The Machines were a classic '77 Punk band from Southend-on-Sea,
Essex, UK, and recorded the infamous 'True Life' EP on Wax Records. The bands
time together really was an incendiary one. Together for barely a year, they
managed to play a load of local shows together with some historic gigs at legendary
London Punk venues such as The Roxy and Vortex.
Vocalist / Guitarist Nick Paul formed the band in 1977, recruiting Duf (Ian
Duffy) on Bass, and drummer John Dee. Nick had literally had a life changing
experience the previous year, seeing The Clash at the 100 Club Punk Festival
in September 1976. He already loved The New York Dolls / Stooges / MC5 and had
started playing along those lines in his proto-punk band, Raw Power. They folded
in 1975 however, and after a short period in-between stints of moving to and
from London, Nick was back in Southend in 1977 and inspired by the new punk
scene he saw emerging, he wanted to get a new band together urgently.
With Duf and John joining up, The Machines began gigging in July 1977, with
their set containing songs such as 'Racing', 'Tomorrow', 'Parents Zone', 'Weird
Phone Calls', 'Chain Gang', 'Don't be Fooled' and 'Head on Crash'. They decided
to get something down on tape and went into Spectrum Studios in Westcliff and
recorded four songs: 'True Life', 'Everything's Technical', 'You Better Hear'
and 'Evening Radio'. Local label Wax Records would put these out as what became
known as the 'True Life' EP in early 1978. The single did well, soon selling
it's pressing of 1,000, and even entered the lower reaches of the Alternative
Chart, as published in Sounds.
As well as various local gigs, the band played in London at The Vortex (on the
07.11.77 with The Maniacs, Bazooka Joe & The Monotones), the legendary Roxy
Club (on the 17.01.78 with the Deviators) and at the City of London Polytechnic.
Things looked like they were going pretty well, however Nick had grown a bit
restless and had decided to change the line up of the band, and moved to London
in April 1978, effectively splitting the band. Nick has said though that he
fully intended to rebuild a new Machines and even had a piece in the NME about
the next planned release 'The Machines Turn On' but it wasn't to be. Endless
auditions for drummers and bass players led to nothing and in late April 1978
a piece went into the music papers to the effect the Machines were over.
Fast forward to a year or so ago, and Nick had found a rare recording of a live
demo the band had recorded late in '77, before the recording of the ep, containing
songs 'Racing' and an early version of 'You Better Hear'. Detour/Bin Liner Records
released these songs on a compilation called 'Bored Teenagers Vol 4' and the
CD is worth getting for the killer version of 'Racing' alone!
Also in 2006, Nick Paul (Machines / Raw Power) and Steve Reddihough (Raw Power)
linked up with Steve Pegrum (Kronstadt Uprising / Sinyx) to play some key Punk
Rock 'n' Roll songs that hadn't been heard in a long time. These songs included
'True Life', 'Evening Radio', 'You Better Hear', 'Everything's Technical', 'Chain
Gang', 'Parents Zone', 'Racing' and 'Head on Crash', as well as one or two new
songs. The Machines then played their first gig in 28 years at The Boston Arms
in London for the 'Bored Teenagers Volume 4 CD' launch party.
The gig went really well and now The Machines are back. The band are now looking
to play out live as much as they can, as well as recording much of their unissued
material for a CD release next year.
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The Machines - 'Weekend' Promo
Great to meet you guys. I love engineering for high qualiy acts and it was a pleasure engineering for you! Awesome performance :-) Thanks for the Add+. Hope we'll meet again somewhere down the line. And Steve, i'll give you that same ride sound all over again hahaha. All the best. -Andy, Pavilion Sound Engineer, Rebellion'08
Hey Steve!! Thanks for the invite lads, how could I refuse, I'm from Wigan, left in '76 but don't tell anyone ok? See you're playing Rebellion....look out for Mouthguard they're playing on the Friday, but staying still stumps.. Hope to see you down under sometime Cheers Jax xx
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