Feb 13, 2019

RhoDeo 1906 Aetix

Hello, the Championsleague got down to business again and  the in form team of the Premier League, Man United got a football lesson today, they were peopled at home by PSG that didn't need their superstar Neymar or goalscorer Cavani to stun a chace-less Man United, 0-2 the final score. The coming week there will another 3 UK teams all drawing a German opponent, they'll need at least 2 wins out of those to keep the Brexit hopes alive...


Today's artists had age, a pub rock pedigree, musical savvy, and long hair working against them – cardinal sins in a punk movement that was almost militaristic in its rigidness - but you’d be hard pressed to see how that hindered them.  .. ......N'Joy

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Part of the idea behind punk rock was that anyone could play it, but while most folks took that to mean the young and inexperienced could pick up a guitar and bash out two or three chords, the concept worked the other way, too. The Vibrators were one of the early bands to break out on the London punk rock scene, and created one of the first classic albums to come out of U.K. punk. But as much as they tried to look like kids off the streets, their leader was anything but. Guitarist and singer Knox (aka Ian Carnochan) was the ripe old age of 31 when he launched the Vibrators, and he'd been playing in bands since his mid-teens. But if Knox was a bit long in the tooth to be part of the youth vanguard, he was also in it for the long haul, and he's kept the Vibrators alive and productive through dozens of lineup changes well into the 21st Century.

Knox was born in London on September 4, 1945, and grew up in the neighborhoods of Cricklewood and Watford. He was 13 when he first started playing guitar, and he played in a pair of bands with his schoolmates, the Renegades and Knox & the Knight Ryders. Knox was the rare British art school student who put his guitar away while he studied painting, but by 1972 he was playing again and performed on the fringes of the U.K. pub rock circuit. In 1976, as punk rock was growing from an underground phenomenon to the next big thing, Knox chose to get in on the action and formed the Vibrators, with himself on guitar and vocals, John Ellis on guitar, Pat Collier on bass, and a drummer who was identified as Eddie the Drummer (real name: John Edwards). The group quickly jumped out of the gate, opening shows for the Stranglers and the Sex Pistols and becoming regulars at one of London's first homes for punk, the 100 Club. Mickie Most signed the group to his RAK Records label, and they dropped their first single, "We Vibrate," in November 1976. The same month, they were Chris Spedding's backing band for his novelty take on punk, "Pogo Dancing." Before RAK could release a second Vibrators single, they were snapped up by Epic Records, which released the single "Baby Baby" in May 1977. A month later, Epic unveiled their debut album, Pure Mania, to strong reviews and respectable sales, rising to number 49 on the U.K. album charts. In 1977, they also were the support act for Iggy Pop's U.K. tour (with David Bowie backing Iggy on keyboards).

A mere ten months later, the Vibrators dropped their second LP, V2, which featured a new bassist, Gary Tibbs, after Pat Collier left the group. A single from V2, "Automatic Lover," made it to number 35 on the British singles charts, which led to the Vibrators appearing on Top of the Pops. More live work followed, though John Ellis would drop out of the band in 1978, with Dave Birch signing on as guitarist; the group also added Don Snow on saxophone and keyboards. That lineup proved to be short-lived, and Knox and Eddie recruited guitarist Greg Van Cook and bassist Ben Brierly for a version that fell apart by the end of 1978. By early 1979, Knox left the Vibrators to launch a solo career, and while the band struggled along without him, they threw in the towel in 1980.

In 1982, Knox opted to give the Vibrators another try, and he recruited the original lineup (Collier, Ellis, and Eddie) to cut a new album, Guilty, for Anagram Records. This edition managed to stay together long enough to record the albums Alaska 127 (1984) and Fifth Amendment (1985) before Collier bowed out to pursue a career as a producer. Noel Thompson replaced Collier on bass, and after John Ellis quit the band to join the Stranglers, Mickie Owen took over on guitar. This lineup recorded a live LP, but by the time the group next returned to the studio, Noel Thompson was out and Mark Duncan was the new bassist. This edition cut two albums, Recharged and Meltdown (both 1988) before Owen dropped out and Nigel Bennett picked up the guitar spot. With Bennett, the Vibrators cut the albums Vicious Circle, Volume Ten, and Unpunked, between 1989 and 1996. From this point on, the number of personnel changes continued to increase, with Knox and Eddie as the sole constants (and with Knox even leaving the lineup in 2008 for 14 months after an accident). However, the band continued to record and tour regularly, playing upward of 100 dates a year, and were regularly lauded as one of the most indefatigable bands in U.K. punk. In 2017, as the band was preparing for what they announced would be their last United States tour, the Vibrators dropped a studio album, Restless, via Die Laughing Records. .

On July 16, 2007, the band re-formed for a benefit concert in honor of Paul Fox, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Henry Rollins filled in on lead vocals, and the Damned, Tom Robinson, and Misty in Roots were among the opening acts. This inspired the band to return to the studio, with John Jennings and David Ruffy joined by guitarist Leigh Heggarty. In June 2008, another compilation, Original Punks, was released by Music Club Deluxe in the UK. The two-disc set included demos, alternate versions and live tracks plus songs recorded by Ruts D.C. They would record material over the next five years at Mad Professor's studio; Rhythm Collision, Vol. 2 arrived in 2013. A concert album, Live on Stage, appeared in 2014, while a new studio album, Music Must Destroy, arrived in 2016, with Henry Rollins performing guest vocals on the title track and Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and Kirk Brandon of Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny appearing on "Kill the Pain." The same year saw another Ruts compilation, Babylon's Burning, which repackaged the Live and Loud! and In a Can albums as a two-LP set.

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Fifth Amendment (1985) moves even further towards Pop territory with a great collection of trackss. Album opener “Blown Away By Love” features more keyboard work than any song in their catalog thus far. However, the hooks are fab and it remains one of the catchiest songs in their catalog. The track is followed by the bluesy grime of “Rip Up The City,” which feels more influenced by New York than London. “Wipe Away” could’ve been a Graham Parker & The Rumour single. “Frankenstein Stomp” is dirty Rock ‘n’ Roll. “Too Late For Love” is wonderfully wobbly Pop. And so on… Fifth Amendment may not have satisfied the Punk elite but it sure stands tall as a wonderfully skewered Pop platter.



 The Vibrators - Fifth Amendment (flac  278mb)
 
01 Blown Away By Love 3:34
02 Rip Up The City 3:32
03 Tomorrow Is Today 3:19
04 Wipe Away 2:53
05 Too Late For Love 3:28
06 The Demolishers 4:09
07 Running Right Into Your Heart 3:04
08 Frankenstein Stomp 2:54
09 Crazy Dream 3:19
10 Criminal 3:17
11 Blown Away By Love (7' Version) 3:26
12 Still Not Over You 3:03

 The Vibrators - Fifth Amendment  (ogg   102mb)

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Entitled Rarities 1979-80, the first half of this 18 track disc features nine demos that singer/songwriter Knox and Eddie recorded with a new crew of Vibrators. With John Ellis, Pat Collier and Gary Tibbs in their rear view mirror, The Vibrators were moving forward with the same energy that fueled their first two albums. While some of these songs appeared in different forms down the line, this set of previously unreleased recordings is definitely the link between the first phase of their career and the second. The most telling track here is “Vipers In The Dark,” a track that revealed the Lou Reed/V.U.-influenced direction that the band would eventually follow. But sadly, before the band could find a deal and record proper studio versions of these songs, Knox left the band to pursue other interests. Eddie brought in frontman Kip and continued to move The Vibrators forward.  The remaining tracks feature recordings with Kip including the legendary “Disco In Moscow” single. While the band still occupied a similar musical universe to their previous releases, the tracks were certainly less Punk and more Rock ‘n’ Roll with nice hooks. There’s even a slight Mod influence, which may not be a coincidence since Kip left The Vibrators to join The Chords for their last few singles.



  The Vibrators - Rarities 1979-80   (flac  416mb)

Third Album Demos
01 Fighter Pilot
02 Pushin' Too Hard
03 Splitting Up
04 Ticket To Paradise
05 Stich You Up
06 She's A Boy
07 Goin' Uptown
08 Rain Rain Rain
09 Vipers In The Dark
The Kip Recordings
10 Gimme Some Lovin'
11 Powercry
12 Dksco In Moscow
13 Take A Chance
14 All You Need Is A Name
15 I Think You're Lovely
16 Strange Kinda World
17 Lovin' Machine
18 I Can't Get No Answer

 The Vibrators - Rarities 1979-80    (ogg   142mb)

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By this stage I'm not sure even the most  rabid of fans could have believed The Vibrators would ever claw their way back into even the semi-limelight. The problem is the band are labouring under the law of diminishing returns and are caught in a vicious debilitating circle. At the start of their career, record companies were so keen to sign bands which could loosely be termed punk that they were throwing money at them. They had ready access to decent studio facilities, up and coming producers and regular media coverage. Ten years later and that must have seemed like another world to The Vibrators. Looking at the liner notes for this release and I see that the album were recorded in a studio called The Greenhouse. Such is the poor quality of the production on both albums that it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it's situated at the bottom of Knox' garden. On some tracks, the vocals are so muffled and the individual instrumentation so indistinct I can well believe the tomatoes and radishes are interfering with the sound!

Well the album is completely crippled by poor production. There are two many tracks that seem to be nothing more than a killer riff because the vocal is pushed so far back in the mix it's virtually indistinct. And that's a shame. Knox may not have the most dominant of voices but I do like his scraggy sneer. Too often, though it goes missing. So, while Vicious Circle has it moments, it doesn't show The Vibrators at their best.



 The Vibrators - Vicious Circle   (flac  255mb)

01 No Getting Over You 2:39
02 Poll Tax Blues 3:14
03 I Don't Wanna Fall 4:02
04 Rocket Ride to Heaven 3:38
05 Count on Me 3:28
06 Slow Death 3:45
07 Fire 2:19
08 Halfway to Paradise 3:30
09 Ruby's Gotta Heart 3:23
10 Don't Trust Anyone 2:21
11 No Mercy 3:04
12 Work 4:32

 The Vibrators - Vicious Circle    (ogg  96mb)

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The Vibrators tenth effort (if you include Live) saw a comfortable band, and this reflected in the album. It is effortless in it’s delivery, every track feels like it was crafted and perfected by a band that had become somewhat of a hot proposition. The punk feel is ever present, the guitars taking the rule book for punk and, in it’s fashion, tearing them up to make even the greats sweat.  It results in one of the more tolerable latter-day Vibrators efforts, mainly because new guitar player Nigel Bennett cannot restrain his enthusiasm, the saxophone integrates well, too. This album is a representation of a band at ease with themselves and making the music they want to make.



 The Vibrators - Volume Ten    (flac  313mb)

01 Losing It 3:48
02 Hot For You 2:19
03 Rave On 2:06
04 Wonderful World 3:47
05 Outta My System 5:18
06 Cartel 4:50
07 Video Girl 3:23
08 Hey America 2:40
09 Raintime 5:12
10 World In Your Hands 3:30
11 Don'tcha Know Now 2:18
12 Can't Have It All 2:24
13 Commanche 3:40

 The Vibrators - Volume Ten    (ogg  113mb)

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