The
Machines were not only Southend's first punk band, but also the first
to release a record - the infamous 'True Life' EP on Wax Records. As punk
trailblazers, shaking off the R & B paralysis that had gripped the towns
music scene for so long, the bands time together really was an incendiary
one. Together for barely a year, they managed to play a load of local
shows that have long lived on in the collective Southend Punk subconscious,
together with some historic gigs at legendary London venues such as The
Roxy and Vortex punk clubs.
Vocalist / Guitarist Nick Paul formed the band in 1977, recruiting Duf
(Ian Duffy) on Bass, and drummer John Dee. Nick was immensely fired up
by punk, having bought The Damned's New Rose single on the day it came
out, and literally had a life changing experience seeing The Clash at
the 100 Club Punk Festival in September 1976. Nick had loved The New York
Dolls / Stooges / MC5 and had started playing along those lines in his
proto-punk band, Raw Power. They folded in 1975 however, and after a short
period in-between stints of moving to and from London, Nick was back in
Southend in 1977 and inspired by the new punk scene he saw emerging, wanted
to get a new band together.
After meeting Duf through an advert in The Evening Echo, they met John
down the pub a couple of months later and began getting their set together
and began gigging in July 1977. Their first gig was in a local Rock Contest
at The Queens Hotel and they stunned everyone by playing a blinding performance
and winning their heat! Jointly managed by Richard and Dave (Strange Stories
editor), the band began playing in earnest. Speaking to Nick in 2005,
he said "In addition to the already known gigs (Roxy, Vortex, City
of London Poly, The Queens Hotel) we played the Alex about 4 times and
the Roundacre youth club in Basildon about 4 times and the Shrimpers once.
Our first would have been around July 1977 and our last about March 1978.
In total I reckon we only played about 30 gigs. The life of a may fly
really. Still it seemed longer at the time..."
"If
restricted, tied down, they could stop us getting off the ground, backstabbers,
hypocrites, pretend friends, you're just a bunch of shits." 'True
Life'.
Indeed,
when I asked Nick about local venues sympathetic to punk back then, he
said "Well basically there wasn't enough punk around to have venues.
The Queens did their bit for bigger bands 1977/79. The Shrimpers did their
bit for Div 3 bands like us 1977/78. The Alex would book anyone ...".People
did begin to take notice however, and the band would often pack out the
local venues, including a key fan who loved the band and would see them
regularly, namely Alison 'Alf' Moyet!.
Nick had been writing a lot of songs, with titles such as 'Racing', 'Tomorrow',
'Parents Zone', 'Weird Phone Calls', 'Chain Gang', 'Don't be Fooled' and
'Head on Crash'. Thus they decided to get something down on tape and put
out an EP on local label Wax Records. They went into Spectrum Studios
in Westcliff and recorded four songs: 'True Life', 'Everything's Technical',
'You Better Hear' and 'Evening Radio'. The single did well, soon selling
it's pressing of 1,000, and even entered the lower reaches of the Alternative
Chart, as published in Sounds.
As well as various local gigs, the band played in London at The Vortex
(on the 07.11.77 with The Maniacs, Bazooka Joe & The Monotones), the
legendary Roxy Club (on the 17.01.78 with the Deviators) and at the City
of London Polytechnic. Things looked like they were going pretty well,
however Nick had grown a bit restless and had decided to change the line
up of the band, and moved to London in April 1978, effectively splitting
the band. When asked about this, Nick said "I fully intended to rebuild
a new Machines and even had a piece in the NME about the next planned
release 'The Machines Turn On' but it wasn't to be. Endless auditions
for drummers and bass players led to nothing and in (I think it was late
April 1978) a piece went into the music papers to the effect the Machines
were over".
"I
dial a number on my telephone, answering machine says there's no one home,
so I'm just talking down the line, to a technical gadget, not a friend
of mine." 'Everything's technical'.
After
the demise of the Machines, Nick would return with the more power-pop
orientated 'The Collectors' in 1980, whom released a 7" single titled
'Different World', on Central Collection Records that year. Duf became
a painter and John Dee continued drumming, in 1978 finding time to help
out fellow local punks The Vandals, whom featured the aforementioned Alison
'Alf' Moyet on Vocals, and then later he helped out 'Idiot' and played
drums on their song 'Ging Gang Gooley' that appeared on the Southend Rock
Album. He then joined his brother Paul in a band called The Electric Shocks,
then The Deciballs, then later on played in reggae-orientated bands Bushfire
and Charas.
Fast forward to 2005, and Nick Paul had found a rare recording of a live
demo the band had recorded late in '77, before the recording of the ep,
containing songs 'Racing' and an early version of 'You Better Hear'. Detour/Bin
Liner Records released these songs on a compilation called 'Bored Teenagers
Vol 4' in July 2006.
Also in 2006, Nick Paul and Steve Reddihough (Raw Power) linked up with
Steve Pegrum (Kronstadt Uprising / Sinyx) to play some songs that hadn't
been heard in a long time. These songs included 'True Life', 'Evening
Radio', 'You Better Hear', 'Everything's Technical', 'Chain Gang', 'Parents
Zone', 'Racing' and 'Head on Crash', as well as one or two new songs.
Since regenerating, the band have played numerous shows around the country,
including a great slot at The Rebellion Festival a couple of years ago,
and released their Debut Album on December 12th, 2011.
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