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Friday 21 August 2009

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND



999 were one of my favourite punk bands. Remember seeing them at the Birmingham Odeon in the 70s when they were down to support The Runaways. On that particular evening, England was in the grip of rolling power cuts and Birmingham was expected to have its power cut off from 9.00pm that very evening. So, The Runaways elected to take the stage first with the aim of playing their full set, leaving 999 to run the risk of not being able to play. Happily, the blackout didn't happen and 999 delivered a real stormer of a gig.

The above video was shot at a 999 gig at London's Clarendon Hall in 1984. I think it provides a great indication of how good they were. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check back next Friday for another musical clip.
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3 comments:

  1. Keith21 August 2009 at 14:01

    Great video. I've never actually heard of them. It was still cool. Enjoy your weekend.

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  2. Unknown21 August 2009 at 17:17

    999 were my favourite band in the late 70's. Followed them on a couple of tours of the UK and even got invited to go with them on a tour of the States. Alas, they never got recognition they deserved and were portrayed by the media as "Disney punks" and then management persuaded them to go more commercial and we ended up with stuff like cover versions of Olivia Newton John's "Banks of the Ohio" but with the words changed. Such a shame! But the first two albums are classics and I'm still miffed I missed their Old Grey Whistle Test appearance ("Homicide") where apparently Nick went a bit anarchic and grabbed hold of the camera and dragged it around.

    Thanks for the memories. Always though the original line-up were a great bunch of guys with real song-writing talent. Must have seen over 20 gigs by the band in their first few years and they never did a bad one (although they were extremely self-critical and self-depracating).

    Bought a DVD of a much more recent performance and it was embarrassing. Fat blokes shouting socialist cliches just seemed kind of lame. Such a shame!

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  3. Steve Langton21 August 2009 at 17:43

    Thanks, Keith. Ian post will tell you some more about this band. Glad you enjoyed the vid.

    Cheers, Ian. Fully agree they never got the recognition they deserved (same with The Adverts and The Lurkers). I also missed their Whistle Test spot (what a great show that was)and long to see such footage. Haven't seen the DVD, but sounds a disappointment. Everyone's grown old, I guess.
    Cheers for stopping by, Ian.

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