MUSIC LIST/ROCK
Bathers' first gig since their split with Go! Discs. A new record deal is hopefully not far off.
I Shakin' Stevens SECC. Finnieston. 7.30pm. £7. This fortnight's brain teaser. How many of Shakin' Stevens' twenty-five (sic) hits can you name'.’ I remembered sis ofthem. Or at least six names for the same song. Rumours that Shaky does a mean cover ofThe Godfathers‘ Birth School Work Death are sadly unfounded.
Edinburgh
I Gyroset Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341. 10pm. Free. 'Funky boogie' from former members of 1 leadlarnpsand Border Boogie Band.
I The Volunteers (‘anny Man’s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
I Erogenous Jone Preservation 1 tall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. What'.’
TUESDAY 23 Glasgow
I Yeah! Boss Fixx Bar. 86 Miller Street. 9.30pm. Free. First live outing in (ilasgow for the latest recruits to Mr Branson‘s Virgin empire. Previously two-thirdsof Wyoming. the new member is vocalist Flex — who used to be guitarist in'l’his Obsession.
I New Age La Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free. The name conjures up boring images — hopefully the music is better.
Edinburgh
I No Nuke Outrage Assembly Rooms. George Street. 225 3614. 8pm. £3 (£2). See also Peace Festival Listings. The Shop Assistants make a welcome return to the Edinburgh stage. bill the real event ofthis gig is the first appearance up here forages (ifever) by The Wedding Present. voted the number one indie group in the country by John Peel's listeners. and recipientsof wild plaudits for their LP ‘(ieorgc Best". Archbishop Kebab and The (‘all Girls also appear. and the gig has been ptit on to raise money for Edinburgh (‘hcrnobyl Day Rally Fund (in the hope oforganising a rally to commemorate the second anniversary of the Chernobyl leak) and to help the ongoing campaign against the Torness nuclear power station.
I Bon Ton Boulez Preservation I lall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. I Cosmo Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341. 10pm. Free.
I Transaction Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
I The Peristalsis Brothers Negociants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9pm. Free. Fifties sounds.
I Willy Logan Canny Man's. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
WEDNESDAY 24 Glasgow
I White Fixx Bar. 86 Miller Street. 9.30pm. Free. it is over two years since White's first. and highly promising gig. However. their recent demos suggest they have finally got the arrangements oftheir songs together in such a way as to be a reasonable proposition to the majors again.
I Deja Vu La Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free.
I The Bad Rascals/Grey Pharaohs. Gt Western Road. 9pm. Free. It is hard to think of anything to say about a band called the Bad Rascals — especially when you know nothing about them. Grey were entrants in The Li'sr‘s recent demo competition. and showed some promise. which may be more fully realised in their live set.
Edinburgh
I SWAPo Benefit Disco Assembly Rooms. George Street.225 3614. 8pm. Reggae and African music. Live acts still to be
After a relatively quiet period. the McCluskey
Brothers are back and getting some
L l of the attention they deserve, on
the back of their new DDT single ‘She Said To The Driver‘. This coincides with a series of four Scottish dates, along with Taxi Pata Pata.
The McCluskeys are, of course. Ken and David McCluskey, who started the band as an offshoot of the Bluebells. when their individual and collective songwriting diversifications into a more lolkish vein were not meeting with the approval of London Records.
An independentalbum, Aware OlAll, was released on Thrush Records in 1985, selling out its initial pressing and being accompanied by lots of favourable press for both the record — highlights of which were a version of ‘The John McLean March‘ and the title track—and the live performances. ‘She Said To The Driver‘ marks a neat halfway point between the pop sensibilities of the Bluebells and the folky influences of the album, with the songwriting strength the one constant factor.
‘In a way it would have been quite obvious for us to put out one of the uptempo songs as a single,’ says David, ‘butwe‘re more into big acoustic ballads at the moment, and I think that because everyone else puts out two uptempo singles and then a ballad, it will help the single stand out
confirmed.
I Tam While Negociants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9pm. Free. (‘hildren be warned. Gargle not with ramr blades or you could end up like our friend here. but not so good an entertainer.
I The B-Movies Lord I)arnley. West Port. 2294341. 10pm. Free.
I The Critter Hill Varmints Green Tree. (‘owgate liillbilly-sounding quintet.
I The Peristalsis Brothers Boston Bean (‘o. St James (‘entre.5560111.8.30pm. Free. Fifties sounds.
I Live band ('avern. (‘owgate. 2265641.
THURSDAY 25
Glasgow
I Microdisney Fury Mtirry's. 96 Maxwell Street. 221 651 l. 10.30pm. Almost a year since they last played the same venue. .\'ot much progress in between times. and l am still waiting for them to recover the magic of'l‘ow n to Town. one of the finest records oflast year.
I Taxi Pata Pata and The McCluskey Brothers l lenry Wood 11all. Berkeley Street. 7.30pm. £4.50 (£3). Benefit organised by the Scottish .t\nti-.»\partheid Movement to raise money for the Africa Fund and Medical Supplies For Mozambique. Taxi Pata Pata area ten-piece from Zaire. Zimbabwe. Kenya. Sierra Leone and the ('ongo. For details on the Mc(‘luskey Brothers. sec panel.
I Full Stop and Speedie Ducks (‘otton (‘1ub.5 Scott Street. 3320712. 1 lpm. £1.50. ‘This gig has been set up because Virgin Records had heard a few tapesand liked what they heard' claims the acocmpanying burnf. You may also be interested to know that ‘there's agood buzz for the band.‘ Go and judge for yourself.
I The River Detectives Drawing Room. (‘lvde Street. 10pm. Free.
I Sam and Ella La Taniere. Fox Street.
from the other independent releases.
‘A lot of people would describe the album as folk,‘ he continues, ‘but in some ways ‘She Said To The Driver‘ is quite like the song ‘Aware DlAll‘. It’s in the same vein—that Midnight Cowboy epic type of thing! I think the single would sound great on the radio— it would be good to get some daytime play from the Scottish stations, but so iarwe‘ve only had nighttime plays. I think the song is quite mellow, and quite suited to daytime play.‘
The live shows will probably feature a band consisting of the two brothers, Jim Sutherland (percussion), Nick Clark (bass) and Douglas McIntyre (guitar).
The single and the attitude that accompanies it— a return to real
9pm. Free. This is not a kind of food poisoning.
Edinburgh
I The Macc Lads Venue. ('alton Road. 557
3073. £3. Doors open 7.30pm. Sec Listen? for the lowdown on this group of horrors. banned from more venues in Britain than anyone else.
I Rock Concert For Peace Assembly Rooms. (ieorge Street. 225 3614. 8pm. £2 (£1 ). See also Peace Festival listings. Featuring Three Dancers. (i-Spot Tornado. Noizy Minority and Big Blue World. with NRG Disco. Respectablc
a clutchoflocaltalent.
I The Thieves Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. 9.30pm. Free. An inexpensive way to catch this Glasgow group. making a rare Fast (‘oast appearance. who have already achieved a degree of fame with their slot on (‘hannel 4's ‘Famous For Fifteen Minutes'. Lightweight rock pop.
I Billy Jones Lord l)arnley. West Port. 2294341. 10pm. Free. See Sun 21.
I Erk Alors Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
I Live band ('avern. (‘owgate. 2265641.
. FRIDAY 26 ‘
1
Glasgow
I Jack Rubies Rooftops. 92 Sauchiehall Street. 332 5883. 10.30pm. Possiblytbc best band ever to appear at Rooftops on a Friday night -- so if there is a good turnout you never know there might be more good bands at Rooftops on a Friday in the future.
I Rough and Ready La Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free.
Edinburgh
I Heart Playhouse Theatre. (ireenside Place. 557 2590. 7.30pm. soLD our
songwriting values — make the McCluskey Brothers worthy of your attention and investment.
‘In some ways we would like to sign with a major, and in other ways we wouldn't,’ concludes David. ‘obviously we would like to be able to make money 3 out of the project, but there are a lot of ' pressures associated with being on a major label. There are so many faceless bands on major labels now— the kind that you imagine were probably quite good before they joined the major company. ljust detest bands like Then Jericho — I think it is a good idea to react against the stadium rock climate. Dursingle is totallylree of the wild guitar scourge.‘ (John Williamson)
I Microdisney Venue. (‘alton Road. Victoria Street. 557 3073. [)oorsopen 7.30pm. See panel.
I Taxi Pata Pata. The McCluskey Brothers and Swamp Trash Assembly Rooms. George Street. 225 3614. 8.30pm. £4.50 (£3). See Peace Festival listings. Leading African group. Glaswegian folk pop duo and Edinburgh hillbillies join forcesto raise money for Medical Aid For j Mozambique and the AFRICA fund.
I Texas Breakfast Lord Darnley. West
Port. 2294341. 10pm. Free. New name for bluesy Mr Rhythm. I Bedlam Preservation ilall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. £1 after9pm. l I Channel 2 Music Box. Victoria Street. 2201708.£1after9pm.
I The Dan Blocker Experience .‘s‘égoeiants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 9pm. Free. (‘ountryu rock.
I Live band Cavern. (‘ow-gate. 2265641.
SATURDAY 27
Glasgow
I The River Detectives OMLT. L'niversity (iardcns. 3399784. 8pm. Studentsand guests. Recently arranged gig featuring l three local bands. as far as 1 can gather. with the electric River Detectives hopefully maintaining the high standards of their recent shows. Check local press for details of the other bands. I The Angelic Upstarts Pharaoh’s. Gt Western Road (near St (ieorgc's(‘ross). 9pm. 1 have this lasting vision of a forty year-old (‘ommunity Education worker. complete with trendy baseball hat pogo-ing to 1m An L'pstart. That was twice as entertaining as anythingthe Angelic L'pstarts ever did. I About Time Blackfriars. 36 Bell Street. 552 5924. 9pm. Free. ()ne ofthe fewbands about Glasgow just now who gain pass marks for their name.
The List 19 Feb —~ 3 Mar 1988 39