The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack Interview: James Baker, Part Two
The Australian punk legend and drummer for The Victims, Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus and Beasts Of Bourbon continues reminiscing about visiting 1976 London, meeting Sid Vicious & auditioning for The Clash
Interesting place for a third eye, Jimmy! (Illustration courtesy Cheersquad Records & Tapes)
Greetings, everyone!
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Today, we return to my conversation with James Baker, the Australian punk ‘n’ roll icon whose drumming and songwriting shaped bands like The Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus. We resume the festivities upon the announcement of a new single, as well as a pair of benefit shows to help cover medical bills for his Stage 4 liver cancer treatments.
The 45’s a rocker: Attributed to The James Baker Beat, Our Hero is joined by fellow Aussiepunk superhero Dom Mariani (The Stems, DM3, DATURA4) for a smashing pair of garage-pop stompers.
“Friday Night Friend” lambastes “pals” who only know you when they want a place on the guest list, over hammered piano triplets and scorching fuzz guitar bursts.
“She Said (Bad Weekend),” the B-side, chronicles a breakup in what sounds like The Archies in a foul mood:
“I’d rather be by myself/Without you here I can be myself/So take your stuff and get out of here/Oh yeah.”
Romantic dysfunction never sounded so infectious.
Meanwhile, this past weekend, several members of Perth’s rock ‘n’ roll underground—The Kill Devil Hills,The Volcanics, Greenzo's Weird Ol' Blues, The Shakeys, Datura4, The Floors, Carla Geneve, The Secret Buttons and Robber's Dog—gathered at local venues Clancy’s in Fremantle and Perth’s Lyric’s Underground over two nights to rock in service to James’ ongoing cancer treatments. No word yet about how much was raised, but here’s hoping neither gig had any “Friday Night Friends” crowding the door.
We resume as James touches down at Heathrow in 1976, on his extended jaunt to all of early punk’s original capitals, ready to dive into history…
TIM: You stopped off in London before heading back to Perth, correct?
JAMES: Yeah, yeah. It's funny you mention Hollywood Brats, I was just listening to it yesterday. Great stuff. I mean, I've only got the reissue with the purple cover. I haven't seen the real first edition.
TIM: That was only issued in Norway, that first edition.
JAMES: Right, yeah, there's a photo on the internet, but yeah, the purple one that got reissued probably about 1978 or something, wasn't it? Great band, though, great, great songs. And who was in that? Was Mick Jones in it? And maybe Steve Jones?
TIM: No, neither one was in that. Mick Jones and Tony James tried to get some members of the Hollywood Brats in London SS. It didn't work out, so the Brats who were asked aboard—Andrew Matheson and Casino Steel—split off with Matt Dangerfield and started The Boys.
JAMES: Yeah, yeah. I didn't know that. I know very little about the London SS. I don't know any of these magical, mystical bands. You don't even know if they really existed.
TIM: Well, mysteriously, no recordings exist, but it's like half of London punk rock passed through London SS.
JAMES: Yeah, Nick Kent was in it. [NOTE: No, he was in The Subterraneans with future members of The Damned, and an embryonic Sex Pistols lineup before that.] You know Nick Kent?
TIM: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. He was kind of an adjunct to the whole thing, but the basic people who had been through London SS were Mick Jones, Tony James, Brian James, Rat Scabies, and a cast of thousands.
JAMES: They're a good band, The Boys. I've got their albums, their three albums, and I really like Alternative Chartbusters, the second one.
TIM: Oh yeah, well, God, anybody who'd write a song like “Brickfield Nights” has got to be amazing, you know?
JAMES: Yeah, “Brickfield Nights" is a great song, absolutely. I'll tell you another one of my favorite English punk bands, and one that I really took seriously, is The Vibrators. Their first album is fucking fantastic, innit?
TIM: Absolutely, absolutely. And you got to see them while you were in London, right?
JAMES: Oh, I met them through a couple of good friends years ago. I watched them, and they sent me lots of stuff from England. I didn’t ask for it, but Eddie the drummer, he sent me a copy of “Chinese Rocks” when it came out, and all The Vibrators’ singles and albums, up to the second album. I don't know how many more they did after that, but they're still going. They came here, but apparently Eddie's the only one left now. They came here as a three-piece. Knox, who did the guitar, German bass player, and Eddie. They weren’t the fashion of the time, like the chic, the people in London who hung around the Sex Pistols and all that trendy set. I don’t think those people would have liked Chuck Berry very much. [chuckles]
TIM: No, they didn’t, but they loved what The Heartbreakers did with Chuck Berry’s legacy. I understand you auditioned for The Clash, is that true?
JAMES: Yeah, that's true. I met Mick and Joe (Strummer) in the street after a Heartbreakers gig, and I asked them how the band was going, because I knew they played in The Clash and I'd seen them. And I said, “Oh, you're looking for a drummer? I’d like to have shot at this!” [laughs] Mind you, I wasn’t quite good enough then. But yeah, I went to Chalk Farm in London and auditioned on “White Riot” and "London's Burning.” Yeah, just didn't make the cut, but that's okay. I was running out of money, and I think Joe said on my last night in London, “Come back and have another shot.” He said they liked my energy, and they hadn't found anyone, and I said I'd have been practicing. I said, “Yeah, but I'd lied about it. I hadn't done that at all!” [laughs] But I had my ticket home. I was penniless. I just had to get outta there you know, which is weird. But, yeah. I did audition for The Clash.
TIM: Did you see the Pistols while you were there?
JAMES: Oh yeah, I did. I’m lucky. I landed in London on the day that they played the 100 Club Festival. But I didn't even buy an NME, I was more interested in trying to find out where I could sleep that night, you know? [laughs] I didn't know anyone there. I just had a suitcase and I thought, “Well, I'd better find (something) out.” By the time I found out, I thought, “Well, I'll go to this place called the Marquee, that's supposed to be cool.” Dee Dee Ramone (told me) Eddie and the Hot Rods were playing there and he said he liked them. So I thought, “Oh, okay. I'll go down and watch them, otherwise I've got nothing else to do.” But the Pistols were playing closer to where I lived, but I just didn't know they were on, you know? I just missed them. I went to the second night of the festival with The Damned playing.
TIM: What did you think of the Pistols when you saw them?
JAMES: Oh, they were great! No, no, no, no. The start of “Anarchy in the UK” still sends shivers down my backbone every time I hear it, you know? It's got to be the best single to come out of the 1970s, that's for sure. And they were great. This was a gig at a place called Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Square in London [NOTE: Nov. 15, 1976, in a venue that, yes, is owned by the Catholic Church!--TIM]. It was just the Sex Pistols, and it was filmed, in all white lights. Some of the footage is in the film clip for “Anarchy.” It was just a word of mouth thing, you know. It's not even registered as a gig for some reason. But yeah, they actually did a reformation gig about 10 years ago, playing in the same place. [NOTE: I can find no record of this gig.--TIM] Yeah, it was a strange evening. But they sounded great that night.
TIM: I understand you met Sid Vicious on a bus.
JAMES: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I had a New York Dolls t-shirt on, one I made myself back in Perth here. [NOTE: The AI transcription service I use wrote this as “New York Dogs.” I think I have a new band name!--TIM] Yeah, I met him on a bus. His name was John Ritchie and he had pink slacks on, like Eddie Cochran would wear. It looked cool, but it wasn't all punked-up in leather and chains and all that shit that he got into. And he sat next to me and said he really liked the Dolls, and I told him I'd just seen the Heartbreakers in New York and then he said, “Oh, they're coming over here!” I go, “No! They’re not coming over here!” And sure enough, Malcolm McLaren organized the [Anarchy Tour].
But, yeah. I met Sid and he was very, very friendly, you know? He was like a respected guy. There’s this one story, these skinheads were gonna beat the shit out of me in the toilet at the Roxy Club. Sid came down and goes, “Fucking don't touch this guy!” He saved me from getting my head kicked in. So I'm not going to say anything bad about the guy.
TIM: I wouldn't either. That's a great story.
JAMES: Yeah. I did know him a little bit. You know, he'd come up to me and say hi in ‘76.
End Part Two.
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