Crud fanzine - the sequel

Crud #2 slithered into existence in April 1987, propelled by enthusiasm, naivety, and a heroic shortage of imagination. True to form, it contained the standard fanzine ritual: interviews with the usual suspects—the bands who were permanently mid-sentence in everyone else’s photocopied pages too. Still, there was method in the monotony. After catching Chumbawamba at the Boardwalk in Manchester alongside Anhrefn, I fired off a postal interview to the former and cornered the latter for a chat as well. Anhrefn were riding a small wave of excitement at the time, thanks to their anthem Action Man landing on the 7” compilation The First Cuts Are The Deepest on Words Of Warning Records.

The issue’s cultural gravitas was further elevated by Young Bowler’s Garfield cartoon, which depicted the lasagne-loving feline in a state of profound psychedelic exploration. Meanwhile, Jill The Ripper packed the margins with her razor-sharp doodles. One of these—featuring a punk sheep riding a skateboard—caught Anhrefn’s eye. They promptly commissioned her to design their album cover for Defaid, Skateboards A Wellies (Defaid meaning “sheep,” in case you're Welsh-not). Released in October on Workers Playtime Records, the album softened their live bite into something closer to punk flirting with new wave, but still a great debut all the same. Jill’s reward for her artistic breakthrough was being credited on the sleeve as “Jill The Kipper,” which she did not, for one second, believe was a charming linguistic misunderstanding ha-ha!

Promotion for the zine became a full-contact sport. I hitchhiked in all weather along the A55 and onward to Manchester and Liverpool, dropping copies on record shop counters like a low-budget Johnny Appleseed of stapled paper. Piccadilly Records, Probe, Kavern Records in Rhyl, and Cob in Bangor all received their unsolicited deliveries. Not content with legitimate distribution, I branched into covert operations—slipping copies onto magazine shelves in WH Smiths and assorted newsagents. This was the golden pre-barcode era, when a shopkeeper could simply ring up 25p and politely pretend the zine had always belonged there. Guerrilla marketing, 1987 style: equal parts optimism, mild trespass, and blind faith that someone, somewhere, might actually buy the thing... and they did! By the sackful!

GIG 0027: Anhrefn at Bangor University

 

Went with Wayne to see Anhrefn play a hometown gig at Bangor Uni. 

Jez Shea from The Paraletics introduced them in pidgin Welsh, which was quite funny and Sion laughed and said, ‘Rydw i yn hoffi coffi’ and they blasted into Cornel, followed by a track I don’t know the name of then Nefoeddun, Dawns Y Duwai, Wastio Pen, Action Man, Pres Am Gi, Dyfodil Disglair, Coesau Merch Coesau Cath, Defaid and Cornel again.

We stayed at Anhrefn HQ on Deiniol Road in Bangor.

I took a blank cassette with me and the sound engineer recorded the gig - here it is...

GIG 0026: Anhrefn at Ysgol Creuddyn, Penrhyn Bay

 

Myself and Wayne The Bastard travelled the 3 miles from the safety of Colwyn Bay to the leafy suburb of Penrhyn Bay to once again witness our favourite new band Anhrefn. 

This time they were, as bassist Rhys put it, ‘Grooming the school children, for they are our future fans.’ The idea was simple; spread your message to the younger generation for they are impressionable. 

So despite feeling like paedos as hundreds of marauding Welsh teenagers did as lots of marauding Welsh teenagers do, we enjoyed another blast from the bad boys of Welsh rock ‘n’ roll at Ysgol Creuddyn (which is a high school on the outskirts of the village).

GIG 0025: Anhrefn / Datblygu at Fulham Greyhound, London

From Manchester I went with Anhrefn to Fulham Greyhound for a St David's day gig.

A warm comfortable sleep put us in good stead for the trip from Manchester to London. Due to the number of weak bladders on board the Anhrefn tour bus, we had to stop at 429 motorway service stations and also had a chance meeting with touring Dutch hardcore punks BGK.
Arriving in London it didn’t take a genius to realise why I live in Wales! Too many people and not enough sheep ha ha! We first stopped at Kevin's house for some food. The Llwybr Llaethog maestro was very hospitable and said he’d see us later at the gig.

We found the Greyhound in Fulham and the bands started setting up etc. I stood on the stage and marvelled at the history of this venue, of the countless punk bands that had graced this place, that I had only ever dreamed of seeing as a teenage school kid clutching his copy of Sounds, and here I am standing on that very stage at the age of 20… Ok, enough of the dreaming now Welshboy, you’re not on stage tonight, you’re reporting, now get your pen and paper out.

Sitting down with David from Datblygu I thought I’d get an insight into what made this complicated character tick. Hailing from Brecon and basking in the interest and publicity their debut release has created, you would think both David and Patricia Morgan would be riding on the crest of a wave. ‘Hwgr-Grawth Og’ came out on Rhys’ Anhrefn Records and immediately John Peel picked upon the simplistic yet extremely catchy Casserole Efeilliaid (The Casserole Twins)- airing the track numerous times on his Radio One show.

Datblygu formed in 1982 out of what David described as ‘pure hatred for what was being expressed by Welsh rock and the Welsh language in general.’ They have only played around forty gigs in the last four years (only four in England, including last night and tonight) as David explains, ‘We tend to limit our activities because we dislike the mechanical formula approach of most groups and would never become a part of that. We never play the same set twice, so when we do play concerts we make them as interesting as we can for ourselves and hope that interest is reflected on anyone who can be bothered to turn up and see us.’

I asked him how he felt about Datblygu been touted as Wales’ answer to The Fall, ‘It is not a reasonable comparison, but rock journalism has a severely limited vocabulary of description, so if hacks describe us as Fall-like, they do so for the sake of convenience. The Fall are probably the most innovative rock group of the last decade, so it’s quite a compliment to be compared to them – that said, the comparison isn’t accurate.’

He continues, ‘The Fall are an influence, but so is everything you see and hear. Datblygu just do what we do, but nothing is without its influences. We strive for originality, not derivative of anything else. One reviewer said we were like Kraftwerk with a hangover, which is fair enough.’

Anhrefn’s bassist-manager-svengali, Rhys Mwyn released the EP on Recordiau Anhrefn (Records), and in a Crass style, only releases bands as a platform for bigger things, like a youth opportunity programme of nascent bands, so this in effect leaves Datblygu without a label – what are their plans for future material? ‘I wouldn’t sign to a major label and in 1987 I doubt if we’d ever be approached to do so anyway. I’d only consider an indie label if we didn’t have to compromise on our music or the Welsh language. Record companies generally have one thing in mind; they make, market and sell records as if they were chocolate bars. Factory and Rough Trade have hardly taken a risk between them for five years. Recordiau Anhrefn was totally different and we’ll probably be a part of whatever succeeds it. We've been working with Rhys Mwyn for four years and that’s bound to continue in some capacity in the future.’

I asked David what was meant by the slogan ‘File Under Non-Hick’ on their EP, ‘We haven’t personally been called Hicks, but the way the music scene operates, anything outside hip trends or isn’t by a group from Berlin, Liverpool, Manchester or London is going to be seen as a Hick thing. Mind you, most Welsh rock records traditionally deserve to be seen as Hick, we just wanted to state our independence.’

Are you not carving a channel of isolation? You hate the traditional Welsh scene, you insist on only singing in Welsh and you hate gigging! "We've played with English language bands once or twice and would gladly do so again, there’s no problem with that aspect at all. I like gigs themselves, but get pissed off by things like ten hour journeys, moronic PA people, being treated like shit by venue owners, sleeping on floors and losing money doing them. They’re often good fun but are invariably overshadowed by hassles.’

I may have asked the wrong question or maybe time was running out as Datblygu were due on stage in 15 minutes. On asking David if he was looking forward to performing tonight, he stood up and walked off…

Fifteen minutes later Datblygu were assembled and ready to rock, well, quiver would be a more appropriate word. Their act ran as smooth as the proverbial baby’s bum. As previously promised, a slightly different set to last night and they went down well in front of a London audience with a strong ex-pat Welsh element to it. On introducing the final number David said that this would be their last song ever… I hope not. They were even asked back for an encore, which I later learned was the first time ever! This was sadly, but predictably declined.

Anhrefn then took over and the double ignorance of the cockney sound engineer shone through when he announced, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Daiblugoo’. Sion laughed and said, ‘Actually we’re called Duran Duran.’ I noticed the band seemed tired tonight compared to Manchester, maybe the excitement of it being St David’s Day had taken it out of them, or the shared driving down to London and the prospect of a gruelling six hour slog back to Bangor immediately after the show. They gave the paying punters all the faves, including Defaid (Sheep) which was the most requested song over the two nights. Finishing with Action Man and encoring with the eight second long Nos Da (Good Night), Anhrefn then finished their drinks, sold some records and swiftly rode off into the night.

GIG 0024: Anhrefn / Datblygu at Manchester University

Travelled with Anhrefn & Datblygu to Manchester Uni - Got picked up with Huw Prestatyn (who lives in Rhuddlan, not Prestatyn) in the Anhrefn tour bus (well, hired minibus) and headed to Manchester University for the first night of a two day jaunt into England. It took us ages to find the venue, like Bangor, the University spread out across a lot of the city, so ‘Live at Manchester University’ is really a very loose term. We also failed to see any posters advertising tonight’s event, but were assured once we finally found the place, that flyers had been distributed the week before.

Datblygu turned up from their hut in mid-Wales, a line up that is David, Patricia and a drum machine and in front of about 70 to 80 people; including bar staff and sound engineers they raised their ugly heads and peered at the unsuspecting faces. They’ve been called Kraftwerk with a hangover and their music falls into The Fall [sic] mould and I can only describe it as an experience, a spectacle actually! Both David and Patricia’s attitude seemed to be one of total disinterest, as if they were hating every second of their own performance but were unable to do anything to stop it.

Very few bands like an in-house PA and Datblygu are no exception as David continually demanded, ‘Will you turn the fucking drum machine up please.’ He repeated the line so often that fitted quite well into the song!

The Datblygu experience (my first time!) was perhaps not as long as it should’ve been for me to fully get what they were about, their set included titles such as Tymer Asprin, Mynd and the near legendary Peel favourite Casserole. Perhaps the idea was to give the audience a short sharp shock, whereas in reality it was a slow, dull uncomfortable pain – they’ll probably go a long way… if they wanted to.

Then Anhrefn mounted the stage and Sion’s guitar blasted into 500 watts of Cornel (his amp is probably 100 watts, but 500 sounds better in print!). The song is about the same guy, same pub, same pint, same corner, same Tom, Dick and Harry and is pretty new in Anhrefn terms and pretty damn good. I think this is the fifth time I’ve witnessed an onslaught by the band and the fifth time I’ve walked away feeling fulfilled. There’s never a dull moment when these lads hit their notes; Hefin Huws is sat tightly at the back thumping those drums like there’s no tomorrow, Rhys Mwyn is stood there looking proud as he pumps those bass notes through his amp, and there’s Sion Sebon and Dewi Gwyn providing us with two guitars and vocals. Sion picks a chord, gives us a twang and they burst into another song while Dewi struts around providing ample back up; he was once reported to have played a solo!

When it comes to breaking the ice with an audience, Anhrefn must be pioneers at it, and despite wide open spaces due to a lack of a large audience the band finally coaxed the nervous gathering down to the front to boogie to the encore, which lasted four songs (Anhrefn hate doing encores).

After the gig Rhys complained over the apathetic way the hosts handled the publicity – or didn’t in this case! Yet it was a success by the fact they made more new friends and future gigs in the city will only be beneficial to both band and punter! A floor for the night was kindly donated by Artists For Animals coordinators Peter Elliot and Sue.

GIG 0020: Anhrefn at The Imperial, Colwyn Bay

 

So I arranged for Anhrefn to play The Imp in Colwyn Bay in February 1987. The Imperial Hotel was at the bottom of Station Road and hosted regular heavy rock band nights, such was the glut of those awful bands. I made posters and flyers using Letraset transfers and my newly acquired second hand typewriter and with a bucket and brush, pasted them all over Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Rhyl.

Anhrefn’s Welsh punk rock ignited the need within me to learn Welsh and break free from the mental abuse I endured in that oppressive village school of my childhood. The Anhrefn way was to promote Welsh culture by opening the doors to outsiders; to open up the closed mentality in Wales. It wasn’t the Wales For The Welsh and Fuck The English kind of jingoistic nazism we see all over Twitter today, it was about changing people’s attitudes toward the Welsh language. To stop non-Welsh speakers feeling like outsiders, to change the way people think. Welsh people were forever being called sheep shaggers, and rather than get all snowflakey and upset about it, Anhrefn would say;

‘Yes, we may shag sheep, but you eat them!’

This self-deprecating humour and punk ideal was catalyst in opening the psychological borders within the Welsh and English mentality and helped spawn Cool Cymru. We are all human! The fact you were born in Welsh Saltney or just over the border in English Chester doesn’t make you a different person; you are still human! Yes, it’s great to have a culture, a history, a cause, but is it really necessary to hate someone simply because they weren’t born in the same country as you?

The fretting, the panic, the worrying (a gig on a Sunday night!), the chewed fingernails, the financing; it all paid off. It was a good gig (I still have a recording on cassette), a good turnout and Anhrefn played well and they got paid £50. They brought a contingent of punks from Bangor, with whom I am still friends with today. And at the tender age of twenty I began to get a feel for local bands, and the need to create a local music scene.

Bands and local gigs were few and far between, there were rumours of ‘legendary’ punk or goth bands like The Dark, Foreign Legion, The Scargills, Sleepless Dream, Open Defiance but I had never seen or heard them. I caught a band called That Voodoo (from Llandudno) a couple of times who were a little like New Order meets the Wedding Present.

Also the ridiculously named Heroes On A Beach from Colwyn Bay who were nice guys but played fucking awful music, we dubbed them Hemoglobins In The Sand or Herpes On A Bitch. Aside from these, there was the poodle hair spandex pants high pitched screaming heavy metal brigade, whom we avoided at all costs.

GIG 0017: Anhrefn / Model Citizens at Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre

 

Model Citizens

Having seen Anhrefn for the first time a couple of months ago and establishing connections with the Bangor punk fraternity, we got wind that they were returning to our town. 

The Norwest Holst Room is a lifeless square function room at the Leisure Centre in Colwyn Bay - it could probably hold about 500 people. No chance of that tonight but still, a smattering of we 'punks' and a pile of Model Citizen's school mates did our best to fill the empty void.

That aside, we had a great time. Everyone piled to the front and made a 'gig' of it. Model Citizens were not long out of their 'practicing in the bedroom' phase, playing rudimentary punk rock, but were good fun. Fuelled by Kestrel lager and spurred on by my mates, I got up and sang Anti-Nowhere League's Woman with them, which was a giggle*.

Anhrefn by now had been proper bigged up as a decent live band by myself and I was eager to share my enthusiasm with my friends, and after their 45 minute set of punk rock, those friends agreed. They played the songs we knew, having recorded their John Peel session, including the excellent Defaid and Action Man. 

I loved the band's humour, notsomuch in the songs, but as people; particularly Sion and Dewi, who seemed up for a laugh, drummer Hefin too. Bassist Rhys was more the organiser, keeping it all together and we spoke at length about creating a scene across the North Wales coast, bringing together like minded people to spread the punk manifesto.

*[I'm pretty sure I sang 'Woman' with Model Citizens on more than just this occasion, which means I've obviously seen them before or after this gig - probably in Colwyn Bay - but sadly I don't have any record of it]

GIG 0016 - Anhrefn / Paraletics at Rydal School, Colwyn Bay (The Birth of Crud)

It was the 30th of August, 1986, and I was in my flat on Ellesmere Road, Colwyn Bay. I remember it well — one of those warm days when you’ve got the rickety shash windows open and the world just drifts in. That afternoon, I started hearing the thud of drums and raw guitars echoing across from beyond the main road. It sounded good. Really good. Curious, I followed the noise.

The music was coming from the Rydal School playing fields — an open-air punk gig / summer fete happening right in the middle of Colwyn Bay. Rydal was a private school, and not exactly unfamiliar territory. Being teenagers, we’d often skulk around there, full of adolescent hormones and the daft idea that we might catch a glimpse into the girls' showers.

On stage was a Welsh punk band called Anhrefn, delivering a fierce, rebellious set. I’d actually heard them just the week before, doing a session on John Peel’s show on Radio One. Seeing them live was something else — wild, Welsh, loud, and absolutely vital.

Sharing the bill were another band from Bangor called The Paraletics, just as raucous, just as raw. Their guitarist, Jez, ended up getting told off mid-set by — of all things — an angry clown, furious about his swearing. You couldn’t make it up.

As the bands played, I was appraoched by a guy selling fanzines. One stood out immediately — ROX, thrown together by John Robb of The Membranes, a maniacal noise outfit from Blackpool. I’d flicked through countless 'zines over the years, but this one had a real charge to it. It was anarchic, urgent, buzzing with DIY spirit.

I’d been keeping a scrapbook since leaving school three years earlier, full of oddball newspaper cuttings, satirical bits, and funny headlines. As I thumbed through ROX, I thought, Why not do something with all that? Maybe put together a fanzine of my own.

When I mentioned it to Edi, he took the idea a step further.

"Why don’t we do a ragmag-type magazine for the Bay?" he said.

I paused. "Yeah. But what the hell would we call it?"

Edi didn’t even flinch. "Well," he said, with a perfectly timed pause, "Crud."

And that was it. That was the moment it began — on a late summer day in Colwyn Bay, fuelled by punk noise, DIY attitude, and a clown with a grudge.