Indie Sounds Of The Suburbs
Wickford is a quite unremarkable and small, sleepy town in deepest, darkest Essex on the commuter route to London, the River Crouch runs through it and would often flood the town on many occasions, most notably in the 1950's. It was often referred to as 'Gumboot Alley' as it was so prone to flooding.ย As a town, it is sandwiched between the delights of (slightly posher) neighbour Billericay and of course the legendary New Town 'Bas-Vegas' (Basildon) home of bands such as Depeche Mode (catch them at the link playing 'New Life' in 1981 from Croc's in Rayleigh...alligators, dodgy haircuts 'n' all!), Yazoo and more recently the amusingly entitled Kunt & The Gang.ย
Which leads me into neighbouring Rayleigh, the home of 1980's alternative night club called 'Croc's' ๐ (which really did had live alligators in a tank as per the above link!) originally they appeared in a tank in there in the '70's and later by the time I used to go in the mid '80's the alligators had been re-homed at Colchester Zoo and it had changed it's name to 'The Pink Toothbrush' (for no apparent reason!), again home to some of the above acts when they started out as well as some much more established bands of the day such as The Fall, The Cult, Ghost Dance, The Exploited, there are just too many to mention. Have a look at the link for the 'Toothbrush' above for the full list, it is quite mind blowing as to how many really top class acts played at a club pretty much at the 'arse end of nowhere'. I mean, let's be honest we aren't talking about a venue somewhere in the throbbing heart of London at the time like 'The Batcave', this was after all a sleepy Essex Town, but as a venue it certainly rocked! and I believe still does.
Oh! I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
It is also a short train/car journey from everybody's favourite sea-side town (that they forgot to close down!), the video for the Morrissey song 'Every Day Is Like Sunday' was filmed in Southend and has as a town a huge back catalogue of bands including Dr. Feelgood (catch them in action playing live at The Kursaal in 1975), Procul Harum, The Kursaal Flyers and in more recent times with The Horrors and These New Puritans to name a few, as has the famous venue 'The Kursaal' which was concert venue for some big hitters back in the day such as AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Queen and Thin Lizzy. Southend also has 'The Cliffs Pavilion' another venue which hosted some big name bands as well such as Echo & The Bunnymen, and Big Country to name a few.
Famous & Infamous
The town of Wickford does have some history (it even gets a mention in The Doomsday Book). It is a town that was home to the famous and also it's fair share of the infamous. It, as a town even made it over 'the pond' with English settlers founding a Wickford in Rhode Island. It even has it's own occult history in that the Church of St. Mary's has a 'devil's claw mark' imprinted on it's door๐. You can catch a mention of it at Essex Live News and also Wickford History web site. It was also featured in a book 'The Running Well Mystery' by local author Andrew Collins. As well as that the local community was rocked in 1995 when three drug dealers were found shot dead in a Range Rover at Rettendon (heading towards Chelmsford and a mere spit away), the whole story was written about and made into a film, more recently Essex Police have updated information and believed it to be related to the London 'Brinks Mat Heist' which took place some years earlier in 1983, in that money went missing after the heist and it was in fact a 'revenge attack', still it wasn't that far from where I lived, all pretty scary stuff for a 'small sleepy town'.
Memories Are Made Of This
The reason for all this waffle...well, I was born there so I guess I can deliver all this information with at least some degree of authority!
Back as a kid it was kind of nice in many ways, there was vast amounts of countryside, so plenty of places to play and explore. The people were... 'mostly harmless' and although a town it had a very 'village-like' feel to it. From World War II onwards it became home to many of London's East End as they either left the City to escape 'The Blitz' or after the war just for a more peaceful laid back quality of life. My Dad and his parents moved there to neighbouring Rayleigh from Leyton in East London. And my Mum was born in Stratford and lived in Wickford. Mind you, Wickford didn't even escape the bombings, quite a few 'strays' where the Luftwaffe decided to jettison bombs on the way back home landed there as well as German Aircraft that had been hit on the way up through the Thames Estuary and crashed.
Adrian's Records, The Hang Out For All Youth
One of the things I remember as a teen was Adrian's Records. It started out very small as a cramped shop above a building in the marketplace. It was later to develop into a much bigger venture, opening a big two floored shop on the high street and becoming one of the largest Independent Record Shops in the UK, when the 1980's 'Video Age' hit it expanded to yet another shop. They still kept the old shop in the market and sold records second-hand (I went there lots to buy as a youth not earning a lot at the time).
Adrian's as a Record Store was an Aladdin's Cave as a kid. The guy was quite amazing in that he would be able to get hold of copies of even the most obscure records you could think of, if he didn't have it in stock he would get it for you. It was a bit of a Music Lovers Mecca and was advertised a lot in the Music Press e.g. NME and Record Mirror. I must have spent hours and hours in there leafing through punk and post punk vinyl, and also a good deal of pocket money and also 'earned money' from my first 'Saturday Job' flogging shoes for the sweaty feet of the local yokels.๐ฃ
On a recent visit back there I see that Adrian's Records has shrunk a bit and now resides in a side alley, its almost gone back to it's roots! It is still well sign posted at the front and rear, but it is a shadow of what it was in it's heyday, bit of a shame really๐Have a look at the gallery below:
Record Shops, A Meeting Place
Just to kind of 'hammer' the point home I was reading the other day and came across this article in the Scotsman News web site. It features several members of an '80's band 'The Bluebells', if you are as old as me and you may remember their song 'Young At Heart'.
Anyway, the members of the band have set up an exhibition in Glasgow with contributions from many of the big named acts that Scotland spawned e.g. 'Simple Minds', 'The Pastels' and 'Belle & Sebastian' to name a few. The Exhibition is called 'Spinning Around' and pays homage to the many and thriving Record Shops in Glasgow during the '80s and '90s it does actually cite 'record shops acted as meeting places where people could experience new sounds and styles, create club nights and forge friendships'. It's certainly true as I remember them!
Boredom, Boredom, Dum Dee Dum
Saturday Night's (All Right For Fighting)
The thrill of a Saturday night in Wickford was, after closing time (loose change permitting, of course!) staggering to the legendary 'Abi's', a tiny Kebab Shop down a side alley which was near the station and kind of slap bang in the middle of all the local pubs, for some iffy meat in a pitta bread with possibly the best chilli sauce I have ever tasted and trying to avoid the fights after people had consumed too much of the 'falling down water' before getting there.
The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul
Like everywhere back at time in the '70's early 80's when I was growing up Sunday was officially 'The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul'.
Nothing was open in terms of shops, the pubs would close in the afternoon and re-open early evening, there was pretty much nothing to do except drop in on friends, 'chew the fat' and listen to records or hang about in local parks getting cold, or have to visit elderly relatives. Anyway, I left there over 25 years ago and much has changed, but I am digressing and rambling. So, back to the point of this post and the link between...
Grinder, A Local Band For Local People
'Wickford's So Boring' was the title of an E.P. by a bunch of local lads who formed a band called Grinder and released this in 1979, originally starting off as 'The Bin-Liners'. I wouldn't have got to see them at the time as I would have been just too young to get into the venues they played at and not even the most 'iffy'ย Essex Bouncer would, at the time would have let me through the doors.
The E.P. Tracks:
- Spiderman
- Furry Dice
- Other People
Evidently the lead singer would dress up for each song they played and they did the whole round of local venues. They even beat the lovely Alison Moyet into 2nd place in the 'Roots Hall Battle Of The Bands' (Roots Hall being the home of Southend United F.C.). I used to go down and watch the football a lot and would frequently see 'Alf' in the terraces.
The Band Were:
- Terry "Ball" Luckett (vocals)
- Dave Smith (guitar)
- Stewart Clark alias Stu-Pid (guitar)
- Simon Mills alias Si-Kic (bass)
- Graham Filby alias Holy-Grail (drums)
They eventually split and were to later re-from under the new name Outrageous Flesh, here they are in 2009 for Stewart Clark's 50th birthday performing 'Happy Town' a song evidently about neighbouring Shotgate just up the road from Wickford.
Independent Record Label
It was released on an Independent called 'Wax Records' they were a label based in nearby Pitsea (a mere spit away from Basildon), releasing material by other local Southend Bands e.g. 'The Machines.'
Evidently Grinder played at Basildon's own 'Peace Festival' at Gloucester Park alongside bands like 'The Vandals' (with Alison Moyet) and Norman & The Worms (featuring Martin Gore from 'Depeche Mode') and also local band 'The Pinkees'. In 1980's the festival featured punk band 'The School Bullies' which featured future 'The Cure' member Perry Bamonte. The festival carried on over the years sporting bands such as , 'Psychic T.V.' and everyone's favourite Ska act 'Bad Manners'.
Catch More About Grinder At:
Thanks To:
Photos:
Photos by ๐ ๐โ ฐ๐ฌ๐ รีผแซโ ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐๊โฑฟ on Unsplash
Photo by Valentino Funghi on Unsplashย
Info & Memories:
Mostly Me with help from WickfordHistory.org, The Scotsman & A Bit Of Discogs