A benefit CD that includes 16 fine versions of the best band ever (The Ruts) from Ex-Cathedra, Wat Tyler, Strikenin DC etc and a sad old sychophant wittering on about how good the original band were, as if we didn't know eh!
Tracklisting
01. Ex-Cathedra - Staring At The Rude Boys
02. Travis Cut - In A Rut
03. Skint - Back Biter
04. The Bloody Mutants - Out Of Order
05. Wat Tyler - Babylon's Burning
06. The Steam Pig - H-Eyes
07. Strikniën D.C. - Jah War
08. The Rude Boys - Dope For Guns
09. Red Alert - West One (Shine On Me)
10. Bad Influence - SUS
11. Toffee Hammer - You're Just A
12. Adolf And The Piss Artists - I Ain't Sophisticated
13. Runnin' Riot - Babylon's Burning
14. Scam - Love In Vain
15. The Rude Boys - Something That I Said
16. External Menace - Something That I Said
17. A Tribute To The Ruts - Radio Stuff
A History of The Ruts.
Two bands from the second wave of punk stand head and shoulders above all others and who gave hope that punk wasn't dead with the Pistols splitting and The Clash going stateside. First is those perennial favourites led by Manuel Vaderer i.e. The UK Subs and the second was The Ruts. Both bands specialised in chuggy, beefed up punk sounds but at the same time, extremely melodic and catchy toons. Both had TOTP appearances. The Ruts however were more complex musically and lyrically.
The Ruts like so many were born out of a pub rock band. This one was called Hit & Run that Dave Ruffy & Paul Fox played in. Ruffy was on bass, Paul on Guitar and Paul Mattock was on drums. Malcolm Owen a friend went with them on August 1977 to a rehearsal in Rotherhithe as a singer without knowing if he could sing!! Something clicked and 4 songs came out of it. Rich Bitch, Lobotomy, I Ain't Sofisticated and Out Of Order.
"I was really delighted when punk happened...I was into a lot of jazz...George Duke, Weather Report, Stanley Clarke...I never play them at all now. I was a regular at The Vortex. I used to be tied up in all sorts of...(bondage gear). I just totally went along with it. And it turned me on so much 'cause it was so energetic." Malcolm Owen 14.7.79 NME
Thankfully not naming the band Malcolm and The Skulking Loafers they set upon the short and simple 'The Ruts'. When Paul Mattock (a soul music fan at heart) left Vince Segs, a Hit & Run Roadie, joined on bass and Dave Ruffy moved to the drums. The Ruts classic line up was complete.
Paul Fox - Guitar. Malcolm Owen - Vocals. Vince Segs - Bass. David Ruffy - Drums.
A tape of demos got no interest from the record companies so The Ruts got down to playing. With a set list of originals comprising a very fluid reggae punk blend bar suprisingly one - Eat Your Heart Out - given to the band by Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy but subsequently dropped and never recorded.
"We gigged solidly in the RAR clubs with bands like Misty...We played gigs like that for a year with virtually nothing else...they were giving us gigs when noone else was.
Malcolm Owen NME 24.3.79.
Their first gig was at a pub The Target in Northolt and their first RAR (Rock Against Racism) gig was with Misty at Southall Community Centre. "It was a shambles but it was fantastic. There was all these pogoing pakistanis". By no means political or militant, RAR was a means to an end for The Ruts while at the same time showing an alternative to the NF.
In A Rut their first record was financed by Misty and had taken the band seven months to get out. With support from John Peel it sold 20,000 copies. They signed with Virgin and released Babylons Burning which rocketed them to a top 10 position. More hits followed till shockingly Malcolm Owen was discovered dead from a heroin overdose. The one thing you notice though is the vein of sadness and irony in the lyrics that runs through some of the songs most obviously 'Love In Vain','H-eyes', 'West One' and 'In a Rut'. Malcolm was a heroin user before The Ruts but turned back to it after his wife left him... Malcolm Owen died on July 14th 1980 aged 26 .
The Ruts live were fast, raw and very sweaty and Malcolm Owen was a livewire on stage.....an excellent frontman with a brilliant voice who channelled the intensity of the music which is why The Ruts DC ( the Ruts minus Malcolm) were always doomed to failure. The demos tho are brilliant and makes Malcolm's death even sadder because they had so much potential. They were great as a band . They weren't the punkiest looking of bands but that just goes to show don't it that spiky hair and all the clothes in the world don't mean jack shit if you ain't got the goods.
I can't concentrate
I'm in a state
I don't feel straight
I can't love or hate
I can't feel nothing
Can't see nothing
Only just learning
I ain't no king
If you're in a rut
You've got get out of it
Out of it !!!!!
In A Rut - 1979
