I was fourteen years old.
I had my seventy-nine pence, and I could finally go and buy the record I had heard played a few days before in my local Harlequin Records store.
I approached the counter, attracted the attention of the ever-so-trendy bored looking member of staff, who gazed at me in my school uniformed adolescent state with absolute disdain.
He was no doubt expecting me to ask for a copy of ‘Staying Alive’ or something.
But then came my big moment:
“Have you got ‘Fuck Off’, please?”
Much to my delight, the desirably monikered tune came pressed into grey vinyl, and it had three other tracks on it. Wicked!
Of course, ‘Fuck Off’ is an absolute punk rock classic; but listening to this e.p. now, it’s amazing how close the Electric Chairs sounded to the 60's garage bands that became familiar to a lot of us British folk through the Nuggets collection.
And that’s right where the song ‘Night Time’ came from, originally by the ‘I Love Candy’ band: the Strangeloves.
The Chairs' version is equally as good as the original, and County’s spiteful, yet distinctly camp voice delivers it perfectly.
‘Toilet Love’ is an anthem to cottaging, and I’m still waiting for George Michael to release it for his next big comeback.
The e.p. finishes with ‘Mean Motherfuckin’ Man’, a kick-arse number in an appropriate MC5/Stooges style.
I just love the way County adds asides to [at that time] his lyric; voicing kitsch disgust and disapproval at what is being revealed.
Wayne County was a great character; and Jayne’s even more wonderful and bizarre.
Long may s/he reign.
Wayne County and the Electric Chairs -
Blatantly Offensive e.p. (1978)
Fuck Off
Night Time
Toilet Love
Mean Motherfuckin' Man
Get this Vinyl rip @256kbs without the embarrassment or thrill of having to ask for it over the counter here
I was fourteen years old.
