Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – an exhibition entitled Caribbean: Crossroads of the World – with paintings, sculptures, photographs and videos from the Haitian Revolution to the present – is at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, Florida to August 17th.

MORE THAN 600 YEARS ago, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer died without completing his greatest masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales – more than 20 stories (originally written in Middle English) – but now, these have been published online for the first time.

HAIL and FAREWELL to two musicians of note: the bassist in the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Paul Goddard – who has died at the age of 68 … and guitarist Larry Ramos – a member of The Association – who has died at the age of 72.

THURSDAY’s CHILD was named Lucky the Cat – after being found by a supermarket employee bound-up (in an adjacent glass-recycling bin) in the north of England …. and it seems she has now has been reunited with her family (under her real name, Piper).

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a follow-up to several earlier stories: on the explorer Ernest Shackleton, the upcoming “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” movie … and the continuing inquest into the deaths of 96 people in England’s sports tragedy, the “Hillsborough Disaster”.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Cami the Cat – who jumped out of her crate when her family was moving from New Hampshire to Maine three months ago … then was found under a truck, near death …. but recovered, and was reunited with her family due to a microchip.

LITERARY NOTES – Forensic scientists in Spain have announced plans to search a Madrid convent for the body of the 17th Century author, Miguel de Cervantes – using ground-penetrating radar – in order to properly memorialize the author of “Don Quixote”.

ACCORDING to the veteran actor Mandy Pantinkin, “Not a day of my life goes by that I don’t get asked to say” … Inigo Montoya’s famous line “Prepare to die” line from “The Princess Bride”.

By Request FATHER-SON? from Tonga 23 – the late TV star Andy Griffith and the Alaska Senator Mark Begich – whaddya think?

 

…… and finally, for a song of the week ……………………. from the British side of the mid-to-late 70’s punk scene, one had many choices: the envelope-pushing of the Sex Pistols, the high-end sound of The Clash, the Oi! bands such as Angelic Upstarts and more humorous acts like Ian Dury. But my favorite was Sham 69 – and compared to their more middle-class contemporaries (Joe Strummer of The Clash was a diplomat’s son) they actually represented the wave of working-class angst over unemployment at the time. Sham 69 had a sound that was raw, yet had a playful (even melodic) sound at times, and their choruses featured a sing-along quality that … well, made an audience want to sing-along.

They were formed in the working-class suburb of Hersham (about 16 miles south-west of London) in late 1975 by lead singer and frontman Jimmy Pursey and after awhile, guitarist Dave Parsons. The name came from a local football (soccer) team’s championship written on a wall: “Walton and Hersham ’69” had started to fade … so that only the last few characters could be seen.

Their song lyrics were populist and filled with Cockney references – which eventually gained them a loyal following in London. Their first independent single “I Don’t Wanna” was produced by the Velvet Underground’s John Cale – which led to their being signed by Polydor. Over the next few years they had several singles in the UK charts: “If the Kids are United”, “We Got a Fight”, “Hurry Up Harry”, “Angels with Dirty Faces” and their famous ode to the (now defunct) British youth prison system, (There’s Gonna Be A) Borstal Breakout.

The rhythm section often had personnel changes, before the band settled into what is considered their classic lineup: with bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Ricky Goldstein by 1979. And I had a chance to see this band in New York in early 1980: as Jimmy Pursey would sing from ‘Borstal Breakout’ the line, “When I’ve done these things – I’ve done ’em just for you!” – with him pointing at the audience, who were doing the same to him. He also sang the title of “Cockney Kids are Innocent” as “The Hostages are Innocent” – referencing the then-ongoing Iran hostage crisis – which endeared the band to us in the audience, as you might imagine in those very dark days.

As mentioned their sound matured over time – with even a nice version of the Hugg Brothers song “(Mister) You’re a Better Man than I” – which the Yardbirds made famous – and which at this link you can hear for yourself.  

But even though the band’s politics were somewhat left-of-center: their rowdy, sing-along style had the misfortune of drawing an audience that – at least in the UK – were made up in part of skinheads and the then-burgeoning racist National Front party. The ensuing violence at their shows made it difficult for the band to continue, and they split later in 1980.

Jimmy Pursey briefly joined a lineup featuring Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols (the “Sham Pistols” was the name given to them) and then went into TV appearances for awhile. Dave Parsons and Dave Tregunna joined former Dead Boys vocalist Stiv Bators – before Tregunna left to join the Lords of the New Church for several years in the 1980’s.

In 1987, Pursey, Parsons and Tregunna decided to reform Sham 69 – and this line-up continued off-and-on until 2006, when they had a personal parting of the ways. Dave Parsons continued with a new version of the band while Jimmy Pursey formed Day 21 including bassist Mat Sargent (a member of Sham 69 for a few years in the late 90’s).

In 2011, the band re-formed once again – and while not an active band, they do have some shows in England this summer. For a compilation Sham 69 album, 2004’s The Complete Collection is a comprehensive one.

A supremely talented lineup of musicians this never was; even at their best their songs were never ambitious. But except for the violence at their UK shows: if you wanted a fun band with whom you could sing-along and also happened to speak to an audience with working-class roots: you could do worse than listen to Sham 69. Make that far worse.

   

While “Borstal Breakout” was my early favorite (and for many people) I later embraced their 1979 Hersham Boys (fair-use extract below) title track of the Adventures of the Hersham Boys album: at #8 their highest-charting UK hit single.

It has all of their normal elements: referring to the “Bow Bells” (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow Church in London; the epicenter of Cockney accents), a football-stadium quality sing-a-long chorus, references to UK public housing … and a shout-out (literally) to their hometown of Hersham – and thus symbolic of the band’s early days. It also suggests “Cockney cowboys” with a country-music instrumental break that seems both out-of-place … and yet an essential part of this tune. And below you can listen to it.