SOUNDS March 7, 1981

IRISH STEW

UK SUBS tour of Ireland turns into an "unmitigated disaster".
As winessed by John Gill.

IF THERE's one thing better than having preconceptions, it's having someone completely trash them for you. Imagine the scene: it's three a.m. in the bar of a ferry in the middle of the Irish Sea.
As the empties line up on the table a Subs roadie talks disparagingly about the works of Marcel Proust and guitarist Nicky Garratt (a teetotaller, so the only one left in full control of his faculties) entertains the entourage with Zentype conundrums and paradoxes.
On the drive up to Liverpool to catch the ferry, he'd spent a good hour raving about the works of his favourite band, Magma. And all this from a member of "the dirtiest, roughest punks in Britain, whose gigs are hounded by violence", according to A.N. Other paper.
The Subs were off to play their first ever dates in Eire and Ulster. They've tried three times before to line up Irish gigs but have failed, due mainly to promoter cock-ups. The mood in the van up to Liverpool was one of excited anticipation.
It was an unmitigated disaster. In the aftermath of depression Nicky was to say that, "Ireland, for us, is jinxed."
Things got off to a rousing startwhen £200 was snatched from the band kitty by a spiteful ship's purser as payment for a broken door. The door had been broken because the ferry workers locked up at eleven and disappeared, leaving some of the roadies key-less and raomless.
The ship was half-empty, but the purser explained that the room would have to be out of commission for a whole week until the door could be fixed. And of course the fact that the person who broke it looked like a punk had nothing to do with the hefty penalty.
Anyway, we were in Dublin! James Joyce! Guinness! The bars were shut. The Subs arrived on the day of mourning for the kids who died in the Stardust disco fire, and everything closed from 11 to 12.30 as an act of respect.
The day of mourning nixed the Subs Dublin gig that night, and they accepted this with great understanding, believing that the gig would be re-organised for after the Belfast gig. It wasn't. A walk around the city unearthed dozens of Subs posters that had been ripped down. The promoter even declined the matinee gig offered by the Subs.
The next day was bassist Alvin Gibbs' birthday, and for a treat we drove him up to and across the border, shouting "Bang!" at irregular intervals and pointing out imaginary snipers as Alvin cowered in the back seat.
Anyway, we were in Belfast! Suspect devices! The most-bombed hotel in Europe! Guinness! This was it, and the Subs were like kids at Christmas, itchy with excitement about the gig. "I feel so excited about this gig,'' said, ''I really feel like I want to go out and play my best.'' The PA disappeared.
The Subs were meant to use the PA the Undertones were about to take on the road with them. It never arrived. So Terry Hooley, doyen of Belfast rock society, had to organise another, smaller PA.
While waiting for that to arrive, the Subs repaired to the bar of the Europa hotel and spoke philosophically about the loss of the Dublin gig, unaware that the worst was yet to come.
''I always try to make a negative into a positive," Charlie Harper said, adding with a laugh, "i've got this idea for a song, it's called 'Luck of the Irish'. Like every time we try to do an Irish tour it's cancelled. And now we've come over for what looks like one gig."
"It's personally depressing," complained drummer Steve Roberts. "it's nothing to do with the money we're losing - I don't give a shit about that. There'll be a lot of disappointed kids with tickets, expecting us to turn up, and we don't turn up. I think that's awful."
''As far as we're concerned," Charlie continued, "the Subs never pull out of any gig. We take every gig.''
On the day the Subs arrived in Dublin, their new album 'Diminished Responsibility' went straight into the charts at 18. Not as good as 'Crash Course's' number 6 last year, but was it as depressing as they sounded?
"We weren't too pleased,'' Charlie said, "because to us not doing the gig, returning there to do the gig or having the gig cancelled for Thursday ... well, it was cancelled because there was a day of mourning. We could accept that, it was a bad thing. But when we heard we couldn't do a return there on Thursday, that made us really depressed. And that overshadowed the fact that our albumhad gone straight into the charts at 18. To us that's great, but it's what we do live. We rate playing live far above any successful record sales. So yesterday was a depressed day.''
As this article, and articles appearing in other rags, show, the attitude of the media towards the Subs is softening. But radio and television are still basically oblivious to their charms. Their seventh appearance on TOTP was pulled out because they allowed kids to dance with them on stage. They are now officially banned from the show .
''I tell you,'' Charlie said triumphantly, "the biggest buzz I've got out of the Subs' career so far was being banned from Top of the Pops. When they said they wouldn't have us on Top of the Pops again, to me that was like a moral achievement.
But it quickly became clear that not everyone was in agreement with Charlie.
Alvin: "But we need it for the next single!''
Charlie: "We don't fucking need it."
Alvin: "We do need it. It's an important part."
Sensing chaos close up ahead, Nicky (the sensible one) offered an alternative; "I love doing Top of the Pops. It's great.''
''I hate it,'' Alvin retorted, "but it's an essential part of getting your sound into homes."
The question of getting mass exposure without compromising yourself is one that all bands have to face and, if there is an answer to it, it's doubly difficult for a band like the Subs to solve. Charlie seems to think TOTP equates with selling out.
"No, I don't think that. Get me right. I don't feel that being on Top of the Pops is selling out. But it's so much part of the business ... It's just nothing to do with what we're trying to do, morally, artistically, or anything like that. It's just a pure money thing.''
It seems that, slowly but surely, a few media mandarins are coming round to the Subs way of thinking; they've even been played on daytime radio a few times.
Charlie denies outright that this has anything to do with a softening on the Subs part, and says it's due to young people coming into the media who "appreciate what we're trying to do. The time may come when we're pretty big, but it won't happen yet, because we have got social statements to say. We're not just a money-spinning bubblegum pop band." Didn't he find that possibility a contradiction!
"Yes, to me it is a contradiction."
But Nicky disagreed. "No, it isn't a contradiction to me.'' "if we were to make money,.'' Alvin went on, "it wouldn't necessarily go straight into big houses in the country. We put a lot back into playing and recording, into getting a good live sound, and we tour a lot more than most bands. The money doesn't go towards a Jimmy Pursey-type situation, with a house in the country and a swimming pool. It goes towards ploughing it back into the band and gigging."
With the ignorance of an innocent (which is why I was sent off with them), the thing that struck your typist most about 'Diminished Responsibility' was Nicky Garratt's production; clean, powerful and stylish when I was expecting murky chaos. It lends the album an air of sophistication - a word you'd have to hunt hard to find in any other Subs features.
"To me it could have been a lot more sophisticated," Charlie explained. "Nick did a great production on that, but it could have been better. We had so little time to do it."
Nicky explained that the album was recorded right after Steve and Alvin joined. ''That was a period when the band was absolutely fresh, and I'm glad it's come out, and I'm glad it's been released, and I'm proud of it. And now the next thing is the next album, which has to be another step forward.''
It would seem logical that this might eventually lead them away from their current music and lifestyle, but Nicky disagrees.
''I think it'll lead us into being a band with a sound of our own, which we're still moulding together. "
What about the possibility of "Subs Do A Clash" headlines over future album reviews!
"Nothing could happen like that,'' Charlie said,''l find I still like some of the Clash's stuff, but they have lost a lot of their excitement. They're being ... subtle. In fact, they're being over-subtle.
"I don't think you'll ever find the Subs not being entertaining," Steve added, ''because that's first and foremost. We don't want to get too fancy, ever."
Nicky has a simple explanation why the Subs will never "Do a Clash''.
"Take Lou Reed, 'Walk on the Wild Side', now that was a big hit, yet it still has that underground flavour, that sort of ... honesty. That's what it is, honesty. And our songs have still got that honesty. We believe in them. You can tell if a band believes in the songs they're doing or not."