Bradley's Blog

Playlist 19 July

2012-07-20T08:16:32Z

Resisting the temptation to end the show with Sid's "My Way", tonight's last song is the Damned's best single, another Brian James composition that defies explanation. Don't ask me, anyway, what it means. But the Captain Sensible bass line is still the first thing that Undertones drummer Billy Doherty wants me to play in soundchecks and practices. I, of course, oblige.
There may be a stewards inquiry into The Times appearance tonight - too acoustic-ey, not enough fuzz guitar, but the song's the work of Ed Ball, someone who was there when the Television Personalities and The O'Levels and (new name to me) The Teenage Filmstars were formed. Hats off to Ed, if you're wearing one. Hats off to everyone who listened to the show and who read these occasional ramblings.
Aren't punk rock records great, eh ? Or is that just me ?

Ramones - Glad To See You Go
Stranglers - Duchess
The Times - Cloud Over Liverpool
Swell Maps - Midget Submarines
Sex Pistols - (Don't Give Me) No Lip Child
Frantic Elevators -Every Day I Die
B-52s - Dance This Mess Around
Boy Hairdressers - Golden Shower
X - Your Phones Off The Hook But You're Not
Chills - Pink Frost
Splodgenessabounds - Michael Booth's Talking Bum
Animals & Men - It's Hip
New York Dolls - Looking For A Kiss
Damned - Neat Neat Neat

Playlist 12 July

2012-07-18T17:38:02Z

I remember buying a copy of The Best Clash Single Ever ! in Good Vibrations shop in the summer of 1978. At least that's what my memory tells me. It could have been someone else buying it in some other shop but it's my favourite Clash single, even though there are some inconsistencies in the sentiments of the song. OK, maybe not inconsistencies but why does Joe Strummer look down his nose at Ken Boothe in favour of Dillinger ? And since when did 'Four Tops All Night' become a term of musical abuse ? Joe's not round to answer , of course. WMIHP is still the only punk rock single that I know all the words of. (Ramones songs don't count, because 'second verse same as the first' was not just a cute lyric, it was the basis for much of their compositions).

Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais
Flaming Groovies - She Said Yeah
Rich & Famous - Machine Gun
Wasps - Teenage Treats
Buzzcocks - Get On Our Own
Kleenex - Ain’t You
Jilted John - Baz’s Party
Alleycats - Nothing Means Nothing Anymore
That Petrol Emotion - Fleshprint
Specials - I Can’t Stand It
Cramps - Domino
And The Native Hipsters - There Goes Concorde Again
The Bush - To Die Alone
Stooges - Search & Destroy

Playlist 5 July

2012-07-06T15:05:48Z

There are several veterans of the Punik Wars who wear it well, among them Siouxsie Sioux. In the recent Punk Britannia series, she didn't look much different from her high kickin' days with the Banshees. Good cheekbones go a long way, as does a decent tune like tonight's opener. Punk rock more than goth, which is how it should be.
Is Can's hit single 'I Want More' krautrock ? It can't really be. I mean, they even appeared on Top Of The Pops with it. Look it up on the internet and marvel at Noel Edmonds who had obviously just come from a wedding that morning, judging by his tie.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Love In A Void
Subway Sect - Don’t Split It
Can - I Want More
Mekons - Johnny Miner
Art Objects - Showing Off To Impress The Girls
Lester & The Brew - Bad Day In The City/ Eyesight Bad
Television - Days
Mumps - Gimme Gimme
Neurotics - Angela
Raincoats - Lola
Seeds - I Tell Myself
Slits - Instant Hit
Art Attacks - Punk Rock Stars
The Milkshakes - Love Can Lose

Playlist 28 June

2012-06-28T18:09:35Z

As the show starts the weary road home, to rest after five years in the punk rock forest, you may notice some of my all time favourites making appearances. Like the Modern Lovers song which is to be found on their best LP, the one which was made up of demos recorded in 1972 and then released in 1976. Although that's only four Earth years later, it's the equivalent of twenty punk rock years. Things had changed beyond recognition. Short hair good, long hair bad. I yearn for such simple rules these days. Ending tonight with John Otway, who may not be classified as punk rock in the Ofcom files, but qualifies for outings on this show under rule 21(b) of the Sniffing Glue Rule Book.

Modern Lovers - She Cracked
Dentists - I Had An Excellent Dream
Dexys Midnight Runners - Let's Make This Precious
The Beat - Work A Day World
Electric Eels - Accident
McCarthy - The Funeral
Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City
Penetration - Don't Dictate
Go Betweens - That Way
Dr Feelgood - All Through The City (live at BBC)
Last Gang - Spirit of Youth
The Wipers - Romeo
John Otway - Cheryl's Going Home

Playlist 21 June

2012-06-22T09:18:18Z

Some vintage Damned tonight .... hold on , it's all vintage, and many are damned ..... starting with their Stooges tribute, which only suffers from an extended thrashing that pads their first LP out by an extra minute and a half. Brevity was indeed the soul of punk, although some people didn't read to the end of the manifesto. There's also a lean towards Californian punk tonight for no good reason apart from the strength of the records. The Urinals started off, they say, as a parody of punk rock at UCLA. What's the point of a parody of punk when we already had (insert name of least favourite band here) ? I do like the band's singles, which are short, sharp, etc. Speaking of which , Black Flag's recording of Louie Louie is quite possibly the first time the archetypal garage punk song has been aired on this show, in the very week that I have learned the official cut off date for this particular After Midnight. July 19th will be the last one, as Radio Ulster will be closing at midnight from July 21st.

Damned - I Feel Alright
Urinals - I Am A Bug
Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel
Suicide Commando - No More
Devo - That’s Pep
Red Kross - Linda Blair
X Ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours !
The Dicks - Dicks Hate The Police
Plastic Bertrand - 54321
The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around
Guana Batz - King Rat
Stingrays - Come On Kid
20-20 - Yellow Pills
The Tidal Waves - Action Speaks Louder Than Words
Black Flag - Louie Louie
New York Dolls - Courageous Cat Theme

Playlist 14 June

2012-06-15T15:30:00Z

Tonight is the 34th anniversary of the Good Vibrations Battle Of The Band, held in the McMordie Hall. Not too many were injured, no one was declared a winner, so it's good to play both Rudi and The Outcasts, two of the troupers on the night. Also a hearing for Slaughter And The Dogs's 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?'. A title which raises two questions. Where, indeed, have they gone ? And why do people not say 'bootboys' any more ? Is it because we live in less troubled times? That's three questions, sorry.
Elvis Costello's finest 108 seconds was the b-side to his Clubland single, another example of the b-side outperforming the a-side. 'Hoover Factory' is the specky one's love song to a prime example of Art Deco architecture. Prime real estate as well, being , in Elvis's words, 'five miles out of London on the Western Avenue'. It's now a Tescos. A very nice Tescos, of course.

The Fall - Totally Wired
Wire - Champs
Rudi - Overcome By Fumes
Holly & The Italians - Tell That Girl To Shut Up
The Lines - On The Air
Slaughter & The Dogs - Where Have All The Bootboys Gone ?
Sparkles - No Friend Of Mine
Chesterfield Kings - She Told Me Lies
Bohemia - Unconventional Boy
Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin' For Jesus Pt 1
SSD - Get It Away
Eddie & The Hot Rods - Horseplay
Elvis Costello - Hoover Factory
The Shoes - Tomorrow Night
Those Naughty Lumps - Iggy Pop's Jacket
Outcasts - Don’t Want To Be No Adult

Playlist 7 June

2012-06-08T08:55:19Z

Tenth anniversary of Dee Dee Ramone's passing this week, at his home in Los Angeles. Heroin overdose, since you ask. The Ramones weren't like The Beatles - they didn't have a Quiet One, a Serious One, a Pretty One. They had four Dumb Ones. Except they weren't dumb. Dee Dee, despite his public utterances, wrote some of their best songs, came up with the 'They're All Called Ramone' concept and shouted out the '1 - 2 - 3 - 4' before each song. Sadly missed, as indeed are Joey and Johnny. Also tonight the very first recording made by Echo And The Bunnymen, without a drummer, and without many guitars , by the sound of things. Historical curio, rather than must hear record.

Ramones - You Should Never Have Opened That Door
Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes
Echo & Bunnymen - Monkeys
June Brides - Every Conversation
Pop Group - We Are Time
Jangletties - Happy All The Time
Buzzcocks - You Say You Don't Love Me
Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Confidential
Smithereens - Beauty & Sadness
Boys - See Ya Later
Clash - Police On My Back
Blondie - I Didn’t Have The Nerve To Say No
Action Pact - London Bouncers
Chris Stamey & Dbs - I Thought You Wanted To Know

Playlist 31 May

2012-06-01T08:43:49Z

Apologies for any offence caused by playing God Save The Queen just as celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee get underway. It is, indeed, too obvious. But what a record. How many other singles have caused such a row that the charts had to be manipulated so that it didn't get to number one? In its honour I reprise the song at the end of the show, playing the original title 'No Future' which was what we readers of the NME knew it as when it was just one of the songs the band played live. It's the demo that the band recorded in the basement studio of EMI in London in December 1976, while upstairs the board of the company were deciding to dump them from their label. While there, the Sex Pistols ran up the stairs to get their photograph taken leaning over the bannisters , the same pose the Beatles did for their first LP. Rattling the establishment while paying homage to the Fab Four. Who else ever did 'being in a band' with such style ?

Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
Spongetones - She Goes Out With Everyone
Subhumans - Firing Squad
Stranglers - Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)
Deviants - Garbage
Re-Runs - Since You Gotta Cheat
Angelic Upstarts - Leave Me Alone
Expelaires - To See You
Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
Plug Uglies - All Done In
Patti Smith - Piss Factory
The Unclaimed - No Apologies
Sex Pistols - No Future

Playlist 24 May

2012-05-25T14:27:57Z

Paul Weller turned 54 just as tonight's programme began. His band's first 45 takes me back to O'Neill's front room in the Punk Rock Spring and the In The City single, which had just been bought in Ken's records in Derry. Even though it was my record, Vinny's record player was the nearest to the shop, so the first play was on that. It's often been said that the early Jam were Who copyists. I don't dispute that but I couldn't hear it myself in the front room that Saturday. It was fast and furious and had great bass and guitars. What more do you want ? Great hair, that's what. How well would Weller be regarded these days if he'd lost that hair, and put an extra four or five stone around the middle ? Is he an inspiration to ageing punk rockers or is he, by his very appearance, a reminder of how some of us have gone to seed ? Both, I say.

The Jam - In The City
McCarthy - The Procession Of Popular Capitalism
Ian Dury - Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
Alternative TV - In Control
Runaways - Rock and Roll
Miaow - When It All Comes Down
Animals & Men - Evil Is Going On
Madness - Disappear
Cramps - I Can’t Find My Mind
The Stains - John Wayne Was A Nazi
Distractions - Time Goes By So Slow
The Animals - I’m Gonna Change The World
Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (Live At Max's)

Playlist 17 May

2012-05-18T14:33:05Z

The second tier of CBGBs bands were those who didn't get signed up by a record company in time to reap critical or financial acclaim. Or maybe they just weren't good enough. I think The Shirts were good, but had too much facial hair. The Shirts (from Brooklyn) appeared on a 1977 LP called Live At CBGBs. Any casual record shop browser would have seen the title and fought back the disappointment caused by the absence of the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie or Television from the record. Feargal Sharkey bought it and shared our disappointment. We did learn at least one song, to play in the Casbah in Derry. It was by Tuff Darts. Embarrassing title, but it was easy to learn. All For The Love Of Rock And Roll. Titles like that ensured the band, and their ilk, would always be just below the New York Punk Rock Salt.

Shirts - Laugh And Walk Away
Generation X - Your Generation
Girls At Our Best! - Goodbye To That Jazz
Dictators - Laughing Out Loud
Wedding Present - Once More
Ultravox! - The Man Who Dies Every Day
Flipper - Get Away
That Petrol Emotion - Swamp
Modern Lovers - Government Center
Eyeless In Gaza - Taking Steps
Toys - Living Too Fast
X - Drunk In My Past
Doors - Soul Kitchen
Nightingales - My Brilliant Career
Stems - Love Will Grow

Playlist 10 May

2012-05-11T09:00:37Z

In 1969 The Stooges thought they had finished their first LP for Elektra records. They presented the man from the record company with their five songs. Not surprisingly, they were told that five songs were not enough. Even if one of them was ten minutes long. So Iggy said 'not a problem, we've plenty more'. It wasn't true, so they spent the night writing three more and recorded them the next day. One of them was Little Doll.
Nothing beats working to a deadline. Also tonight, the Teardrop Explodes b side that sounds like it's not Julian Cope singing. Maybe he hadn't yet found his voice, or maybe it's someone else. Any ideas ?

The Last - She Don’t Know Why I’m Here
Randoms - Lets Get Rid Of New York
The Teardrop Explodes - Camera Camera
Poison Girls - Bully Boys
Yachts - Yachting Types
Died Pretty - Stoneage Cinderella
Dexys Midnight Runners - This Is What She’s Like
Steppes - God’s Got Religion
Vibrators - You Broke My Heart
Stooges - Little Doll
XTC - Mekkanik Dancing
Talking Heads - First Week, Last Week.... Carefree
Iron Butterfly - Gentle As It May Seem
Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven

Playlist 3 May

2012-05-04T11:40:02Z

The Ghost of Malcom McLaren hovers over tonight's show. John Lydon's first blow for artistic (and later financial) freedom from old Talcy Malcy is still the best thing he ever did outside of the Sex Pistols. Not being a Sky subscriber I missed his interview with Laurie Taylor. Was it any good ? Please tell me. Also tonight, Malcolm's second attempt at shocking the Great British Public, Bow Wow Wow. He wouldn't get away with it today, putting a fourteen year old girl in a band and getting her to sing songs about sex. Musically it's great, of course although I don't think it excuses him.

Soft Boys - I Want To Be An Anglepoise Lamp
Public Image - Public Image
Bow Wow Wow - Louis Quatorze
Razorcuts - Storyteller
Gang Of Four - A Hole In The Wallet
Dead Kennedys - Chemical Warfare
Mo-Dettes - Paint It Black
Meteors - Blue Sunshine
MC5 - Looking At You
Victim - (Don’t Cry) Tomorrow Love Will Come Again
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Clowntime Is Over
Squares - This Is Airebeat
Rezillos - Cant Stand My Baby
Count Five - Psychotic Reaction
Purple Hearts - Millions Like Us

Playlist 26 April

2012-05-02T15:37:43Z

I don't often play songs which last over seven minutes but sometimes I make an exception, especially when its the Buzzcocks litany of things that Pete Shelley believes in, from immaculate conception to his mum and dad (Mr and Mrs McNeish). The Buzzcocks' third LP is still strange territory to me, even though it came out just a year after 'Love Bites'. How does that happen ? What changed between 1978 and 1979 that caused me (and thousands of others) to suddenly lose interest in the idea of a new LP by Manchester's finest ? The singles were still purchased but for some reason, I couldn't be bothered to pay the four pounds for 'A Different Kind Of Tension' even though it's up there with the others. I was a teenage fickle music fan, obviously.Fall - Couldn’t Get Ahead
Breakaways - Walking Out On Love
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter
UK Subs - Kicks
Barracudas - I Saw My Death In A Dream Last Night
Adverts - Bombsite Boy
Cabaret Voltaire - Split Second Feeling
Sonics - Money
Swell Maps - Blenheim Shots
Ruts - In A Rut
Buzzcocks - I Believe
Electric Prunes - (I Had Too Much To Dream) Last Night

X Ray Spex - I Am A Cliche
The

Playlist April 19

2012-04-20T09:57:44Z

London is a great city to mythologise and punk rock loved to do it. The Clash were almost as good as the Kinks in talking up the Smoke , as much through the pages of the NME as through their actual songs. London Calling is more sophisticated than its older and shoutier brother London's Burning, but I remember the impact of someone singing about concrete flyovers when most songs that we heard on the radio were about dancing and keepin' on truckin'. Of course, when I eventually saw for myself The Westway in London, that overpass of Portobello that Joe Strummer had been on about, it reminded me of the flyover on Lecky Road in Derry, and made me wonder why our band didn't write about that. Possibly because nothing much ever happened there, apart from the odd burned out car. Also tonight, a reminder of Johnny Thunders' passing, 21 years ago this week. News also coming in of Levon Helm tonight. I'll stop before it gets too sad.

The Jam - The Place I Love

The Clash - London's Burning

Action Pact! - Stanwell

Sator - Pigvalley Beach

Boyz- Charlotte

Boys - Teachers Pet

REM - Pretty Persuasion
Gol Gappas - Albert Parker

Fruit Eating Bears - Chevy Heavy

New York Dolls - Private World
Adam & The Ants - Zerox

Go Gos - Our Lips Are Sealed
Dexys Midnight Runners - Thankfully Not Living In Yorkshire....

Johnny Thunders - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

Playlist 12 April

2012-04-17T15:49:15Z

I see that John Cale is approaching Belfast for this years CQAF (first word is Cathedral, work out the rest yourself) and in honour of the Greatest Living Welshman we start with White Light/White Heat, the title song from the last Velvets LP he worked on. Most punk rock bands were inspired by the Velvet Underground but very few took their lead and got the bass player to learn the viola. Of course, it was the other way around with John Cale. Did the Velvets lose something when he departed ? No comment, but I don’t think his replacement Doug Yule gets many invites to festivals in Belfast. Although there’s an idea.... Also tonight, two numbers with numbers in the titles. Can you spot them ?

Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat

Lurkers - Freak Show

B52s - 6060 842

The Offs - 624803

Skids - Hope & Glory

Fleshtones - Hexbreaker
Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me

Stingrays - I Want My Woman

The Loft - Why Does The Rain

Highspeed V - Sally

Choo Choo Train - Flower Field
Greeting Number 4 - Photos

Mojo Men - She’s My Baby

Stiff Little Fingers - State of Emergency