Dead Kennedys, The Damned, The Undertones, Cocteau Twins, Killing Joke, Stiff Little Fingers, and my band, Janes Plane. What do we all have in common? We played at the Ace, Brixton, in 1982. (So did, uh, Kajagoogoo, but we don’t admit to that. Though in my defence of coolness I will point out that this was before their pop hit, “Too Shy.”)
To be precise, twenty-nine years ago today I sang in front of a sell-out crowd and four TV cameras. I had a blast. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll was not a metaphor.
If you’ve read my memoir, And Now We Are Going to Have a Party, you’ll have heard some of the Janes Plane songs. You can read an exerpt about the band’s formation, and how singing brought me to writing, here. Or, ah fuck it, just listen to “Bare Hands”:
http://www.nicolagriffith.com/audio/player.swf
It was recorded in August 1982, when the band was still together–and when the following video (for a UK TV show called Whatever You Want) was recorded.
I’ve been sitting on this video for a long, long time. It makes my toes curl. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to edit video when you can’t actually look at it??) I was 21, trying to hard to look laid back and world-weary, but so stressed out about that kitten. (And with a wicked hash hangover–the night before was the first time I’d smoked Nepalese Temple Ball. I smoked a lot.) Note that my nose looks different: it was a couple of years before I got it broken in a fight.
While I’m throwing caution to the wind, here’s video of part of that Ace gig, filmed December 9, 1982. We were woefully under-rehearsed (we’d split up not long after that August interview, and reformed for this one gig) and this was the song we’d played least. (You won’t find this one on the CD in the memoir. It was the last song we wrote.) Also, Jane’s guitar was horribly out-of-tune. It was always out of tune; even pooling our resources, we couldn’t afford to replace the machine heads.
We were incredibly poor. That white shirt I was wearing cost 20p in a jumble sale and I cut the collar off with a knife (ditto that shirt in the other video). The waistcoat was knitted for me by a lover’s mum. The pink trousers were hand-me-downs that I wore all the time. I was reminded just the other day that on the day of the gig I didn’t have tube fare to get there and had to borrow it. But, hey, we got paid in cash–union rates–right after the show. That night we partied. The only snag is, I don’t remember a thing about it :) Eh, I was 22; I thought I ruled the world. I remember that young person fondly.
Enjoy.
Did I see maracas?
Really enjoyed watching that, and so did my 18-month-old daughter, who sang along with you for the last two minutes.
James, we had all kinds of percussion: maracas, tambourine, Fijian woodblock on a home-made stand, etc.
Love the videos!! You are such a perfect rock star.
What a treasure – to be able to see the young Nicola in motion.
You split up soon after that interview? Did you know that during the interview – that you would soon break up? or did you think it was going to last a long time?
Thanks for that. Why does it make your toes curl? You all were good, inspite of poverty and technical difficulties(and dope). Music rules.
jennifer, we split up because our drummer had to leave Hull to find a job (doing sound for Dangermouse (the TV show, not the DJ…) And I don't remember having any clue that was going to happen, no. I had dreams of world domination.
barbara, honest answer? I don't know. It's just so very strange to see myself from that time. I don't have many photos. I don't stay in touch with many people. I live thousands of miles away. Which means my memories are what I have–and they don't always quite match the video 'reality'. There's…dissonance.
Brilliant! And what a nostalgia trip for those of us with fond memories of '82. I would have happily paid £2.50 just to see Janes Plane, with SLF as a nice bonus on the same ticket.
Tim, I liked the eighties. Or maybe I just loved my 20s. It's all good :)
Wow, you girls were GOOD! I understand what you say about the strangeness and dissonance of not having much more than this video to look back on while you're remembering. But the video was shot beautifully, and has a certain sparseness that I imagine could leave room for the memories in it?
I wonder if still images match a person's memories better than video? I don't have many videos of myself, but when I do see them I don't even recognize the person there. I guess because that's someone else's view of me, and the life of the mind is more quiet and fragmented with a mosaic of images…
Thank you for sharing these!
Alisha, here's the weirdest thing for me about seeing this video: I can walk. It's confusing.
It's also the only video of me (that I know of) before the age of 36 (and that's a Clarion West video; I don't have a copy). And I think that, in terms of memory, it depends on what one is used to. I've seen lots of photos of me in my 20s, so I don't feel dissonance. But this; it just feels alien.
Nicola, this is great! thanks for sharing. I keep thinking and thinking of what the sounds reminds me of. clearly, it brings back the indie sound of the eighties. but what else? maybe pj harvey, the peel sessions? in way? no?
i'm sure you know her; the peel sessions album is one of my all time favorites.
Kate
Total coolness! It is wonderful to see and hear you and the band in action.
1982 was the last time I was in a band too. I wish I had video. You're very lucky to have this.
Promiscuous, no argument from me. Lucky: yes!
Kate, well, we drove journalists mad because they could never pigeonhold our sound: Patti Smith, said one. Amazulu, said another. Punk! many opined. I never came up with a pithy description. These days, of course, that would be the first thing I'd do…
My memory of that night was packing the car with stuff after the gig, setting out then remembering we had forgotten something in the dressing room (my bag I think. I ran back into the building, over all the OB trucks' cables, up the stairs, and burst into the dressing room – just as someone was about to snort a huge line of Columbian marching powder off a mirror. As I came through the door he panicked and the whole lot just went everywhere. A cloud of coke or speed just hung there in mid air. I grabbed my bag and left. Fast.
Junk Monkey, I remember the look on your face :) Wow, I'd forgotten about the OB trucks: those cables snaking everywhere, the air trembling from their generators, the stress pheromones wafting from them. What I remember about the Green Room was the wall of beer. Free beer! Blimey, it's a miracle we made it on stage at all…
A quick 'hello' from someone else who was there on the night….We'd got in early and watched all the sound checks from the balcony. I still remember me and my mate mingling with the SLF crew and eating bacon butties ! A great night. I went on to be quite creative as a photographer !!
Oh, those are great photos! I particularly like Trees in the Mist.
Where are you based? Maybe at some point we'll be in the same place long enough to have a pint. (Or coffee, or whatever.)