The Sussed 1977

Long disbanded, and with founder members Dave Bass and Kevin Law (Slob) now keeping the fires burning with PUNK'D the Spirit of 1977, the Sussed were, perhaps, the ONLY punk band around in 1978 who's anthem song was better known than they were! A mystery band? A one hit wonder? A lost treasure? One thing is for sure, their blend of high energy British punk-rock, strong melodic song writing, dynamic stage presence and anarchic sense of humour made them as ripe today as they were back then!

Although originally formed in 1977 by Kevin Law and Dave Bass (real name - Dave Powell) in the south coast town of Eastbourne, the band relocated to their native Birmingham at the height of the British punk scene. Early appearances (under the name of The Worms) soon followed, but the first performance of The Sussed was at The Stone House (Birmingham) in January 1978.

The original line up consisted of Kevin Law (guitar), Dave Bass (bass), Roger Boden (drums) and Kevin Singer (vocals). Kevin Singer was later replaced by the singularly named Oscar early in 1978, and Mal R Joey (real name - Malcolm Ball) later joined the band as rhythm guitarist.

The Sussed (late 1978) Left to right - Kevin Law, Roger Boden, Dave Bass, Mal R Joey, Oscar

As pubs and clubs across the city took advantage of the new "youth explosion", the Sussed took advantage of a weekly residency at The Stone House (Birmingham) where they performed alternate Saturday and Sunday nights. A strong "cult" following emerged, and among the many guest bands who supported them there were The Killjoys (later Dexy's Midnight Runners), Mis-Spent Youth and a very early incarnation of Duran Duran.

But, Birmingham Barbarellas was THE place to be at the time, and The Sussed became regulars. They hosted both headline nights and regularly played on the same bill as The Clash, The Damned, Generation X and many more. Even on nights when the band weren't on the bill, you could guarantee they would be there, and part of the "clique" that made that era so influential.

They joined Shoestring Records in the summer of 1978, and the release of their debut single I Like You / Tango / The Perv (a "triple" A side) soon followed.

"I Like You" is a breezy, bubbling bonanza of bop and bubble bounce for all those who delight in the hit sounds of Radio One. "Tango" is aimed at the up and coming Black Sabbath Saturday Night Dance Formation Team, and "The Perv" is a special little ditty for raincoat buyers and John Peel!"

Mike Davies - Melody Maker, August 1978

Although the single was well received, had plenty of radio air play (and gained good regional sales) it failed to launch the band to national fame. They became unhappy with their management company and "split" (only to reform as two separate bands) in 1979. For a short time the two new bands were both using the name "Sussed".

The "new" Sussed featured the original line up (minus Oscar and Mal R Joey) with the addition of Nigel Dolman as front man. They took an entirely different musical approach, and enjoyed relative success playing universities and colleges both regionally and nationally. They also entered into (and made the national final) of the Melody Maker "Battle of the Bands '79" competition.

Due to personality conflicts within the band, Roger Boden bowed out towards the end of 1979 and was replaced for a short time by Terry Sargeant. (Terry would later find some success with a writing and recording deal with a subsidiary of Capitol Records.)

A name change to "Pop Art", a complete "re-vamp" of their image (and yet another change of drummer - this time Mis-Spent Youth's Mark Andrews) was all to no avail, and the band finally split in 1980.

The "new" Sussed (with Nigel Dolman) performing at the Melody Maker "Battle of the Band 79" competition

Oscar continued as "Oscar AND the Sussed" and formed an entirely new band playing reggae standards and one or two original songs. Mal R Joey went on to form The Troops and, later, collaborated once more with Kevin Law (and Mis-Spent Youth's Jon Buxton) in The Jet Set.

Oscar released "I've Got Me Parka" for Graduate Records in 1980 which became a regional standard in the "mod" revival of the early 80's.

Nigel Dolman later fronted Wolverhampton band Michelangelo's David, and pursued a career in acting (landing roles in ITV's "Boon" and numerous BBC TV plays. He also achieved a number 1 record in Mexico with "High Sex Drive" as solo artist Dolmann. He is currently a presenter for BBC local radio.

After a short and unremarkable career in jingle/song publishing, Kevin Law turned to video and now runs a small production company.

Many of The Sussed's original songs now live on with Shropshire based band The Part Time Punks By combining their own input plus a wealth of new material, a whole new generation of youngsters are rapidly getting Sussed all over again!

Very little recorded material of the Sussed (s) survives, and what has survived has been sourced from often very poor quality cassette tape copies. These recordings have been recovered by Kevin Law and Dave Bass from their (limited) past-lives dungeons, and have undergone extensive restoration work. Some of these original songs have also been re-recorded (and in some instances re-worked) in 2006.

These tracks will soon be available on an all new compilation double CD to be released by Garden Records. CD1 will be the archived original recordings, and CD2 will contain brand new 2006 re-recordings.

The CD will be primarily released for the European and Japanese markets, but will also be available to all other regions by mail order.

This is simply a song demo recorded on audio cassette. It's purpose at the time would have been for Roger Boden (the Sussed's newly aquired drummer) to learn the song. The vocals are performed by Kevin Singer

Another cassette recorded song demo! Once again, Kevin Singer provides the vocals!

This is the first track from a recording made in 1978 at the Stone House, Birmingham, and is possibly of the first gig that also included Oscar in the line up - for a short time, the Sussed had TWO front men! But, it would seem two front men wasn't enough, and this track was actually sang by Kevin!

Another segment from the 1978 live recording at the Stone House, Birmingham. This time Kevin Singer is providing the main vocal, but (if you listen carefully) you can hear Oscar adding his certain charm to the chorus!

The final segment from the 1978 Stone House live recording. Predominantly featuring Kevin Singer on vocals with no hint of Oscar! (He may have been at the bar buying drinks!)

This song became the Sussed anthem, and simply had to be the first track put to tape. This demo later led to the deal with Shoestring Records. Vocals are shared by Oscar and Kevin Singer, but it was becoming clear who the dominant front man actually was...

Recorded on 8 track at Outlaw Studios (Birmingham), but the only surviving copy is on audio cassette (the band couldn't afford to buy the multi-track master tape!) so sound quality is poor...

The second track on the 1978 Outlaw session. This song was actually written in 1977 (and pre-dates the Pistols "God Save the Queen" by at least two months), but the obvious similarities were drawn. Kevin Singer provides the main vocals, and Oscar attempts a brand new technique.... harmonies!

The "token" reggae number, and track three from the 1978 Outlaw session. Originally written as an appreciation of commercial 70's reggae (Ken Booth, Judge Dread etc) it desperately tried to capture the innocent "carry on" style innuendo of the time. The song also attempted to make use of the two resident vocalists by using a "duet" or "answer back" technique... The song was re-written after the departure of Kevin Singer.

This was the first song in a five song publishing/management deal with GRJ Productions and Heath Levy Music Ltd. This demo session was recorded in November 1978 at the "in house" 8 track facility at Heath Levy Publishing, London. The object of the session was to supply five songs, but each one had to be radically different from the next. This was to determine the range of writing styles.

It is generally agreed that this session led to the feud that caused the band to fragment. The management company wanted to focus on writing and publishing (in the traditional way), whereas the band just wanted to perform and progress in a typical non-conformist "punk" way...

Regretfully, when the band did fragment, the masters of this session were retained (or probably wiped) by Heath Levy and, once again, only a low quality cassette copy remains.

Track number two from the 1978 Heath Levy session. A fusion of reggae, rock and punk - and some very odd flanging effects...

Track number three from the 1978 Heath Levy session. A couple of lyrics had to be "doctored" in order for the song to fit into the "pop" style that was required!

Track number four from the 1978 Heath Levy session, and a song that the Oscar felt sure would be the Christmas 1978 number 1 hit! However, recording a demo in November didn't give much time to market the real thing, and the project was abandoned. There was also mixed feeling about the song. Some felt it relied to much on comedy (making the Sussed appear a "spoof" punk band) and they would, ultimately, lose respect from their "core" supporters.

Track number five from the 1978 Heath Levy session. Originally written for Oscar and Kevin Singer's "tit-for-tat" vocals, this second version had newly penned lyrics (by Oscar) and the addition of two female backing singers (yes - they're the ones in the main pic at the top of this site!)

Recorded at the Old Smithy Studios, Worcester and featuring guest backing vocals from Colin Hall and Eddie Blower of Dansette Damage. It reached the dizzy heights of number 11 in the NME "independent" chart in September 1978.

Track number two from the single. Just an excuse to play some lead guitar, and for a bit of musical "showing off"! Interesting, this is the only track from the single that was played by John Peel on BBC Radio 1 (perhaps that's why it was never a major hit ! )

The single version of "The Perv" didn't have quite the same aggression as the demo version (and one or two of the lyrics were tamed down a bit in the hope of radio air play), but this track must have been played 5 times a night at Birmingham Barbarellas towards the end of 1978!

The new Sussed (with Nigel Dolman) concentrated on live work, and only made one studio demo. This was recorded on 4 track at Skarth Studios, Erdington, Birmingham. It becomes instantly apparent the new musical direction the band took - almost harping back a generation for their sound.

Another track from the 1979 Skarth Studios session by the New Sussed. A very "restrained" and pleasant little "pop song", but lurking just below the surface was a mature and very artistic song writing style...

Another track from the 1979 Skarth Studios session by the New Sussed. The tell-tale signs of an image and attitude conscious band was beginning to emerge. There was a hint of what was to come with the "new romantic" era and the reshaping of the band into the keyboards driven "Pop Art" ! (...but that's another story...)

This was an impromptu recording made in John Lennon's "white room" at Startling Studios, Tittenhurst Park, Ascot. This is the last recording ever made by any "remnants" of what was once The Sussed and makes a fine epitaph.

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