Dear Scratchers,
Yee of little faith! Just when you thought Clint had ridden off into the sunset, his work done, never to be seen again following his triumphant night at the Horn, he's back with another amazing eulogy...
"Not only are The Scratch knocking out some of the best new punk rock in Britain today, they’re a pleasure to watch live too.
Everything’s right about them. The sound, the look, the spirit. I’m a fan for those reasons.
Fun to hang around with too. Although I’m not sure about all that late night cross dressing / sex toy experimentation that goes on back at their place after gigs.
Ah well, each to their own, that’s what I say.
Onwards and upwards Scratch people. The new album’s f**kin ace!
Clint Boon 29.9.09"
What can we say Mr B.
You're the greatest bro!
x
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Freaks of the twilight - A rock opera down Milton Keynes way!
Dear Scratchers,
Hopefully, on this occasion words are unnecessary because you all tuned in to the show… but for those with commitments beyond the reaches of rock’n’roll (maybe Powerpoint enthusiasts or reality TV addicts?…) firstly shame on you! Secondly and luckily for you, here is your opportunity to catch up on what the real cool kids get up to on a Thursday evening.
Anyway… on with the show.... It was 8.40 and John and Andy were there, but there was no sign of Hugh…
The content of Hijack 3 (as it had been billed for months on our myspace)… came as somewhat of surprise to the hero of the piece - DJ and all round aficionado of ‘allsorts’ (‘Huge’) Hugh Davenport, who on being ‘papp snapped’ on Andy’s camera phone as he entered the building, offered the reason that he had been delayed as… “I’ve just spent ages, getting the playlist together…” Er, ‘Hughston’ we have a problem… (… despite the fact that Hijacks one and two had been entire 2 Hour Hijacks of the show, there seemed to be a fleeting notion that ‘other’ music would have a vehicle!…) Fortunately, this misunderstanding didn’t last as, Mr.D being the ‘shockjock' and ‘out there’ hedonist he is… literally tore his notes to shreds.
At last it, I hear you sigh, on with the show....
The plan (from the band) was to ‘treat’ Hugh and his listeners to a play of ‘Whatever Happened to Friday night?’ in its entirety… interspersed with tracks from the bands that helped influence and inspire the album… Hugh by now, playlistless was of course powerless to resist.
With Ian, DJ from the previous show still ‘lurking’ (get it eh… in joke….) in the studio (or was he trying to squeeze past Andy and John without being press ganged into a flyer for the launch do????) giving the whole place a semi manic/semi saunaesque locker room feel, all boded well for a fun night in…
‘less twiggage Hugh, less, less’
…. However with a Kabuff… (and a puff of smoke), as soon as it had begun, it ended, like all good fairy stories on the witching hour…
Much merriment, abandon, text messaging and plenty of lost threads had been had… aided and abetted by tales of Marco, Jordan, Recharged Radio, 3 Counties, Stuart Pearce, The Green Room (which John did a great job of denting!) and even speed camera on the Lower Luton Road (bastards!)… and of course the food for all our souls … The Rock’n’Roll.
1) Whatever Happened to Friday Night? – The Scratch
2) You want the world – The Scratch
3) There goes Norman – Undertones
4) Deutscher Girls – Adam and the Ants
5) Against the Grain – The Scratch
6) How beautiful you are – The Cure
7) Girls World – The Scratch
8) Jackie Says – The Wolfmen
9) Teen Idol – The Scratch
10) War Dance – Killing Joke
11) Freaks of the daylight – The Scratch
12) Flicker – The Scratch
13) Predicatable – The Kinks
14) In the heart of the city – Nick Lowe
15) Too Busy thinking about me – The Scratch
16) Freakshow – The Scratch
17) Metal Guru – T.Rex
18) Fiction Romance – Buzzcocks
19) Independent Unrepentant – The Scratch
Seriously though, for all those of you who remember what evening radio used to be like without ‘playlist hell’, The Ecletic Plectrum is well worth a listen and from what we heard of Ian’s show before, don’t just restrict yourself to 10-12pm on a Thursday… these guys know their music and play it with easily as much passion as the teenage wanabees down your local battle of the bands competition, so check um out… www.myspace.com/eclecticplectrum / www.crmk.co.uk
Many, many thanks to Hugh and we look forward to seeing him in his new role as drunken compare at the launch party next Friday… speaking of which… you got your ticket yet!!!
xxx
Hopefully, on this occasion words are unnecessary because you all tuned in to the show… but for those with commitments beyond the reaches of rock’n’roll (maybe Powerpoint enthusiasts or reality TV addicts?…) firstly shame on you! Secondly and luckily for you, here is your opportunity to catch up on what the real cool kids get up to on a Thursday evening.
Anyway… on with the show.... It was 8.40 and John and Andy were there, but there was no sign of Hugh…
The content of Hijack 3 (as it had been billed for months on our myspace)… came as somewhat of surprise to the hero of the piece - DJ and all round aficionado of ‘allsorts’ (‘Huge’) Hugh Davenport, who on being ‘papp snapped’ on Andy’s camera phone as he entered the building, offered the reason that he had been delayed as… “I’ve just spent ages, getting the playlist together…” Er, ‘Hughston’ we have a problem… (… despite the fact that Hijacks one and two had been entire 2 Hour Hijacks of the show, there seemed to be a fleeting notion that ‘other’ music would have a vehicle!…) Fortunately, this misunderstanding didn’t last as, Mr.D being the ‘shockjock' and ‘out there’ hedonist he is… literally tore his notes to shreds.
At last it, I hear you sigh, on with the show....
The plan (from the band) was to ‘treat’ Hugh and his listeners to a play of ‘Whatever Happened to Friday night?’ in its entirety… interspersed with tracks from the bands that helped influence and inspire the album… Hugh by now, playlistless was of course powerless to resist.
With Ian, DJ from the previous show still ‘lurking’ (get it eh… in joke….) in the studio (or was he trying to squeeze past Andy and John without being press ganged into a flyer for the launch do????) giving the whole place a semi manic/semi saunaesque locker room feel, all boded well for a fun night in…
‘less twiggage Hugh, less, less’
…. However with a Kabuff… (and a puff of smoke), as soon as it had begun, it ended, like all good fairy stories on the witching hour…
Much merriment, abandon, text messaging and plenty of lost threads had been had… aided and abetted by tales of Marco, Jordan, Recharged Radio, 3 Counties, Stuart Pearce, The Green Room (which John did a great job of denting!) and even speed camera on the Lower Luton Road (bastards!)… and of course the food for all our souls … The Rock’n’Roll.
1) Whatever Happened to Friday Night? – The Scratch
2) You want the world – The Scratch
3) There goes Norman – Undertones
4) Deutscher Girls – Adam and the Ants
5) Against the Grain – The Scratch
6) How beautiful you are – The Cure
7) Girls World – The Scratch
8) Jackie Says – The Wolfmen
9) Teen Idol – The Scratch
10) War Dance – Killing Joke
11) Freaks of the daylight – The Scratch
12) Flicker – The Scratch
13) Predicatable – The Kinks
14) In the heart of the city – Nick Lowe
15) Too Busy thinking about me – The Scratch
16) Freakshow – The Scratch
17) Metal Guru – T.Rex
18) Fiction Romance – Buzzcocks
19) Independent Unrepentant – The Scratch
Seriously though, for all those of you who remember what evening radio used to be like without ‘playlist hell’, The Ecletic Plectrum is well worth a listen and from what we heard of Ian’s show before, don’t just restrict yourself to 10-12pm on a Thursday… these guys know their music and play it with easily as much passion as the teenage wanabees down your local battle of the bands competition, so check um out… www.myspace.com/eclecticplectrum / www.crmk.co.uk
Many, many thanks to Hugh and we look forward to seeing him in his new role as drunken compare at the launch party next Friday… speaking of which… you got your ticket yet!!!
xxx
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Big thanks to Thatchers and Pirroni for a bubbly bank hols!
Dear Scratchers, we just wanted to give you a little update of what happened last bank holiday!
First and excitingly! Big thanks to Jordan of recharged radio who during his Friday evening radio show played guest monthly host Marco Pirroni of Adam and the Ants, Siouxsie and the Banshees and now Wolfmen fame, our track Teen idol (B-side of You want the world and track on the new album), which Marco said rocked! Jordan has subsequently made the track his single of the week! What a start to the hols!
Which continued on Saturday with a visit to the West Country, to the village of Atworth to be more exact, just down the road from ‘Baronsville’, to play a gig at the White Hart pub.
What a great night and equally great hangovers to boot! That Harvest Gold sure is frickin strong!
So why Atworth? – Well, every year it seems the Baron’s surrounding villages seem to put on gigs on 45 foot trailers?!? and this year it was the turn of Atworth, this however was a little different in that we’d been asked to play an unprecedented 2x45 minute sets, (the kinda thing covers bands do every week) and probably amounts to about 14 songs, (we took the challenge on the promise of free beer/cider and board, but with The Scratch not being a band with an array of 5 minute tracks, we found ourselves with a huge 28 song line up including 2 or 3 songs we hadn't played live for years!)
As we strode out onto the decidedly chilly stage, we couldn’t have expected such a great evening. The crowd though not the biggest, on account of said freezing summer weather, was perfectly formed and well up for The Scratch history lesson!
Some excellent sound (thanks James) made for a thoroughly exciting performance, as the goose pimples out numbered the chattering teeth 10 to 1! In a set that as previously stated that spanned most the bands life, there were always going be a few hiccups, ‘Filthy’s’ lack of a stage monitor meant a slightly more subdued performance from the self styled ‘jack in a box’ during the first set but apart from that old faves like ‘Rotten Soul’ and ‘Alcohol's a depressant’ made triumphant returns to the fold!
Buoyed by the warmth of the crowd reaction, the second set was stacked with all the current hits! Including the aforementioned ‘Teen idol’ (the song everyone is talking about) plus closing album track ‘Too busy thinking bout me’ and ‘Beach Boysesque slowie’ ‘Freaks of the daylight all got welcome airings as the crowd enthusiastically danced the cold away dizzy on a mix of rock’n’roll and apple rocket fuel! (ask the Baron) who slipped into a cider psychosis during ‘Critical Mass’ after downing a pint in one at the half time break! From which he never truly recovered… (Is that the trees a rustling or the hinges on the gate? Or John an Grim’s room key in the Baron’s jacket pocket?!)
With the job now well done, after what was definitely our best and most enjoyable foray to the South West so far!!, it was time for the rest of the band to get on the Thatchers and trash that bar tab!!!
Big thanks goes to everyone who made it such a great and welcoming gig/night especially Katie and Nathan for booking us! Filthy’s dads amazing salesman friend who turned water to wine after and managed to empty the bulging ‘merch bag’ in 10 minutes flat! And finally, we can't go without mentioning the human beatbox rap experience that the two guys put on in the car park, truly mind blowing! If only we’d had a Ponyland contract on us, we’d have made a signing there and then. If we find out who they are we'll let u know... all we know is the ‘beatbox’ was in a band called Bedmonster… Watch this space!
xxx
First and excitingly! Big thanks to Jordan of recharged radio who during his Friday evening radio show played guest monthly host Marco Pirroni of Adam and the Ants, Siouxsie and the Banshees and now Wolfmen fame, our track Teen idol (B-side of You want the world and track on the new album), which Marco said rocked! Jordan has subsequently made the track his single of the week! What a start to the hols!
Which continued on Saturday with a visit to the West Country, to the village of Atworth to be more exact, just down the road from ‘Baronsville’, to play a gig at the White Hart pub.
What a great night and equally great hangovers to boot! That Harvest Gold sure is frickin strong!
So why Atworth? – Well, every year it seems the Baron’s surrounding villages seem to put on gigs on 45 foot trailers?!? and this year it was the turn of Atworth, this however was a little different in that we’d been asked to play an unprecedented 2x45 minute sets, (the kinda thing covers bands do every week) and probably amounts to about 14 songs, (we took the challenge on the promise of free beer/cider and board, but with The Scratch not being a band with an array of 5 minute tracks, we found ourselves with a huge 28 song line up including 2 or 3 songs we hadn't played live for years!)
As we strode out onto the decidedly chilly stage, we couldn’t have expected such a great evening. The crowd though not the biggest, on account of said freezing summer weather, was perfectly formed and well up for The Scratch history lesson!
Some excellent sound (thanks James) made for a thoroughly exciting performance, as the goose pimples out numbered the chattering teeth 10 to 1! In a set that as previously stated that spanned most the bands life, there were always going be a few hiccups, ‘Filthy’s’ lack of a stage monitor meant a slightly more subdued performance from the self styled ‘jack in a box’ during the first set but apart from that old faves like ‘Rotten Soul’ and ‘Alcohol's a depressant’ made triumphant returns to the fold!
Buoyed by the warmth of the crowd reaction, the second set was stacked with all the current hits! Including the aforementioned ‘Teen idol’ (the song everyone is talking about) plus closing album track ‘Too busy thinking bout me’ and ‘Beach Boysesque slowie’ ‘Freaks of the daylight all got welcome airings as the crowd enthusiastically danced the cold away dizzy on a mix of rock’n’roll and apple rocket fuel! (ask the Baron) who slipped into a cider psychosis during ‘Critical Mass’ after downing a pint in one at the half time break! From which he never truly recovered… (Is that the trees a rustling or the hinges on the gate? Or John an Grim’s room key in the Baron’s jacket pocket?!)
With the job now well done, after what was definitely our best and most enjoyable foray to the South West so far!!, it was time for the rest of the band to get on the Thatchers and trash that bar tab!!!
Big thanks goes to everyone who made it such a great and welcoming gig/night especially Katie and Nathan for booking us! Filthy’s dads amazing salesman friend who turned water to wine after and managed to empty the bulging ‘merch bag’ in 10 minutes flat! And finally, we can't go without mentioning the human beatbox rap experience that the two guys put on in the car park, truly mind blowing! If only we’d had a Ponyland contract on us, we’d have made a signing there and then. If we find out who they are we'll let u know... all we know is the ‘beatbox’ was in a band called Bedmonster… Watch this space!
xxx
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