Acme Sewage Co.

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Acme Sewage Co first formed in early 76 - Ozzy was in a band called Bullfrog - it was very Stooges/Reed/Dolls influenced however the other members wanted to sound like Bad Company so a parting of the ways occurred. The original members of Acme were Ozzy - Gtr/Vocals, Simon - Drums and Pete Barber - Bass. This band played various gigs and recorded for Raw and for the Roxy album.
The name originally came about because they had a gig booked and no name for the band. Simon and Ozzy were on a train from London to Welwyn Garden (where they were from. The  other main punk band from there was Johnny Curious & The Strangers who had emerged out of the prog rock band Masque) on the afternoon of the gig - desperately trying to think of a name when Ozzy saw a haulage firms yard from the train - all the lorries had 'Acme Trucking Company' on the side so he said how about Acme Sewerage? Simon made up some posters and spelt it sewage and it just stuck. most people referred to the band as ASC or Acme.
The band gigged extensively, headlining the Roxy - supporting Johnny Thunders at the Vortex as well as numerous provincial gigs - supporting Throbbing Gristle in Brighton etc. The song I Wish You Dead was taken from the sessions used for Raw Deal compilation which featured I Don't Need You and I Can See You. There was another song recorded - High Rise - which hasn't been released yet. The band stopped working with Raw due to its reluctance to pay royalties - a problem that, I think, every band had. The song featured on the Farewell To The Roxy album - Smile and Wave Goodbye was ruined by bad production. The songs were original except for a version of Heroin. Some of the titles were - Freedom (revisited) - Mercenary - You'll Never Know My Name - Too Much Hate (and not enough time)- I'll Be Your Stranger - Sewage - Down In The Alleyway and Car Ride (with my friends) to name a few.

The Raw records comp

 Click to hear clip of 'I Don't Need You' 

 Pete then left and for a while Acme didn't have a permanent bassist. Simon then switched to bass and a new drummer - Paul Walker - joined. For a while they tried out a keyboard player - Simon Turner but it didn't work out. There were a few gigs and some recordings done with Simon Sewage's dad - Lol Coxhill (see Damned Music For Pleasure) - guesting on sax. The band split in the early 80's mostly due to the pressure upon Ozzy to do everything.

They were a superb band. Raw sure knew how to pick them.
They were not The Users in disguise.

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Info courtesy of JB