Some critics have claimed that 999 (more HERE) really never had a particular point-of-view, unlike their class of '77 peers; The Sex Pistols (pro-anarchy), The Clash (pro-revolution) or The Damned (pro-smashing-it-up). Of course, when time moved on those very overwhelming points-of-view became hindrances to returning-to-form. Once you've backed off from such an all-consuming point-of-view, it's hard to just pick it back up. But for 999, with their straight-forward-but-intriguing subject matter (greed, murder, the inability to make it with girls), bouncing back after the mid-eighties-bottom-out all those artists went through was easy as one-two-three. Starting with 1993's You Us It!, 999 have released a trio of return-to-top-form albums. The middle album, 1998's Breakdown, is considered the go-to example of their on-going vitality. The guitars crackle, the rhythm section keeps a pub-rockin' beat and Nick Cash's voice remains startlingly familiar to thier glory days. On this out-of-print come-back, you get rip-roarers like "Fit Up", hang-em all put-downs like "Takeover" and even mid-tempo balladesque tracks like, "Damp With Tears". Check it out!
Tracklist
1 Takeover 2:12
2 Didn't Mean To 2:26
3 No Prisoners 3:30
4 Headcase 3:17
5 Salvage Mission 2:38
6 Fit Up 1:13
7 Out Of Our Heads 2:13
8 I Can't Wait 2:15
9 Split Personality 2:17
10 Damp With Tears 2:09
11 Edge Of The World 3:17
12 Falling 2:35
13 Really Like You 1:48
14 Jam Me Up (With Something Nice) 1:33
15 Pile Up 2:25
999 fans, What do you make of the band's comebacks albums, especially Takeover? Let us know in the COMMENTS section.
This out-of-print album does exactly what it says on the tin; 999, hits, live. The story doesn't end here, though. There's another important chapter in the 999 (more HERE) saga. If you wanna hear about it, I need to hear from you in the COMMENTS section.
The response to the 999 posts (more 999 HERE) have been great so we have a few last rarities to dole out. Here we have The Cellblock Tapes, which combines some live material (vintage unknown) and a set of demos for 1983's 13th Floor Madness. While the demos sound a mite boxy, they sound way more alive then the listless eighties pop-funk of 13th Floor Madness.
From the LP notes:
"Culled from the private tape
collections of the band this album captures 999 at their most
interesting. On side 1 we have eight live tracks that, "Nasty Nasty"
aside, have never made it on to the vinyl in a live form before. And
besides, what 999 LP would be complete without the classic "Nasty
Nasty"? Side 2 contains the legendary studio demos that collectors have
long dubbed "The Cellblock Tapes". Some later became fully fledged
finished album tracks whilst other have never seen the light of day
before. All of them, recorded in the band's rehearsal room, show how 999
have stayed true to their original ideas and sound. How many of your
heroes can you say that about?"
Live
A1 Quite Disappointing
A2 Me And My Desire
A3 Crazy
A4 Lie Lie Lie
A5 Rael Rean
A6 Soldier
A7 Nasty Nasty
A8 I'm Alive Demo
B1 Dead Or Alive
B2 Tomorrow's World
B3 Kiss The Blood Or My Hand
B4 Arabesque
B5 Got My Eyes On You
B6 How Can I Tell You
B7 Custer Last Stand
999 (more HERE) visited Toronto on the tour for their excellent album Concrete. After that things went off the rails for 999. While the band stuck together after the very, very disappointing 13th Floor Madness it took them awhile to re-establish their sound. But back in '81 things were still whipping along just great, even with the band's penchant for novelty tunes:
This FM broadcast sounds crisp-as-hell and the performance is raging - it's the best of the 999 bootlegs I've heard.
Another one from The Biggest Prize in Sports which every reader comment thus far has identified as the best 999 (more HERE) album of all. What do the rest of you, thus far silent readers, think is the best 999 album?
This is a rougher sounding boot then out last BPiS-era recording and as a result it really shows the band's grit!
999 fans, Don't lie, lie, lie to us! Tell us which is your fave 999 album in the COMMENTS section!!
So now we get to the 999 's (more HERE) The Biggest Prize in Sports era. TBPiS didn't represent a drastic change from the first two albums but it definitely moved the band into more new-wave, radio-friendly territory. And that was a good thing, it played to the band's roots in pub rock and there love of a good song
This FM broadcast from the TBPiS tour, sounds amazing so ENJOY!
999
Keystone Berkeley CA
KALX Radio Broadcast
10 March 1980
01 Brent Cross
02 Let’s Face It
03 Hit Me
04 English Wipe Out
05 Stranger
06 Feelin’ Alright With the Crew
07 Boys in the Gang
08 Me and My Desire
09 Biggest Prize in Sport
10 Fun Thing
11 Hollywood
12 Inside out
13 Homicide
14 I’m Alive
15 Boiler
As we mentioned earlier (see HERE) seventies UK punk band 999 were big on touring North America. This FM broadcast from the High Energy Plan tour, shows 'em spreading the word of punk to the tanned masses of California.
Like lot of punk-era British bands that got slagged off at home, 999 toured Canada, inducing my hometown of Winnipeg. Hence why the band was comparatively well-known known among my peers in the early 80's and helps to explain how I found not one but THREE 999 LP's - High Energy Plan, The Biggest Prize in Sports and Concrete - in a friend's basement. I loved all three album but, predictably High Energy Plan,which cherry picks the band's first two albums, was the one that made me a fan for life.
This rough '77 bootlegcaptures the crackling energy of the band's initial outburst. Like many of their pub rock peers (Nick Cash had been in Kilburn and the Highroads with Ian Dury, Pablo LaBritain was an old friend of Joe Strummer who played, briefly, with The Clash early on) waffled between rock classicism and punk modernity (which the years have gone onto prove weren't as far apart as all they were made to seem at the time). As someone who felt that same division, I was sucked into the band's high-energy mix of pop, punk, glam, reggae and whatnot.
01. Nasty Nasty
02. Pick It Up
03. Hit Me
04. Quite Disappointing
05. Tell Me Something Nice
06. My Street Stinks
07. Emergency
08. I'm Alive
09. No Pity
10. Chicane Destination
11. My Street Stinks
12. Nobody Knows
13. Nasty Nasty
14. I'm Alive
Bass, Vocals – Jon Watson
Drums – Pablo Labritain
Guitar, Vocals – Guy Days
Vocals, Guitar – Nick Cash
A forty-something music store lifer said to me, "Nobody cares about 999". Prove him wrong in the COMMENTS section!!
MRML is a blog about the devestating effects of culture: music, politics, comics plus etc. blah blah blah. At times MRML will post fine, unpurchasable three-chord obscurica (punk, pop-punk, new wave, mod, power-pop, gospel, reggae, hardcore, rockabilly, folk, country...whatever.) - - - - - - "The otherwise unavailable files in this blog are posted for a limited time and are intended for educational, non-commercial use. These files were transcribed from what are believed to be out-of-print sources. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from commercial sources, or if any of these files infringe upon rights that you hold, please notify us so that we can quickly remove the referenced items immediately." - - - SUPPORT THE ARTISTS - BUY MUSIC!
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Re: Re-Ups
MRML does not plan to restore all of the content lost in The Great Mediafire Gutting of 2012. Polite requests may be made in the appropriate section, regular commenters will get priority.
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