THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!!

A Merry Christmas and a happy new year to both Red Smed fans during the festive season. A seasonal message from the People's Commissar was mislaid somewhere near the Labour Club but instead of this we present a brand new old video of the great fight to save the Sedgemoor Splash (in which we came second).

The images come from the day of the heroic Occupation of Bridgwaters popular swimming pool which was being closed down by Sedgemoor Tories to make way for a gigantic and unwanted Tescos Extra.



The song is "We're all Going Shopping" written by Red Smed for the Dangerous Brothers back in 1979 (when the Splash was in fact the Sedgemoor Council offices - or the 'H block' as it was known). Ironically the song was re-written in 1985 for the Sedgemorons as "I lost my Heart in Tescos" by Red Smed and Radio 4 Producer-to-be Anne 'Betty Bonkers' Dixey. The attached version was recorded in 2001 by the Hot Trot Smash the System Boogie Band and features Smed on shite vocals, ridiculous piano and jazz guitar, Matt Bartlett on bass, Nervo on drums and Elaine, Cathy & Jo on backing vocals. It;s possible that Fat Bald Dave is on mandolin too but if he is he's been faded out in the mix. Which is a GOOD thing.

STOGUMBER CAJUN GUMBO

"Possibly the worse case of miming ever to hit the small screen" admits Red Smed at the launch of his latest tribute to himself 'Stogumber Cajun Gumbo', which features live footage of the Hot Trot Smash the System Boogie Band performing 'Leon Trotsky' at the Bridgwater Labour Club with the studio recording of 'SCG' dubbed pathetically over the top.

"Several parts of the dub actually work" Smed added in an almost desperate fashion. "But most of it doesn't. However, as there is no live footage of us doing any of our songs particularly well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

Stogumber is a small village in the backwoods of Exmoor. Red Smed has never been there, but he did explain "I once saw the film 'Southern Comfort' where a bunch of US National Guardsmen get lost in a swamp in Louisiana or Canada or somewhere and end up having to shoot the local Cajuns. I think 'Gumbo' is a kind of food they eat in West Somerset and it's probably made out of twigs and roadkill."

Smed admitted he got the idea for the music as he was copying it note for note from the film but "hadn't a bloody clue" what they were singing about so re-wrote the lyrics in his own attempt at French-Cajun creole. "It's probably pretty accurate" he said "I did visit a pub in Wheddon Cross once."

DO THE WASHING UP

In the dim distant past when nobody cared how fat you were or that you'd eaten yet another 3 pack of walnut whips when you'd promised you wouldn't, life was a lot simpler.

'Do the Washing Up' was written in either late 79 or early '80 and certainly featured on the Circus Records session which was done in February 81. In fact if I could be arsed to go over to the drawer i could probably pin the date down exactly.

Well, I did look and I have no record of it.

Needless to say. It's a waltz tempo . In Bb. In fact, Bb to F# if you want to play along, and like all Dangerous Brothers songs, tells the heart wrenching tale of life on the frontline in those crucial years when Thatcher first came to prominence. Mainly it was about my mum telling me to do the washing up .

New RED SMED You Tube release SWEDISH LANGUAGE YEH YEH YEH

Hardly new, apart from in the sense it's new to YOU TUBE, but 'Swedish Language Yeh Yeh Yeh' was originally recorded by the Dangerous Brothers for their 1981 Circus Records session.

Written by Brian Smedley, the original recording featured Smedlo on bass and vocals, Nervo on drums, Neal Heckford on keyboard and Alan Gadd on guitar and Dave Butland in a non vocal role -probably cowbell at a guess??

The recent recording is from the Hot Trot Smash The System Boogie Band album "Do The Washing Up" (also a Dangerous Brothers song from the same period) dating from 2002. This latest version, featured on YOU Tube includes Smed and Nervo again but joined this time by Dave Newton (the original Jim Rude from the Dangerous brothers) plus Matt Bartlett on bass.

To see other classic Red Smed videos click on any of the photos on the left hand list on this page.

RED SMED & The Hot Trot Smash the System Boogie band

"One of the most interesting and inspiring singer songwriters i have ever given birth to" .....His mum.
"Better than Trotsky at chess" .....M.R.Hargreaves
"Would look a total pillock with a centre parting" .....His mate Dave
"Can play the guitar better than a pig" .....B.Weedon
"Has run down less little old ladies than the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers"..... P.C.Platitude

Some of the many made up quotes about Bridgwater rock legend and self obsessed nutter Red Smed who for many years has used various aliases but always the same name to create interesting and challenging new music - often with a change of chord, and who has given the big break in the music world to many a young and talented nuclear physicist. Most who are now penniless vagrants or mental cases.

Most of Red Smeds songs , written mainly before he was born, take as an influence all the greats. Gustavus Adolphus (warrior king of Sweden in the 1630s) , Peter Lorimer (Leeds and Scotland inside forward ) , Skippy the Bush kangaroo (a kangaroo) and Gavril Princip (assasin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose actions in starting the First World War led to the Russian Revolution and International socialism - well,after the deaths of several million people, but you can't have everything always going to plan) .

Despite his timely death in 2008 Red Smed remains a regular favourite in the Bridgwater Labour Club where he performs with his band 'the Hot Trot Smash the System Boogie band' after the Bingo on a Friday night.

THE BANDS

1977-1981 the DANGEROUS BROTHERS. Bridgwater New Wave band based around the songwriting of Smed and Dave 'Jim Rude' Newton (who at the time had really long hair,then a mohican, then baldness) . Smed played bass and Dave payed fast punky rhythm guitar and set his arm on fire. Drummer throughout was Kevin 'Nervo' Freeman (because he'd had a nervous breakdown, but we didn't like to mention that) and the key musical centrepiece of the band was synth player Cosmo D.G Glissandoz (Neal Heckford) . The band was initially and latterly fronted by Dave 'Lokjaw' Butland (featured on 'Secret Seven' , then by Rod 'Rocco' Jones (who sang on the 'County Councillor' single and on the 'Internal Organs album - which included 'Ello Ello Ello-with a 19 year old Smed on 'Policeman' vocals and in later years by Tonto (who sang on the False Nose single). For the album and single Simon 'Supermeat' Gibbs replaced Jim Rude on guitar and by the time of the 'Secret Seven' the groups last release, Alien Godd/Alan Gadd had joined on guitar.The DBs at one time also featured a selection of female backing singers -Shaz, JoJo and Ali Snot and another time a trio of male backing singers-Rocco,Zorro(Kim Newman) + Ma Dangerous (Eugene Byrne in a frock). For a brief while the pig farmer 'Mango' joined on bass and at a different time Simon 'Sulphate' Wills played Hendrix style lead guitar for a few gigs. The band split in september 1981 after being a big fish in a small pond for far too long. The band released 2 albums 'Internal Organs' ( 1978) 'Going Shopping (1980), a single 'False Nose/ County Councillor' (1980) and an album track 'Secret Seven' (1981)

1981 - CLUB WHOOPEE. Formed during the dying days of the Dangerous Brothers this irregular vaudeville style band featured Smed on guitar or piano and in later years on most other instruments too. Lead vocals and kazoo was Kim Newman -who also wrote the lyrics to which Smed put the music. The band in its time also featured Eugene Byrne (jazz drums, vocals) Alex Dunn (vocals, clarinet) Dean Skilton (drums on the 21st century sessions) and Alan Brown (on euphonium) but also in the mid 80s included Alan Gadd ,Robin Tucker or Kevin Freeman on drums, Neal Heckford on piano ,Andrew 'Trolleyman' Napthine on guitar and a wide range of vocalists including Liz Hickling, Lynne Cramer, Peter Grieve, Rod Jones,Rob Hackwill and Sarah Marks. Club Whoopee contributed the track 'you're sort of okay' to the 1982 Sheep Worrying EP and made the albums 'Sheep Worrying at the Club Whoopee' 1982 and 'Route 666' (2001). The songwriting team of Smedley/ Newman also wrote the score for 3 musicals 'Another England (1980) The Gold Diggers of 1981 (1981) The Roaring 80s (1982) and 'Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock' (1987)

1984-86 THE SEDGEMORONS. Formed from the Sheep Worrying Theatre Company (largely to pay for the production of Sheep Worrying Magazine) the band featured Smed on guitar and vocals, Stuart 'Ghenghiz 2 Stroke' Croskel (bass) Gareth 'Bing' Beasley (guitar) Nervo (drums) Lianne 'Bobbie Bland' Bruce (vocals,bass,oboe) Anne'Betty Bonkers' Dixey (vocals,xylophone) and in later months Barry 'Bazzer' thompson (sax,whistles). The group released the single 'Drop Dead Darling/I need a Girlfriend' in 1985 and the album 'We're Bonkers'.

1988-91 THE SPANNERS Formed from the next generation of Sheep Worrying theatre players the band featured 4 songwriters - Smed (guitar,accordion,vocals) Mac McCausland (vocals,mouthorgan) Alexia Vernon (vocals) Matt Bartlett (bass,vocals) plus Nervo (drums) and on occaision Elaine di Campo (vocals). The Spanners made one album 'I Like a Glass of Beer Now and Then' (1989)

1997 - 2007 THE VISITORS was fronted by Matt Bartlett who wrote all the songs and played guitar backed by Smed on bass (and various other instruments on the albums including keyboards, guitars, accordion) and Nervo on drums. On occaision Alexia Vernon featured on harmony vocals. The Visitors gigged extensively and supported Joe Strummer on his penultimate gig at the Palace Bridgwater in 2002. They released several albums 'Flying to the Ocean Floor' (1999) 'Moving Darkly' (2000) Post Industrial dark (2002)

1984- RED SMED AND THE HOT TROT SMASH THE SYSTEM BOOGIE BAND has been going in one form or another since the Miners Strike when the band formed as an acoustic folk band to raise money for Socialist causes. The original line up was Smed (guitar,vocals) Lianne Bruce (vocals) Dave Hanna (tea chest bass, vocals). In the early years Andrew Napthine played bouzouki, Graham England joined on vocals and over the years various others came and went - Matt Bartlett played bass on both studio albums, Nervo played drums, Elaine di Campo , Cathy Smedley, Heidi Powell all sang , Jo Cox played flute and Dave Newton played mandolin. On an early album Jenny Booth did some vocals and in recent years Beardy Bob Hitchins, Stuart Croskell and Nick Tuckwell have played bass and most recently Alan Gadd has joined on drums.
Tne bands releases include 'Songs for Swinging Communists' (1986) 'Parretgrad UK (2000) 'Do the Washing Up' (2002) and 'West Quay a Go Go' (2008). Smed also released several tracks for compilation albums including 'Fat Bald Dave' (2004) 'Agency Man' (2006) 'Me and my Clone'(2007) and a xmas song 'Happy Merry Lovely Christmas' (2009) -mainly with just himself and Cathy performing. Theres also a 'Greatest Hits' album 'A Throughly Bad Lot' (2008)

Red Smed (right) and his adoring band of followers playing a benefit gig for Amnesty International in Taunton organised by a nutter. They remain available for bookings.