The Whiskey Priests - Live in Studio Demo (1986)

Four piece punk band formed in late 1985 by Peter Hurst (guitars, former Marshmallow Overcoat), Paul Scott (bass, former Marshmallow Overcoat, Western Diplomats), Pete Pulford (bass, vocals and tapes), Jon Sharples (drums). They released a self-named 6 track demo in 1986. They played in the Liverpool area (about ten gigs, supporting such acts like Crikey it’s the Cromptons and Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus). After a gig Faith in Pleasure Magazine (1986) commented: ‘There is the singer Pete, the guitarist Pete, a bass player playing his bass with his back to the audience and a drummer who kicks fuck out of his drums. […] the racket is harsh & angry & kicks you on the knees. William Burroughs provides a running commentary cut up throughout. […] The racket though is very, very good. […] They did seem very self destructive.’ Here is how the band sounds:

Live in the Studio Demo (ca. 1986)

- My God Is My Gun

- Ghost Rooms

- Smokestack Lightning

- Cigarette Movies

- Forget It All

Before splitting in Summer 1986 they offered the track Forget It All (a cover of a Hoi Polloi song) for the compilation Bugs On The Wire (1987, see relevant post).

wp – studio live

(Major thanks to Pete Hurst himself, who made this post possible!)

Pete Hurst (pre-Whiskey Priests)

After the split of Dementia, Pete Hurst (the drummer with the band, formerly with Dance Ritual, Green Cube, Patterns, Marshmallow Overcoat) spent some time with Mr. Toad and The Naughty Majorcans. During his time with the band Hurts worked on some solo material, which saw the light of day on the Compilation Ways to Wear Coats (the numbers Through The Binoculars Of The People and End (with, Brian N. Smithers) see relevant post). In the same period Hurts worked with Pete Pulford on some demos.

Pre-Whiskey Priests Demo (ca. 1985)

- Witchcraft and Communism

- Woman in Red 24

Soon after came the Whiskey Priests.

demo

(Major thanks to Pete Hurst himself, who made this post possible!)

Dementia (1983-85)

This punk act originated in late 1983 when Jimmy McVeigh (vocals, former Reiner Chaos) and Tudor (guitar, vocals, former Public Disgrace, later Gone to Earth, Mr. Toad & the Naught Majorcans, Suicide Stars) − both from Das Reiner − were joined by Pete Hurst (drums, former Dance Ritual, Green Cube, Patterns, later Mr. Toad & the Naught Majorcans) and Mike Poole (bass, later Suicide Stars).

Here is how Breakthrough Magazine described the band:

‘Whilst all four members of the band share the standard punk philosophy, they are by no means the standard band playing 1-2-3-4 Thrash, thrash, thrash. […]. In late ’83 Dementia (named after the 50’s slasher movie DEMENTIA VIII) experimented with two drummers to achieve that wonderful, full heavy drum sound made famous by Gary Glitter but they soon found that Hursty could provide the required sound on his own. As well as Gary Glitter, Dementia are influenced by the New York Dolls, and even pay homage with their own version of ‘Mystery Girls’. […] Dementia hope to be a force to be reckoned with in their own area of music − not just punk, but rock as well. In fact, punk-rock.’

‘Live Dementia provide a visual good show […] The songs are meaty and played well by all the band members.’ (March 1985)

In March 1985 the band released their first and only official record, an eponymous Mini-Lp on Skysaw.

Dementia (1985)

Side A.

- Easy Way Out - Fear - I’m Gonna

Side B.

- Written in Blood - Embarkation - Basic Feelings - Back in the States

Later the same year Skysaw released a tape (also called Dementia) containing all the tracks of the Mini-Lp plus three extra tracks. By early 1986, Dementia were no more: after having sessioned for the folk-punk act Gone to Earth in 1985, Tudor joined them for good; Poole (and later Tudor) joined Suicide Star; Hurst spent some time (again with Tudor ) in Mr. Toad & The Naughy Majorcans.

Dementia

(Major thanks to Pete Hurst himself, who made this post possible!)

(see also http://uk82.150m.com/bands/dementia.html )

Das Reiner - Demo (1982)

Das Reiner came about when Tudor (guitar, vocals) left Public Disgrace, the first Liverpool hardocre punk act (see relevant post), to join Reiner Chaos. This was a punk band (originally called Great British Mistake Part 2) formed in 1982 and consisting of Chris Dollar (vocals), Chris McGuire (guitar), Dave Hughes (guitar, vocals, later Danse Macabre), Jimmy McVeigh (bass, also later Danse Macabre), Oz (aka Ozzy, guitar), and Dave Bellamy (drums). As to their beginnings the band recalls: ‘The first gig we’ve ever done was at the Everyman Bistro and we were known as the Great British Mistake Part 2, and we were asked to leave after 3 minutes. It was a fun gig and it was our start in life’. As to their recorded material Oz concedes: ‘‘The best thing we ever had was a cassette recording made in my living room in early 1982, I think, which was accidentally recorded over late one night by an out of brain Dave H and was never heard again. Shame coz it was really rather good.’ Towards the end of the year Hughes quit and was replaced by Tudor (later Dementia, Gone To Earth, Mr Toad & The Naughty Majorcans), this line-up changed their name to Das Reiner and released their demo in late 1982.

Demo (1982)

- Funny Farm
- Problem in My Head
- Love for Sale

demo