LEFT
TO RIGHT : John McVittie (Bass ; vocals) ; Strang ( Guitar ; vocals) ;
Phil
Hendriks (Lead vocal ; Guitar ) ; Tommy O`Kane {(foreground)
Drums}
Photo
courtesy of Adrian Boot
At
the start of 1980 the STIFFS looked set to join the premier division of
Punky-powerpopsters
as BBC Radio One`s John Peel took up their case ,
playing
both sides of their self-financed "Inside Out"/ "Kids on the street"
single
on his show repeatedly for around 2 months and forcing other fellow
D.J.`s
to do the same. This was the same policy which Peel had used to
great
effect with various bands such as Stiff little Fingers, Undertones ,
The
Skids , The Ruts etc. ,plucking them from obscurity and creating
sufficient
interest to carry each, in turn ,into the national charts.
With
Peel`s assistance the record made the U.K."indie" top 10 and before
long
major record companies took an interest. First off the starting block
were
U.K. giants EMI , who sent a representative to meet the band as they
recorded
their first John Peel radio session in February 1980.
The
following day the guys were invited to a meeting with EMI`s A & R
manager
, Chris Briggs , who offered a deal to license "Inside Out" for an
immediate
re-issue on EMI`s new Zonophone label , followed by a five
year
deal which would require the band to record at least 2 singles and
an
album per year.
A
few days later Virgin records also approached the band but they were too
late.
Unfortunately
for the STIFFS , A&R man Chris Briggs left the company almost
immediately
after the contracts were signed. EMI duly re-issued the single, although
there
was a delay during which the record had lost some of it`s momentum.
The
band meanwhile took on the services of Marla/Markksmen music as management
and
music publishers fronted by Hedley Leyton , brother of 60`s music and film
star
Johnny
Leyton.
Another
Radio One dee-jay, Mike Read, liked the band enough to ask them to
record
a session for his show . It was here that they met Dale Griffin (former
drummer
with "Mott the Hoople" turned BBC producer).
(Left
to right: Phil Hendriks, Tommy O`Kane, Dale Griffin,
'Strang'
, Big John McVittie )
Dale
suggested that he and former Mott colleague Overend Watts might like to
produce
some
recordings for the band.
EMI
gave the group the go-ahead to record with Watts and Griffin but the resultant
tracks;
"Innocent Bystander","Volume Control" and "Best place in town", recorded
in July ,
were
not to EMI`s liking and, despite re-mixes , the tracks were consigned to
their vaults.
This
meant that the STIFFS still had no follow-up record to "Inside Out".What
hurt even
more
was that the band wouldn`t receive any money until the "successful completion"
of
two singles. New songs were being demo`d but no-one at EMI seemed in any
hurry
to
release any product by the band.
Eventually,
EMI decided on a course of action and booked the band into Rockfield studios
in
October ,under the supervision of engineer Pat Moran and former Rockpile
and Love
Sculpture
bassist , John David.
Moran
and David had strict instructions to produce two A-sides.
Once
more ,the group recorded versions of "Volume Control" and "Innocent Bystander".
This
time EMI were happy with the results and released "Volume Control" as the
new
single
in November , backed with "Nothing to lose"- a demo recorded in September
at
EMI`s
Manchester Square studios.
The
single hit the daytime radio playlists and the band played a string of
London dates to
help
promote it. The record sold well , but not well enough to touch the national
Top 40.
The
band pinned their hopes on the expected follow-up, "Innocent Bystander",
while their
management
seemed more interested in upsetting both EMI and band alike with their
methods
of doing business. In one instance there was a head-to-head argument between
band
and management over whether "Innocent Bystander" could retain it`s hook-line.
On
the one hand Hedley Leyton insisted on a re-mix to remove the offending
"oh,oh,oh...",
while
the band stood firm and insisted the song had already been changed quite
enough !
In
retrospect it made no difference, as the song was not going to be released
for 20 years !
EMI
discussed plans for an album but it was never to be recorded.
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