Stomping at The Klub Foot Various Vinyl bits#1

The start(or at least that's the plan) of a daily blog wherein I look back at bits of Vinyl I have picked up over the last few years mainly from bootsales and charity shops and the like..a time to reflect over them and offer thoughts on what I found when listening to them and discovering more in regard the bands or specific genre.

I'm starting with the 'Stompin' at the Klub foot' Compilations mainly as I thought I would begin with various artists comps just as generally it's avoided and such works are generally considered not worthy..it's rare(with the exceptions of some soundtrack LP's )for a various artist set to feature in any must listen to lists.

I picked up my first 'stompin' at the Klub foot' Compilation at a Car boot sale in Telford, I found it within a cardboard box which intrigued as it was full of fifties looking LP's by bands I hadn't heard of such as the Guana Batz,P.O.X. and the Meteors,On inspection of the gatefold of the 'Klub Foot 2' vinyl I became aware that though the scene was steeped in the fifties in actuality the L.P. was the product of a later time, some punky fashion and later models of cars outside the venue pointed to this.

At 25p a L.P. this seemed a steal and I spent a couple of quid picking up various bits (some of which may make future blogs) and departed for home, The sound on this LP (and the couple of others in this series ) is very basic..these are true live recordings which haven't been overtly enhanced in the studio later on ..as such the energy and fun of the scene is captured as is the rawness of the sound.

The sound itself is rockabilly based but with a rawness which suggests these were generally punk bands with maybe a stronger take on melody than the street punk bands that would have been limping around in 1985 when this L.P. was released,Of the bands featured on 'Klub foot 2' Demented are Go are still going and I understand the Tall boys contained ex Meteors personnel.

The recording is of it's time recorded at the Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith on RAK mobile it is what it is and as an example of a scene I was unaware of in the eighties(despite seeing King Kurt on TOTP)it has some worth.

Psychobilly lives on whereas other scenes from the time such as Cowpunk never really came and went fairly swiftly,Psychobilly seems to have in its early days have been relatively successful in parts of Europe(France in particular).

Like other genres such as Skiffle and Punk it seems right that this period(maybe it's peak) should offer a burst of creativity that matched other scenes and upsurge of bands some of whom (Such as Billy Duffy of the Cult and arguably Kirk Brandon not forgetting Boz Boorer) would find fame later on,however for Psychobilly a place in the mainstream however brief wasn't really to be King Kurt came and went, The Stray Cats toned down their rough edges to gain fame and the numerous Ska and new wave acts that also came after punk would occupy the top table.

As such this and other of it's ilk will always hold interest for me when I occasionaly come across them, As yet I haven't found the album in this genre that I think offers a true high point though one I have by a German psychobilly act P.O.X. comes close as such the search contines.

Anyhow the video above gives a idea of what to expect and these are bits of vinyl I am happy to be able to pull out and listen to on occasion offereing more back than the pittance paid.