Half Of The Wildhearts From 1983? - Yep, it's Zig Zag!

[Arch]

First post n' all that.....

Have recently dug out an old CD that was kindly sent to me by an old pal of Ginger's a few years back, which can only be described as 'historic'!

It's a Zig Zag gig from late '83 / early '84 - with Ginger on Guitar (and errr...backing vocals) and Stidi on the Drums. There is information within these pages that scans a dodgy band pic (full make up etc) of them and the names of the other members - (sorry guys!), but I reckon all Wildhearts fans should get to hear how the musical genius Ginger started out. He would have been around 19 years old and Stidi a tad younger.

I have uploaded them onto DC++.

It's a mix of 11 Ginger penned originals and a couple of covers, and one song even contains a riff that would be used in Everlone ten years later!

Get yourselves a copy of DC++ and have a listen. Sound quality isn't too bad.

South Shields answer to the New York Dolls indeed!! Thanks Ed.

[Col]

Hi Arch

The pic is here:
http://www.gingerandthesoniccircus.net/ ... .php?t=815

[Arch]

Thanks Col - That's the one!!

Luckily, I hadn't seen the pic until after I'd heard the music! The original thread does have some funny comments regarding the picture. I reckon Ginger has the right idea with his glammy dress sense, but I think Image Management had been negligent with the rest of the band.....

[seventieslord]

This is crazy. Quite exciting, though. This pre-dates the Wildhearts be almost a decade! Can't wait to get home and find the music.

[Soundog]

Hi Arch,
and wow, sounds really interesting, resp. worthwhile getting - if for historic research purposes or just for a chuckle. When you say you uploaded it to DC++, does that mean you hang around in the WHs hub and offer it for download or is it actually somewhere on a server to download?

[Arch]

Hi Soundog

Yeah, I've basically used DC++ as a file sharing P2P type thing (there are some other guys on there with some cool Wildhearts rarities too - it's what led me there).

I think it's only available when I am on line (it's not on a public server), and I don't know what the 'traffic' will be like, but I have left my Wildhearts folder for sharing and the Zig Zag stuff is within that. I intend to leave it open for sharing for a long while, and I'm sure everyone who is interested will get something in the end.

I used the address: wildhearts.dynalias.com - in Quick Connect and that appears to search for specific Wildhearts tags. Just narrows down the search time.

I think it's fair to assume that Zig Zag never made it into the studio, and this is probably one of the few examples of them actually being recorded. Sounds like it was recorded in a pub or small club and although the sound wavers at times, it's perfectly listenable and probably no worse than a big band bootleg of the time.

The highlights IMHO are Pipeline, which is an instrumental which has a very 60's surf type theme mixed with a bit of Shadows!! Giro Boys which is very Ramones (with Ginger on backing vocals). The Heat Is On which has heavy Suckerpunch overtones and probably the greatest song that the New York Dolls never wrote!! Again, Ginger takes on the backing vocals. But perhaps the most interesting song is A Rock N Roller Needs His Rock N Roll, which I reckon is the most Wildhearts-like song and probably what they would have sounded like if they hadn't introduced the sweet CJ guitar melodies and vocals later on. And there is a tantilising brief taste of Everlone in Ginger's guitar work at one point.

So, worth a listen for both a chuckle (but only in a nostalgic way!) and just because it's so damn rare to find anything pre Quireboys.

[Soundog]

Great, thanks, it sounds ever better! I'll be looking for it when I get the time. Pipeline will be the Dick Dale track, but of course it's the Ginger originals that'll prove most interesting.

Cheers

[Arch]

Cheers for the correction. I must admit that I've never really heard the original Pipeline, and Zig Zag's version (although performed with the required Rock N Roll attitude), does sound at odds with the nature of the other tracks. Well, ya learn something every day!.....

[DangerousBeans]

G Pipeline will be the Dick Dale track

I wondered who had done that originally as i've got both Johnny Thunders and Hanoi Rocks doing versions of it.

[Soundog]

Yes, well, turns out I don't have a clue myself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_(song)

For some reason Pipeline made me think of Misirlou. Sorry.

[seventieslord]

I can't seem to download this from the hub. in fact, I can't seem to see anyone's filelist or search at all. It's like I can see everyone who is there, and chat with them, but when it comes to getting files, I am disabled. Any suggestions?

[Arch]

Seventieslord - Assuming you have the latest DC++ (which is 0.699), all the users should be listed in the right hand column. Remember to create yourself first! Right hand click on the user and 'Get File List'. This should bring up the folder, or folders that they are sharing. Simply download from there. When a user is listed as '0B' it means nothing is being shared, so look for the big file sizes.

I will try and keep my slot open during the day only (0900-1700 GMT). I'm assuming that when my PC is closed then no files are available (this could be wrong).

The Zig Zag files are proving quite popular, so I'm only allowing a certain number of uploads slots otherwise it brings my PC to a standstill!

Don't forget to use the 'wildhearts.dynalias.com' in the File/Quick Connect and keep an eye on the tags at the bottom as it opens a new window every time you do a command.

Hope this helps

[my3dtvtan]

Stooopid question but how do I get "The Hub"?

Download link?

[Arch]

This is the link for the Hub:


http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/download/

[fluffygrue]

Mm, I really should check out this Hub stuff.

Anyone know of a decent Linux client for DC, though?