I found this gig poster in a cupboard. Nice, isn't it? So then I dragged this one hot-foot to the turntable:
Left Hand Drive - Jailbait 7" Bancrupt -/vg+
1977 rare punk/rock; never in p/s
from 45 Revolutions:
1- JAILBAIT
2- MOTORWAY CROW
11/77- Bancrupt Rec. BECK-611 no ps - 7”
Note: A-side and B-side labels are reversed on some copies.
Martin Harney (v), Jack Swann (gtr), John
Brassett (b/v, ex-Leather Jerkins/Tarsus/Windlord)
and Tommy Kerr (d), hailing from the
Milton Keynes/Stevenage area, began performing
as Left Hand Drive in 1975. The band –
in a completely different line-up fronted by
Garry Tyla (v, later with the Tyla Gang) – were
active a few months earlier: it’s likely that Jack
Swann was the only surviving member of the
original incarnation. After three years of live
performances, Left Hand Drive made their
vinyl debut in November 1977 on their own
label Bancrupt Records. The A-side JAILBAIT
is a surprisingly strong offering in an Eddie
and The Hot Rods vein, although the tune is
reminiscent of Golden Earring’s Hard Rock
hit RADAR LOVE and there are some slight
pre-NWOBHM overtones. The flip, MOTORWAY
CROW, starts with a riff à la Steve Jones
riff and has a catchy chorus which is Punk
enough to make the 7” worthy of interest to
Punk/New Wave collectors. Although pressed
in an edition of 1,000 copies, the single was
sparsely distributed and nowadays rarely turns
up.
**
