Clash,
with Joe Strummer from the 101ers playing guitar, writing songs
and singing, sound quite promising. They have the required attack
and energy but the content is too disparate at the moment and no
clear identity comes across; also they play mostly original songs
which aren't as strong as they might be. Hopefully after a few
months' more gigging they will have gotten over this.Most of the crowd at a Sex Pistols gig still seem more intent on dressing up and looking at each other than on the music, which didn't help Clash. When the Pistols came on I was surprised to see everyone rush for the stage and applaud as they are usually greeted with aloofness from their regular audience and curiosity from the newcomers. They kicked off with "Anarchy in the UK," recently performed on a TV show and due to be the first single, self-produced (the tapes with Spedding seem to have disappeared); no label name yet. The song will sound very curious to foreign ears as it is about the more militant nationalist organizations here, the NPLA, UDA, etc. and the chorus(?) is simply "I wanna see anarchy in the UK." If it gets around it should cause a few scenes here. It was the best received song they did and will probably make a great single. They have lost a lot of their cold, hard-edged feel and weren't as tight as they were before, probably because of the more sympathetic audience they're getting now. They need a wider audience and Johnny Rotten shouldn't have to yell, "Stop posing. You can dance." It must have made them try harder.
The second night was the real
disappointment. The Damned, formed by Nick Kent (who has since
wisely disassociated himself from them), are only good for a
laugh. They display all the trappings of the genre - leathers,
dark glasses, 3-minute songs - but have as much real energy and
menace as a kitchen table. They're going to release a single on
Stiff of "Help" which should be quite entertaining. The
Vibrators are an average bunch without even the comic element to
let them off the hook; totally forgettable.You would think that someone in Chris Spedding's position could put a band together for one-off gig. He came on at the end of the Vibrators' set, plugged his guitar in, played a godawful version of "Motor Bikin'" followed by three unrecognizable rock 'n' roll songs and walked off, leaving the audience disappointed and annoyed at being taken for a ride. A shame because he gave us a glimpse of how good he could have been when he played some fluid, inventive guitar.
Talking about guitar players, I can't resist mentioning Steve Hillage's appearance at Hyde Park. I didn't get close enough to see the group but what I heard was inpressive. Hillage sounds as if he has absorbed a lot of Todd Rundgren's ideas, making his music even more stellar and ethereal. He did a great version of the Beatles' "It's All Too Much," and was the perfect complement to a relaxed afternoon in Hyde Park. Virgin has since released his Todd-produced solo album L.