Deadbeat: Life Support

https://youtu.be/TLuSQoPvb8o - Watch you Grow

The band Life Support was one of the reasons Deadbeat started, the others were to get into clubs, gigs and get free records. Create a fanzine, plug the band, a very simple concept.

After we interviewed Roddy Frame in issue 5 the Band got sidelined by Deadbeat. Dancin Al, Vinny Bee and Vin de Table would go their seperate ways in the sponge spaghetti head of Fat Al.

Hilary's drawing of Siouxsie Sioux for issue 6 was outrageously good and the fanzine was bigger a much bigger draw than the band who became affectionately known as Vile Rapport, and recorded their first LP, "Noise with Poise". I say LP, rather it was a tape with 10 tracks, made in a day, at Watergate Studios.

"That's the look...." but its not ABC

We liked Vile Rapport, a good name for the release of "Noise with Poise", much better name we thought than Life Support.

That was quick. Simple as that. Except we still had the backdrop with Life Support on it....

Move your feet to the Life Support beat

Deb's did our make up for that early gig and gave us the goth look.

Its certainly a look that worked for her but not so sure about us.

We would experiment with different looks for a few years.

This gig was in the Union in St Andrews 1982 and was Derek's last.

Its quite funny when you dont know what you look like and you play some thrash velvet underground undertones concoction.

Fermanagh, not East Kilbride

Nobody knew what to do and when Mark broke a string on his guitar he joined them as the guitar solo went silent.

Derek had his head turned when we interviewed Roddy Frame in issue 5.

He kept asking Mark why he couldn't play guitar like Roddy Frame.

Mark explained he was from Fermanagh and Roddy from East Kilbride.

I dont think Derek ever got that.

One song that made the LP was "Stop", advice the band failed to take...

With an album recorded, practices were abandoned in favour of visits to the Tayside Bar, Dance Factory, and the stationery shops for white letraset as Vinny Bee became Luke Atme.

The band continued, and as blots on the St Andrews and Dundee landscape go, Vile Rapport were a big one and we enjoyed every minute.

The Tayside bar was a popular venue but the less said about the gold nappy the better.

Those who were there on December 9th 1982 were there for a show, but remember it differently.

The Dundee fashionistas were clearly confused by the nappy and Vinny was to find out that straddling an ashtray full of lit cigarettes was clearly not for the thin skinned.

Walking across hot coals is one thing but waving your meat and two veg at a flaming fajita is foolhardy.

The band had many different drummers and guitar players but the Fat duo of Al 'make up the lyrics at each gig as ah see fit' and Si 'spitting, splattering and battering the bass ' to "The Penny Drops as the Mushroom Rises", would see them re-enter the studio to record another batch of songs before finally heading to Edinburgh to record the single. The Penny Drops was the classic love song, set against a nuclear background and delivered in an urban wasteland. Why do we always wake up when the door slams shut!

It was to be the last time the band would play the legendary Tayside Bar but they would return to Dundee and played Baxter Park in 1985. An eclectic line up, including headliners Plastic Surgery.

OK what look are we doing today?

When the single was finally released in 1984 on Heads Together, the public were delighted to find they received 99p back in change every time they bought one. Radio play was to follow, well at least one anyway....

With over 40 shit songs now the band could easily get confused as they all sounded the same. They say its good to have a sound, which for Life Support was largely C F & G. The one deviation was when they started in D. Only 7 songs started in D, so the band were usually on a fairly similar page when playing "On your Own", "On the Shore" or "Time will tell".

It was around this time that the band gave up destroying a number of classics, not least Safe European Home, Stay Free and London's Burning. The theatrical slowing down of the 3rd verse in London's Burning created a deep chasm of darkness in the otherwise white light of their shows, a deep void in keeping with the urban wasteland 'the penny drops...as the mushroom rises'.

With the band moving to Edinburgh, Susan and Hilary dropped out and Dave had left the drums to Gav by the time of the 2nd recording and for the single.

Peter Haigh at Pierhouse put Gav in the toilet to get the best out of his snare drum.

An outstanding piece of production Peter which transformed the songs.

Gav left the band and Dougie came in, whilst Mark would head for London taking with him half of the songwriting.

Richard came in on guitar and would bring more Johnny Marr than Johnny Was and the band moved direction again.

Gigs were largely in Edinburgh by this stage and La Sorbonne in particular.

Live at Heriot Watt was one of the last recordings of the band.

Recorded on a 4 track, Ross Bradford had taken over on Drums and Gordon Tucker had joined and with Richard on guitar having his last gig, the extra guitar brought a richness of sound.

"On your Own" was the only song now to have lasted from the early days.

A demo was recorded with "Fall from Grace", "On Your Own", "Mountainous task" and "Watch you Grow". The former and latter being an apt description of the trajectory of the band.

Ironically when Tucker joined the band on guitar they had the potential to record something reasonable so they split up in 1986 around the same time as Deadbeat disintegrated. Nothing like a wedding to spoil a party!

Si would join the Ruby Suit, Ross and Gordon would form Zoom, with all 3 still active today.

Rich 'man of' Steele and Al would front up a duo called Platform 99 in the Sutton Arms, by Barbican Tube station in 1987 but their dead cat didn't bounce long.

"Watch you Grow" is attached.

So 25 years later (written in 2011) in St Andrews to celebrate the demise of both Life Support and

Splinters and wooden stages.....

The nappy unveiled in June '82

Deadbeat we'll be meeting with Dr Jim Salisbury to listen to his stories about being 50 and managing the band all those years ago.

The interview was simple.

Do you have a car?

You'll be our manager then.

When we drove down to JJJs in Galashiels Jim was also adept at being the debt collector as our dubious club owner decided we weren't worth a penny, something we'd told him before we left St Andrews.

It was a an excellent gig by our standards but when one old geezer asked for the band's P.A.

Dancin Al takes off....

to be turned down so he could hear the racing commentary for the Craven Stakes, we knew we were toast.

We've yet to find the venue or who'll be supporting us, but it'll appear hear by September 2011.

The orignal line up of Dave Porter, Derek Anderson, Mark Reihill and Dancin Al didnt last too long and when Simon Kettles replaced Derek, Dork (in Oirish) could concentrate on being Deadbeat's Roy Terre, while Hilary Smart and Susan Grahame added some singing to the monotone shouting of Dancin Al.

Dave's drumming fired the first 10 song demo tape along before he disappeared not long after and Gav Duncan came in to be followed later Dougie and then Ross Bradford by the time the band reached La Sorbonne and Baxter park, Dundee.

During 1984 & 85 the band played a number of gigs at La Sorbonne mostly when the stage was ground level at the back left.

Later sounds were driven by finger picked guitar building to crescendos and this rise and fall allowed Fat Al plenty dance breaks as the band realised Dancing Al's voice improved when he didn't use the microphone.

Dancin Al and Rich at La Sorbonne 85

This advanced stage craft would serve them well, especially when the ashtrays would get hurled from the all too tame frisbee flicking audience.

Si's tongue on the move again

Al's verse lyrics were generally made up for each show and narrating the 2nd verse of the slow, intricately picked "Gone Forever".... "He picks the ashtray with his left hand, a hand he hurls it with, and I cant understand, why he didn't empty the contents on the floor, because he's covered now, all of the front row, ..." cue chorus "I'll never see you again,...... you're gone forever...."

Si Slaps bass as Dancin Al dodges ashtrays

When Mark moved to London in 1984, Rich took over on lead guitar to be followed by Gordon Tucker.

Such are the stories of many bands.

Vile Rapport slipped from obscurity to oblivion quietly and tremendously successfully.

Si subsequently found a band that were prepared to practice and can be heard to this day regularly with Carbona not glue, having played with the Ruby Suit (nee Beautiful Suit).

Simon now finds himself playing with Robin and Sharon again in S.A.L.T., recently during 2019 at the wee red bar supporting Rose McDowell who had among others Jeremy Thoms organising Rose's band.

Life Support performed a brief set in December 2012 with their own version of Dock of the Bay proving Fat Al had finally learned which end of the microphone to use.

This Vile Rapport (TVR) are contractually bound not to reform for a gig in 2019 under their adopted name, fondly remembered just like the music....

Baxter Park 1985

Life Support recorded 3 other demo tapes as well as releasing the single. 10 songs were recorded in 1982 - an album - Noise with Poise - then another 4 songs before the 3 songs for the single. Finally "Fall from Grace" was recorded in 1985 - four tracks. "Fall From Grace", "On Your Own", "Mountainous Task" and "Watch you Grow". These songs completed the journey from The Velvet Undertones to This Vile Rapport.

This could easily have been a spring board to push the band on, however it was also a cathartic moment at which to draw breath and have discussions about musical differences.

Ross at Baxter Park

I was sliding more towards a Pete De Freitas style of drumming and the laid back lounge bar lizard, a quiet groove under my monotone nonsense. I liked quirky Happy Family, Monochrome Set random sounding lyrical and musical styles.

The only problem was the band were getting louder and lovingit..

It didn't sit quite as comfortably with the Ramones or Motorhead.

Most of the latter songs were very groovy. Far from the 2 minute crash bang garage band we were getting into a groove and dancing to it.

7 of the newer songs during '85, Terrified, Hiawatha, Johnny, Waiting for my time, Love you Girl (methinks thou does rotest too much), Richard's Song and Love on the Sea were all taking the music in a new direction, with few in the band.

By the time the band rocked up to Heriot Watt's Riccarton campus the set list had few of the old favourites.

The rent-a-crowd, aka fans were there, but gone were classics like Stop, Double Pernod and L'Amour Biscuit (they call it biscuit love).

I loved the way any band who had fans found others regarded them as their rent a crowd. Its a great jealousy with small bands of the era, and even now among the retro gigs.

The greatest irony was we had so little musicality it took us 5 years to have musical differences. That still makes me chuckle. We'd earned the right to have musical differences and we got to pack out the Avon Hotel!

3 tracks showing Life Support's distinctly unique and confused style. From the dark brooding love song About You, through the nuclear wasteland of 'the penny drops...as the mushroom rises',to a throwaway teenage kicks arrangement, State of Mind the band were rarely restrained by their influences, more their instruments.

"About you" starts with sharp guitar, then poppy bass before heavy snare, adds a wee scare, a hint of the darkness to come. "I felt I sensed the worst, the day that I met you, you radiated something special, a sort of instant gloom...". Its not a love story. The complete opposite of The Police's "every breath you take". This is the song of a man being stalked, then trapped and powerless to evade. He shouts but you feel the voice is suffocated. Unlucky Pal, you've no chance is what this reviewer thinks.

The only link between 'About You' and 'The Penny Drops' is the despair you feel for the character. The Penny Drops starts with heavy rising bass before "a loud bang, alarm bells ring" and the drums are smashing you ear drums. "The penny drops as the mushroom rises" tells the story of a lonely survivor and wanders into the era that gave us Trainspotting. The drugs culture in the late 70's and early 80's saw Edinburgh one of the homes of AIDS. This song clearly compares the imagined post Nuclear landscape to the carnage being reaped by Thatcher on communities in Scotland. Its a song that could've made the Trainspotting sound track.

State of Mind is a return to simple songs in C, F & G. Two verses, two chorus, middle eight and a final chorus. Easy on the ear and so derivative of Teenage Kicks, but good for it. https://youtu.be/6-7WmFpVb3I

Not many bands gave 99p change from a £1 - we did!!

Early Gigs - St Andrews 1982

Pre-university school - Debating Hall, crowd 400 - April 16th 1982

Set List

Rock'n'Roll, Romantic Turn, Waiting for the Man, On the Dole People at their Best, Sweet Jane, London's Burning

Debating Hall - end of term gig - crowd 80 - June 1982

December 9th 1982 and all that glitters is not gold at the Tayside Bar

Dave the drummer left after this cheeky gig in the Tayside Bar, Luke Atme never appreciated the view from behind...

Sallies Hall - St Andrews - 1983

Stop, Teenage Kicks, Romantic Turn, In the End, Waiting for the Man, Vicious, Sallies Boy, Whole Wide World, Ziggy Stardust, This will never be, Out of Sight, On Your Own, On the Dole, London's Burning, Spanish Stroll, Double Pernod, Why, Sweet Jane, Rock'n'Roll, L'amour Biscuit, Walk on the Wild side, People at their Best, Canabalise Legalis, Penny Drops, This will never be, Last Time.

Taking the machine on the road - Tayside Bar

JJJ's - Galashiels

La Sorbonne - Edinburgh

Buster Browns - November 16th 1983 - supporting Burlesque - crowd 150, our crowd 8

This will never be, Teenage Kicks, Romantic Turn, Busters Boys, Double Pernod, Penny Drops, On your Own

La Sorbonne Edinburgh

Waterloo Bar Edinburgh

Avon Hotel Edinburgh - 26th April 1985 - crowd 27

Mother's Son, The Donkey, Love on the Sea, Mountainous Task, About You, Richard's Song, Platform 99, Fall from Grace, On Your Own, Stay Free, Sweet Jane

Pumping it until it pops

Baxter Park - Dundee

Heriot Watt Riccarton Campus - November 1985 - crowd 43

About You, Teenage Kicks, Romantic Turn, Love on the Sea, Alright on the Night, The Donkey, Richard's Song, Sweet Jane, Saturday Night, People at their Best, Standing (at the edge), Terrified, State of Mind, Time will tell, The Penny Drops, On your own, Stay Free and a few others which got taped over! My guess is the 4 track demo was Fall from Grace, Watch You Grow and Mountainous task would've got played as well....
Set list from 1985 gig at the Jailhouse, Lower Calton Road Edinbugh