Subway Sect

One of the original British punk bands, Subway Sect's posthumous reputation has suffered because of their comparatively small output. The core of the band was singer/songwriter Vic Godard plus assorted soul fa

One of the original British punk bands, Subway Sect's posthumous reputation has suffered because of their comparatively small output. The core of the band was singer/songwriter Vic Godard plus assorted soul fans who congregated around early gigs by the Sex Pistols until Malcolm McLaren suggested they formed a band. This first line up: Paul Packham, Paul Millie Myers, Barry “Baker” Auguste, and Godard, cut their first single "Nobody's Scared": a competent piece of punk rock. However this brought them to the attention of the then manager of The Clash Bernard Rhodes, who booked rehearsal time and supervised the recording of their first album. At this time the band toured intensively with the Sex Pistols, the Clash and others. However, just as their first album was ready for release, for reasons that remain obscure, Rhodes sacked all the band (except Godard) and Subway Sect mark 1 ceased to exist. The album was never released, although a single from the sessions ("Ambition") was the band's second single release. It still turns up on lists of the greatest punk records ever made. Godard put together the pieces and Subway Sect mark 2 was formed, and the band finally released their first album ("What's the Matter, Boy?") in 1980. However, by this time, Godard had become increasingly influenced by early rockabilly and the "first wave" of rock and roll (Sun session era, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochrane etc.). This was just a few years before the rockabilly revival and the album was ignored as being 'retro'. Ignoring this, Godard then went even further back in time, and later releases showed the influence of the "rat pack" (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra), and even swing bands of the '40s, many years before these sounds became fashionable. Facing dwindling sales, Godard eventually packed in the music industry and became a postman. However, in the '90s a slow Godard revival began. Backed by the rerelease of his work on CD and numerous compilation albums (notably "20 odd years...the story of....", and "Singles Anthology") Godard has recently returned to recording, releasing a new album ("Long Term Side Effect") in 1998, and a single on Glasgow label Creeping Bent, with more work promised.