Formed: London, England, UK
Band Bio / Discography
Judy Nylon, 1978: What SNATCH is about is ACCESS TO INFORMATION...AND PASSING THAT INFORMATION ON. The only reason I'm doing all this is to broaden my education, to keep learning... I'm not interested in pink lipstick & mohair. I find the whole kind of thing that Blondie's selling to be particularly offensive.
This duo was formed in London in 1976 by Americans Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon, both of whom had arrived in the UK before punk kicked off there, and in their short career released a number of unusual and entertaining records. Palladin was new to music but Nylon had some form: in 1974 she contributed some sexy spoken word stuff to John Cale's 'The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy' (on the classic Fear LP).
Pat Palladin, 1978: When I came to London in about '74 we became good friends. We were trying our best to get something going, we were both creative chicks. We both had ideas of sorts. When I was living in NY I was at one time designing. I studied design. Snatch came together because Judy and me were the type of persons who were always working on ideas and projects. My mind's always working, it's hard for me to relax. My body may rest but my mind's always busy. For two foreign chicks living in London, what is there really to do? So that's why Rock & Roll! It was the obvious thing to do out of boredom. There wasn't much to do - everyone was saying how "boring" it was then - it's cliche now!
Their debut single was initially released in the US in 1977 on Greg Show's Bomp! label. I.R.T. & Stanley couples two shambolic sounding lo-fi recordings that sound like demos: 'Stanley' is an anecdote about a male-to-female transsexual which is amusing but fails to produce a punch line (it sounds like a final verse was dropped), 'I.R.T' a twisted blues number. The latter was promoted to the A-Side when Lightning Records reissued it for UK release in 1978.
The follow-up, also on Lightning, All I Want and its B-Side 'When I'm Bored' are more conventional sounding punk tracks, with amusingly pronounced sneery New York vocals and some off-kilter piano. 'All I Want' is what Kleenex would have sounded like if they were from America and not Switzerland. Less conventional was the sleeve, a gold-laminated "statement" that was apparently the reason the single took from recording to release (about a year).
Pat Palladin, 1978: People who have slagged it off because we were honest enough to say that it was recorded a year ago are complete fools! 90% of the things these people read about in their reviews are also old tunes. ,Come on -- I've been told that a lot of ABBA's stuff was recorded five years ago.
In between these two efforts they demonstrated how close they were to the arty end of the spectrum by recording a catchy little ditty entitled 'R.A.F.', a collaboration with Brian Eno which was issued on the B-Side of his brilliant King's Lead Hat single. Actually, only the backing track is catchy, being a kind of mutant funk workout. Lyrics-wise, there's just bits of spoken dialogue and snatches (tee hee) of a phone recording by German terrorists the Baader-Meinhof Group (aka Red Army Faction). It's great. Eno's song on the other side is one of his discordant art-punk rockers, and is equally great.
Snatch's final release was 1980's Shopping For Clothes 12", which was produced by an uncredited John Cale. The title track is a slinky bluesy number with spoken word vocals. One of the other two songs is a remake of 'R.A.F.' which sounds nothing like the original.
Snatch split up after this release. Palladin's post-Snatch releases included a 12" single in 1982 (Trial By Fire), some collaborative efforts with Johnny Thunders, and guests spots with The Flying Lizards. Nylon recorded the Pal Judy album in 1982, and bowed out with a couple of singles, Carlotta (1982) and Jailhouse Rock (1983). Palladin also acted as a guest on Wayne County's Things Your Mother Never Told You and Johnny Thunders' So Alone LPs.
The final item on the Snatch discography is the posthumous LP, also called Snatch, a collection of mostly unreleased demos, along with a couple of singles sides.
(Note: The interview snippets and b/w photos are from Search & Destroy fanzine #8, 1978; the Judy Nylon photo is by Eno, Patti Palladin is by Peter Kodick.)
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DISCOGRAPHY
Singles & Albums
I.R.T. & Stanley (7", 1977)
King's Lead Hat (7", Brian Eno, 1978)
All I Want (7", 1978)
Shopping For Clothes (12", 1980)
Extraneous Releases
Snatch (LP, 1983)
Various Artists
The Best Of Bomp - Volume One US LP 1978 (Bomp!): I.R.T.
First Edition UK LP 1982 (Editions EG/Polydor): R.A.F. (with Brian Eno)
Pressing Problems Germany Tape 1983 (Pressing Problems): R.A.F. (with Brian Eno)
The Indie Scene 78 UK LP/CD 1991 (Connoisseur Collection): All I Want
1-2-3-4 Punk & New Wave 1976-1979 UK 5xCD 1999 (Universal): All I Want
England's Dreaming Germany 2xLP/CD 2004 (Trikont): R.A.F. (with Brian Eno)
New York Noise Vol. 3 (Music From The New York Underground 1977-1984) UK 2x12"/CD 2006 (Soul Jazz): Black Market
Homework #3: U.S. "D.I.Y." From LPs R To Z US CDR ???? (Hyped To Death): Second Rater / Patti Palladin Radio Ad For "All I Want"
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Links
All I Want Is Snatch: The amazing female punk duo that you've probably never heard of
