40 Years of Punk & New Wave 1977: One Chord Wonders - The Adverts

One Chord Wonders / Quickstep - The Adverts

Stiff Records (BUY 13)

Produced by Larry Wallis

Released 22nd April 1977

 One Chord Wonders

(written by Tim Smith)

I wonder what we'll play for you tonight.
Something heavy or something light.
Something to set your soul alight.
I wonder how we'll answer when you say.
"We don't like you - go away"
"Come back when you've learned to play"

I wonder what we'll do when things go wrong.
When we're half-way though our favourite song.
We look up and the audience has gone.
Will we feel a little bit obscure.
Think "we're not needed here"
"we must be new wave - they'll like us next year"

The wonders don't care - we don't give a damn. 

*************************

Here's the story of The Adverts in a few simple steps:

Step 1: Form a band.
TV (Tim) Smith  and Gaye Advert (Black) moved from Bideford in Devon to London in 1976 and recruited guitarist Howard Pickup (Boak) and Laurie Driver (Muscat). The Adverts are born.

Step 2: Play Your First Gig
January 1977 The Adverts make their live debut supporting Generation X at The Roxy.

Step 3: Play Your Second Gig
Their second gig, also at The Roxy (they played there a number of times between January and April), they supported Slaughter and the Dogs (from Manchester). The gig is recorded and Bored Teenagers ends up on the Top 30 album The Roxy London WC2.

Step 4: Play Your Third Gig and Get Signed
Supporting The Damned this time around The Adverts are signed to Stiff Records.

Step 5: Release Your Debut Single
 The Adverts they release their Debut single on Stiff Records entitled One Chord Wonders on the 22nd April 1977. On the cover it is called One Chord Wonder and the label on the actual record has One Chord Wonders.

 Step 6: Get A John Peel Session
On the 25th April 1977 The Adverts stroll into the studios to record their debut session for John Peel. This is broadcast on 29th April 1977.

Songs on the session are:

    Quickstep
    Looking Through Gary Gilmore's Eyes
    One Chord Wonders
    New Boys
    Bored Teenagers

Step 7: Go Out On Tour To Promote The Single
In May 1977 they launched out on tour supporting The Damned. Stiff Records used all their wit and wisdom to come up with a great enticement to witness the tour:  

"The Damned 

Can Now Play Three Chords The Adverts 

Can Play One 

Hear All Four Of Them At..."

45RPM: #83 One Chord Wonders - The Adverts (1977)

One Chord Wonders / Quickstep

The Adverts

Stiff Records (BUY 13)

Produced by Larry Wallis

Released 29th April 1977

Probably my favourite of the early releases on Stiff Records was the debut single from The Adverts.

Here's the story of The Adverts in a few simple steps:

Step 1: Form a band. 

TV (Tim) Smith  and Gaye Advert (Black) moved from Bideford in Devon to London in 1976 and recruited guitarist Howard Pickup (Boak) and Laurie Driver (Muscat). The Adverts are born.

Step 2: Play Your First Gig

January 1977 The Adverts make their live debut supporting Generation X at The Roxy.

Step 3: Play Your Second Gig

Their second gig, also at The Roxy (they played there a number of times between January and April), they supported Slaughter and the Dogs (from Manchester). The gig is recorded and Bored Teenagers ends up on the Top 30 album The Roxy London WC2.

Step 4: Play Your Third Gig and Get Signed

Supporting The Damned this time around The Adverts are signed to Stiff Records.

Step 5: Get A John Peel Session

On the 25th April 1977 The Adverts stroll into the studios to record their debut session for John Peel. This is broadcast a few days later.

Step 6: Release Your Debut Single

On the day that John Peel broadcasts the Debut Session by The Adverts they also release their Debut single on Stiff Records entitled One Chord Wonders. On the cover it is called One Chord Wonder and the label on the actual record has One Chord Wonders.

Step 7: Go Out On Tour To Promote The Single

In May 1977 they launched out on tour supporting The Damned. Stiff Records used all their wit and wisdom to come up with a great enticement to witness the tour: "The Damned Can Now Play Three Chords The Adverts Can Play One Here All Four Of Them At..." (See the poster below).

A-Side: One Chord Wonders

B-Side: Quickstep

I wonder what we'll play for you tonight.
Something heavy or something light.
Something to set your soul alight.
I wonder how we'll answer when you say.
"We don't like you - go away"
"Come back when you've learned to play"

I wonder what we'll do when things go wrong.
When we're half-way though our favourite song.
We look up and the audience has gone.
Will we feel a little bit obscure.
Think "we're not needed here"
"we must be new wave - they'll like us next year"

The wonders don't care - we don't give a damn.

The Adverts - New Day Dawning

A little bit more from The Adverts today. This includes all their singles (A's and B's), an album of all four John Peel Sessions and the exceptional BBC4 Documentary We Who Wait. 

Click on the links below to listen to the sounds of The Adverts.

We Who Wait - TV Smith and The Adverts (BBC Documentary)

The Singles

One Chord Wonders /Quickstep.

Gary Gilmore's Eyes /Bored Teenagers. 

Safety in Numbers / We Who Wait.

 No Time to Be 21 / New Day Dawning.

Television's Over / Back from the Dead.

  My Place / New Church.

 Cast of Thousands / I Will Walk You Home.

The Wonders Don't Care

The Radio Sessions

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 48 - One Chord Wonders!

On this day in 1978 The Adverts, who had already released four singles, launched their Debut album .

The band had formed in 1976 after TV Smith and Gaye Advert had moved to London and soon began playing live. Their first ever shows would be at The Roxy, Neale Street London WC2. Debut show was in January 1977 supporting Generation X and the second was supporting Manchester's Slaughter and the Dogs. This second show was recorded and Bored Teenagers ended up on The Roxy, London WC2 album released by Harvest Records in 1977. In February 1977, shortly after their third gig (this time supporting The Damned) they signed a deal with Stiff Records.

Prior to the release of their Debut single they were at the BBC to record their first John Peel Session. Days later One Chord Wonders was released (BUY 13 on Stiff Records).

The Lyrics of One Chord Wonders are just magnificent with TV Smith taking a bit of a dig at their own inabilities musically speaking: 

I wonder what we'll play for you tonight
Something heavy or something light, something to set your soul alight
I wonder how we'll answer when you say
"We don't like you, go away, come back when you've learned to play"

I wonder what we'll do when things go wrong
When we're half-way through our favorite song
We look up and the audience has gone, will we feel a little bit obscure
Think we're not needed here, we must be new wave, they'll like us next year

The wonders don't care, we don't give a damn

A re-recorded version of the song opens up the album and also included are what have become classic Punk songs - Bored Teenagers, No Time To Be 21, and The Great British Mistake.

The album was received quite warmly by the music press and although it wasn't necessarily a huge smash hit album it is still an album that is regarded highly among those in the know. Mojo had it placed at #17 in it's list of the 50 Greatest Punk Albums. For myself it would be higher than that!

Trouser Press said: "In its own way" the album "is the equal of the first Sex Pistols or The Clash; a hasty statement that captures an exciting time". I'm in firm agreement with that.

For me this album showed what a great songwriter TV Smith was, and actually still is today as he regularly tours and continues to release new, exciting and very perceptive music.

 Crossing The Red Sea with The Adverts - The Adverts

Bright

Produced by John Leckie

Released 17th February 1978

UK Chart #38

Crossing The Red Sea with The Adverts

(Bonus Edition)

1 One Chord Wonders
2 Bored Teenagers
3 New Church
4 On The Roof
5 Newboys
6 Gary Gilmore's Eyes (Demo)
7 Bombsite Boy
8 No Time To Be
9 Safety In Numbers
10 New Day Dawning
11 Drowning Men
12 On Wheels
13 Great British Mistake
Bonus Singles
14 One Chord Wonders
15 Quickstep
16 Gary Gilmore's Eyes
17 Bored Teenagers
18 Safety In Numbers
19 We Who Wait
Bonus Live in Roundhouse (1978)
20 On Wheels
21 Newboys
22 New Church
23 Gary Gilmore's Eyes
24 Drowning Men
25 No Time To Be 21 

The Adverts
    T.V. Smith – vocals
    Gaye Advert – bass guitar, vocals
    Howard Pickup – guitar, vocals
    Laurie Driver – drums

Original Tracklisting

 Side A
1.     "One Chord Wonders"       
2.     "Bored Teenagers"       
3.     "New Church"       
4.     "On the Roof"       
5.     "New Boys"       
6.     "Bombsite Boy"       

Side B
1.     "No Time to Be 21"       
2.     "Safety in Numbers"       
3.     "Drowning Men"       
4.     "On Wheels"       
5.     "Great British Mistake" 

TV Smith and The Bored Teenagers
Play Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts
on the 30th Anniversary of it's release.
The 100 Club London 2007

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Alphabet Beats #006: The Letter A is for...The Adverts

is for:

THE ADVERTS

Do you remember lying in bed
With your covers pulled up over your head?
Radio playin' so no one can see - The Ramones Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio

Back when I was a kid, not far off reaching my 14th birthday I can recall doing exactly what the Ramones described and listening to John Peel. The night of 29th April 1977 he had in session for the first time The Adverts. I had read about them in the music papers and seen pictures and now for the first time I got to hear them. What a band! That same day The Adverts had released their first single, 'One Chord Wonders' on Stuff Records (Buy 13) and although as a band they didn't last too long their lead vocalist TV Smith to this day is still out there playing new material and of course the music of The Adverts.

Here's a wee trip through their music. I recommend wholeheartedly the BBC Film 'We Who Wait' as it gives a lot of information regarding the story of the band as well as of TV Smith himself. Enjoy.

Click on the links to enjoy the noise!!

The Albums

Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Full Album with bonus tracks).

The Wonders Don’t Care: The Complete Radio Recordings.

The Singles

One Chord Wonders /Quickstep.

Gary Gilmore's Eyes /Bored Teenagers. 

Safety in Numbers / We Who Wait.

 No Time to Be 21 / New Day Dawning.

Television's Over / Back from the Dead.
My Place / New Church.

 Cast of Thousands / I Will Walk You Home.

John Peel Session April 1977.
John Peel Session August 1977.

Stiff Records - The Early Years Part Two 1977

BUY 10

A-Side: Neat Neat Neat.

B-Side: Stab Your Back/Singalonga Scabies.

Released on 18th February 1977, the 2nd single from The Damned coincided with the release of the very first British Punk album, and the debut LP for Stiff Records - 'Damned Damned Damned' (SEEZ 1). The single didn't reach the charts but the album did get to a respecatble #36 on the Chart.

BUY 11

A-Side: Less Than Zero.

B-Side: Radio Sweetheart.

The debut single from Elvis Costello came out 25th March 1977 and would also appear on his debut album 'My Aim is True' (SEEZ 3) - released two months later.

The song was also involved in Costello's infamous performance on Saturday Night Live on December 17, 1977. Following pressure from his record company to play the song on the show, Costello began to play the song, but he stopped after only a few bars, saying that "there's no reason to do this song here." He then launched into an unannounced performance of 'Radio Radio', a song he had promised not to play. As a result, he was banned from the show until 1989.

BUY 12

A-Side: England's Glory.

B-Side: Dream Tobacco.

'England’s Glory' (BUY 12) was Max Wall’s first single, released at the princely age of 69.  He’d spent the 30s and 40s working the music hall circuit and, by the 70s, was enjoying quite a renaissance.  John Cleese openly acknowledged Wall as an influence on him and the Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks.  He found a new, younger audience when he joined Mott The Hoople’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus tour.  And he won rave reviews for his forays into straight acting, with The Guardian declaring “Max Wall makes Olivier look like an amateur.”

A true eccentric, Wall played King Bruno the Questionable in Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky.  And right up until his death in 1990 he never owned a telephone, preferring instead to attend his local phone booth at 1.00pm every weekday should he receive an incoming call.

'England’s Glory' - written by Ian Dury, one of his ‘list’ songs à la Reasons To Be Cheerful - was Stiff’s first venture away from punk and pub rock.  The first physical evidence that this record label could do something other than surf a musical wave or try and break new acts.  It was the single that first defined Stiff as a variety act in itself.  But for all this, it failed to sell in spectacular fashion, the label’s first true stiff.  But it was revived soon after to appear on a compilation album, the appropriate titled, Hits Greatest Stiffs.

BUY 13

A-Side: One Chord Wonders.

B-Side: Quickstep.

This is probably one of my favourite singles of the early Stiff Records catalogue.

The Adverts had been on the go since 1976 and their first big break came when they got a deal with Stiff and in April this classic Punk single was released.

" I wonder what we’ll play for you tonight
Something heavy or something light
Something to set your soul alight
I wonder how we’ll answer when you say
‘We don’t like you – go away
Come back when you’ve learnt to play"

The Adverts went out on tour with label mates The Damned and Stiff, as was their forte came up with a classic tour poster:

BUY 14

A-Side: Alison.

B-Side: Welcome to the Working Week.

The second single from Elvis Costello didn't even dent the chart and yet it is, in my honest opinion, one of his finest.

 

BUY 15

A-Side: Red Shoes.

B-Side: Mystery Dance.

'Red Shoes' is another that for some strange reason totally escaped the charts and yet Elvis found himself on Top of the Pops performing it!

BUY 16

This Side: Whole Wide World.

That Side: Semaphore Signals.

This little ditty is easily in my Top Ten Favourite Singles ever released. Released in August 1977 as a single but it had appeared first on the Stiff Album 'A Bunch of Stiffs' (SEEZ 2). The reasoning from Stiff behind this was that Eric had gone fishing and it had taken them 2 weeks to track him down to get into the studio to record a b-side!

Nick Lowe features on Guitar and Bass on This Side as does drummer Steve Goulding of Graham Parker and the Rumour. On That Side featured Ian Dury on Drums!

The song itself was written by Eric after he had fallen out with his girlfriend.

BUY 17

A-Side: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

B-Side: Razzle in my Pocket.

Stiff Records demonstrated their craftiness with the release of the debut single by former Kilburn and the High Roads frontman Ian Dury. Two months after it was released it was deleted after 19,000 copies were sold. "We're a record company not a museum", they expalined. What they didn't tell anyone was that they immediately planned to release it in France and soon shops in the UK were loaded with boxes of the single!

BUY 18

A-Side: Problem Child.

B-Side: You Take My Money.

Issued in September 28 1977, 'Problem Child' was a preview of the up and coming second album 'Music For Pleasure' produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason! The single failed again to reach the charts. The single also featured new guitarist Lu Edmonds.

BUY 19

A-Side: Suffice to Say.

B-Side: Freedom (Is A Heady Wine).

Liverpool based band who got signed to Stiff after their debut performance at Eric's in Liverpool supporting Elvis Costello.

 

BUY 20 

A-Side: Watching the Detectives.

B-Side: Blame It On Cain (Live)/Mystery Dance (Live).

Stiff's first Top 20 single in the UK and of course Elvis Costello's first hit single after three previous attempts. The single spent 11 weeks on the chart.

BUY 21

A-Side: Halfway to Paradise.

B-Side: I Don't Want the Night to End.

Originally recorded by Tony Orlando in the 60's, the final Stiff single by Nick Lowe failed to make any impression on the charts.

BUY 22

A-Side: Police Car.

B-Side: On Parole.

Former Pink Fairie Larry Wallis' debut solo single. At the time he was an in house producer for Stiff Records. On the single he is backed by two members of Eddie and the Hot Rods - Paul Gray on Bass and Steve Nicol on Drums.
Both songs here are probably better known by the cover versions: Motorhead doing 'On Parole' and The Members doing 'Police Car'. But I've always had a soft spot for Larry's version.

 BUY 23

A-Side: Sweet Gene Vincent.

B-Side: You're More Than Fair.

My favourite Ian Dury single. Gene Vincent was one of Dury's musical heroes and it is said that the death of the rock and roll legend in 1971 forced Dury to start taking his position in Kilburn and the High Roads more seriously.

BUY 24

D-Side: Don't Cry Wolf.

D-Side: One Way Love.

Issued on 11th December 1977 this was the final single of The Damned for Stiff and for the line-up that featured Brian James and Lu Edmonds. The band would split in 1978 and would then get back together again in 1979 where they would enjoy far greater chart success than their first couple of years of output.

The first 5,000 copies of the single were in Pink Vinyl, though I have to say I can't ever recall seeing a black vinyl one apart from in pictures!

There are a number of other releases from 1977 that do not have the BUY catalogue numbers and I will have a look at some of them in the next post.