NEWS
UPCOMING ATV GIGS:
26th July 2003: Zappanale 2003, Bad Doberan, Germany.
+ Nina Hagen & Band (original line-up)
for more info, click on: http://www.idiotbastard.supanet.com/you-call-that-news-/ZNL14TravelGuide.htm
1st August 2003: Antifest, Czech Republic.
NEWS:
2 Mark Perry radio interviews next week: Phil Jupitus' breakfast show on BBC Radio 6 Music on Monday 14th July & the Robert Elms Show, BBC Radio London at 2pm on Friday 18th July.
10th July 2003: On Monday 14th July, Sanctuary Records are releasing 'Sniffin' Glue - The Essential Punk Accessory', a 24 track punk compilation compiled and annotated by Mark Perry. The CD is a companion to the Sniffin' Glue book which was published by Sanctuary in 2000 and is an essential purchase for anyone interested in 70s punk rock. For the first time a true picture of the early punk scene is revealed, with the Clash featured alongside the likes of the Gorillas and Johnny Moped.
8th July 2003: The recently released ATV Anthology is reviewed
in the current issues of Uncut and Q. Both feature the usual blah,
blah, blah... that seems to suggest that ATV would have been better off breaking
up in 1978. Like the man said: "In future, if I wanna take those bastards
on, I'll sell this guitar and buy a bomb. I'll kick in their doors and shout out
loud: COMMUNICATION FAILURE!".
Also on the press front, an interview with Mark Perry appears in the June issue (No.5) of the French fanzine, 'New Wave'.
3rd
July 2003: Overground Records are releasing The Door & the Window's
1980 'Detailed Twang' album on CD. It also includes 11 bonus tracks - 2 EPs
and a couple of songs from rare compilations. This is the first time that the
band's music has been available on CD. Mark Perry played drums with the band as
a sideline to his work with ATV, so it's a valuable addition to the ATV/Mark
Perry CD discography.
The above photo shows Kim, on the right, with Mark Perry, rehearsing for the 'Life After Life' single.
25th June 2003: I have only just heard the sad news of the recent death, from cancer, of former Alternative TV guitarist and, later, the Police's manager,
Kim Turner.
Kim was with the band from December 1977 to May 1978, when we recorded the singles 'Life After Life' & 'Action Time Vision' and our first album, 'The Image Has Cracked'. He made an important
contribution to ATV's music and was one of the most genuine and easy
going blokes that I've ever worked with. The band, and all our fans, would like to extend our sympathy to his family. He will be sadly missed. MP.
24th June 2003: Mark Perry was the guest of Dave Quantick on his show on Resonance FM. They talked for an hour about ATV, Sniffin' GLue and German punks...we love
'em! Oh yer, Mark was promoting his forthcoming Punk compilation on Sanctuary records -
'Sniffin' Glue. The Essential Punk Accessory'. More news about this soon...
24th June 2003: 2 CDs of interest to Mark Perry/ATV fans have recently been released by Cherry Red in their 'Cherry Red Rarities' series. The first is
'Our Brilliant Careers', a collection that brings together rare singles from 1981-83 and includes '4 Countries' and 'The Coroner & the Inquest' by the Reflections, an ATV offshoot which featured Mark Perry, Dennis Burns, Nag, Karl Blake & Paul Platypus. The
CD also includes tracks from Ben Watt, the Monochrome Set, the Nightingales etc.
Also in their 'Rarities' series is the first CD issue of the 1981 compilation
'Perspectives & Distortion' which includes the spoken word track 'Dear dear' by Mark Perry. This legendary album also features tracks by the Lemon Kittens, Virgin Prunes, Lol Coxhill, Kevin Coyne etc. Check
http://www.cherryred.co.uk
21st June 2003: Alternative TV played a short but brilliant set at the
Mad Pride gig at the Garage, London. The songs played were 'Release the Natives', Communication Failure', 'Action Time Vision' & 'Splitting In Two'.
The band's line-up for the night was: Mark Perry - guitar, vocals, Lee McFaddon - guitar, Steve Carter - bass, Glyn
Collins - flute (see new photo of Glyn in the gallery!) & Dave Morgan - drums. It was Dave's
first gig with ATV for 12 years. It's great to have him back!
16th June 2003: The July issue of Mojo magazine features a review of
'Action Time Vision. The ATV Anthology'. Reviewer, Mark Paytress, gives it 3 stars.
14th June 2003: In the July issue of Uncut magazine there is an extensive review of the
'Sniffin' Glue. The Essential Punk Accessory' compilation CD, which is due out on Sanctuary Records next month. The bit also features a short interview with Mark Perry, who put the CD together.
Also, in the June issue of Bang magazine, there is a live review of
Alternative TV's Royal Festival Hall gig. In an attempt at a put-down, the hapless reviewer mentions the band's "brutishness, arty pretension, powerchords and jazz flute"! It's the band's best review in years!
26th May 2003: A new 2CD set - 'Action Time Vision -
The ATV Anthology' is released by Sanctuary Records
this week. Compiled and annotated by Mark Perry
himself, this is the most comprehensive Alternative TV
collection ever put together, from 1977's 'Love Lies
Limp' up to the recent 'Revolution' album. 38 tracks
in all, including 8 that have never been available on
CD before.
23rd May 2003: The voice of Mark Perry is featured in
the Saint Etienne film, 'Finisterre', which was shown
as part of the Onedotzero7 festival at the ICA this
week. The film is based on their recent 'Finisterre'
album for which Mark wrote the sleeve notes. Other
contributors to the film include Vic Godard and
Lawrence (Felt, Denim etc). The film will be available
on DVD later in the year.
19th May 2003: Anagram/Cherry Red records have
reissued Alternative TV's first album, 'The Image Has
Cracked' as a digipack. With 11 bonus tracks and
excellent notes by Mojo's Mark Paytress, this is an
essential purchase, if you haven't got a copy already! More
Mark Perry news from Cherry Red soon...
5th May 2003: Overground Records have finally released the re-mastered
version of the Alternative TV - Live 1978 CD. The track listing is -
1. Love Lies Limp. 2. Going Round In Circles. 3. Nasty Little Lonely.
4. Still
Life. 5. Fellow Sufferer. 6. Viva La Rock 'n' Roll. 7. Release
The Natives. 8. Nasty Little Lonely. 9. Alternatives. 10. Fellow Sufferer.
11. The Good Missionary. 12. Graves Of Deluxe Green. 13.
The Radio Story. (Recorded at: Tracks 1&2 - Queen Elizabeth College,
Kensington, London. Tracks 3-6 - Southend. Tracks 7-13 - Meanwhile Gardens Free Festival, Westbourne Park, London.).
This CD will soon be available from this site. Check next week for details.
18th April 2003: Alternative TV played at the Royal Festival Hall in London supporting Stephen Malkmus. They only played a short set but got a good reaction from the crowd, most of which had never seen the band before. ATV's line-up for this gig (& Punk Aid) was: Mark Perry - vocals & guitar, Lee McFaddon - guitar, Steve Carter - bass and John Isaac - drums. They were also joined on stage at the RFH by Glyn Collins on flute for a couple of numbers.
12th April 2003: Alternative TV played a great set at Pontins holiday camp in Brixham, Devon, as part of the 3 day Punk Aid festival. Also on the bill were the Damned, Chelsea and TV Smith, as well as many others. Mark Perry also DJ'd for most of the weekend.
10th February 2003: Alternative TV's Action Time Vision is
featured on the cover mounted CD punk collection - 'Up Yours!', free with the
March issue of MOJO magazine. Also, the band's first album, The Image Has
Cracked', is number 28 in a their list of the "top 50 punk
albums".
5th February 2003: Following on from the news of a Door and The Window CD, another item of interest to Mark Perry/ATV fans is the release of The Instant Automatons 'Not So Deep As A Well' CD collection by Waterden. The band, from Scunthorpe, were contemporaries of TDATW and shared gigs, nightmares etc. Also, Protag, from the band, ended up playing guitar with ATV - he's on the 'Peep Show' album. Check out their site for details of the CD: www.instant-automatons.com
3rd February 2003: More CD reissue news! As well as the 'Live 1978' CD mentioned on 4th December 2002, two other projects are in the pipeline. The first is an new double Alternative TV anthology, put together by Mark Perry for Sanctuary Records. This will be the band's most comprehensive collection ever put together, including tracks from every ATV album. This is planned for May/June release.
Also, Overground Records are reissuing the album 'Detailed Twang' by the Door and The Window, on CD for the first time. The release will also include the band's 2 EPs plus a couple of compilation tracks, all from 1979-81. Mark Perry played drums on the album.
20th-22nd January 2003: Alternative TV played at Morrison's Pub in Cannes, France during the Midem festival. It was supposed to be 3 nights but, due to illness, the band only played 2. The first, on Monday the 20th, was a disaster. It was like ATV playing an 'All Bar One' in Richmond or something. Full of idiots who think that Robbie Williams is the future of rock! Plastic people indeed! The Tuesday gig was cancelled because Mark went down with food poisoning (or an act of God!). On the final night, the band decided to make a racket, so it ended with the best 'Splitting In Two' for years and a bit of auto-destruction - i.e. Mark's guitar got broke! So, in the end, the band came out of it with their dignity intact. Oh yer, Cannes was a nice town, very clean...
23rd December 2002: Joe Strummer RIP. Like most of you out there, I
was shocked by the sad news of Joe's death just before Christmas, because it
seemed just to early for that for a start. Strummer embodied punk at its most
heroic and confrontational, the highs with their explosive first call to arms
"1977", and the
lows, sloganism betraying half-baked political idealism. However, self-doubt
always seemed to overshadow any kind of arrogance they might have had. When I
declared that Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS, Joe admitted years
later that I probably had a point. Leanings towards
world-music were not perhaps the best move in his later years, but anger and
passion never left him. It killed him in the end though. Combat Rock indeed.
14th December 2002: Alternative TV played a gig at the Dublin Castle in Camden, London. A few long time fans said it was the best ATV gig in years. The band were joined on stage for a few songs by Glyn Collins on flute, who used to play with the band back in the late 70s (He's on the 'Fire From Heaven' album).
10th December 2002: ATV will be playing 3 nights in a row at the prestigious MIDEM Festival in Cannes, France where everybody who's anybody in the music industry meet once a year to talk business.
4th December 2002: Alternative TV Live 1978 Update! As mentioned in October, the Live 1978 CD has been remastered with extra tracks and is set for a February 2003 release on Overground Records. The final track listing will be - 1. Love Lies Limp. 2. Going Round In Circles. 3. Nasty Little Lonely. 4. Still Life. 5. Fellow Sufferer. 6. Viva La Rock 'n' Roll. 7. Release The Natives. 8. Nasty Little Lonely. 9. Alternatives. 10. Fellow Sufferer. 11. The Good Missionary. 12. Graves Of Deluxe Green. 13. The Radio Story. (Recorded at: Tracks 1&2 - Queen Elizabeth College, Kensington, London. Tracks 3-6 - Southend. Tracks 7-13 - Meanwhile Gardens Free Festival, Westbourne Park, London.). More news on availability as soon as we have it!
14th November 2002: Mark Perry has a few quotes and mentions in the new Ramones book - 'Hey Ho Let's Go!'written by Everett True. Mark describes the influence the Ramones' first album had on him starting up the Sniffin' Glue fanzine.
21st October 2002: The November issue of Mojo magazine features a small feature on punk badges in their 'Collections' section.. One of the badges featured is a 'The Good Missionaries - Music Group 1979' button from, you guessed it...1979. For all you anoraks out there, there were 2 other GM badge designs available at the time - 'Fire From Heaven' and 'Dave George Is Weird'. Whatever happened to Dave?
19th October 2002: Alternative TV played a short set at bassist Steve Carter's 40th birthday party, which took place at the London Hilton Metropole Hotel in London's Edgware Road. Also on the bill were Steve Diggle and Art Wood. ATV's line up was Mark Perry - vocals,guitar, Lee McFadden - guitar, Steve Carter - bass and John Isaac - Drums. The songs played were: Just A Memory, In Control, Love Lies Limp, Communication Failure, Action Time Vision, You Never Know and Splitting In Two.
11th October 2002: The Sniffin' Glue Reggae Reviews page has been discontinued due to lack of interest. It may be revived in a different form in the future.
10th October 2002: New ATV album update. The new Alternative TV studio album for Overground Records, scheduled for release before Christmas, has been delayed until next year. Also due for 2003 release by Overground are a CD collection of The Door & The Window, featuring Mark Perry, and a remastered reissue of the 1993 ATV release, 'Live 1978'.
7th October 2002: Check out the new Saint Etienne album 'Finisterre',
for booklet notes written by Mark Perry. The bands lyricist, Bob Stanley,
is an old ATV fan. The album is released by Mantra Records.
30th September 2002: A new Alternative TV live CD has appeared
in the shops! It's titled 'Love Lies Limp', and is on the Devil's Own
Jukebox label. This is not an 'official' release and was put out without the
bands artistic control. Basically, it's the same recording (& tracklisting)
as the '25 Years Of ATV - Live At CBGBs' CD mentioned back in June,
although, we're told that that album is not available in shops in the UK. Buy
one or the other, but not both!
30th August 2002: Mark Perry played an accoustic session on Resonance FM. Mark played 2 songs - 'In Control' from the Revolution album and a new one called 'Begin To Live Again'.
28th August 2002: Following many requests for more detailed information, the Biography page has been expanded with an 'Alternative TV - Who's Who'. We will keep this updated on a regular basis.
27th August 2002: Mark Perry will play a couple of new songs and be interviewed on Resonance FM (104.4) at 5pm on Monday 2nd Sept. Resonance FM is an excellent art radio station set up by the LMC. Check their site - Resonancefm.com
29th July 2002: The Alternative TV song title, Action Time
Vision, is used as a heading to an article about the Who in the August issue
of Mojo magazine. Maybe ATV are a mod band after all!
29th June 2002:Alternative TV played The Victoria Inn in Derby to a small but excitable crowd. It was the first gig for new bassist, Steve Carter. It was ATV's last gig for a while. They are now concentrating on writing and recording their next studio album for Overground Records.
26th June 2002: A new Alternative TV CD - 25 Years of ATV "Live At CBGB" - is released
next week on the Dressed To Kill label. It was recorded at the legendary New York club in
April last year. It's available in 2 different covers, depending on where you
buy it. The full track listing is: Alternatives, Action Time Vision, Why Don't
You Do Me Right, Good Times, Ancient Rebels, Love Lies Limp, Still Life,
Communication Failure, Nasty Little Lonely, Life, Total Switch Off, Splitting In
Two, How Much Longer & You Bastard. Check our products page.
10th June 2002: Alternative TV's version of The
Mothers Of Invention's 'Plastic People' appears on the
Punk Aid 2002 two CD set, '25 Years Of Anarchy', which is released today. The song is exclusive to this album
and was recorded at the same Lewisham College Radio session as the version of 'Communication Failure'
featured on the Mad Pride CD. The Punk Aid CD set also features tracks from all the usual punky suspects. All
proceeds go to the Punk Aid charities, so go out and get it! Or check our
products page.
7th June 2002: Alternative TV's 2nd album, 'Vibing Up
The Senile Man', is available on vinyl again! It's been reissued by Italian label
Get Back! but you can get it in the UK. We saw a copy in HMV. The front
cover artwork is the same as the original 1979
Deptford Fun City album but the back sleeve is a new design featuring pics and notes from the Anagram CD issue.
30th May 2002: Mark Perry played percussion in his wife Annie's band, Devotion, at the Theatro Technis theatre in Camden. ATV's Luci Bocchino was also in the band on vocals and mandolin. The night was part of the 45th anniversary celebrations of the theatre. Devotion shared the bill with a Greek dance troupe and a folk harpist! Is was a great night. A nice change from noisy rock gigs!
10th May 2002: Alternative TV played a gig at the Cartoon Club in Croydon, supported by the Pork Dukes. Both bands were excellent . ATV's line up was Mark Perry - guitar,vocals, Luci Bocchino - guitar, Grahame Hullett - bass and John Isaac - drums. It was Grahame's last gig with the band. He is being replaced by Steve Carter who used to be in Sad Lovers & Giants. Remember them?
25th April 2002: A Tony Parsons interview with Mark Perry from February 1977 is reprinted in NME Originals - Punk. Mark is described as the Poet Laureate of the Blank Generation! The Knighthood's in the post! A review of Alternative TV's 'Love Lies Limp' single is also featured. See Press Cuttings page.
20th April 2002: Sniffin' Glue is mentioned in an interview with Paul Weller in the NME 50th Anniversary Special. He burnt a copy of the Glue on stage at the Marquee 25 years ago and he still gets asked about it! 'Mod Legend Burns Punk Legend' would have made a great headline!
17th April 2002: There is a 2 page article on Mark Perry and Sniffin' Glue featured in the Q Punk Special Edition under the heading 'We Love UHU'. Our tipple at the time was Airfix, not UHU! Don't they know anything? Latecomers, all of them... Other quotes from Mark are also used throughout plus Alternative TV's 'The Image Has Cracked' is included in their 100 Best Punk Albums list. See Press Cuttings page.
18th March 2002: Mark Perry announces the re-launch of the Step Forward Record label. The first release will be a Step Forward Singles Collection CD. After that, the label will issue various old and new material decided by Mark's whims and/or the current market trends!!! You never know, Strange Kicks might get an airing...at last! More details will be given as soon as they're known.
15th March 2002: A couple of quotes from Mark Perry are featured in a short piece about the Sex Pistols' Anarchy tour in the current (March 2002) issue of Q Magazine. Next month they're doing a bit on the Clash's White Riot jaunt and I tell them it was like watching paint dry compared to Gene Pitney at the London Palladium! Only joking...or am I?
10th March 2002: This site will shortly feature a Sniffin' Glue Reggae Review page! It's going to start up in April, so, to any labels out there releasing reggae, particularly 70's roots/dub etc, send me your new releases and we'll review 'em! Use the Vicious address on the merchandise page.
31st January 2002: New blurb added! Click on 'Mark Ps Blurb'(above)
25th January 2002:Mark Perry played guitar as part of an improvising 'group' playing at Merz Nite in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The 'group' also included Lol Coxhill (sax), Mick Beck (bassoon), Gail Brand (trombone), Ian Stonehouse (computer sound-collage), John Plant (poetry) plus many others. The event, organised by Ben Watson, also included slides and general arty madness.
7th January 2002: Alternative TV are starting to write and record a new album for Overground Records entitled, '(In) Side
Project'. Due for release later in the year.
2nd January 2002: A quote from Mark Perry is featured in a 2 page
article about the first Ramones UK gigs featured in the January issue of Q
magazine.
19th December: ATV played a good, but short, set at the Punk Aid Xmas gig at the 100 Club. Menace also played well and surprise guests were the UK Subs, who ended the evening in fine punky style. For the songs 'Love Lies Limp' and 'Communication Failure', ATV were joined on stage by US ska-man Eric Blowtorch on melodica. Eric also played a short solo set (guitar/vocals), which included a great version of the Clash's 'Deny'.
December 2001: Alternative TV's first album, 'The Image Has Cracked'
is featured in MOJO 1000, a book of essential albums compiled by
Mojo magazine.
December 2001: Mark Perry is featured in a new book published by
Sanctuary entitled 'In Their Own Write', which tells the story of the
music press through quotes from it's main movers and shakers. The front cover of
Sniffin' Glue 10 is featured on the book's
cover.
November 2001: A page on Alternative TV is featured in 'The Rock Book',
published by Pavilion. The piece on ATV features a pic of the band from 1978, in
between the Allman Brothers Band and America!!!
November 2001: Mark Perry is featured in the book, 'Punk',
published by Cassell. The photos and the quotes have been used before but buy it
if
you're an idiot with more money than sense. Forget it, I suggest you buy the 'Sniffin'
Glue' book and Jon Savage's effort for a much better insight.
22nd October 2001: A review of Alternative TV's 'Revolution' CD is
reviewed in the November issue of The Wire magazine.
1st October: ATV played a great set at the Mad Pride CD launch at the Garage, London. A brilliant, crazy time was had by all. ATV played a couple of things they hadn't played in a while - 'Release The Natives' and 'Alternatives' (which included versions of Throbbing Gristles' 'Something Came Over Me' & 'Discipline').
23rd September: Mark Perry was interviewed live on Total Rock Radio. The DJ, Matt Mason, played about 6 tracks from the new ATV CD.
20th September: ATV played the last night of the 3 day Punk Aid Festival at the 100 Club. It was a great night and a brilliant way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original 100 Club Punk Festival. Chelsea also played a storming set. Also, a special limited edition reprint of Sniffin' Glue 3 1/2 was available with all proceeds going to charity. Check the merch page for details on how to get hold of a copy.
14th September: The latest issue of Mojo Magazine (October
2001) features a list of the top 100 punk singles as voted for by the
Mojo staff. ATV's Action Time Vision was in at number 31. Also Sham
69's version of the song features as the opening track on a new Sham 'Best
Of' CD recently released by Anagram. A video of the song is also featured. It's
strange that ATV's 'theme song' has been covered so much by other bands - twice
by Billy Childish (Mighty Ceasars & Headcoats), Sham 69 and, earlier this
year, Menace.
31st August: ATV gig at The Amersham Arms, New Cross. Another excellent night at the Amersham. Great support from Los Paraliticos and the Duvals.
27th August: ATV's new album Revolution released on the Public Domain label. Available from all decent record shops or check out our merch page. Full track listing - Revolution, Good Times, Urban Kids, In Control, Total Switch Off, Never Going To Give It Up, On Your Knees, Company Of Lies, It's Raining, Back To Basics, Visions and At War. Also included are 2 bonus live tracks recorded earlier this year - Communication Failure and Action Time Vision.
Also, Mark was interviewed on the Robert Elms Show on London Live radio about the new album.
26th August: ATV gig at The Square in Harlow. See Swindon for comments.
24th August: ATV gig at The Victoria Inn, Swindon. Hello? Is anybody there?
23rd August: ATV gig at The Cavern Club in Exeter. Very young crowd but it was a good gig.
19th August: ATV gig at Trillians, Newcastle. Good gig but it ended with a big row because the bouncers needed to be in bed by half ten!
18th August: ATV gig at The 13th Note, Glasgow. Good gig with a well up for it crowd.
17th August: ATV gig at Rock Garden, Easington.
16th August: ATV gig at The Studio, Hartlepol.
13th August: A new recording of Alternative TV's Communication Failure, which the band recorded last year at Lewisham College Radio, appears on the 20 track compilation CD Nutters With Attitude released by Mad Pride Records. Mad Pride is a pressure group that was set up to help improve the civil liberties and social standing of psychiatric patients. The CD also includes tracks by Shockheaded Peters, the Astronauts, Gertrude, the Long Decline, Nikki Sudden and many others. As well as appearing on the CD, ATV play at the Mad Pride album launch gig at the Garage, Islington on Monday, 1st October along with Ceramic Hobs and Skinny Millionaires plus some special goings on. It's £5 to get in and you also get a free copy of the CD.
12th August: Good rehearsal at the Adelphi, Hull. Big news of the day from Humberside - 'Mark P Struggles To Finish Large Sunday Roast!'
11th August: Brilliant night at the Victoria Inn, Derby. Alternative TV played a stormer, as did the Los Para' boys and the Pokers. Great crowd, who made it a good night all round. Thanks Dave!
10th August: Gig at the Old Railway, Birmingham. Not a very good turnout but both ATV and Los Paraliticos played well...
9th August: ATV gig at Full Moon, Newcastle-; under-Lyme. Excellent Sainsburys opposite venue, where the band took full advantage of the end of day bargains! Oh yeah, and the gig was alright, I guess...
6th August: Alternative TV's How Much Longer/You Bastard45 is listed in a Top Punk Singles list in the current issue of Mojo Collections. Also, in the same issue, Mark Perry is featured (along with a very small photo) in an article about early Jam gigs.
4th August: Excellent gig at the Steamboat Tavern, Ipswich. Stupid name for a venue but the audience were great and both Alternative TV and Los Paraliticos were in good form. Also tonight, Channel Four repeated Top Ten: Punk which featured a interview with Mark Perry.
3rd August: Alternative TV play the Hand & Heart, Coventry. Forgettable gig with a shit PA.
2nd August: Great Alternative TV gig at the 100 Club with Los Paraliticos and the Underdogs. Brilliant audience, who were well up for it!
1st August: Official start to Alternative TV's tour of the UK at the Freebutt, Brighton, supported by Los Paralitcos. ATV played well but the gig could have been better publicised.
28th July: Alternative TV played at a punk festival at The Cavern, Liverpool with the UK Subs, 999, Menace and others. Not a bad gig but could have been a better turn out.
3rd July: Alternative
TV have finally finished recording their new
studio album, 'Revolution', at Rogue Studios in Bermondsey, South London.
The album will be released on the Public Domain label on 27th August, although the
band will have some available at their gigs before that date.
Full track listing - Revolution, Good Times, Urban Kids, In Control,
Total Switch Off, Never Going To Give It Up, On Your Knees, Company Of Lies,
It's Raining, Back To Basics, Visions and At War. Also included are 2 bonus live
tracks recorded earlier this year - Communication Failure and Action Time
Vision.
2nd July: The first part of an extensive interview with Mark Perry is
featured in the latest issue (no 48) of The Big Takeover, a NYC based music mag
edited by Jack Rabid. The interview was carried out during Alternative TV's
visit to New York in January. The magazine is available in the UK at Borders
bookshops. It's a good read.
June 11th: Alternative TV's 1978 album 'The Image Has Cracked' is
currently featured in an exhibition of album sleeve artwork in a gallery
in New York City.
Check http://www.exitart.org/index.html for details.
June 4th-8th: Alternative TV were at Rogue Studios in Bermondsey for 4 days recording their new album, 'Revolution', which will be released on the Public Domain label on 27th August. The tracks are a mixture of old and new songs. Tracks include: At War, In Control, Urban Kids, Good Times, Total Switch Off, Company Of Lies, On Your Knees, Never Going To Give It Up and Step Inside. The CD will also feature a few bonus live tracks which were recorded in NYC. ATV's line-up for the album is Mark Perry - vocals, Tyrone Thomas - guitar, Grahame Hullett - bass and John Isaac, who has rejoined the band, on drums.
April 25th: Alternative TV's 'How Much Longer' was
used as part of the music featured in tonight's episode of BBC TV's
'Happiness'. It was used twice. Once as part of a punk 'medley', complete
with Paul Whitehouse pogo-ing, and near the end during the birthday
dinner scene. The assorted guests described it as "rubbish" to their,
forty something, ears. Take those golf-clubs and slippers back to the shop and
get some decent punk records, for Christ's sake!
April 23rd: Check out CBGB's webcast for some ATV live action! http://www.cbgb.com/club cybercast%20old.htm
April 20th: Mark Perry, his wife Annie and former ATV
drummer Allison Phillips played a live song to accompany a screening of Allison's
short film, Funeral, in which Mark and Annie also appear. It was screened at
the Exploding Cinema, a film club in New Cross, South East London. The song
played was 'Death Looks Down', from Mark's 1981 album, 'Snappy Turns'. It's the
first time that the song had been played live.
April 19th: Alternative TV played a gig at the Royal Standard in
Walthamstow. Because of there being 3 support bands, ATV didn't get on stage
until very late in the evening. The set was going OK until guitarist Tyrone
Thomas started breaking strings - 4 strings on 4 different guitars! Things
finished well, though, with a hat-trick of ATV classics - Splitting In Two, How
Much Longer and You Bastard.
April 16th: JOEY RAMONE R.I.P.
I've just heard that, sadly, Joey Ramone has died in a New York hospital after an
illness. Joey and his gang embodied the spirit of New York punk in the
mid-seventies. It was after hearing the Ramones' first album in the summer of
1976 that I went and started Sniffin' Glue. Their unique vision was a breath of
fresh air to a bored 19 year old like myself, fed up with the overblown circus
that rock had become. So, Joey, thanks for the three-chord classics, thanks for
the great gigs and thanks for the inspiration.
April 6th: Alternative TV played a short set at a party for Jack Rabid's The Big Takeover magazine at Giorgio Gomelsky's studio in NYC. Jack's band Last Burning Embers also played.
April 5th: Alternative TV played a special performance at Spin Magazine's '25 Years Of Punk' party at CBGB in New York City in front of an invited audience. The set was filmed for a possible webcast on either the Spin Magazine or CBGB sites. Check those sites for details.
April 2nd: Tony Fletcher, of 70's legendary Jamming! magazine and author of Keith Moon's biog, has put up a site full of interesting reviews and interviews with Mark Perry. Check it out, it's a real treat:
www.ijamming.net/Music/MarkPerry1.html
www.ijamming.net/Jammingmagazine/AlternativeTV1978a.html
www.ijamming.net/Music/SniffinGluebook.html
April 1st: Alternative TV played 2 sets as part of Butlins'
'Alternative Music' weekend (I'm not joking!). They played on the 'Reds' stage
in the afternoon, just before Menace and One Way System, and again at 8.30 in
the larger venue supporting the Steve Diggle Band and Glen Matlock. Both sets
were well
received. It was new bassist Grahame Hullett's first gig with the band. See Mark P's Blurb
for more about the weekend.
March 21st: Alternative TV's gigs at the 100 Club on
5/4/01 and in Birmingham on 6/4/01 have been
cancelled. The band apologize for any inconvenience
caused. Both gigs will be rearranged for later in the
year. Instead, the band are playing Spin Magazine's
party at CBGB in New York City on the 5th April.
Alternative TV's line up for both the CBGB show and
the Butlin's punk weekend will be: Mark
Perry-vocals/guitar, Tyrone Thomas-guitar, Kevin
Mann-drums and new bass player, Grahame Hullett.
1st March: Another great evening at Mark & Tim's
Complete Control night at the 100 Club. Chester opened
with a strong set featuring their new female American singer. Argy Bargy
followed with an Oi/punk barrage which had the assembled skinheads giving
it some down the front. The Dischords finished up with poppy thrashy buzzy
noise.
The next Complete Control night on the 5th April features Mark's band
Alternative TV, Sninge & the Soldiers plus support. Doors open 8pm, 6 quid
to get in.
28th February: Excellent interview with Mark appears on the US webzine, Perfect
Sound Forever. Mark did the interview in New York during ATV's mini-tour in
January. Check it out on
www.furious.com/perfect/alternativetv.html
22nd February: Mark Perry attended a book launch for
'Below Critical Radar' at the Cartoon Gallery in the
Brunswick Centre. 'Below Critical Radar' is an
excellent new book, published by Slab-o-Concrete,
which is basically a history of fanzines and
alternative comics from 1976 to now. It, of course,
mentions Sniffin' Glue, which it describes as the
'most important punkzine'. Earlier in a London Live
radio interview, the book's editor, Roger Sabin,
described Mark as 'the king of fanzines'!!!!!!!! Buy
the book now!
17th February: ATV played a brilliant set at the
Amersham Arms in New Cross. It was the first time ATV
had played South East London in about 15 years
(Remember, Mark originally comes from Deptford which
is only a few hundred yards down the road from the
Amersham). The set was pure 70s magic ending with a
hat-trick of punk classics - 'Life', 'You Bastard' and
'How Much Longer'. Also great support from the Brain
Of Morbius and Sninge And The Soldiers.
15th February: Great interview with Mark in local
South London paper, the South London Press. It takes
up a whole page and features an excellent new colour
photo of Mark and ATV guitarist Tyrone Thomas (see Photo Gallery).
The headline is 'Godfather Of Punk'!!!!!!!
14th February: Interview (w/photo) of Mark in the
South East London Mercury.
1st February: Emergency and the Parkinsons both
played superb sets at Mark Perry and Tim V's regular
Complete Control night at the 100 Club, 100 Oxford
Street, London WC1. The Parkinsons were awesome with
their singer ending up stripped down to his boxer
shorts! A great time was had by all. The next Complete
Control night is on 1st March and features Argy Bargy
and the Dischords plus 1 other band. 6 quid to get in
- doors open at 8pm.
16th January 2001: ATV play last gig in New York at Manitobas Bar. Another brilliant gig and a great end to ATV in NYC! ATV set on New York trip: Alternatives, Action Time Vision, Why Don't You Do Me Right, Good Times, Ancient Rebels, Still Life, Love Lies Limp, Viva la Rock'n'Roll, Nasty Little Lonely, Communication Failure, Total Switch Off, Life After Life, Splitting In Two, Plastic People, Life, You Bastard & How Much Longer. ATV Line up: Mark Perry - vocals/guitar, Tyrone Thomas - guitar, Tony Barber - bass, Kevin Mann - drums. See photo gallery for some NY pics. Also check drummer Kevin's site for his NY photo diary:
then newyork1/, newyork2/ etc.
14th January 2001: ATV play at Manitobas Bar in New York. Great gig, the place was packed. Lenny Kaye and Bleeker Bob were in the audience.
13th January 2001: ATV play at Maxwells in Hoboken, New Jersey. Good gig. Brilliant support from New York combo Dementia Thirteen.
12th January 2001: ATV play at Arlenes in New York. ATV were great but were supported by a bunch of jazz funk bands. Strange.
11th January 2001: ATV gig at Sin-e, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Great gig. Good support from Jack Rabid's band Last Burning Embers.Time Out New York print preview of ATV's visit.
10th January 2001: Start of ATV's New York 'tour'. ATV play brilliant short set at CBGB's as part of PUNK Magazine anniversary night.Other bands playing include the Dictators, Thor and Niagara.Click on:
December 2000: ATV did a session for Lewisham College Radio. 2 songs were recorded, both of which will appear on forthcoming benefit CDs. 'Communication Failure' will be on the Mad Pride compilation and 'Plastic People' will appear on the Punk Aid CD. 'Communication Failure' is a new version of a song which appeared on the 'Apollo' album. 'Plastic People' is a cover of an old Frank Zappa song which is on his live collection, 'You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore. Vol 1'.