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Preview: Alison Moyet, Stiff Little Fingers, Rooster
by Conrad Astley28/ 4/2005
THE STIFF Little Fingers have been firm favourites on the punk
nostalgia circuit for years.
The band's second incarnation, which has existed since they
reformed in the late 80s, has been going far longer than their
original.
But their shows are as likely to be filled with teenagers trying to
find the source of inspiration for a new generation of bands as
with 40-somethings reminiscing about old Sex Pistols
concerts.
The Stiff Little Fingers' story started in 1977.
Belfast lads Jake Burns, Henry Cluney and Brian Faloon were playing
in a Deep Purple covers band bearing the unfortunate moniker of
Highway Star.
Things changed dramatically when The Clash came into town.
One gig was enough to persuade them to cut their hair, cover punk
songs, and rename themselves after the B-side of a Vibrators
single.
Another giant leap forward came in the unlikely shape of local hack
Gordon Ogilvie.
Impressed with their live show, after Burns had written to a
colleague asking him to come along and review a gig, Ogilvie met up
with the band and encouraged them to write songs about life in
their politically turbulent city.
The result was Suspect Device and Wasted Life, written about a
friend of Burns who was killed after joining an organisation.
Ogilvie - possibly Northern Ireland's answer to Tony Wilson -
helped them finance the single and eventually got it played nightly
by John Peel.
Their most well known song came about after the Belfast fanzine
Alternative Ulster asked them to write something for a free
flexi-disc.
The giveaway disc may never have happened, but the magazine's title
inspired their first Rough Trade single, which was to become a punk
classic.
Their popularity increased with the albums Inflammable Material and
Nobody's Heroes, and after a move to London, they quickly became
regular fixtures on the punk scene.
But when the movement began running out of steam and the band
alienated a lot of their fans by going pop, they called it a day in
1983.
However, five years later they got together for reunion shows,
which they admitted was mainly a cheap way of going back to Belfast
to see their parents at Christmas.
The reformed band began playing to bigger crowds than they ever did
during their punk heyday, with tours of Japan and USA.
Despite a few line-up changes, such as the inclusion of former Jam
bass player Bruce Foxton, the Stiff Little Fingers are still
carrying on in much the same manner.
Academy
ROOSTER'S biggest attempt at innovation was to
become the first band in the UK to broadcast a gig live via mobile
phone.
Their concert at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London last
November was watched by about 300 fans who were on the scene, but
by another 1,000 who were watching it down their telephones. The
band's label BMG had struck up a deal with the 3G mobile phone
company, enabling the firm to film the gig and broadcast it across
their network. About 10,000 eager young fans had signed up to watch
the concert, but only a lucky 1000 were allowed in by virtual
bouncers - after they had paid a fiver to the virtual box
office.
An enticing glimpse of a brave new world in which technology will
make our lives easier?
Of how technology could make human interaction a thing of the
past?
Or a cynical marketing ploy? Discuss.
Or rather don't bother, because people were probably having exactly
the same debate 10 years ago when The Shamen performed the first
internet gig.
The big point, however, is if this was to become a major historic
milestone, couldn't they have got someone other than Rooster?
For a start they're called Rooster.
This may be because one of them claimed to have won £250 on a horse
called Rooster Booster, but it's no excuse.
Rooster say they want to bring back stadium rock, because that
really is what the world has been crying out for.
We thought we'd had enough of this sort of nonsense when The
Darkness disappeared.
Although they may have been annoying, at least they had the decency
to pretend they were doing it as part of some student joke.
But here's something we never thought we'd see - The Darkness
without a sense of humour.
Academy
Friday
THERE are very few things Alison Moyet has not
been over the past 25 years.
Jazz aficionado, punk rocker, disco queen, and West End theatre
packer - she's done it all.
Alison Moyet's first assault on the charts came as a teenager,
after leaving school at 16 and deciding a piano tuning course just
wasn't her thing.
As one half of Yazoo, alongside Vince Clarke, she had a worldwide
hit with Only You, two albums, and a Brit Award, before she quit
the band amid artistic tensions and followed a solo career.
Success continued with her debut album Alf, three top tens, more
awards and a non stop tour.
However, Alison decided she'd had enough of pop and formed a jazz
band performing standards, including her version of Billie
Holiday's That Ole Devil Called Love - which climbed to number
two.
A tour and an appearance at Live Aid with Paul Young did not go
down well, and she disappeared until the late 80s, coming back with
more hits including Is This Love and Weak In The Presence Of
Beauty.
The 90s saw long periods out of the public eye, broken by the
release of albums such as the critically acclaimed but commercially
ignored Hoodoo, and Essex.
Alison made her stage debut in the West End hit musical Chicago in
2001, starring alongside Denise Van Outen and staying with the show
for six months.
Following the success of this reappearance, she released Hometime
in 2002.
Her first album in eight years, largely because of a long-drawn out
battle with Sony, Hometime sold 100,000 copies.
It put her in the year's top five best selling female UK artists of
that year, and found her nominated for best female vocal in the
2003 Brits.
She released Voice last year, a collection of cover versions
including Windmills Of Your Mind, Elvic Costello's Almost Blue,
jazz standards like Cry Me A River and classical songs like Dido's
Lament.
Bridgewater Hall, Wednesday.
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