"We're a Poob Rock Band" - Sonic Youth and Mudhoney in Newcastle and Glasgow

by Hazel Plater

The following is a transcript of an NME review from Sonic Youth and Mudhoney's 1989 UK tour, written by David Quantick and photographed by Jayne Houghton, from the 1st April 1989 issue.  No copyright infringement is intended.

The shows took place on Friday 17th March 1989 at Riverside Newcastle and Saturday 18th March 1989 at Glasgow Strathclyde University.  While we recognise that Glasgow is a little out of the catchment area of this North East Music History blog, it seemed wrong to omit the last section of the article.

Additional colour photos included here were taken at the Riverside Newcastle show by promoter Babs Johnston, used with kind permission.

WE'RE A POOB ROCK BAND

SONIC YOUTH

MUDHONEY

NEWCASTLE RIVERSIDE CLUB

GLASGOW STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY

"Banned from the poobs! Banned from the poobs!" Thurston Moore sings this happy song in the dressing-room as he fiddles with his guitar.  Lee Ranaldo's child plays with some fruit, Kim Gordon sits quietly, a monument to fun fur, and Steve Shelley lurks in his duffelcoat; Steve is probably the only duffelcoat-owning drummer in the history of American rock.

Mudhoney are soundchecking, their insidious blare almost drowned by bloody Thurston singing "Banned from the poobs!" in his weird New York/Albert Tatlock voice.

Sonic Youth and Mudhoney's tour is an infinite round of vans, signings, food, and concerts.  I am lucky enough to join them at dinner in The Naked Lunch restaurant.  Naturally, they go mental when they find out the name of the eatery.  Thurston keeps shouting "Dharma!"

During the meal they shout at Mudhoney and ask each other and ask each other about 'Shipbuilding' as it trips from the cassette player.  "Did Elvis Costello do this before the Robert Wyatt version?" asks Lee worriedly.  "Or did he do it after?"

Kim belches.  "That'll go in the article," predicts Thurston with some accuracy.  "The bass player belched," sighs Kim.

Finally, Mudhoney have enough of being shouted at and go onstage.  The audience correctly interpret this decision as a signal to shout and swear and try to get onstage too.  At one point singing Mudhoney Marc (sic) reverses the process and leaps into the audience for a tumultuous few minutes.

Mudhoney are astonishing.  From the dirty corners of the '70s, where the crap guitar solos live and the wah wah pedal still walks the earth, Mudhoney have extracted the essence of what was good about that music and rammed it like French fries up the scabby nostrils of hardcore.

They stand in a shaking row onstage and rock obscenely; on another planet in another galaxy, moss creatures tried to copy the Quo and Mudhoney were the result.  They are dead funny and proper rock music too.  The audience senses this. They shout "Ya fookun wunkahs!" and wave their fists appreciatively.

"I love those baby blue guitars," sighs Kim as Mudhoney leave the stage.  In the toilet is a piece of graffiti by one of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie.  Fiver or we print it!

Sonic Youth begin to look edgy.  Steve Shelley becomes lost in his duffelcoat.  Thurston has forgotten the words to 'Teenage Riot'.  "Da da da da," he sings to himself, then discovers he has forgotten the words to the others songs too.  "I love it when you make the words up," says Steve.  "It really gives me faith in the band."

 Onstage and rocking, Sonic Youth become even stranger.  Guitars racing in and out of spaces in the songs, shouted lines of tackiness and urgency, a version of rock music tunes by moss creatures and played by people who shout, "Banned from the poobs!" at the audience, who seem puzzled.

Sonic Youth, Riverside Newcastle - photo - Babs Johnston

Sonic Youth, Riverside Newcastle - photo - Babs Johnston

Sonic Youth, Riverside Newcastle - photo - Babs Johnston

'Teenage Riot', wrong words or not, wins on audience recognition; much Sonic past is not present and we have no opportunity to observe the bare bones of Sonic interplay, the rush of parts of songs as they collide and leap off again.  Sonic Youth can now mimic conventional rock music like those weird flies that look like wasps; they're completely alien to rock but they just sound that way sometimes.

Now Thurston is talking to the audience, except he can't understand them. "Ya fookun wankah" roars a cack-faced youth.  "Schizophrenia? Right!" agrees Thurston inaccurately.  Kim lies on her back and plays the bass guitar.  Finally it all ends with a version of 'Rocket' with Marc (sic) holding a guitar as Thurston "shows him the chords".  Our ears are ringing but there's no one home to answer them.

Thurston Moore's Mark Arm guitar arm.

Dressing-room fun.  Mudhoney start talking about Sham 69.  Thurston expresses interest in the idea that punk made crap English towns world-famous.  "Hersham!" he snorts, baffled. 

SonicYouth guitars at Riverside Newcastle - photo - Babs Johnston

People come in and have their photo taken "with the band".  We are invited to a party.  We are so, so rock 'n' roll, that we go home. 
 The Hong Kong rock press are with us.  Kim reveals that she lived in Hong Kong when she was 13.  "Are you an adult band?" the Hong Kong journalist asks.  "I'm 35," says Kim.  "I don't know if I'm an adult or what," ponders Steve, "like I'm 27 now and I feel, er, 27."  Bedtime all round.

AND IT'S tomorrow!  Time to go to Glasgow.  Steve sleeps late, waiting for his breakfast which never comes; even now, it wanders Newcastle, waiting for him.  Thurston has bought a Quiet Sun LP.  Everyone agrees that it is rubbish but it's very rare so Thurston is happy.

A long van journey ensues.  Four hours of hardcore tapes also ensue.  We pass by Lockerbie and Hadrian's Wall as the van fills with wild grunge and bits of music papers.  Refreshed, we "hit Glasgow" and go to a record shop, where pasty-faced youths proffer records and T-shirts to be written on.  Lee goes mad and empties a girl's bag and signs three old bus tickets, her diary and her cigarette lighter.
"Signing records has its own routine," explains Thurston.  "You begin writing different things for each person then you give up being interesting in the middle, and you get enthusiastic again at the end."
More soundchecks, then...curry!  Sonic Youth order the world and leave half of it.  They insist on talking about Australia.  "We like the kangas," explains Kim, and the farms where everything is the biggest.  The Big Pineapple, the Big Lawn-Mower... and we went to Wagga Wagga.  What a great name."
The concert tonight is larger and, being composed of many students, calmer.  Mudhoney burn their way through their tunes, baby blue and hairy.  "Halloween!" burbles a stude.  "We call it Hallowf--ingween!" shouts Marc (sic), with some difficulty.  Mudhoney depart, fame and fortune soon to be theirs.  The famous and fortunate Sonic Youth follow, louder than before and still more awesome.  Unfortunately, Thurston has lost his mind.
"I don't know if I can carry on," he announces to a concerned audience, "I had an onion bhaji and I think it's coming back."  Bravely he soldiers on.  "I'm going to see Scandal tomorrow!" he roars, "who wants to come?"
Finally, Sonic Youth crash through 'Rocket' and Thurston is overcome, his curry coursing through his veins like a drug he races offstage, presumably for a personal function.
The next day, as I leave, the staff of the Glasgow Odeon are startled to see 300 pale students queueing up for cinema tickets at three in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, The Lady and The Tramp is showing instead and Sonic Youth and their fans mutate into adorable chipmunks, Steve Shelley-style.  They swarm the streets of Glasgow, squeaking horribly.  "Banned from the poobs!" they horribly squeak, "banned from the poobs!" 

David Quantick 

 

  

  

Save Newcastle Hall Petition Hand-In

 

We were a bit windswept, but it was the Council that were blown away when we gave them 13,000 signatures in support of Newcastle City Hall.

Tyne Tees TV's report is here: http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/story/2013-01-31/save-the-city-hall-campaign/

And we're also on Sky Tyne and Wear, with Cllr Veronica Dunn. So, Newcastle City Council says here that they will work with the users of Newcastle City Hall. That's us, the people. Let's see if we can now find a way forward. http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/55062

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/55062

 

Thanks to all who have signed and shared the petition, which remains open. The petition will also be formally submitted to a full council meeting in the Council chamber next week.

With best wishes and fingers crossed for a positive future for Newcastle City Hall,

North East Music History

http://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory/

 

Save Newcastle City Hall - an update

By North East Music History

The Newcastle City Hall Facebook page has added a new post about its future which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/Newcastlecityhall/posts/10151306398704204

North East Music History (NEMH) has the following comments to make about this: Firstly, as we’ve made clear previously, the focus of our campaign is certainly not the management and staff of the venue itself. Our campaign is targeted at the people in Newcastle Council who will determine the future of the City Hall. The key decisions on this will not, alas, be left to the people who work at the venue. The statement indicates there is now considerable speculation that the City Hall is under threat of closure. That’s true and is hardly surprising when Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of the City Council and the man ultimately responsible for decisions on this issue, told the BBC on 27th November, “the whole site - the City Hall and Pool - doesn't have a long-term future given the current funding climate.” Whilst NEMH welcomes the statement that the venue management has “put forward a series of proposals to enhance the financial viability of the City Hall”, we do not consider that, in itself, changes anything regarding our campaign. We don’t know the details of these proposals, we don’t yet know whether the Council is prepared to accept and implement them – and we still don’t know what the Council’s own plan is for the long term use of the site. In short, we believe our campaign to save the City Hall as a vibrant performance venue is still very much needed. The campaign will continue and indeed will be intensified early in the New Year. Finally, as the Newcastle City Hall post says, the venue is continuing to operate and tickets are on sale for a range of gigs in 2013. NEMH hopes you will support the venue by going to City Hall gigs and continue to support the campaign by signing the petition at www.change.org/savenewcastlecityhall , which has so far collected over 8,000 signatures online and in the street. The two things are hardly mutually exclusive!

Save Newcastle City Hall

by North East Music History



PRESS RELEASE – NORTH EAST MUSIC HISTORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


NORTH EAST MUSIC LOVERS CALL ON COUNCIL TO SAVE NEWCASTLE CITY HALL 





The North East's music-loving public are rushing to defend Newcastle City Hall, demanding that it should continue as a performance venue. Newcastle City Council has asked for people’s views on the future of the City Hall, within the recently published Budget proposals.


The North East Music History group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory  has once again demonstrated the power of social media, by launching an e-petition calling for the City Hall to be saved as a music venue. In less than 24 hours, it has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures and expects to attract at least 10,000 signatures by the end of the consultation period.


North East Music History group and blog admin, Hazel Plater, author and ex-employee of Newcastle's legendary Riverside music venue, which closed in 1999, said,“We have lost Newcastle's iconic venues The Mayfair and Riverside in recent history, and the Club A-Go-Go before them. Newcastle City Hall has so much history; from orchestras and opera, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Dylan, Beatles, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Bowie, Blondie, Lindisfarne Christmas Concerts, Stand-up Comedy and much more. It’s not at all clear what Newcastle City Council’s intentions are towards the City Hall site. Our group believes that the Council should do whatever is necessary to save the City Hall as a performance venue. This would not only recognise its iconic status and its rich musical history but also acknowledge that it still has massive potential as a performance venue in the future, as part of the cultural industry activity that we hope will form an important part of our future local economy.”


Tony Stephenson, North East Music History group contributor said, "We need first to secure the council's commitment to retaining the City Hall as a performance venue in a way that will enable to offer a great experience to the ticket buying public. Whether that is as a wholly run public enterprise or as a partnership or a privately run deal (with absolutely binding terms and conditions from the Council) I, personally, am prepared to be pragmatic about. The important thing is to secure its future and commitment to its continuation as a viable venue, not to sell it off now or allow it to pass into the hands of people who will run it down in order to pitch for change of use of the site and then it's lost anyway."


Martin Craig, a musician and also part of the NEMH group said, “We want more members of the public plus performers linked to Newcastle City Hall to sign the petition before the end of the consultation period on 1st February 2013. We are conducting a high profile campaign to save the City Hall for future generations.”


If you want to add your voice to the e-petition to save Newcastle City Hall you can go online at:

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/newcastle-city-council-save-newcastle-city-hall




WEB LINKS:

Relevant Newcastle City Council document: http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/drupalncc.newcastle.gov.uk/files/wwwfileroot/your-council/budget_and_annual_report/budget_2016_-_13_-_city_hall_and_city_pool.pdf

North East Music History Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory/

North East Music History blog: http://www.northeastmusichistory.org.uk




ENDS. XXXXXXXX

Newcastle City Hall - under threat.

The Tube

by Hazel Plater

This month marks 30 years since The Tube television programme was first broadcast live from Tyne Tees Television on City Road, Newcastle upon Tyne to the music lovers of the nation.

Channel 4 had just begun, and this show, presented by Jools Holland and Paula Yates was its flagship music show, featuring, over its 5 seasons, performances from a huge number of artists, including The Jam, The Smiths, REM, U2, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Tuna Turner, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran and even Madonna.

The Tube was named after the distinctive entrance to Tyne Tees Televison

The majority of music appearances on the magazine-style show were performed live at Tyne Tees' Studio 5.  The video clip below, however, shows Billy Bragg, busking to the queue of people waiting to come into the studios to be part of the live television audience.





A large number of hip young people around the North East at the time, remember taking part in the show, a night which would often begin in the adjacent Egypt Cottage public house, where celebrities could often be seen propping up the bar.  The pub was such a part of the show that it was dubbed 'Studio 6' and was famously where presenter Paula Yates first met INXS frontman Michael Hutchense as part of a 1986 episode.

The Tube was last broadcast in 1987.  The Egypt Cottage and Tyne Tees are now both no more, having been demolished in recent years.

Post your recollections of The Tube below, or at the North East Music History Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory/

Led Zeppelin's first gig - Newcastle Mayfair - 4th October 1968

by Hazel Plater and Ian Ravendale

I'm very proud that this story, written by Ian Ravendale (real name Ian Penman, but he writes articles under this name to avoid confusion with former NME writer Ian Penman), has appeared in Classic Rock magazine this month thanks to input from the North East Music History Facebook group.  Turns out Led Zeppelin's first gig was at Newcastle's Mayfair - 4th October 1968 - a fact hitherto unreported.  The article tells the full story and includes first hand accounts from NEMH group members Ray Laidlaw and Charlie Foskett, a late-friend's tale told by John Porteous and additional research by Marshall Hall.  Well done everyone concerned - Led Zeppelin history, North East Music History and a fine story unveiled!  The magazine is available from all good newsagents or by subscription from http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/

Led Zeppelin's first gig featured in Classic Rock magazine October 2012

After I posted the above article, Ian himself got in touch with me, to elaborate on how the Classic Rock story happened:


"The legendary Led Zeppelin played their first handful of UK gigs under the name The New Yardbirds, a roll-over from leader Jimmy Page's former band whose final gig obligations they were honouring.  The first of these shows was at Newcastle Mayfair ballroom on 4 October 1968 with support slots from local bands Downtown Faction and The Junco Partners plus New York Public Library, originally from Leeds but based in London by this time. I'd found out about the show while researching another possible locally based Led Zeppelin story.  The fact that Zep made their UK debut on Tyneside and under a different name jumped out to me as a potentially fascinating subject for an article and Classic Rock agreed.

Still being billed as The Yardbirds, on the night they were billed as The New Yardbirds

If anything was going to stretch my super-researcher powers it was locating the support bands, audience members, promoter and Mayfair staff and then getting some good stories and anecdotes out of them.  The gig was, after all, 44 years ago!  But, pulling in favours and with the invaluable help of a notice on the main NEMH site, I got the response I needed from people who were at a gig that was, by most accounts, not very well attended.

In addition to interviewing Ray Laidlaw (Downtown Faction) and Junco Partners Bob Sargeant and Charlie Harcourt I also spoke to promoter Fraser Suffield and Brian Greenaway who was the manager of the Mayfair in 1968 that I located via a lead from Marshall Hall.  Brian was seriously ill when I went up to chat with him in hospital in Berwick.  He was courteous and responsive and I appreciated him seeing me under very adverse circumstances. Sadly Brian died a couple of days ago.

Some people, like NEMH member Charlie Foskett, had great recall of the event-remarkable because no-one knew, of course, that they were witnessing the first UK gig of the outfit who would become the world's biggest rock band in the 1970’s.  Others remembered less but I still unearthed lots of great information that has never seen print before.

I got off to a bit of a false start by spending a fair amount of time trying to track down Terry Reid, who was credited on the advance tickets as the main support act.

Terry rang me and told me that, no, his band Fanasia didn’t play the gig because they were off supporting Cream on their Farewell US tour!

This was why, I surmised, New York Public Library were credited on the Evening Chronicle adverts, which would, of course, have gone to press a lot later than the advance tickets.  They’d have been the replacement for Reid.  It took a bit of scurrying around (with the deadline looming!) but I managed to get hold of a couple of guys from the band.  One was convinced that the gig took place in Glasgow, but I quickly managed to disprove that to him.  The other, Tez Stokes, NYPL’s guitarist, was a very good interviewee with a good memory of the event, enhanced by him already slightly knowing John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page.

I was pretty happy with the finished article and the reaction to it.

This is exactly the sort of article I like doing where I can locate people and untold information to tell a story that has previously gone unrelated.  Zeppelin have been discussed, debated and written about non-stop since their split in 1980 following the death of John Bonham but very little exists about their first UK gig.  Until my article.  Thanks to Hazel and everybody else from NEMH who helped me do it."


.

 

Filming Fugazi

By Michael Sanderson


Fugazi playing at the Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne on Sunday 26th November 1989, without a doubt changed my life! It seems a grand and ridiculous statement but it really is true.


Fugazi's whole outlook on playing live and their approach to the music industry was and remains to this day quite simple but radical and I admire them more than words can describe.


Riverside, as a venue, felt similar with friendly door staff and an atmosphere unlike any other club I had been to or have been to since.

Fugazi ticket from Riverside Newcastle

Before the gig I approached the band as they walked around the venue and they were only too happy to have the show filmed and then be interviewed afterwards. At which my position for the night was taken on - a hastily moved table in front of one of the mighty brick pillars, which I must say that I always liked!


God's Ultimate Noise and Crane warmed the crowd up and by the time Fugazi walked on stage the room was heaving and already dripping with condensation! They played a mixture of songs from their first two EPs plus some newer songs from their forthcoming album Repeater. 'Waiting Room', 'Glue Man' and 'Margin Walker' never sounded better. It was a combination of the band being on top form and playing in what was to become one of their favourite venues. This remains one of my most memorable gigs ever.


When I heard that there was to be a documentary made about Riverside, I got in touch with one of the producers and offered them my footage of this and other Riverside gigs I filmed around the time. I am really pleased to have my work included in the trailer, which can be found on their indiegogo crowd funding page this month. The campaign runs for 30 days. If enough funds are raised, the team will go out to interview Ian Mackaye in Washington DC, to add his recollections of Riverside to the live footage in the completed documentary.

The campaign is at www.indiegogo.com/rivfilm and embedded below.