Screaming Blam-matic

Following on from this ongoing Deepgrooves historical dig (coming tomorrow  - Urban Disturbance's lost 2nd album, Three the Hard Way and how NOT to clear a sample), Simon Grigg has a fascinating post over at his blog on the Screaming Blam-matic Roadshow, a tour he was involved organising in 1981 with the Screaming Meemees, Blam Blam Blam and the Newmatics.  Saw it described as "The other epic 1981 tour" on Twitter by Sacha D. Nice.

"... the idea to take the three Propeller bands on the road together was mine, Paul Rose and Dave Merritt’s (the original Screaming Meemees manager) in March or April 1981.

Paul, who was also The Newmatics manager, and my partner in the label, and I put it to Tim Mahon, the Blam Blam Blam bassist (and defacto manager) in their shared flat in Brighton Road.
Tim came up with the name on the spot.

It was broadly accepted as a concept but remained just that until the Blams took it to the next level. It was their idea to tie the concept to the New Zealand Students Arts Council and utilize the network first set up in the 1970s by Bruce Kirkland (later US manager of the legendary Stiff Records and a mentor of the equally legendary Trevor Reekie). Don, as I recall, made the approach...

...Initially nobody clicked that the tour seemed to coincide, in fact in places precisely both in time and location, with the event that was to tear New Zealand to pieces in 1981 – the justifiably infamous Springbok Tour..."

For the rest of the story, including a bunch of previously unpublished Blam Blam Blam shots by Jenny Pullar, head over here.