PRESS CUTTINGS
Open Up And Bleed: Summer 2000
Harry Murlowski, Mark Parry, Danny Baker
Pic. Jill Furmanowsky
Mark Perry got up this morning. He sat at his computer and typed:
SMASH THE COMPUTERS.
BORED TEENAGERS
"I tell you what’s wrong with youth today:
they don’tknow
boredom. We didn’t have a telly in ourbedroom. We had to
beg our parents to be able towatch TOTP and
The Old Grey Whistle Test. We used tolisten to our
little radios under the sheets andplay
over and over again the ten records we had onpoxy
record players. We were so boredand frustrated that it gave us time to build up our
determination
to do something about it...Oh listento me going on and on"
"Back then, there was a real Establishment, men
in suits and bowler hats and all that,
a genuinecultural divide
. Now it’s all blurred."O&B: How did you first get the idea to start SG?
MP: I’d seen fanzines about various different types of music. In the 70’s they were usually about things like Country, Blues and R&B (the real R&B, not the bland shit that they sell under the name now). There was also a great zine from Scotland called Bam Balam, about 60’s pop. I could see that it was possible to do a magazine without having loads of resources.
O&B: How did you react to the success SG encountered?
MP: To be honest, I was taken by surprise. I was lucky/inspired enough to put out the first English Punk fanzine, so as the scene got more successful, so did we. In retrospect it seems obvious that Sniffin’Glue would be big, because it was such a good mag.
O&B: Why did you stop SG exactly? Boredom? Or was it a kind of natural progression; once you get to know musicians from interviewing them you want to start a band and be more proactive?
MP: Once I think something I do has run its course I prefer to move on to something else. I don’t like to overstay my welcome. If Sniffin’Glue had not stopped it would have turned into a tired old rag and not the Legend it became.
O&B: What’s your overall impression when you look back at those 12 seminal issues?
MP: It’s a great magazine. It’s about the only music magazine ever to tell the story of a scene from the inside, as it happens. I am surprised by how bold I am in those early issues. If you read through you see how I change and get more sussed, until, in the end, I’m sick of it. I don’t think any other music mag has been that honest.
O&B: How did this idea of an anthology came about?
MP: People have been asking about a book for years and there’s been a couple of false starts. I’m glad that I waited now because the earlier ideas were not as ambitious. I think it would have been pretty basic if I’d have done it 10 years ago. It’s easily the best thing on punk. It’s the only punk book that knows what happened!
O&B: The pictures are exceptional, how did you get so much unseen stuff?
MP: I wanted to get some unseen stuff, so we trawled through Jill Furmanovsky’s picture files. It cost us a pile of cash but I guess it was worth it.
O&B: What do you say to people who want to start a fanzine?
MP: The simple answer is: unless you can’t stop yourself....don’t! Personally, I can’t see the point anymore. They can never have the same impact as they did 20 years ago. I think that the only people who buy fanzines now are other fanzine writers!
O&B: Would you like to start something similar now? Is there room for fanzines nowadays?
MP: It would be fun to put something together, although it wouldn’t be called a fanzine. It would be a MAGAZINE about ideas for people who are too lazy to get off their arses and do something themselves. The problem is: there’s so many fucking mags already out there that anything, even if it was the greatest thing since Sniffin’ Glue, would be lost. You’d have to have a bomb on the cover to get it noticed!
O&B: Which fanzines do you read these days???
MP: I read Open Up & Bleed, which is written by some weird French chick, and Fear & Loathing, which is a bit like ‘Diary of a Nobody’ !!!!!! I don’t buy any mags except Stamp Monthly and White Dwarf.
O&B: What did punk mean to you then?
MP: Punk was my life for about 18 months and then I or it lost the plot. It changed my life so, obviously, I’m fond of it. Although, in the end, the punks didn’t have the bottle to see it through. They all ended up strutting their stuff on Top Of The Pops. That was disappointing.
O&B: What do you think of punk rock now? Do you still try to promote it? You wrote the sleeve notes for the new Menace Live album.
MP: Punk now is a retro scene because the bands are in their 40’s. Which is fine but I don’t think we should try to make too much of it. What rock needs now is some new, younger bands who’ve got the energy and the balls to kick the doors down again. Don’t get me wrong, punk is still fun, and an important part of my life, but it’s had its day as a major force.
O&B: What kind of music are you listening to these days?
MP: I mostly listen to 60’s stuff especially the ‘orrible Who, the Move, Small faces and the Pretty Things. A lot of 70’s stuff as well, I’ve just bought the new Free box set. The only newish band I like is Supergrass. I also think the GO-Kart Mozart CD ‘Instant Wigwam & Igloo Mixture’ is brilliant. It’s made by Lawrence who used to be in Felt and Denim.
O&B: You’re very much against selling out? Isn’t that a bit outdated? Unavoidable if you want to get anywhere? Don’t you think you’ve missed opportunities?
MP: I’ve missed so many opportunities because of my refusal to ‘toe the line’. It’s cost me record deals, US tours etc. I just think it’s important to keep your dignity, if you lose that you lose everything. A lot of people think that my point of view is old-fashioned but, to me, that’s just a cop out because they haven’t got the guts to stand by their convictions. I really think that it’s a shame that people don’t give a shit about it anymore. Of course it’s hard to stand by your beliefs, bloody hell, you might even have to get a ‘normal job’ but at least you’ll be able to look at yourself in the mirror every morning!
O&B: How do you see yourself, a cultish figure, a failed/unlikely star? Some of the people who worked on SG have become "commercially" star? Some of the people who worked on SG have become "commercially" successful like Danny Baker and Jill Furmanovsky? How do you feel about that?
MP: I’m quite happy about my position in the scheme of things. Of course, I’d like to earn more money from being a ‘Punk Legend’ but it doesn’t pay as well as being a TV personality or an Oasis photographer. Good luck to Danny and Jill. Perhaps they’ll send me a bob or two after they read this!
O&B: What are you up to these days?
MP: I’m in the process of recording a couple of albums which should be out later in the year. I’m not quite sure about what name they’ll be released under but they will probably carry on from where the last Alternative TV album ‘Apollo’, left off. I’m also due to do some TV work - more punkumentaries! I may also start writing for a couple of magazines but it all depends on what I’ve got left to say. I like to feel that I can still contribute to the written word in some way although music is the most important thing to me.
O&B: You’re a bit of a dilettante, would you agree?
MP: Yes, is there a better way to carry on?
O&B: With ATV, you’ve broken down boundaries constantly and tried to avoid clichés. It’s a lonely business isn’t it?
MP: As I’ve said before, I’d rather do my own thing than toe the line and gain plaudits, and cash, through conformity. I honestly believe that ATV have recorded some of the best stuff ever in the last 20 years although we are still ignored. I’m not usually bitter about anything but when I see a boring bunch of arty arseholes like Wire get patted on the back by the likes of the South Bank, apple juice and Time Out crowd, it makes me a little sick. The thing is, if ATV were invited to play at one of their dos, we’d just slag them all off!
O&B: Do you get depressed sometimes? Or are you happy how things turned out?
MP: I get depressed about the way youth culture is going down the pan. I also get depressed about personal things, details of which are best left unsaid. On the whole I have a very positive outlookon life. I believe things happen the way they do because they’re supposed to. You just have to go with the flow....mannn!
O&B: Where are they now and what are they up to?
Soo Catwoman: Soo is still very sweet and lives in West London with her 2 children. She may finish her book one day and then we’ll be able to find out about Sid’s dirty feet.
Steve Mick: Steve is a poet and lives in Hackney. Thanks for reminding me, I must ring him and get a copy of the book to him.
Harry T. Murlowski: Harry lives in Hollywood, California and works as a pilot. It’s what he always wanted to do, but, to be honest, he has so much nervous energy, I’d be terrified of having him as my pilot! Harry was so important to Sniffin’ Glue that I probably wouldn’t have got passed issue 6 without him - he had so much fucking energy!