Vampires Stole My Lunch Money (Remastered) Mick Farren

• 1 Trouble Coming Every Day 03:21
• 2 Half Price Drinks 03:29
• 3 I Don't Want to Go This Way 02:32
• 4 I Want a Drink 01:44
• 5 Son of a Millionaire 02:58
• 6 Zombie Line 02:40
• 7 Bela Lugosi 02:05
• 8 People Call You Crazy 02:48
• 9 Fast Eddie 02:05
• 10 Let Me in, Damn You 03:09
• 11 (I Know from) Self Destruction 03:02
• 12 Drunk in the Morning 04:02
• Total Runtime 33:55

Info for Vampires Stole My Lunch Money (Remastered)

Neues Remaster! Die Wiederveröffentlichung von "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money" gilt als eines der besten Alben von Mick Farren (The Deviants). Dieses kraftvolle, vom Punk beeinflusste Album enthält auch R&B-Jams und wartet mit einer beeindruckenden Riege von Musikern auf: Wilko Johnson (Dr. Feelgood), Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Sonja Kristina (Curved Air), Andy Colquhoun (The Warsaw Pakt)_ Mit Liner Notes von Mike Stax (Ugly Things Magazine).

Nach drei Alben mit rohem, wütendem Psychedelic Street Punk mit den Deviants und einem esoterischen Soloalbum (Mona - The Carnivorous Circus von 1970) legte Mick Farren seine musikalischen Aktivitäten zu Beginn der 1970er Jahre auf Eis und konzentrierte sich stattdessen auf das Schreiben. Bis 1976 machte sich Farren einen Namen als Redakteur beim New Musical Express, wo er maßgeblich an der Chronik der aufkeimenden Punkrock-Bewegung beteiligt war, die in den Straßen und Kneipen Londons unbeholfen zum Leben erwachte, und die er in gewisser Weise auch förderte. Farren fühlte eine natürliche Affinität zu der neuen Jugendmode der pickelgesichtigen Punk-Aspiranten, die voller Pisse, Essig und Amphetamine waren und zu einem simplen Rock'n'Roll-Backbeat über Anarchie und Langeweile schimpften. Es dauerte nicht lange, bis Mick von der Seitenlinie ins musikalische Getümmel zurückkehrte. Farren erhielt einen Anruf von Logo Records, die gerade den Transatlantic-Katalog erworben hatten und das dritte Album der Deviants neu auflegen wollten. Mick schlug vor, auch ein neues Soloalbum zu veröffentlichen, und zu seiner Überraschung stimmten sie nach anfänglichem Zögern zu. Andy Colquhoun, der Leadgitarrist von Warsaw Pakt, wurde bald zu seinem wichtigsten musikalischen Partner - einige der Songs auf diesem Album waren ursprünglich für Warsaw Pakt gedacht. Außerdem stellte Farren eine Band zusammen, zu der auch Gastmusiker gehörten: Wilko Johnson von Dr. Feelgood, Chrissie Hynde, die noch dabei war, die Pretenders zu gründen, Sonja Kristina, die Leadsängerin von Curved Air, und Will Stallibrass, der mit Graham Parker, Lightnin' Slim und Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers gespielt hatte, um nur einige zu nennen. Aufgrund des begrenzten Budgets verbrachten sie die meiste Zeit damit, an einem halben Dutzend ihrer Lieblingssongs zu arbeiten, während der Rest "als wenig mehr als jammender R&B der Kunstschule mit nur einer dünnen Schicht aus Metalflake niedergeknüppelt wurde". Lange Zeit nicht auf Vinyl erhältlich, freuen wir uns nun, die Wiederveröffentlichung von "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money" zu präsentieren, das als eines von Mick Farrens besten Alben gilt. In der Trouser Press bezeichnete Ira A. Robbins es als "Farrens Soloalbum.

Mick Farren, vocals
Larry Wallis, guitar, bass
Andy Colquhoun, guitar, bass
Alan Powell, drums
Chrissie Hynde, vocals
Sonja Kristina, vocals
Wilko Johnson, guitar
Will Stallibrass, harmonica

Recorded May 1978 at Pathway Studios, London
Produced by Larry Wallis

Digitally remastered

Mick Farren
(September 1943 – July 2013) was not someone who could be described as ‘best known for’ anything. Gloucestershire-born Farren was a singer with The Deviants and a musician of genius in his own right, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with a variety of others. A maestro when it came to bending the English language to his own will, he not only wrote a huge catalogue of songs but was an accomplished journalist (for publications such as the NME and the International Times, amongst others) and prolific novelist as well. He was a prominent figure in the UK Underground counterculture and also an activist and critic of everything from the commercialisation of Rock&Roll to the Vietnam War. ​

Mick stated that The Deviants were originally a community band that "did things every now and then—it was a total assault thing with a great deal of inter-relation and interdependence". Musically, Farren described their sound as "teeth-grinding, psychedelic rock" somewhere between The Stooges and The Mothers of Invention. ​

The Deviants have been described as a transition between classic British psych and the punk/heavy metal aesthetic of the 1970s. They were the glorious sound of rebellion and a true people's band, or a bloody awful row, depending on your viewpoint. Personally, I favour the first description. ​

During a tour of North America's west coast the relationship between Farren and the musicians became personally and musically strained, and the band decided to continue without Farren, who returned to England where he teamed up with ex-Pretty Things drummer Twink (born John Charles Alder, 29th November 1944, in Colchester, Essex) and Steve Peregrin Took (born Stephen Ross Porter, 28th July 1949, in Eltham, South East London) to record the album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus, an album interspersed with interviews with members of the U.K Hells Angels, before concentrating on music journalism. ​

The three remaining musicians - Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter - returned to England, and teamed up with Twink to form the Pink Fairies. At the end of the 1970s Farren again concentrated on his writing and relocated to New York. He would resurrect The Deviants name for occasional live performances, such as in February 1984 when he teamed up with Wayne Kramer and Wallis's band, which featured Sanderson and drummer George Butler. This set was released as Human Garbage. In 2002 a new line-up of the band (featuring bassist Doug Lunn, drummer Rick Parnell and vocalist Michael Simmons) released Dr Crow.

Farren then continued to perform and record sporadically under the name The Deviants, using a pool of musicians, which include Colquhoun and former Blodwyn Pig saxophonist Jack Lancaster. Eating Jello With A Heated Fork was released in 1996, credited to Deviants IXVI, followed by 2002's Dr Crow. On June 25th 2011, after returnning tolive in the UK, Farren performed on the Spirit of 21 stage at the Glastonbury Festival with The Last Men Standing. The band included Colquhoun and the Deviants late-1960s rhythm section of Sanderson and Hunter.

During a rare performance by The Deviants at The Borderline in Central London on 27th July 2013, Farren collapsed on stage. He died later in hospital.

This album contains no booklet.