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Rated XXX

by The X-Certs

/
1.
Anthem 02:38
2.
Together 03:12
3.
Blue Movies 03:24
4.
5.
6.
Spotlight 03:47
7.
8.
Suicide 02:37
9.
Fight Back 02:29
10.

about

THE X-CERTS

Vinyl LP - Limited Edition 500 Pressing with Insert plus Strictly Limited Replica CD and Download

‘RATED XXX’

Released 8th August 2011

1978 and especially 1979 were confusing times for young punks in the provinces. If you didn't want to go all arty and post-punk, or buy a stupid skinny tie and go New Wave, you were doomed to be terminally unfashionable. Two years later, you were still terminally unfashionable, but you could sell records. But that's another story.

As 1978 wore on, we thanked God for the likes of UK Subs and Angelic Upstarts, and here in Brizzle...the mighty X-Certs! With Clive Arnold (vocals and guitar), Simon Justice (guitar), Taf (bass) and Neil Mackie (drums), The X-Certs served up welcome blasts of Clash-style punk anthems. They were politically charged and passionate, friendly and down to earth, and a great live act, but for some reason their recordings were relatively few and far between. One track, Blue Movies, on Hearbeat Records' 4-Alternatives EP, and another called Anthem on the same label's acclaimed Avon Calling compilation album. And that's yer lot with the original line up.

Live, though, they were real contenders, pulling as many as 500 people into Trinity Church before they even had a record out, and supporting the likes of the afore-mentioned Angelic Upstarts, Pere Ubu, Misty In Roots, The Only Ones, and most famously, The Clash, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 11 February 1980, on the 16 Tons Tour, with none other than Topper Headon mixing their sound.

By the Clash gig the line-up had changed and so had the band's style, exploring new musical territories including reggae, but this album captures the original four-piece at the peak of their Punk Rock powers.

"We Are What We Are. We Are - The X-Certs"

ARTIST: The X-Certs
TITLE: ‘Rated XXX’
FORMAT: Limited Edition 500 Pressing Vinyl LP plus strictly limited edition hand made replica CD and Download
LABEL: Bristol Archive Records
DISTRIBUTION: Shellshock
CAT NO: ARC138V and ARC138CD
RELEASE DATE: 8th August 2011
WEBSITE: www.bristolarchiverecords.com
CONTACT: Mike Darby, E: mike@bristolarchivercords.com T: 07885 498 402

credits

released August 8, 2011

Tracks:

1. Anthem (Simon Justice) Heartbeat Music 1979
2. Together (Clive Arnold) Recreational Music 1979
3. Blue Movies (Simon Justice) Heartbeat Music 1979
4. People Of Today (Simon Justice) Copyright Control 1978
5. You Have Been Warned (Taf) Copyright Control 1978
6. Spotlight (Arnold, Justice, Mackie, Taf) Copyright Control 1978
7. City Claustrophobia (Clive Arnold) Copyright Control 1978
8. Suicide (Clive Arnold) Copyright Control 1978
9. Fight Back (Simon Justice) Copyright Control 1978
10. Gotta Get Away (Simon Justice) Copyright Control 1978

Track 1 and 3 Recorded at Crescent Studios, Bath Engineered by David Lord and Glen Tommey. Track 3 Recorded April 8th 1979.

All other tracks either recorded at GBH Studios, Bristol in 1978/79 or Drone Studios in Manchester 1978. The Bristol tracks were engineered and produced by Steve Street.

In late 1978, and on into 1979, many young punks who had been buying the records and going to the gigs, but had been that little bit too young to get involved with 1977 Punk, began forming their own bands. Many of the originals had either split or changed their style, and the punk that was to come would evolve its own range of styles, but at that point, those that baulked at cleaned-up New Wave and arty Post-Punk looked to the likes of the Ruts, Angelic Upstarts and UK Subs for inspiration, regardless of the NME's sneers.

Yer in Bristol, our main inspiration was the mighty X-Certs.

They were obviously very influenced by Punk but were also very obviously Bristol lads – Clive's singing voice was always pure Barton Hill, never London or LA. To those of us just starting out, it was an eye-opener to see the band pulling 500 people into Trinity Church before they even had a record out. We could do this...well, we could if we worked bloody hard to try and be as good as them. And, yes, they were all very nice, approachable, down to earth blokes.

For me, as a fan, my big regret was that The X-Certs didn't get to release Fight Back and City Claustrophobia as a single when The Ruts and Angelic Upstarts were putting out their first records. They were just as good.

Shane Baldwin (Vice Squad drummer, Big Cheese and Record Collector Journalist – February 2011)

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Bristol Archive Records UK

Bristol Archive Records is a record label dealing in reggae, punk, rock, metal, pop and post punk 1977 onwards.

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