Acme Sewage Co
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.
Ozzy When I first joined Bullfrog nearly everyone I knew was listening to Led Zep and Pink Floyd etc. Myself and a few friends were listening to the Stooges , New York Dolls, Lou Reed, MC5 etc. Two of these friends Richard Chappell and Pete Kenney are co writers on some of the songs here. Bullfrog was a good band but the other members were more into a Hawkwind / Bad Company type sound. I was more in alignment with the new flux of bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Damned etc. and so I left Bullfrog and formed Acme with Simon Coxhill and Pete Barber.
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 as Acme Sewage Co!
Most people referred to the band as ASC or Acme. With hindsight not the greatest name – although a lot of people have remembered it, and it was even cited on ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ as one of the worst band names ever.
The band gigged extensively, headlining the Roxy many many times. They also supported 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.
Acme Sewage Co 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 album was the brainchild of gay gangster Kevin St John who had taken over the club after Andy Czezowski had been ousted.
Ozzy He was always raving about how good the band was, mind, he also spent a lot of time (unsuccessfully) trying to get into my leather trousers, lol.
Kevin St John approached us after one of the Roxy gigs knowing we had already been featured on The Raw Deal compilation. The band was paid £20 and waived artists royalties. It was only later that it was found in very small print that this included song writing royalties too. I’ve no idea how many it sold as we weren’t privy to the figures but it was supposed to have done well.
All the bands were horrified at the final product. There were some great songs and performances ruined at the mixing stage.
The band also went on the very oddly organised Farewell To The Roxy Tour of Scotland with some of the other bands on the album.
While St John stayed in a posh hotel the bands stayed in a youth hostel.
Ozzy I remember mopping toilet floors at 8am in the morning after playing Edinburgh. The audience thought we were stars with limos, but we’d actually walk back from the Apollo to the youth hostel carrying our gear at 2am. We also found out when we got there that despite promises, there was no food provided and so spent most of the tour starving.
Mostly, the bands went down really well – we really went down well – the Scottish audience are amazing if they like you. My memory is coming off stage in Edinburgh and not being able to afford a drink. However, on the plus side, the majority of the bands sounded great live.
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.
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 The Damned’s 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.
