Spit Records - Record Shops

CAROLINE MUSIC

Behind the counter – Kyle Leitch (Quote © It Makes You Want To Spit! Book 2003).
Not just any counter. The counter at Caroline Music, in Ann Street, was where everyone would come to get their fix – sometimes not knowing what they wanted, although I was there, behind the counter to advise. We stocked records from a wide range of suppliers from across the UK, all enthusiastically displayed on ‘lists’ on my counter. Many of you reading this will no doubt testify to being persuaded to buy some obscure 7-inch destined to become a punk anthem. Caroline Music was at the centre of the scene, the place where everybody met up, bought a few tunes, and went for a drink afterwards. If you were really lucky there may have been a gig later that night – though there never were enough gigs to go to. Right?
My love affair with Punk had begun before Malcolm formed the Pistols, successfully re-creating in London what he felt he had not achieved with the ‘NY Dolls’ and before the hairdressers realised there was more to life than Bowie – brilliant though he was. It began when I got the job on managing Caroline Music, the only proper record shop in Belfast at the time. I’d been working at Smyths for Records and knew the respected Caroline Music as the only place where I could send customers for anything interesting. No mega stores in Belfast in those days or Internet, and if Caroline didn’t have it, you didn’t get it! The shop was also just around the corner from The Pound, Belfast’s only live venue, which was a Heavy Rock fortress. After getting a job at Caroline I managed to help bands from the London Pub Rock scene, such as the Count Bishops, get gigs there – of course they would always do a P.A. in the shop. I’m sure this made it possible for punk bands to get the odd gig. The Outcasts probably played there more than any of the others. There’s no doubt that the Pub Rock scene spawning record labels like Stiff and Chiswick did contribute to the foundations of what was to become a glorious cultural phenomenon.
At some point during the summer of ’76 I seemed to have two types of customers ; Dinosaur Rock types who needed to worship huge egos, or those who were into US bands, NY Dolls, Television, Velvets, Iggy, MC5 plus a bit of London Pub Rock. And then it happened… McClaren does the Pistols thing and all of a sudden…”Kids flash guitars just like switchblades. Hustling for the record machine, the hungry and the haunted explode into Rock ‘n’ Roll bands”. Springsteen’s words from ’75 seemed prophetic…Most of my customers were now in bands and …and could I help? – put a poster up, get a gig etc, and so followed a wonderful period which has provided so many memories for me. Gigs booked as private parties at the Glenmachan Hotel – I saw both RUDI and Stiff Little Fingers there. Lack of venues was a problem. For a while I took on the unlikely role of manager of RUDI and the highlight was recording Big Time with George Doherty at Emerald Studios. What a result that was! As everybody knows RUDI should have gone on to a big deal which could have secured them the long term career their talents deserved, but fate was not so kind. Brian switched me on to Johnny Thunders – RUDI were so good live, much better than most of the ‘signed’ acts who made their way to Belfast. I remember them being so good that The Adverts didn’t want o go on stage after them one evening at Queens.
One afternoon The Undertones dropped in after recording with Rastus at Downtown Radio’s studio and asked me to play their tape. They were so shy and nervous, but said some nice things about the shop, and of course I just loved the tape. All these years on and I’m still not sure if I was the first person to hear Teenage Kicks! People used to mistake me for Feargal and every time I changed hairstyle he seemed to have the same idea. Fast forward quite a few years. Feargal had just had his No.1 single and is attending a music industry dinner with celebs in London; he is one of many guests at my table and about to be introduced to the crowd. We’d decided, after a few drinks at our rowdy table, that we’d have some fun at the formal part of the evening. So, when he was introduced to the crowd, guess who took the bow and the applause, to the hilarity of my work colleagues who realised what was going on!
I can also remember when the back of a Mini Clubman was all that was needed to transport Henry, Ali, Jim and most of SLF’s gear PLUS some PA to Wolsey’s in Bangor. I remember helping to organise a crowd to impress Island Records who were coming to a gig one night in the Regency Hotel in Botanic Avenue. The Stiffs played a blinder only for Island to go sign The Jags. Yeah, really! When they did eventually get a deal Gordon Ogilvy asked me if I’d go with them as their personal manager, but I was having such a ball ‘behind the counter’ and I didn’t like the idea of all those motorway miles at 2am every morning. Little did I know that a few years later, I would end up working in London as a music buyer, but due to excessively high house prices, I had to live near Swindon, which meant 150 motorway miles each day to and from work.
Good Vibes released so many great singles and did so much by giving bands that much needed platform. Protex and The Xdreamysts got signed for a singles deal by Polydor. I remember sitting in a Polydor office with the A&R guy, Alan Black, to get a load of free singles for the shop. This was a new way of promoting singles which would also later impact on my career. Meanwhile RUDI went to live in London for a while and we all waited anxiously for any news. The new wave of bands from the US expanded the scene, remember Sire Records, Talking Heads, Ramones, Flamin’ Groovies. All those classic 12-inch singles…still got yours? The explosion of creativity marked a golden age for the music industry, led of course by small independents such as Terri’s.
Gig-wise Belfast had too many cancelled gigs. There were times when almost all the gigs I was selling tickets for were cancelled, and of course we had to give refunds. The Stranglers were cancelled twice, and everyone remembers the infamous Clash gig that never took place. They tried on the night to get Queen’s University trustees to agree to the gig going ahead but failed, and so the Clash manager asked me to stand up in front of the angry crowd and say that refunds would be available, but guess what…that wasn’t what the people wanted to hear. So cue the spitting which left both of us rather wet! Though not as wet as on the night I was asked to introduce SLF in the Ulster Hall on their triumphant return after their first few hits. I may have been responsible for SLF introducing the brass section on Silver lining after I convinced Jake of the pure genius of Graham Parker and The Rumour. What a gig they played at the Whitla Hall. Does anyone remember standing outside the Ulster Hall gig interrupted at midnight, another bomb scare and all we wanted was to see the mighty Banshees and The Cure who were supporting. Wee Gordy met Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill that night and so impressed them that he got invited to their wedding. What a character he was. He spent more time in the shop than he did at school ; he sometimes had to hide behind the counter when one of his teachers would come looking for him. They never did come right out and ask me if I’d seen him so I didn’t have to lie. Then once they’d gone Gordy would get up and say ‘Right, let’s get coffees from Hungry Jacks to celebrate”. When Gordy and so many others moved to London and further afield they’d send me postcards which I put up on a notice board in the shop and often I didn’t know the name of the sender but eventually someone helped me out…”sure you remember him, he’s yer man who was obsessed with the Lurker, he used to pester you”! Nine times out of ten I made the connection!
Alwyn Greer, who started Private World fanzine, brought me along to the Outcasts first photo shoot. Dave McCullough and Gavin Martin’s Alternative Ulster marked the beginning of an adventure for two talented writers. I still enjoy immensely Gavin’s reviews and notice that we enjoy similar tastes in music. I did stay at his flat for a few days in London while he was in the USA (I think ti interview Marvin Gaye shortly before he was murdered) and haven’t seen him since. (Cheers Gavin!). The fanzines played a big part in the scene as the media was limited to John Peel’s radio show and locally Davy Sims, who I remember fondly as an enthusiast and one of my favourite DJs who was not afraid to come in and actually buy a few records.I used to have great fun doing the Downtown chart, as we were one of the few shops who contributed to it and so much of the input was considered risqué. For example, Buzzcocks, Orgasm Addict was my No. 1 the week of it’s release. Another memorable contribution was a very special record for those lucky enough to discover it, including Robin Brown of Caroline Music and Dr Robert fame. It was by Mike Spencer and the Cannibals called ‘Nithin’ Takes the Place of You’ on Big Cock Records, Cat no FUK1 and it wasn’t a punk record. It was a slow blues track which John Lee or Muddy Waters would’ve been proud of!
More than 25 years on, punk has impacted our very psyche and indeed every area of the arts. The influence is there for all to see in the music to come out of N.I. since. Ash, Therapy and David Holmes…take a bow. So, a big hello to all our readers – what an excellent preparation those times turned out to be for responsibilities that lay ahead. You can’t put your arms around a memory, though we all try so how about this…I always remember with a smile what was scratched on the play-out of that Mike Spencer single. “Only dead fish flow with the current”, which sums it all up for me!