The Prisoners Live @ Herne Bay 2/27 and 2/28

 

I have been a Prisoners fan ever since I bought their U.S. only LP comp "Revenge Of The Prisoners" (a bastardization of their second long player "Thewisermiserdemelza" with substitute tracks from their "Electric Fit" E.P. and other Big Beat era releases to fill it out) at the urging of my cool U.K. mod girl pen pal Debbie Jones back in late 1984. Fast forward to September of 2026 when word went out that the band would stage a three night reunion takeover of King's Hall in the sleepy Kent seaside town of Herne Bay to perform tracks from three of their albums: their second album "Thewisermiserdemelza" the first night, their third (and my favorite) "The Last Fourfather's" on the second and their fourth (that ultimately contributed to the malaise that killed them in 1986) "In From The Cold" on the third and final night. Well despite not setting foot in Britain since 1984 the writing was on the wall. I was heading back to jolly old England to see my favorite 80's band reunite.

Now I had never seen the band perform. The closest I ever came was seeing Graham Day bash the shit out of a kit with The Mighty Caesars back in NYC in November 1988 for Time Warren's "Bad Musick Festival" (read a cool interview with Tim where he discusses the event on my pal Jeff's blog "Shake Some Action" here). I ambushed a hapless Graham and pestered him about the Prisoners before the show. He was surly, moody, aloof and in retrospect asking him about The Prisoners two years after their painful demise was probably akin to asking a grieving divorcee about the happiest times of their marriage two years after the separation papers ink dried, BUT to his credit he not only gave me his address so I could mail him interview questions (which I have republished here) he actually took the time to answer AND mail them back to me AND when their set was over returned to hang with my friends and I and share whiskey with us while the rest of the venue (who had no idea who he was) mobbed Billy Childish! I'm going to be frank. Prior to the release of their latest LP "Morning Star" (2024), "In From The Cold" was my least favorite album by the band. And it did strike me as odd that they were playing it because they spent the past three decades disowning it and insisting that it was never meant to have horns (ala The Pretty Thing's and "Emotions"), so that was a no brainier. I'd head to England and catch the first two nights, easy peasy.

NIGHT ONE 2/27:

The train down to Herne Bay from London was interesting, I passed all the towns and places I had heard mentioned in various Medway books and songs and spied them from my train window: Rochester, Strood, Chatam etc. I even spied the Nag's Head pub from the window, a place Billy Chidish used to sign off at (under his pen name of William Loveday) on the back of Hangman album's thirty years ago! I was staying at a hotel in Herne Bay that was literally overrun with older balding men in black coats, black jeans and the occasional black fisherman's cap and checking in was amusing as I met people from all over (Germany, The Netherlands, etc so far I was "furthest traveled"). I managed to secure a cab into town (the venue was probably a mile away) by a small miracle because the town's Uber and cab system would soon by overwhelmed by this influx of gig tourists taxing the modest local taxi scene. I met my other two American friends (from Seattle and New York respectively) at a lovely pub called The Ship and then off to the gig we trod! I was immediately struck by the observation that seaside towns in the U.K. don't believe in lighting things up in the night like they do here in the States, the venue area was pitch black denying me the opportunity to see what it looked like irl! 

Lord Rochester

First on were Lord Rochester, a trio composed of Medway legend Russ Wilkins, Saskia Holling on bass and Embrook Lois on the skins. They performed a spirited but brief set built on a wonderful mix of a Bo Diddley beat and frantic '64 Kinks meets Sutch's Savages. Unfortunately I was not really familiar with much by them so I can't really tell you what they played, but it was over before I knew it!

The Len Price 3

Next up were The Len Price 3, who unlike Lord Rochester, I DID know a lot of songs by. I have been a fan of these guys for the past 20+ years and I have missed seeing them play on the East Coast more times than I care to admit. Their set was a whirlwind and I honestly can't recall everything they played, but I definitely recall "My Grandad Jim", "Swing Like A Monkey", and a few tunes I recognized off their latest LP "Misty Medway Magick",  regardless of what they played it was VERY good, I can't wait to see them in a room with 40 other people next week in Hightstown, New Jersey at their sold out gig a local record shyster's record store....

The Prisoners 

Then it was time for the headliners....tonight's selection was tracks from "Thewisermiserdemelza", the brain clouds but I distinctly remember "Love Me Lies", a poignant reading of "Tonight" (with James on a grand piano, see below!), "Melanie", "Far Away", "A Dream Is Gone", "I'm Coming Home" etc! All delivered incredibly sharp, not bad for an album that the band probably hasn't played since it came out in 1983!! The band pitched in four or five tunes from their newest LP as well as tracks from their brand new (and only available via pre-order with delivery in person at these gigs) double single "For Your Ears Only". I will admit, tactfully that none of these really moved me (I kept thinking of Homer Simpson bellowing "Play the old crap"), but to each his and her own. 

 

 

NIGHT TWO 2/28:

Lord Rochester kicked things off again and I remember them doing the Sex Pistols interpretation of "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", only this time it was The Masonics who were in the second spot tonight. I didn't know much about them but they were so damn loud I fled to the lobby to chat with some friends because I was overwhelmed by their volume. Sorry boys. And then the moment I had been waiting for!

"The Last Fourfathers" is without a doubt my favorite Prisoners album, and quite possibly my favorite 80's album as well, in fact knowing that the band were going to be playing it was literally the draw that led me to decide to skip over the pond and to make this happen. The band played the entire LP (not in any particular running order) along with four or five "newer" songs (see above). "The Last Fourfather's" is a bleak album lyrically. Lots of the songs are about broken hearts, broken romance, self pity, self destruction etc and the band did them all: "The Drowning", "Who's Sorry Now", "I Drink The Ocean", "I Am The Fisherman", "Whenever I'm Gone", "Take You For A Ride", "Thinking Of You (Broken Pieces)" etc. The album came across and still does, like Pink Floyd '67 meets Joe Meek, thanks to the brilliant production by Russ Wilkins and has a gritty lo-fi feel to it that gets back to a raw sound (though I enjoy it I always felt that "Thewisermiserdemelza" had a very "polished" feel to it). Once again the band did not disappoint as they played all of these tracks above as well as the album's incredible instrumentals "Night Of The Nazgul" and "Explosion On Uranus" (which segued into "Reaching My Head" and Deep Purple's "Hush"). I can't be sure if they performed the other instrumental "Mrs. Fothergill", but the highlight for me was them not only saving my album favorite "Thinking Of You (Broken Pieces)" for their last encore bit also dedicating it to yours truly (see video below) which had me ABSOLUTELY a gobsmacked and beaming for the rest of the night!! The band also threw in the incredible "Till The Morning Light" from their debut LP "A Taste Of Pink" and closed with, I believe, a cover of Deep Purple's "Hush" (as they did the previous evening), ALL to a thunderous applause from a packed to the gills venue (I'm told Saturday night's performance sold out).

 

 As mentioned above I opted not to attend the third night so I cannot report on that but as I walked out into the dark (why do they not believe in lighting up the sea front in British coastal towns!?), damp night of Herne Bay I knew I had witnessed something spectacular! Well done fellas!!

Johnny Bluesman repping the Empire State and yours truly, the Garden State Boy, Herne Bay 2/28/06

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: The Dakotas Surf

 

THE DAKOTAS-The Cruel Surf/The Millionaire U.S. Liberty F 55618 1963

Liverpudlian Billy J. Kramer's Mancunian backing band The Dakotas were afforded the opportunity to shine in the own right in the spirit of Cliff Richard and The Shadows and like The Shadows plied their wares without their respectively separately billed vocalist as (initially) an instrumental combo. Their U.K. debut "The Cruel Sea" was launched in July 1963 as Parlophone R 5044 and issued here in September and re titled "The Cruel Surf" in an effort to convince buyers that they were a surf instrumental band. The ploy did not work and sadly there would not be another Dakotas 45 without Billy J. issued in the States. Both sides were penned by the group's guitarist Mike Maxfield and produced by George Martin. 

"The Cruel Surf" is an uptempo instrumental. It reminds me of "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" meets a Ventures LP track. It's catchy yet intricate enough in it's playing to not verge mundane, something that sadly a lot of 60's instrumental quartets sadly fall in to, in my view anyway. 

The Dakotas, courtesy of 45cat.com

"The Millionaire" is REALLY boring. It literally offers nothing to my ears and sounds like The Shadows at their absolute weakest....

Both tracks have been featured on a host of Billy J. Kramer compilations and are also both available on streaming. 

Hear "The Cruel Surf":

https://youtu.be/IAEcWLYrDuc?si=I6XAL6_pOR9yVIGy 

Hear "The Millionaire":

https://youtu.be/Hs-Gb49PQQY?si=bcM8ZkVRat-Gjz5M

Graham Day Interview 1988

Back in late 1988 I conducted a mail in interview with Graham Day (of The Prisoners fame) for my fanzine "Smashed Blocked" which I published in issue #4 in early 1989. I decided to locate it an digitize it and reprint it here:

Graham Day with yours truly, Bad Music Seminar, NYC 11/88

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels On U.S. Labels: The Troggs "Surprise Surpise"

 

THE TROGGS-Surprise Surprise (I Need You)/ Cousin Jane U.S. Fontana F-1630 1968

The Troggs U.S. run at the hit parade was sadly short and sweet with "Wild Thing" bludgeoning it's way to #1 in July '66 and "Love Is All Around" bouncing them back at #5 in November of '68, but between and after it was bleak, but that didn't stop Fontana records from prolifically releasing their singles...... 

Their follow up in the States to "Love is All Around" was the absolutely dog shit horrible "You Can Cry If You Want To", which was followed in September 1968 by today's selection, "Surprise Surprise (I Need You)". It was previously issued in The U.K and elsewhere in April with a different flip, the curiously named "Marbles And Some Gum". Canada followed the American lead issuing it with the two year old track "Cousin Jane" as a B-side. 

"Surprise Surprise (I Need You)" follows Reg Presley's usual leering lyrical pattern, though this time Reg is not doing the leering. Our protagonist arrives at his place to find "the lights were down, the light's were dim...the table lit by candle light a record player rolled" to find his girl was "making love to someone else instead of me" on top of a rollicking piano and a VERY distinctly proto-Ramones drum beat. Quite rocking!  I like this!

Curious Spanish picture sleeve with intentional defacement

The flip, "Cousin Jane", penned by their manager Larry Page in conjunction with David Mathews was previously issued in February '67 as a single by artist Barry Benson. The Troggs version first appeared as an E.P. track in Spain, Portugal and France in 1966 but did not surface in the U.K. until their "Troggs Tops 2" E.P. in July and their second British long player "Trogglodynamite" in 1967. For those not familiar "Cousin Jane", this is the band skirting the taboo of incest and boyhood lust ("Cousin Jane, come to stay again..each night tip toe across the landing kiss her lips just as she's standing there.. each night hold her until the morning...no one will ever know"). The subtle instrumentation is just a piano and what sounds like a glockenspiel which a touch of phlanging on the piano bass notes giving it an eerie and foreboding effect. Despite the song's risque topic it's actually one of my favorites by them in terms of delivery.

Both sides are available on a host of compilations and streaming services. 

Hear "Surprise Surprise (I Need You)":

https://youtu.be/ZXUoOsPLz28?si=w67B18OvoXo2O_TF

Hear "Cousin Jane":

https://youtu.be/DcWZvyQx0kg?si=6JK1ySKwmlxwCD2F

More U.K. Obscurities: The Scaffold "Liver Birds"

 

THE SCAFFOLD-Liver Birds/Jelly Colored Cloud U.S. Bell 849 1969

Liverpool's trio The Scaffold (Paul McCartney's brother Mike, future Poet Laureate Roger McGough and John Gorman) were discussed in previous posts about some of their earlier records where we gave a little background on their four previous American singles ("Lily The Pink", "Do You Remember", "Thank U Very Much" and "Goose". 

Today's subject was their fifth American 7" and also their final release of the 60's here. Curiously the sides were different than the U.K. release. "Liver Birds" (the theme to a British TV show of the same name, though a slightly different version than the actual TV theme) was on the bottom side of the inane "Gin Gan Goolie" there (Parlophone R 5812 October 1969). Issued here in December it featured "Jelly Colored Cloud" on the A-side. I've reversed them because I prefer "Liver Birds". 

"Liver Birds" is an incredibly catchy number with an opening drum beat that would not sound at all out of place in the Stone Roses era and a funky throbby bass line that falls right in behind the drums making for an incredibly infectious groove. The sing-along/sing-song lyrics espouse the joys of lasses from Liverpool:

"Luton girls have lovely voices, Sheffield girls make finest cooks, Glasgow girls are good at football, Liverpool girls win out on looks", and so on!

"Jelly Colored Cloud" was a track from the previous year issued on what had then been the band's only U.S. LP "Thank U Very Much". It's an odd duck, starting out with an almost nursery rhyme like intro with a child's toy xylophone and some whistling before it totally goes off the rails with fake opera soprano voices behind the fey lead vocals. Whoever decided to make this the A-side of an American single was clearly either in possession of an extreme sense of humor or perhaps dabbling in certain substances, OR so checked out in their job that they just decided not to bother listened to what they were putting out!

Both sides are available on the compilation CD "The Scaffold at Abbey Road 1966-1971" and on streaming. 

Hear "Liver Birds":

https://youtu.be/_97dpL4GejA?si=lLnoDbySZKthfBNn

Hear "Jelly Colored Cloud":

https://youtu.be/1KslAK-JGM0?si=U1fWjfkn0SB63FmL

Hear the original British theme for "Liver Birds":

https://youtu.be/5VFYuOJJdjE?si=497ncy-aKe3Tc6c5

The Moody Blues Mark One: In America Part Six

 

THE MOODY BLUES-Go Now!/It's Easy Child U.S. Lomdon 45-LON-9726 1964

The Moody Blues U.S. debut came in December 1964 when London issued their 2nd U.K. 45 (Decca F F12022) as 45 LON 9726, a cover of the Bessie Bank's tune "Go Now" (#1 across the pond in November 1964) with it's U.K. flip, a cover of the Lulu Reed/Freddie King duet "It's Easy Child". It stalled chart wise here upon it's release and was relaunched in January 1965 with a new flip, a group original called "Lose Your Money" which graced the flip of their U.K. debut single "Steal Your Heart Away" (a Bobby Parker track, issued in September 1964 as Decca F11971). When reissued it went to #10 in the U.S. hit parade becoming their highest charting U.S single until 1967's "Nights In White Satin" by an altogether different line up with a different sound.

"Go Now" is vastly different from the original thanks to the heavy echo that creates an almost drone effect on the backing vocals throughout the song and has a  nice up tempo touch to it courtesy of Mike Pinder's piano  moving from the soulful dirge of the original to an almost ragtime swing. It's been a bit played out by it's still a great version.

The flip, a cover of Lula Reed/Freddie King's 1962 single "It's Easy Child", though not as powerful as the original works. Denny Laine handles the lead vocals confidently and Mike Pinder, Clint Warwick and Ray Thomas hold down the backing vocals with Pinder playing a nice rollicking piano solo. 

Both tracks can be found on Deram/Decca's CD reissue of their U.K. LP "The Magnificent Moodies" which contains all of their Denny Laine era U.K./U.S. material and is still in print and is available on streaming as well. 

Hear "Go Now!":

https://youtu.be/KV9W0YJV3Tc?si=gMh5sWK_eN09utFg

Hear "It's Easy Child":

https://youtu.be/G2j0e9vgmF0?si=POd1JMhX262ipB47

THE PRISONERS RETURN!!!