Monday 5 January 2009


Down With Imperialism are just about the only words of Mr. Rudeforths' that are audible on this live recording. It was recorded from behind the PA system and unfortunately the quality is not great. Later when I joined in on vocals I can just about be heard saying "My uncle Frederick was a good man with an axe". Of course I never had an uncle Frederick, I did have an uncle Frank though, he was my Grandads' brother and they lived next door to each other. Bob (my Grandad) was a cantankerous old git and would sometimes not speak to Frank for months on end even though they would be in their respective gardens a few feet away from each other for hours.
So, Down With Imperialism it is then.
This is the oldest surviving live tape from WKDN, it was our first gig as a five piece. Terry and I had flats very close by so we could get out of our trees in the comfort of our own home and go round the corner to play, it was a community benefit type thing and we played in the afternoon just after the children's entertainer who is heard right at the beginning.
Mark and I had been jamming with Terry for a few weeks and this concert marks his first live appearance with us. The tapes of the three of us were stolen many years ago, a very sad loss as they were very special. The improvisations were of a flowing structure that knocked us out at the time. A little of that is discernable through the murk of this tape.
This is also Mr. Rudeforths' first appearance with the group. I asked him to come along and recite some stuff, the only proviso being that he said What Katy Did Next at the beginning, which he duly did although I don't think it's audible. He moved on to radio, tapes and sound effects for the rest of his considerable stint with us.
Johnny Tasker was the first singer with the Luddites, I got to know him and invited him to join, he didn't want to sing and we didn't have any songs so since he was a non-musician he played the short-wave radio. He first started jamming with us playing a gas cannister from a portable gas heater but the novelty very soon wore off. Unfortunately Johnny died a few years ago.
We often used to chuck in a bit of Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd just for jolly but on this occasion it was excruciating as my guitar was out of tune cos I'd been messing with it and detuning the E string so I abandoned it to shout shortly afterwards. We went over our allotted time limit and the tape ends as they turned the power off. That's me at the end saying - "The trouble with these sort of people nowadays is they never know when to stop, they never know...".

What Katy Did Next - Live at The Wellington Lane Community Centre in Hull - 3.9.83.

The line-up is...

Mr. Rudeforth - Voice.
Paul Moller - Guitar, voice.
Johnny Tasker - Short-Wave Radio.
Mark Fell - Bass.
Terry Parkinson - Drums.

You can find it here...

http://www.archive.org/details/WhatKatyDidNext-downWithImperialism

Enjoy!

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