Limited Edition Clear Vinyl for

RECORD STORE DAY

To Promote RECORD STORE DAY We are Playing a Free Show at Rough Trade West on 21st April 12.00 Noon (20 Minute set)

We have just added a Last Minute Show this Sunday 15.04 at The Half Moon Putney with The Excellent Headline Maniac TICKET LINK whats great about this show is Nick Cash's Dad in playing the half moon in the afternoon with his Band the Elastic Band.. Double Cash Sunday

PLEDGE 89% FULFILLED -A FEW TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR LAUNCH PARTY

TICKET LINK

Tickets are Selling Fast for JC's Launch Party for his Book and Solo Record at The Hope and Anchor.

The Pledge Campaign in now 89% Fulfilled thanks you . If you haven't Got a ticket for the Launch Party don't delay - book through the Pledge Site Now..

You get a Signed Book a CD and a Concert with an all star Band in this classic intimate venue.

At the Bottom of This Page is a free except from the book

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Get ME A TICKET TO THE PARTY

News Just In

NEW MEMBERS RECORD PLANNED

The Members are talking to Cleopatra Records in Los Angeles about recording a new album of Covers. The Material will comprise of Classic punk and Rock and Reggae Covers

provisionally entitled "VERSION"

Here are the Other Shows in the book at the moment please check the Members Website as dates Change.

13.04.2018 The Met Lounge, Peterborough (With The Face) Ticket Link
14.04.2018 Georgian Theatre Stockton on Tees
15.04.2018 Half Moon Putney (with Headline Maniac) Ticket Link
21.04.2018 ROUGH TRADE WEST 20 minute set 12.00 noon (Free Show for record Store Day)
28.04.2018 Southsea Punk fest (JC Solo Show) Ticket link
04.05.2018 Uxbridge Arms Nottinghill London (JC Solo Show)
06.05.2018 Coventry Arches with Slaughter UK , 99 and Vice Squad Ticket link
07.05.2018 Portobello Live JC Solo Show.
EUROPEAN TOUR 2018
10.05.2018 Köln,Sonic Ballroom, GermanyTICKET LINK
11.05.2018 Hamburg, Monkeys Club,GermanyTICKET LINK
12.05.2018 Berlin,So36,GermanyTICKET LINK
13-17.05.2018 TBA german Tour
18.05.2018 Eindhoven, Blue Collar, Netherlands,TICKET LINK
19.05.2018 Herford, germanyTICKET LINK
20.05.2018 Essen,Dont Panic,Germany Ticket link
26.05.2018 Norwich Waterfront , With Sham 69 UK Sub and Ruts DC Ticket Link
27.05.2018 Strummercamp Oldham Ticket link
07.05.2018 New Cross Inn JC Solo Show.
09.06.2018 Suburbs, Guildford (With Eddie and the Hot Rods Farewell tour) TICKET LINK
15.06.2018 Roadmender Northampton (with Headline Maniac) Ticket Link
16.06.2018 Con Club, Lewes (with Johnny Moped)
23.06.2018 Camberley International Festival , JC Carroll Solo Show
15.07.2018 Readipop Reading , with Dawn Penn, Don Letts etc Ticket Link
20.07.2018 The Globe Cardiff, with Vice Squad
26.07.2018 The Hope and Anchor Islington London
JC Carroll Solo Album and Book Launch
A FEW TICKETS LEFT -PACKAGE INCLUDES BOOK AND CD
2.08.2018 Rebellion Acoustic Stage, JC Carroll Solo Show Ticket Link
3.08.2018 Rebellion Opera House Blackpool Ticket Link
25.08.2018 Byline festival Ticket Link
22.09.2018 Victoria, Swindon (With Charred Hearts)
29.09.2018 Cutlers Arms, Rotherham
09.10.2018 Great British Alternative festival Skegness TICKET LINK
09.11.2018 Glasgow Ivory Blacks TICKET LINK
10.11.2018 Edinborough , Bannermans TICKET LINK
24.11.2018 Balcombe Club (JC Carroll Solo Show)
25.11.2018 Star and Garter Manchester
07.12.2018 Norwich Waterfront with UK Subs

Check for new Dates

Here is your FREE preview of JC's Book.

The release date for “The Sound of the Suburbs” was set for the 23^rd January 1979. It had been ready since December '78 but Christmas was when all the big artists released records and we were told our record would be lost in the deluge.

Whilst we were waiting for the “The Sound of the Suburbs” to be released we recorded our album with Steve Lillywhite at Phonogram studios in Marble Arch, a place where not long before Steve was working as a Tape Operator for £18 a week. We ran out of time at Phonogram and finished the record off in a grim building behind the car park at Wembley stadium called De Lane Lea studios. We worked nights and there was a dumb waiter from the recreation area to the bar. We found that we could get into the dumb waiter and send ourselves down to the bar to raid it at night. I can’t believe we weren’t afraid of getting stuck but that's what we did. During the sessions for the “At The Chelsea Nightclub” album we re-recorded “The Sound of the Suburbs” with the extra Nick Tesco verse and without all the production tricks and station announcements - it became known as the album version. It was this version that would in later years be licensed to hundreds of punk compilations, whilst the original and far superior version languished in the archives of Abbey Road Studios.

On the 25^th January 1979, Record Scene in Sunbury sold 30 copies of the “The Sound of the Suburbs” and the record went to No.37 in the charts. We were booked to appear on “Top of the Pops” on Wednesday 31^st January. Things were taking off. We went to the BBC studios in Wood Lane, mimed to our song and then went to play a show at the Hope and Anchor in Islington. The Hope and Anchor is a pub with a famous rock and roll basement. It holds about 90 people. They were queueing round the block when we got there. Mark Doig remembers having to jump on stage during the show to avoid getting crushed by the crowd. A day later when “Top of the Pops” was broadcast we were playing The Nashville Rooms in West Kensington. Lemmy from Motorhead was there along with Larry Wallis, Kermit from Sham 69 and the Lurkers. Lemmy was lurking backstage with a bag of white powder (he had a sideline knocking out speed). He offered Nigel a line and thinking that it was cocaine, Nigel took advantage and inhaled deeply. One minute later was trying to blow it back out of his nose - it was speed - how we laughed. I didn’t see myself on Top of the Pops for many years until it turned up on a BBC archive programme. There I was rocking a cheap Japanese Teisco guitar with a silly haircut and sporting my Granny's acrylic jumper .

Two days later Record Scene in Sunbury sold 150 copies of “The Sound of the Suburbs” and the Members went to 23 in the charts. It was then that the band became a business and it was jobs for the boys. My brother Meesh had got the job as our guitar roadie. Lloyd Jones, our loudest mouthed south east London fan was appointed drum roadie, (he was not allowed to touch the guitars). Huw Gruffydd, Nick's drinking buddy from university got the job of tour manager.

To capitalise on its success we needed a follow up to “The Sound of the Suburbs”. The record company wanted us to release “Solitary Confinement” but we thought that was taking a step backward. We had one record up our sleeve that had not been recorded for the album and that was “Offshore Banking Business”. It was a song I'd written at my desk during my time at the bank. I remember writing it and calling Nick Tesco and reading the lyrics to him over the phone. His immediate reaction was 'that's fantastic, we must do it'. Nick was very supportive of my songwriting and he was also very politicised. He decided that Offshore Banking Business would be our next single. Like “the Sound of the Suburbs” Offshore Banking Business is a complicated song based on some classic reggae chops. I took some bass from an old Treasure Isle cut called “Happy go Lucky Girl” for the major chords intro then switched to a classic minor Rockers style reggae A minor, D minor similar to the Abyssinian's Satta Ammassagana. Lyrically it's a song about tax evasion. We used the reggae rhythm to give it a Caribbean feel because that's where the money was being laundered.

As “the Sound of the Suburbs” was such a success Virgin records and Donald “jumbo” Vanrenen, our A&R man gave us free rein. Steve Lillywhite, in a moment of genius, said if it was a reggae song we would have to record it at Island Studios in St Peter's Square in Chiswick. Island Studios had real history - it was where Bob Marley had recorded and where Traffic and Fairport Convention had made classic records in my youth.

At the time there were a lot of people who said that you can only play reggae if you're black. These weren't black people - they were mainly white reggae freaks who exercised a sort of musical apartheid. "Stick to the white music" - there was the same sort of nonsense spoken about the blues a decade earlier and jazz in the 30s and 40s.

Financially, the record was a risk - we were a punk band and we were expected to deliver a million miles an hour punk follow up. What are we doing releasing a reggae song about tax avoidance? I thought it was an opportunity to get my message across to a lot of people. Of course it was a risk but we took a risk giving up our day jobs, getting in a van and driving to Berlin.
The session at Island records went like a dream. The studio was full of great vibes and Steve Lillywhite managed to get two horn players to play on the track: reggae legend, the late Rico Rodriquez and his flugelhorn horn partner, Dick Cuthell came and gave the track real gravitas. Chris played a skank on the studio piano and Nigel played a lovely blues solo. Steve also made me and Chris sing the verses in unison whilst Nick did a rapping interjection part. In retrospect the words were a little naive and my geography was way off but the message was delivered and it was our way of getting back at Babylon, the oppressor. I was also giving my former industry a big Agincourt salute (V sign)!

After another appearance on Top of the Pops the record spent a total of about 5 weeks in the charts selling 250,000 copies - not bad for a band who had only been full time 3 months. Our management had decided to buy a splitter van with our publishing advance. Presumably the idea was we would be constantly touring and would therefore need a van. It came in very handy on our first tour of the UK with Eddie and the Hot Rods, which did not go exactly as planned.

We were a little wild in those days and not having to go to work in the daytime increased the wildness. The partying became constant. Drink and drugs were everywhere in London at the time and suddenly being the the boys with a hit opened doors. Everybody wanted to be your mate, buy you a drink , sleep with you, or get high with you.

Just before the Hot Rods tour Chris began to act a little strange - he started behaving erratically. It was said that he had overindulged in a cocktail of marijuana and LSD. It was worrying. He decided he needed to see Dave Robinson from Stiff Records. I tried to stop him but I couldn’t so followed him to Alexander Street where he got to see Dave and explained we needed to make another record for Stiff. Dave looked at me and said words to the effect of I think this guy needs help but I was afraid I couldn’t let Chris out of my sight - I was worried what he might do.

After about three days of “looking after” Chris I was exhausted and we were about to go on tour so it was decided my brother Paddy would come on tour to help “look after” Chris. It didn’t last long. On the motorway Chris swung open the sliding door and disappeared. The first thing we did was try and find him but he was gone. Paddy would continue on bass for the tour.

Chris was tracked down in London where he was temporarily sectioned in St Mary's secure unit on the Harrow Road before eventually being transferred to The Priory for a spell under the liquid cosh of Largactyl. He needed time to get back to full fitness and Buzz, Robin and his his girlfriend Peta made sure he got the best care.

Whilst Chris was “resting”  we reaped the adulation of the nation bringing the “Sound of the Suburbs” to the provinces. The Hot Rods were road warriors, seasoned rockers who had come up the hard way and we learned a lot from them. Every show was 'turned up to eleven' but we had the zeitgeist - it was our time. More and more people were coming to see the band from Surrey who'd just smashed the charts. Huge shows followed at places like Newcastle City Hall where Nick grew into a performer who could own big stages. Finally we were playing venues large enough for a Nigel Marshall stack. The band sounded brilliant and the Hot Rods audience loved us. We still do shows with Barrie and the boys and though their line up has changed, it's always a pleasure to play with the lads from Southend.

During the Hot Rods tour we were asked to go on Top of The pops again because “Offshore Banking Business’ had charted. In those days there was a game you had to play with the BBC. The Beeb required bands to re-record the song they were going to perform on TOTP to make sure the bands were actually the the people that played on the record. They usually booked you into a studio for a couple of hours to do this. While it was possible to re-record our song in a couple of hours it would never sound as good as the lovingly crafted record we had spent two days making in the legendary Island Studios. More importantly we wanted the best possible version of the song to be heard by the millions of people who watched TOTP. The trick most people employed was to switch the tape at the end of the recording session. Most of the time the producer or record company guy would suggest taking the BBC guy out to lunch. Then you'd make a half hearted attempt at recording the song and put the “one we had prepared earlier” in the tape box.

The BBC guy we had that day didn’t want lunch and wasn’t going to play the game so we had to record Offshore in this rubbish studio live with horns. It was sounding terrible and the BBC man watched us like a hawk. I suppose his attitude was “these yobs couldn’t have possibly made such a great record - let's see them attempt to record it”. Steve Lillywhite came into the studio and whispered to us to start an argument when he gave us the nod. The Session was finishing and our recording of Offshore was on the tape machine watched by the man from the BBC. Steve gave the nod. I think it was Lloyd who started the argument, then we all joined in. The BBC man looked away from the tape suddenly interested in these yobs squabbling and Steve switched the tape. Steve didn't however switch the tape for the single version of Offshore Banking Business - he'd made a speeded up version because he was afraid the song was too slow. We didn't know this until we hit the stage to mime to it.  When I asked him years later why he did this he said “too much coke and not enough dope”. The BBC had this infuriating policy of playing the song you were supposed to be miming to at a low volume so the clatter of the (mimed) drums and scratching of the un-amplified guitars was almost as loud as the track. To be fair I think it was the cameramen and their union that forced the corporation to keep the volumes low. This policy would, however, have disastrous effects on a session we did a month later for The Old Grey Whistle Test.

The next day we were at Wood Lane BBC television centre to record TOTP. We were the normal line up plus Paddy on bass, with Rico and Dick on horns. Being in a band is like being a film or tv actor - 5% performing, 95% waiting around and travelling. You would be allotted a dressing room and wait to be called. Rico and Dick had their own way of filling the time. Smoking weed. As you can imagine this was not on the list of pastimes permitted by the BBC but the two hornmen always managed a “likkle draw”.  Of all the times we spent waiting around, this was one of the most pleasurable. Rico was fascinating. I spent three hours talking to him in a basement of the BBC where he told me stories of Count Ossie and the Rasta settlement on Warieka Hill. He even sang us some Rastafarian hymns.  The man was a legend and an inspiration and we were glad to be a part of his musical re-incarnation. Within six months he would be a regular on Top of the Pops with The Specials.

As a certified two and a half hit wonder, I'm extremely proud of “Offshore Banking Business” because as the years pass, it becomes more and more relevant with scandals like the Panama Papers. It's possibly one of the only songs that talks about this huge problem of capital flight - that is, robbing the ordinary taxpayers of the world and creating a super rich elite. I'm also eternally grateful to all the people who took a risk on this record - Nick Tesco, Donald “Jumbo” Vanrenen, Steve Lillywhite and of course the rest of the band.  It was not as big a hit as “the Sound of the Suburbs” but it opened doors for people. It trail-blazed a trend which was sometimes called “white reggae” and which would include groups like the Police (who were still playing small clubs at the time), the Specials the Beat and UB40. It gave us the opportunity to connect with a legend of reggae and it gave me what I wanted from music - a voice and a song to sing in my fifties and sixties that resonated strongly with audiences round the world.

As soon as we finished the Hot Rods tour it was time for our own UK tour and this time with another bass player, Paul Grey from the Hot Rods - Chris wasn't fully recovered. Paul was a great bass player and a lovely guy, but boy did he have a loud amp. He had this sunn rig that he used with his trademark Rickenbacker bass and it was deafening. Paul went on to have an illustrious career with bands like UFO and The Damned before becoming a musician's union man. Later in life he would complain about tinnitus. I'm surprised that he can hear at all after years of standing in front of a 400 watt amp turned to 11.

The Members UK Headline tour 1979

18.4  York Pop Club
19.4   Sheffield Limit Club
20.4   Cambridge Corn exchange
21.4   Dudley J.Bs
22.4   Grey Topper Jacksdale
24.4   Barbarella’s Birmingham
24.4   Newport stowaway club
27.4   Bath pavilion
28.4   Exeter University
29.4   Lyceum Ballroom London
3.5   Leeds Polytechnic
4.5   Manchester the factory
5.5   Eric's, Liverpool
6.5   Dumfries stage coach
7.5   Edinburgh Tiffanies
9.5   Hanley Polytechnic
11.5  Retford Porterhouse
12.5  Canterbury University
13.5  Guildford Civic Hall
14.5  Bristol Locarno
15.5  Plymouth top rank
16.5  Brighton Top rank with Piranhas
17.5 Portsmouth Polytechnic
18.5 Nottingham Sandpipers
23.5 Reading university
24.5 West Runton Pavilion
25.5 Wolverhampton Lafayette
26.5 Middlesborough Polythechnic

They say that every dog has its day and we were having ours.

As with all shows in those days violence was never far from the surface. Territorial disputes between different gangs of youths, mosh pit looniness and alcohol-fuelled, “impress the girls” bravado, all to a soundtrack of energetic punk rock, created a potent cocktail. There was mob violence outside the Cambridge Corn Exchange where we were besieged by an army of skinheads who'd yet to get the news that they were part of the punk movement.  We had an incredible reception in the Nottinghamshire pit village of Jacksdale where the people were crazier than any other audience in England in their tiny “grey Topper” venue. Our dressing room was looted whilst on stage at Barbarella's in Birmingham and I knocked out Nick in Tiffanies in Edinburgh - at the end of the set I threw my guitar in the air where it became entangled in a plastic palm tree and ended up trepanning him. He was rushed to hospital whilst I had to sing Offshore for the encore. It wasn’t just on stage that there was chaos. Even though specifically forbidden my girlfriend, Francine Palmer hitched round following the band with her posse of girlfriends, adding to the general tumult and out of controll-ness of the whole situation.

In Manchester on the 4^th May, 1979 I slipped away for a pint with Arthur Billingsley of the Lurkers after an unusually quiet show at the Factory. There was a general election on the television. A gang of skinheads cheered as Margaret Hilda Thatcher was elected Prime Minister. She would, over the next 11 years, bring joy and prosperity to free market capitalists and offshore bankers but misery to the miners, printers and industrial workers. She'd also give the punks something to sing about for the next 11 years.

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