Punishment Of Luxury - "Live at the Hope and Anchor 21/07/1978"

More bootlegged Punilux captured at the home of Pub rock, complete with those familiar 'small room' acoustic's.
Sounds like a loud high-octane performance that's too big for the room. They even do an encore before the tape runs out.....how non-punk is that?

Tracklisting:

1 - Puppet Life
2 - The Demon
3 - The Puff Song
4 - Lets get Married/You're So Beautiful
5 - Brainbomb
6 - Excess Bleeding Heart
7 - Babalon
8 - Funk Me (Lizard Love)
9 - Jellyfish
10- (Crowd) Speeding

DOWNLOAD punishment at the hope and anchor HERE!

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Land of Hope and Anchor (Live at the Hope and Anchor 14/05/1980)" (Bootleg)

Elvis goes back to his roots in 1980, minus Steve Nieve who got injured in a car accident,so here he's replaced by the guitarist from The Rumour and Ducks Deluxe (Martin Belmont) to up the Pub Rock credentials.
So this is a rare chance to hear The Attractions with a double guitar assault.....it does sound like there's something missing however,but a ferocious performance nonetheless.

Tracklisting:

01. Temptation (3:11)
02. Help Me (3:00)
03. I Stand Accused (2:43)
04. One More Heartache (2:47)
05. Secondary Modern (2:20)
06. Little Sister (3:10)
07. High Fidelity (2:37)
08. Lipstick Vogue (3:46)
09. Waiting For The End Of The World (3:07)
10. Don't Look Back (4:21)
11. Girls Talk (2:00)
12. Watching The Detectives (6:16)
13. You Belong To Me (3:03)
14. Oliver's Army (3:16)
15. Pump It Up (4:58)

DOWNLOAD nievelessly HERE!

Flip City - "Flip City Demo's and Live at The Hope and Anchor 1974-5" (Bootleg)

As Pub Rock Legends go, Declan MacManus is up there as one of thee most successful, alongside the extremely dire, Dire Straits, and AC/DC, as Elvis Costello.
Here we have him as Declan MacManus in his Pub Rock group Flip City, as captured in the Hope and Anchor and in the BBC studios.
Its pretty dire (Straits), laid back limp-wristed country tinged american soft rock.Quite similar to the stuff he plays now. Light years away from the majesty of "This Years Model", even though there are very early versions of "Radio Radio" ,"Miracle Man" and "Alison" (Radio Soul, Baseball Heroes, and Imagination). He sings like a fan of blando americana who's spent years singing along to Hank Williams and picked up the whiny intonations....something that blights his voice to this very day.
I received "My Aim is True" as a surprise gift for Xmas 1977, and mildly hated it....."this ain't Punk!" thought my 13 year old brain, it was 'punk' for that generation too old for punk rock and too young for Hippie;but i persevered and still didn't dig it, then heard "(I Don't Want To Go To)Chelsea", which was great.So I bought "This Years Model", which was from another universe, full of intensity and anger, backed up by an electrified band of superbly rocking musicians. This, and most of "Armed Forces", is the totality of Elvis Costello's career. All the rest of his back catalogue is basically Declan MacManus. He was just pretending to get on the tele it seems; but it worked, and now he's a global superstar churning out spades of crud like this, which back in the day would have more likely won favor with 'Whispering 'Bob Harris of the Old Grey Whistle Test (which in 74-75 was full of stuff like this), rather than impressing John Peel BR(Before the Ramones).
To his credit, Elvis, or Declan, had the open ears to pick up on the changing vibe and beefed up the image and the music, to catch the rising surf of the New Wave. I rather think Stiff Records had a lot to do with this also however?
Nevertheless, he made one of the greatest records in R'n'R history, and not many people can say that can they?

Tracklist:

BBC's Maida Vale Studios, 1974:
1. Exile's Road
2. Baseball Heroes
3. Radio Soul

Hope and Anchor Pub,early 1975:
4. Imagination (is a powerful deceiver)
5. Pay it Back
6. Radio Soul (2)

Hope and Anchor Pub, 1975:
7. Third Rate Romance (Russell Smith)
8. Knockin' on Heaven's' Door (Bob Dylan)
9. Packin' Up (Chris Kenner)
10. Please Mister, Don't Stop the Band
11. Exile's Road
12. Wreck on the Slide
13. On the Road (Steve Hazlehurst)
14. You Win Again (Hank Williams)
15. Sweet Revival

DOWNLOAD some declan macm anus HERE!

The Stranglers ‎– "Live At The Hope And Anchor Front Row Festival Nov 22nd 1977"

The Stranglers,hmmmmm, not too popular with the pinko's at Rough Trade, but seemed quite accepted by the punters of the Hope and Anchor. Undeterred by songs inquiring about the size of a certain females Tits ('Tits') and making love to a young lady until she bleeds ("Choozy Suzy"), among other embarrassingly sex-issst misogynous melodies.Joe public took a shine to these aging doors-esque pub rockers,and propelled them into the poptastic hit parade, where they no doubt crossed paths with Jimmy Savile,who could have donated some of these lyrics from his secret diaries.
Despite this unsavory misogyny and the amateur dramatic  hard man act, the Stranglers had a very definite talent for penning a satisfying melody or two ,backed up by a barely disguised musical ability.
Above all, J.J. Burnel had a lead bass style and sound that would launch a thousand imitators, not least Peter Hook of Joy Division. This urbane purveyor of a spot of the old ultraviolence, could probably even have a strong shout at being thee most influential bass twanger of all time. He was also the Hardest mofo in the Punk era, famously wiping the floor with Paul Simoneon at the Ramones UK debut gig at the Roundhouse, whom The Stranglers had supported that very same jolly evening (nice one).
In all, a very well rehearsed set, faultlessly delivered, complete with 70's time capsule sexism, and some classic tunes. 

DOWNLOAD until you bleed HERE!

The Saints - "This Perfect Day - Live at the Hope and Anchor Front Row Festival Nov 26th 1977" (Unofficial Bootleg)

The  best track on The Hope and Anchor Front Row Festival album is ,arguably, 'Demolition Girl'? So if you wondered what the whole set sounded like.......here it is. Complete with moronic audience ambiance including, a typical intervention from some grubby malcontent who asks the audience "what (they) fink of Jim Callaghan, what (they) fink o'the bloody National Frunt and Margaret Fatcher and 'er boys?". Pretty reminiscent of the open mike session in the opening track of Alternative TV's first album, and very typical of the uninspired politics of the punk masses; plenty of questions but offering no solutions.
This is where The Saints get plenty of 'Punk' brownie points with ladles full of genuine nihilism; backed up with some of the most dense and forceful balls to the wall Rock'n'Roll ever committed to vinyl.
This went unnoticed by the identikit 'punks' of course. Where was the spikey hair, leather bikers jacket, kings road t-shirts, spikes and chains? How dare these antipodean interlopers be individuals!?
They were around before Punk Rock, so they can sit comfortably in the same category as The Ramones, and Richard Hell.......yep thats right 'Proto-Punk'......how would we understand all this mess without pigeon holes one suggests......maybe we shouldn't try and understand it at all? This group were fantastic, its as simple as that sometimes.

Tracklist:

A1 Do The Robot
A2 Lost And Found
A3 Lipstick On Your Collar
A4 River Deep Mountain High
A5 Memories Passed
A6 Run Down
A7 This Perfect Day
B1 Messin' With The Kid
B2 Orstralia
B3 Nights In Venice
B4 I'm (Stranded)
B5 Demolition Girl
B6 One Way Street
DOWNLOAD and make your day perfect HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "The London R & B Sessions (Live At The Hope And Anchor)" (Albion Records ‎– DAI 2) 1980

Let's have some R&B action? Preferably the brand of R&B that doesn't involve Beyoncé jiggling her fat arse in yer face. Well i suppose I'd prefer her arse in my face to Wilko Johnson's, but*(*in both senses of the word), gimmie The Solid Senders sublimly intense version of 'The Whammy', to a whole galaxy full of 'Urban' R&B NWO propaganda any day in a thousand light years of interstellar space.
You'll find no Stars in this crumbling corner of the Rock'n'Roll Galaxy, just a few rapidly collapsing dwarf stars of various hues, their orbiting planetoids and captured space junk.
By 1980 Pub Rock had overcome the initial acceleration from the explosion of the early to mid-seventies singularity,and had succumbed to the gravitational collapse inflicted by the punk rock era, firmly back to where they came from......'the Pub'.
If needs be told, this stuff never really suited medium to large sized concert halls.It's the sound of a small, crowded, grimy smoke filled room, framed with the stinking perfume of stale ale.

This is the 'punk-free' sister disc to "The Front Row Festival" double album, showcasing a more pure later-Pub Rock sound, recorded at the Hope and Anchor between November and December 1979.
Amid the faithful recreations of 60's Rhythm and Blues, and impressions of yer actual electric blues; we have the more spikey, amphetamine fueled, blues of Lew Lewis and Wilko Johnson. Which are full of adrenaline and intensity. The Pirates, are as always themselves; a genuine slice of early sixties meek-era UK rock'n'roll, backed up by The Bishops aggressive take on the same thing.
There's some soul-y stuff as well, which I can't abide!....reminds me of the Soul wankers on my estate (that's 'council' Estate, not the land that surrounds my posh Manor house), who were into the depressing 'Northern Soul' scene. they always took great delight in kicking the local freaks heads in, like me; and they smashed my Devo record....cunts!

Tracklist:

1-Lew Lewis Reformer-You'd Better Watch Yourself 2-Lew Lewis Reformer-Shake And Finger Pop 3-The Bogey Boys-Madison Blues 4-Red Beans And Rice-Finger In My Eye 5-Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders-The Whammy 6-The Untouchables-I Can't Be Satisfied 7-The Bogey Boys-You Can't Catch Me 8-The Cannibals-Just For Fun 9-The Pirates-Tear It Up 10-Hope & Anchor House Band-Just A Little Bit 11-Red Beans And Rice-Pucker Up Buttercup 12-The American Blues Legends-Why Do Everything Happen To Me 13-Little Roosters-Roostering With Intent 14-The Blues Band-Death Letter 15-The Bishops-Taste And Try 16-The Pirates-All In It Together

DOWNLOAD some classic punky R&B that doesn't involve twerking HERE!

Various Artists‎– "Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival" ( Warner Bros. Records ‎– K 66077) 1978

A natural place to start our exploration of UK Pub Rock would be in a Pub I suppose. One of the principle Pub Rock venues was the Hope and Anchor in Islington,where the Front Row Festival was held between November 22nd and December 15th 1977. A very accurate document of live music in the year 'Punk Rock Exploded'......as we see, as in the charts and record shops, Punk Rock was largely notable for its absence. Most of the acts on this compilation would have sat confusingly in the Punk and New Wave section of my local record store. A mixture of what we now call Proto-Punk, Power Pop, Pub Punk, and Pub Rock were all slotted into the New Wave shoebox by confused demin clad staff who listened to Little Feat and had beards; today we'd call them 'Hipsters'.
There's some bandwagon punk on here of course like the lamentable Suburban Studs, and the admittedly excellent 999;Aussie Pub Rock by the fantastic Saints,the proto-post punk pop of XTC, and trendy Kings Road 'Punkers' X-Ray Spex.
Quite a mixed bag, but anything with Wilko Johnson on it has to be worth the entry fee; counterbalanced by an appearance by maybe the biggest Pub Rock band ever(except maybe AC/DC?), the inexcusably toe curlingly bad, Dire Straits!!?
The stand out tracks are ,obviously, The Saints and ,somewhat less obviously, The Steve Gibbons Band's 'Speed Kills'.
Like the swinging '60s' ; in 1977 Punk Rock was largely confined to a few streets in London,the tabloids, and the Music Press. This is a more accurate document of the music scene in '77, where Flares still ruled, beards ,long hair, beer rather than speed as the drug of choice, and not a single garment from Seditionaries or Boy to be seen.Pub legends ,The Sex Pistols, were unavailable; but this lot were,in a small venue near you. And everyone was signed to a major label;well,at least until the end of 1978 that is.

Tracklist:

1–Wilko Johnson Band-Dr. Feelgood 2:43
2–The Stranglers-Straighten Out 2:58
3–Tyla Gang-Styrofoam 2:04
4–The Pirates-Don't München It 3:2
5–Steve Gibbons Band-Speed Kills 3:30
6–XTC-I'm Bugged 4:22
7–Suburban Studs-I Hate School 2:37
8–The Pleasers-Billy 1:59
9–XTC-Science Friction 2:45
10–Dire Straits-Eastbound Train 3:25
11–Burlesque -Bizz Fizz 5:00
12–X-Ray-Spex -Let's Submerge 3:02
13–999-Crazy 3:18
14–The Saints-Demolition Girl 3:45
15–999-Quite Disappointing 2:00
16–The Only Ones-Creatures Of Doom 3:18
17–The Pirates-Gibson Martin Fender 3:26
18–Steel Pulse-Sound Check 3:41
19–Roogalator-Zero Hero 3:43
20–Philip Rambow-Underground Romance 5:45
21–The Pleasers-Rock & Roll Radio 2:29
22–Tyla Gang-On The Street 3:00
23–Steve Gibbons Band-Johnny Cool 3:29
24–Wilko Johnson Band-Twenty Yards Behind 2:03
25–The Stranglers-Hanging Around 4:16

DOWNLOAD from the front row HERE!