Garry Bushell should be well-known to most of you eyeplug readers for at least one of the many hats he wears. His work as a TV and music critic, podcaster, front-man for the Gonads (and it’s offshoot the Skanads), father, author and even band manager have kept him busy and in the public eye for over 30 years now. His recently published book Time For Action, The Mod Revival 1978-1981 has received many positive reviews and been most happily welcomed from those of us who regularly read Garry’s writings all those years ago. When the big shots at eyeplug offered me the opportunity to get in touch with Mr. Bushell (as he is known by the Inland Revenue Service) I jumped at the chance. Enjoy. I know I did. Thanks Garry!
Interview with Garry Bushell
01 What was it that brought you to doing the Time for Action book at this point in time?
I’d written the Dance Craze book about 2-Tone at the end of 2011, which was quite therapeutic – when you get to my state of antiquity, the old memory cells start to die, but going back to my old notebooks and diaries refreshed them all. Through doing it I met up with Neville Staple, Charley Anderson and a lot of the old 2-Tone stars (I’d stayed in touch with Rhoda Dakar and to a lesser extent Pauline Black anyway). So when Paul Hallam and Eddie Piller asked if I’d do the same for the Mod Revival/Renewal bands I jumped at the idea. Also, I’ve always felt that those bands were never given a fair hearing by the music press. I wanted to try and capture the thrill and the fun of being young and moderately stylish at the end of the seventies.
02 While doing your research and collection for the Time for Action book were there any bands that you rediscovered and found that you re-evaluated in terms of their relevance then and now?
I’d completely forgotten how much I’d loved the Small Hours and how funny Paul Weller could be. He’s painted as a complete grouch these days, but the Jam were fun to be around – as well as being the most talented band of the late 70s. I’d also forgotten Speedball who were great live, much better live than on record. The Chords were more influential than they realise, quite a few pop-punk bands in the US cite them as an influence. I met up with Buddy last year. We hadn’t seen each other for 26 or 27 years and it was like we’d never been apart. I’d been in touch with Dave Cairns from Secret Affair and Tony Morrison from Long Tall Shorty for years (Tony was in my band); and I’d filmed the Purple Hearts a couple of years ago now.
03 That is interesting about Paul Weller. Someone just sent me a link to him playing at John Varvatos and at the beginning of the piece he talks about how filthy CBGBs was and meeting Blondie, the Ramones and the like. Nowadays he shows up as guest and with other young “stars” but back then they (the Jam) really did seem to live in a bubble or be at odds with most other bands – apart from the odd young group or two. I must admit it often left me wondering.
CBGBs was filthy! It was a shithole, a loveable one of course, but not as loveable as the good old Marquee or the Bridgehouse.
I can’t pretend to speak about Paul as he is today, I haven’t spoken to him for decades, but when I knew him he was completely down to earth. He recorded with Mick Geggus from the Cockney Rejects. He smiled. He was also very principled. I think he was flattered by the Mod Revival bands but also wary of them. He never wanted to be a leader. He wasn’t Jimmy Pursey.
The Jam upset the punk elite (© Dave Cairns) by burning Sniffin’ Glue on stage; and the NME had it in for them too – one of their writers moaned that Weller was “writing songs for an imaginary jukebox” as if that was something terrible. So in a way they were in a bit of a self-contained bubble at the end of the 70s.
You’d probably get a better idea of what he’s like now by chatting to Eddie Piller or Grant Fleming who were in touch for most of those years.
04 Of all the recordings that came out of the revival/renewal period what are the ones that you think are the strongest?
Secret Affair’s singles but especially Time For Action and My World, Purple Hearts’ Millions Like Us is still a monster anthem, The Chords’ British Way of Life, and Small Hours The Kid/Midnight To Six.
05 I am still amazed at the quality and maturity of Secret Affair’s records. And what, they were all of about 19 or 20?
I think from memory that Ian was only 18; Dave is three years younger than me so he’d have been 20 at the start of 1979. Very young, as you say, to be crafting such enduring songs as Glory Boys, and young too to be so bitter, but they’d been signed as the New Hearts two years before. What they did was to marry Motown rhythms and pop sensibility with rock guitar and marinade that mix in their own sussed youth cult mythology. Extraordinary. They would have made it irrespective of the Mod revival.
06. Young bands – if they are going to survive – usually need a mentor of some sort to help them find their way. You certainly were a great benefit to many by supporting them through your writing but who were the others that had some sort of pull in the industry do you think?
With the Mod bands, Jimmy Pursey was certainly seen as a mentor, although some of the bands found him too controlling and disruptive. From the music press, Robbi Millar was one of the few who gave the bands a fair hearing. Some of the Polydor execs were helpful, especially Dennis Munday, their A&R guy.
07 As the 80s wore on and the kids matured, faded away, changed hairstyles or became disillusioned the scene came to rely more on DJs, parties and the like. Nowadays the style – though not necessarily the sound – is everywhere. What’s your take on the great big “mod” world nowadays?
It seems odd to see the Times using Bradley Wiggins as a peg to run a two page feature on Mod sensibility. But Mod as a mind-set has endured better than most. It’s possible to argue that the Mod legacy, be it Motown/Stax or The Who/Small Faces/Kinks/Jam etc is so strong and timeless that it would be more odd if young people weren’t influenced by it. Modern bands like Missing Andy clearly owe a debt to the giants whose shoulders they are standing on. They write angry and passionate lyrics but manage to marry them to decent tunes. You won’t beat Pete Meaden’s definition of Mod as “clean living under difficult circumstances” and circumstances are as difficult now as I remember them ever being.
08 Agreed. Let’s talk a bit about that if you don’t mind. I was thinking the other day – and I don’t mean to get all misty about the good old days (whatever they were really about anyway) but when you were working for the weekly music papers – and I was reading them – it always seemed to be quite a big deal, and a nice bit of excitement, each week as the new papers came out. To see something about some new band, or one of one’s personal favourites, being featured inside or on the cover that help to propel one along into the future – or at least into the weekend! Maybe it’s just part of being young? Nowadays its blogs, forums, the odd zine, product/label websites and those types of things that people seem to turn to. Kinda hard to glue the whole thing together, no?
I agree, even though theoretically it’s a lot easier now to record songs and post them online it’s a lot harder to be heard than it was in the late 70s, early 80s. The rock press wasn’t without its faults, of course, but we did provide a focus for things that were happening at street level, and you quickly got to work out whose opinions to value and whose not to take any notice of. I’ve actually lost count of the people from the USA, Australia and Europe who have told me how much Sounds used to mean to them, how it informed their tastes and tickled their interest. We broke bands, we covered youth cults… luckily we had no idea of the power we had.
09 The other thing I wanted to talk a bit about is, sorta, life in general now in terms of drink/drugs, violence and youth culture. The “tribes” clashed fairly frequently back then and drink certainly played a part in all of that. When you look out at the “kids” now do you see much of the same or is it a whole other thing do you think?
Booze and speed… those were the days. Violence seems amplified now because of knife and gun culture and in a way that’s a return to territorial gang clashes, the way things were with Teds in the early 50s. Music seems a less important part of the equation today, but I don’t go to the places ‘youth’ hang out.
You see the occasional young skin who looks like a sixties skin rather than the bald punk, the occasional young Mod or punk but they’re the exception not the rule. I do see kids who look like today’s equivalent of Casuals – smart, sharply dressed – but I can’t pretend I know what they do or what they listen to.
10 How do you consume and listen to music these days Garry? Are you an iPod type of guy?
I did have an iPod, but my wife stole it. I’m not against iPods or Kindles, I just prefer CDs and books. I don’t like the concept of ‘virtual’ ownership. I’m so old school I even have a vinyl record player, which is handy as a lot of European and Yank punk bands only release 7ins these days.
11 Back to the Time for Action book… My understanding is the book launch a couple months or so ago was a good night. Any idea how the sales are going thus far?
Yeah the launch was at the Golden Bee a couple of months back, great venue and a terrific turn-out of old faces including Mr Cairns, Buddy Ascott, Grant Fleming, Buster Bloodvessel, Gary and Simon from the Purple Hearts… plus Hoxton Tom, Jennie Bellestar, Max Splodge, Carrie from Buster Shuffle, Cass Pennant, Terry Rawlings, Bev Elliott, quite a lot of old Mods and other assorted reprobates. Over 300 in and a fantastic atmosphere. I’m not sure of the exact sales (Paul Hallam could tell you) but I do know that it’s sold well and has already broken even.
12 Now what about you yourself playing music. Did I read that you’ve put an end to live performance as the Gonads?
Not quite, the Gonads will be playing live all this year (we have dates in USA and Germany, as well as the more exotic and erotic Bletchley); what we have said is this is our last year of gigging “in the current format”, the meaning of which will become clear in 2014. As well as the Gonads, the Ska spin-off called the SkaNads play their debut in March, and I released a solo album called ‘Just The Filth’ at Christmas, which I hope to follow with ‘Beyond The Filth’ sometime in the next 18 months. The SkaNads released a four track debut ep on vinyl last year.
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