Forming like a zillion other bands in 1977 and playing the infamous punk haunt the Roxy, The Members first appeared on the Beggars Banquet compilation Streets with the punky Fear On The Streets. Following a one off unsuccessful single with Stiff, they signed to Virgin and hit the jackpot with the classic Sound Of The Suburbs, their first release for the label.
Always a little more going on than yer standard ramamalama punk, The Members incorporated reggae and and pop. More hits however didn’t follow with Virgin who struggled to market the band as times and music changed. Ironically they would end up with a minor hit in the US with Working Girl before finally folding.
The Members Facebook | Official Site This entry contributed by Ian Part Time April 2007
Ian Part Time (writer of this feature) recalls …”I never went to the Roxy, the Vortex, or even the 100 Club Punk Special. Never passed through the doors of Sex and certainly didn’t dress in safety pins and go down the Lacey Lady Disco in Ilford. I was too young and I lived in what for all intents and purposes was the middle of nowhere. Indeed by the time I got into Punk for the first wave it was all over for a long time. I had seen the shock horror stories in the papers, but it was too distant, too far away and exotic.
I can remember when it all made perfect sense in the Spring of 1979, when I felt included in this thing, rather than a detached observer. It might sound trite but “Sound Of the Suburbs” by the Members spoke to me, in fact, spoke for all the people in the south who never got a voice, in the middle of nowhere as the planes shot over full of holidaymakers all we saw was the fuel trails. Hopeless youth club bands, uncomfortable Sunday lunches, arguments, sibling rivalry, the workaday existence in the home counties, all encapsulated in one song. Even the station announcer saying “This is Staines” seemed a double edged sword of revelling and rejecting our identity, which was stamped through us like Blackpool Rock.”
The Members from Camberley had got their start at the Roxy in August 1977, just after the high water mark of Punk had been reached with the Pistols “God Save The Queen”. Though inspired by these bands they also aspired to the theatrical elements of pre-punk trailblazers like Ian Dury’s Kilburn and the High Roads and Liverpool’s Deaf School. They lined up with Nicky Ritz on vocals, guitarists JC Carroll and Gary Baker (later replaced by Nigel Bennett), drummer Adrian Lilywhite (brother of producer Steve) and Chris Payne on bass.
Nicky Tesco (the Members) We arrived and it was a right hole, well past its best. By this time the place was populated by suburbans like ourselves and had a reputation for being a bit hard on bands. I was really excited and nervous and the first thing I did was make friends with the bar staff and ended up blagging drinks for the band all night. It was after this that I ended up being renamed. One of my mates said “you’re so cut price you’re like Tescos”. The name stuck and Nicky Ritz left the band.
From the start of the band to that gig had been all of four weeks. That was the whole beautiful thing about Punk. Immediacy!
Hope & Anchor – Photo Credit?
The fanzine City Chains recalls some ‘neat numbers’ being played but sound problems and a less than responsive audience reaction.
Nicky tried hard to handle the crowd’s verbal by retaliating with such gems as ‘oh piss off!!! Go back to your suburban holes.’ Still another barrage of insults from the crowd. Nicky replies ‘get lost!’ and other pathetic lines. The Members left the stage to silence. City Chains #2
The Members crucially were centred around JC and Nicky.
JC Me and Nicky have a lot of arguments about what we do but they’re constructive arguments. We’re really at opposite spectrums. NME, 7.4.79
The first recorded fruits of the band was “Fear On The Streets” which was featured on the Beggars Banquet year end round up “Streets”. It’s one of the stronger songs on what in all isn’t a bad collection. This led to a one off single with Stiff, which included the original version of “Solitary Confinement” (subsequently covered by the Newtown Neurotics) plus “Rat Up A Drainpipe”.
JC – You will write a hit!
Nicky was the character of the band and JC the composer, vision and theorist.
JC My attitude about a Members show, alright, we talk about police and oppression – to break down barriers is important and we don’t ignore that, but my prime function is to entertain. I think that’s a valuable function, as long as you don’t charge on telling Irish jokes, as long as you entertain with subtlety.
Bands who try and bring about changes in society are hypocrites and it’s futile to try. We’re just trying to make people more aware of their situation, but we know we’re not really important. Entertainment is the business we’re in… NME, 7.4.79
The 7 inch follow up, the catchy but uneventful “Offshore Banking Business” was perhaps not the best choice of single, sounding a bit laidback when compared to the frantic rock steady of the coming Two Tone scene. Nevertheless, it charted again at #31 and with the LP reaching the Top 50, the Members must have been looking forward to the new decade with confidence, even though the next single “Killing Time” (with a flip called “GLC” which is sometimes listed in error as the same song as the Menace effort of a year previous) stiffed.
Proceeded by cheeky “Romance” single, “1980 – The Choice Is Yours” was full of fine songs like the poignant “Brian Was” and “Goodbye To The Job” which was a smart V sign to the spectre of Thatcher, somehow the production didn’t capture the punch of the band and even a guest spot by Joe Jackson on piano and a free tie (which I wore to several job interviews when I left school!) couldn’t save it’s non-appearance in the Top 75. This in turn led to the band’s departure from Virgin who’s cashing in on Punk was coming to an end with the scope for endless Pistols cash-in coming to a halt.
Outside the 100 Club – Photo Credit?
Not all was lost and a deal with Albion (who were riding high in the charts with Hazel O’Connor) was brokered. This also led to a partnership with the flavour of the month producer Martin Rushent. For what this gained in contemporary kudos, the exploring different directions like funk and rap and the grafting on of tactics Rushent used to more success with the Human League led to the band surrendering some of their identity. They took on another member in saxophonist Steve Barnacle and released possible the best fruits of this union, the fine “Working Girl” single. Sadly this didn’t bring the success the band were looking for, but the Radio” single on Island made in-roads into US College radio and their “Going West” LP was remixed for the release stateside, robbing it of almost all it‘s character in the hope of airplay.
Unfortunately by this time Nicky Tesco was completely disillusioned and quit the band on their return from a US tour. He did some solo work and then diversified into acting.
But for me, The Members golden Spring/Summer will always be their high point, when they spoke for thousands of bored suburban kids like me.
Nicky Tesco I’d like people to go away at the end of our gigs feeling a little bit changed. Even if its only because we played a bit of reggae and it makes them want to hear more reggae music it might change their ideas a bit.
Too many people are searching for a paradise over the hill, but when they get over the hill all they find is another housing estate. As soon as people accept this and try and look on the brighter side the better. Zigzag #95
RIP Nicky Tesco
The Members sing about silly, simple things, and do it with style. Their lyrics deal with pathetic characters, trivial frustrations, minor irritations, unimportant failures; so if you’re lonely or spotty, you daydream a lot, the beard won’t come, the figure won’t fill out, your mum won’t leave you alone, the girls/boys all laugh at you, you can’t do anything right, your life’s intolerably dull – then the Members are the band for you. Paul Morley, NME 7.4.79
JC My favourite bands are bands like Sham 69, The Upstarts and The Lurkers. They talk our language. That’s why we try and write lyrics that are simple for everyone to understand. I write things that are important to me. I don’t have problems like Howard Devoto, who has light pouring out of him. Zigzag #95
Fear On The Streets (Beggars Banquet November 1977)
Ok not a single! The Members had recorded several demos but the first released recording was produced by Adrian’s brother Steve Lillywhite who had been asked to produce a variety of acts for the compilation album ‘Streets’ by Beggars Banquet manager Nick Austin. This was the label’s first ever release. The Members’ track was the excellent Fear On The Streets, about the National Front.
Solitary Confinement / Offshore Banking Business (Stiff May 1978)
It’s about a bloke living alone and he’s pretty miserable but it isn’t miserable…its about when you move to London and get pissed off. JC, Zigzag #95
A Stiff one-off deal brought no promotion by the label who allowed it to die to death and the one-off contract remained just that. Produced by Larry Wallis of Pink Fairies fame and producer of The Adverts One Chord Wonders. They would later cover his song Police Car.
Sound Of The Suburbs/ Handling The Big Jets (Virgin January 1979)
Nick Tesco I love the song but the funny thing is we were accused of selling out because we’d had a hit whereas the Clash signed to this huge monolithic major label and they’re deemed to be revolutionaries. It was really exciting and doing TOTP was a bit of an anticlimax being as it’s not really what you expect, but then dreams never are when they come true. I’m proud of the song and there’s a lot of people out there who see it as one of the defining moments of punk.
Offshore Banking Business/ Solitary Confinement (Virgin March 1979)
Virgin wanted us to re-release Solitary Confinement but that would have been a step backward for us. JC, Zigzag #95
Its a reggae record to some extent. It brings across why I feel is good in reggae music. There is an awful lot of room in English music for this type of thing….I don’t know whether it works or not…I realise we’re not doing justice to reggae. JC, NME 7.4.79
Killing Time/GLC (Virgin September 1979)
This single is a direct contrast to the previous 7” “Off-Shore Banking Business”. Where that was a slow skank, this record is a full on Punk Rock rant. Slightly let down by a none to meaty production (this song definitely required a more full on approach), the song itself is saved by a strong chorus and a stop start guitar section. The flip “Killing Time” is more disposable though and doesn’t really stay with you after the song has ended.
At The Chelsea Nightclub (Virgin April 1979)
Nick Tesco First album was great though I’d probably have included the original single version of Suburbs on the album rather than the inferior re-recorded version. I guess Don’t Push still rocks.
The Members 1979 debut is also their best. The only downside of the original album release was the inclusion of the different version of ‘Suburbs’. From the reggae-tinged instrumental Electricity through to the punky, Who-like Chelsea Nightclub, you will be taken on a journey of intelligent arrangements and singalong choruses, all topped-off with excellent Steve Lillywhite production – The Members have never sounded better.
In particular, you wonder why lead guitarist Nigel Bennett wasn’t more widely recognised. The solos on here are top-class. JC’s thin, spaghetti-western Fender twang compliments Nigel’s rockier tone perfectly. If there’s a lesson in how to utilise two guitarists in one band and yet still leave plenty of room for vocals, bass and drums, just refer to The Members first album. There are no obvious fillers, all tracks contribute to the album.
This one has THE sound – punk, pop, rock, reggae, it’s all here and all at the same time too. The Camberley boys done good. Recommended. Amazon Review
Electricity Sally Soho A Go Go Don’t Push Solitary Confinement Frustrated Bagshot Stand Up and Spit Sound of the Suburbs Phone in Show Love in a Lift Chelsea Nightclub
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