| ..Way
back in 1976, a couple of guys saw some more guys on the TV, in
the papers, |
| ..people
talked about them
and many proclaimed the return of the Anti-Christ. |
| ..The
Sex Pistols might seem a little tame by todays
standards, but back then, |
| ..they
were an inspiration to hundreds of teenagers
and
youth all over the
U.K. |
| ..Many
a band was born after seeing the Bill Grundy incident
plastered
all over the |
| ..World.
In Barnsley, Spike and Munk were a guitar/bass combo under the name of
|
| ..''Phlegm',
(bloody stupid name, but it somehow worked.) Spike
was 16, and Munk a |
| ..mere
15 years old, and they had written a couple of songs (in a fashion!?), |
| ..and
was on the lookout for a drummer, having decided that Spike
would be on Lead |
| ..vocals,
and Munk would do Backing Vocals. They were asked to support Barnsley's
|
| ..first
Punk band, 'The
Restricted', and Paul 'Giggy' Gilmartin (Later
To become The |
| ..Danse
Society drummer ) filled in on the
skins. So 5 songs and a change of
under- |
| ..pants
later, their first gig was over. |
| ..From
the gig, a drummer, Stuart
Moss, and a singer, Derek 'Shorty' Short were
|
| ..recruited,
and the name was
changed to 'The Androids'. Rehearsals improved, |
| ..and
pretty soon, they had a good half hour of material.
A gig was arranged at a local |
| ..dance
studio where they rehearsed, and invites were sent out (Private secret
party) |
| ..They
were to support a local Art School band called 'Labyrinth',
who
did a selection |
|
..of
their own plus 1 or 2 covers, including a version of Tom Petty's 'Breakdown'. |
| ..It
was a successful night. Also at the gig that night was Munk's cousin,
Brent
Stables |
| ..who
liked what
he saw, and had an idea. A few months later, with
nothing on the gig |
| ..calendar,
Brent called at Munk's
one day and said "I got a guitarist, a drummer, and
|
| ..I
will sing, do you wanna play bass?", after discussions
with the band, Munk was in a
|
| ..new
band called 'The Maingate Rippers' (which is an old Pit term
for
a face miner), |
| ..and
Keith 'Tat' Tattershall was the bass player for what was now known
as
|
|
..'The
X-Spurts'. 'The
Maingate Rippers' comprised of :- Brent Stables...Vox, |
|
..Terry
Naylor...Guitar,
Gavin Brain...Drums, and Munk...Bass. Early rehearsals were |
| ..held
at a friends cellar, and a handful of songs (lyrics...Brent,
and music...by
Terry), |
| ..were
put through the paces. A good vibe was brewing, and soon
gigs
were organised |
| ..the
first, at a youth club in Millhouse Green, which went down
as
good as it could |
| ..have,
people lapped it up, and it wasn't long before the next gig was arranged,'The
|
| ..Drum'in
Darton. which was another good gig
with the inclusion of the
first cover song |
| ..'White
Riot' by the Clash, and incidentally, the first airing of 'You are my
sunshine', |
| ..an
idea from Brent's brother, Wayne, and arranged by Munk. |
| ..After
a few months, Terry
was asked to fill in on guitar for 'The Restricted',and
ended |
| ..up
being the fifth member,
what now for The Rippers?, fortunately
for the lads, |
| ..they
had plenty of people who wanted to join,
unfortunately, none could play! |
| ..In
the end, it was a close friend who went to all the gigs, left-handed
and
no |
| ..experience
at all. 'Rots was a school colleague of Munk's,and learnt all
the
songs in a
|
| ..week,
from scratch!!,
Apparently, a natural and all that was
needed, was a guitar |
| ..and
a bass!! with 'Rots being left-handed.
'Rots bought a Marshall amp n 4 x 12 cab, |
| ..and
Munk ended up with a Sound City valve amp and
4 x 12 cab. 'The X-Rippers' had |
| ..landed. |
| ..Early
practise sessions had
new energy that emerged with Munk re-arranging most |
|
..songs
to suit his flambuoyant style of guitar playing, and 'Rots knitting in
with Brainy. |
|
..Early
songs, like 'Magnet Blues' and 'Rippers
Lament were stripped of darkness, |
| ..and
given a kiss of life with pure power chords and simple
solos
suitable to
his |
| ..deficiencies
of competence, which actually made them better. With sing-a-long |
| ..vocals
and Brainys energy and wailing(he never was allowed a mike!),The
X-Rippers
|
| ..were
the Peoples Choice,
and gigs were always an unpredictable assembly
of chaos, |
|
..fun
and good times, with no-one quite
knowing what to expect. |
| ..The
main place to play in town was always at The Portcullis, with a decent
sized |
| ..stage,
and probably the best
DJ in yorkshire, in the massive, gentle giant known as |
| ..'BUB',
Thursday nights were treasured by all with
the passion of an all-nighter in |
| ..Wigan.
The Portcullis was always filled to capacity and was the perfect
spring-board |
| ..for
new bands and old alike. Therefore a date was booked for 3 weeks on Thursday. |
| ..The
first gig was an unbelievable
fiasco!, the night before the gig was holding a |
| ..secret,
snow, and lots of
it!!, so when morning came, with at least a
foot of snow |
| ..down,
and more still dropping, things looked bleak
for the night ahead. After
a 2 mile |
| ..hike
through the streets of Siberia, carrying a very cold guitar,
Munk
and Bill finally |
| ..reached
the Chennels bar on Wellington St. A few drinks later,when suitably warmed |
| ..up,
they walked that last 200 yards to T'Portcullis, to find Brainy and 'Rots
waiting. |
| ..Apparently,
Brent had phoned, and is not going to appear at the first gig. So, do
they |
| ..cancel?,
no way, the first gig was an instrumental affair, which went down quite
well |
| ..surprisingly,
a good night was had, and 'The X-Rippers' machine was up and running. |
