
Pete Davies to stand in behind the drum kit (although Rat Scabies from The Damned plays on the re-recording of ‘No Liquor’),whilst Captain Scarlet (AKA Dave Lloyd, one of the Subs’ many guitarists) and Andi Sex Gang provided backing vocals. Considering the duress it was recorded under, it still sounds amazing, occasionally reminiscent of The Ruts at their snarling best, although Dave maintains some reservations as to the production.
“We had no money and had to record it all live. Me and Jock have never been that keen on how it turned out, ‘cos we don’t think it reflects the real ‘raw’ sound of the Straps. It was such a rushed recording; we just feel it has something missing from it, The cover was designed by Lynn Werner [John’s wife], she took all the photos for it as well.”Although it was the band’s last release (a third single was recorded but never released), The Straps enjoyed considerable success gigging, their reputation as a live act continuing to grow right up until their premature demise. “We used to headline a lot in London back then,” says Dave proudly. “At venues such as Skunx in Islington, the 100 Club, the Marquee, the Bridge House in Canning Town and Klub Foot in Hammersmith. We’d nearly always sell out these gigs; we could pull a crowd of over 500 a night and up to 1500 at places like the Music Machine in Camden. But we barely earned enough money to pay for a vaHave you performed in front of an audience?Yes we do but not as much as we used to .We have played all the major venues here in the Uk with many great Punk bands.
Your musical influences
Wire, Pistols, Buzzcocks, PiL ,Joy Division and many more great bands.What equipment do you use?
Gibson Fender Marshal the usual stuff reallyAnything else?
Lead Singer Jock has almost finished his first book about his life as a punk and his struggles as a young boy growing up in Glasgow toughened streets.
hayle,
United Kingdom
ID
716247
Contact
Sorry, this artist currently doesn't accept email messages.
Tags
