Crass Records

I bought my first ever record in 1979 aged just 11 years old. The record was 'The Great Rock n Roll Swindle' by the Sex Pistols. Having been brought up in a large family, I had 5 older sisters and an older brother, I was always aware of music being played throughout my early years. Unlike some people who claim to have grown up listening to their parent's or older sibling's eclectic record collections the music I grew up listening to was provided by David Cassidy, The New Seekers, Bay City Rollers, The Osmonds and whatever pop was in the charts of the day. It was no surprise then that the Pistols would make such an immediate impact on me. It was probably the swearing that hooked me at first. I was only 11 years old remember and swearing was still generally frowned upon at the time. The music was compelling as well. This might not have been a classic Pistols single but it still sounded a lot more relevant to my young ears than any amount of tartan clad Scottish boy bands ever could. I didn't know at the time that the Pistols had by then split up and punk was virtually dead. Not that I would probably have cared anyway. I had 3 years of music to catch up on and I spent the next year and every penny I had buying every punk record I could find. I basically spent every avaliable moment I had searching through record shops, market stalls, jumble sales, anywhere I could find some precious vinyl. It wasn't long before the second wave of punk came along and I became as obsessed with those groups as much as I was with the Pistols and Clash etc. One day I heard some older guys talking about a new group called Crass and on a visit to Glasgow the next weekend I set about trying to find their records. I remember looking in the window of one city centre record shop and seeing Bloody Revolutions on the wall. I still remember the excitement and the disappointment to this day. Excited because I knew for sure that this new band existed and I loved the look of the records cover. Disappointed because it was a Sunday and at that time not many shops opened on that day. It wasn't long though before I got my hands on some Crass records and so began yet another obsession that would last me for the rest of my school days. The great thing about Crass and their record label was the price of the records. Every sleeve had the words 'Pay No More Than ...' Sometimes it was 75p other times even less. Usually the records came in a fold out sleeve with one side a giant poster and the other political writings and slogans. For someone my age, relying on pocket money to fund my obsession it was a dream come true. Here are 4 EPs released on Crass Records in 1981/1982.

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Flux Of Pink Indians - Neu Smell EP [1981]

01 Neu Smell

02 Tube Disasters

03 Poem

04 Sick Butches

05 Background Of Malfunction

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Rudimentary Peni - Farce EP [1982]

01 Sacrifice
02 Cosmetic Plague
03 Subdued Violence
04 Only Human
05 The Bile Ball
06 Farce
07 Bloody Jellies
08 Mice Race
09 Defined By Age
10 Zero Again
11 Bubble

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Conflict - The House That Man Built EP [1982]

01 Conflict
02 I've Had Enough
03 Wargames
04 Blind Attack

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Anthrax - Capitalism Is Cannibalism EP [1982]

01 Capitalism Is Cannibalism
02 Violence Is Violence
03 Prime To Pension
04 All Things Bright And Beautiful

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DOWNLOAD

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Thanks to : Phantasmagoria138

Crass : 12 Songs

Further to the previous post 'Jeffrey Lewis : 12 Crass Songs' here are the original versions of the songs in the same running order. Which versions do you prefer?

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Tracklist:

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01 End Result *

02 I Ain't Thick It's Just A Trick **

03 Systematic Death ***

04 Gasman Cometh **

05 Banned From The Roxy *

06 Where Next Columbus? ***

07 Do They Owe Us A Living? *

08 Securicor *

09 Demoncrats **

10 Big A, Little A ****

11 Punk Is Dead *

12 Walls (Fun In The Oven) **

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NB. Asterisks indicate the original album which each song is from.

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The original versions of the songs can be found over 4 Crass albums : Click on the links below for more info and to buy them at a great price.
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Feeding_Of_The_5,000 *
Stations_Of_The_Crass **
Penis_Envy ***
Best_Before ****
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Crass + Crass_forum + Wikipedia

Jeffrey Lewis : 12 Crass Songs

Anyone who has the idea to cover a Crass song in a folk(y) style must be crazy. To record a full album of such compositions would seem like the worst idea in the history of popular music. The end result would have to sound like an unfunny joke. The Wurzels covering Anarchy In The Uk anyone? How Jeffrey Lewis came up with this idea is anyone's guess and how anyone could give him the encouragement and help in turning the idea into an actual project is unfathomable. But do it he did and guess what, it turns out it wasn't a bad idea at all. Crass songs were never written with acoustic guitars, strings, tinkly piano and girlie backing vocals but Lewis pulls it all together and with help of some subtle lyric changes along with some not so subtle, brings the whole thing bang up to date. I can imagine hardcore Crass devotees being horrified by their beloved songs (and politics) being sabotaged by an American (anti) folk musician but what Lewis does is prove that you can get the same message across without having to scream at the top of your voice. Of course on a project like this some songs work better than others, Banned From The Roxy, I A'int Thick and Where Next Columbus? being the best of the bunch but the album certainly works surprisingly well as a whole.
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Download Jeffrey_Lewis_-_12_Crass_Songs here
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Buy Jeffrey_Lewis here
Jeffrey_Lewis website
Wikipedia

Crass

The above picture was taken from my first ever gig (apart from a few local bands. The date was July 3rd 1981, The venue was the Trinity Church in Irvine, Ayrshire and the band was anarcho-punk collective Crass supported by Poison Girls and Annie Anxiety. The gig was organised by the local branch of CND and tickets cost a whopping £1. At the time I still had one month to go until I became a teenager but was already heavily into Crass the band as well as the label. I remember very little about the gig except for small incidental bits and pieces. One day at school rumours were going about that Crass were playing a gig in Irvine. The first initial feeling of cynicism soon gave way to excitement when I finally realised it was true. The excitement soon turned to anxiety as I wondered whether my parents would think me old enough to attend such an event. They obviously knew that I had been into the punk scene for a couple of years, even at such an early age, but playing records in my bedroom was one thing, actually attending a gig full of older people with such a bad reputation thanks to the tabloid press was quite another. I needn't have worried. Over dinner that night I mentioned it to my mother who only asked one question, 'how much will it cost?'. Straight away she handed me the one pound saying I better be quick as it will sell out with it being that cheap. On the actuak night of the gig my friend and I headed into town quite early to find large groups of people hanging around the town centre, drinking and being loud but generally well behaved. I always remember that most of the punks hanging around were wearing Exploited t-shirts which was a bit strange as their was a definite divide between the Exploited kind of punk and Crass (Crass sang 'Punk Is Dead', the Exploited sang 'Punk's Not Dead'). I must have looked really out of place. For some reason I remember wearing a blue cord jacket that night and even though I would have had a few badges on the lapel there was no other indication that I was going to the same place as those older guys wearing leather jackets, bondage trousers, studs and mohicans. Looking back I was probably closer to the true meaning of punk with my (unintentional) individual look than all the clones but it didn't feel that way at the time. When the doors of the venue opened, which was a bit strange considering Crass's anti-religious views) we were among the first people in, heading straight to the front of the stage. There was plenty of space at this time but having had no experience of gigs this size I didn't realise that the place would soon be jam packed. First on stage was Annie_Anxiety an American poet/singer/painter/actor who really didn't go down well at all with the meat heads in the crowd looking for a 3 chord thrash to pogo thuggishly to. It was hard not to feel sorry for her as she was booed and abused relentlessly and even more disgracefully, continually spat on by a section of the audience. At times she looked close to tears but full credit to her for gamely finishing her set and not giving in to those disgusting neantherals. Next up came Poison_Girls. Again the female singer was subjected to abuse and spitting but Vi Subversa (singer) was a different proposition. A lot older than most of the audience and in no mood to be intimidated by those yobs she stopped the band halfway through a song and growled ' we will not continue to be spat on'. Sensing that the gig may be abandoned the abuse halted apart from one or two of the thickest in the crowd. The band finished their set without any further incident. While waiting for Crass to appear my gig going naivity really became apparent. Me and my friend were right at the front, leaning on the stage when we noticed someone trying to push their way in. Even at our young age we weren't for giving up the space where we had stood since the doors opened. Eventually the guy, a few years older than us realised he was getting nowhere and tried a different plan of attack. Tapping us on the shoulder 'excuse me but I'm with the band and I've got to get on stage for a few songs. Any chance I could get in there?' My friend and I looked at each other and at the same time replied ' yes, no problem'. Needless to say Mr Crassman watched the rest of the gig from the place where we should have been standing, getting no closer to the band than we had been . Still to this day I remember that lesson and have never given up my space at a gig since. I don't really remember much about Crass's performance. Right at the start of their first song a large brawl broke out just behind us. Almost as if it was pre arranged to begin at the first chord. There was a report in the following week's local paper about the fighting and I thought when my parents read it I would be banned from any further gigs. It was never mentioned. So that was my first ever gig experience. I never got to see any of those bands again but they do still hold fond memories for me.
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LISTEN
Crass - Punk Is Dead listen
Crass - Big man Big MAN listen
Crass - It's The Greatest Working Class Rip Off listen
Poison Girls - Old Tart listen
Poison Girls - State Control listen
Poison Girls - Persons Unknown listen
Annie Anxiety - Cyanide Tears listen
Annie Anxiety - Hello Horror listen
Annie Anxiety - Burnt Offerings listen
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BUY
Crass - Southern_Records - Amazon
Poison Girls - Amazon
Annie Anxiety - Amazon