Above/below: front/back of the ‘Cheree’ Red Star/Bronze UK picture sleeve.

Above/below: Red Star/Bronze UK promo 1977/Demon UK promo reissue 1986

Listen: Cheree / Suicide
Cheree

Occasionally some courageous soul challenges Suicide as pioneers, claiming Silver Apples or Beaver & Krause soldiered through the unexplored industrial wild, wild west before them. Not to take anything away from either, but seriously folks. No one has ever combined menace and grace like Alan Vega and Marty Rev. Not then, not now.

Upon release in ’77, two copies of Suicide’s debut album came into the record shop I worked for. Needing nothing more than one look at the sleeve while checking in that distributor’s shipment, I decided then and there neither were finding their way to the racks. Instead, both came home with me that night, and immediately the second copy went into Howard Thompson’s pile, readying it for mailing off to London as part of our ongoing record exchange pact. Eventually signing Suicide to Bronze UK, Howard also had the guts to issue ‘Cheree’ as a 7″ A side.

Turns out the band were completely accepting of the hostility which awaited them at every stop of their first British tour, supporting both Elvis Costello & The Attractions then The Clash on that initial visit. Much attention has been focused through the years on the violent reactions Suicide successfully provoked, having everything, including an axe, hurdled at them during their sets.

Howard and Bronze, as undeterred as the band, pressed up the now very rare promo only live album, loosely known as 23 MINUTES IN BRUSSELS from two of those nights, complete with the cold blooded hatred the unsuspecting audience spewed, almost as powerfully relentless as Suicide themselves. Almost, being the key word.

Simply one of the greatest live albums ever recorded, additionally, it’s a glaring artifact of how transparent and mainstream media driven many punk audiences really were in ’78 and therein lay the proof.

No surprise that, other than John Peel, BBC Radio 1 wouldn’t touch ‘Cheree’. Bless them. Probably the last thing Suicide needed then or ever, was a hit single. Instead, they’ve graduated to higher forms of life just fine without one.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Alan Vega

Listen: Overkill / Motorhead
Overkill / Motorhead

Seminal single. Seminal song actually. Not that I need to tell anyone this. But funny enough, many of the most common records I post get the greatest number of plays. Go figure.

As with lots of singles considered hard core metal, like rap, electronic and dance, a 7″ is fairly uncommon. I don’t see many ‘Overkill’ copies on 45 about, and therefore love this one even that much more.

Listen: Too Late, Too Late / Motorhead
Too Late, Too Late / Motorhead

The A side is certainly well known, but I’m pretty sure ‘Too Late, Too Late’ never made it to an album. Guessing it’s been scraped off the barrel bottom to resell the fans on a ‘Best of’ cd with pretty much material they already own, but as a traditional vinyl B side….here you go.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Lemmy

Now the real point of this Motorhead post is to give you a look at the jukebox tab Lemmy filled out a few weeks back.

Here’s the thing, Lemmy will do anything for Howard Thompson. HT pretty much has carte blanche with him. In short, when no one was interested in signing Motorhead, and I do mean no one, Howard saw the obvious while running A&R at Bronze, gave them a singles deal and the rest is indeed, history.

So tagging along with him to a Motorhead show is a no brainer. Into Lemmy’s inner dressing room we go, complete with all the trimmings. Meaning lots of Jack and coke, and potato chips. And Lemmy of course, gracious as can be.

Hanging out with the man from Motorhead is a major thrill, period. For me, the added value of sitting talking with one of The Rockin’ Vickers is basically priceless.