Tuesday 5 August 2014

Strate Jacket - Demo's

So here it is five demo recordings from Strate Jacket. Thanks again to Stuart Blackaller for donating these. He did warn everyone that these were very rough recordings and they are, but apart from their single there appears to be nothing else out that documented their music.

So if you used to go and see Strate Jacket this will help rekindle those memories, and if you wanted to hear more after their single, here's your chance.

My fave is their cover of Fireball XL5 (now you know why there is a strange picture on this posting, I used to think Robert The Robot was so cool), most probably because I used to watch it as a kid. A lot of bands covered this song over the years but this is one of the earliest I am aware off. Anyone know anyone who covered this earlier than Strate Jacket?

So have a listen, and let Stuart know what you think.

Band: Strate Jacket
Year: 1979?
Tracks:
1. Talking About London
2. Out Of Control
3. Too Soon, Too Young
4. New Kid
5. Fireball Xl5

Ripped from glorious mono handheld hissing tape.

16 comments:

Punkzer0 said...

http://www.mediafire.com/?myjjp0mm2ze

You know what to do

Longy said...

Cheers for this lads, i'll give it a blast.

Hey Gary I just left you a message on my Sabotage post.....hoping you can help.

Cheers Mate

Longy said...

Well that wasn't too bad at all. Well worth a listen. I'm with you on Fireball XL5 Gary. Can't remember who else done it though.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant!

Thanks so much Stuart and Gary.

Fantastic (And slightly surreal) to hear 'Talkin' About London' again after thirty years (!!). Brings a tear to an old punks eye I tells ya.

I think these must be from around 78’ish. Def a noticeably different sound from the single.

At least now Strate Jacket have their place in online Punk Rock history.

Cheers....and thanks.

Kes

Anonymous said...

File seems to be corrupt - any chance of fixing it or re-upping . Many Thanks

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Anon it works for me, whats the actual problem?

Punkzer0 said...

Thanks for the thanks Kes, its all down to Stuart really I just posted it.

All the best

Anonymous said...

Thanks Stuart and Kes for the early Bournemouth punk scene references here. See my comment on the comments section of the SJ single.
Cheers,
Charlie

Anonymous said...

I noticed in the band photo they seem to be very wooden. It must have been difficult to play their instruments. :D.

Punkzer0 said...

Ha ha thanks Steveo read this in my email and didn't get it until I went back to the post.

supercheesy said...

i haven't heard this since 1980...still sound good. Too Soon Too Young was always their best song. Now trying to put the record straight, I saw strate jacket about 3 or 4 times from 1978 to 81 as a 15 year old schooly. First saw them at the IODUM hall which was opposite the tech college and is now demoilshed. Saw them at the Rio Grande club in st marys st and later as the captains in the magnum club. The tape with the first 5 songs on was a demo they did I think at Telecoms in portsmouth, my brother used to work with a guy called John Russell who I think was their first drummer and played on the recording...its earlier than stated probably 1977. We had a copy of it but its long gone now but its good to 'hear' it again anyway. The single is from 1979 and Martin James is the drummer. The bass player was a guy called 'beastie' don't know why. Gordon O'Brien always told me one night in the Lord Louis that he never liked the single as they were up all night mixing it and in the end settled for the final mix because he was so tired. I had a mate at the time Simon Olden who blagged his way in to the band as they changed their name to 'The Captains' playing the keyboard. It was always a surprise to me cos he couldn't play anything at all. We went to see them at the magnum club it was Simons first gig with them, must have been about 1979. Their best gig I saw was supporting the Clash in 1978 at Southampton Top Rank. There always seamed to be fighting at their gigs even with the Clash...anyway they were a great punk band, definately the best in Southampton at the time.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the additional info/corrections Supercheesy. Interesting stuff. I think they supported the Clash in Southampton in Feb 1980 as well - They get a brief mention on the Black Market Clash site.

As well as having some good tunes they were by the sounds of it also very active on the gig circuit. Shame they never actually get a mention in any of the punk articles, books, etc. They certainly deserve it. I think I’ve read more about Billy Karloff and the Goats than I have Strate Jacket! In fact to be honest I’ve never read anything about them prior to this. I do recall some violence at the gigs. But there was a fair bit at all the punk gigs I went to around Bournemouth circa ‘77/78. In hindsight I would put this down to the fact that we were all provincials, and basically doing what we had read in the papers that punks were supposed to do. Gob, fight etc.

Happy daze

Kes

Anonymous said...

couldn't play anything at all........what the fuck do you mean graham?

Punkzer0 said...

???? What couldn't you play and whose Graham?

Anonymous said...

Graham is supercheesey, and must have forgotten that I played a whole plethora of musical instruments when I was a youngster.
someone else pointed out that my surname is Oldham which it's not.
i played with strate jacket only for a week or so as they changed their name to The Captains. I played bass when John Childs (AKA Beastie) left

Punkzer0 said...

Thanks for that, I read all the comments and couldn't see a Graham anywhere

I hope he picks up your comment.

All the best