Alternative Colchester #9

Episode 9 of Alternative Colchester revisits the years when punk was more than just a sound — it was a statement. Hosted by Steve Green and Tim Young, with guest Professor Jules Pretty, the episode blends nostalgia, attitude, and fresh insight as they explore how punk and environmentalism intersected from 1976 to 1981.

The episode explores how punk, between 1976 and 1981, became a tool for resistance and social commentary. Jules selects five tracks that highlight punk’s ecological undercurrent, while Steve and Tim each bring four of their own. Their thirteen-track playlist captures the era’s turbulence and creativity, reflecting both social unrest and the desire for renewal.

Jules draws parallels between punk’s defiance and the green movement’s challenge to neglect, showing punk was about more than destruction — it was about awareness. From The Clash to Joy Division, The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees, the tracks reflect unrest and hope.

Jules’ picks highlight the tension between decaying cities and fragile landscapes, between chaos and the hope for change—issues that feel relevant today. His selections form the thoughtful backbone of the episode.

Steve leans into classic punk’s energy with Suburban Studs, Stiff Little Fingers, and The Dole, while Tim picks Wreckless Eric, The Skids, The Flys, and, naturally,  Stiff Little Fingers, showing how punk’s chaos was underpinned by a desire for transformation.

A single modern track, “Operation Underground” by Hi‑Fi Spitfires, fits seamlessly with the classics, its punk-reggae raw energy and lyrics proving punk’s spirit is still alive. Its DIY ethics and anthemic power bridge past and present.

Beyond music, the show is about memory and community. Steve and Tim’s chemistry and football banter evoke how youth culture, sport, and music shaped the era, conjuring a vivid picture of the seventies when creativity flourished amid hardship.

Jules provides an intellectual perspective on sustainability and rebellion, showing how punk bands were early environmentalists, railing against pollution and alienation even if not in those words.

The episode’s arc moves from chaos to consciousness, with early tracks channelling punk’s fire, later songs adding nuance, and with Hi-Fi Spitfires' Operation Underground, injecting fresh blood. The playlist is a story of endurance and evolution.

The blend of scholarship and spirit keeps the pace lively. Jules’ insights invite listeners to hear familiar songs differently, while Steve and Tim bring humour and the sensibility that shaped punk’s first wave.

This isn’t just nostalgia, it’s re-evaluation. By linking the music of that era to today’s environmental issues, the show proves rebellion can still teach us about hope.

Whether you’re a lifelong punk fan or new to the scene, this episode guides you through punk’s deeper meaning, linking crashing guitar chords to protest and renewal. Jules Pretty makes it clear: music and environment both thrive on urgency and truth.

With its humour, insight, and energy, Alternative Colchester #9 shows the past isn’t done speaking. Punk and environmentalism combine in one loud, human conversation. So turn it up — punk’s still alive, and Alternative Colchester is proof.

www.alternativecolchester.co.uk

Transcript

SPEAKER_16 0:28

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another edition of Alternative Colchester. I'm Steve Green.

SPEAKER_19 0:34

And I'm Tim Young, and uh we're gonna have a great show today. Uh we've got another special guest in the studio, Steve, haven't we?

SPEAKER_16 0:40

We have. We've got somebody that I've actually known for several years, but really in an email capacity, and it's just shows you what another small world it is, because it's somebody uh who was actually at that gig, that gig, that Tom Robinson band and the Stiff Little Fingers gig back in 1978. And the guest's name, I'm not gonna tell you about him because his bio's as long as can be, so I'm gonna let him do that. But I want to welcome to uh alternative coaster Jules Pretty. Hello. Jules? Hello everybody, yeah. Pleasure to be here. Really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_19 1:13

Three of us who were that gig. Wow, that's fantastic, isn't it?

SPEAKER_18 1:16

Yeah, there was loads there, though, and what a gig, what a gig. What a gig.

SPEAKER_16 1:20

But Jules, so yeah, it's a small world really, isn't it? Because we kind of um communicate most um end of years with your family um calendar. Which which um illustrates all the fantastic places you've been to in the preceding year. But what is your um first of all, tell us about yourself, because I know you're heavily into the uh environment and that kind of stuff, so tell us about yourself.

SPEAKER_17 1:46

Yeah, well I um I'm actually retired from the university now, but I was here for 30 years and before that working for a decade for uh international charity in London doing development work. So we did a lot of work in overseas countries, poorer farmers introducing sustainable and um kind of safe methods of agriculture at the time. And it's really where we developed a whole range of work around around environment and nature and lately on climate change and dealing with the climate crisis. Um but I was here for that 30-year period. I'm a I'm a writer, um, I do a lot of uh public-facing events um and pulled to PIN a couple of years ago, formerly, which meant I got busier, um of course. Because that's what happens when you when you stop the thing called work for an institution, it actually opens up all kinds of fun space.

SPEAKER_19 2:41

I've met Jules a few times, have you? Yeah, he is as my position as a councillor, he has come to the council a few times and told us what we should be doing around the environment, and he's always been right, so you know But we've not done all of it because some of it is expensive. But Jules will probably tell us it's a false economy not to do it.

SPEAKER_16 2:58

Uh well as a as a pre-ad to this episode, I actually did go on Jules' LinkedIn profile and I copied and pasted a bit of it and uh I put a link to his uh forthcoming uh podcast, which were the his YouTube channel, really. And um I put in the ad what amazes me is all those years ago when we were either punk rockers or people that were into punk rock, um you know, considering we were told by parents and things, you know, get alive, get a real job, I think Jake Burns said in At the Edge. But we all did pretty good for ourselves, really, didn't we? I mean we're sitting here now with a a university uh professor. Emeritus Professor, a absolutely, and um a c a a a Labour counsellor and former mayor. Yeah. And um I'm the one who slipped through the net. But um no, I didn't know. We'd never run our own business, mate. Well, there you go, there you go. So we we've all done alright for ourselves, and uh I remember hearing when the Should I Stay, Should I Go was the Levi ad, and then they had I'm not a fool, the Cockney Rejects also doing the Levi ad and Ever Fallen in Love by the Buzzcocks has been used several times. Sainsbury's have used boredom by the Buzzcocks. So I think people got into positions of power whereby they could actually go back and make people listen to that good music.

SPEAKER_19 4:15

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Shall we play Jules's first song? Jules, tell us why you've chosen Steve's already mentioned the clash, why you've chosen the clash as your first choice.

SPEAKER_17 4:24

Well, they were my favourite band for a long time. I mean I think they deserve that position for for most of us. Um I've chosen London Calling. I saw the Clash a couple of times at the Lyceum in London when that was still a real real event. Great venue. Beautiful beautiful place. Also in Leeds. Um and um it's London Calling, and they're each of the songs I've chosen is a little kind of sub-story to them. And I think I would say with this one, um, it is that cities are a place for innovation. They're a place where lots of things can happen. And with my environmental hat on, I'm thinking of all the sorts of things c that can make cities liveable and more pleasant to be in, low traffic neighborhoods, um, controlling traffic in various ways, encouraging community engagement, allotments, um, community farms, a whole range of things. And London has been one of the leading cities in the world, large cities that has been able to put in place a whole lot of things. So I thought London Calling has to be the brilliant choice.

SPEAKER_19 5:30

So if you're listening, Sadiq, this is London Calling by the Clash. The classic London calling by the Clash, our first choice from our special guest Jules Pretty today. What a great choice, Jules. Now Jules, I've got a question for you. You're a very intelligent man, you've uh written speeches for noteworthy people, as you were telling us earlier. You've written a load of books, load of research. You're you're a very, very high-qualified, intelligent man. Why on earth do you support Colchester United?

SPEAKER_17 9:14

Because they are the local team. Are you a local man? Good answer. Originally. Originally from Suffolk, so I'm loving this.

SPEAKER_19 9:22

So looking at my producer now, and this is the second time, Luke, isn't it? We had Ben Howard, born in Sudbury, supports Cole.

SPEAKER_17 9:30

So why don't you support Ipswich Town? Uh because we lived in North Suffolk, and actually the nearest team wasn't Ipswich. It wasn't that other lot. It was the other lot. It was the yellow and greens. Good answer. So we used to just got on. We used to get on the train. Shall I leave now? No. Train up at lowest often. 20 minutes later, you were in the middle of Norwich, and that's you know for you. So that's that's uh I've always I've always felt that you should kind of go to your most local team.

SPEAKER_19 10:00

When well I I I'm from Clacton, so I did support Clackton as a boy, but I got into Ipswich because my dad took me to watch them play Arsenal. I've said this story before. He thought we'd come back, because he was an Arsenal fan. Come back Gunners fans. No, I came back an Ipswich fan, that's typical of me, really. Awkward sort. Yeah. So how often do you get to see Cole?

SPEAKER_17 10:20

You say you used to go along. Well we used to have we used to have season tickets. So I say we, me and my son, and then we'd we'd kind of go as a whole family to Wembley or to the to the big occasions, Chelsea and the FA Cup um in the quarterfinal. That's a not quarter final, one before that. Fifth round.

SPEAKER_16 10:36

You didn't go to Carra Road and we won seven one. We were there. Yeah, what a day that was. What a day that was.

SPEAKER_17 10:42

We were there for that.

SPEAKER_19 10:43

So but not now. No. Have you been at all this season? No. That's Steve probably to say that. No, no, no, you've had a reasonable season, haven't you, Steve?

SPEAKER_16 10:51

We've had a good season. Um it's been our biggest attendancies since uh since the championship years as well.

SPEAKER_19 10:57

So that's uh Well, I think you you've got to uh if you issued an invitation to Tony Gardner I think you've got to in issue an imitation because Steve has how many boxes now?

SPEAKER_16 11:06

Well we're gonna go for three boxes next season, so there's thirty of us. And there's quite a few games where people just don't turn up, so we've got access to spare season.

SPEAKER_19 11:16

To go and watch Colchester players under the under the in the John Terry era.

SPEAKER_16 11:23

Well, talking of who will be playing who, how funny is it that Tottenham could be playing Stevenage in league games next season?

SPEAKER_18 11:31

Can you imagine their stadium home to Stevenage?

SPEAKER_17 11:35

But isn't that the joy of the I mean we all to repeat something we all know, but the movement across the leagues. Um desperate when you're going down for sure, but the hope that you get from going up. Look at Bromley. Yeah. Terrific, fantastic, unbelievable social. Great, great, great manager. Andy Woodman, our old old goalie.

SPEAKER_16 11:55

And he should be manager of the year. Yeah. What he's done with.

SPEAKER_19 11:58

So Sheffield Wednesday versus Bromley next season. Yeah. Yeah, Leicester versus Bromley. Leicester City versus Premier League champions ten years ago. We were playing Bromley. Oh, I think Sheffield Wednesday will get more points than they got this season. I think they probably will Steve, I think you're probably going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_16 12:14

Aren't they still in trouble though?

SPEAKER_18 12:16

I don't know if you're not going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_17 12:17

I think their takeovers are in trouble again.

SPEAKER_18 12:20

Deducted.

SPEAKER_17 12:21

But but there's a kind of principle there about of of uh egalitarianism, which is, you know, and that obviously the big money is just taking some clubs madly away from everybody else, and that's I don't think they like that.

SPEAKER_19 12:35

Man said you're never going to lose points, are they? Even though they've probably broken every rule in the book. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_17 12:40

But but the idea that you can through um good management and good players and good organisation, that you can do something special remains a possibility. Uh you can also bugger it up, of course. But that's also good to know.

SPEAKER_16 12:55

Well, tomorrow night I'll be rooting for Scunthorpe against Southampton.

SPEAKER_19 13:01

I was coming on.

SPEAKER_16 13:03

I've got a feeling that Southampton could be a fly in the ointment for Ipswich's um promotion success or lack of, with a bit of luck. Um but going on to your uh first choice, Tim, which is Love and a Molotov Cocktail by the Flies, I decided to do a bit of research. This isn't stuff I already knew, so this is actually stuff. So the Flies were around from 76 to 80. Yeah. David Freeman, uh the guitarist, and Joseph Hughes, the bassist, who also played with Ray Roddy Radiation and the Tear Jokers, but not the tearjerkers that you go down with. They went on to play in a new wave band called The Lover Speaks, who I've never heard of, but they had a few hits in the UK in the eighties, but I kind of got fell out of love with music in the eighties because punk had finished and it's on it. It was kind of like real managed. The singer, Neil O'Connor, is Hazel O'Connor's brother, which I thought was uh good. And the um the drummer went on to have success in the eighties with a band called After the Fire.

SPEAKER_19 14:19

Oh After the Fire, they were a Christian band. They played at this ve in this very university. Did they? Yeah, a number of times. They were a local Christian band.

SPEAKER_16 14:27

And a stadium punk rock band called The Totenhosen, who literally are a stadium band. They play in front of tens of thousands of people worldwide. The only country where they're not big is the UK. I've never heard of them. And they had an album out in uh 1980 something, and it was called um Speaking English or Learning English uh one. And they covered lots and lots of what we would call classic punk songs, and one of the songs they covered was Love and A Molotude Cocktail Upon the Flies. Yeah, I think I got the year wrong, it wasn't 980, it was a lot later than that.

SPEAKER_19 15:05

But the reason I chose this song is because we played the Flies in episode one, uh Civilization, which is a great song. And this was on the same compilation album, and I rem remembered that it was another great song, because I think this is really good as well. Um and so I thought let's in episode nine, let's go back and hear the flies play Love and a Molotov cocktail.

SPEAKER_07 16:20

I'll tell the top two I want to do, and that's it, I'm gonna do it, and I'll take it, and I'll take it, I'm gonna die, bangers, but the world wants to go to the world.

SPEAKER_19 17:56

The Flies and Love and a Molotov cocktail. Now I have a question for you, Steve. And Joel's.

SPEAKER_16 18:01

Is it about the flies? Because I know everything about the flies.

SPEAKER_19 18:03

No. Oh. It's about Molotov. Uh have you seen the film The Death of Starlin? I haven't, actually. It's a classic film. Do you know who plays Molotov in that film? Go on. Michael Palin. Michael Palin plays Molotov. It is, it's a very dark comedy. It's very, very funny. It's Armando Inucci, who did the thick of it and all that. It's superb. Yeah, try and get to see it. It's a really funny film. Is it fairly new or is it? No, it's at least 15 years old, I would have thought. Yeah, trying trying to. And Michael Palin, while we're on Monty Python, because we do have a bit of Python in this jewels as well. Uh he was there at the weekend when they unveiled the statue of Terry Jones on Colwyn Bay Prom. Um because Terry Jones is from Colwyn Bay, and uh it's him as the nude organist. Right. So I'm making a pilgrimage to because my in-laws live in Wales, so we're gonna make a pilgrimage to see that statue in the summer. Oh nice. And they're hoping that um a certain part of his anatomy will become quite shiny, like they do with statues, don't they? Over the years.

SPEAKER_16 19:10

So you can polish it, can't you? You can polish it, yeah.

SPEAKER_19 19:12

I'm gonna I'm definitely gonna go. And and typical Python, the opening went totally wrong. All it was all um surrounded by a cardboard box type thing, and they did a big explosion, but none of the walls fell down, so somebody had to come and push them back. Who from Python attended? Uh Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. Right, couldn't get John Cleese there. No, but he did send a message, as did Eric Idle. Because I think they all love Terry. Good. Well, but uh traditionally Cleese and Jones didn't get on when they were in Python, but I think they all grew to love him in the end. Yeah. Good. Good story. Yeah, how about that? Molotov. He plays Molotov, Palin, in The Death of Stalin.

SPEAKER_16 19:50

Okay. Ask me in the next episode what I think of it, and I'll have watched the film by then. Okay, I'm holding you to that. Yeah, no pressure on me there then. And you, Jules.

SPEAKER_19 19:58

Jules can send a review in by email.

SPEAKER_18 20:01

I'll send it in.

SPEAKER_16 20:02

Okay, so we've covered um who Jules is, why he's here, what he's done, what his um uh interest in punk is and the fact that he went to those impressive gigs at the Lyceum to the book. Why sports Cole U. Why Sports Cole U, and why he's gonna promise to like my promise to watch the movie he's gonna promise to start more games next season. And to go in your box. Yeah, and and come in the boxes. And um right, so my first choice, this is a band who yet again I saw at the University of Essex. They supported 999 in 1978 at the Uni. I didn't know who they were, but I loved them. They were fantastic. They were from Peterborough. They only made one single, which we're gonna play, called New Wave Love. It is a bit of a punk um classic. Uh but it has the longest uh B-side title that I think I've heard of, and it is called Hungry Men No Longer Steal Sheep, but are their hanging judges.

SPEAKER_19 20:59

That is quite long. I challenge anyone to come up with a longer That's longer than All I Want for Christmas is a Duke La Praga Way Kit as well, isn't it? I've not heard of that one. Have you not half man, half biscuit?

SPEAKER_16 21:09

No, no. Oh sorry, I thought you you you were gonna I thought you were gonna be some Ipswich connotations.

SPEAKER_19 21:13

No, no, that's uh that was on the B side of the Trumpton riots.

SPEAKER_16 21:16

Well, we'll need to uh compare those two titles to see which one's got the longest one. But I think the more interesting one.

SPEAKER_19 21:23

If only we had an emeritus professor in the house.

SPEAKER_16 21:25

Yeah. Counting up as he exercises through. But he's got to remember the names of those two songs now as well, hasn't he? So good luck with that. Uh right, okay, without further ado, let's get on with some more music, and this is New Wave Love by the Dole. One of those endings that you like, Tim, there. Lovely. It's a great song. Keyboards didn't really go with punk rock, but the dole managed to fit them in quite nicely. Yeah, the Stranglers were the exception. That proves the rule. They were. They were. But that was good use of um keyboards there with the dole. Right, so we're at that stage in the show where we've all had a track each and we're gonna come on to Jules's second track. Um what what's the you I think you said there was a bit of a theme going, um, Jules, so what what what tell us about the next one?

SPEAKER_17 25:20

Um well I'm assuming that it's actually the order that I wrote them down in. This is the cure, this one. Oh, the cure, right, okay. I that I had that as the the last one. So um this is Fire in Cairo um from the Cure. So sorry, we upset some sort of story here by changing the sequence. No, absolutely fine. Damn no problem. You can try harder. Um yeah, I really like the cure in all from days early to days late. Um I do think the bands should probably stop before they get really old. Um but I don't know, maybe maybe not. Maybe people We saw stiff little fingers the other week and they were just as good as right, okay, maybe. Yeah. Um uh so I uh fire and caro, uh uh there's a little kind of story with each of my choices here that has an environmental slant with it. You'd kind of expect that. So I'm thinking fire, solar, Africa, um, the future of uh the planet depends upon us uh getting rid of fossil fuels and using renewables. Um fossil fuels, you pay for them three times, you pay for the capital, you pay every week, every month for the running costs, and then you pay to clean up the mess afterwards, the environmental and health mess. Whereas renewables you just pay for them once um to build the capital. And a lot of the innovations happening in Africa. Um a lot of the countries that are a hundred percent renewable now are in Africa. And so the the fire in Cairo, the solar fire, I thought would be our link to this song.

SPEAKER_16 26:51

That's great. Apart from the uh great choices, uh I don't need it, but I'm learning quite a bit.

SPEAKER_19 26:56

I thought I knew I would. Yeah. Perhaps certain presidents and certain politicians in this country should listen to Professor Pritty. Yeah, because he knows what he's talking about. Because there are politicians in this country and in the United States who think we should draw baby drill. Nonsense.

SPEAKER_16 27:14

Yeah. So what's the um uh the the the thinking behind, you know, we the the the people that like the Trumps of this world, you know, complete buffoons, who are saying that we've got um n uh natural uh gas and North Sea oil. Yeah, you know, what what what's your take on that?

SPEAKER_17 27:32

Well there are two I think there are two angles to this. One is not appreciating just how bad climate crisis is. That's number one. Now we I tend not to talk about the bad stuff very often because actually it just makes shoulders slump and everybody thinks, oh crikey, you know. That I I don't I don't want to hear about how bad it's going to be. So part is the recognition that that that this is super serious for us all. Secondly, it's nuts to be spending money on fossil fuels when we have to pay for them so many times. So the reason why companies and politicians, certain politicians, many, are interested in continuing with them is that's the way you make money. You make money by making people pay for your filling up your tank every week um uh and filling up your your boiler and paying for the for the gas and so forth. Um that's that suits current interests. It doesn't suit the planet, though. It does not suit the planet, and that that is the thing, is the the the um the shift to renewables is that we've had solar panels on our house for twenty years now, so kind of early generation. Um we haven't paid any electricity bills for that time. Wow. Or the solar covers it all. Um and in order to drive here today, um I plug in the electric car, fill it up with solar, which is free, and drive here and go home again and it's free. Um and there's a there's a shift, the economy still people still think you can have the environment or the economy, but you can't have both. One works and nonsense, this is really old thinking. That's really interesting. So you can you can have the environment and the economy, but you've got to think brightly first to get to that point.

SPEAKER_16 29:16

But can you have it quickly though? Because whether the situation we've got in the Strait of Amoo's at the moment where you've got all of this oil and everything's kind of like stuck. I mean, I I'm not impacted by it either because it costs me one pound ninety four to fill my uh electric car up, you know, three p a kilowatt between uh midnight and six a.m. I my car takes one pound ninety-four to f to to fill up. So it doesn't bother me as an individual how much gas is going up, but it does impact on everything else that that the oil and the gas takes to transport food and other products.

SPEAKER_17 29:51

You've mentioned a kind of contemporary crisis. I mean that's that's the one that Australian poor moves at the moment. And that that I I I would suggest we just need to put that aside for one reason because there's a there's there's all sorts of drivers for that crisis. People could see it coming, it maybe it's being deliberately manipulated to force prices high because that's the way you make money out of out of fossil fuels. But in the longer term, all of those things go away if we're if we're using renewables. Um half of all the ships in the world that are moving in the oceans are moving oil, gas, and coal in order to burn it. So you're burning fossil fuels in order to burn more fossil fuels, and meanwhile, the climate is being trashed. So economically, I think most people feel as though we're at the end of a economic system. We're at the end of what we might call uh late-stage capitalism or neoliberal capitalism. Excuse me. The game is up, and now we've just got to kind of transition to the new thinking. But luckily, we have all the technology, we have the ideas. Let's just do it.

SPEAKER_16 30:57

Let's do it. Fascinating stuff, and I'm sure we'll get onto it as the show progresses. But I'm enjoying the fact that each song has got its own story, so uh let's listen to the cure, and this is Fire in Cairo.

SPEAKER_26 31:13

Slowly fade down blue, the Easter hollows. Catch the tight song, the night time follows silence of black, mirror blue Mirrors on the place, so I meet you I see your head and I fade out light through the darker I shine bright I'm burn like fire, burn like firing Cairo I'm burn like fire, burn like firing Cairo Shooting crimson foul, soak on lips slide on a my hand, solar lips Whistle my name and I yarn You take me in your arms it's not too fun F I Ari I and C A I oh oh F I Ari I and C A I oh F I Ari I and C A I Oh Then the Heat disappears and the Mirror Fades Away, I ain't CAY oh F IRA IN CIA I Oh FIRE IN CIA I OF I ARE IN CIA OF FIRE IN CIARY IN CIA OH I ARE AY IN CIA FIRE IN CIA IORI CARO BUNLACO FARE CIRO BURLACO BLE ZACO FARE IN CIRO BLAZ IT SURE BURN LIGHO BUNLY FIRE CHIROAT SONELY RELELVELEVELLET TO OUR THIMS FIRE IN CIRO BY TURE SECING COISMLS PRITY, OUR SPESCHEL GES BrILING COICH AGAIN.

SPEAKER_19 34:33

NO GENTLEN, IFUFUWN' MIND IndULGING Luke and I for ASICEN Because Uh Ipswich Town have got squeaky Bum Time at the moment. We need three points from the last two games. Luke, are you nervous? Uh as an Ipswich fan I'm always nervous. Always nervous, yeah, we're going to do it the hard way, aren't we, undoubtedly?

SPEAKER_20 34:51

Yeah, I'd like to think that um It's not the Ipswich way, Luke. No.

SPEAKER_19 34:55

We're not going to win at Southampton.

SPEAKER_20 34:57

Well I don't know, Southampton had a a really tough game against Man City on the uh on the weekend, didn't they? Yeah. So I think emotionally they're going to be down but um I don't I'll take a point. I'll take a point from we don't need a point.

SPEAKER_19 35:10

Then we might as well lose as take a point.

SPEAKER_20 35:12

No I'd rather not lose because that makes it even more tighter.

SPEAKER_19 35:18

The uh the Cole U fans are smiling at me which is nice. No, I think Millwall probably won't win both games.

SPEAKER_16 35:22

I think they've only got one game left there of course home to already relegated Oxford Yeah but Oxford Oxford have been alright, yeah they because the pressure wednesday and I think this is the thing about Southampton as well. I'm sorry I don't I don't mean to pee on your parade and we only need to win one. You do but I think Southampton have been playing under an enormous amount of pressure trying to get into those they they can't do it now so they have to go into the playoffs. They know they're going to be in the playoffs and they very probably yeah and um I I just think the pressure's off them a little bit and it's not they want to save themselves for the playoffs. No I think you just you don't want to be going into the playoffs on the back of a defeat. You need to keep that winning mentality and I've also got Ethereal and QPR as well they'll have they'll have no pressure as well so I think on the beach mate on the beach yeah I don't know I've got a feeling Ipswich are going to slip off.

SPEAKER_20 36:13

They sort of got Matt Bloomfield haven't they?

SPEAKER_19 36:15

Oh yeah because there's an Ipswich uh an ex Cole U manager. Did he play for Ipswich Col You manager for about three minutes. Yeah till he Wickham made him a better offer. Yeah exactly um yeah he's Ipswich youngster came through the ranks at Ipswich town did he get uh any first team games?

SPEAKER_20 36:30

He might have got one or two did yeah but not many predominantly played at Wickham didn't he so he might do it for the town.

SPEAKER_16 36:36

Well if I bring a bottle of champagne in for episode ten you'll know that um Ipswich switch didn't playoffs. And also South End stayed down so um it wouldn't have been a bad season after all and then if John Terry takes over on the same day it could be a that nice things come in threes.

SPEAKER_20 36:54

If epido episode ten isn't released then you know Ipswich haven't done it absolutely I've just deleted it.

SPEAKER_19 36:59

Oops oops yeah can I change my mind on the uh on my way of thinking anyway I I've been all over the country watching Ipswich Town I have I went to the Euther Cup final second leg in Amsterdam so I've been the whole wide world watching Ipswich Town that's another tenuous link to the next song. Reckless Eric this is and uh talk a bit about Reckless Eric maybe after we've heard the track because I loved Reckless Eric for a long time. I still do but I'll tell you about after we've played this song which is my favourite Reckless Eric song I'll tell you about a gig I saw him at Colchester Arts Centre not that recently but within the last ten years and yeah Reckless Eric is not the same Reckless Eric as he was when he was releasing stuff like this.

SPEAKER_25 37:45

This is Whole Wide World by Reckless Eric since I did a whole one I call the whole one just to buy or maybe she's in the Bahamas where the Caribbean sea is blue We been in a tropical moon late night because nobody's told about you I call the whole life I call the whole life I call the whole eye the wonderful Reckless Eric off the double album Big Smash and Whole Wide World.

SPEAKER_19 40:48

Love that song Love Reckless Eric as I said I saw him well at the Colster Arts Centre um and he was terrible. Oh really? I saw him supporting Stiff Little Fingers in Did he play his hits? A couple of years ago yeah yeah because he refused to play his hits he played one I think he played Whole Wide World he didn't play any people were shouting play Rick On Echerie play Veronica and he wouldn't he said don't play any of that stuff anymore. And he was playing all this synthhop rubbish.

SPEAKER_16 41:16

No he just did him and an acoustic guitar with Stiff Little Fingers and I think he knew the audience was a punk rock audience so he had to do his kind of new wave stuff. But that song's made him a fortune because it's it's in so many movie soundtracks you just suddenly watch in your ear it is a great song yeah it's fantastic and he wrote some I th I played that double album to death.

SPEAKER_19 41:34

I I think I I had a a short period of unemployment after I left school and before I got my my job at Royal London and I used to play that record in my bedroom playing darts and I just listened to it over and over again. It's a smashing album. Yeah but it would be called Big Smash I suppose but Reckless Eric you are certainly part of the punk new wave movement and you deserve your place in the annals of history.

SPEAKER_16 41:58

And on stiff records of course so that's good that's good. Right I can't see you Steve yeah we're gonna speed it up a little bit because you're not that um tractor boy of a producer's like don't you when he keeps coming in and saying how long we've been on play yeah he's nice Cli.

SPEAKER_19 42:10

Nice night he uh the Middlesbrough game our last home game he he he he accosted me. Yeah and we s both said settle for a point today as a typical Ipswich and and a point a point we got a point you gained thanks to a uh a very well deserved penalty.

SPEAKER_16 42:25

Okay well we've got a listener in San Pedro California and uh he's a good friend of mine actually chap called Frank Byrd I've I've been to the States a few times um just simply to to spend time with him and uh he's such a great guy but he was around back in the day and his encyclopedic knowledge of all things punk rock Los Angeles uh has introduced me to uh a lot of stuff that I wouldn't normally have got into. I was with Frank uh a few months ago in January and um he said that each fortnight he feels like he's having an a he's having a pint with me um because he listens to my dulcet tones along with yours and whoever the guests are and he loves the music. Um and he's suggested that we played a band called the Brat and I've never heard of 'em. So I did a little bit of research and uh I found out that uh they came from East LA and back in uh 78 when they released this song um because they came from uh the poorest part of LA they weren't they were in the low income uh non-white areas of East LA so they weren't really uh accepted by the the p the LA punk bands which is a bit sad really but I've I've always thought that the p punk in America was more middle class and and in the UK it was it was led by uh working class, but you know there's exceptions to all of those things. But anyway, I've got into this band a he sent me some MP threes of of of their output which is about ten songs or something um and I thought we'd give it a spin. So this is the Brett, and it's called Attitudes. Great stuff. That was the Brat and Attitudes. Thanks for introducing me to those, Frank. I know you've given me a load more to listen to, and I am listening to them, I promise. I always said that I'm stuck in a bit of a time warp, so I only listen to stuff that I already know. I don't really get into new bands, but uh I keep getting introduced to new bands, or new not new bands, but old bands that I didn't know about before. Like the Dead Polys. Like the Dead Polys last weekend. Well I love that song, love that song. So that's good. And we've got a another relatively new band. I think new. Anyone that's in the last 20 years is new to me, you know. So but there is one coming up. But uh back to Jules's um themes, um where he's got an environmental story to each one. I was stupidly sexually I shouldn't admit to this now that we're on air, but I stupidly off air on it. Yeah, I did. I'm a dimwit. Um I I can't see where the connection's gonna come from the next one, but uh tell us about uh your next choice, Jules.

SPEAKER_17 47:00

Next choice is Susie in the Banshee, so it's Hong Kong Garden. So the the sub tale to this story is really about China. Um Hong Kong at the time uh of the song coming out in 1978, I think about then. Hong Kong Garden. So 1981 was the first time I went to China, um and that was at the time of a big transition. The Gang of Four was on trial. It was a moment of shift of China from from the cultural revolution into something that they didn't know yet what was going to happen. And within a twenty-year period a dramatic change in the whole of the country, which to begin with becomes heavily polluted and damaged because, in order to catch up, a lot of kind of natural resources are used up really quickly and a lot of pollution created. China's now one of the leading countries when it comes to environmental profile. They've made massive transitions to renewables, cleaned up rivers, encouraged um development of new nature reserves, and a whole a whole range of stuff that is um often missing from people's conceptions.

SPEAKER_19 48:06

Why isn't that more widely known? You'd never hear it on the on the news. I guess I guess I don't listen to radio. All you think about is an individual. I guess radio forward.

SPEAKER_17 48:15

I I think report it. Yeah, we kind of like to have um you know kind of people to blame, perhaps, or countries.

SPEAKER_19 48:22

Yeah, because you do still hear individuals saying, Oh, what's the point of me doing recycling when China's pumping out all this pollution?

SPEAKER_17 48:29

But that's not the case, they're changing. They're ra rapidly changing. Um and uh with responsibility. So in the in the last five-year plan for for China, um and I'm no apologies for the way the system is run, but I'm just talking about the environmental profile, um, is that their key vision is something called ecological civilization. So they're saying we want to create a way of living that is ecologically sensitive, that is good for the planet, but is also very good for people. And it's back to the theme I mentioned earlier, is that you will hear, we have heard in this country, people say, well, you can't have nature if it's gonna block growth. Um so when we want growth, so trash the the local nature. I mean, it's this is ludicrous nonsense. It's it's been well established, you can run the two rails side by side. And China's a proof point. They are uh fast developing technologies and doing stuff that you would kind of look at really sad as well.

SPEAKER_16 49:29

I thought when I bought anything. It's an MG, which I thought would be British, but it's not, it's Chinese these days. Okay, well this one um I thought I think m I'm gonna listen to the lyrics again because I thought it was all about um uh uh Chow Main and uh Chopsui, but I'm gonna listen to the lyrics, but maybe this one is just a cryptic um uh part of uh Jules' theme. But it's a classic, whatever, and it's Hong Kong Garden by Susie and the Banshees.

SPEAKER_11 50:26

Symbols pressing everywhere, head, bring the hell the price and rain, wall, you like sending it, jump up, jump all the time, water, hello, come sell your daughter, was you like number 23 country, oh I want to see a place, but you should have been right, so we have changed away, I'll be six and so on just make it so bad eyes, we can use a life, okay, so for it, for it's all eyes all the way to the massage from the Swedish Prime Minister.

SPEAKER_16 53:01

I mean, I I I uh played it after a crash song on the last uh episode, which I wanted two comedy records after the other. But I feel a bit bad now putting that bit after Hong Kong Garden because Jules' subject matter is so serious um that it really did not need a massage on the Swedish Bummy State.

SPEAKER_17 53:19

Well, I don't know, maybe it does. Because we ought to bring a bit of laughter and joy to all of these things. Okay, that's the state of approval.

SPEAKER_19 53:25

When I go and see the Terry Jones statue, I will give him a Swedish massage on his statue on his on his bare bottom. Yeah, wonderful choice um Jules Susie and the Banshees. I love Hong Kong Garden. I just told you both, the first Susie the Banshees record I ever bought.

SPEAKER_16 53:41

Yeah, John Peel loved them and uh they were so late getting a record contract they held out and eventually Polydor um released them. I think they did um John Peel sessions before they even made a record. As many did. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_19 53:55

Alright, well shall we move on to our stiff little fingers, the obligatory stiff little fingers track. Your turn is my turn. So when I bought the album Nobody's Heroes, um I th this track stood out for me. Uh they're all great tracks on Nobody's Heroes. Um, but then I read Jake Byrne said we didn't like the lyrics to this song. They were they we thought they were too uh con condemnatory, if that's a word. Um and so we thought we'd give it an up tempo tune to go with it. And I think it works really well, but they never play it, do they? It's like Gate 49.

SPEAKER_16 54:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_19 54:29

They never play it live.

SPEAKER_16 54:30

But I you know um Just Fade Away, stiff little thing. Of course I do. Do you do you think he's talking about the same girl in I Don't Like You as he has in Just Fade Away? I think he might be. Because that that word you use. The lyrics are very harsh. That word you use. Condemnatory. Yeah, I just wondered if you I just wondered if you could say it twice, say it twice. But yeah, I mean it's there. It's not two M's. It's not like Jake to be because it's all like no hate and um you know, you know, uh with stiff little fingers, isn't it? So I just wondered though both. He obviously had a bad time with uh with that somehow different. Yeah, I'm hoping it was the same one, otherwise, you know, once bit and twice shy and all that. Shall we hear it? Let's hear it.

SPEAKER_19 55:10

Let's hear I don't like you by stiff little fingers.

SPEAKER_05 55:21

If I thought you could find a way until you're a gold at last. Oh, I ask you to pay attention with your break and stand and gas. Look at you and the stage you're in the big You gotta break his bed. You wanna scratch over here? You wanna waste another day But with the time of the wheel, you only want me to be I don't like you a fucking best East You don't want you wanna stay next to you Stop my telling the way You wanna scratch from the you're right You wanna wake up a big I wake up the way You only won't make the fish I don't like you know what I'm like gonna be annoyed You don't have to follow them Looking at you next to you It's not the me You wanna special as you wanna waste a day I waste a time You won't want to be I don't like you I don't ask you I don't ask you I don't like you Hello, this is Henry Clooney, um X Stiff Little Fingers, and I X SLF.

SPEAKER_12 57:53

You're listening to Alternative Colchester. Keeper lit.

SPEAKER_19 57:58

Thank you, Henry, and uh the very harsh lyrics of Stiff Little Fingers, I don't like you. I think we had a a joint uh agreement about who we don't like, uh, if you're listening in the White House. Um that song might be about you. Uh but print King Charles, we hope that you have a nice time in the United States when when you go on tour. What does Henry say at the end of his song? I don't know, I thought you'd know.

SPEAKER_16 58:21

No, I can't I'd listen to it so many times I d I I didn't know.

SPEAKER_19 58:25

We'll get Luke on Google Translate Irish to English.

SPEAKER_16 58:30

Yes. Right, you're next, Stephen. Yeah, we are. We're we're m moving swiftly on. I I think Luke loves it when he hears that. He does. Um then we don't. No, we don't. We don't at all. Okay, well the criteria. 1976 to uh 1981. We agreed uh several weeks ago now, really, that we As long as we can join the dots. I think that's what um our last guest said. If you can join the dots, then then you can get through it. And we got we we managed to join the dots and get the dead pollies doing uh Strummerland, and we're glad we did, because that was a real nugget we unearthed. And we've said stiff little things as the exception. Yeah, yeah, any year will go with them, that doesn't really matter, does it? And also Sir Anthony Lord Roberts um who do you think was playing 1970s theme tunes and things, you know, and some other bizarre stuff. So we've gone off on a bit of a tangent. Uh but the next one, um Hi-Fi Spitfies got in contact with me. Now they're they're doing really well. They're on they're they they've had a few albums out, they they're on the uh gigan circuit. They're what I'd call a new band, but they all hate hate me for saying that because they've you know been going for many years, and actually uh the guitarist um is uh uh was was in was a guitarist for the UK subs for uh uh many years, from 2016 to 2024. His name's Steve Straughton, and when you read up on Hi-Fi Spitfires, uh it says they are a cross between uh Clash, the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers, and I'm thinking, well, how do you even get better than a than a cross between those two bands? So I asked them to send me some MP3s, which they kindly did, and every single one of them is an absolute belter. Um and it was really, really difficult to choose which one to play. So um but this one really does sound like a cross between two little fingers and the clash, but in a good way, they're not ripping them off. You can see the influences are there, but they've got their own style, and they're only a three-piece. Um and I really do want to go and see them play. I know I think they're people doing the Rebellion Festival when everyone's doing that, but um uh but yeah, I think this could be the new Dead Polly's strummerland for people want to hear something that's outside that um i era that we like to stick to, and this is Hi-Fi Spitfires with Operation Underground.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:34

Let's go, Pull and let's do that, pull it out of what I can believe a water.

SPEAKER_16 1:04:11

I feel like I'm um betraying 1976 to 1981, because last week I said my favourite track at the moment was Dead Polly's Strummerland, and this week my favourite track is Operation Underground by Hi-Fi Spitfires, you like.

SPEAKER_19 1:04:24

Yeah, great track, yeah, and when they said it's uh combination of the clash and typical fingers, I really see that. It's an amazing song. Yeah, well done.

SPEAKER_16 1:04:32

Yeah, good.

SPEAKER_19 1:04:32

Well done for getting in touch with us, lads.

SPEAKER_16 1:04:34

Thank you very much. Right, on to Jules's third track. And tell us about this one. Um I think this is the fourth one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_19 1:04:45

Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. We we don't do maths. Did I say third?

SPEAKER_16 1:04:49

Yeah, yeah. Oh, because you've got five tracks, haven't you? Yeah, I thought we were all having four, but you've got five. So that's fine.

SPEAKER_19 1:04:54

Join his track.

SPEAKER_16 1:04:55

Yeah. Join his track. Joy Division.

SPEAKER_17 1:04:57

Yeah. Joy Division, so Ian Curtis and as was then part of the same band Joy Division became later became New Order. So Love will tear us apart. So this is a a kind of bleak bleak song, but made bleaker by knowing what follows. Um and clearly he was torn apart in lots of lots of ways. And I think the kind of message if you want to take something from this is um you know, love the song for sure. But also just remember that kindness and conversation perhaps are things that that are important to us all. And um we was we were talking earlier about the kind of big changes that are going to be needed um to stop the climate crisis and and and other kinds of holes that we've got ourselves into. Um but the danger is to take those a bit too seriously. I mean the world is serious and but we we don't want to feel too anxious about that. We want to feel as though there's hope. Um So I think that what I would say from this is listen to this level terrorism. But remember there's hope as well. And you kind of feel sorry about in Curtis's circumstances and just to remember that there are people who perhaps could do with others reaching out to help them.

SPEAKER_19 1:06:11

Absolutely. Steve banned somebody from uh our requesting this song, so you're privileged that he's allowed you Jules Pretty.

SPEAKER_16 1:06:20

I want to have a shout out now to my good friend Nigel Baker because uh he seems to jet set everywhere around Europe and uh but I'm glad he does because when he's on the plane he listens to the episodes and he's um he's a sarcastic bugger, but he's always very um complimentary about the shows, and I did say to him when he um said he what he said he wasn't gonna listen anymore until a Joy Division song got played, and I said, Well you won't be listening then. And and here we are, here we are playing a Joy Division song.

SPEAKER_17 1:06:47

I'm glad we snuck it in then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_16 1:06:49

Yeah, so this is for you, Nigel. And um Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.

SPEAKER_19 1:10:15

But they are not the best words to that song. Go on. Burns. Burns will tear you apart again. And Wes came back, made his come back again against West Brom. I think he'll be playing the last two games of the season. The great Wes Burns. Oh, I thought you were about Jake Burns. Oh well that that would apply to Jake as well.

unknown 1:10:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_19 1:10:38

But Wes is an Ipswich Town hero, our number seven, Welsh wizard. He'll be roaring down the right wing against both Southampton and QPR, and hopefully he will fire us to promotion to Premier League.

SPEAKER_17 1:10:51

Brilliant segue. That's a brilliant link.

SPEAKER_20 1:10:53

What did you say, Lake? Do you think he'll get another contract? His contract up to the end of the year.

SPEAKER_19 1:10:57

He deserves one, because after that ACL comeback, he deserves another contract.

SPEAKER_16 1:11:02

Surely surely if you go up, they'll all go, won't they?

SPEAKER_19 1:11:06

Well, if we do a Sunderland, that's the thing to do, isn't it? Well, I'm not no, I'm being serious. No, I think I think we we probably need half a dozen good players, but let's get their first. I think we need to have that.

SPEAKER_20 1:11:17

If we need a striker. Oh god, don't we need a striker? I was listening to an Ipswich Town podcast on the way in today, and I think our stats for um uh major misses from our strikers Azon and Hearst. Yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:11:32

I think Azon uh he's a really good player. And he combines and fine, but yeah, don't put me on the city. He can't finish. And Hearst is just gone since he since he started playing for Scotland, he can't he can't. I'm not the same player.

SPEAKER_16 1:11:47

I'm not going to answer in the same way as I was previously, because um um a bit like Trump keeps saying, You haven't got the card, you haven't got a card, and Luke's saying, You haven't got a card, you haven't got a card, you can't do this without me, so I'm not saying anything. Let's have that problem.

SPEAKER_19 1:11:59

Let's hope we have that problem. Jobs, I wanted to ask you about Forest Green Rovers, the greenest football club in the country. What do you think of what they're doing and what they've done?

SPEAKER_17 1:12:08

Well, I think that's uh it's it's it's great to do stuff, and it's also great to talk about what you're doing. Um not necessarily just to kind of bask in any kind of glory, but actually to say to others um it's not that hard. It's quite easy to do it. Um okay, they're lampooned a bit, you know, the uh vegan food at the place but you know the wooden the wooden kind of structures in the ground, the the zero carbon in all that they do. It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_19 1:12:36

Yeah, they're an example to us all, aren't they? Um it's a shame they dropped out of the Football League, but I think they've had a good season, haven't they? They will be in the playoffs. Yeah, they're in the playoffs. They will be in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_17 1:12:45

They get a lot of support because of their green agenda, don't they? Exactly. And uh their owner is Dale Vince, and he heads up Eco Electricity, and you know, they were one of the first companies to establish a renewables-only programme. And there are others that are big and successful as well that that that um people can sign up to easily to make sure your electricity comes from renewables. Um they're leading the way, and I think that would be great. I'd love to see um more explicit support from clubs for sustainability agenda because it isn't hurt, and it also is a way of connecting with your public who are paying customers. Brilliant members. I'm glad I was I had it on my notes, so I'm glad I remembered that as well. I'm glad you've mentioned that. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_19 1:13:34

Those are leading by example, aren't they? Exactly. Right, my nine next choice is uh the quite serious, depressing Love or Terrorist Apart by Joy Division. Great song, but I thought we'd have a bit of levity because um we Steve and I talked about when you bought went out and bought a punk single, it was always a great occasion. And you you knew the the A side, but it was always great to listen to the B side, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_16 1:13:55

They were always good, yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:13:55

They were always good. So when I went out and bought uh on White Vinyl, Into the Valley by Skids, I couldn't wait to hear the B side. And the B side is just hilarious. And it's a song called T V Stars, and when if you don't know it, when you hear it, I'm sure you'll love it as much as I know Steve loves it as well, and we'll be shouting out uh a certain name I'm sure when this song is played. So let's play, let's play TV Stars by Skids.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:27

This is this is a article for we do our source pick politics for you today.

SPEAKER_19 1:16:22

I just love that. That's um TV stars by Skids. Albert Tatlock.

SPEAKER_16 1:16:27

And did you see that that was Stuart Jobson playing the intro of Charles?

SPEAKER_19 1:16:31

Was it Stuart Jobson or Richard Adamson? Because you've got those names mixed up in the middle. That's Richard Adamson, wasn't it? Stuart Adamson and Richard Jobson. Oh god, dear, oh dear.

SPEAKER_16 1:16:39

This is called Alternative Ulster, isn't it? No, Steve, it's alternative Colchester and did you hear Stuart Adamson at the end of that track doing the intro to Charles?

SPEAKER_19 1:16:50

I did, yes. Good. What do you think of the Skids incidentally? Uh great singles band. I really struggled with their albums. Did you I bought Scared to Dance? I thought that was a good album.

SPEAKER_16 1:17:00

Yeah, maybe I haven't listened to it properly, but I just like the single. It was a great song. Yeah. It was a single.

SPEAKER_19 1:17:05

Well I'll say that at some point.

SPEAKER_16 1:17:06

For some reason they don't do Sweet Suburbia Live anymore. Really weird, really weird. That's such a good song. Brilliant. I know. Do you know what I thought the team they all supported, though? Uh must be a Scottish team. Yeah, that narrows it down a little bit.

SPEAKER_19 1:17:19

Celtic Rangers, Hearts, Hibbs. None of them. Falkirk. No. Well, uh Gordon Brown used to support Ray Throvers, or still supports Ray Rovers. Was it Ray Trovers? No.

SPEAKER_16 1:17:29

This is like the Chinese. Cheese Cheapshop. I love Cheap Shop. Dunfermulin. Dunfermin athletic. Yeah, yeah. So you can actually go to Dunfermline and see a tribute to Stuart Adamson as well. Not Richard Adamson. Not Richard Adamson. Nah, Stuart. Yeah. What a sad loss he was as well. Oh yeah. Another teenager. Oh. Great. Big country, weren't they, after um after Skids. Yeah, well that was your last track. It was. T V Stars, The Skids. Brilliant. I'm not sold on it, to be honest. Oh, I love it. I mean, I know we I know we had a bit uh on the other week about uh novelty records.

SPEAKER_19 1:18:08

Yeah, well and and Roberts talked about it was DIY rock and roll, it was humour, there was all sorts of punk rock. Punk rock, you didn't have to be brilliant musicians, and I just think they they threw that in as their novelty song, and I love it.

SPEAKER_16 1:18:21

It was Tony Gardner, wasn't it, that was saying how he liked novelty songs as well. Yeah. And um yeah, there was a lot of Mars Bars. Who chose Mars Bars? Was that? Yeah, that was him. That was Tony. Yeah, he chose Mars Bars, didn't he? Which was great. That's a novel record, it was great. And the Dickies made loads of great uh novelty records. Um but yeah, okay, so that was your last album. Well, this is my last one. And my first introduction to the Suburban Studs was Do you remember that album that came out in um called Live at the Hope and Anchor? It was a double album.

SPEAKER_19 1:18:53

I had it.

SPEAKER_16 1:18:53

Yeah, and Stranglers were on it, X-rays. Suburban Studs were on it. Um and I i I really enjoyed that whole album actually. There was a very sort of uh RB or uh pub rock type hands on there, wasn't there? But I learned a learned to love them as well. Um but Surban Studs, I think, in the top ten punk albums of all time, slam by uh Surban Stars.

SPEAKER_19 1:19:22

Well you're putting loads of albums on social media that uh are under the alternative Colchester banner, aren't you? And they're all classics.

SPEAKER_16 1:19:28

Yeah, I I called it Essential Album, day one, day two, and when it got to day twenty I thought, mm-hmm that's a good time to stop now, because I'm getting bored because I have got hundreds that are are Essential. But Sperban Stars were uh from Birmingham. They made two singles, one album. Uh the two singles were fantastic, and the album was on honestly, it it is such a good album. I don't know why they weren't bigger than what they were, but they did uh take up support slots with ACDC and Judas Priest, and I think that was a a big mistake back in the day.

SPEAKER_19 1:20:01

Yeah, you don't do that, you know.

SPEAKER_16 1:20:02

Yeah, you don't do that in a no wrong direction, absolutely totally wrong direction. And straight credibility went a long way in the punk years as well, didn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay, let's play my last track before we uh finish the show uh talking to Jules Pretty and ending with his uh final track, which um uh uh we'll look forward to hearing what the story behind that one is, but uh will it be go for a walk in the trees? Don't want to give any uh clues away there. Okay, well, this is Questions by the Suburban Studs. Do you like Tim? That was uh questions by Spurban Studs. I didn't know whether to play that or the other side, which was no faith. Um Well you can play that another time. You can play that another time, yeah. Sperban Studs definitely need to get more outings. Okay, right, we've got one more track quick.

SPEAKER_19 1:23:50

Before we do, Steve, I think you've got uh don't you want to say something to me? About You saw me in a play the other day.

SPEAKER_16 1:23:56

Oh, I did, I did. Um yeah, Friday night, I went to the Headgate Theatre in Colin.

SPEAKER_19 1:24:02

It was about football, wasn't it? It was about just about football, but no, it was uh Did you enjoy it?

SPEAKER_16 1:24:08

It was really enjoyable, yeah, it was fantastic, actually, absolutely brilliant. I mean I don't know how you remembered all those lines. It was just ridiculous. You you yeah, it was fantastic. I took my wife, Linda, we had a fantastic uh evening there. It was the invincibles, and it was a true story, yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:24:22

Yeah, it's a true story about uh it was a play by Amanda Whittington, who's a very good female playwright, and she wrote it about ladies' football in World War One.

SPEAKER_11 1:24:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:24:31

Uh because all the men had gone to war, no one was playing football, all the grounds were empty, and so the women started playing football, workplaces, these teams, and there were Stirling ladies who um I know this because this was my alliance. They played 36, they won 34, drew two and lost none in over two seasons against Vickers combined. Uh they played uh London General Omnibus Company at the end. Chelsea Marconi. Uh at Marconi, they played at Upton Park, so and it was a wonderful story, and she tied it in with the 2023, as you know, FIFA Women's World Cup. Very clever. It was a lovely play, had a little cameo role as the Pathe News commentator, but it was um it was wonderful to do, and I think bringing those stories uh and making them relevant today, it's I I'm glad you enjoyed it, mate. We sold out six shows and it we we had a great time. I'm a bit on a downer now from that. Yeah, it's post-show blues I've got.

SPEAKER_16 1:25:23

Cool. After all those lines, all that commentating you did, I'd I'd I'd be feeling relieved I haven't got to keep all of that nonsense in my head for anyone. But yeah, no, it was brilliant. Thanks. Every everyone was was good. I think there was was there twelve people in the show or thirteen? Um I counted the um the bow at the end.

SPEAKER_19 1:25:40

I think it was thirteen.

SPEAKER_16 1:25:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was brilliant. It was clever the way that the the the two stories were running. Intertwined, weren't they? Yeah, and the way it at the end it was quite sad the ending as well, because the the the uh plot spoiler alert. Yeah, yeah, but no one can go now. It's finished, isn't it? Spanish fluyers. Yeah, and she was my favourite uh but towards the end she became the crowd's favourite. Oh lovely. And it was yeah, it was a sad ending and uh w wanted her to be reborn as a ghost, really. Well she did come back, didn't she? Interacts with the 2023. And they found her um, yeah. Now I did a tear of my eye at the end. Oh, good. Yeah. Did you sing sweet Caroline with us? Uh do you know what? I think I was the actually the only person that didn't. I get really, really embarrassed in those situations. But my wife, Linda, I didn't expect to get embarrassed. She was swaying to Sweet Caroline. And everyone's doing it. I think everyone except me. I was in the back row, so nobody could see there was a miserable song.

SPEAKER_19 1:26:42

One miserable old punk. I'm a miserable sod.

SPEAKER_16 1:26:47

Anyway, back to Jules. Yeah. Last track, and um yeah, tell us how this fits into the theme, um, Jules. But before you do, have you enjoyed being on the show?

SPEAKER_17 1:26:57

It's been fantastic, thanks guys. Really appreciate it. Love having you in.

SPEAKER_16 1:27:00

Yeah, it's been really interesting this one.

SPEAKER_17 1:27:02

Lovely fortune on it back. I think I think you've had I'm sure you've had this with everybody, but you asked for five tracks, and uh my first list was far too long, but it was a nice journey back to thinking of all sorts of things, and then selecting five that I thought might be uh a good fit for the show.

SPEAKER_16 1:27:19

Well, this will be the first time that we've actually played a the same track, uh two shows running. But it also gives me the opportunity to tell Tim that this will be the single version rather than the DP version. Uh which they do shave two minutes off uh on the one we're choosing. You probably wanted to hear the full six minute odd one, but we played it last show, so we're gonna do the f the shorter four minutes and twenty twenty three according to twenty three.

SPEAKER_19 1:27:50

He's not four seconds off again.

SPEAKER_16 1:27:51

He kno he knocks so many seconds. I I like it because he he he tops and tails them so there's no gaps, and I like it.

SPEAKER_19 1:27:56

So come on, walk on by by the stranglers, George.

SPEAKER_17 1:28:05

If you're picking a period that's fighting a period that's the the the kind of length of the show, then it's gotta be the things that really matter to you at the time. And I think stranglers mattered to me a lot and to a lot of uh uh my friends' group uh as well. Uh walking has been an important part of my kind of method of engaging with um I wanted to walk 400 miles around the country to write a book about that um 2020 years ago now. Um and land connection walking through them is what humans have always done and how we understand the world and how we connect with things that are in front of us. Literally. So I wanted to pick um be the one. And of course we're not gonna say something like the problems that we face. Let's kind of address them. So a little bit right. But um don't walk on by the let's listen to the song walk on by.

SPEAKER_16 1:29:09

And before the uh instrumental break, we love it when you sound for strolling the trees. Yeah, so that kind of um environment nicely as well, doesn't it? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_19 1:29:18

Let's hear it walk on by by the stranglers.

SPEAKER_21 1:29:36

If you see me walking down the streets, I'm gonna start to cry each time we meet. Walk on by I walk on by and make me leave that I can see the tears, and let me breathe out this time. That I can see the tears on the private gotta go, you really gotta go.

SPEAKER_19 1:33:45

Walk on by by the strangers. I could play that in every show. What a brilliant song. Thank you for choosing it, Jules. And thank you for being our guest today. It's been an absolute delight. We've learned so much. We have. Haven't we?

SPEAKER_16 1:33:56

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a really interesting one to uh to listen back on as well for um for everyone audience. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_19 1:34:03

Yeah, fantastic. My pleasure. A real pleasure. Thank you, thank you. Um so we've have we got a guest in the next show.

SPEAKER_16 1:34:10

Uh probably. Is it Ricky? Uh I think it might be Ricky. Ricky Flag and Fanny. Yes, uh, no, I got that wrong. He's the basis. Oh right, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. Ricky and Fanny from Red Flag 77. So the um number that would be a little bit.

SPEAKER_19 1:34:29

Let's sign off with please. Keep it punk. Keep it down. Nah.

SPEAKER_18 1:34:35

Keep it punk. Keep it told. But most of all, keep it punk, keep it alternative coach.