Killed By Volume: Six-Point-Three

As the seventies turned into the eighties and the initial excitement over punk's cultural year zero vanished many of the angry young men of that time dug their old skeletons - Dylan, The Stones or Brucie Springsteen (as punk-polemicist Tom Robinson used to call him) - from the musical closet.

White Heat (see here), ended their career in 1981 with these six aiming-for-the-big-league Rock songs. This 12" contains re-recorded versions of two songs from their singles and four new tracks. The punk obscurists devalue it for it's classic rock (*cough* Brucie) production and playing but most of it, the title track aside, is still punchy new wave with the occasional histrionics.


White Heat - Living in the UK


Download - In the Zero Hour

Killed By Volume: Six-Point-Two

For their next single, 1981'sThe City Beat, White Heat (see here) took aim at the mainstream.

"The City Beat" is a Springteen-esque paean to the redemptive powers of dirty streets and rock n' roll - it's the Gaslight Anthem 18 years too early.

The flip side's "It's No Use", while still attacking the disco era, is even more indebted to The Boss - it's Jungleland Night at the corner of Tenth Avenue and Thunder Road! Ye-ah!

The following video is for Bob Smeaton's wonderfully-named band, Loud Guitars, who do a good Big Country-ish song before becoming radiant when they break into a viscerally rockin' version of "City Beat".


Download The City Beat

Killed By Volume: Six-Point-One

Sometimes the real action is on the B-side. White Heat's (see here) second single from 1980, features "Finished With the Fashions" another broadside against late seventies excess (this time slamming the Eagles!) which has some fine drama and a good pop-reggae feel. Now flip the record (use your imagination, dammit!) and let "Ordinary Joe" infect your nervous system. The song's subject is not Joe Strummer, as a very cursory listen might suggest, but Jesus Christ himself. The song's narrative details a casual meeting with Jesus of the the type pioneered by John Prine and hacked out by a million alt-country wannabe's ever since. It is an odd story-line for late seventies London, as opposed to say, Austin, Texas but it's the fiery playing, full of inventive vocal and guitar inter-play that drives the song to sound like some big show tune stripped-down and then souped-up.


White Heat - Ordinary Joe

Download Finished With the Fashions b/w Ordinary Joe

Killed By Volume: Six

There in an invisible British top forty chart for the late 1970's. It features a deluge of kids with guitars, suits and a definite article who banged out brilliant pop singles that, owing to a glut of the same, never topped the real, paper charts of the time. Near the top of this invisible chart of great unknown hits is "Nervous Breakdown" by White Heat.

Formed in Newcastle 1976, White Heat, Alan Fish (Guitars), Colin Roberts (Bass), Bob Smeaton (Vocals), Bryan Younger (Guitars), and John Miller/George Waters (Drums) blew out out of the starting gate with their debut single in 1980. The A-side, "Nervous Breakdown", is a monster track that incorporates mod beats, rock n' roll guitars, a gargantuan hook, Springsteen-ish emoting and anti-pop lyrics that take dead aim at Barry Manilow. Everyone disses the Clash-lite B-side, "Sammy Sez", but it's still a pretty fair reggae-pop-punk number.

Do not miss the, more intense live version of "Nervous Breakdown" but avoid gawking at Bob's suspenders, his buffness or his propensity for dropping and giving twenty push-ups in mid-song!



Download Nervous Breakdown