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BILLY CHILDISH

Ted Kessler

To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised, Unauthorised History Of Billy Childish - SPECIAL EDITION

    SPECIAL EDITION SIGNED BY BILLY CHILDISH & TED KESSLER.

    BOUND IN LIME GREEN LINEN BOARDS, WITH FOILED TITLES DESIGNED BY BILLY AND HOUSED IN A CUSTOM KRAFT PAPER SOLANDER BOX WITH FOUR-COLOUR INSIDE PAINTING.

    THIS EDITION ALSO INCLUDES AN EXCLUSIVE VINYL AND SIGNED WOODCUT PRINT BY BILLY CHILDISH.

    STRICTLY LIMITED TO JUST 500 COPIES.


    In 1977, 17-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock tremors of the era, seduced by its celebration of amateurism. So, in a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a 3lb club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven Hamper metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true renaissance man.

    Childish has since remained steadfastly true to punk's DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognisable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavour he undertakes. He has released over one hundred and fifty albums of raw rock and roll, punk, blues and folk, written many volumes of searing poetry as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially and internationally feted. He hasn't changed course in any of his disciplines, though. The world just caught up with the sheer volume of his brutally honest work.

    To Ease My Troubled Mind is a mosaic portrait collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, bandmembers past and present, friends, foes, collaborators, even his therapist. It is an unflinching, yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist whose obstacle-strewn upbringing formed the backbone of his work: raised in a broken home and abused as a child, Childish was an undiagnosed dyslexic in remedial class at school who is nevertheless now Britain's most prolific and uncompromising creative force.

    Ted Kessler

    To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised, Unauthorised History Of Billy Childish

      In 1977, 17-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock tremors of the era, seduced by its celebration of amateurism. So, in a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a 3lb club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven Hamper metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true renaissance man.

      Childish has since remained steadfastly true to punk's DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognisable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavour he undertakes. He has released over one hundred and fifty albums of raw rock and roll, punk, blues and folk, written many volumes of searing poetry as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially and internationally feted. He hasn't changed course in any of his disciplines, though. The world just caught up with the sheer volume of his brutally honest work.

      To Ease My Troubled Mind is a mosaic portrait collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, bandmembers past and present, friends, foes, collaborators, even his therapist. It is an unflinching, yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist whose obstacle-strewn upbringing formed the backbone of his work: raised in a broken home and abused as a child, Childish was an undiagnosed dyslexic in remedial class at school who is nevertheless now Britain's most prolific and uncompromising creative force.

      The Guy Hamper Trio & Wild Billy Childish + CTMF

      100 Yds Of Crash Barrier

        This fully-loaded twin-spin single offers two renditions of Billy's '100 Yds Of Crash Barrier', provided by two of the leading ensembles active on the current moronic music scene.

        Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

        Traces Of You

          This top 7 inch 45 contains two versions of 'Traces Of You', written and sung by Nurse Julie Hamper. One side being called a demo, the other not. The last word goes to Mister Childish; 'this 45 will almost certainly be much like the way we do things, and hopefully be in accord with the listeners expectations, (dependent on what it is that they expect)'.

          Wild BIlly Childish & The Buff Medways

          A Box Of Buffs

            Three brilliant albums by the Buff Medways, neatly contained in one box, complete with booklet! The albums are Steady The Buffs, 1914, and Medway Wheelers. Buffs leader Billy Childish kindly answered a few questions about the band… The Buff Medways were formed quickly after Thee Headcoats split. The group split after ‘The Last of The Buff Medways’ 7” on Damaged Goods, with Billy Childish forming the Musicians of The British Empire soon after. How do you feel about the group looking back? Do you ever listen to the Buffs LPs? “I listen to some tracks if I have to learn them (I don’t know any of my songs and can’t remember words or how to play them, even live). I like the group a lot.” Were The Buff Medways the greatest group ever to be named after a breed of chicken? According to all accounts indeed they were. 

            STAFF COMMENTS

            Barry says: A lovely little collection of three releases from Wild Billy Childish and The Buff Medways. Two of the LP's here were originally released on Graham Coxon's Transcopic label and have been unavailable for some time. A timely and welcome box set.

            TRACK LISTING

            STEADY THE BUFFS

            Troubled Mind
            Dawn Said
            A Strange Kind Of Happyness
            Archive From 1959
            Time’s Up
            Sally Sensation
            Vanessa Does Favours
            Strood Lights
            Misty Water
            Well Well
            You Piss Me Off
            Ivor

            1914

            Unable To See The Good
            All My Feelings Denied
            Sonya Fagg
            Evidence Against Myself
            The Least Disappointing Man
            Just 15
            Nurse Julie
            Saucy Jack
            Mons Quiff (instrumental)
            Barbara Wire
            You Are All Phonies
            Caroline

            MEDWAY WHEELERS 

            The Man I Am
            A Distant Figure Of Jon
            Karen With A C
            22 Weeks
            Dustbin Mod (instrumental)
            Medway Wheelers
            (i’m A) Lie Detector
            Private View
            The Poet’s Dream
            You’re Out The Band Sunshine
            Poundland Poets
            I’m Glad I’m Not Like David Wise

            Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

            Love Comes In Spurts

              Wild Billy Childish has been recording and performing since the 1977 punk explosion. The Pop Rivets, Thee Milkshakes, The Headcoats and The Buff Medways are just a few musical outfits that Billy has been involved with part time. His day job is being an internationally exhibited artist and poet.

              CTMF (The Chatham Forts) was the first group name Billy came up with for a group whilst he was Head of Research for The Medway Military Research Group - investigating the Medway Fortifications (as well as being an Apprentice Stonemason at Chatham Dockyard, Kent, 1976). It wasn't until 2013 that Billy got around to utilising the name. CTMF features his wife Julie on bass/vocals and Wolf Howard on drums (both playing with Billy in previous incarnations over the years). Described by Billy as 'the epitome of modern: the sound of yesterday, tomorrow!', CTMF have released ten albums and over thirty singles/EPs.

              This four-track 7" EP includes four song versions recorded for broadcast on Marc Riley's show on BBC6 Music on the evening of 31st August 2022. Opening up with a take on Richard Hell's 'Love Comes In Spurts', (endorsed by Richard himself), followed by 'Failure Not Success', a track that showcases Billy at his poetic best. Both are alternative takes from February 2023's LP release 'Failure Not Success'. The tracks that follow are 'Petrol In A Cup', and 'Love Can Lose'.

              "This will be much like the way we do things, and hopefully it'll be in accord with your expectation, but not necessarily" (Billy Childish - July '19).

              TRACK LISTING

              Side A
              1. Love Comes In Spurts (alt)
              2. Failure Not Success (alt)
              Side B
              1. Petrol In Cup
              2. Love Can Lose

              Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

              Failure Not Success

                New studio album by Billy and CTMF! Featuring Billy at his song writing best! Includes covers of Richard Hell and Jimi Hendrix songs, along with a newly recorded version of ‘Bob Dylan’s Got a Lot to Answer For’! We asked Billy a few questions about this mighty fine album… Great album title! It will seem counter-intuitive to some but why do you favour failure over success? If the Pop Rivets (the first group I was in in 1977) had been “successful” in the formal sense, then it would have been a disaster - no learning about sound, growth, and independence. Luckily, we considered ourselves successful from the outset by doing what we wanted the way we wanted. We believed the hype of punk rock – do-it-yourself and lived it, unlike the “successful” leaders of the movement. I’ve always wanted small gigs where your open and exposed. The same with recording - excitement, mistakes, humour, and hopefully joy. The reason to become “successful” is to cut yourself from your origin and roots. In short, we'll decide what success is, not a critic, the world, or public opinion.

                The album opens with a cracking cover of Richard Hell’s ‘Love Comes in Spurts’. You’ve previously recorded this with Thee Headcoats on Brother Is Dead… But Fly Is Gone! from 1998. What made you want to revisit the song? Has Richard heard it? If so, what did he think? I forgot that we did it with Thee Headcoats. If I had that LP, I’d give it a listen. I do remember covering it live with The Pop Rivets in 1978. Richard said he liked it a lot and told his girlfriend he only wants my tunes at his funeral. I said, “not too soon I hope." He assured me he's well. We’re digging the instrumental track ‘Walk of the Sasquatch’. Is this track in honour of the North Kent Sasquatch Research Group? What do you know about that mysterious organization? The track is more about the pacific Northwest cousin of the English version (the Woodwose). The North Kent Sasquatch program has gone a little quite of late, but I believe they are still trying to get Cobham Woods - nearby across the river - to be designated as a reserve, though of course this poses some danger to the public during the spring breeding season. The album closes with a version of previous single ‘Bob Dylan’s Got a Lot to Answer For’. What would you say is the biggest thing Bob has to answer for? And what do you most admire him for? It’s a different take from than the 45 version. The single was recorded in full lockdown. What has Bob got to answer for? I guess a lot and nothing. It’s not his fault he is famous, it is the fans and enablers that should be strung up for turning poor little pop stars into demi-gods. He seems to be one of the few in the mainstream music industry, who has remained in charge of his own recordings, sounds, and writing. Besides writing a few very good songs, I also liked his pronouncement: “I made bad records on purpose.” Now that’s a great line - so maybe he deserves his Nobel prize after all. You have a couple of CTMF shows coming up at the Lexington in London in February. Given you have such a great hat collection, have you decided what stage gear you’ll be wearing yet? Billy’s “fashion box” will have to be investigated. I first got “into” fashion in thee Headcoats days. Thee Headcoatees started attracting members of the gay community to our gigs, that’s when I saw an opportunity to “go for the pink pound.” There was much excitement in the dressing room, pre-show, especially from Holly, to see “what fashion Billy might have in his bag this week.” Hats are of course top of all fashion requirements, and I’ll give my best thought and attention on the day.

                TRACK LISTING

                1. Love Comes In Spurts
                2. Failure Not Success
                3. Beneath The Flowers Serpents
                4. Walk Of The Sasquatch
                5. Hanging By A Tenuous Thread
                6. Fire
                7. The Old Long Bar
                8. Come Into My Life
                9. Skinwalker
                10. Becoming Unbecoming Me
                11. Moon Of The Popping Trees
                12. Bob Dylan’s Got A Lot To Answer For

                Wild Billy Childish & The Singing Loins

                The Fighting Temeraire

                  In memory of Chris Broderick of the Singing Loins, who passed away earlier this year, we present a new studio album by Wild Billy Childish and Arf and Rob from The Singing Loins. The Fighting Temeraire contains new songs, old songs re-worked, traditional songs and a Bob Dylan cover.HMS Temeraire was a 96 gun ship of the line, built in Chatham, as was HMS Victory. After the passing of their dear friend, Chris Broderick, (lead Singer of The Singing Loins), Billy, Arf, and Rob decided to get together and record a 45 in his memory. The single 'Song of the Medway' soon led to this full length LP. The Billy/Loins connection goes back to the early '90s. Billy had recorded the first two Singing Loins LPs in his bathroom back then, as well as an LP of folk variations of his own tunes with Chris and Arf. It was Chris's dying wish that the boys should continue the Singing Loins, so it was pretty much a given that this fine LP would come to be. At once ancient and modern, it is a fitting tribute to a great ship (and singer) of the Medway.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1. Song Of The Medway
                  2. A La Mort Surbite
                  3. I Don't Like The Man That I Am
                  4. White Whale Blues
                  5. Stood Upon A Chair
                  6. The Broken And The Lost Of The Old Long Bar
                  7. The Fighting Temeraire
                  8. A Rusty Stain
                  9. Your Mediocre Mind
                  10. The Walls Of Red Wing
                  11. The Jutland Sea
                  12. The Rochester Recruiting Sergeant

                  Billy Childish & The Singing Loins

                  At The Bridge - 2022 Reissue

                    In Memory of Chris Broderick of the Singing Loins, who passed away earlier this year. We proudly present a vinyl reissue of this Medway folk classic!

                    A re-issue of one of Damaged Goods early releases and a rather overlooked classic album, a one off collaboration between Billy Childish and legendary Medway folkies The Singing Loins. This was recorded in 1993 when Billy was in Thee Headcoats and The Singing Loins were in their first incarnation. The Singing Loins formed in late 1990, a two piece band playing Authentic raw folk from the Medway Delta. They are Chris Broderick on Vocals / Stick and Chris Arfur Allen on Guitar. They had recorded two classic albums before this both of which were released on Billy's own Hangman records. The album features a few Childish classics reworked including "You Make Me Die" and "Every Bit Of Me" as well as four tracks written by Billy & The Loins especially for this album.

                    Wild Billy Childish & The Singing Loins

                    Song Of The Medway

                      Billy & The Loins reunite for a tribute 7” to founding Loins member Chris Broderick. Billy recorded the first two Singing Loins LPs with Chris Broderick and Arf' Alan in his bathroom at May Road, Rochester in 1991 and 1993. The lads then decided to record an LP of folk variations of Billy’s own tunes, called At The Bridge. The Singing Loins then went their own way recording many LPs. Fast forward to late 2021 and the singer Chris was diagnosed with blood cancer. Before his passing in January 2022, he let Arf (and later Loin Rob), know that he wished them to carry on the group. That said Billy proposed a memorial 45 (and an LP to follow). The tracks: ‘The Song of the Medway’ is about their hometowns of Rochester, Chatham, Strood and Gillingham, all on the banks of the River Medway. Chatham's ancient Dockyard was where Nelson’s Victory was built. The Broken and the Lost of the Old Long Bar celebrates a drinking hole on Chatham High Street (which once boasted more pubs and brothels in a single mile than anywhere in the world). Especially written by Billy for this return of The Singing Loins, the songs are at once brand new and ancient. 

                      TRACK LISTING

                      1. Song Of The Medway
                      2. The Broken And The Lost Of The Old Long Bar

                      Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

                      Where The Wild Purple Iris Grows

                        New album from CTMF! On CD, digital and black vinyl LP! Billy Childish - Musician, poet, painter and writer shows no sign of slowing down. The last twelve months have seen him record a “career in a year” with The William Loveday Intention, battle off a debilitating COVID infection and revisit his punk roots with CTMF

                        STAFF COMMENTS

                        Barry says: The always prolific Childish returns for another storming LP of fuzzed-out punk and jilted rock and/or roll. Screaming guitars segue into jangling rhythmic sections, brilliantly epitomising the melodic duality of this hugely influential character.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        1 – Where The Wild Purple Iris Grows
                        2 – Mystery Song
                        3 – Ballad Of Hollis Brown
                        4 – She Was Wearing Tangerine
                        5 – Pluma Dorada
                        6 – Come Into My Life
                        7 – Train Kept A Rollin'
                        8 – You Can't Capture Time (Slight Return)
                        9 – You Say That You Love Me
                        10 – Tunnel Of Love
                        11 – Mouldy Fig
                        12 – The Same Tree

                        Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

                        Last Punk Standing

                          Like an Inexplicable Wheel' The strangest thing in life is time, not clocks but that there was a past and there will be a future apparently). Life seems to be an inexplicable wheel, and I thought there should be a pop song (or two) about that. 'Last Punk Standing' A more CTMF sounding track. This should really be called 'Who'll be the Last Punk Standing?' but it looked better as a shortened title. Again it's about time, and knowledge running out. When a generation passes there's no one left to explain the true nature of their experience. eg- those who fought in WW2 are all but gone and that's how we get the rise of the new right: we learn from history that we don't learn from history. Who'll be left to pass on the essence of what punk was about - home-made, please yourself music. PS - the character Roberta, is from a Leadbelly tune- I thought it nice to have her and Mark E. Smith in the same pop song (Mark was still with us when we recorded this number). Billy Childish – May 2019

                          STAFF COMMENTS

                          Barry says: There's no denying that Childish has had one of the most prolific and succesful careers in the rock and/or roll world thus far, and it doesn't look like he has any intention of slowing down. Clashing, snarling punk-rock attitude and most importantly, bloody good tunes.

                          Billy Childish

                          Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot

                            How did Billy come to be?

                            Holed away in the distant inter tidal marshland of mid-Seventies Kent, breaking rocks in the hot sun as a teenage dockland stonemason, undiagnosed dyslexia and general insubordination denying him the educational path he might have taken, Childish took the punk gospel Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols preached in 1976 as revealed scriptural truth.

                            Forty-two years later Childish is the last man standing, the most enduring, uncorrupted and prolific of the class of ‘77.

                            And some heroic fool has now tried to sum him up in a mere forty-eight songs, from the thousand or so he has recorded.

                            This compilation provides tiny tasters of each of Childish’s phases, and some snippets of short-lived side-projects too.

                            Administered correctly, it will make an addict of you. You have been warned.

                            TRACK LISTING

                            A1

                            1/Whatcha Gonna Do About It (Live) - The Pop Rivets
                            2/Kray Twins (Demo) - The Pop Rivets
                            3/Love Can Lose - The Milkshakes
                            4/I'm Out Of Control - The Milkshakes
                            5/You Make Me Die - Thee Mighty Caesars
                            6/The Double Axe - Thee Mighty Caesars
                            7/Come Into My Life - Thee Mighty Caesars
                            8/Cowboys Are Square - Thee Mighty Caesars
                            9/I Feel Like Giving In - The Delmonas
                            10/Brimful Of Hate - Jack Ketch And The Crowmen

                            A2/

                            1/Davey Crocket - Thee Headcoats
                            2/Girl From '62 -Thee Headcoats
                            3/All My Feelings Denied - Thee Headcoats
                            4/Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot - Thee Headcoats
                            5/An Image Of You - Thee Headcoats
                            6/Evil Thing - Thee Headcoatees
                            7/Wild Man - Thee Headcoatees
                            8/Hurt Me - Thee Headcoatees
                            9/I'm Hurtin' - Thee Headcoats

                            B1/

                            1/Step Out - Billy Childish And Holly Golightly
                            2/Upside Mine - Billy Childish And Holly Golightly
                            3/I Don't Like The Man I Am - Billy Childish And The Singing Loins
                            4/Muscle Horse - Billy Childish And Sexton Ming
                            5/This Wondrous Day – Kyra
                            6/Rum And Coca Cola - Wild Billy Childish And The Blackhands
                            7/Mr Hitler - Wild Billy Childish And The Blackhands

                            B2/

                            1/Archive From 1959 - The Buff Medways
                            2/Troubled Mind- The Buff Medways
                            3/Unable To See The Good - The Buff Medways
                            4/Strood Lights - The Buff Medways
                            5/The Man With The Gallows Eyes - The Chatham Singers
                            6/The Angel Of Death - The Chatham Singers
                            7/Medway Wheelers - The Buff Medways
                            8/You Piss Me Off - The Buffets

                            C1/

                            1/Joe Strummer's Grave - The Musicians Of The British Empire
                            2/Snack Crack - The Musicians Of The British Empire
                            3/Christmas 1979 - The Musicians Of The British Empire
                            4/Polygraph Test - The Guy Hamper Trio
                            5/We Spartan Dreggs (Be Fine) - The Spartan Dreggs
                            6/Headlong Fly The Achaeans - The Spartan Dreggs
                            7/A Shropshire Lad - The Spartan Dreggs

                            C2/

                            1/A Song For Kylie Minogue – CTMF
                            2/In A Parallel World – CTMF
                            3/Something's Missing Inside – CTMF
                            4/All Our Forts Are With You – CTMF
                            5/Cadillac - The Dear Watsons
                            6/It's So Hard To Be Happy - The Shall I Say Quois
                            7/CTMF – CTMF


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