Record Mirror 19th April 1986 - Flesh

As requested Darren.

When Will They Ever Learn?

Lord Mandelson's plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail are risible. They include a load of hot-air about keeping the Royal Mail publicly owned (one of their election pledges remember) subject to further primary legislation (which New Labour have always had trouble ramming through parliament, I don't think), further bluster about this being the only way to ensure the continuation of deliveries to 99% of homes and vague threats about improvements in industrial relations.

At a time when the tax payer is being asked to prop up all manner of privately owned banks and financial ne'er-do-wells, we have Labour blowing both feet clean off with a Thatcherite cut-price sale. The fact that it is largely New Labour policies that have bought us to this point has, as usual, completely escaped Mandelson and the rest of the dunces that make up the government.

Mandelson criticises the current Royal Mail management - which New Labour appointed. He said the taxpayer couldn't be expected to fund the £8bn pension deficit - duh! Banks, Peter! - remember the banks. Royal Mail is also currently already delivering mail for private firms at a loss thanks to the downstream access arrangements (private companies collect mail from large organisations - private and public - and dump them onto Royal Mail to deliver). Perhaps if they stop subsidising competitors that may help..

And as for the union response! Fair enough, they have stated how outraged they are about "the part-privatisation of Royal Mail" being "electorally unpopular, politically unwise and damaging to the concept of universal service provision." Further they feel that "to break a pledge so recently made undermines the legitimacy of our policy process and raises questions about the validity of other agreements reached".

Well FFS - stop bloody subsidising New Labour itself then! Time after time the unions are kicked in the nuts by this government (as they would be by the Tories but you expect it from them) and every time they keep crawling back with their tail between their legs citing the same old rhetoric about "well, at least they are better than the Conservatives". No they bleeding aren't! They are the same as the Conservatives. And yet you keep sending millions of your members contributions direct to New Labour coffers.

And for what? So that Gordo and the rest of the mob can sell-off the NHS via the back door, impose dodgy databases and ID cards (and the costs) upon every single person, bail out shoddily run banks with squillions of cash to little effect, stir up racial ill-will and then bemoan the consequences and we haven't even begun with the Iraq War, war in Afghanistan, cash for questions, cash for honours, cronie-ism, jobs for the boys/girls, Police ineptitude..... The list is fucking endless.

The best thing the unions could ever do for their members would be to disaffiliate from New Labour and spend the cash on projects that would really make a difference to those very same members, their families and the communities affected by the years of policies pursued purely in the interests of the ruling class - Labour, Tories, capitalists, land-owners, Lords and Ladies: all one and the same.

Record Mirror 19th April 1986 - The Godfathers, Psychic TV & Half Man Half Biscuit

The Primitives - Lazy 86-88 (LP)

As if further proof were needed that businesses have the government in their pocket and that jobs regularly trade places between MPs, civil servants and the industries lobbying them, we have this report from the Guardian which reveals the influence such "close ties" with the government can elicit.

To cut the story a bit shorter, the Department for Transport asked lobbying group Flying Matters to influence MPs in such a way as to keep aircraft emissions out of important climate change legislation - they succeeded. Admirably, Flying Matters went further than their brief and also persuaded the Tories to drop plans for a tax on aircraft CO2 emissions.

And fuck me if Flying Matters isn't run by former Labour trade and energy minister, Brian Wilson.

Lo and behold, another aviation lobby group, Freedom To Fly, was set up by Stephen Hardwick who was an adviser to John Prescott and former head of public affairs at BAA. Freedom To Fly is now run by Dan Hodges, son of Glenda Jackson MP (Labour), and he was Labour's first aviation minister. And guess who he's married to? That's right, the director of Flying Matters, Michelle De Leo.

It's just one big happy family - kind of like the Waltons, but with a shitload more money and without the morals.


The Primitives - Lazy 86-88 (LP) (Lazy Records LAZY15 1989)

1. Thru The Flowers (Original Version)
2. Across My Shoulder
3. She Don't Need You
4. Lazy
5. Really Stupid
6. (We've) Found A Way (To The Sun)
7. Where The Wind Blows
8. Stop Killing Me
9. Buzz Buzz Buzz
10. Laughing Up My Sleeve
11. Shadow (Guitar Version)
12. Thru The Flowers
13. Everything Shining Bright

The Primitives - pwd: c4ctusm0uth

On The Bus

On The Bus

for a while I was a bus conductor
and one day my Dad got on my bus
and sat on the long seat next to my cubby hole
he was proud to see me in a uniform and a job
and in a loud voice he said to everyone
do you remember the bus conductor's outfit you had
when you were a boy John?
and I said no Dad
but I remember how you used to enjoy beating me

John Hegley - website

Zig Zag Sep 1984 - Ut, Sexbeat, Bronski Beat, Mod & Tom Verlaine

Lords-A-Leaping

Oh! If only...

So lets just get this straight. There will be no investigation, the Police have decided, into allegations that four members of the House of Lords were willing to influence or change laws in return for cash. Why? Because "The application of the criminal law to members of the House of Lords in the circumstances that have arisen here is far from clear".

Smashing. So definitely not one rule for Lords and another for everyone else then.


We've also been treated to the spectacle of the resignation of Sir James Crosby as deputy chairman of the FSA amid very murky circumstances. That'll be the same Sir James who, when he was head of HBOS (you remember - one of the many banks we have bailed out), fired the head of group regulatory risk - Paul Moore.

Now, Mr Moore appears to have just been doing his job as he had raised concerns regarding HBOS exposure to dodgy loans and the ability of the bank to recoup the money tied therein. He maintains he was fired as a result of his 'whistle-blowing' on the instability of the banks business model.

What is interesting is that the FSA investigated his claims at the time and reported that they had no merit. But, it appears from further reading, that Mr Moore's concerns centred around the ability of those sitting with the loans to repay them - not the wholesale drying up of money markets which eventually led to the bank being bailed out. So, in the strictest sense, his concerns were unfounded but, nonetheless, very real and surprisingly accurate although for different reasons.

The FSA do not dispute that they repeatedly warned HBOS about their risk management over a number of years from 2002-2006 which coincides nicely with the time that Sir James was in charge.

So, in the crazy mixed-up world of high finance, what happened next? In stepped good old Gordo, in his capacity as Chancellor, to appoint Sir James as deputy chairman of the FSA. Eureka! We get rid of the guy trying to get HBOS to get a handle on its risky finances and appoint the guy who fired him to be second-in-command of the "independent" body that regulates the banking industry FFS. (I should point out that the Financial Services Authority is funded by the very same firms it regulates and that the Treasury appoints its board - handy, eh? Not to say, very cosy.)

Naturally enough, Gordo, now as PM, denies any knowledge of anything being wrong anywhere ever.

It's All Alright Now

Further to my previous post about Gordo losing the rag....

IT'S OK!. EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT NOW because the former bosses of HBOS and RBS have said "sorry"!!

I'm organising a street party to celebrate the end of the Credit Crunch and everyones invited!

The ruling class - MPs, Sirs and Lords - took part in a three hour ritual of contriteness earlier today to demonstrate just how sorry they were that the game was up.

The four banking fuckwits told the MP fuckwits chairing todays Treasury Committee that they were very sorry they had had to accept millions of pounds for fucking up the economy and that, given the chance, they would do it all again - accept the money that is.

Sir Fred Goodwin, former chief exec of RBS, got by on a pittance of £4.2m in 2007.

Sir Tom McKillop, also RBS, wondered where his next meal was coming from on a platry £750k.

Just plain old Andy Hornby had to make do with £2m from HBOS while Lord Stevenson survived on £820k.

There was much talk of unforeseen global events and being unable to predict what would happen but then you have to wonder why they were paid so much to be in that position. Surely it was their job to understand the risks of what was going on? Similarly they appeared reluctant to accept responsibility for the mess they have left their banks in but again, that was what they were paid for - the responsibility.

It just underlines the supreme smugness of bosses the world over that they are happy to take the money while avoiding all the detritus that their methods leave the rest of us.

The Incredible Bulk

"Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

We don't like you anyway Gordo but that's beside the point.

PM Gordon Brown has stated that he is "very angry" about bankers receiving bonuses this year, given that the public have bailed them out, and he wants bankers to "consider waiving their right to them".

How fucking inept is it possible for one man to be!

On the one hand we have the Royal Bank of Scotland, given a £20bn pound handout from the public purse with the government (in their capacity as our representatives - ha, ha!) now owning 68% of the bank, proposing to pay out £1bn in bonuses and on the other hand, we have Mr Brown flapping ineffectively about "how the culture of rewarding failure was being ended" while expressing his anger but substantively doing naff-all about it. Boy, does he talk a good job.

And that is all it is - talk.

The RBS has made huge losses, would have ceased to exist were it not for our money and the best Gordo can come up with is a request that they "have a little think about not taking their bonuses this year because they have been very, very naughty and bad boys don't get sweeties for being naughty". Wake up and inhale the shit hitting the fan! These guys have had their snouts embedded in the trough of greed through mis-selling, mis-management and screwing everybody over for years now and he wants them to give all that up!

I thought the Police did a good job of rewarding outright failure but the execs at the banks are in a different league. "Yes, we've made huge losses. Yes, we wouldn't have jobs were it not for the tax-payer. Yes, we have right-royally fucked the entire global economy but we really think we all deserve a bonus so we are going to give ourselves one."

And with Gordon in charge, there appears to be very little anyone is going to do about it- they are, after all, all members of the same ruling class. And they know it.

Curve - Horror Head (EP)

I will confess to having found Toni Halliday of Curve particularly attractive in my youth. But then I think every Indie/Goth fan boy did given her topping the 'Most Desirable' chart in some naff poll or other at the time (after time).

But her voice was also one of the most appealing I have heard (if 'appealing' is the right word - probably alluring would have been better). Listen to 'Frozen' from the 'Coast Is Clear' EP and the 'oooh-ooh-ooh-ooohh' bit at 1min 50sec in still sends shivers right down my spine into my nether regions.

By lucky coincidence the excellent Archived Music Press blog, which has scans from the Melody Maker and NME from 1987-1996 - the period immediately following my own Zig Zag posts but still encompassing a hefty section of my musical development, has posted the 26th October MM interview by Steve Sutherland.

And, as if that weren't coincidence enough, the equally worthy Station Approach music blog posted Curve's debut album 'Doppelganger' on 14th January. 'Horror Head' is on the album but the other three tracks on this EP aren't.

Note that rips from this point on will be in .7z file format, as suggested by Jorgon Gorgon, to avoid further confusion over extraction. In short, get 7zip - it's free ffs.


Curve - Horror Head (EP) (Anxious Records ANXT38 1992)

1. Horror Head (Remix)
2. Falling Free
3. Mission From God
4. Today Is Not The Day

Curve - Link Redirected Following Dave's Comment

Daddy, What Does Regret Mean?

Lux Interior has died.

And I blame Iggy. First to go was Ron Asheton aged 60. Now we have had Lux Interior aged 60 (can you see where I am going with this yet?). We only need one more cool as fuck, influential music genius to bite the dust aged 60 and we have proof.

That's right - proof.

Ye Highlander you dribbling idiot, proof of what?

Proof that Iggy sold his soul to make those fucking annoying SwiftCover adverts.

Huh?

Well think about it. Ron Asheton aged 60. Lux Interior aged 60. Next punk dude aged 60. And you have 666 - the number of the corporate Beast. (With a bit of messing about with the figures obviously - which is what all those conspiracy nutters do in order to validate their bizarre proclamations). You see? It's virtually proof that the Devil exists.

Riiigghhht. Are you sleeping OK at the moment H?

I'm not actually, thanks for asking, but that doesn't detract from my water-tight Iggy-sold-his-soul-to-make-a-quick-buck-selling-insurance-for-the-Man-and-in-the-process-ensured-the-deaths-of-3-legends-aged-60 theorem. It was clearly part of the deal. And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, be sure and tell her, SATAN, SATAN, SATAN!!

To Any Dead Officer

To Any Dead Officer

Well, how are things in Heaven? I wish you'd say,
Because I'd like to know that you're all right.
Tell me, have you found everlasting day,
Or been sucked in by everlasting night?
For when I shut my eyes your face shows plain;
I hear you make some cheery old remark -
I can rebuild you in my brain,
Though you've gone out patrolling in the dark.

You hated tours of trenches; you were proud
Of nothing more than having good years to spend;
Longed to get home and join the careless crowd
Of chaps who work in peace with Time for friend.
That's all washed out now. You're beyond the wire:
No earthly chance can send you crawling back;
You've finished with machine-gun fire -
Knocked over in a hopeless dud-attack.

Somehow I always thought you'd get done in,
Because you were so desperate keen to live:
You were all out to try and save your skin,
Well knowing how much the world had got to give.
You joked at shells and talked the usual "shop,"
Stuck to your dirty job and did it fine:
With "Jesus Christ! when will it stop?
Three years... It's hell unless we break their line."

So when they told me you'd been left for dead
I wouldn't believe them, feeling it must be true.
Next week the bloody Roll of Honour said
"Wounded and missing" - (That's the thing to do
When lads are left in shell-holes dying slow,
With nothing but blank sky and wounds that ache,
Moaning for water till they know
It's night, and then it's not worth while to wake!)

Good-bye, old lad! Remember me to God,
And tell Him that our Politicians swear
They won't give in till Prussian Rule's been trod
Under the Heel of England... Are you there? ...
Yes ... and the War won't end for at least two years;
But we've got stacks of men... I'm blind with tears,
Staring into the dark. Cheero!
I wish they'd killed you in a decent show.

Siegfried Sassoon

Zig Zag Sep 1984 - X-Mal Deutschland & Hysteria

The Hysteria scan is by request of Longy at Punk Friction. Enjoy Longy - you can show your sister.