xTraverTsest 1976

xTraverTsest 1976The Biography

xTraverTsest 1976

In late 1975 a massive shake up within the music industry was emerging and with this came a teenage driven musical revolution, soon to be known as PUNK ROCK. If the Kings Road London was the birthplace of punk then its younger brother the London Road, High Wycombe was equally as important. The Nags Head

High Wycombe as a venue was every bit as important as the legendary 100 Club in Denmark Street, both were linked by one person and that was rock promoter Ron Watts. At the height of this revolution as Ron booked the likes of the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash and the The Stranglers at both venues, teenagers in Buckinghamshire were being introduced to a major shift in youth culture many months before Punk erupted nationwide.

Mimicking its older London brother in every way in High Wycombe it seemed everybody under the age of 25 was becoming a punk rocker. Hippies had almost been eradicated and with turf wars between punks and teddy boys subsiding further combined with a revival of mods, rockers and skinheads the towns local population was slowly having to accept this new melting pot of anti- establishment youth culture.

Shortly after the now infamous Punk Festival of 1976 and the riotous Jubilee boat fiasco Ron Watts continued to book well known punk bands at Wycombes Town hall, it was always his policy to give local talent a chance to shine through. There was a vibrant local music scene emerging but with so much focus on London bands I believe there was one band that unfortunately went unnoticed.W

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As early as 1976, a good six months before The Sex Pistols played the Nags Head, a group of mid-teens including Kris Jozajtis - guitar, Mark White - drums and Carlton Mounsher - bass, formed their own band Deathwish. Inspired by 60s UK bands such as The Who, Small Faces and The Rolling Stones and later stateside offerings such as Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Velvet Underground and The New York Dolls.

Deathwish were soon playing their own brand of Punk Rock well before the term Punk was even coined. Their first gig caused a stir when a confused audience who had been expecting the usual hippie drivel turned violent and threw lit fireworks at them. The band had to be escorted from the venue by the police.

At Deathwishs second gig an A&R rep from CBS came to check out the band following Ron Watts recommendation. Every bit as confused as the audience from the first gig, unfortunately he lacked the vision to sign them, but at least he didnt throw anything at them, lit or otherwise!!! As fate would have it during the show an enigmatic youth with brightly coloured hair joined in singing with the band on stage, soon becoming lead vocalist, a certain Nigel Martin. Nigel, influenced by Roxy Music and Bowie was always outrageously dressed, so Punk was a natural transition for him. Unfortunately High Wycombe didnt have a lot to offer fashion wise in the mid seventies, except flares and platforms. There was a great Teddy boy shop called Goddards which in

fairness sold some great gear but that wasnt enough, so he used to hang out at SEX, Malcolm McClarens shop at the top of the Kings Road with his punk mate Marmite, probably the first black punk with peroxide hair. (One time Marmite wore a transparent rubber jacket with goldfish swimming inside it!!!)

Nigel was photographed in Malcolms shop by Honey magazine, standing out because he would get free crazy colour hairstyles at Vidal Sassoons courtesy of Vivienne Westwood. Malcolm took the fee for the photoshoot and deducted half of the payment, explaining to Nigel that would cover his loss on the t-shirts which Nigel had previously been seen stealing!!! At the same time Vivienne Westwood had a market stall nearby and Nigel used to go there and get his clothes made to order.

Meanwhile with Deathwish floundering, Nigel together with Mark Reilly - guitar and Tim Brick - drums had formed a band called The Xtraverts with Kris Jozajtis filling in on bass, a job he swiftly passed on to Carlton Mounsher. With the line up complete and with a set of original songs plus a few covers they played the University circuit and London venues such as The Roxy, The Vortex, Hope and Anchor, Fulham Greyhound and Global Village, supporting Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Gary Glitter and The Glitter Band and Bernie Torme. Further they were voted best new band in the Aylesbury Friars poll.

Whilst at these gigs they rubbed shoulders with the up and coming soon to be punk icons, drinking with Joe Strummer, Paul Weller, wet toilet roll fights with Billy Idol, arguing with Sid Vicious and pinching

white label copies of Anarchy in the UK from Johnny Rotten. Whilst at an Arsenal football game in early 1976 Nigel dressed up with brightly coloured spiky hair recalls seeing John Lydon later to become Johnny Rotten sporting long hippy hair and a black trenchcoat, one wonders who influenced who!!! These were remarkable times. Carlton also recalls being persuaded by Rat Scabies and Brian James of The Damned to help them put just pressed copies of New Rose into their covers at Stiff Records. Although this meant he had one of the first copies of the UKs first punk records , he still had to pay for it!!!

The band played around with new names and became Nigel Martins Visage or Mirage, but with Steve Strange having the same name finally agreed and settled on The Xtraverts, a name which reflected their image and style. Soon they released their first vinyl single on Spike Records, Blank Generation b/w A-Lad-Insane there was a limited pressing of 500 and incidently these singles are now selling for over £175 on eBay.

The band individually having strong creative drive, unfortunately disbanded the following year and moved in different directions with Carlton and Mark Reilly forming the Cathedrals, later Reilly left to join Blue rondo ala Turk and then formed and continues to have success with Matt Bianco. Carlton formed The Ventilators later The Vents, and then The Swamps. Kris went on to join The Folk Devils, whilst Tim did session work with Japan and then moved into production.

Before leaving High Wycombe, Mark Reilly introduced Nigel to two young musicians Mark Chapman and Steve Westwood, base and guitar players respectively, to continue with The Xtraverts. Recruiting drummer Andy Crawford they knuckled down and continued rehearsing and writing new material.

With a new line up, fresh and stronger than ever they hit the circuit running. Ron Watts gave the band many supports at the Town Hall where many well known acts were playing. First gig with the Jones Boys (aka Howard Jones) then support slots with The Slits and Creation Rebel and then headline gigs at the White Swan Southall, the Rainbow Finsbury Park and then Oranges and Lemons Oxford. Further concerts followed and a string of support gigs with the Damned, 999, Angelic Upstarts, The U.K. Subs, The Vibrators and The Lurkers.

The band went straight into the studio and during 1979 released two singles, the first was Police State/Demolition a ‘double A side’, costs were shared with another local band Plastic People with their song Demolition - released on Rising Sun records. The second release later in the year with the introduction of a new guitarist was Speed b/w 1984.

The band with its new line up built up a very large following with in excess of 1000 people travelling to gigs far and wide, coaches filled with fans from all over the south of England would come and be a part of The Xtraverts crew, especially when headlining their own gigs and with the support of Rat Scabies drummer of the Damned with a band he was

managing The Satellites played with The Xtraverts on numerous occasions. Then there was the infamous Oranges and Lemons gig in Oxford, The Clarenden, Fulham Greyhound, HopenAnchor, plus many more memorable gigs in and around the home counties.

The Xtraverts had a massive Punk and Skinhead following from as far as Birmingham to London and they would travel and support the band. The venues were packed with large chanting boisterous crowds and were more reminiscent of a Millwall -West Ham match than a concert. At one gig in particular, 1980 at the Town Hall , High Wycombe, Rat Scabies even stood in and drummed for the band, and recently some 35 years later a recording of this electric gig has been discovered.

During late 1979, even after plays of both singles on John Peels radio show, topping the NME and Sounds charts, knocking pretty vacant of the top of the independent charts also in the top 3 of the Oi charts and a brief appearance on 20th Century Box a Janet Street Porter production with an interview by Danny Baker on the subject of independent record labels and unsigned bands releasing and distributing their own records. Unfortunately the writing was on the wall.

Coupled with musical differences, changing line up and dissallusion with the punk ethos and the arrival of a new breed of Punk more commonly known as Oi which had started causing violent confrontations and injecting absolute chaos between fans at latter gigs, on the 31st January

The Xtraverts short life 1976 to 1980 was over

After the break up members went in different directions, Mark Chapman the totally flambouyant and outrageous base player became a top London DJ playing re mixes of 70s disco classics in London Nightclubs becoming a promoter and entrepreneur, founder of Car Wash and rubbing shoulders with new found friends Sigue Sigue Sputnik.

Nigel played with a few local bands but moved into promoting rather than performing and opened the Kat Klub under the flyover in the centre of town packing out the venue with bands like the U.K Subs, Crass, King Kurt, 999, the Meteors, Angelic Upstarts and the Vibrators, keeping music live after the demise of the Town hall due to skinheads causing so much trouble at an Adam Ant gig the venue was closed by the council.

During the next 10 years there was a handful of re union gigs, re hashing of old songs albeit very well received locally, during the mid eighties with the arrival of new guitarist Alistair Murray and drummer Steve McCormack (who had been close friends with the band from day one) The Xtraverts performed 3or 4 gigs with new image and style with a complete new set of songs.

After the release of a compilation Xtraverts album, with songs and versions unheard of in the day, entitled So Much Hate was released on Detour records in the mid 90s which has sold incredibly well worldwide, The Xtraverts reformed once again and a launch gig was organised with the UK Subs....this

was the last time the band were to play. A chapter in all the lives of the band members was finally put to sleep..........

Until now... 2014

After the sad death of base player Mark Chapman and a chance meeting with long time friend and organiser of Brighton’s Skinhead Reunion Symond Lawes and with such a worldwide interest in past punk history and youth culture, The Xtraverts have reinvented themselves yet again and with a brand new and exciting line up are now in the process of recording a new album and rehearsing for a launch gig at the 100 Club (to be announced shortly).

The bands new line up includes:Nigel Martin - original Xtraverts and Deathwish lead vocalist and front man.

Carlton Mounsher Original Deathwish and Xtraverts bassist - now lead guitarist.

Steve McCormack - later band member, having previously played with Xtraverts on many occasions, sang and recorded with his own band in the late 80s early 90s with his rocker outfit the T-Birds. Even supported Screaming Lord Sutch!!! Steve also appeared on Granada TVs Stars in their Eyes as Billy Idol 1993/94 and has played drums with rockabilly bands home and abroad and is an accomplished Jazz singer.

Nick Bo Chapman - also known as Joe Hope and brother of former base player Mark Chapman. Nick has played guitar for over 30 years, playing with local Folk Rock and Electronic bands throughout the 80s to the present. Were not the same were individuals.

Iain Wooster - Iain has actively been playing in bands for the past 30 years, touring extensively through the 90s UK and America, playing on albums for various artistes and an appearance with his band on the

The Xtraverts were one of Wycombes

finest. So now lets see what big brothers

little brother has to offer.......?????

BBCs Eastenders during the 1990s

The Xtraverts were a group that slipped through the media net and in their heyday were every bit as good as their contempories and although not up there with the flagship bands of the time they are credited and historically placed in the period that was punk rock. They appear in the top 100 punk bands of all time and have rubbed shoulders with many of the punk greats, perhaps now is the time to let people see what they missed or what might have been.

BBCs Eastenders during the 1990s

The Xtraverts were a group that slipped through the media net and in their heyday were every bit as good as their contempories and although not up there with the flagship bands of the time they are credited and historically placed in the period that was punk rock. They appear in the top 100 punk bands of all time and have rubbed shoulders with many of the punk greats, perhaps now is the time to let people see what they missed or what might have been.

xTraverTsest 1976

xTraverTsest 1976The Biography