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Nick
Paul on the cover of Strange Stories Issue #3 1977
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The
Machines - 'True Life' e.p. Cover
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...The
Story...
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The
Machines were not only Southend's first punk band, but also the first
to release a record - the infamous 'True Life' EP on Wax Records. As punk
trailblazers, shaking off the R & B paralysis that had gripped the towns
music scene for so long, the bands time together really was an incendiary
one. Together for barely a year, they managed to play a load of local
shows that have long lived on in the collective Southend Punk subconscious,
together with some historic gigs at legendary London venues such as The
Roxy and Vortex punk clubs. "If restricted, tied down, they could stop us getting off the ground, backstabbers, hypocrites, pretend friends, you're just a bunch of shits." 'True Life'. Indeed,
when I asked Nick about local venues sympathetic to punk back then, he
said "Well basically there wasn't enough punk around to have venues.
The Queens did their bit for bigger bands 1977/79. The Shrimpers did their
bit for Div 3 bands like us 1977/78. The Alex would book anyone ...".People
did begin to take notice however, and the band would often pack out the
local venues, including a key fan who loved the band and would see them
regularly, namely Alison 'Alf' Moyet!. "I dial a number on my telephone, answering machine says there's no one home, so I'm just talking down the line, to a technical gadget, not a friend of mine." 'Everything's technical'. After
the demise of the Machines, Nick would return with the more power-pop
orientated 'The Collectors' in 1980, whom released a 7" single titled
'Different World', on Central Collection Records that year. Duf became
a painter and John Dee continued drumming, in 1978 finding time to help
out fellow local punks The Vandals, whom featured the aforementioned Alison
'Alf' Moyet on Vocals, and then later he helped out 'Idiot' and played
drums on their song 'Ging Gang Gooley' that appeared on the Southend Rock
Album. He then joined his brother Paul in a band called The Electric Shocks,
then The Deciballs, then later on played in reggae-orientated bands Bushfire
and Charas. |
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Click here to see details of Bored Teenagers CD | |||||||
The Machines - 'Videos' | |||||||
Discography
'True Life' / 'Everything's
Technical' / 'You Better Hear' / 'Evening Radio' - 7" EP (Wax
EAR 1 March 1978) |
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'Weekend' / 'Girl in Black' / 'Racing' / 'Sue This Song' - 7" EP With Fold Over Insert (Fierro! Records FR 025 June 2019) |
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'Bored Teenagers Volume #4'
- Features The Machines songs 'You Better Hear' and 'Racing' - CD (Bin
Liner Records RUBBISHCD005) - 2006 |
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'The Machines' - Sixteen Track
Album (Features 'You Better Hear' - 1977 Demo, and 'Racing' - 1977 Demo
plus The True Life EP) - CD (Angels in Exile Records AIECD
001) - 2011 |
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'Southend Punk Volume One' - Features The Machines song 'You Better Hear - CD (Angels in Exile Records AIECD 004) - 2020 |
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'Punk 45: I'm A Mess!' - D-I-Y or Die ! Art, Trash, Neon - Punk 45's In The UK 1977 - 1978 - Features The Machines song 'True Life- LPx2 + CD (Soul Jazz Records CD505) - 2022 |