Dan Whaley

Attention Deficit Disorder - Scaledown 25th Nov

2011-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

Really, who has the time or patience to bother with long songs? Life should mirror The Ramones' It's Alive album - no song longer than 2' 40".

Taking this approach down a slightly more extreme avenue will be Attention Deficit Disorder, a new one off project in which I will play 30 numbers in 15 minutes (that's 30 seconds per tune for those of you struggle with maths).

It'll be at SCALEDOWN, The King & Queen, 1 Foley St. London W1 on Fri 25th Nov. Admission is free, the evening kicks off at about half 7, and other acts include the mighty Don Tempi, Foulkestone and a bunch of other oddball acts.

Folk By The Fireside - 3rd Weds of each month at The Woolpack, Burgess Hill

2011-11-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Next Folk By The Fireside session at the Woolpack, Burgess Hill will be on Weds 18th Jan, tune up and chinwag from 8.30, music from 9. All singers, musicans and those who want to come along and listen will be most welcome:

Movember a go go

2011-10-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. This is a subject close to my heart, or close to my scrote to be more precise, as I had testicular cancer back in 1994. Happily it was found in good time and I was able to successfully confront it and whup it.

But hang on a doggone moment - you already have a 'tache!

Indeed I do, but I will shortly be digging out my rusty ol' razor and whipping off my 'tache and beard - first time my chin and top lip have been bare since 2008. My chops will remain though - they've been there since 1987 and I'm not about to whip them off, no matter how good the cause.

If you'd like to donate (or even join in) please click on http://mobro.co/eviljack where you can find full details of the 'Tache Team I have joined - Mr Mark Braby's Fancy Ticklers.

If you're wary of donating via electrickery you can write a cheque payable to “Movember”, reference my name and Registration Number 1861136 and send it to: Movember Europe, PO Box 68600, London, EC1P 1EF

Funds raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others. Through the Movember Foundation and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and The Institute of Cancer Research, Movember is funding world class awareness, research, educational and support programs which would otherwise not be possible.

Thank you in advance for helping me change the face of men's health.

Dan Whaley

Freshly shorn of 'tache and beard, 31st Oct, 2011...

Charles Napier R.I.P.

2011-10-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

So the sad news came through this morning that Charles Napier has died. I liked him enough to name a band and a couple of songs after him. About 10 years ago he heard about the Napiers, got in contact and told me how chuffed he was to have a band named in his honour. A fine fellow.

Other Bands

2011-09-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Shockwaves (1984-88)

Mark Ashdown - Vocals, Guitar
Dave "Stick" Carroll - Guitar 84-86
Clive Pearman - Guitar 86-88
Dan Whaley - Bass
Jon Delafons - Drums

A bunch of teenagers with little or no interest in the music of their generation, instead brought up on a diet of punk rock, psychobilly, garage and noise. Highlights of their "career" include playing gigs at the mighty Hammersmith Clarendon & Sir George Robey in Finsbury Park, and recording 8 tracks with late, legendary producer Dave Goodman for a split LP on Mike Spenser's Hit Records that alas never saw the light of day. Shame really, as 20 years down the line the 8 tracks recorded still sound great (in my humble opinion)

After we ground to a halt in 1988, Jon went on to join The Shamen and has been drumming in The Alabama 3 since 1995. Clive and I have been playing on and off together ever since in The Napiers, The McDeath Trio, etc.

The Orange World (1986-87)

Matt Branton - Vocals
John Lambie - Guitar
Dan Whaley - Bass
Phil Jones - Drums

Probably the least said about this combo the better. Matt went on to be a celebrated novelist with a bunch of books out on Bloomsbury. Phil moved to NZ. John is now a University Lecturer in Cambridge.

The Insects (1989-91)

Gaius de Smidt - Vocals, Keyboards
Dan Whaley - Guitar, Vocals
John Skittles - Bass
Paul Rollins - Drums

The first band following my switch from bass to guitar, and the beginning of a 16 year partnership with John Skittles which carried on right up to the demise of the Napiers in 2005. The Insects' music was a folk/punk hybrid, occasionally veering dangerously too far to the folk side of the fence for my tastes at that time. Oh the irony that I now run a folk club...

The Million Lira Quartet (1998-99)

Steve Pomeroy: Vocals/Guitar
Dan Whaley: Guitar/Vocals
Tim Potter: Double Bass
Keith Wilson: Drums

Originally envisioned as a one off playing rock'n'roll numbers for Keith's wedding, we all had such a blast that we decided to carry on. The name of course is a pun on The Million Dollar Quartet featuring Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee, the joke being that a million Lira was worth about sixteen quid.
A year later Tim & I departed but were replaced (after a few false starts) by Andy Sier (Sires/Bristols/Honey & The Hucksters/The Turnabouts) on guitar and John Skittles (Napiers/Diaboliks/Wolfmen) on bass with the band now going under the name of The One Eyed Jacks.
For further info on Steve Pom, check out his website http://www.stephenjpomeroy.com/

The Turnabouts (2000)

Steve Pomeroy: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums
Andy Sier: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums
Dan Whaley: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums

This band only existed for one rehearsal, one 3 song live set & one recording session. The idea behind it was to take three multi-instrumentalists, pick 3 songs and have the musicians rotate instruments for each song, which worked very well indeed, even if I do say so myself.

The Dragnet 3 (2001-02)

Nico Van Malssen: Drums & Vocals
Dan Whaley: Bass & Vocals
Sander Van Malssen: Guitar

In 2001 I was living in Holland and itching to start a new band, so thanks to a fine fellow by the name of SJ Bink I was introduced to Nico, whose combo with his brother Sander (The 1-2-5) was in mothballs at that time. The three of us got together in a dingy Amsterdam basement, bashed out a selection of garage classics and Nederbiet numbers and within 3 months were hopping on a plane to London to support Wilko Johnson at the Dirty Water Club. Further gigs followed at a trash festival at The Cluny in Newcastle, at the Wild Weekend in Benidorm and finally in our adopted home town of Amsterdam before our premature demise caused by my permanent return to the UK.

By this time Sander & Nico had pulled the dust covers off the 1-2-5, which carried on until 2008 or so.

Update: On Friday 20th April 2007 I hopped up to play on a couple of numbers with The 1-2-5 at the Dirty Water Club in Tufnell Park, so all 3 Dragnets were on stage at the same time for the first time in 5 years. Also playing were the fantastic Thanes and Greece's excellent Frantic V.

Further update: On Saturday 14th July, 2007 we reconvened in a rehearsal room in Amsterdam. Sander pulled out a setlist from our last gig in 2002 and to our utter amazement about 3/4 of it sounded like we'd last played it a week ago, rather than 5 1/2 years ago. Next rehearsal is booked for sometime in 2012...

Further further update: Summer 2011 - Elvi from Italy is doing her best to get the Dragnets back together. In principle we're all up for it, so if we can overcome the geographical limitations (and our collective idleness), we may well be treading the boards again. I think Sander has put together a Dragnet 3 Facebook page, but as I am vehemently anti Facebook I can't verify this.

The Silencers (2003-05)

Geoff Graham: Vocals & Piano
Pete Bradbury: Guitar & Vocals
Dan Whaley: Bass
Paul DuPoy/Graham Leaney/Craig Joynes/Mark out of Slight Return: Drums

It all started in early 2003 when I answered an ad placed by Pete looking for a bass player /singer to join a blues trio. It didn't take Pete long to see that although I can play the bass, I can't sing for toffee, so to cut a long story short we hooked up with the extremely talented joanna spanker Geoff Graham and started playing pub gigs, more often than not with stand in drummer Mark as regular drummers tended not to hang around too long. By mid 2005 the ongoing drummer difficulties were proving too much hassle, so we called it a day. Pete & Geoff went on to form Beatville, and Geoff & I formed The Flaming Czars.

The Flying Saucers (2008)

Geoff Graham: Vocals & Piano
Dan Whaley: Guitar
Tim Potter: Double Bass
Danny O'Brien: Drums

Born out of a Flaming Czars rehearsal in March 2008 when Geoff put his accordion down, sat at the piano and said "let's play some rock'n'roll". Danny & Tim were both happy to lend a hand on drum'n'bass, so on 25th April 2008 we had a quick runthrough/rehearsal of 4 R'n'R stompers (this being the first time Geoff & Tim had ever met, and the first time Geoff, Tim & Danny had played together). 20 minutes later we played the tunes live to a rapturous audience.

Waterfield & Whaley (2008-)

Mark Waterfield: Vocals, blowy things
Dan Whaley: Strummy things

Union folk songs, played on whatever instruments happen to be available

The Brilleaux Pads (2008-)

JBrilleaux: Lee
Ricko Johnson: Wilko
Dan B Sparks: Sparko
The Little Figure: The Big Figure

Yep, in case you can't make head nor tail of what's written above, The Brilleaux Pads were a Wilko-era Dr Feelgood tribute band. The idea was first mooted in early 2003, but it took us 5 years and a drunken evening to actually do something about it.

The Earls of Monte Cristo (2010-)

Dan: Cigar Box Guitar
Clive: Cigar Box Guitar

Plus a few others...

Green Ray (1991)
Dan Whaley: Guitar
Mark Ashdown: Bass
Mark Braby: Drums
Alas never made it out of the rehearsal room (which more often than not was my front room)

The Electric Nuggets (1994)
Alan Lacroix: Vocals & Guitar
Clive Pearman: Guitar
Dan Whaley: Bass
Paul Rollins: Drums
Specially convened for one gig only. Didn't have a name until we were on stage and the MC asked what we were called and as we were playing a bunch of 60s garage stormers The Electric Nuggets seemed to fit the bill. Alan Lacroix is a blisteringly good guitarist, and a damn fine singer too.

The Pete Sounds Houseband (1997)
Steve Pomeroy, Dan Whaley, Mark Braby, Adrian Morris
(all playing Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals, etc backing a host of guest vocalists/musicians performing the songs of Monsieur Pete Evans)

The Ray Mondo Combo (2002)
Studio-only band featuring Danny O'Brien, Dan Whaley, Andy Boyal, Hatch End Joe and El Gimpo. Sole recording was the magnificent spaghetti western-ish 'Pistolo de Oro'

The Whom (2002)
Billy 'Bossa' Taylor: Daltrey
Steve Pomeroy: Townshend
Dan Whaley: Entwistle
Mark Braby: Moon
Put together for a one off gig. Rehearsals were fantastic - Braby's Moon impersonation was spot on - he managed to wreak equal amounts of havoc upon the rehearsal room drumkit and his hands after the first song. Annoyingly (for me, anyhow) art imitated life and at the last minute I was unable to make the gig (not, I hasten to add, because I was found dead whilst conkers deep up a Vegas hooer - much more mundane - my daughter was ill) so Andy Hale stepped in and was the Pino Palladino to my John Entwistle.

Unnamed Pub Rock Combo (2003)
Pre-Silencers band comprising Pete Bradbury & me on Guitar & bass, the stunningly-voiced Susie on vocals and excellent drummer Guy Hall. One day Susie just vanished off the face off the earth and that was the end of that.

Unnamed Rock'n'Roll Combo (2003)
Never made it out of the rehearsal room (thank GOD). The only good thing to come out of this fiasco was Geoffthepianist (see The Flaming Czars and The Silencers)

Wheezin' Honeydew Van Buren & Hamfisted Willie Jefferson (2004)
Dan Whaley: slide guitar
Clive Pearman: resonator
Put together for the second Scaledown night in July 2004, at which we played a selection of New York, Manchester and Earlsfield folk blues numbers

The Hideous Replicas (2005)
Stood in on bass for a couple of rehearsals in preparation for a gig supporting some twerp from the Inspiral Carpets that alas fell through

The Redeemers (2005)
Mid 2005 The Napiers & The Silencers had both split and in a panic I jumped into the first band that came along. Nice guys, but not really what I wanted to do, so I jumped straight out again, but recommended Graham from The Silencers to them when they found themselves drummerless, who is still bashing the skins for them

Long Tall Shorty (2005)
For 3 rehearsals I was the bassplayer in LTS. Then the departing bassist decided he didn't want to leave after all so I joined the long, long list of ex-members of LTS. Shame, it would have been nice to have done at least one gig with them.

Double Cutching Daddies (2007)

Steve Pom: Vocals & git

Dan: Git & vocals
Danny: Drums & vocals
Mike O: lap steel
Shitkickin' Truckdrivin' Motherlovin' Country combo. Only did one gig, but gave us an excuse to wear our best duds'n'stetsons. Sheeeeeeeeit.

Laszlo Klemke - renowned late Czechoslovakian composer (of Hungarian descent)

2011-08-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

For many years it was assumed that the entire repertoire of late lamented Czechoslovakian film composer Laszlo Klemke had been lost (his grandmother was Hungarian if you're wondering about his first name...)

However, now, many years after his death, some of his magnificent film soundtracks are finally starting to see the light. Selected highlights from his scores to zany spy capers "The Spyral Suitcase" and "The Danube Affair" have been released on Pumf Records' Godspunk Volumes 9 & 10.

And as if that wasn't exciting enough, Klemke's theme tune to arty French film "Le Treizieme" has just been redicovered.

All 3 can be heard here:

The Spyral Suitcase
The Danube Affair
Le Treizieme

The McDeath Trio

2011-07-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sinister, Stripped Down Instrumental Combo

The McDeath Trio started life in July 2005, shortly after the end of The Napiers, and was initially a studio-only project consisting of me on guitar, bass and drums. However, I then booked myself a gig, and realising I wouldn't be able to play all 3 instruments live at the same time, I elected to play git and enlisted old pals Clive and Danny on bass and drums.

Not exactly the hardest working band in showbusiness, we play every now and then, if someone asks us nicely.

On a couple of occasions it has been our absolute pleasure to back up the mightily talented Stephanie O'Brien (out of The Puppini Sisters)

What'd They Say

"a guitar, a bass and half a drumkit...what more do you need?" - Me

"The McDeath Trio were great, they confirm my formerly stated theory that 'the smaller the drum kit, the better the band'...and they're the sort of band I'd like playing at my wedding. " - Skitster, commenting on our first gig at Scaledown on 25th Nov 2005

"Please could you play 'Too Drunk To Fuck' at my wedding?" - Skitster, a couple of days before we did indeed play at his wedding

"...the embers of 'Mondo Wray' band The Charles Napiers reborn as a hyper stripped down instrumental bar band ... just bass, guitar, snare and cymbal. The punky, crunchy knowingness of the Napiers has been replaced by a nervy reverb-twang cool. And I, like most others of those present, loved it. Of course it seemed a fitting tribute to Link Wray too." - Richard Sanderson, commenting on our first gig at Scaledown on 25th Nov 2005

"I loved 'Work Song'. That was 'Work Song' wasn't it?" - Big Joe Louis

"Could you play 'Rawhide' for Frankie Valli?" - Polite elderly gent at Oval Tavern gig. I think he meant Frankie Laine

"This is certainly a band that believes in placing its own stamp firmly on whatever tune they play…. All are delivered at pretty high volume, but in beautifully laid-back way (the words "sinister" and "stripped down" do indeed spring to mind) that makes the McDeath Trio a pleasure to observe." - Hang Nine

"That's a great guitar sound, that." "Yeah, what sort of guitar sound is it then?" "Err, well, it's, err, a guitar sound" - Two punters overhead chatting at the bar at Sunday Swingin'

"They asked me if I wanted to play with them on their version of Harlem Nocturne tonight, but as I'm doing it in my set I told them to piss off" - Terry Edwards, shortly before playing a blistering Harlem Nocturne at the Orchestra Pit 26th Sept, 2008

"Red Right Hand makes a damned good surf guitar tune" - The Afterwardsness, having just watched us play a damned good sinister stripped down instrumental, not surf, version of RRH

"The other half of the drumkit?" - Nifty Eagu, in response to the tagline of "a guitar, a bass and half a drumkit...what more do you need?"

"Rock Veterans" - Time Out, in the preview of the 14th July, 2010 What's Cookin' gig with Steph. Veterans I can just about understand, but "Rock"? I don't think so.

The Richwoods

2011-07-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

The Richwoods are a Sussex based ukulele trio who deliver short, sharp ukulele instrumentals for the discerning palate.

Tracey, Dan, Dave

The Flaming Czars

2011-07-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

500 mph East European Folk on accordion and guitar/mandolin

Classically trained ivory tinkler Geoff & hamfisted garage punk string plucker Dan first met when playing in rock'n'roll and blues bands, but discovered they had a shared love of music from the opposite hemisphere. Since mid 2006 they have been plying their hi-octane East European instrumental folk at a number of Sussex's fine folk clubs, and occasionally tread the boards up in that London and beyond.

The Diaboliks

2011-07-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Diaboliks were a (mostly) girl garage combo who existed from 1994-2000

As far as I can recall it went something like this...

Sometime in early 1994, Babz (formerly joint lead singer of The Slingbacks & Frat Shack impressario) hooked up with ex-Cherylinas bassplayer Anja, a recent arrival from Germany (she'd left the homeland to follow her heart - bit of a running theme here as you'll soon see), rockin' DJ turned thunderin' tubthumper Sophie and a French guitarist called Jeremy. However, within a couple of months Jeremy decided to follow his heart back across La Manche and that's when I got the call - did I want to play guitar for this girl garage band? Hell yes.

Within a couple of months we'd cobbled together a set of fuzz-spattered originals and groovy garage'n'beat covers, and so we decided the time was right to inflict this sound on the public. Babz being a bit of a demon with the old needle and thread ensured that we always looked the business in matching outfits (and no, I didn't have to wear any dresses thank you very much).

By early 1995 we'd notched up a couple of tasty support slots (Dick Dale*, The Flaming Stars, The Clique, The Creation, whose singer Kenny Pickett called me "a wanker" for using a Fender Twin. Still, he's dead now) and started putting out single on various German record labels (Thunderbaby, Screamin' Apple), although thinking back I think our first release was a track on Vinyl Japan's Guitars In The Kitchen ep. Quite fitting then that our final release should also be on VJ, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

Autumn 1995 saw our first jaunt across to Europe, for a tour of Germany, France & Belgium. One particular highlight was the crowd in Nancy going completely wild and demanding more. However we'd run out of songs, so the (French) promoter said "Ah, just play ze same songs again. Zey are French - Zey won't know". That and the American soldier in Kaiserslautern who kept yelling out "Dan's a mod!". I may be many things, but I have never, nor will I ever be, a mod.

By 1996 those good chaps at Dionysus Records in California had agreed to put out our debut lp, a mixed bag of recordings from the past year or so (all put to tape in the splendid Toe Rag studios of course). The album was entitled "Danger: The Diabolks" - a pun on the excellent 1968 Mario Bava film (Danger Diabolik) from which we had taken the name of the band. All but two of the tracks were in mono, the exceptions being the psychedelic original "Slaveboy" and the relatively obscure Velvets' cover "Guess I'm Falling In Love", which was the song we habitually closed each live set with.

Another tour of Germany took place in 1996, during which tensions rose to boiling point following the breakdown of the tourbus and a "shall we give up and go home or shall we say ah what the hell and carry on" cliffhanger-type decision point. Fortunately we chose the latter path and following an all night dash from Hamburg to Munich played a blistering set at the Beat-O-Mania festival.

Later that year we undertook a short tour of Spain, the first time we'd enjoyed the luxury of travelling on tour by plane and brand new hire car, rather than a rickety old van. Even so, following the last gig, we walked off stage, packed the guitars in the car and had to drive the 13 hours or so it takes to get from Oviedo to Barcelona to catch our plane home. As we left Oviedo, we stopped off at a restaurant to get sarnies for the trip. When asked what I'd like I said "Oh, get me one with everything in it" and sure enough I was presented with a real Scooby Snack sized sarnie, containing jamon, chorizo, egg, cheese, tomato and about a zillion other ingredients. I took my first bite and promptly ejected fried egg yolk from the back of the sarnie all over the steering wheel of the hire car, leaving it as sticky as hell for the next 13 hours.

1997 was one hell of a busy year. As well as putting out a couple of singles and a 10 inch mini lp, we toured Germany again (where we made enough profit to cover the airfare for the four of us to fly to California for a West Coast tour. Bizarre really, every other foreign jaunt I've done with other bands has usually left us out of pocket, but Diaboliks tours always seemed to make money). The West Coast tour took in San Diego (where we had to carry a severely hungover Sophie from the car to the venue, prop her on the drumstool, then carry her back to the car after the gig), LA (where we played the fabulous Dionysus Demolition Derby festival with such fantastic bands as The Saturn V, Dukes Of Hamburg, Big Sandy, The Humpers) San Francisco (great gigs with The Count Backwurds, The Maybellines, not to mention the generous hospitality of Mr Russell Quan, a true gent) Seattle (where Steve Turner lent me his Mosrite) and Olympia - where we played with a couple of kiddy punk bands in a unlicensed venue. Also that year we fitted in a short UK tour (well, 5 gigs on the trot in London, Brighton & Bournemouth anyway). Oh, and we played up in Scotland too.

1998 saw us back in Germany again, although this time we also took in Switzerland where we played with the riotously funny Servotron. Listening back since to their albums, the music's not entirely to my taste, but they were one hell of a fantastic live act. On the way to that particular gig, we stopped to ask directions of a Swiss gentleman. Anja (who is German you may recall) asked the guy where the venue was and was subjected to a volley of gutteral Swiss-German, throughout which she nodded sagely. As he left, she turned to me and said "I didn't understand a single word of that".

Around this time Anja also made the decision to follow her heart abroad yet again, this time to be with her now husband, Mr Mike Stax of San Diego. However, before she left for the US we managed to squeeze in our only non-Toe Rag recording session at the fabulous but sadly no more Pathway studios, a tour of Italy (the first of many trips to that wonderful country we were to undertake in the next few years) and a handful of blinding UK gigs, including an appearance at the first Wild Weekend alongside such legendary combos as ? & The Mysterians, The Thanes, Thee Headcoats and The 5-6-7-8s.

1999 dawned and the remaining three of us (Babz, Sophie and I) were left wondering how exactly to fill the enormous gap left by the departing Anja. Many of our originals had been built around her basslines (pretty much all of the originals were true collaborations with each member contributing their part, but many of them started with the bassline). Eventually we held auditions, and decided, after much debate and discussion, to hire Lydia. Now, I don't wish to use these pages to badmouth other people, but let me put it this way: In the past 20 odd years it has been my pleasure to play music with something in the region of 70 or so musicians, all of whom I would happily play with again. Except one. I'll say no more on the subject.

The remainder of the year saw us travelling to Italy twice, and returning to the states for the inaugural Las Vegas Grind festival, where we shared the bill with some true legends (The Trashmen, The Wailers, Thee Mighty Caesars, The Untamed Youth, etc, etc). We also recorded what was to be our final lp (The fabulously named "Three Furburgers and a Chili Dog To Go" at the new improved Toe Rag studios. The old cliche about tensions within a band leading to increased creativity proved true on this occasion, as I believe these were some of our finest recordings, despite the fact that the guitarist and the bassplayer were not exactly on the best of terms.

By early 2000 those tensions had become too much for everyone, so it was time for another change of bassplayer. This time we decided to "keep it in the family" as it were, by asking John, with whom I was already playing in The Napiers and who was to later marry Sophie, to step in. Tensions disappeared, a pleasant atmosphere returned, and over the next 6 months we embarked on loads of foreign tours, covering France, Belgium, Holland, Italy & Norway, before calling it a day after a particularly fine gig in Oslo. By this time, not only had "3 Furburgers" come out, but we'd also recorded a split 12" single with 54 Nude Honeys. Both of these records were released by Vinyl Japan and are adorned with fantastic Vince Ray artwork.

And that's the story of The Diaboliks. Well, from my perspective anyway. There were some ups and downs along the way, but for the most part it was a complete and utter blast.

*After reading John Peel's (auto)biography I was delighted to see the gig at which we supported Dick Dale listed as one of his all time Top 10 gigs. I'm not kidding myself though; it was Dick's blistering set and not our ramshackle racket that he enjoyed so much.

Discography

7 inches

Yes I Do c/w Lovin' Machine (Screaming Apple) 1995

Slaveboy c/w Ramrod (Thunderbaby) 1995

I Can't Sleep At Night c/w Never Thought You'd Leave Me (Mademoiselle) 1997

I Love Johnny Bravo c/w Just Like Me & It's Not Easy (Thunderbaby) 1998

LPs

Danger (Dionysus) 1996 12 inch LP & 12cm CD

Itching For Action (Dionysus) 1998 10 inch mini LP

Three Furburgers and a Chili Dog To Go (Vinyl Japan) 2000 12 inch LP & 12cm CD

Compilations

Ramrod on Attack of The Terrible Boots (Mint Sound)

Pommes Frat on The Kittenblood Collection (Thunderwoman)

Hangover Head on 18 Thoughts of British Trash (Vinyl Japan)

Hangover Head on Guitars In The Kitchen (Vinyl Japan)

Hangover Head on Do The Nuclear Tests In Paris & Beijing (Vinyl Japan)

Beat On The Brat/Choc Ice on Black Tight Killers (Vinyl Japan)

Ninja A Go Go on Pervirella Soundtrack (Dionysus)

Yes I Do on The Girls Are All Square (LD&K)

I Cant Sleep At Night on Todays Top Girl Groups (Spinout)

A Little Less Conversation on The Kittenblood Collection Vol 2 (Thunderwoman)

Secret Track on reissue of Girls In The Garage Vol 1 (Romulan)

...and 10 years after The Diaboliks split, those good folks at Cherry Red have had the good/bad taste to release a DVD and mp3 download album compilation entitled Nothin But Trash, featuring the misspelled Diabolics' Ramrod, taken from the flip side of the Slaveboy single. We're in good company on this release, as other artists featured include the mighty Link Wray, The Gun Club, The Stingrays, Thee Headcoats, etc, etc.

The DVD is available from Cherry Red, the download album is available form all reputable DSPs e.g. iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, etc. The cover art features the go-go dancing half of The Diaboliks (you'll be delighted to hear that didn't include me...)

The Charles Napiers

2011-07-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Charles Napiers were a 'Mondo Wray' instrumental band that existed from 1991 to 2005. In those 14 years we NEVER played a single vocal number. Can you name any other instrumental band who resisted the temptation of the microphone for that length of time? No, thought not. And other than a couple of regrettable drunken occasions, we never spoke between songs. The reason why? Because there's nothing worse than watching a decent band on stage but having to put up with some tool saying 'This next one's called blah blah blah, hope you like it' or some similar cobblers.

The Napiers were:

Guitar: Dan Whaley (1991-2005)

Guitar: Clive Pearman (1991-1995)

Bass: John Skittles (1991-2005)

Drums: Danny O'Brien (1991-2000)

Guitar: Lee Duggan (1995-2005)

Drums: Sophie Skittles (2000-2003)

Drums: Mark Braby (Mar-Apr 1999, then 2003-2005)

Dan, Clive, Lee & John

Mark, Sophie & Danny

Guests:

Mark Norton: Sax/Flute

Parsley: Hammond Organ

Jim Carlisle: Harp

Johnny Johnson: Harp

Jim Mew: Bongos

Gigs:

Over the years we had the pleasure of playing gigs in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and the Isle of Wight, although to be frank most gigs were within Zones 1-3 of London Town. We shared stages with many fine artistes such as The Phantom Surfers, The Untamed Youth, Cee Bee Beaumont, Armitage Shanks, Sir Bald Diddley, The Adventures of Parsley, The Green Hornets, The Waistcoats, Nigel Lewis, The Flaming Stars and a whole host of other fine combos. We also backed stripper Lois Lane at the legendary More Than Vegas.

Discography:

Singles and EPs

First Plane... (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR008 (1995)

Valleri c/w Surf Rider (Hangman's Daughter) KETCH 11 UP (1995)

Regular Forty (Nana) NANA2 (1996)

Long Players

Square Root of Evil (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR007 (1995)

Il Suono di Violenza (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR021 (1997)

The Sinister Organisation (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR039 (1999)

Compact Disc

This Is...Mondo Wray (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR038 (1999)

Download

Killing Time (Fat Ghost) FAT005 (2008)

18 track retrospective comprised of original Napiers' tunes recorded between 1994 & 1998 at London's legendary Toe Rag & Pathway studios. Many of these tracks are available digitally for the first time.

Most of this stuff is still available through your friendly neighbourhood mail order or internet dealer. You might even find some of it in regular record shops, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Killing Time is available through all good DSPs (iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc)

Compilations

Ambassador of Love on That's Mighty Childish lp (Vendetta) VEND007 (1995)

Sultan of Sentiment on Larsen Vol 11 3inch cd (Larsen) (1996)

Faceful of Pasta on Spaghetti Vol 1: Duck You Suckers lp & cd (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR012 (1997)

Thunderball on Licensed To Hear: James Bond Tribute picture disc lp (442emeRue) (2002)

Ballad of Rock Ridge on Hour of The Gun lp & cd (One Million Dollar Records) DOLLAR057 (2003)

What's My Name? on This Is Rockabilly Clash 10inch & cd (Raucous Records) (2003)

Brand New Batmobile on Holy Bat Music: Tribute To Batman picture disc lp (442emeRue) (2006)

Things've Changed Round Here on Godspunk Volume 5 cd (Pumf Records) (2007)

Dialogue

One fairly constant feature of Napiers gigs over the years was the 'dialogue tape' running in the background. Because we'd made the conscious decision to a) never sing and b) never speak between songs, we hatched the idea of having a tape containing snippets of dialogue from films, television programmes, etc running constantly behind us. That way, in the gaps between the songs or even in the (few and far between) quiet bits within songs, you'd hear a choice quote or two. We particularly liked the random aspect of it, so you never knew what you'd hear from one gig to the next. We also used dialogue on the recordings, sometimes for effect and sometimes to hide a bum note.

In the early days, John used to have to disassemble his hi-fi before every gig, as we'd bring his tape deck and plug it into the PA. By 2001 we'd moved as far as transferring the dialogue to CDr and by the end it was all on an mp3 player plugged into an amp. A knackered vintage amp, mind.

What'd They Say?

Here's what a selction of fanzines, websites, etc said about us:

"The Charles Napiers seem to have escaped right out of an Italian Mafia movie on their way to a hit" Shakin' Fever

"No classically trained musicians here, nope" Grindstone

"The play instrumental gangster music, filled with powerful twangy guitars and movie dialogue thrown in here and there" Continental

"Noisy Surf'n'Gore-Trash" Malibu

"The original men in black, all attitude no words" Motorpsycho

"Les deux guitaristes sont des tueurs, et je ne parle meme pas des autres musiciens" Let's Play A Game

"The best UK instrumental spy rockers" New Gandy Dancer

"du rock 50s au punk 77 en passant par le surf, les 60savec une grosse dose d'influences cinematographiques" Underground

"Britain's best kept instro secret" Southern & Rocking

"We're talking trash and twang with plenty of energy and bite" Pipeline

"The Charles Napiers continue going places that other instro bands fear to tread" Pipeline

"With what would appear to be a surfeit of instro bands around at the moment it's good to see someone find a different angle on an otherwise hackneyed style of music" Sooprize Package

"I must confess to never having been all that impressed with The Charles Napiers" Hang Nine

"Not melodic, but dangerous and interesting. Big thunder, and interesting ideas, just poorly executed. Low browed with fuzz and murky sound" Reverb Central