The Members – The Members at the Coach House (Cadiz)
LP | CD |Boxset | DL
Out 3rd October
At The Coach House catches the Sound Of The Suburbs just before The Members made it big. Nathan Brown listens to a dress rehearsal for their debut album.
The Members managed to capture the zeitgeist of the late 70s, fusing the energetic sounds of punk rock and reggae, with a power-pop edge. If you set aside The Ruts, they were probably one of the best at it too, sounding natural rather than stilted or phony. However, in the songs Sound of The Suburbs and Solitary Confinement they unleashed two bona fide punk rock anthems that not only packed a punch but were entirely relatable to the kids everywhere who were going mad for punk.
The accompanying booklet opens with a fitting extract from JC Carrolls book Still Annoying The Neighbours that sets the scene “It was at this time that kids from the outskirts of town began to turn up at shows…herberts in their Harringtons and Dr Martens…I thought you know what these people are the same as us we were, not cool inner city kids…we did not belong to the 76 punk elite…Punk was beginning to explode across the nation.”
This full album’s worth of demos was recorded in 1978, but the quality is above that of your average demo, because the producer was one Steve Lillywhite, brother of the band’s drummer, who went on to have a highly impressive track record in the chair, including Siouxsie and The Banshees’ Hong Kong Garden and The Scream plus The Pogues’ If I Should Fall From Grace With God. The Coach House in Tottenham was Eddy Grant’s studio, the first black owned studio in the UK.
Not surprisingly, this demo got the band a deal with Virgin. 10 of the 11 tracks here (see track listing below) would make it into the debut album At The Chelsea Nightclub, Physical Love having to wait until their second long player. Lillywhite would also produce the single of Sound Of The Suburbs and At The Chelsea Nightclub for Virgin so this is almost like a dress rehearsal. There’s no long lost hidden song, because they were all good enough to cut it.
I always find listening to demos or “lost recordings” interesting, seeing how the songs developed over time. There is a different focus. In this case I found I appreciated more exactly how much was going on with those two guitars, allowing the familiar songs to sit to one side. Some songs are a little slower in places than the better known recordings but all the chops and hooks are there.
Even some of the embellishments are in place, like the background shout of “Everyone knows the Old Bill” in Soho A Go Go. The choruses sound more like a bunch of herberts crammed into a room having a laugh (sshhhh…don’t tell anyone, this is a serious business). A highlight for me is Phone In Show. The extra sweary to and fro between the “caller” and the “host” made me chuckle and shows the band didn’t take themselves TOO seriously, even as they were on the cusp of success.
The cover art is a nice touch. Like an aural Haynes manual we get to hear The Members stripped down. It may be lost on younger folks. I’d imagine Haynes manuals aren’t a part of popular culture like they were in 1978. I mean, when did you last see jump out and give a stranger a hand to bump start their car?
The booklet I mentioned is a 16 pager in the typewriter and cut’n’paste style of xeroxed zines of yore. Against the backdrop of the punk’s explosion, it tells the story of the recording and the band’s formation, introducing each of the members of The Members. This is bulked out with photos, flyers and a listing of the band’s gigs from their debut at The Roxy in August 1977 until Feb 1979. There are some amazing line ups.
Track listing
Side 1
1. Electricity
2. Soho a Go Go
3. At the Chelsea Nightclub
4. Sally
5. Solitary Confinement
6. Don’t Push
Side 2
1. The Sound of the Suburbs
2. Phone in Show
3. Physical Love
4. Stand up and Spit
5. Love Inna Lift
Available from Cadiz in a range of variants including 12” vinyl (with 16 Page 77 Style Fanzine), CD, Digital and 100 Limited Edition Boxset (containing two vinyl records, CD, repro posters, T shirt, plectrum, postcards, shot glass and signed lyric sheet).
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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