If Rockabilly and Psychobilly are your thing, then you seriously must not miss a double headline show in Brighton on Friday 3rd September 2021. Unusually, there will be not one but two events for you to attend, so you had better get your batteries charged for a fun night out!
The first show will take place at CHALK at 13 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ from 6pm to 10pm. This venue was previously known as The Haunt and is accessed opposite the bus depot near Brighton Pier. Then at 10pm punters can have a leisurely 7 minute stroll (via the local watering holes) along to Komedia Brighton located at 44-47 Gardner Street, Brighton, BN1 1UN and from 11pm to 3am will be able to enjoy an aftershow party!
So who’s playing I hear you shout! OK then, on the bill for both events will be King Kurt, The Polecats, and the Long Tall Texans as well as The Box Stomping Boys, plus DJ Sonny Rocket & Mike The Spike.
You can purchase your tickets HERE or from your usual ticket agency. Note that the free afterparty at the Komedia is for the first x400 ticket holders only!
Now let’s meet the bands in further detail…………
Legendary psychobilly King Kurt are heading to the seaside with their special kind of madness. Forming in 1981 as Rockin’ Kurt and his Sauer Krauts the band changed name a year later with the arrival of new vocalist Gary “The Smeg” Clayton to the now infamous King Kurt.
Signing with Stiff in 1983 it wasn’t long before the band found themselves on Top of the Pops and with a hit single on their hands.
The band originally split in 1988 but audience demand has had them coming back for more to deliver more of their madness since 2012. A band if you’ve seen before you’ll want to see again and if you haven’t well now’s your chance.
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team were fortunate in catching King Kurt perform live in November 2018. Read our account of the evening HERE.
ukpsychobillygigguide.wordpress.com/king-kurt
The Polecats formed in 1977. The original line-up was Tim Worman (a.k.a Tim Polecat, vocalist), Martin “Boz” Boorer, (guitarist and vocalist), Phil Bloomberg (bassist), and Chris Hawkes (drummer), who originally played under the name “Cult Heroes.” Finding difficulty persuading promoters to book them on the rockabilly circuit with a name sounding “too punk”, they adopted Hawkes’ suggested band name The Polecats. Hawkes was later replaced by Neil Rooney.
The band were first signed by the fledgling British rockabilly record label Nervous Records, and recorded their first single ‘Rockabilly Guy’ at Guitarist Alan Warner’s Lane Studios in 1979. Formerly with the hugely successful “Foundations” band Warner toured and recorded with the Polecats for about a year.
In 1980 the band signed to Mercury Records, and released their most successful LP, ‘Polecats Are Go!’. They had UK chart success with a David Bowie cover ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, a reworking of ‘Rockabilly Guy’, and another cover version of the T-Rex (Marc Bolan) song ‘Jeepster’. In 1983, they hit the charts in the United States with their song ‘Make A Circuit With Me’. Shortly after this, John Buck replaced Neil Rooney on drums.
Boz Boorer left the group to work as a guitarist, musical director, and co-songwriter with Morrissey, but led a Polecats reunion in 1989, which produced a live album and a new studio set. Raucous Records released a compilation album of Boz Boorer’s work entitled ‘Between The Polecats‘ in early 2001.
Tim Polecat moved to Los Angeles, California and formed the band 13 Cats with drummer Slim Jim of the Stray Cats, stand-up bassist Smutty Smith of The Rockats, and guitarist Danny B. Harvey of The Swing Cats. Their album ‘13 Cats’ is available on Cleopatra Records. Tim Polecat also works as a successful art director and production designer for film, commercials, and music videos. Musically, Tim Polecat also continues to work as a film composer and solo singer-songwriter and is currently touring the US with Slim Jim Phantom as “The Whammy!!”
Phil Polecat continues to play with The Polecats, Katy Prado & The Mamboleros, Trio Farouche and as a session musician.
In November 2006 frontman Jarvis Cocker of the British band Pulp, along with bassist Steve Mackey, released a 2-CD compilation album, ‘The Trip’, which features a wide selection of tracks by artists as varied as The Fall, Gene Pitney, The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers, Dion, Sonny Bono plus The Polecats with their hit ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’.
In June 2008 Disney Pixar film, WALL E, used The Polecats 1983 hit song, ‘Make A Circuit With Me’ in their television trailers for the film.
British trio Long Tall Texans make an exuberant mix of psychobilly, rockabilly, and eclectic punk. Formed in Brighton in 1985, the trio originally featured bassist/singer Mark Carew, guitarist Mark “Boggles” Denman, and drummer Anthony Theodotou.
The band initially built up a following playing high-energy live shows at the Brighton rockabilly venue The Klub Foot. Prior to their full-length, they also recorded two songs, ‘900 Miles’ and ‘One More Time’, for a local compilation, ‘Sounds Of The Southern Scene’. In 1987, they released their debut full-length album, ‘Sodbusters’, on Razor Records. It garnered airplay on Radio 1 and helped boost their profile as they branched out into tours of Europe. Several more well-received albums followed including 1989’s ‘Five Beans In The Wheel’ and ‘Saturnalia’.
In 1991, they released ‘Singing To The Moon’, a stylistically varied album featuring forays into blues and reggae. By the mid-’90s, Denman had left the band as a touring member; though he would continue to contribute songs to the outfit. Replacing him was guitarist Garry Castleman and saxophonist Paul Mumford, who both appeared on 1994’s ‘Aces And Eights’.
Although the band’s recorded output slowed down over the next decade, they toured regularly. Mumford eventually parted ways with the group and in 2005, the band returned with Adventures of the Long Tall Texans. Castleman then ceded his position to guitarist Matt Windler and in 2014, the group delivered its seventh studio album, ‘Devil Made Us Do It’.
