Thanks so much to Ian for the interview! I wrote about The Clamheads on the blog a few years ago I think. And just last week Ian got in touch with me and he was keen in sharing details and anecdotes about the 80s English band The Clamheads! The band released one 12″ record back in the day and then sort of went silent. Later on in 1995 the band reunited under the name Borgnine (hopefully we’ll talk about this period in a 2nd interview). If you’ve never heard them before, you are in for a treat, as their songs are punchy, poppy and fun. If you already know them, I am sure that, like me, you’ve always been curious about their story! Well, here it is!
++ Hi Ian! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?
I’m fine thanks, lockdown was hard, glad we seem to be emerging from that now. I was very involved with music until August 2019, when due to complicated reasons my group Les Clochards had to take a break, which I now think may be definitive.
++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?
I don’t come from a musical family and my parents weren’t big music fans and didn’t have many records, mainly Scottish stuff like pipe bands and Andy Stewart, some film soundtracks, a few old 78s, one single by Elvis – A Fool Such as I. I was born in 1960 but was only vaguely aware of the Beatles and Stones. I started to get interested in music when I was about 8, I asked my parents to buy Legend of Xanadu by Dave Dee etc, then the first record I bought with my own money was Metal Guru by T.Rex. When I was 13 I saw David Bowie at Oxford New Theatre, that was a life-changing experience. I had a cheap Spanish guitar when I was about 11 and had lessons but didn’t stick with it, then when I was 16 my friend Rob and I started a group, he had a guitar so I bought a bass from a junk shop, it was a Gibson SG copy made of plywood and cost £30. I learned by playing along with records in my bedroom, by that time it was Dr Feelgood, The Flamin Groovies, the Foggy Notion ep by the Velvet Underground.
++ Had you been in other bands before The Clamheads? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?
++ What about the other members?
Matt (guitarist/singer) was in the original Clamheads duo with a legendary character called Mac. Mike (guitar) had been in the Shrew Kings. Gary (drums) had played in a group called Ariva who for a while had Sade on vocals.
++ Where were you from originally?
I grew up in rural Oxfordshire. It sounds posh but wasn’t really, Pam Ayres lived down the road. If you’re not familiar with Pam I can explain the significance of that.
++ How was London at the time of The Clamheads? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?
I loved living in London during the 1980s, went to gigs all the time, the Pogues, the Prisoners, the Milkshakes, Jesus & Mary Chain, the early Creation groups – I’ve attached a list of the gigs I went to in the mid-80s, at least those I remember! There were so many venues: The Cricketers, The Hope & Anchor, Dingwalls, The Marquee, The Clarendon, The Town & Country Club, The Half Moon, The Bull & Gate. Best record shops were in Camden, I forget the names now, and Hanway Place off Oxford Street, there was a great shop called Rocks Off where Shane MacGowan used to work.
++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?
I knew Matt from Oxford, I had been in a group with his older brother. Matt started the Clamheads and asked me to play bass on some recordings, it went from there. Mike was in the Shrew Kings, and I knew Gary because he had been at art college with an ex-girlfriend, we met him at a gig by Howard Devoto’s group Luxuria at the Town & Country Club and asked him to join. There was no recruiting process, it was all quite spontaneous.
++ What instruments did each of you play in your songs?
Matt guitar/vocals, Mike guitar, Gary drums, me bass/vocals
++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
Matt and I wrote the songs, sometimes together, mostly individually. We practiced in various rehearsal rooms in London.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
Matt would be able to answer that, I’ll ask him. Borgnine was after the actor Ernest Borgnine, who usually played a villain.
++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?
Old-school rock’n’roll and garage rock, the Beatles, girl groups like the Crystals and the Shirelles, Matt liked the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly, The Byrds, the Flamin Groovies, The Cramps, Link Wray. With the Shrew Kings it had been quite avant-garde and theatrical, I just wanted to get back to guitar music for a while. Personally I liked a lot of jazz, doo-wop and soul music plus Tom Waits, but that didn’t really feed into our group.
++ You only released the “Summer’s Coming Down EP” back in 1989. I was wondering prior to this release, had the band already made other recordings? Demo tapes perhaps?
Yes, quite a lot of recordings, of variable quality. If you give me an address I’ll send a CD of early stuff and outtakes.
++ This 12″ EP came out on Jericho Records. I don’t know anything about this label. Care telling me a bit about them, like who were they? How did you end up working with them? How was your relationship?
I remember almost nothing about Jericho Records, except they were based in Oxford, something to do with Dave Newton who managed Ride. I think we paid for everything and just used their label because it looked good.
++ On the “Jericho Collection” compilation you contributed the song “Suddenly”. This compilation has some fine bands like The Anyways or The Wild Poppies. I am not familiar wit the rest though! Was wondering if you would recommend me any obscure bands, from this comp or not, to check out and try to find any information?
The one group who became well-known were Shake Appeal, who turned into Swervedriver and are still making great records. The only other group I knew were the Anyways who were excellent, they morphed into The Relationships who are also good but they’re my friends so I’m probably biased: https://www.
++ And was there interest from any other labels?
Yes but nothing serious.
++ Going back to the EP, it was recorded at Scruttocks Studios and Stargoat Studios. Why two different studios? Which one did you like better?
Stargoat was on a farm near Banbury in Oxfordshire, it was nice but they were still learning; the guys at Scruttocks were more serious about it.
++ What about the photo on the cover? Who are they?
Len Fairclough and Bet Lynch from Coronation Street.
++ One thing that is funny on the sleeve is that you thank Simon for giving you money. What’s the story there?!
A guy called Simon gave us some money to make the record, I think he saw it as a solid investment. Big mistake! Sorry Simon.
++ How come there were no more releases by The Clamheads?
It became difficult, I had moved from London to Oxford and had two children, no money, no time. After a couple of years I wanted to do it again, but by that time there was another group in London called Clamhead, so we changed the name.
++ Are there more unreleased songs by the band?
There is an LP, None The Wiser, which came out in 1998. I’ll send you a copy. It’s really good, unfortunately we stopped playing soon after it came out, we had lost our rehearsal space, Matt had a baby daughter, my kids were older but I was working and studying part-time at university, it was hard to coordinate anything. As I said, we never split up, we just stopped. I wish we had been able to plug the album a bit more, but it can’t be helped.
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Summer’s Coming Down’”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
When I was 14 I went with my parents to a holiday camp near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. Holiday camps were where working class families went for two weeks in the summer, we couldn’t afford foreign holidays at that time. We stayed in a chalet and there was family entertainment and games. At the age of 14 you’re sniffy and dismissive of everything, I felt I had been waiting a long time to be grown up, what was I doing with my parents at this uncool place? The song is just observations from that time, it isn’t meant to be critical, I have fond memories. Someone – I’ve no idea who – has made a video to accompany it, and they’ve perfectly captured the holiday camp atmosphere: https://www.
++ If you were to choose your favorite The Clamheads song, which one would that be and why?
I think there are a lot of great tunes on None the Wiser. She’s a Funny Girl works for me because it’s very concise and subtly feminist lyrically, with a nice garage groove, that was a co-write with Matt. I always liked Motorcycle Song and Things That Stop Me Sleeping, those are Matt’s tunes.
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
Yes, we played a lot, all of the small to medium London venues, plus we played in France.
++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
Playing the Marquee was fun, we did some good early shows at Dingwalls and The Cricketers, plus some good gigs in France. Later on there were some great nights at the Point in Oxford. Playing open-air in central Toulouse was fun. It was nearly always enjoyable, but it’s really hard work! We liked drinking and a modest amount of narcotics but to be honest we saved the craziness for nights when we weren’t playing because I was always driving, plus I had two kids and had to go to work in the morning. I had to try to be responsible.
++ And were there any bad ones?
There was one in France, first night of the tour, no one turned up. We played anyway, treated it as a cheap rehearsal.
++ When and why did The Clamheads stop making music? You would regroup later in 1995 as Borgnine, right? Were you in any other bands?
See above for the first two questions. I had my own group Les Clochards from 2005-2019, French influence, played literally hundreds of gigs, good press, made two albums, available on Spotify etc, I’ll send CDs. The first one is really good, the second not so much but it’s ok.
++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?
Not really, which I think is a shame. Adult responsibilities get in the way.
++ Was there any interest from radio?
John Peel played our single, plus local radio.
++ I saw that you appeared on French TV. How was that experience?! That must have been fun! Did you play any other songs other than “Woodenface” and “She’s a Funny Girl”?
That was great and I’ve no idea how or why it happened, we were in Toulouse and someone told us to go to the TV studio. We only played (mimed really) the two tunes. It was a very hot day and we had to carry huge speakers on set to make it look authentic, we were sweating buckets. I remember the make-up woman saying ‘ooh-la-la’, at the time I didn’t know French people really said that.
++ What about other TV appearances?
No, that was the only one.
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?
Not much, we weren’t good at publicity. A dismissive review in NME, some ok reviews in Time Out. It was frustrating but you have to work at that side of things and we just didn’t, which was a mistake.
++ What about from fanzines?
Yes some good reviews in fanzines, that was encouraging.
++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
Touring in France, we had such a fantastic time and made great friends, most of whom I’m still in touch with. Personally it was another life-changing experience because it made me obsessive about learning the language properly, I eventually studied French at university and now I teach French. I’m about to start a PhD on French literature.
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
I read all the time, I’m trying to learn some Arabic, I like cooking and running, I’m a football fan. Nothing’s as good as music though.
++ I have visited London many times and I hope to return. Would like to ask a local, what would you suggest them doing here, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?
It’s a long time since I lived in London but my son lives there so I go quite often, in fact I was there last Sunday. I love London, it’s become very expensive but still a great city – you could spend your whole life there and still find new things every day. I suggest avoid the tourist destinations and try to experience the neighbourhoods, Brick Lane, Hackney, Brixton, Peckham, Tottenham (Camden is very tourist-orientated these days). Traditional London food is really down to immigration, could be Indian, Italian, Greek, Jamaican, you can get anything but some neighbourhoods specialise, e.g. Brick Lane has many Bangladeshi restaurants. English beer is not like any other beer, not everyone likes it but unlike the food it is an English speciality which you can’t find anywhere else. Served in a pint!
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One Response to “:: The Clamheads”
You need to get more info on the Shrew Kings, who you wrote about in January! I have been obsessed with “Losing My Cool” and even played it on a Vancouver radio show a few months back …