The Vibrators - We Vibrate (1978)

I've had this set ready to go for a couple if years now, but it was a small sidebar in the new issue of Record Collector which told me that now was the time to post it. Apparently, The Vibrators are ripe for the collector's market, with copies of their early records going for big bucks, so this post shows exactly how they got there. The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards in 1976, and first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his RAK Records label, and he produced their first single 'We Vibrate', which was released in 1976, with the band also backing Spedding on his single 'Pogo Dancing, which was issued the same year. They quickly became favourites with John Peel, and recorded sessions for him in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978, but although they were one of the pioneering punk bands, headlining London's Roxy Club in 1977, some people wrote them off as being bandwagon-jumpers, as their sound was more pop-punk than the The Damned or The Clash, and it was mentioned more than once that Knox was too old to be a punk at 32. The band signed to Epic Records in early 1977, and their debut album 'Pure Mania' reached the top 50 of the UK Albums Chart, another stick to beat them with by the true-blue punks. Their follow-up album 'V2' narrowly missed the UK top 30, although 'Automatic Lover', taken from the album, was their only single to reach the UK top 40. A lack of further chart activity, and with only one UK top 40 single to their credit, saw The Vibrators join the list of indie one-hit wonders, alongside The Flying Lizards, Jilted John, 999, The Radio Stars, and The Rich Kids, and so they quietly broke up in 1980. Following the break-up John Ellis recorded with Peter Gabriel, as well as recording and touring frequently with Peter Hammill, then subsequently The Stranglers, who he eventually joined full-time in the 1990's. Pat Collier went on to work closely with the Soft Boys, producing their seminal album 'Underwater Moonlight', before he decided to get the old gang back together, putting out a call to fellow original members Ellis, Knox, and Edwards, and the reformed band released the 'Guilty' album in 1982. This collection of early singles and demos clearly shows their influences, with some of them sounding way more pub-rock than punk, and confirming that the 'too old for punk' insults had some truth in them, but it's still a great collection of raucous rock from these under-rated pioneers of punk.    

Track listing

01 Say Mama (demo 1976)
02 We Vibrate (single 1976)
03 Pogo Dancing (single by Chris Spedding & The Vibrators 1976)
04 The Pose (b-side of 'Pogo Dancing')
05 Young Lust (demo 1976)
06 He's A Psycho (demo 1977)
07 I Can See It In Your Eyes (demo 1976)
08 Stitch You Up (demo 1977)
09 Frontline Europe (demo 1977)
10 City Of Mirrors (demo 1977)
11 Still Not Over You (demo 1977)  
12 Dong (demo 1977)
13 I Loved Her (demo 1977)
15 Eye Witness (demo 1977)
16 Judy Says (Knock You In The Head) (single 1978)