999 - Slam!

Original Release Date

1998

Release Information

UK CD 1998 (Overground - OVER 84 CD)

1 Inside Out
2 Heart To Heart
3 Investigation
4 Cruel World
5 Raindance
6 Kiss The President
7 Scandal In The City
8 Don't You Know I Need You
9 Change
10 Christmas Cards
11 Slam
12 V.G.C.
13 Brent Cross
14 That's The Way It Goes
15 Taboo
16 Public Enemy No.1
17 Mercy Mercy
18 Bongos On The Nile
19 No Prisoners

Chart Placings

None

Credits

Nick Cash - vocals, guitar
Guy Days - guitar, vocals
Jon Watson - bass
Pablo Labritain - drums

Liner Notes by Nick Cash:
Contained here is a collection of 999's demos from the early 80's, Many of these demos, here in their rough, unproduced, form, were to turn up on 999's LP's 'Concrete' and 'The Biggest Prize In Sport'. Others, such as 'Scandal In The City' and 'Brent Cross' became B-sides of singles.
However, several of these tracks were unreleased and are available her for the first time. They are:- 'Heart To Heart', 'Raindance', 'Christmas Cards', 'Cruel World', 'V.G.C.', 'Investigation' and the infamous 'Slam', which 999's record companies, Albion in the UK and Polydor in the USA, would not touch with the proverbial bargepole due to its lyrical content referring to the SLAM DANCE. Front page newspaper headlines in both The Sun and Los Angeles Times had accused 999 of introducing this dance and blamed the band for a series of violent incidents totally unrelated to the band. Consequently, 999 became public enemy no. 1, accused of causing social unrest in the USA and Europe. Their answer was to write and record a song, The Slam, available here for the first time.
Due to the scandal surrounding 999, the band were invited to do an interview with The Sun newspaper in Soho Square, London in July 1980 with a journalist and photographer. The journalist tried to persuade 999 perform acts of violence and moronic behaviour amongst the public in the crowded Soho Square. The band refused. It was during the bread strike when it was difficult buying bread. The photographer told Nick Cash he couldn't find any queues outside bakers so they offered a few quid to passer by to stand in a fake queue in order to get their photo. The band left in disgust.
Another song included here, No Prisoners, was an early version that, interestingly, would turn up many years later in another form, on 999's latest album, Takeover, which was released in 1998.
Altogether an interesting collection of songs culled from the band's personal collection of demo tapes.
A long awaited opportunity to exclusively hear many of 999's rarest recordings.

Reviews & Opinions

OVERGROUND WEBSITE: These recordings were considered to be lost until Nick Cash discovered the tapes buried under a pile of fluorescent socks in his loft! Seven of the recordings are previously unreleased while the other twelve show interesting work in progress, with many of the recordings differing substantially both musically and lyrically from the finished versions. The title track 'Slam!' was written in response to the controversy surrounding 999 and the slam dance. Front page headlines in both The Sun and the Los Angeles Times had accused 999 of introducing this dance and unfairly blamed a series of violent incidents on the band. 999 became Public Enemy No.1, accused of causing both social unrest in the USA and Europe! Albion in the UK and Polygram in the USA refused to release this legendary track. It appears here for the first time! Due to the scandal surrounding 999, the band were invited to do an interview with The Sun newspaper in London, July 1980. The journalist tried to persuade the band to perform acts of violence and moronic behaviour amongst the public in a crowded Soho Square. The band refused.

PUNKY GIBBON: A promising-sounding collection of studio sessions from the early 80’s that makes a big issue of its title track, the band’s tribute to slam-dancing, and the controversy that surrounded it (related newspaper cuttings are present). Unfortunately, the song in question is piss-poor, as are all the tracks that accompany it. The sleeve notes are by Cash, but one really has to wonder why he would want these bootleg quality, grade-Z songs to go anywhere but the incinerator. Really, this is one of the worst collections I have ever heard, and anybody using this as an introduction to the 999 experience wouldn't touch any of their other albums with a barge-pole. Even if you’re a completely mad ultra-obsessive you would do well to ignore this appalling disc.

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