the news of the bastards

Just before Christmas I got an email from Erik Bichard, with some memories and photos of his time with The Bastards in 1992. His photos of The Hill in Chiang Mai, and outside the Metal Zone in Bangkok,  fit in quite neatly with the “Basturds” photo in the previous post, and you’ll find them at the end of Erik’s reminiscences. He also sent some photos of The Bastards playing at Wanchai Live, also in 1992, but I’ll hang on to those for the time being, and post them a bit later.

Over to Erik …..

“…..  I played with the Bastards for most of 1992. I moved into Mark’s world when we found ourselves working for the same family of companies and shared an office in Wanchai. Mark invited me to join the Bastards because I could sing and (sort of) play a guitar. I was keen to play my trumpet for someone and was looking for a blues band so we struck a compromise. I would play rhythm and back Dan on the Pistols numbers if we could throw in a blues set which featured some brass riffs. The photo of that line-up (taken in Thailand I think) with Pike who had moved to Bangkok by that time shows that I may still have been having second thoughts about being with the boys. 

I don’t think I will ever come close to the top of any poll to find the most popular member of the band as later that year Mad Dogs recruited me to be  ‘Joey the Lips’ in a cover band of the film outfit the ‘Commitments’. We were called the ‘Soul Commotion’. I tried playing with both bands for a while but the double bookings were killing me and, much to the disgust of the Bastards faithful I chose the one that gave me more trumpet work. To those still sore about that I offer sincere apologies; it was a tough choice.

Dan’s ‘Basturds’ photo reminded me that the gig at The Hill in Chiang Mai was not only my favourite Bastards gig, but probably one of my favourite gigs of all time. It was memorable for a lot of things. The shot of the stage shows that each of us was on different levels and some distance from each other which made staying together so difficult it was funny. The meal afterwards (pictures) was amazing. But it was the greeting from the locals as we walked off stage that I remember most. The fans made straight for Dan. The first man in the queue patted our lead singer firmly but lovingly on the knob and seemed to promise a life of servitude if only he could hear the set all over again.

Incredibly (particularly to my former Bastardites) I am now a Professor of Sustainable Development at Salford University in Manchester. I still play trumpet in a street band in Liverpool called the Peacemakers (we sound a bit like Bellowhead), play guitar with my mate Phil in a folk duo called Plough Lane and do a lot of singing with an outfit called Liverpool Voice. I wish all Bastards and their fans a healthy and happy 2012 …..”

….. Cheers Erik. Happy New Year to you too, mate. Keep on rockin’.

Now the photos. First off, the stage in Chiang Mai, with (left to right) Erik, Phil and Dan, all on different levels - on-stage communication and cues were next to impossible. That looks like a drum kit behind the foliage on the left, so presumably Nige is back there somewhere. But where the hell is Mark?  I seem to recall that the decor even included some kind of mini waterfall. Quite spectacular to look at, but a total bastard to play amongst. 

Next, the meal we got after the Chiang Mai gig. Very tasty.

And finally, here’s the band outside Metal Zone in Bangkok, with Erik “having second thoughts”. Left to right: Mark, Erik, Nige, Dan and Phil. Dunno why Phil decided to wear a shirt and tie instead of the corporate T-shirt. Still, the gesture makes up for it. I think I’ve still got the remains of one of those T-shirts lurking at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

In 1992 The Bastards did a short tour of Thailand, playing gigs in Chiang Mai (The Hill) and Bangkok (Goldfingers Bar in Patpong, and The Malaysia Hotel).

The following photo shows the poster that The Hill had put up to announce the band’s performance there. A nice variant spelling of ‘Bastards’, don’t you think?.

Seeing this photo again got me thinking about other silly signs that have cropped up now and again – not Bastards related, but worthy of mention, I reckon. Have a look at the following two recent examples.

The first one was on the front of a shop undergoing renovation in the IFC, and exhorts everyone to ‘Expect the Unexpected’. The wording below (Dining Inspirations) suggests that the shop in question is going to be some kind of food outlet. Now is a place selling food and drink really doing itself any favours with this message? Are potential customers not going to be a little uneasy that whatever they order is going to bear absolutely no resemblance to what they receive? Or that their bill is going to be double what they had been led to believe? Seems like something of a marketing faux pas, if you ask me.

And I just couldn’t resist snapping the following picture of one of the tutors in a Tuen Mun tutorial centre. I wonder if he realises the full implication of his name?

‘Array’ is possibly not the snappiest or most memorable collective noun for Bastards, but what are the alternatives? ‘Bevy’? Fine for larks, quails or scantily clad bathing beauties, but the mental image of a bevy of Bastards somehow doesn’t quite cut it. ‘Illegitimacy?’ Great word, but probably too many syllables in this context. Let’s keep it as ‘array’ for the time being. If anyone has any better ideas, please send them to us attached to a twenty dollar Standard Chartered note, which we can then trade in for drinks at the The Island Bar on Tuesday night.

In the meantime, have a look at the following photo. It was taken outside The Wanch on the occasion of the launch of Scheming in the Backroom, and shows probably the largest number of Bastards gathered together in one place at the same time – nine, by my reckoning.  We must try and make it even more next time. Delicacy discourages me from any speculation about the combined age of everyone assembled.

From left to right: Mark Harrison (guitar), Dave Green (bass & backing vocals), Dan James (vocals), Alf Hodges (guitar & vocals), Nigel Pike (drums & vocals), Brendan Delfino (drums and guitar), Tony Greenwood (drums), Jim Shorthose (guitar) and Dave Campbell (guitar and bass).

'Pike and the Bastards' poster, The Wanch, some time in late 1990

Choosing a name for a band is not an easy task. Band members, spouses, girlfriends, mates, bar owners, roadies, other assorted hangers-on – everyone has his or her own idea of what the perfect band name must be. In some cases, people carry names around in their heads for years and wait patiently for an opportunity to astound others with the total brilliance of their choice.  Finally, when the moment of revelation arrives,  they are baffled and disappointed when everyone else reacts with mild hostility, or worse, complete indifference.

There was, for example,  the period in 1993 when Symon Coak and Dave Campbell were sharing Bastards guitar duties. Every song turned into a shred-fest, as each of the two axe-wielders tried to outdo the other in number of notes played in the shortest possible time, distortion, feedback and volume levels. And yet no-one got particularly excited when Dan suggested that ‘Wet Frank’ might be a more suitable name for the band.

Then there is the question of image and unintended associations. Dan was for some time the singer with a Lamma Island based band called the Spicy Boys, so named because one of the favourite watering holes of some of the band members was the Spicy Island Indian restaurant and bar on Yung Shue Wan Main Street. It wasn’t long before the raised eyebrows and references to uphill gardening caused the band to reconsider their choice of name – and so Black Maria rose from the ashes. Then, of course, people used to go to gigs expecting to see a full-on Goth metal outfit, and the misunderstandings merely changed perspective.

So, how did The Bastards get the name that they’ve had to live with/enjoy/endure for the last 21 years?

In early 1990, the four founding members – Mark Harrison, Phil Wright, Nige Pike and Dan James – started watching videos and listening to cassettes of songs that they thought would be good to play, and began brainstorming ideas for a catchy, memorable band name. There’s a piece of paper from those days kicking around somewhere, with about six name suggestions scribbled down on it. All the names have been crossed out, with the exception of ‘Amy Yip’s Chest’. Anyone who wasn’t in Hong Kong in the early ’90s, and who has no idea who Amy Yip is, or indeed anyone who does know and would just like to be reminded what she looked like, have a look HERE.

It obviously didn’t get everyone’s vote of approval. Another early contender which fell by the wayside was ‘Al and the Zeimers’. Suggestion followed suggestion, but it was no good, there just wasn’t anything that everyone felt happy with. Pretty soon, it was getting close to the band’s first gig at The Wanch, and  bar manager Rhodie Loden needed a name to write on the ‘Coming Attractions’ board outside the bar.   ‘Oh well’, she thought, ‘it’s just Nigel Pike and those bastards’. So that’s what she chalked up. And that, essentially, was that.

Beirut Carpark  was one of the many Hong Kong bands active in the mid-90s. The band featured two concurrently serving members and one founder member of The Bastards – Brendan Delfino, Dave Campbell and Nige Pike – plus Korean vocalist Yuni Ahn,  or  “Seoul Singer”, as she was described on The Bastards’ first album “Welcome to the Royal”.

In September 1996, Beirut Carpark won first prize at the Carlsberg Pop Music Festival, and seemed destined for greater things. Then, just weeks later the band folded when Yuni took off to London. Read HK Magazine’s account below.

Yuni disappeared from Hong Kong, and went on to forge a successful career as a designer in London. Then out of the blue, earlier this year she turned up at Happy Snapper bar in Khao Lak, Thailand. Happy Snapper just happens to be Nige Pike’s local bar, and he can often be found drumming, MC-ing or singing there – more about the Happy Snapper on another occasion. There’s a photo of Yuni and Nige in Happy Snapper below, under the HK Magazine clipping.

Beirut Carpark, mid 1996 - Yuni Ahn, Nige Pike, Brendan Delfino, Dave Campbell

Yuni Ahn and Nige Pike, Happy Snapper, Feb 2011

The Bastards’ second album “Scheming in the Backroom” was released in April 2008.  Some time later we received a request for a copy of the album from Branimir Lokner in Belgrade, so that he could review it. OK, we thought, someone’s after a freebie – but we gave him a copy anyway. Two, in fact. We’re nice guys.

Then, lo and behold, the following review appeared. And I have to say – thank you, Branimir, we couldn’t have expressed it better ourselves.

To see the review in its original context, go HERE. You’ll need to scroll down to the fifth review on Branimir’s page.

The Bastards – Scheming In The Backroom
Friday, 26 December 2008

The Bastards are “veterans” from Hong Kong, formed back in 1990 year. During the years, they have received a specific status on homeland scene, as same as in the some parts of South East Asia. A first album ” Welcome To The Royal”, a band has recorded in 1996, and actuelle one looks the light of day, a some months ago. The Bastards are faithful to generally rock option and rock views, nearer to psychology of 70′s period. But, its performing option also communicate with many other genre’s variations, as a garage rock, 60′s rock and many things in-between. Their sound also posses one raw approach evident equally in performing as same as in vocal threathenings. A production also isn’ t “polite” and producer Rob Porter mostly has threathed its sound closest to so call garage variants. Finally, The Bastards did a lotta’ effort that all things funkcionize acording to its musical visions, and they haven’t too much reasons for dissatisfaction.

Rating : 7/10

C / o : www.thebastards.hk

e-mail : info@thebastards.hk

Just got an email from Brendan Delfino. Brendan’s been a high-profile and active member of the Hong Kong music scene for twenty years or more, as guitarist, bassist, drummer and singer, and has played with dozens of different bands in that time. He was full-time drummer with The Bastards from 1993 to 1997 and can be heard on “Welcome to the Royal”, the band’s first album, released in 1996. He has also played  with the band on several occasions since – the photo shows him outside the Wanch in April 2008, after playing at the launch of  “Scheming in the Backroom”“.

Brendan’s currently working on his own projects, and plans to release an album and a book later this year. I’ll let him explain …..

” ….. I’ve written and recorded about three-album’s worth of music over the last year or so … I’m finishing off the last few songs now and mixing the stuff already completed, which I plan to put out by the end of next month, with any luck (time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’) … I’ll whittle it down to about 12 songs, although I am rather tempted to put out a George Harrison-esque All Things Must Pass-style epic …  all written, played, produced, mixed, etc, by moi in my bedroom, with a Macbook … I’m trying to do the art too, but I’m finding I totally SUCK at Photoshop! But giving it a go anyway … there is a comic element to some of the songs, so it won’t matter if the cover looks goofy … tentative title is Carte Blanche, as it’s the first album I’ve recorded in which I’ve had free rein to do things how I want, rather than just being a collaborator … looking to have a release party in the Wanch, perhaps in October-November, with a couple of other bands …

I started writing a book a couple of years ago about my time on HK’s band scene … I had planned to have it done and released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of my first Wanch gig last February, but work on the album sidetracked the book … I got the idea from reading memoirs by various rockstars, and reminiscing with HK musicians about the crazy stuff we’ve also done … so it’s a HK rock memoir, of sorts, but focusing on funny stuff, rather than dirt … it’s about 80% written… I just need to edit it all together and fill in the gaps to make it flow … I was considering releasing the book and album together as a package deal … we’ll see …”

Kumar, who now runs The Waterfront and The Island Bar in Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, used to manage the Press Club in Wanchai, and recently came up with some photos taken during the Press Ball at the Furama Hotel in 1996.

Here’s a collage of some of those photos, showing The Bastards playing – Dave Campbell and Mark Harrison on guitars, Dave Green on bass and backing vocals, Brendan Delfino on drums and Dan James on vocals.

In 1996, Hong Kong was still a British colony – those days are long since gone. Gone, too, are the Press Club and the Furama. But The Bastards, and for that matter Kumar as well, continue, undaunted and undimmed. Well, sort of …..

For a full-size image in another window, click HERE

Here’s a photo of Dan singing “The Young Ones” with the Curs at the Island Bar on Friday night (12th August). An ironic choice of ditty.

This is a solo version of “Here we go again” performed by Dan on the beach in Thailand. The song originally appeared on “Scheming in the Backroom”. Have a listen to a short clip of The Bastards’ version HERE