Issue two of Kindred Spirit featured an interview with influential post punk band Sex Gang Children. Formed in the early 80s by Andi McElligott (Andi Sex Gang) the band are still touring today.
In this blog post I invite you to rewind the clocks to October 1983 and step backstage with me at Hull's legendary (but sadly now demolished) Spring Street theatre.
In the early 80s the foundations of the theatre rattled to the sound of some pretty exciting bands. Killing Joke, Anti Nowhere League, The Exploited, and New Model Army are just a few of the names that spring to mind.
“The Street” as it was also known was a small venue. Bands such as those listed above almost always played to a packed house and this added to the whole experience.
Les Zeiga Fleurs featured several times in Kindred Spirit. The corresponding blog post can be found here.
Before moving on I would like to mention an interesting little nugget of information relating to a track by Les Zeiga Fleurs called ‘The Cold October’. This track is one that featured on their cassette tape ‘Good Men Die Quietly’.
Whilst searching for information about Les Zeiga Fleurs online I came across a highly dramatic Youtube video which is the creation of a Polish arts and culture TV channel called TVP Kultura. The short black and white film has a chilling gothic feel about it and the track used as the backdrop is ‘The Cold October’. The two work perfectly together.
One thing led to another when I shared the above video with my
Twitter friend Joe, who is far more knowledgeable about all things punk/new
wave than I am. He told me that despite censorship by the communist state in the early 1980s there
was a thriving underground punk scene in
Bands such as Lady Pank, Republika, Maanam and Obywatel GC had a cult following. There is a fascinating article here.
The creator of Polish punk fanzine QQRYQ was a guy called Piotr ‘Pietia’ Wierzbicki. He was so impressed by a selection of the London fanzines he set eyes on that in 1984 he decided to create his own. In addition to this he released the first cassette tape of Eastern punk. His unique collection of records and fanzines was the subject of an exhibition in Leipzig in 2017.
Hearing some of the stories
Joe has shared with me has helped me to understand how the punk movement of the
early 1980s in
So now… moving on to all things Sex Gang Children.
Rewinding right back to the
beginning, in 1980 Andi McElligott (Andi Sex Gang) started a band called Panic
Button in
Andi went on to form Sex Gang Children in 1982. The first line-up was as follows:
Andi Sex Gang (vocals,
guitar), Dave Roberts (bass), Terry McLeay (guitar)
and Rob Stroud (drums)
The band released their debut
album ‘Naked’ themselves on cassette tape only. It was recorded live at the
Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith.
They signed to Illuminated Records not long afterwards and released a string of discs over the following two years. Their first EP ‘Beasts’ remained in the indie charts for an impressive 18 months.
The band worked with former Generation X bassist turned producer Tony James. More recordings have followed over the years and they continue to play and record to the present day.
This seems like the perfect point to share yet more amazing vinyl kindly sent to me by my friend, music expert and vinyl collector extraordinaire - Pete.
Pictured below is a very valuable live album two record set.
A rare version of 'Beasts' with the skeleton in the centre of the vinyl.
Sebastian, The Singles 1982-1984 album and Song and Legend.
If you would like to see much more memorabilia and current band information Sex Gang Children have a regularly updated website and Facebook page. Andi is active on Twitter also.
As mentioned at the start of the
post, we interviewed Sex Gang Children after a gig at
To give you a flavour of
the atmosphere at the gig the night we interviewed Sex Gang Children I managed to find this video of a live performance of Sebastiane recorded for the Riverside TV show in 1983.
1 - Dead Metal
2 - Ecstasy and Vendetta
3 - German Nun
4 - Dieche
5 - Mauritia Mayer
6 - Draconian Dream
7 - Time Of Our Lives
8 - Children’s Prayer
9 - Les Amants d’un Jour
10 - Killer ‘K’
11 - Oh Funny Man
12 - Sebastiane
13 - Song and Legend
Encore
Cannibal Queen
The Crack Up
Unfortunately the Spring Street gig will not go down in history as the band’s most well received. I recall feeling disappointed that the behaviour of certain audience members marred what I felt could have been a highly creative performance. I am however not in the business of rewriting history, so here is the feature that appeared in Kindred Spirit issue 2:
When the four members of Sex
Gang Children walked on stage, it was as if an unseen barrier had somehow
lodged itself between the audience and the band.
Photo by Erica Echenberg
The mainly spikey-topped, leather-backed crowd pushing each other aside frantically were in the minority, and even the old faithful shock tactics barely managed to raise a snigger. Blue hair, black hair, warpaint, plaits, red finger nails, black finger nails, bangles, chains, image… SGC held it all in the palm of their hands but it just wasn’t enough.
Perhaps the complete lack of
enthusiasm reflected on the band’s performance because musically there were few
highlights, with the exception of the current single ‘Mauritia Mayer’, ‘Immigrant
and the Bauhaus-like ‘Children’s Prayer’. Each number sounded pretty much alike
(Egyptian reggae?)
Andi kept well and truly on top
of the wailing guitar sounds and often heavy drum beats with hit pitched
vocals, successfully managing to equal the rather stirring performance he gives
on vinyl.
Halfway through the set some
kind person, obviously dissatisfied with the whole affair, threw a beverage of
some description over lead guitarist Terry’s head. He didn’t flinch an inch.
Then if that wasn’t bad enough, some overwrought members of the audience
decided to try and kick the shit out of each other.
Fortunately it didn’t last
long.
When the evening finally drew
to an end only a handful of fans shouted for more. They were to be
disappointed. Sex Gang Children could stand the strain no longer.
Overall the events of the night
put the band in a pretty bad spotlight, which is a pity really because given
the right circumstances I have a feeling they could prove to be quite creative.
With that thought uppermost in
my mind it seemed only fair to hear SGC’s side of the story. So between lending
out pens to Andi and dodging out of the way of cameras we managed to slip in
the odd question here and there.
What did you think of tonight’s gig?
Dave: It was awful. One of the
worst we’ve done.
Why didn’t you play an encore?
Dave: We only play encores when
the audience want us back on stage. Tonight they just weren’t with us. We’ve
never played
Andi: (Shaking his head) We can
do without all that. I think there were a lot of people here tonight who’d
heard our name mentioned before, but didn’t know a thing about us.
You’ve been labelled the band
to give punk the kiss of life. Do you agree?
Andi: No not at all. We’re not
a revival band in any way. We don’t want to be classed as part of a revival. We’re
totally individual.
Are there any bands bubbling
under that you particularly like?
Andi: Look Back In Anger. They’re
very good and Under Two Flags.
Who are your major influences?
Andi: Well there are lots really.
Marc Bolan. I mean I listen to music from the 50s. Tommy Bruce.
Can you tell us about your
association with Marc Almond?
Andi: I recorded a track called
‘Hungry Years’ with Tony James our producer, who also produces the Mambas. Marc
and I just ended up talking one night and decided we’d like to do a track
together, so I said, “Great, okay. How about doing Hungry Years?” I played him
the tape that Tony and I had already done then he got Dave Ball to do the drum
rhythms. It has excellent drum rhythms.
Is it true that you threw water over NME reporter Don Watson?
Andi: (Half smiling) It hasn’t
gone to print yet. It’ll be another two weeks I think. We just wanted to hurt
his ego and I hope that’s what it did.
What is your opinion of most of
the rock journalists?
Andi: Out of all of them there
are only one or two who are true fans of music. Johnny Waller and Mick Mercer
are fair because they’re honest. I remember reading something by Paolo Hewitt
once. He said you either go over the top about a band or you slag ‘em. It’s
very true.
But some people enjoy seeing a
band getting slagged in print in a warped sort of way.
Andi: Do they? They shouldn’t if they’re true fans of music.
What do you think of fanzines?
Andi: Most of them are very
political and some can be as bad as the music press.
Do you think they’re a good
idea?
Andi: Oh yes definitely. I don’t
get the chance to see many now. I used to read them all the time. Like ‘Artificial
Life’, that’s very good. It’s a
Where is Nigel your usual
drummer tonight?
Andi: He left us about two
weeks before the tour started. Death Cult took him off us. We’ve got Ray now.
He used to be with Ritual who have now split.
Then the tables turned.
Andi: Why do you do a fanzine.
Is it because you’re a fan of music?
KS: We really want to provide an outlet for anyone who is doing
something creative.
This seemed like the perfect
place to draw the interview to a close.
I hope you have enjoyed riding the nostalgia train with me again as I relive my fanzine writing days. Special thanks go to Pete for the vinyl and Joe for the information about the Polish punk/new wave scene.
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