Sunday 5 October 2014

Johnny Curious & The Strangers - Pissheadsville


































After asking for suggestions for songs that I could add to the blog I received a shout from David Burt who said "... I like the Scabs interview & good to see Martin & The Brownshirts. How about adding Johnny Curious & The Strangers?" The reasons for me doing this blog are twofold, firstly I'm hoping people will discover some great music that they were previously unaware of and secondly, I'm hoping I'll discover some great music that I was previously unaware of. Hopefully everyone's a winner today.
A bit of research tells me that Johnny Curious & The Strangers originated in Welwyn Garden City in 1976 and featured a line up consisting of Bob Greene (bass/vocals), Alan Cowley (lead guitar/vocals), John Phillips (rhythm guitar/vocals) and Ian Cowley (drums). By 1977 they'd saved up enough money to book a couple of days recording time at Spacewood Studios and they put together a 4 track demo which attracted the attention of Lee Wood who wanted to release it. Unfortunately their manager at the time, Sue Black, vetoed this as she was courting interest from major labels, it eventually ended up released in a re recorded and watered down version on Miles Copeland's Illegal Records. They attracted the interest of John Peel, shared a bill with several name bands, including The Stranglers, Siouxsie And The Banshees, X Ray Spex, Adam And The Ants and The Heartbreakers but by early 1978 things pretty much fizzled out. If you want to read more, there's a very good interview with John Phillips here : http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/johnnycuriousinterview.htm

The song I'm posting is taken from their 1978 single, this is Pissheadsville.....

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