{"id":310,"date":"2013-12-08T02:04:28","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T02:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/?page_id=310"},"modified":"2014-01-20T00:23:16","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T00:23:16","slug":"pneumania","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/clan\/pneumania\/","title":{"rendered":"Pneumania"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming Attack!<\/h1>\n
\"Pneumania<\/a>

Pneumania (line-up 1) advert for Split Single<\/p><\/div>\n

Pneumania line-up 1<\/h3>\n

1978-1979 Originally called “Sno White And The Sick Punks”<\/p>\n

Captain Drums,\u00a0 Sno White Voice, Steve Spon 5 str Guitar, Steve The Voice Bass.<\/p>\n

Releases: Exhibition and Coming Attack on The Split Single, r\/s UK Decay 1979. Rumoured to be some demo and live recordings.<\/p>\n

\"Pneumania<\/a>

Pneumania line-up 2 – live in Stevenage 4 January 1981<\/p><\/div>\n

Pneumania line-up 2<\/h3>\n

1979 – 1981<\/p>\n

Steve The Voice Bass, Elaine O’Brian Voice, Dave Siddley Drums, Pete Keady Guitar<\/p>\n

Releases: None that are known.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Coming Attack<\/h2>\n

The Pneumania story part1.<\/p>\n

Pneumania formally known as \u2018Snow White and the sic Punks\u2019, were formed early in 1979 in Luton UK by founding members and nihilists, Steve Spon and The Captain (not Sensible!). They had just converted a basement in a soon to be demolished terraced house in Luton, into a rehearsal room and went on a hunt for a Vocalist and Bass player.
\nTheir search led them to the \u2018Grapevine\u2019 public house that was the \u2018hub\u2019 of the thriving Luton Punk scene. Amongst the throng of \u2018spikey-tops\u2019 and \u2018Seditionary\u2019 clothed regulars, one girl stood out from the crowd. Her name turned out to be Gaynor and although she had never sung before, she gladly accepted an offer to come along to a jam session in view of forming a Band.
\nGaynor had spent the last year or so, charging tourists along Kings Road in Chelsea for taking her picture. With her bleached white \u2018Jack Frost\u2019 haircut and stunning punk fashion clothing she wouldn\u2019t fail to catch the eye, but the \u2018real deal\u2019 about Gaynor was in spirit she was a seminal punk Goddess. It wouldn\u2019t matter if in a musical sense whether she could sing or not, what she had to say would be more important.
\nInitially, Captain who formally played guitars ( and was currently playing Bass with the \u2018Jets\u2019!) would now be on drums. Spon who formally played keyboards, would now be on guitar. For the first few sessions this was the line-up and although ragged round the edges, within the first month there was a sound developing and a hand full of songs were coming together.
\nRecruiting the right Bass Player however, was proving a problem. Cue Steve the Voice, who had been on the sidelines for a little while. An ex Art student with his \u2018nose on the streets\u2019 who couldn\u2019t play a note wanted to give it a go. With initial reservations he was given a chance to prove himself on bass, which after a while he did! For the early part of 1979 the new band thrashed away in the basement and got together a set of tunes.
\nA name for the band was chosen, \u2018Snow White and the sic Punks\u2019 and before long the first \u2018Live gig\u2019 was on the horizon. This provided a dilemma for \u2018The Captain\u2019 as the \u2018Jets\u2019 whom he played bass for as well, were on the same bill! This wouldn\u2019t go down very well with the Jets. To get round this the Captain played the first \u2018Snow White and the sic Punks\u2019 gig completely wrapped up \u2018Mummy\u2019 style in bandages, so as not to be noticed by the Jets. Half way through the gig the bandages inevitably started to come adrift eventually leading to severe embarrassment on the Captains behalf. After this, the Captain decided to move into management, vacating the Drum kit.
\nThe first gig was at Luton\u2019s Barnfield College was historical in the sense that this was where the Idea of \u2018The Split Single\u2019 was first thought out, with \u2018The Resistors\u2019 (UK Decay). Putting aside \u2018Captains\u2019 embarrassment, it turned out to be a really \u2018stunning\u2019 gig. However, \u2018Snow White and the sic Punks\u2019 were now in need of a drummer.
\nCue Nigel Dark, a friend of Steve the Voices, Nigel was an accomplished drummer with a grounding in Jazz as well as \u2018Nihilism\u2019. Within a few rehearsal sessions Nigel had fully integrated himself into the sound and it was at this point that \u2018Snow White and the sic Punks\u2019 would now change their name to \u2018Pneumania\u2019…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prt2<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ‘Welly Street’ abode complete with rehearsal room and outside bathroom \u2013 minus roof, during the early part of 1979 quickly became established as the HQ for Pnuemania and The Resistors -who later changed their name to UK Decay. The formal tenancy of the house was at an end and the demolishing contractors were pulling the houses down around to make way for a new development. This sense of uncertainty galvanised much support from the punk community and with their help.<\/p>\n

The Captain and Spon who were living there, decided on a strategy to hang on for as long as possible. One day the contractors started demolishing the house next door, the response by the punk residents was to fetch the amplification equipment up from the basement and to set it up in the street outside \u2013 then to blast the neighbourhood with loud punk music, in the middle of the working day -in the town centre. At the same time Captain got onto to phone to the local press who were based just a few streets away, they could hear the noise from there. Very soon, the local press, police and a huge crowd had gathered to see what the fuss was about. Very quickly the demolition work halted and a stay of execution for a couple months was granted for consideration. This created much interest locally and provided motive and a strong sense of mission to achieve as much as possible in the time remaining. Around that time a famous piece of Luton graffiti appeared \u2013 ‘C-O-U-N-C-I-L \u2013 V-A-N-D-A-L-S’ – each letter man-sized and painted with a roller-brush of white paint, running along a street full of front doors \u2013 each house sadly empty and awaiting demolition. This proved a great spin for the press to use as a certain Mike ‘English’ , made sure he had this as backdrop in the local papers photo used.<\/p>\n

It was spring 1979 that the idea of the two bands collaborating came to root amidst this background. Thatcher was now in power, things looked grim all round. An idea was taking shape, the two bands pooled their resources and a new record label – ‘Plastic Records’, had been created.<\/p>\n

A release date had been set for two months and Pneumania set about writing and perfecting the two songs they had committed for the recording session. Captain now took on a ‘Manager’ role as new drummer Nigel ‘Dark’, who stood tall, aloof and looking every bit a character out of a Hammer movie \u2013 took his seat. His style was much more flippant and progressive, compared with the standard ‘2 \u2013 4”s of the usual punk drumming. Grounded on the ‘arty’ and ‘jazz’ side, Nigel’s involvement showed great promise for future progression. He had a highly distinctive and original style. However the nickname ‘Dark’ wasn’t just his punk pseudonym \u2013 it was how he was. He would keep everyone guessing as to whether or not he would actually turn up for a rehearsal or even a gig!<\/p>\n

Within the ‘Split Single’ couple month period, the two bands collaborated on a number of self-promoted gigs. They also self-penned their own networking tool \u2013 a fanzine called ‘The Suss’ which was released to coincide with these events. The homogenisation of not just the two bands but by now a thriving community, was working very well. These were very creative times and the whole ‘Plastic Records’ gathering was gaining momentum. The recording studio was booked and the day had arrived.<\/p>\n

Pneumania recorded two songs; ‘Exhibition’ and ‘Coming Attack’ that day, it turns out to date the only songs the band ever released. ‘Exhibition’ is the liturgy of a pure raw strangled, angry punk goddess \u2013 lamenting the attitudes the rest of society has towards her and her ilk. Her performance on the record was full on with her insides hanging out for all to see. Her naked and beleaguered punkette soul \u2013 looking in the mirror. The music was raw and cutting with juxtaposed dubby bass and staggered drums. The guitars phaser-slicing jagged chords from Spon’s five strings. It builds, there’s tension, followed by a finale. \u201cIt’s a freakshow \u2013 nothing new\u201d. Superficially it was wide open to criticism, but on another level it was a really potent performance by all in the band.<\/p>\n

‘Coming Attack’ – the terror at the heart of urban nightmares- is a poem written from the narrative of the deceas-ed\u2019s perspective. The loneliness of the victim succumbing to the inevitable fate in a street attack. Being a ‘Punk’ didn’t necessary mean being any different to anyone else in society. We are all vulnerable and made of flesh and blood. Actually being a punk back in the day, did increase the risk of ‘inviting’ attack.(Sadly, there are still isolated cases today \u2013 visa Sophie) This actually happened back in the day, to three of the band whilst returning to the rehearsal room one night. They were ‘jumped’ by a stick wielding thug who nearly broke Spon’s arm.<\/p>\n

The music is a very fast paced three-time rhythm with a running bass line, the sheering 5 string guitar plays a single rhythmic chord. It builds, peaks rebuilds and finally crescendos as the knife strikes home. It’s all over in little over a minute \u2013 but wow! what a unique idea and production.<\/p>\n

The afternoon in the studio had been reasonably successful, the band were happy, now it was time to get the recording released. All systems go on the ‘Split Single’ project \u2013 five weeks to go before the deadline…….To Be Continued<\/p>\n

Pneumania interview<\/a><\/p>\n

Comment with your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail<\/h4>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coming Attack! Pneumania line-up 1 1978-1979 Originally called “Sno White And The Sick Punks” Captain Drums,\u00a0 Sno White Voice, Steve Spon 5 str Guitar, Steve The Voice Bass. Releases: Exhibition and Coming Attack on The Split Single, r\/s UK Decay 1979. Rumoured to be some demo and live recordings. Pneumania \u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":312,"parent":423,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-310","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1036,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/310\/revisions\/1036"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}