The spirit of '77

>>It was 20 years ago today and all that bollocks

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Talking to Stiff Little Fingers' Jake Burns and The Selecter's Pauline Black within moments of each other gives me the chance to play the messenger. "Give my love to Pauline," says Burns. "We used to be on the same label, you know."

That was 1977, the year punk broke (the first time around). It's been two decades since Burns and company gave radio listeners in his hometown of Newcastle-on-Tyne a crash course on just what punk was all about. "We were chatting about the fact that the security had been overly enthusiastic at some of our previous shows. And we mentioned to the DJ that we thought this was absolutely crummy behaviour. Suddenly, he got all panicky and played a record by a band called Sky. They were formed by classical guitarist John Williams, really tedious stuff. While playing the record, the DJ said, 'Look, you can't say crap on the radio! The station manager will be listening to this, and it's more than my job that's at stake.' The record finished and he asked us what we thought of Sky. And Ali [McMordie, original SLF bassist] answered, 'I think they're fucking shit!'"

To Burns's knowledge, that station has never since played an SLF record--at least not "You Can't Say Crap On The Radio," a little number based on the incident. The Selecter have had better luck in that department. Tracks like "Three Minute Hero" and "On My Radio" were almost inescapable at the end of the '70s, despite their piss-take on the very medium.

The Selecter, like Stiff Little Fingers, were big--big enough to merit reunions at the end of the '80s. As Selecter singer Black sees it, though, it's not just a matter of trotting out the oldies to turn a quick buck. "The one thing I didn't want to do was the same old songs. I felt it was necessary to put out new records and try to reach a new audience. And if it meant going back to square one, then fine."

Square one doesn't seem like such a bad place for either band. Not only has each found a happy home at a mid-sized American indie label (Taang! for SLF, Triple X for The Selecter), but they've both filled the spaces left by departed members with some familiar faces. SLF now feature one-time Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, while The Selecter have acquired some Bad Manners of late, in the form of Nick Welsh and Martin Stewart on bass and keys, respectively.

Selling the new sound might be even more difficult for The Selecter. While a track like "Hairspray" would fit in nicely on their first album Too Much Pressure, other recent songs are less ska than dub, dancehall, trip hop and out-and-out pop. "You have to bite the bullet," says Black, "and say 'this is going to be hard.' People are going to want to hear 'Too Much Pressure' and 'On My Radio.' It's going to be hard to give them the new stuff. But you have to get down to it and sort of lead the audience."

Stiff Little Fingers play cabaret Tuesday, Oct. 7, with GanGreen, 7:30pm, $20. The Selecter are at Club Soda Wednesday, Oct. 15 with The Friggs, 8:30pm, $13.50. For both: 790-1245