m
of the punk era, I jump right to Eternally Yours by The Saints.
Interesting distinction, you might say. How is it that one is punk, while
the other isn't? What are your criteria? Who gets to call something "punk"
anyway?
The answer is simple: The Damned were undisputably punk rock. They dressed the part, they played the roles, they did the tours. Australia's Saints, on the other hand, never quite considered themselves akin to the aesthetic so easily attached by their British contemporaries. So whilst The Damned, or The Clash, or the Pistols had no trouble releasing albums that smacked of categorization, the four Brisbane suburbanites were merely trying to make the best rock n' roll they were capable of constructing from the shards of rock left them by a youth of Rolling Stones, The Stooges and a Motown sound that would not go away.
As quoted in the new version's liner notes: "...I guess (EMI Records) found the inclusion of a horn section and lack of the obvious 'punkoid sentiment' a bit daunting as a marketing exercise." Anyway, regardless of the precious "time-history+nostalgia=relevancy" quotient, these two records not only stand the test of time, they surpass the very standards set. This is what punk rock was supposed to be; snot-nosed kids trying new things and breaking whatever rules lay in front of them.
If you ask most people with any punk-sensibility anything about The Saints, they usually default to the rote: "Oh yeah, (I'm) Stranded rocks!" And they would be right. For my money, it more than eclipses the first efforts of any of their counterparts; save maybe The Ramones...and that's saying quite a lot.
So when I heard that Amsterdamned/XXX was re-issuing these pivotal albums on cd, I jumped at the chance to road test these gems. First and foremost, I'm just glad to have them on this format. While many cd-remasterings rob the vinyl-mastered originals of their fire, (I'm) Stranded actually sounds better than it's original pressing. The drums come across less muddy, Ed Kuepper's guitar is sharper and grittier, and Chris Bailey's teen-rat snarl (the finest of the time) is a bit more discernable (i.e.-you can hear the words now). Not only all that, but they also tacked on two songs from their excellent "1-2-3-4" ep; the ripping "River Deep Mountain High" (the best version in existence...including the Tina Turner/Phil Spector original) and "Lipstick On Your Collar". If you're familiar with The Saints in name alone, you'd be a fool not to retrace their history at square one.
Which brings us to square two: the un-heralded and commercially ignored Eternally Yours. This album was the one which--in the eyes and ears of many--cut The Saints hitch off the punk bandwagon. A well-written affair from start to finish; the growth and maturity amassed in just over a year separated them from the pack. They were the first of the bands to employ a full horn section; blasting full-force to open the album with the anthemic "Know Your Product". For the most part, Eternally Yours is just a hard-rocking punk album, not unlike their first--just much better recorded. The cd version does not enhance nor remove from the 1978 version. That's just fine by me.
Recently
I caught up with Mr. Bailey. He is just over 40 years old now, living in
Holland, and still recording and performing with The Saints (he is the only
remaining of the original four). They have a new album out on Amsterdamned/XXX
called Everybody Knows The Monkey. He was kind enough to chat with
ChinMusic about the olden days.
CM: In case you weren't aware, someone from your town played in this year's baseball All-Star game. I'm not sure if he was the first Australian to receive the honor, but I'll bet he was the first Brisbanite (Brisbaner?... Brisbaniac?).
CB: On behalf of all the other Kenyan-born Irish men who ended up banished to the (teenage) horror that was the Brisbane of my youth let me say how terribly terribly proud I am that a fellow Brisbaniac would end up on the mound--or wherever it is that baseball players end up on a good day! 'Tis a proud day to be sure to be sure...
CM: Years ago (I believe 1986 or so) I saw your band in San Diego, CA. Rumor was going around that there was no way you would play anything from (I'm) Stranded ever again. While I've heard that you guys weren't particularly fond of that recording, the songs and the excitement of that record is/are incredible. So my question is--Have you unearthed any of those tunes in the years since?
CB: I seem to recall that gig in San Diego. I remember this quite well because it was the evening of the first of many trips to Baja (which considering the tequila intake, it's a miracle that I remember anything at all). We played a couple of tunes from Eternally Yours--well at least "Know Your Product"--which is still in the set as we speak. So with respect to the rumours, I have no idea where they may have originated. I am not overly fond of nostalgia, but don't believe that all tunes are stuck in a particular place and time. With regards to "Stranded", I played it solo recently ala "delta blues" styling and thought it rather interesting. However like a couple of other songs from that period, I find myself unable to muster up the requisite thespian skills to do "the peculiar teen angst" of the tunes justice...C'est la vie. I however have a fairly open mind on the subject of repertoire and usually leave it open to the band to decide what we cram into the live set.
CM: Looking back, do any of the songs grab you at all? Is there anything on that album that you're proud of? Personally, I ask that because I've always thought "One Way Street", "Erotic Neurotic" and especially "Nights In Venice" are some of the best songs from that or any other era. No really, I'm serious.
CB: Prior to the XXX re-releases I hadn't heard the albums for quite a while so listening to them again was very amusing, a tad nostalgic and generally just odd! I don't know, it is very hard for me to be objective here...at the time I'm sure I was as proud as Michelangelo staring up at the Sistine chapel. Later, common sense must have set in because I can see their flaws...however they are what they are I can't change them and frankly that's just fine by me.
CM: Besides the recording of (I'm) Stranded, is there anything else that puts you off from it?
CB: Philosophically, no...it's really as simple as some of the tunes work and some don't. I think this is true from any album I've been involved with.
CM: How do you feel about Eternally Yours twenty years later? I was lucky enough to have been exposed to it when it came out (I was a very impressionable thirteen years old at the time), and I still crank it up to this day.
CB: I was a quite inebriated twenty year-old at the time and have very fond memories of that album--cognac was the drink of the day that session! As to today, once again there are tunes that I think work just fine and others less so. This is inevitable. I don't honestly know how I would feel if I were involved in the "perfect record" I strive for it and believe perhaps at the end of the day that is what keeps me interested. I've always felt that after you make a record it is pretty much useless to yourself because the emotional charge is dissipated in the process. The object--it appears to me--is to capture the "essence" of a tune or an emotion and hammer it onto tape so that others can "feel"...rather pompous I know, but that is what rock and roll has done for me so I don't mind having spent all of my adult life trying to return the favour.
A mighty big "Thank
You" to Amsterdamned/Triple XXX Records for providing the two discs in this
article.
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