In the winter of 1977, Mick Jagger found himself without a home. Sixteen years old and living on the hostile streets of Berkinghamshireton with nothing but a pair of Dr. Marten boots and an electric guitar to his name, he sought shelter with school-mate and aspiring bassist, Thom Davis. The two dreamt of a world where the working classes could regain their pride of old. Music was their only weapon against the evils of the government, the stifling oppression of poverty and the tired rhetoric of the elders.
Mick and Thom conceived of Bayonet U.K. that spring, along with drummer Benny Lonsdale. They gave the repressed a voice, the homeless a home and the ignorant a place in public discourse. Bayonet U.K. made a name for themselves with an unrelenting sonic and poetic assault on the prevailing culture and a mercilessly violent, loyal presence in the streets and gutters of their home town. The movement was building. It seemed no one could stop the bricks and bottles of the working class.
Following the independent release of their debut EP, Bayonet U.K. were courted by greedy capitalist record companies. Punk Rock had become big business and everyone was looking for a piece of the pie... the money-pie. It threatened to tear the band apart but Bayonet U.K. stayed strong. A lifetime in poverty had instilled in them not the opportunism of the alley cat, but the stalwart pride of the mighty lion.
For nearly thirty years, the band has toured tirelessly throughout the greater United Kingdom, breaking periodically to record. Though fame and fortune were never in the cards, and Thom Davis is now partially brain-dead from a quarter-century of knife fighting and alcoholism, their mission has never been more clear. To Bayonet yer arsehole!
No comments:
Post a Comment