although thousands wont agree with this, but i truely think the early lurkers were probably the most over looked band the british 70s punk scene conjured up. the tunes these boys released and covered showed the energy and knowledge they held in their arms. i always get this feeling, especially from british snobs, that they werent worth listening to and lumped them with such bands as 'sham', latter on 'damned' and the 'uk subs'. the latter reference just shows how much shite these nobs spill, as the subs were one of the best and most consistant punk bands britian ever produced. although both dont really bond in my opinion. this is no way any form of dis ( as a fool would say ), the lurkers and the subs, both released a wheen of top fucking quality records back in the day that could give anyone a run for their money. to me the subs were more blues and roll, where the lurkers were just pure unadultirated rock n roll punk. we could even dare say, dare we...dare we...???....that the lurkers were a british style ramones. short songs about nonsense, love, girls, drugs, booze, girls and everyday life. you get the picture im trying to paint here. an upbeat punk and roll band that couldve blown away any late 70s punk crowd in their day with their fun rocknroll punk pogo mayhem. they knew a chorus and good god how we fucking love a good chorus. plus the raw driving guitar sound and great sounding pure punk vocals. the b-side gives a good example of this love for rocknroll im speaking about. the cover songs 'pills', which im sure is a version of the 'new york dolls' cover. could be wrong though as it is a 'bo diddely' cover the dolls did. if the lurkies new this or not, who knows, im sure they did to be honest, but it is a bit of a clean ' n.y.d's ' style cover. hats off to the chaps anyways, as its a top notch choon. a few years ago i was working at a '999' show here in stockholm, in fact i even made dinner for the bands. a choice of either chicken or tiger prawn curry if you want to know. and big Arturo Bassick was playing with 999 at that point. we had a wee natter and he seemed like a descent enough big chap. he talked of his life and he seems to be happy at last with his lot. living in the middle of nowhere in north england, having a peaceful time away from everycunt. most band members i meet are mostly just obnoxious arseholes who cant even be bothered havin a wee bleather and a chin wag. he seemed down to earth and i wish him all the luck he deserves. another thing i remember about him was he doesnt seem to shy away from an arguement, and i really love that in a person. ive a wee funny feeling i annoyed him about something, but fuck it. hope he took it on the chin. we gotta except each individual for what they are. me included. maybe it was the scottish - english thing or maybe he just hated curry....cause the cunt never ate a drop of the food i took 5 hours to make for him, but....i aint bitter. enjoyed myself talking to him, seems like a real charachter, as i dont normally speak to band members as a rule cause as i said theyre normally nob-ends. they did a surprisingly good show as well, '999', a lot better than i thought it would be. got a bit spoiled for me as the promoter didnt have a clue and he thought for some reason i was there to fix everything for him.....but thats another tale....plus the very organised nazi fighting crew who were there on the look for someone (not me, by the way, thankfully. these boys looked evil and on top rank of the commitedly trained)....but again thats a different story......never ever seen the lurkers live which i feel is a bit of a shame. they played when i was about, but some snob or another would have talked me out of going, as others told me to stop listening to snobs and get my arse there fir a jump aboot. alas i never went. hope theyll come over here if they reform and ill get to work at the show... i hope. one more thing....you know the ' tv personalities ' song 'part time punks'....one of the lines in it is
'' theyd like to buy the o-levels single
or read about seymour.
but theyre not pressed in red,
so they buy the lurkers instead.
here they come
la la la la la la
la la la la la la
the part time punks. ''
well, thats what the '' cool '' kids thought of them. and what did we think of the cool kids. first, they were never cool and they were always pissed off cause us boys always shagged their girlfriends. part-time fuck all ya fucking numpties. great song though.....oh well. it was in fact in four different sleeves as well......cause....'' i i i i i wanna be her hero...!!! '' rabble finally over....................
