Along with the Toy Dolls and Peter And The Test Tube Babies, The Adicts were part of a movement within a movement I've seen classified as "fun Oi!". While street-punk pioneers such as Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and The Business occasionally had their humorous turns, the eternal cut-ups were far more interested in going to the pub with Harry rather than using his influence to unite the kids. Donned in droog costumes straight from the wardrobe of "A Clockwork Orange" and fronted by a "Monkey" man in joker paint, The Adicts were the class clowns of '82 UK punk. Stage props like confetti, beach balls, toy instruments and bubbles enhanced their yearbook superlative. Who else would discuss a fruitless search for food ("Chinese Takeaway"), "lament" over a lost love ("My Baby Got Run Over By A Steamroller") and express a genuine appreciation for classical music ("Ode To Joy") in the midst of serious sloganeering from other outfits? Familiar inflections from vocalist Keith "Monkey" Warren are perhaps The Adicts' most amusing aspect. Josh swears up and down that it's Robert Smith from The Cure masquerading as a punk rocker. Sounds legit to me. Maybe Smith listened to The Dickies as much as David Bowie in his early days. Plus, we all know the man's no stranger to applying makeup.OK, cancel some of what I said above. Songs Of Praise has been in my stash for over fifteen years, and this is the first time I've really studied the lyrics. Behind the cloud of cosmetics is a band who really gives a damn. Didn't mean to imply otherwise. Onward...
"I Don't Wanna Die For England" makes a terse, anti-war statement of not wanting to "hear the bugle call." "Sensitive" adds more heft to the Robert Smith theory ("If I say something wrong/You might start to cry/I don't wanna get you down/Don't wanna make you cry"). "Viva La Revolution" has the empowering lines ("Long live the people/Long live the scheme/Long live our hopes/Long live the dream") and endless title chants to join Jimmy Pursey and his "Borstal Breakout." Individuality is ironically endorsed in "Just Like Me." In lieu of my retraction, there are plenty of party favors. A former friend of mine once termed Pete "Dee" Davison's stringing on "Peculiar Music" as "Egyptian guitar." Well, the reissue of Songs Of Praise is on Cleopatra...Pete's bro, "Kid Dee," adds a lead vocal to his drumsticks on "Mary Whitehouse" and spouts about "pornography on the BBC." "Get Adicted" is a rousing recruiting pitch and a band theme song all in one. The last dance is saved for "Tango" ("We drank champagne/We danced again/We had laughter/And then after...").
I once saw Ozzy Osbourne wearing an Adicts T-shirt in a magazine. What would be the ratio from London oddsmakers that he's actually heard the band? 666:1, most likely.
-Gunther 8544
8 comments:
Im just gonna 'let happen' whats gonna happen. I feel compelled, for whatever reason.... to say :
WE KILLED LIDDLE TOWERS!!!!
Now, does this strike you in any particually meaningfull way? Why was i moved so this way?
The same band's "Police Oppression" might be the best street punk song ever.
Have you ever seen a grown man cry?
There was a time a few years back where a select few friends and I would practice crying, or trying to cry. Most of the time it was unsuccessful but one time i did it, while returning home from a SOCIALS show i was inspired by the beauty of a Jeep! Yes, a Jeep! Just to prove i was finally and truly crying, i took the hand of Juice by Jerry and wiped my beautiful moist eye leaking tears with it. It has become a moment we remember from time to time...
Ever notice that a lot of bands copped the Clockwork get-up? I think if I had a band, I'd fashion our look after a different dystopian flick. My band will sport a "Logan's Run" look. We'll be called The Runners.
I choose THX1138 and the band name:THE REAL-WORLD HOLLOGRAMS. We would wear all-white and shave our heads... walk around popping pills and looking puzzled.
Why do the numbers 1138 and 138 keep appearing in my life? I should play the lottery.
Its not YOU,
Its UUU
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