No Sleep Till Canvey Island: The Great Pub Rock Revolution (Pocket Annual) [Paperback]

Sandwiched between Glam Rock and Punk Rock came Pub Rock: a bunch of back-to-basics Brit bands, tired of the increasingly pretentious direction music was taking during the early 1970s, who unloaded their amps into the back-rooms of pubs. Will Birch's No Sleep Till Canvey Island is an engrossing and breezily illuminating study of a previously ignored period in British pop history, summed up by Brinsley Schwarz's Nick Lowe as "the regrouping of a bunch of middle-class ex-Mods who had been through the hippie underground scene and realised it wasn't their cup of tea". The Brinsleys persevered, as did Graham Parker & The Rumour, Ian Dury, Bees Make Honey, Eggs Over Easy and Ace. Then along came Dr Feelgood. The Southend-based R&B quartet electrified everyone who saw them--and among the audience at their 1974 Guildford show were Paul Weller and Graham Parker. Pub Rock was turned on its head again by the arrival of one Andrew Jakeman--"the manager from another planet"--who within two years had transformed himself into "Jake Riviera", and DP McManus into "Elvis Costello"--but that's another book. The only problem with Pub Rock was that it was essentially a live phenomenon. Crowds packed into sweaty pubs to watch the bands pumping out high-energy R&B or English rock & roll, but the experience could never transfer effectively to disc--which probably led to its hung-over end: "the blind" as Birch writes, "were in most cases, leading the blind drunk!"--Patrick Humphries

'An exhilarating anecdotal history'; 'Illuminating... what sustains the book is Will Birch's extraordinary attention to detail, crucial observations only available to someone who was there at the time' MoJo; 'Interesting... knowledgeable... 8/10' Loaded --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'An exhilarating anecdotal history' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Interesting ... knowledgeable ... 8/10' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This text documents the escapades and misdeeds of the rhythym and blues toilers who were staples of the UK pub rock scene of the early 70s.

Thoughts on No Sleep Till Canvey Island
When Mojo contributor and - more importantly - former Kursaal Flyers drummer Will Birch approached me about writing a definitive history of pub rock, I was surprised to learn that no authoritative account of this significant era in British music existed. The seventies pub rock scene launched the careers of Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer and Nick Lowe, and prepared the ground for the musical insurrection that was punk rock. Punk has been the subject of countless histories and analyses - yet pub rock remains a bizarrely under-documented entity. Will Birch has filled the gap intelligently and insightfully with a fascinating record of the frenetic gigs, larger-than-life characters and sorely under-rated music of these post-hippy, pre-punk days. Going back to the source, he conducted lengthy interviews with all the scene's prime movers, including Costello, Nick Lowe, Stiff Records founder Dave Robinson, music industry legend Jake Riviera - and, just a few weeks before his tragic death, Ian Dury. Ever supped a pint at a beery gig at the Tally Ho, Kensington or Hope & Anchor? Then No Sleep Till Canvey Island is the book for you. And if you've never heard the Brinsley Schwarz play the Fillmore incident, you are truly missing out...

200 or so words about my book No Sleep Till Canvey Island
Punk Rock gets all the press and that’s fine by me; I loved The Clash and The Sex Pistols and The Damned, but I remain convinced that these much-lauded combos would not have got a look in, had it not been for the immediately preceding Pub Rock era.

Actually, I’ve never particularly liked the term ‘Pub Rock’. For many people, it conjures up an image of denim-clad, beer-stained boogie merchants knocking out an inconsequential twelve bar blues, but enough of Status Quo. Pub Rock wasn’t like that, I promise.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, will testify to the brilliance of Kilburn And The High Roads with Ian Dury, Brinsley Schwarz with Nick Lowe, Ducks Deluxe and Dr Feelgood. These groups all thrived on the London Pub Rock circuit of the mid-Seventies, which also provided a launch pad for Graham Parker, Elvis Costello and the influential Stiff record label. These people, I believe, redefined the sound and the look of rock’n’roll, but rarely get the credit.

So the story had to be told, hence No Sleep Till Canvey Island. As drummer and songwriter with the Kursaal Flyers, I witnessed the scene first hand and knew many of the Pub Rock characters. I’ve interviewed most of them, including Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and Nick Lowe and their entertaining stories illuminate the text.

It’s a fascinating saga with many hilarious episodes, especially the catastrophic launch of Brinsley Schwarz at New York’s Fillmore East. Naturally, I urge you to check it out.