Saturday, October 17, 2015

Bops, Babes, Booze, The Nips & Show # 582


Many bands were formed and dissolved as a result of the UK punk scene of the late 70s. Several bands are well known such as Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, but there are other bands that featured musicians that would later get recognition, surpassing their punk roots. One such band was The Nipple Erectors. Formed by female artist Shanne Bradley, the band also featured a young vocalist then known as Shane O’Hooligan, whose real name was Shane MacGowan. The initial line-up consisted of Shane MacGowan on vocals, Shanne Bradley on bass, guitarist Rodger Towndrow and Arcane Vendetta on drums. The band mixed the attitude of punk with the influence of rockabilly and 60s garage rock, which set them apart from many other contemporary bands at the time. The band’s first single was “King Of The Bop” backed with the song “Nervous Wreck” released in 1978 on Soho Records. The song merged scratchy garage guitar rhythms with rockabilly and reverb soaked vocals and some feel is the best example of the bands early and intriguing sound. It was coined in the press as punkabilly. The band released one more single under their original band name, “All The Time In The World” backed with “Private Eye” before changing their name to The Nips.

For the remainder for the band’s two singles they went by the name The Nips with an altered band line-up. Band line-up changes were something that occurred throughout the band’s recorded history. The band’s third single “Gabrielle”/”Vengeance” released in 1980 reflected more of a power pop influence, while the band’s 1981 single “Happy Song”/”Nobody To Love” produced by Paul Weller of The Jam, moved more towards a pop direction. While on tour with The Purple Hearts, The Nips recorded a live album that would be released as Only The End Of The Beginning. By the time the band’s last single was released, they were on the outs. Shane MacGowan was composing songs that were more in the vein of traditional Irish music and he would take this sound and form The Pogues. In 1984, Shanne Bradley co-founded the folk-punk oriented group The Men They Couldn't Hang. In 1987, Big Beat compiled many of the band’s recordings along with some outtakes and released the compilation album entitled Bops, Babes, Booze & Bovver under the name Nips ‘N’ Nipple Erectors. If anything, The Nips brief time as a band burned in a bright flash of influences with the attitude and energy of 70s punk rock. The Nips recorded output is yet another example of the range of influences that were brought into music of the late 70s punk scene and how diverse it actually could be sonically despite the traditional punk look and sound.



Saturday Night Playlist:

1. Pangea - Looked In Too
2. Kieran Douglas - Something To Bleed
3. Lime Spiders - Nine Miles High
4. Born Ruffians - Stupid Dreams
5. The Nips - All The Time In The World
6. The Standells - Why Did you Hurt Me
7. The Gruesomes - One Good Reason
8. The Chandelles - El Gato
9. Cold Country - A Letter To My Daughters
10. Holy Ruth & The Grey Jays - What More
11. The Deslondes - The Real Deal
12. The Sadies - Another Year Again
13. Indian Wars - George Ellis
14. Neil Young - It Might Have Been (Live)
15. Shannon & The Clams - Corvette
16. Teenanger - Alone On Acid
17. The Stooges - 1970 (Take 1)
18. The Wipers - Over The Edge
19. Mudhoney - Not Goin’ Down That Road Again
20. What Seas What Shores - The Ibex
21. Chris Crossroads - The Wolf
22. Tay Falco’s Panther Burns - Come On Little Mama
23. Thee Rum Coves - Nasty Evil Sickness
24. The D4 - Running On Empty
25. The Pointed Sticks - Real Thing (Alternate Version)
26. Buzzcocks - Lester Sands (A Drop In The Ocean)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for October 17. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

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