Linda Lovelace For President Fanzine
This interview/live review appeared in issue 3 of the above fanzine in 1986
Am I just a anti-social fat-bah? Mark E Smith was heard to utter words of this nature amid a curse of real ale on the John Peel show in my pre-zine virgin years. After conducting a rude and slobbish interview with the Festive Fifty's No. 8 artists, the Shop Assistants, I was forced to ask myself the same question. Sorry about that, SAs!
What ever happended to Buba? She is now working in Papua New Guinea doing red cross "missionary" work.
Surely having Tommy Ramone producing the LP (blahblahblah2) will only encourage Ramones comparisons? Tommy Erdyli did not produce the LP, in fact he never was going to; Mayo Thompson produced it (as well as us), whether this will encourage the Red Crayola comparisons or not I do not know.
Did Red Crayloa use buzzshaw guitars? How much control have you over what is released by the current record label? The trick is not to record anything you don't want released.
Do you find it unnacceptable to release a 9 track LP, 2 of them singles, costing £5.99, as is current practice? Yes, that's why ours has 14 tracks; but thats' cos they're so short.
I should of pressed the point of fixing maximum prices to sleeves and not letting HMV etc getting away with robbery but my journalistic inexperience lets them off the hook. Despite coverage in Smash Hits and Record Mirror you still lack chart success. Is this airplay or "unpalatable" music? Being in RM/Shits does not make a chart hit - we were in the RM over a year ago - of course, airpaly would help.
Would members of the band ever appear on "Blind Date"? No, oh prehaps we would be armed with sub machine guns! (The words don't be stupid were also used as a reply).
Is survial possible when the flavour of the month is passed to someone else? Yes, as long as you don't believe what is said about you i.e. take it too seriously I think our music will stand.
Are these questions so cynical that you don't wanna be friends with me? I don't even know you but we're pretty cynical about the music business so I guess we could get on!
Is "Fixed Grin" based on a real person? Yes, persons real and imagined.
In your opinion, has the BBC got a left wing bias? No way! If you're referring to Panorama or whatever, they just do that 'cos it's news and will get them ratings - how can anyone who employs Kenny Everett be left wing?
I take it that's a rhetorical question but i'm sure Leicester City Council could find a niche for him - that's another question. Have you or would you quit day jobs or lose benefits for the Shop Assistants? Yes we have, we had to stop signing on, none of us had jobs anyway.
Finally, is there anything you'd like to add? Oh yes, oh yes, what can I say?
The Shop Assistants - Princess Charlotte November 1st 1986
So, the Shop Assistants hit Leicester at the end of a lengthly tour promoting their new single, "I Dont Want To Be Friends With You" and debut album inspiringly entitled "Shop Assistants".
Playing to a packed Charlotte, it was soon clear that singer Alex was suffering from flu (or similar virus) due to her sniffing at the end of each song. However, despite the immediate audience participation, the S.A's seemed to remain cold throughout. The link between audience and band was never breached with little communication coming from the band, while David and Sarah on guitar and bass seemed happy to hide behind the stacked P.A. leaving Alex at the front with little stage dominance. Perhaps this would have not been such a bad thing had the songs made up for this, but it was a very mediocre set.
There were a couple of exceptions to this (e.g. new single) these being the ones that ventured away from the basic drum beat and 'fuzzy' guitars.
The blast from sarah's bass signalled the start of the early indie hit 'Safety net' and maybe a change in fortunes, but this also signalled the last song of the night. Perhaps the lack of an encore was a blessing in disguise, leaving the audience to consider how much the foursome will remain Assistants. SAd.