PUNK LIVES, MAGAZINE. 1982

(pic Riipenen)
Winston Smith, with coffee in hand gets the lowdown on the latest wave of activity in the UK Subs camp.


In a steamy London cafe, Charlie Harper, middle-aged singer with both the Urban Dogs and long-running punk band the UK Subs, takes a hearty slurp from his cup of luke-warm tea, and talks... "I must admit I'm almost a one-off y'know? Old people basically are generally boring. I'm just a freak of nature. I'm a very sort of hyper-active person, and y'know, i go out looking for challenges, so...
"I mean look at all those old blues people like Sonny-Boy Williamson, he was playing until he died, and people like Howling Wolf, they're the people I really admire."
After pausing for a munch of his less than inviting sandwich, he continues.
" I saw punk as a revival of the Chicago blues. Like the blacks in Chicago having a bad time, singing about it and turning it into an art-form; that's exactly the same parallels as the Chicago blues-men..."
Along with Charlie and myself, also present are UK Subs guitarist Nicky Garratt and drummer Kim Wylie, (bassist Alvin Gibbs is off sick with flu) all three of them raring to set off on a long stream of dates, beginning in the UK and ending in the United States of America, followed, Charlie hopes, by yet more live work.
It's this craving for rock 'n' roll of Charlie's which led to his forming of the Urban Dogs; an offshoot of the Subs created by him and Alvin to fill those frustrating evenings when otherwise, they'd be off the stage. So now ther's two Charlie/Alvin single out; both the Subs own 'Shake Up The City' EP, and the Urban Dogs' 'New Barbarians'. Not only that the Dogs have made their own album! So how did it all start?
Charlie: "Well, we (the UK Subs) were down to do the 100 club just after Christmas, and the rest were all fed up with playing there. So I said I'm not going to pull out of it, because I don't believe in pulling out, and I got Pete Davies, Paul Slack, (both ex-Subs men) and some silly guitarist, and just done it."
What about the period when the Subs weren't performing but the Urban Dogs were; was that because you just couldn't bear to be off the road?
Yes, exactly. I can't bear it, and I'm not going to stand for it anymore. From now on, every day is busy right up to the tour, so we're kept pretty busy. But, er, there's a couple of days rest in-between the British and American tours, then when we come back from America I want to be working within a week, and if we're not I'm going to get an another (extra) band together again, it's as simple as that."
Have the Doga helped or hindered the Subs career?
It's difficult to say. From some people's views it's hindered. When we went to Europe, most people thought the Subs were doing their last tour, and that I was leaving to join the Urban Dogs; that was the general impression. Also in this country, a lot of people thought the Subs had disbanded."
Nicky: "I think the Dogs is an important thing for Charlie anyway, because it's a good outlet for the songs that he writes, and he writes a lot of songs..."
Kim: "I think what a lot of people would do otherwise is store this feeling up inside them, and eventually this could be the breaking point of any band, and I think what Charlie is doing is an ideal outlet, it gets it all out of his system, but he can still go back to the Subs and play with the conviction that he's always played with."
Charlie: "Well that goes without saying...I'll tell you what though," he continues, "the Urban Dogs album has come out so good, the Subs have got a guideline y'know? We've got to make a better album than the Dogs. It's a challenge."
Drummer Kim has only been a UK Subs since April, joining after previous sticksman Steve Roberts was forced to leave due to his being "a bit dippy".
Was Kim a fan of the band before he joined?
"Yeah. Well not in the sense that I went out and bought all the records, but I used to get into quite a lot of argument about the Subs with contempories of mine, because they always used to slag the Subs because of the fact that they were so, if you like, overtly punk. I never saw it that way, I always admired them. I would never have joined the Subs if I hadn't had some kind of feeling for them. I was quite flattered when they asked me to join."
And returning to the subject of gigging again, it's Charlie...
"Once we're on the road anywhere it's just one big party, it's great. That's why I get so depressed and just turn to drink when I'm off tour, I just go crazy, 'cos it's really like, coming off something. You get it in your blood."
So what do you do in your spare time?
"Just go to clubs and get drunk basically. Just like, listen to a lot of music in clubs. I haven't even got a record player, so I never listen to music at home, I just go out."
How do you feel about the bands that have started after the Subs and have since grown more popular than you? Do you get at all...
Nicky: "Resentful? No!"
Charlie: "No, no, no, quite the opposite, I celebrate when anyone's...
Nicky: "You get out of life what you put into it, and these kids deserve everything they've got y'know? They're not just bringing out a commercial single and suddenly all the DJ's are jumping on it, they've worked for what they've got."
Can you think of any highlights from your time with the Subs?
Charlie: "My highlight was when we had to do Top of The Pops, and the record company said that we'd have to pull out of the Exeter gig we were playing, and we said no, we're not pulling out, and we're not going to do TOTP unless you fly us down to Exeter afterwards, and that was great."
"We were whisked away in a limo from TOTP to London airport, put in a private plane, and when we got to Exeter, (the memories suddenly flood back...) oh wow! It was like, the fans were waitong for us at the airport, and we just jumped into the van, went straight to the gig, got there at ten and went straight on stage, and it was like, one of the best gigs ever...I'll never forget that day."
Do you see yourself ever having to pack all this in as your age creeps up on you Charlie?
"No, i'd like to be able to say that, yeah. I keep saying to people I'll retire when I'm 40, and that's only in a couple of years' time, but er, I doubt if I will."
What would you do if you had to?
"I couldn't...I'd just die."
'Phew', the four of us enthuse, 'what a great way to end the feature...'