O 3º concerto, de sempre, da banda:
1981
Conforme prometido no post anterior, aqui fica a entrevista dom os Death In June:
Death In
June Interview
Grim
Humour # 2 Sept.’83 30p
Background
information: Although they only performed live occasionally, a healthy fixture
on the London live circuit at the time was this group comprising former members
of Crisis; a band most of those involved with the ‘zine also held aloft’s as
one of the better ones to have arisen from punk. Formed in 1980 and still going
now, Death in June were seen by us on many occasions around this period and
made an equally large impression at a time when all those bands being deemed
‘Positive Punk’ left mostly (wry pun alert) nada by comparison. Kerry White, boyfriend of Karen Willoughby and in charge of Herne
Bay’s Gower’s & Jones record shop and keeping it stocked whit a large array
of independent releases (at a time when the term actually meant far more than a
type of ‘alternative rock’ aimed at bedwetters going through pangs of
acne-induced angst), had forged a friendship with Douglas Pearce due to the
letter also working at the Rough Trade distribution warehouse in London and,
well, the interview seemed inevitable. Just a shame it was conducted via the
post, really. This method of interviewing bands was often employed by fanzines
due to time and budget restraints, unfortunately. Whilst convenient and,
indeed, vaguely comparable to those now conducted via email, they always lacked
the spontaneity of a life interview. Nonetheless, they could be interesting
still despite this, plus at least afforded both parties to actually articulate
whatever they wanted to say in a more coherent manner. The interview was done
around the time of their debut mini-album being released.
--------------------------
Original
interview:
Death In
June rose from the ashes of Crisis in late ’81. Their first venture onto vinyl
was the 12” ‘Heaven Street’, which got some good reviews. However, they seem to
have stayed very much an underground band, gigging rarely and generally keeping
quite a low profile.
GH –
Death In June have been together for quite a while yet it was only recently
that you caught the attention of the music press and received critical acclaim
for the mini-album, etc. Why do you think this is?
DOUG The third release for any group is always
important. We knew this and made an effort to make encroachments into the
national music press. These were easily achieved and successful. It was a case
of knowing that we were good, trying to make things happen and make other
people know that we were good. The problem with us is that we are all quite
shy, private people and don’t frequent the ‘rock and roll’ world like a lot of
other bands, so we don’t get to meet and butter up a lot of journalists, etc.
However, that’s the world we choose to live or, rather, operate in so we don’t
have to make any adjustments. We haven’t done too badly up until now.
GH What do you think of the music press?
DOUG It’s there to be used. But, like anything,
the vast majority of its contents are there by courtesy of major companies,
professional hypers, etc. So, what’s new?
GH Are you pleased with the album?
DOUG Yes, it’s the most complete thing I’ve been
associated with. Even though there is a lot of room for improvement and some
half-realised ideas, it’s the most satisfying record I’ve ever been on. It
stands head and shoulders above a lot of contemporary music.
GH How well is the album selling?
DOUG Far better than the previous two releases. A
little bit more of an effort and we could be on (the same) level as Crisis
were; which would be very satisfying as the past still haunts us in a lot of
ways. I’d like this group to do a lot better than what it’s doing.
GH Does running your own label help you to
present your music better than being signed to a larger label? (Have you roused
other label’s interests?) Will you use New European Recordings to promote other
bands?
DOUG As far as I know, no other labels have been
interested in us. Then again, we are hardly interested in them. The idea of
hawking a tape around a lot of businesses seems degrading and repulsive to us.
If they are interested and they want to give us some money, then let them come
to us. The drag about running your own label is the financial restriction. We
could be doing so much more if we had the resources… As for promoting other
bands, we have already. NER put out the first LP by The Legendary Pink Dots,
Brighter Now, and provided gigs for a group called Iron In Flesh, who will hopefully soon have a 12” out. We are
always looking for something to put out but there seems to be little of value.
GH Do you like playing live? Would you say
Death In June are a live band or a (studio) band?
DOUG We dislike performing live because it
places restrictions on us as people and ‘artists’. We are happier in the studio
where we have more control. But, having said that, there are plans to do some
more public appearances but, really, that’s all going against the grain a bit
so I don’t like really know what the outcome of those will be.
GH Did you enjoy the support to Sex Gang
Children at The Marquee? Surely this could have held drawbacks, such as being
tagged with the ridiculous ‘Positive Punk’ banner and (merely) gaining 0’cult
status’, etc.?
DOUG No. It was everything we expected: badly
organized, no decent soundcheck, no room – the usual, in fact. As for the
‘drawbacks’ – only a fool would lump us in the ‘Positive Punk’ bracket and cult
status is something we already have. That in itself is no problem. It’s only if
you can’t build on it that it becomes one.
GH Would you say that their music scene is
healthier than your own, i.e. gig-wise?
DOUG I don’t necessarily believe it’s healthier
overall. It’s that the people you deal with in many of the places are more
interested in what they are actually doing than just another way of making a
quick buck, although I’m sure they have their fair share of those as well. The
continentals appear to approach us from a different angle than the British. All
our best interviews have been with foreigners.
GH Where does the name Death In June originate
from? And what does the symbol stand for?
DOUG Death In June came about purely by chance
and then we realized the ‘significance’. It means different things to different
people, including us as individuals and humanity as a whole. It does refer to a
specific event when ‘man’ decided to go one way instead of another. However,
the symbol is this: the skull of death and the ‘6’ equals June, the sixth
month.
GH Is there a certain fascination with history
in war with Death In June, as some of the songs suggest?
DOUG There is a certain fascination, yes. However,
that is really encompassed in our interest in European history and culture. Why
plagiarise other cultures when there is so much of worth in our own and it’s
only misplaced feelings of guilt that stop us from using our heritage. War
history does form the basis for some of our songs, but not overridingly so.
‘Heaven Street’ is probably the only one that was written with those things in
mind. References crop up in other things, though.
GH Had Crisis helped in developing your current
musical style?
DOUG Since Tony and me were the major forces
behind Crisis I should think that’s inevitable, but then we were going nowhere
until Pat came along. We all have equal say in the routes that we take. All
three of us write material. I should think it’s been a coming together of two
groups successfully. Pat was in Runners From ’84, which Tony joined for a while
after Crisis split. In fact, we had a guest participant with us recently who
made his debut at The Marquee, who was also in Runners. He may become a
full-time member.
GH Do you feel the ‘independent’ ethic is
important to the band’s career, i.e. fanzines and tapes, etc.?
DOUG To an extent, yes. People doing things
themselves can only be admired but, then again, most of the indie market was/is
absolute shit.
GH The next 12” is going to feature acoustic
guitars and kettle drums. Are you aiming at a more diverse or commercial sound?
DOUG –
That piece was taken out of context (Sounds article). Acoustic guitars and
kettle drums are already featured on the LP, i.e. ‘Heaven Street Mk II’. In
fact the next 12” will probably not feature those instruments. However, getting
back to the question, I think we are going in both directions. What will appear
first to the public is another question. There is some pretty odd stuff
recorded already (the film soundtrack), but how (it) will see the light of day
I am not sure. There are numerous possibilities.
GH When shall we be hearing of Death In June
next?
DOUG I can’t see any new records out until the
winter sometime. There will be a track on a double tape compilation, called
Pleasantly Surprised, out in about a month. The track is ‘Black Radio’. As for
gigs, we will probably be playing a few in early Autumn and some more in
London. Then there’s Europe…
DEATH IN
JUNE: Selected Discography
‘Heaven
Street’ 12” (New European Recordings, 1981)
‘State
Laughter’ 7” (NER, 1982)
The
Guilty Have No Pride MLP (NER, 1983)
Burial
LP (NER, 1984)
Nada! LP
(NER, 1985)
The
World That Summer 2LP (NER, 1986)
Oh, How
We Laughed LP (Eyas Media, 1987)
Brown
Book LP (NER, 1987)
GRIM
HUMOUR
VOLUME 1
1983-1987
Highlights
and lowlights from the first 10 issues of this popular UK fanzine, back by no
demand whatsoever
Published
by Fourth Dimension 2020
©
Richard Johnson / Grim Humour / Fourth Dimension
Everything
published is © the respective contributors and cannot be reproduced without
permission.
Artwork
and Design by puppy38 and Richard Johnson
ISBN:
978-83-948138-1-9
Fourth
Dimension Records & Publishing
CONTENTS
Chapter
1
Introduction
– 7
Contributors
/ Credits – 10
Grim
Humour #1
Abbo
interview – 13
UK Decay
New Hope for the Dead CD review (2013) – 17
Gary
Glitter / Tenpole Tudor / The Defects review – 18
Chapter
2 - Grim Humour #2
Death in
June interview – 29
Virgin
Prune interview – 32
Killing
Joke interview – 42
Rising
from the Red Sands cassette review – 50
Chapter
3 - Grim Humour #3
Crass
interview – 57
Public
Image Limited review – 69
Flesh
For Lulu interview – 74
Chapter
4 - Grim Humour #4
In The
Nursery interview – 85
Record
and Tape reviews – 89
The Fall
interview – 91
The
Cramps review – 102
Sisters
of Mercy review – 102
Xmal
Deutschland review – 108
Chapter
5 - Grim Humour #5
The
Damned interview – 121
And Also
The Trees review – 131
Mick
Mercer interview – 135
Communicate
and Participate – 150
Chapter
6 - Grim Humour #6
Portion
Control interview – 159
And Also
The Trees interview – 167
Fool’s
Dance interview – 177
Cured
book review – 185
400
Blows interview – 193
Chapter
7 – Grim Humour #7
Nick
Cave interview – 205
The
vinyl Frontier – 209
Soundtracks
– 212
Sonic
Youth interview – 213
More
reviews – 220
Chapter
8 – Grim Humour #8
Ausgang
+ Rose of Avalanche review – 229
The Cure
review – 231
Record
Reviews - 232
The
Leather Nun interview - 236
The
Ramones interview - 243
Motivation
– 246
Chapter
9 – Grim Humour #9
Life
Would Be Grim Without Humour – 253
Cassette
and Safety In Numbers fanzine
Chapter
10 – Grim Humour #10
Head of
David interview – 257
Record
Reviews – 265
Venus
Fly Trap – 273
New
Order review – 282
Big
Black interview – 287
Coil
interview – 304
Alternative
TV interview – 314
Tearing
Down the Barricades – 331
(pieces
on Grim Humour by Andy Pearson, Harvey Francis, Steve Snelling, Mark Stevens,
Karren Ablazel, Mick Mercer, James Machin and Matthew Worley)
A Final
Word, by Richo – 345
Thank
You’s – 347
The
magazine, of course, also shuffled into view at a time when the musical
landscape was much different from how it is now. Cassette culture reigned in
the underground, John Peel’s radio show was the thing to listen to as a
teenager unable to keep up with everything (blank cassette at the ready to
record anything of interest, no less), flexidiscs were sometimes produced to
document, very cheaply, new artists via giveaways with publications (two even
appeared with Grim Humour irself in the early editions), vinyl was truly king
(long before, of course, becoming a vogue trend of limited editions mostly
dominated by the majors or boutique labels), record shops were places to hang
out at, live music was generally affordable, a variety of different youth
factions existed and occasionally looked horns, independent music hadn’t been
completely turned into yet another wholly makestable commodity nullifying its
original meaning )’indie’ as such, thankfully, wasn’t around when GH started
and certainly was not synonymous with lame guitar music), weekly papers existed
that were devoted to music, the Thatcher/Reagan political presence fuelled an
even greater sense of hopelessness which itself, it could be argued, inspired
many to kick against it, low-budget horror films created a huge public furore,
and certain groups entries into the charts embraced and occasionally clever,
wry or even more colourful descent into a possible sense of abandonment not
really seen since. Basically, it was a different world, without the instant
accessibility of the download. YouTube or ‘social networking’ sites reducing
everything to a level where little effort is involved in discovering exciting
new worlds and which, in turn, operates at a pace now so fast that
disposability looms an even larger presence than ever…
But
don’t get me wrong. There’s no misty-eyed sentimentality at work here. There’s
much to be said in favour of many things presently unfolding around us, plus
it´s likewise interesting to note that certain artists who helped to soundtrack
Grim Humour are still not only very much active but also continue to create
astounding and inspiring new work. Rather, I merely want to emphasise the ways
in which the parameters have shifted in more recent times. The world wasn´t
completely different when GH existed… but it was different enough and this in
itself created an environment perfect for certain people thus inclined to,
well, do something as they foundered to get a foothold.
Grim
Humour was but just one speck on a landscape where fanzines formed a
significant part of a network that could be readily tapped into in order to
discover more about certain areas of music and some of the ideas propelling
then. Titles such as Tone Death, Vague, Panache, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Chainsaw,
Artificial Life, Murder By Guitar, NMX, Ablaze!, Abstract and Rox! Constituted
a mere handful of titles to be found in the early 1980s. Sometimes they ere
found at gigs, sold at the Better Badges stall in London, or punted directly from
a carrier bag stuffed full of them. They could also be found in decent record
shops, although few could match the stock forever on sale at the Rough Trade
Shop in Talbot Road (who’d also willingly take on Grim Humour’zines following
some kind of deal in the shop’s backroom). Whilst there’s little use in
pretending each and every fanzine scribe got on with each other or even, in
many cases, the groups they covered, it cannot be denied that what
INTRODUCTION
Grim
Humour was as underground magazine, or ‘fanzine’ – call it what you will – that
existed between 1983 and 1993. It run for a total of eighteen editions during
its ten-year existence and was responsible for documenting a significant number
of bands largely aligned with or inspired by punk or post-punk music as well as
their cousins in industrial culture, the other reaches of electronic music and
so on. It also published features on writers, filmmakers and film directors,
columns, editorials that often spiraled into crevices foaming with vitriol, cartoon
strips, occasional artwork and a vast black tide of reviews largely scribed
whilst pepped up on adrenalin, frustration and gallons of cheap beer.
Throughout its lifetime it was widely recognized as one of the largest and most
popular UK publications of its kind, garnered a mountain of praise, equally
attracted much in the way of criticism or even downright envy, and helped pave
the way for several other concerns by a few of those responsible for putting it
together. Above all, it was always far more than just a mere ‘fanzine’.
Something
that probably warrants mentioning is that Grim Humour followed a tradition of
underground magazines assembled as much from old cut ‘n’ paste techniques as
teenage passion and a yearning to find a foothold in the world unfurling around
us. It began before DTP technology was available in every home and at a time
when buying glue came wedded to nefarious connotations (that’s the subtle
doffing of the cap out the way to a certain early punk fanzine). With no
computer programmes to assist us, we had to suffice with sheets of A3 paper, a
couple of battered Smith-Corona typewriters, scissors, Pritt-stick, Letraset
and a pile of comics, magazines and photocopies to cut up and crumbled as soon
as we applied it, sometimes the pasted cut-outs peeled at their corners and
sometimes we had to make do with a leaky black pen to help fill in the gaps. It
was always enjoyable, though, and never once lost this slant even as it began
to dabble with DTP technology in those final editions before it folded, took a
six year break and transmogrified into the equally hap-hazard Adverse Effect
(which still, after four published editions between 2000 and 2005, loosely
exists today as a mainly online mag).
They
together did made for a great source of information for those craving more than
whatever was offered by the weeklies. Despite often being badly written or
appearing like they’d been put together over a drunken weekend, there were
countless titles clearly produced by those articulate and impassioned enough to
perfectly reflect the energy of the times. Where Grim Humour fitted in with all
this is up to others to decide, but there was certainly a period of several
years where, helped along by national distribution courtesy of Southern
Records, it at least seemed as though it resided amongst the cream.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What
follows in this compendium is brief background information to each edition of
Grim Humour, reprints of several of the original pages, a significant number of
re-edited highlights (interviews, features, reviews, etc.) given over to
additional information and new editorial comments (in italics, as opposed to
those original editorial comments that, simply, are not) where it is either
necessary or simply feels right, and a perhaps slightly carefree smattering of
pieces previously unpublished or even written more recently. Whilst the
original pages have been reprinted exactly as first published (unless stated
otherwise due to, for instance, ink colour changes), the reworked highlights
(and, indeed, lowlights) have been tweaked to banish previous typos or mistakes
without compromising their original form too heavily. When the ‘zine started
nobody involved could, in any sense, especially ‘write’ and had no illusions
otherwise. The proliferation of grammar and spelling mistakes pay testament to
this in the original publications, but it is apparent that, thankfully and
naturally, such matters got better with each passing edition. All the same,
outside the reprinted original pages, it is impossible to attack this material
without deploying the, uh, deft hand of experience. I hope readers will find
this acceptable and that the (cough) ‘magic’ of the original writing will not
have been compromised too heavily. Likewise, I hope you, being but one of the
said readers, will notice the improvements marking every step of the way from
the first edition to the tenth one, where this particular collection ends? The
confidence gained throughout this course should be more than evident as the
later editions here begin to galvanise a style, or even attitude, pushed even
further from #11 on, but there’ll be more of that in the next volume, should I
ever get to it (and I certainly hope to).
As I
write, my work on a project long thought about, discussed and then inevitably
buried and procrastinated over has only just commenced. I can only hope you’ll
find it as enjoyable as I presently am.
Richo
Editor:
Richard Johnson (a.k.a. ‘Richo’)
Sub-Editors:
Andy Pearson, Rob Hale, Andy Jones, Jim Crosland
Original
contributors: Karen Willoughby-White, Kerry White, Harvey Francis (a.k.a.
‘Havoc’), Gary Levermore, Gerald Houghton (R.I.P.), Hassni Malik, Mark Stevens
(a.k.a. Anton Black), Andrea Johnson, Mick Mercer, Jan R. Bruun, Tom Vague,
Molly,
Ian.
Acknowledgments
for the book: Mark Stevens (invaluable proofreading/editing help and
contributor), Michael Everett (a.k.a. ‘puppy38’, design), Andy Pearson (editing
and contributor), Marcin Barski (initial artwork assistance), Mick Mercer,
Steve Snelling, Karren Ablazel, Matthew Worley, Harvey Francis, Mark Perry,
Klive Humberstone, Steven Burrows, Alex Novak, Gary Warner, Stuart Curran,
Peter Gardner, Steve Spoon.
All
photos credited (where known) accordingly.
Apologies
if anybody has been overlooked. Please let me know if you feel you have been.
Special
thank you to Iwona Palka (support and perseverance beyond the call of duty).
Thanks
also to those who’ve offered help or even indirectly encouraging and motivating
everything, including Darren Crawford, Mark Stevens and Wojtek Kozielski.
Please
note that all of the opinions expressed within this book revert to the
individuals responsible for them and not Grim Humour/Fourth Dimension or those
amongst the board of editors.
All
writing not otherwise credited is by Richard Johnson.
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