UK DECAY - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 1982

Right then! Time for the final part of the UK Decay live @ Stevenage Bowes Lyon House trilogy. Date on tape says Sept 82. My memory and poster says Oct 82, so I dunno. Either way this in my opinion is the best of the three, a live greatest hits set, all the favourites are here For My Country, Unwind, Dresden, Jerusalem etc. A real spine tingling, blood curdling primeval performance that pounds and pummels it’s way into yer soul. By Dec 82 the band were no more with singer Abbo announcing at the first of a two night stint at The Klub Foot in Hammersmith that the next night would be the bands last gig. According to Abbo “It wasn’t the end, it was a new beginning” unfortunately this wasn’t the case as both Furyo and In-Excelsis the bands formed by Abbo and Guitarist Spon never came close to having what UK Decay had. Enjoy the sounds of the past in the present, and if yer into the band and haven’t done so check out their web-site, a huge resource of everything UK Decay related. Had to pinch the poster for this post from there, as my original one crumbled away a long time ago.

UK DECAY - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 8/3/81

“Seconds out, round two” It’s another instalment of the UK Decay trilogy of gigs at Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage. Once again another intense and tense night was had by all. It’s all here for your enjoyment. The final part will follow at some point between now and then.

UK DECAY - Live @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage 4/1/81

This is the first in a series of live shows recorded by the legend that is Simon Herd. UK Decay were a favourite of mine in the early 80’s saw them on several occasions, as they were regular visitors to my local venue Bowes Lyon House when I was younger, always a good night out, even if at times the atmosphere was a bit tense. Listening to these tapes and thinking back, the early 80’s were pretty messy times and UK Decay seemed to capture those feelings into sounds. They were dark, intense and errr…. atmospheric, almost claustrophobic and as uplifting as they were gloomy. Swirling guitars pounding bass lines and heavy tribal drums, with vocals more akin to chanting and shouting than singing. Described by in an early review by NME as; the worst punk band ever, and then later as gothic. (possibly the first time the term goth was used in the music press to describe a band.) With song titles like The Black Cat, Necromancer and Rising From The Dead its easy to see why, not that all their politics were of death. For My Country along with The Mob’s No Doves Fly Here remains one of the best ever anti-war songs, another; Dresden was a slab of social commentary about the allied bombings of Dresden during WWII. Wait up, perhaps their songs were all about death . As for Punk, well UK Decay weren’t yer average 3 chord punk trash, I mean their Guitarist only had 5 strings on his guitar. They were beyond punk , I cant recall any other band that appears in both Gothic Rock, Mick Mercer’s account of Goth and Ian Glasper’s book Burning Britain about 80’s Punk. UK Decay were that kind of band, distinctive and different for the times but a product of the times and at times listening to them again now, ahead of the times. See what yer think with this here recording. The first of a few, which will follow over the passing weeks. Enjoy!