Fingers Down The Throat Of Love
I’m so old. Old enough to have seen The Birthday Party three times before they fell apart and Nick went all blues. First time was 17 June 1981 when I was 16. The Birthday Party and Bauhaus at Newcastle University (I think Subway Sect played too). You had to get signed in by a student in those days. 7” singles Release The Bats and The Friend Catcher had been out and were John Peel faves but they didn’t prepare us for the horror show that was The Birthday Party live. Nick towered over the front rows and stared the crowd down. Pint glasses were smashed and thrown on stage. Nick writhed around on the floor in the mess, Tracy Pew fucked his bass throughout and Roland smoked ciggies and grinned while deafening us with his screechy guitar. These were the days before security guys stood at the front to keep folk off the stage. NO ONE dared go near that stage when Nick was up there. Bauhaus headlined that night but they just couldn’t compete. I remember Pete Murphy trying to look scary holding a strobe light under his chin and strutting around in a pair of black tights like a goth drag queen. Poor man. Anyway, nearly 25 years later and I'm at my desk doing a rat-race job listening to Junkyard by The Birthday Party. Oh the irony. Where is my pleasure avalanche?