"The disillusionment came when one by one the bands signed up with the big record companies, it was signing away the control. They took one look at the size of the cheque and went into the music machine, the very thing we thought punk was trying to get away from."
IAN HODGES - Evening Post, 1986
10 year Punk retospective
The Worst..."they stand for all the freedoms that can be imagined. They voice brutal imaginations of blurred everyday themes urban alienation, distortion, depersonalisation and their style is, by liberal intellectual standards which are destructive and anti-social"
"We tried to teach him the notes but he didn't have the rhythm - so we didn't plug him in when we were on stage. The poor lad was playing his heart out but there was no noise."
THE WORST on Woody on bass
The WORST were the epitome of the punk-rock era in all that it stood for - basically a "were not gonna take this any more" of the music establishment that controlled what we listened to and 'what was good for us'. Countless promises of record contracts were told to "shove it" and rather than, what we regarded as at the time, "selling out to the establishment" like so many of our contemporaries with similar ideals.
THE SQUAT
Stuff the Jubilee Festival
June 3rd 1977
Drones/Warsaw /Fall WORST/Negatives
THE SQUAT
June 25th 1977
Warsaw / WORST
ELECTRIC CIRCUS
September 25th 1977
Slits / WORST / Prefects
ERICS LIVERPOOL
July 3rd 1977
Buzzcocks / WORST
BBC Brass Tacks
Aug 6th 1977
BBC Manchester studios -
Talk show on Punk Rock
BARBERELLAS BIRMINGHAM
Sept 6th 1977
Buzzcocks / WORST/Fall
MARQUEE LONDON
21st, 22nd Nov 1977
Buzzcocks / WORST /The Flies
ELECTRIC CIRCUS
October 1st/2nd 1977
Last night of the Electric Circus
Steel Pulse / Warsaw / WORST / Fall / Negatives / Magazine / John the Postman / John Cooper Clarke / Buzzcocks
KATIES NOTTINGHAM
Oct 20th 1977
Fall/WORST /Slugs
FOXES CROYDON
Sept 4th 1977
Buzzcocks/WORST
STRETFORD CIVIC CENTRE
Sept 21st 1977
Fall/WORST/John Cooper Clarke
TIFFANYS SHREWSBURY
Nov 21st 1977
WORST / Prefects
STRETFORD CIVIC THEATRE
23rd December 1977
John Cooper Clarke / WORST/
The Fall / Militant Frank
Republic of IRELAND TOUR
27th-29th Jan. 1978
Trinity College,
Dublin 28th Jan.
Savoy, Limerick
29th Jan.
Buzzcocks / WORST
ROUNDHOUSE LONDON
December 1977
Buzzcocks / Souixsie and the Banshees / Penetration / WORST
Mr GEORGES COVENTRY
Sometime in 1978
WORST / Specials
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JOHN PEEL
Sounds - August 1977
"that if the music of the worst was as effective as thier spokesmen were on bbc's "brass tacks" then i was anxious to here them. and i meant every word. At Barbarellas only one band genuinely shone out as being different, fresh, the WORST. The WORST's alarming aural minimalism - a sandpapered hybrid of bleached Hawkwind and "case history" Kevin Coyne - and a total lack of orthadox techniques provoke immediate alienation and scorn. But it works because it as so totally unpretentious and spontaneous possessing absolutely no pose, and these lads mean it. Not one of the other bands touched any nerves. They were either entertaining or pretentious or hypocritical or ludicrous or all 4. The Worst just were. NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS At one point the lead "singer" turned his back to us and played the notes A and B twice in a row. It was a solo. TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN GIG one things for sure, if you THINK you actually saw the worst and can't remember. YOU DIDN'T. here's a list of some of the bands they played with over the couple of years they lasted. BUZZCOCKS who they supported many times, THE FALL and THE PREFECTS (kindrid spirits) WARSAW (joy division) SIOUXSIE and the BANSHEES, GANG OF FOUR, MAGAZINE, THE SLITS,ADAM and the ANTS,THE KILLJOYS, THE DRONES, MANICURED NOISE, STEEL PULSE, PENETRATION, JOHN COOPER CLARKE, THE SPECIALS and last but not least JON THE POSTMANS PURILE. and not one of these bands would be sat in the dressing room while they were on.
The Worst..."they stand for all the freedoms that can be imagined. They voice brutal imaginations of blurred everyday themes - urban alienation, distortion, depersonalisation - and their style is, by liberal intellectual standards, destructive and anti-social" The WORST were the epitome of the punk-rock era in all that it stood for - basically a "were not gonna take this any more" of the music establishment that controlled what we listened to and 'what was good for us'. Countless promises of record contracts were told to "shove it" and rather than, what we regarded as at the time, "selling out to the establishment" like so many of our contemporaries with similar ideals. The disillusionment came when one by one the bands signed up with the big record companies, it was signing away the control. They took one look at the size of the cheque and went into the music machine, the very thing we thought punk was trying to get away from BAND CONCEPT No 'Image'. They play not as though their life depends on it, but because it does.
THE PREFECTS (kindrid spirits) WARSAW (joy division) SIOUXSIE and the BANSHEES, GANG OF FOUR, MAGAZINE, THE SLITS,ADAM and the ANTS,THE KILLJOYS, THE DRONES, MANICURED NOISE, STEEL PULSE, PENETRATION, JOHN COOPER CLARKE, THE SPECIALS and last but not least JON THE POSTMANS PURILE. and not one of these bands would be sat in the dressing room while they were on. The Worst..."they stand for all the freedoms that can be imagined. They voice brutal imaginations of blurred everyday themes - urban alienation, distortion, depersonalisation - and their style is, by liberal intellectual standards, destructive and anti-social" The WORST were the epitome of the punk-rock era in all that it stood for - basically a "were not
gonna take this any more" of the music establishment that controlled what we listened to and 'what was good for us'. Countless promises of record contracts were told to "shove it" and rather than, what we
regarded as at the time, "selling out to the establishment" like so many of our contemporaries with similar ideals. The disillusionment".The WORST are a little confused by their success. They are having hesistant talks with New Hormones about putting out a record. But arn't sure about how they should go about it. They're thinking of using a cassette recording of a gig in Birmingham for a record because they didn't realise they were being recorded, so they didn't pander accordingly. But in the end it doesn't really matter whether they make a record or not The Worst know that, so they've got nothing to lose...and all the time in the world."
NEW MANCHESTER REVIEW
23rd Sept 1977
At Barbarellas only one band genuinely shone out as being different, fresh, the WORST. The WORST's alarming aural minimalism - a sandpapered hybrid of bleached Hawkwind and "case history" Kevin Coyne - and a total lack of orthadox techniques provoke immediate alienation and scorn. But it works because it as so totally unpretentious and spontaneous possessing absolutely no pose, and these lads mean it. Not one of the other bands touched any nerves. They were either entertaining or pretentious or hypocritical or ludicrous or all 4. The Worst just were.
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
At one point the lead "singer" turned his back to us and played the notes A and B twice in a row. It was a solo.
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN GIG