Subway Sect

All Music Guide:

In 1977, Vic Godard, leader of the early British punk band Subway Sect, described how his band differed from the Sex Pistols and the other new groups on the scene: "They just want to revitalize rock & roll whereas we just wanna get rid of it." Subway Sect were one of the more distinctive acts to emerge from the first wave of U.K. punk, possessing a lean, primal sound that owed a strong debt of influence to the Velvet Underground and the Modern Lovers, but while they were playing gigs as early as 1976 and were courted by two of punk's leading impresarios, the original band was just barely documented on vinyl. Godard (lead singer and sometimes guitarist) and Rob Symmons (guitar) were fans of Northern soul, distaff American acts like the Velvet Underground and Television, and classic crooners (particularly Frank Sinatra); they were drawn to the energy and chaos of punk, though they didn't always care for the music. Godard and Symmons had been making noises about forming a band, and teamed up with friends Paul Myers and Paul Packham, calling their group Subway Sect. Packham was initially the lead singer, but when the foursome chipped in to buy a drum kit, it was discovered that Packham had played a bit during his days as a Boy Scout, so he became the drummer and Godard moved to the vocal mike.

When Malcolm McLaren organized a punk rock festival at London's 100 Club in the fall of 1976, he realized he needed additional bands to fill out the schedule and took the budding Subway Sect under his wing; he booked them into a rehearsal space and ordered them to get their material together, and they played the festival alongside the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, and other punk trailblazers. With their unusual sound and stark look (their clothes were all either black or dyed gray), Subway Sect attracted the attention of Bernard Rhodes, manager of the Clash; he took on the band shortly after its appearance at the 100 Club and the group began writing and recording material. However, it wasn't until 1978 that Subway Sect's first single was released, "Nobody's Scared" b/w "Don't Split It." (During the interim, Packham left the group, and was replaced by Mark Laff; Laff quit to join Generation X, and Robert Ward became the Sect's new drummer.) "Nobody's Scared" didn't fare well in the charts, but their second release, "Ambition" b/w "Different Story," rose to number one on the indie singles charts in 1978. However, Rhodes was unhappy with the results of the group's recording sessions for its first album; he fired the band, shelved the album, and signed a deal with Godard as a songwriter, bringing the group's first era to a close.

As Godard dug deeper into songwriting, he embraced his interest in pop styles of the past and classic crooning; his 1980 album What's the Matter Boy?, credited to Vic Godard & Subway Sect, reflected his new creative direction, as did 1982's Songs for Sale, an homage to Cole Porter. In 1986, Godard released his first solo album, T.R.O.U.B.L.E., but he grew disillusioned with the music business and quit to become a letter carrier. In the 1990s, Godard returned to music part-time and continues to write and record with a variety of collaborators when his work schedule permits. The album A Retrospective (1977-81) collects material from Subway Sect's first era (including selections from the unreleased album), while Twenty Odd Years and The Singles Anthology encompass their early punk tunes as well as Godard's later pop and jazz experiments.

Wikipedia:

Subway Sect were one of the original British punk bands. Their influence was limited by the very small amount of recorded material they released.

The early days

The core of the band was singer/songwriter, Vic Godard, plus assorted soul fans, who congregated around early gigs by the Sex Pistols until Malcolm McLaren suggested they formed their own band.

Subway Sect were among the performers at the 100 Club Punk Festival on Monday, 21 September 1976 - sharing the bill with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash and the Sex Pistols. The first lineup of Godard on vocals, Paul Packham on drums, Paul Myers on bass and Rob Symmons on guitar lasted for 4 gigs before Mark Laff replaced Packham. Laff himself would leave for fellow punk group Generation X after the White Riot tour. A third drummer, Bob Ward, was recruited, and it is this lineup that can be heard on the band's first John Peel session and also on the single "Nobody's Scared". This was the first and only release on Braik Records, a label owned by Bernie Rhodes, who managed both Subway Sect and The Clash. Rhodes subsequently supervised the recording of their debut album at Gooseberry Studios in London, with Clash sound man and producer Mickey Foote at the production helm. At that time the band toured intensively with The Clash and others.

However, just as their first album was ready for release, for reasons that remain obscure, Rhodes sacked all the band (except Godard) and Subway Sect mark 1 ceased to exist. The album was never released, although a single from the sessions "Ambition" was released on Rough Trade Records, with the B-side "Different Story (Rock and Roll Even)" also taken from the same sessions. A further track "Parallel Lines" was released as a track on the C81 cassette produced by NME magazine. Since then, some monitor copies of tracks from the lost album have come to light on various Subway Sect compilations, including a Motion Records' "20 Odd Years" 2CD anthology, and a CD & CD/EP set "We Oppose All Rock And Roll" on Overground Records. Any copies of the actual album tapes appear to no longer exist (rumored to have been flooded).

As a result of 1977 appearances at The Roxy club in London, live recordings were made of Subway Sect performances by Don Letts, the club's disc jockey. Subway Sect appears in Letts' Punk Rock Movie (1978).

The middle years

Godard put together the pieces, and Subway Sect mark 2 was formed, and the band finally released their first album What's the Matter, Boy? in 1980. The album features many songs written during the previous incarnation of the band, but performed with radically altered arrangements.

By this time, Godard had become increasingly influenced by early rockabilly, and the "first wave" of rock and roll (Sun Records session era Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran etc.). This was just a few years before the rockabilly revival, and the album was ignored as being 'retro'. Ignoring this, Godard then went even further back in time, and later releases showed the influence of the "rat pack" (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra), and even swing bands of the 1940s, many years before these sounds became fashionable. Facing dwindling sales, Godard left the music business and became a postman.

In 1982, former Subway Sect members - guitarist Rob Marche, keyboardist Dave Collard, bassist Chris Bostock and drummer Sean McLusky - teamed up with American singer, Dig Wayne and formed the band Jo Boxers which had two UK Top 10 hits.

The revival

However, in the 1990s a slow Godard revival began. Backed by the re-release of his work on CD and numerous compilation albums, (notably Motion Records' 20 Odd Years...The Story of...., and Singles Anthology) Godard has recently returned to recording. He released a new album Long Term Side Effect (Motion) in 1998, and a single on the Glasgow record label Creeping Bent, with more work promised.

The 21st century has seen Godard unable to progress from his cult status setting, but in 2002 a CD was issued credited purely to the Subway Sect, thus reviving the name, if not the original band. Named Sansend, it was a sample and beats heavy collection of new songs, and it was followed three years later by Motion's Singles Anthology, which collected all single A & B sides.

Plans were reported that Godard was working on songs for the musical to be called "Blackpool", but this was abandoned as the series used original 1960s and 1970s recordings, which were mimed to by the stage actors.

Original Subway Sect guitarist and bass player, Rob Symmons and Paul Myers resurfaced as The Fallen Leaves in 2004, although Myers has since quit the band. Rob Symmons still performs and records with The Fallen Leaves.

In 2007 Vic Godard and a different band released "1978 Now", which rerecorded the original 1978 album as (as Godard indicated) they originally sounded when recorded for the lost album.

In 2011 Paul Myers rejoined Subway Sect. His first official gig back was at Nambucca in London on 28 October 2011.