In 1976 Robert Lloyd, PJ Royster, Graham Blunt, Joe Crow and David Scholefield were making various Krautrock/Hawkwind/Velvets/Stooges/Sabbath influenced rackets together, in various combinations, in the town of Cannock, Staffordshire. The brothers Alan and Paul Apperley had already been in a couple of Birmingham rock bands prior to seeing the Sex Pistols and deciding to form a punk rock group. They placed an ad in the Birmingham Evening Mail which led to meetings with supposed vocalists Nikki Sudden (later of Swell Maps), Chris Collins (later UK comic Frank Skinner) and Robert Lloyd. Lloyd and bass player Royster joined up with the Apperleys and became Birmingham's original punk group The Prefects.
Following a few brief rehearsals the band started gigging in Birmingham, dumping Royster after two dates and replacing him with Blunt. Through some contact of Lloyd's, Dave Corke and Mike Barnett of the Endale booking agency (Who looked after the Pistols and their associates), The Prefects were invited to open the London show of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour'. It was the group's fifth ever gig and the first 'big' punk concert, at the Rainbow Theatre in May '77 alongside The Jam, Buzzcocks, Subway Sect and, of course, The Clash. This was the night that DJ John Peel and his producer John Walters saw the group and it was this pair who responsible, later on, for the band's only visits to a recording studio.
When bassist Garth Smith left Buzzcocks The Prefects were asked to take that band's spot on the remainder of the 'White Riot' tour. After these dates the group continued to play live on a regular basis around Great Britain, often supporting Buzzcocks, who really encouraged The Prefects, and/or in the company of other friends/fans - Subway Sect, The Slits, The Fall and The Worst, and occasionally opening for (& irritating) standard issue punk rock bands like The Damned, Sham 69, etc. The band were particularly 'popular' in Manchester and were the one non Manc act at the last night of the legendary Electric Circus in that city. Playing on a bill with Warsaw (later Joy Division), The Negatives, The Worst, The Fall, Magazine, John Cooper Clarke, Buzzcocks and, of course, John The Postman, this show was recorded by Virgin Records but The Prefects refused to be on the record release it spawned. (The above live track sequence - 'Bristol Road Leads to Dachau' coupled with a cover version of the Modern Lovers' 'She Cracked' - is bootlegged from these tapes.)
At some stage Lloyd's old pal and 'fifth' Prefect Joe Crow joined the group and Paul Apperley left the band, never to be completely replaced; with a variety of drummers coming and going until The Prefects eventual break up. Following a very short stint with Stephanie, from Manc band Manicured Noise, drumming and now with Adrian Moran on drums, the group entered a studio for the first time ever in August 1978 to record the first of two sessions for John Peel. Shortly after this session both Blunt and Moran left and were respectively replaced by Eamonn Duffy and David Twist.
This final line up was real good but with gigs drying up (The band were quite possibly the only 'punk' group in Britain without a record release), with no money or support and with agitation and boredom setting in, not long after the group's second Peel session in January '79 The Prefects disbanded. Lloyd, Crow and Duffy were rejoined by Paul Apperley to form The Nightingales and The Prefects were history. Rough Trade did issue a posthumous 7" single featuring two Peel tracks and later Strange Fruit released the whole second session on 12" but the group were basically neither mourned nor very often remembered. However, in 2001 a line up did reform for a couple of low key reunion gigs and, remarkably, in 2004 Acute Records in NYC released a CD of all the group's studio recordings, plus a song from the Electric Circus tapes and a ten second blast (the never-officially recorded track 'VD') from the 2001 reunion, which garnered praise all over the shop. Even stranger, in 2005 a British punk rock bootleg collector sent Big Print (Nightingales HQ) a 'Prefects live in Birmingham, October 1978' tape which has now been released on Caroline True Records
- David Yates
Just stopping by to say hi and give you some news. The new album 'Welcome To Murraysville' from Phil Murray and the Boys From Bury is now available worldwide from CD Baby and directly from the merchandise page of the official website. You can also get the album from Apple iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon and many more.
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New Posting; The Prefect's and Vivian Albertine of the Slit's rare 1977 photo at the legendary Eric's club in Liverpool UK. The Prefect's were a great British classic punk band
1977 UK Punks formed new bands as they became affected by the nationwide movement. They would hash out musical styles and tastes in their garages, bedrooms or even church halls. As a sound developed, the critical thinking flourished, and the artists discovered new creative directions.
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