Brigandage was born out of an act of Will. In meeting the right people, of
believing the vision.
Within the year we had gone from rehearsing weekly at Terminal studios to playing the
Anarchist Centre
and the 100 club.Standing and performing on the same stage as the Sex Pistols was a
dream come true.
But dreams, visions, magick, whatever you like to call it can only be fulfilled if all
are committed to
the same act. Events might have conformed to my will for a while but unfortunately I
forgot a crucial
element in the equation - the other members of the band.
I can't speak for Richard
North, only what I
remember but when Richard was asked to report on the bands he'd been reviewing we were
so
excited- all
of us would get some exposure - people outside of London would hear us. He wrote with joy
and in good
faith and tried to mention as many bands as possible.
At first most people seemed
pleased, but then
the backlash. When the other music papers realized they'd been left standing at the
gate
everyone was
slagged off. I think nearly every band paid a price. Mine was to be sniped at and
criticized by people
who were formally friends and allies, and then to be thrown out of my own group...
Hail
Eris, Goddess
of discord ... little did Richard and I know....but an article that celebrates music and
life cannot be
blamed for peoples responses. At most it probably accerlerated our descent into the
ubiquitous pit known
as musical differences. i.e. our potential record company wanted us to release a Thin
Lizzy track on the
b- side. I naturally declined this honour... turns out they owned the publishing rights
to Thin Lizzy.
I'm surprised we lasted as long as we did really. Any band that has its singer (me)
coming to physical
blows with its guitarist (mick) and fighting on the floor in the middle of a recording
session must have
some issues!
