Please give a brief history of the band, including current line up.
The Current lineup is Paul on vocals, fondly referred
to as Little Buddha as he is my little brother but his portliness resembles
that of the buddha statues. Myself on bass, Dave on guitar, Ian on guitar
and Laze on drums. Paul, Dave and I are all originals; Laze joined us in
1996 when we reformed after a spell with Last Rough Cause and Ian joined
us recently when Andy called it a day. He had been (alledgedly) roadying
for us since 96 but seemed to spend more time "minding" the beer, so it made
sense for him to at least earn his freebies. Andy had gone off to reform
his old band Last Rough Cause after he realised there is still a market for
our brand of noise when touring Germany but when we last spoke he was regretting
leaving as LRC are struggling to get off the ground again.
We started originally way back in late 77 as a bunch of young lads out to have
a laugh but with total belief in punk rock. I even jacked in a promising career
to go on tour with Chelsea in 1981 believing we were gonna be big and make
a difference - guess what!
We went through a good dozen drummers and a couple of second guitarists before
we realised that everyone else improved and the core 3 of us just stayed as
lazy as ever.
Although we never received 1 penny from our years of slogging 77-85 we had
a great time, more free beer than Stu Lee could wish for and several continental
and USA tours before calling it a day in 85. I was first to go after getting
married and realising I needed some money in me carmens. A guy called Ritz
(can be heard on Sherwood Rangers on the dodgy vrsion Crazy album) was drafted
in as my replacement but only one more tour of France followed before the demise.
Usually at this point there is talk of political differences and shite like
that but with us it was just that Joe Public just wasn't interested anymore.
The fashion followers had moved on and audiences were getting smaller and smaller.
We reformed in 96 when there was an upsurge in punk and Oi! again and by 'eck
were we ready for it. Years of TV and vegetating had taken its toll. Check
out old pics against new and there is a good 10 stone difference amongst us.
We even thought of changing our name to The PieMen.
That about takes us up to date. We have a couple of gigs coming up. The Underworld
in Camden Town on Fri 28th May, Donk (Belgium) 30th May, Herford (Germany)
31st May.
Discogrpahy.
Official Major Accident Biography Warboots/Thatıs You
Single, never released
Massacred Melodies, Nov 1982, Step Forward
Mr Nobody/Thatıs You,Feb 83, Step Forward
Fight to Win/Freeman, May 83, Flicknife
Leaders of Tomorrow/Breakaway /Dayo, Aug 83, Flicknife
Respectable/The Man on the Wall, Apr 84, Flicknife
A Clockwork Legion, Jul 84, Flicknife
Tortured Tunes (Live), Sep 84, Flicknife
Pneumatic Pneurosis, May 85 Flicknife
Crazy (USA release only), Jul 85 Toxic Shock
The Ultimate High, Nov 1996 We Bite Records
Any other releases you might have seen ie. demo albums, 2on1 CDs etc have buger
all to do with us and just serve to line the pockets of persons unrelated to
the band in any way. See the spiel below that we put in our newslatter:
Some of you may have been conned into parting with some
of your hard earned deng for albums supposedly by Major Accident. These albums
have been released without the knowledge or consent of the band. Court proceedings
have been entered into to stop the perpetrators from cashing in on the good
name of the band. It saddens us more so because it is only the true hardcore
of Major Accident followers (The Clockwork Legion) that would buy this crap.
If you have come across any of these albums donıt buy them. They are crap!
We shall go through them one by one for you.
Massacred Melodies on CD: This is not the original album (the bandıs debut),
but in fact a demo tape recorded on a 4 track that came out so bad that we
scrapped it and deemed it not even good enough for demo purposes. The perpetrator
has no rights whatsoever to release this product, and as band members we are
embarrassed by it.
Clockwork Heroes: This is a compilation of singles and tracks from the first
three Major Accident albums. Once again the perpetrator has no rights whatsoever
to release this product. The original Massacred Melodies is used to which he
has no rights.
Two in one CD containing Massacred Melodies and A Clockwork Legion: The same
goes for this as above.
Clockwork Demos: This is full of tracks recorded live in the studio as warm
ups before recording the demos for Terrorist Gang, Self Appointed Hero and
Sherwood Rangers. Once again we are extremely embarrassed by these tracks.
Two in one CD containing Crazy and Tortured Tunes: same as above.
Basically the rule is that the first and so far only official
release on CD by Major Accident is The Ultimate Highı on We Bite Records.
Please feel free to buy this and a copy for all of your friends. Please see
the full Major Accident biography above.
If you could see any band play live, either of the past or
present who would it be?
I have seen every band that I ever respected or was into
in a big way but I guess it would have to be Slade in around 69/70/71. Iwas
too young then but saw them several times in the late seventies. The were
still brilliant although they turned into a heavy metal band after that.
Paul's choice would be the Pogues circsa Shane, Dave goes for the GoGos (he
likes the whole girly thing), Laze for the Ruts or the Clash cos was just
too young to get along without his mother and Ian goes for the Clash as well.
What is the street music scene like in your area?
To be honest I live in a small farming town called Pickering
where the scene is non-existent. At our age though it's easier to sit at
home with a tartan rug on your knees and both feet in one of those big double
slippers. The rest of the chaps live in Darlington still were the scene is
a beer scene rather than a music scene. Each member has been known to reach
double figures in the drinking stakes if you count up over a whole week.
We still listen to the same old punk and Oi! but my adventure into the internet
has turned onto new gems lately like the Templars and Oxblood.
Do you think street music will rise again?
"Take a look around you, tell me what you see" to quote
a great classic rock antem. If and when it does the likes of us will be too
old to enjoy it. How old are you? The average age at our gigs is about 32
and that's young. I remember looking at teddy boys back in 77 and thinkin
- what a twat. Do you reckon the youth of today think the same about us and
no smart answers from anybody saying that MA are twats anyway? I reckon the
scene will continue being enjoyed by those of us who always have. It is very
rare that we get any young kids at gigs. It will be very hard to make it
hip again.
Bloody hell I'm starting to depress myself here. What I meant to say is Street
music will rise agin and take over the world with all the "kids" (?) uniting
and all that old bravado. Jimmy Pursey will lead us to the new new millenium.
Shit didn't he join a dance troup when no-one was interested in him? Never
mind there's always er ....... Paul from Major Accident.
With the death of Stanley Kubrik, are the any plans for 'clockwork
bands' to get togther for a gig?
If there is no-one has invited us. Hmmm.... Maybe they
are trying to tell us something.
Do you still go and see other punk/oi bands when they play
in your area? If so, what was the last band you saw?
Yeah! The last band I went to see was Leatherface. Good
gig but it was a bit of a "studenty" affair. Recently saw a band called Red
Manifesto, check em out, you won't regret it.
Plans, gigs and releases planned for 99.
See above for gigs. We have recorded 2 tracks "Representation
Not Reality" and "Step by Step" which we are about to hawk around some companies
to see if anybody is interested in releasing it. They are a couple of blinders
and likely to set the world alight. Top of the Pops beckons!
Any final comments?
We realised that the whole 12 year bash was worth it when
we were recently recognised by some skinheads in a street in Germany (they
had seen us play the night before). They shouted at us, "Major Accident -
Bring more beer!".......aaaah fame at last. Makes you proud to be northern.
Not a lot to show for all that hard work. Check out the website www.majoraccident.freeuk.com
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