Fuck The System
Coming 3-25-03
Playing Now: Fuck The System
THE EXPLOITED
Riot starting, bouncer bashing, cop baiting, hotel trashing, foul talking, noise making, chaos causing, venue wrecking, government hating, rule breaking, piss taking, unrelenting, punk rocking . Clearly were not talking about Pepsi adverts here, or indeed the many so-called punk bands that would gleefully sell themselves to such corporate giants for a palm full of silver. Whoo-hoo! The taste of a generation! Fuck off! Lets get one thing straight: The Exploited are not punkers or any of the other cutesy, watered down, MTV friendly names you might want to call them.
The Exploited are punk rock.
But maybe we should put that into context since it means so many different things. Its early 1980 and entertainment on a Saturday night (or any other night of the week) consists of sitting around at home watching crap on TV or sitting around in a bus shelter drinking cider or sniffing glue. Unless, of course, youre old enough to drink in the same pub as your dad. Oh the thrill of it all! Punk rock is all you have. Its your lifeblood, the only thing that makes sense and the only thing to look forward to in a world with no future. And its fucking exciting! The next single, the next gig, the volume coursing through your veins to remind you that youre alive. Punk rock is a dangerous business. The mere act of looking like a punk will earn you a night in casualty if youre not careful, and getting to and from one of the few venues that will let punk bands play can literally be a matter of life and death. So, you can cop out and be a part time punk (flatten your hair down for school, work or more likely the dole queue) or follow whatever trend youre told is in this week. The other option, the only other option, is to give to punk rock what it has given to you everything! If youre going to be unemployed, then be unemployable! If youre going to get beaten up, then go down fighting! If youve got something to say, then shout it! And most of all, if youre going to be in an obnoxious punk rock band, then be in a really obnoxious punk band!
This was the route chosen by ex-squaddie Wattie Buchan (vocals), Big John Duncan (guitar), Dru Stix (drums) and Gary McCormack (bass). Right from the start (early 1980, if you were paying attention) there was no toning these Edinburgh punks down, no diluting their music for public consumption. The Exploited were punk rock.
Released just one year later on the Secret label, their debut album was as much a rallying battle cry as a record. It was called Punks Not Dead and went on to become the number one independent album of 1981 (before most of the Indies were just majors in disguise), reaching number 20 in the national charts and selling 150,000 copies. Which kind of proved the point. If punk was dead, no one had told the Exploiteds rapidly growing barmy army. And while admittedly, Punks Not Dead wasnt the greatest record ever made, as an opening gambit it was unbeatable and live, the band were nothing short of incredible. The long hot summer of 81 saw the whole country going up in flames. Real anarchy in the UK as city after city, town after town exploded! A perfect time for the Exploited to co-headline the legendary Apocalypse Now tour with fellow punk giants, Discharge. The sell out London show (at the Lyceum Ballroom) took place just one day after the Brixton riots. Talk about an electric atmosphere!
By October that year The Exploited were in the singles charts with the violently evocative Dead Cities, leading to arguably the most ferocious performance ever seen on Top Of The Pops (yeah, you read that right! And yes, there were numerous complaints) and another massive UK tour. If memory serves correctly, this was the one where Black Flag supported them, the one that ended in a full-scale riot at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park. Or maybe that was another time; certainly it was snowing in the Capital the night and ever demented front man Wattie declared war on the Mods (some idiot had booked the Jam to play just up the road), resulting in a pitched battle outside the venue.
1982 saw the release of the Exploiteds first genuine classic album Troops Of Tomorrow (number 17 in the charts), which ten years later was to see tracks (most notably UK82 changed to LA92) covered by Slayer for the Judgement Night soundtrack. More proof, if it were needed, that without the likes of Exploited, Discharge and GBH there would be no thrash metal and thus, no Metallica, Slayer or Slipknot. It has even been noted that those punk bands influenced such varied acts as Queens Of The Stoneage (whom Wattie presented with a Best International Newcomers gong at the Kerrang Awards in 2000) and Atari Teenage Riot, Nirvana (Ex-Exploited guitarist Big John even played for them briefly) and Massive Attack.
TRACK LISTING
Fuck The System
Fucking Liar
Holiday In The Sun
You're A Fucking Bastard
Lie To Me
There Is No Point
Never Sell Out
Noize Annoys
I Never Changed
Why Are You Doing This To Me
Chaos Is My Life
Violent Society
Was It Me
Coming 3-25-03
Playing Now: Fuck The System
THE EXPLOITED
Riot starting, bouncer bashing, cop baiting, hotel trashing, foul talking, noise making, chaos causing, venue wrecking, government hating, rule breaking, piss taking, unrelenting, punk rocking . Clearly were not talking about Pepsi adverts here, or indeed the many so-called punk bands that would gleefully sell themselves to such corporate giants for a palm full of silver. Whoo-hoo! The taste of a generation! Fuck off! Lets get one thing straight: The Exploited are not punkers or any of the other cutesy, watered down, MTV friendly names you might want to call them.
The Exploited are punk rock.
But maybe we should put that into context since it means so many different things. Its early 1980 and entertainment on a Saturday night (or any other night of the week) consists of sitting around at home watching crap on TV or sitting around in a bus shelter drinking cider or sniffing glue. Unless, of course, youre old enough to drink in the same pub as your dad. Oh the thrill of it all! Punk rock is all you have. Its your lifeblood, the only thing that makes sense and the only thing to look forward to in a world with no future. And its fucking exciting! The next single, the next gig, the volume coursing through your veins to remind you that youre alive. Punk rock is a dangerous business. The mere act of looking like a punk will earn you a night in casualty if youre not careful, and getting to and from one of the few venues that will let punk bands play can literally be a matter of life and death. So, you can cop out and be a part time punk (flatten your hair down for school, work or more likely the dole queue) or follow whatever trend youre told is in this week. The other option, the only other option, is to give to punk rock what it has given to you everything! If youre going to be unemployed, then be unemployable! If youre going to get beaten up, then go down fighting! If youve got something to say, then shout it! And most of all, if youre going to be in an obnoxious punk rock band, then be in a really obnoxious punk band!
This was the route chosen by ex-squaddie Wattie Buchan (vocals), Big John Duncan (guitar), Dru Stix (drums) and Gary McCormack (bass). Right from the start (early 1980, if you were paying attention) there was no toning these Edinburgh punks down, no diluting their music for public consumption. The Exploited were punk rock.
Released just one year later on the Secret label, their debut album was as much a rallying battle cry as a record. It was called Punks Not Dead and went on to become the number one independent album of 1981 (before most of the Indies were just majors in disguise), reaching number 20 in the national charts and selling 150,000 copies. Which kind of proved the point. If punk was dead, no one had told the Exploiteds rapidly growing barmy army. And while admittedly, Punks Not Dead wasnt the greatest record ever made, as an opening gambit it was unbeatable and live, the band were nothing short of incredible. The long hot summer of 81 saw the whole country going up in flames. Real anarchy in the UK as city after city, town after town exploded! A perfect time for the Exploited to co-headline the legendary Apocalypse Now tour with fellow punk giants, Discharge. The sell out London show (at the Lyceum Ballroom) took place just one day after the Brixton riots. Talk about an electric atmosphere!
By October that year The Exploited were in the singles charts with the violently evocative Dead Cities, leading to arguably the most ferocious performance ever seen on Top Of The Pops (yeah, you read that right! And yes, there were numerous complaints) and another massive UK tour. If memory serves correctly, this was the one where Black Flag supported them, the one that ended in a full-scale riot at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park. Or maybe that was another time; certainly it was snowing in the Capital the night and ever demented front man Wattie declared war on the Mods (some idiot had booked the Jam to play just up the road), resulting in a pitched battle outside the venue.
1982 saw the release of the Exploiteds first genuine classic album Troops Of Tomorrow (number 17 in the charts), which ten years later was to see tracks (most notably UK82 changed to LA92) covered by Slayer for the Judgement Night soundtrack. More proof, if it were needed, that without the likes of Exploited, Discharge and GBH there would be no thrash metal and thus, no Metallica, Slayer or Slipknot. It has even been noted that those punk bands influenced such varied acts as Queens Of The Stoneage (whom Wattie presented with a Best International Newcomers gong at the Kerrang Awards in 2000) and Atari Teenage Riot, Nirvana (Ex-Exploited guitarist Big John even played for them briefly) and Massive Attack.
TRACK LISTING
Fuck The System
Fucking Liar
Holiday In The Sun
You're A Fucking Bastard
Lie To Me
There Is No Point
Never Sell Out
Noize Annoys
I Never Changed
Why Are You Doing This To Me
Chaos Is My Life
Violent Society
Was It Me
![[KOTNO]Narrot](/data/avatars/l/1/1031.jpg?1052155060){kind=avatar}
