Atilla article in Sounds mag - 1982

[sully]

I've been clearing out a load of old music mags and selling them on Ebay and came across a great article about Atilla entitled "One man and his lobotomy" by Dave McCulloch in the 27 November 1982 issue.

One great line in it "he seems to have had an electric shock sent through his brain which has given him a whiff of reality". Very nice. It also describes him as "verging on being a poet"!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Sounds always was a poor man's NME. Garry Bushell killed it off single-handedly with his championing of the 'Oi!' movement which amounted to little more than Gazza giving acres of space to his fat low-IQ right-wing talent-free drinking buddies who JUST missed out on punk and proceeded to beat people with the wrong end of the stick. Sounds did have a couple of decent writers (Dave McCullough, Jon Savage) and one glorious better-writer-than-Burchill bulldyke name of Jane Suck. Whatever happened to? Guess nobody ever guessed that Attila The Stockbroker (or Billy Childish - anybody come across HIM?) would make a CAREER out of it, seem to recall them being regarded as second-string two-dimensional characters at the time. But credit where it's due for hanging on in there aye?

 

[sully]

Have to agree with you with regards to Mr Bushell losing the plot with the Oi movement.

Another "class" article I came across was how to be a "Herbert" - I jest you not! One of the requirements was to support Charlton Athletic. No wonder it never took off.

 

[Gwylan]

Sounds always was a poor man's NME. Garry Bushell killed it off single-handedly with his championing of the 'Oi!' movement which amounted to little more than Gazza giving acres of space to his fat low-IQ right-wing talent-free drinking buddies who JUST missed out on punk and proceeded to beat people with the wrong end of the stick. Sounds did have a couple of decent writers (Dave McCullough, Jon Savage) and one glorious better-writer-than-Burchill bulldyke name of Jane Suck. Whatever happened to? Guess nobody ever guessed that Attila The Stockbroker (or Billy Childish - anybody come across HIM?) would make a CAREER out of it, seem to recall them being regarded as second-string two-dimensional characters at the time. But credit where it's due for hanging on in there aye?

I remember Jane Suck. Can't say that she was better than Burchill though. If she'd been that good, she'd have survived.

I don't remember Billy Childish as a recording artist, I came across him as an artist of the Stuckist movement. His previous career as a musician passed me by.

Sounds was always going to struggle in the wake of NME. The surprise is that it lasted as long as it did.

 

[attila]

I used to write for Sounds as well..interviewed New Model Army, Conflict, Peter and the Test Tubes, The Adicts, Splodge, Red Alert and countless others - most of them are at Morecambe at the big punk fest along with Chas n Dave no less and yours truly (I'm doing a "Prescott - Give Us A Ground!' gig at the Adelphi in Hull tonight on the way up)

Billy Childish fronted 'garage bands' Thee Headcoats and The Milkshakes, credited by Blur as an inspiration (for what that's worth)

Sounds was less pretentious than NME. Bushell, a prize dickhead.

 

[Hungry Joe.]

Rediscovered an old Cherry Red compilation album in my collection recently which featured Attila's 'A Bang And A Wimpy'. "Virgin vigilantes verging on the vindictive" is still a great line. Sounds was pony though and ther NME still is pretentious. I liked Melody Maker, being a bit of a nerd and all that.

 

[m20gull]

Being a rocker, it was always Sounds for me as their NWOBHM coverage was better. Think I threw my collection away a few years back. Must check in my old bedroom at Mum's!

 

[Staly]

Billy Childish- legend. Any album by any of his bands (Pop Rivets, Milkshakes, Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars, Buff Medways) Comes highly reccomended if you like punky, 60s flavoured rnr. The man's released over 200 albums in his career, and they all sound pretty much the same...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Billy Childish- legend. Any album by any of his bands (Pop Rivets, Milkshakes, Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars, Buff Medways) Comes highly reccomended if you like punky, 60s flavoured rnr. The man's released over 200 albums in his career, and they all sound pretty much the same...

First time I met Billy childish he threatened to punch me over a wall cos of something I wrote in me and me bruv's fanzine in the Medway towns. He must have mellowed a bit tho cos the Pop Rivets let me hang out with them in their scabby studio on the Chatham/ Rochester border and write up a two-page spread on them for Zigzig. Guess the fact that me bruv financed the first Pop Rivets album out of his dole money probably helped aye? Bit of a tragedy really that he's sort of best known nowadays for being an ex-boyfriend of Tracey Emin (got his name scrawled on her tent and everything). And Charles Thompson, co-founder of the (pretentious? moi?) Stuckists was always a total twat at the best of times. He is NOT best pleased that he's not as well known as his ex-missus Stella Vine who flogged that painting of Princess Di 'Oo Paul Can You Come Over I'm Really Frightened' to Charles Saatchi. He was bleating to the Evening Standard latters page about it just the other week. Bitter bloke. Just cos he got out-hyped. Quite funny really

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

Never thought I'd see the name Billy childish on this list. I remember going up to see his bands up Medway way, there was a pub in Chatham which I can't remember the name of where they used to play. Always find it strange but the crowd from Margate I used to go up with included Tracey Emin (was a nutter even then) and Paul Daley (who went on to form Leftfield). I'm talking early 80's here...oh and didn't his band have the double bass player from the Meteors in/