The Ruts: The Peel Sessions

The Ruts were not "Clash copyists" as Chris Salewicz claims in Redemption Song, nor did they have "...Every thing The Clash had been striving for in their ersatz reggae excursions" as Clinton Heylin claims in Babylon's Burning. The Ruts need not be a facile point of comparison for Clash-freaks and Clash-bashers to buttress their argument, for they were the instigators of a funky-reggae-punk-metal riot of their own. It's not to say that The Clash's regatta de blanc didn't inspire The Ruts (as well as Stiff Little Fingers, The Specials and {yes} The Police) but, as with any band, you judge their success not based on what they began with but on what they finished with.

Malcolm Owen and Paul Fox were living on a Welsh hippie commune when punk rock came calling. Moving to London, leaving behind a funk band named Hit and Run, the band found unusual patrons like Phil Lynot of Thin Lizzy (who gave them a song) and Brit-reggae band Misty (who financed their first single) and BBC DJ John Peel (who played that single every night for weeks). Less then two years later it wold all be over when Malcolm Owen made the the classic junkie slip of celebrating his detox with 'one last fix' and died on July 14th 1980.

Thankfully, the band's sole album, The Crack, and it's odds n' sods follow-up Grin and Bear It, (each with a few bonus tracks) remain in print. Unfortunately without the kind of deluxe re-issue which would include all their studio material, these incendiary songs the band recorded for John Peel (why, oh why does this version of the proto-hardcore "Society" never make it onto one of their primary re-issues?) remain hard-to-get. So relish this out-of-print collection, which sounds more singular now than ever, and be sure you've done your part to support the surviving Ruts.


Peel Sessions CD link is in the comments.

Speaking of comments, is there really a significant Ruts-Clash rivalry?


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And for some live Ruts, run over to the ever-awesome King Rocker Rocks On.

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Stiff Little Fingers: Radio 1 Sessions

Hey, I was asked to contribute a guest post to Jemsite, and I happily did so. Please follow this link, read the piece and then leave a comment. Thanks!

I raved about Stiff Little Fingers punk heyday here, now it's time to see where they went next, but in the unfiltered, unproduced form of these 1980-1982 BBC radio sessions - essential for all fans.



Download The Radio 1 Sessions CD

Stiff Little Fingers: Peel Sessions

Belfast's Stiff Little Fingers had one of the best runs of the seventies punk bands. They grew, musically, lyrically and melodically with each release, yet never hit a false note, never undersold themselves, never surrendered. Then, in 1982, they broke up. They re-formed in 1987 and there followed a slew of live albums and uneven studio works that, while never terrible, muddied their record a bit. Over their entire career, however, there is a brilliant through-line of staunchly independent thinking driven home by a raucous hammering guitar sound .



It's undeniable that the first two albums, Inflammable Material and Nobody's Heroes, are S.L.F.'S masterworks. That being said, despite some duff tracks the original band's final albums Go For It and Now Then... do make a strong break for adulthood without watering down the passion of the band, especially that of singer/guitarist Jake Burns. Jake, like Joe Strummer, Mike Peters and maybe even his fellow countrymen Bono, has a broad earnest streak, a heart-on-sleeve-for-daws-to-peck-at-it openness which, while occasionally melodramatic, buoys his material over the ruthless pop climbers that blight any era's pop charts.

Here's some raw Stiff Little Fingers recorded between 1978 and 1979 at the BBC under the auspices of that patron saint of fuck-ups, John Peel (R.I.P.).


Download Peel Sessions CD