Dr Martens have been the foundation of almost every important youth movement for the last 40 years. Skinheads, Mods, Punks, Rockers, Goths, Grunge Kids, Riot Grrls, Indie Kids etc etc etc have all worn the 6 hole, 10 hole, 20 hole wonders of British Footwear with pride for decades now but I`m sorry to say that this needs to stop because a new generation of kids are wearing those famous Airwear soles and stomping our streets, only to a different beat .... the FASHIONISTAS!!!!!
Yes that`s right, our favourite British (adopted British anyway, he was German) Doctor, second only to Dr Hilary off the telebox, has been rebranded and remarketed as the `essential` part of every Topshop/Urban Outfitters boy/girl and Vintage shop whore out theres wardrobe!!
I`m not being funny but these kids don`t even where them with any style!! The favoured look is wearing them a size too big with untied laces and skinnier than drainpipes jeans tucked in!! I mean, generations before may also have worn Docs (or Doccers as my Mum used to call them) in this fashion too but at least they probably did it at half the price! Urban Outfitters for example are selling them for around about £89.99!! What hard up fashion minded kids can afford those kind of prices? None, the `fashion moguls` and `experts` don`t want spotty little oiks from broken homes and council estates wearing anything cool, oh no spending Daddies money is in this season and the little `I love live music` and `I love vintage` spoilt little brats are revelling in this! It seems that `youth rebellion` as they`re now tagging the trend, is in now and our beloved Docs are being snapped up!!
Due to the hike in high street store prices online retailers are also jumping on the doccers band wagon however, don`t be fooled into thinking you`ll get a better deal online. Oh no, search for Docs on ebay for example and you will find yourself in the centre of vicious bidding wars with screaming little hoorahs who have the disposable income to be able to afford any price on ebay! In fact, ebay Docs are more sort after as these are `vintage`.
End of the rant, I`m not saying that `this is for the poor` like some class warrior, no I`m really not, it`s just that these shoes and boots were originally intended for and used by the working class as durable footwear not fashion. Have a look at any Postie in your town and you will see the tradition stomping all round your streets as Royal Mail actually issue Dr Martens as standard wear for all staff at sorting offices around the country!
It`s not going to end so to be honest there is no point in this blog but I wanted to vent my anger as a proud Dr Martens wearer, raised in a broken home on a council estate in the North of England who`s Docs are either freebies, hand me downs or rare cheap buys. God Speed You Dr Marten of Munich, you are a true British hero.
Psychobilly and Rockabilly has always pretty much been the domain of men, face it this is a fact! Songs are generally written about women and not by women or women were hangers on in the scene and generally regarded as groupies however, over the years there have been some noteable female fronted bands rocking the scene just as good, if not better than their male counterparts.
I`m not listing these acts in any particular order of relevance or period and this is only a small selection of bands that I currently like. I`m just providing you some proof that there are women out there who can rock a double bass or wail just as good as P. Paul Fenech, Sparky, Pip, Elvis, etc and a stepping stone for you to discover and search out more female fronted rockin bands and bands that feature talented female musicians!!
Well, I`ve lived in Manchester all my life, under the grey cloud of baggy and the acid era of the Hacienda and it seems to me that people in general and the music press have a very limited view of what the Manchester music scene is about. To quote Dan Le Sac & Scroobious Pip "The Smiths - Just a band", now I don`t mean that really because I genuinely love The Smiths and I think that the greatest Manchester music has came from these 4 working class lads from the suburbs but as Tony Wilson once said "this is Manchester, we do things differently" It seems that every new band nowadays (see Hurts, Delphic, Courteneers, Twisted Wheel, etc) , be they from Manchester originally, by proxy or just influenced slightly by Moz and co they get tagged with being Manchesters finest band and are generally regarded as being forward thinking. I don`t think that ripping off or paying homage to your favourite bands is very forward thinking to be honest so I`ve compiled a little list of my favourite current Manchester musicians who, Tony, do things very differently!
First off is that great bard Sir Ste McCabe. Now Ste is not actually from Manchester but he hasn`t come here from Liverpool and started quoting Shaun Ryder! He`s a true original pop punk pioneer, male feminist and queer rights activist!! A one man band with an electric guitar and a drum machine and backing track, what more could a DIY icon need!!
"To Poor To Be Gay"
His first record Hate Mail is a DIY frenzy of 11 3 minute or less visceral diatribes on Manchester and English culture. Released on the fabulous Cherryade Records in 2008 (www.cherryademusic.co.uk) the album starts off on the left foot with Queer Clubbing and ends on the beautiful Rant (By The Seaside). Songs that are attacking the gay scene in Manchester (and anywhere for that point) , especially the drugged up, sex obsessed, bitchy area known as Canal Street. Receiving abuse in an area where everyone is `accepted` unless you`re a stereotypical queen into Hi-NRG music and ketamine! Queer rights and views seem to be out in this area now unless the issue is lack of drugs or your favourite bar or sauna closing down!
"back stabbing is in, solidarity is out, now it`s only drinking borders that we march about and when the homophobes come to take us out they will leave when they see you scratching each others eyes out"
The album also features attacks on Middle England, thick Scouse scallies, growing up in northern towns being gay, stereotypes, Daily Mail, and `queer pride`
On to Ste`s second release, also on Cherryade, we have Murder Music. This was released in 2009, a year after Hate Mail (2 albums in a year!!) This release continues in the same vein however, has much darker overtones as the `victims` of his attacks this time are people such as The Pope, people with one track views on religion, Christians, Americans, the old testament, the quran and generally anyone with very old fashioned, dark ages views on homosexuality!
Kicking off with the the title track Murder Music, through a collaboration with David Hoyle (The Divine David) in Militant Disco, songs about Toilet Scrubbing, homophobic attacks and finding God this album is a fine example of the forward thinking Manchester DIY scene and Ste is at the head of it!!
You can listen to Ste on his Myspace page:
www.myspace.com/stemccabe
Ste also runs a bi monthly club night at Taurus on Canal Street called Pussy Whipped. Kicking Canal Street up the arse, the true queers, dykes, feminists and punks are taking over!!
This features dancing with the Trash-O-Rama DJs, a raffle and fabulous bands at every event. The next Pussy Whipped is 21st May.
Next up is the wonderful feminist riot grrl beat combo the Vile Vile Creatures.
Now the VVC`s haven`t released anything in the way of albums, which is a crying shame and absolute travesty as this band really should be committed to vinyl!! Check out their myspace www.myspace.com/vilevilecreatures for tracks. The VVC`s are an all grrl pure punk pop band challenging the stereotypes set out by the music industry in a way that Ke$ha could only dream of! Think Erase Errata vs Le Tigre vs Sonic Youth in a triple threat ladder match while battling armies of zombies!!
The VVC`s are currently on a hiatus but please do check their myspace for news on upcoming gigs.
Will & Rick are an experimental due focusing more on the mental side of that word. Appearances of this duo are few and far between but you can view their wonderfulness on youtube and on their myspace, just search Will & Rick or go www.myspace.com/willandrick
I won`t try to describe what Will & Rick are about as the only words I could come up with were `tour de force` and that sounds shite but they play instruments as strange as Theremins, Musical Saws and Balalakas and sing songs about darkrooms, bears, toothless granny prostitutes, Amsterdam, daddies, kinky sex and glory holes so as I said before, go check em out and make up your own minds!
Other worthy mentions go out too Tingle In The Netherlands - www.myspace.com/tingleinthenetherlands Kid Voodoo - www.myspace.com/kidvoodoouk The Vipers - www.myspace.com/thevipersuk (now split up but check out Nathans new band The Pulsebeats) The Medicine Bow - www.myspace.com/shambolicmajesties Dangerous Aces - www.myspace.com/thedangerousaces Brittle Stars - www.myspace.com/thebeardsuk
And finally my favourite Glam Disco, Punk Trash, Transvestisism loving quartet The Bad Taste Barbies www.myspace.com/badtastebarbies
"Sieg Heil Jeremy Kyle"
Lead by the wonderful Kurt Dirt (formerly of Kurt Dirt & The Loverats) this band have been trashing Manchester for the last year and with songs hailing the Fuhrer Jeremy Kyle, odes to Cindy Wilson and mental illness and Death Glam Discos this band of juvenile delinquents with a drum machine are well worth checking out!!
Bad Taste Barbies are supporting The Glitter Band and Angie Bowie @ Satans Hollow in Manchester on Saturday 17th April, get tickets here:
"When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, I turn into a teenage Goo Goo Muck"
"Cramped"
A little late in coming this one but thought I`d bang out my thoughts on the passing of the legendary Lux Interior, lead singer of the even more legendary and ground breaking Cramps as it comes up to what would have been his 63rd birthday on October 21st. Real name Erick Lee Purkhiser, Lux as everyone else knew him (or Vip Vop or Raven Beauty to those in the know) was born in Ohio in 1946 and sadly passed away in February this year due to aortic dissection (heart problems to me and you).He is survived by his wife, lifetime friend and confidante in trash, Poison Ivy and our thoughts are with her at this time as Lux`s birthday nears as well as Halloween.
Lux met Ivy apparently while she was hitchhiking in 1972 in Sacramento. They formed The Cramps and moved to California in 1973 then on to, what I reckon is their spiritual home, New York in 1975.
"Demons are a girls best friend"
Everybody says the The Cramps were the first `psychobilly` band, which the band denied and claimed that they only used the term to drum up business.
A lot of myths surround The Cramps career and I guess that this is their appeal, I mean do you believe that their gig at Napa Sate Mental Hospital in 1978 was real?
"Napa State of mind"
Do you care? What a fookin story that is, I mean come on who else would do that, real or not? Me and my girlfriend kinda don`t believe it was real but we also don`t really care, we still love Lux and Ivy equally (also the rest of the gang but it`s Lux and Ivy all the way)
I personally wouldn`t call them psychobilly but I can see where people get that from and it`s quite easy to lump a band into a genre when you can`t really pigeon-hole them anywhere else and this is what happened all through the bands career. Too rockin for punk, too weird for surf, too wild for rockabilly and too scuzzy for garage the bands look and sound was out of this world!!
Drawing on his musical and film influences Lux created a unique persona which will stand the test of time in`rock` and will never be emulated!
"Songs The Cramps Taught Us"
The music of The Cramps pilfers from the back woods rockabilly stylings of artists such as The Rumblers, Charlie Feathers, Link Wray, Jack Scott etc, sci-fi surf garage twangers like Dale Hawkins, The Trashmen, The Busters etc. I mean, every band that influenced Lux were made up of the types of people you really wouldn`t wanna meet on a deserted highway when you`d caught a flat or ran out of gas and that`s exactly how the mainstream media probably saw Lux and The Cramps.
"Come back, you`ve not finished my make up"
Horror movies and b movies obviously influenced the style and sound, with tracks such as I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Goo Goo Muck, Human Fly, Surfin` Dead, Dinner With Dracula, Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon etc.
"I'm going to TRANSFORM him, and unleash the savage instincts that lie hidden within..."
Lux and The Cramps will remain in our memories forever and every Halloween we will ask your momma how to make a monster in tribute!!
You can catch Johnny Trash and Polly Esther raisng the dead this Halloween in Manchester @ Zombie Pride on Friday October 30th:
A blog dedicated to Manchester culture, clubbing, music, Mens fashion, outsider art, cult cinema and alternative lifestyles. Written by DJ Johnny Trash of Manchester club night Trash-O-Rama.
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