BLITZ
One way or another Manchester has got a lot to answer for.
Everyone knows it has the strength of character to front anything or part of that anything.
Or was it Blitz, hailing from New Mills just outside manchester.
The two punks, two skins lineup had something that many of the second generation punkbands never had.
In short, they had a very raw, energic power that , rather than being just a bunch of noise, was music!
Catchy three minute, sing-along punk anthems that owed more, in style to the early pistols or clash, than anything else.
To the younger audience listening to Blitz remember, there was a previous generation who grew up with this music and it meant the world to them.
Treat it, not just as history, but as a Punk/Oi! milestone because that was what Blitz were...a nation on fire...and we miss it...
Live, Blitz were never at their best, they always appeared awkward, and
things never seemed to click. This was aspesially the case in London,
where the band courted a love-hate relationship with their ticket buying fans.
At a 100 club gig this relationship exploded and verbal abuse became
actual violence. Carl was the main target for verbal abuse due to his
"cocky"attitude on stage, and it was his fore-head on the night the bottle
was aimed at, and hit. Although there was a humorous side to events,
even if Carl wasnt conscious to see it. Some minutes before this unfortunable
incident, Mick Fitz from The Business
had been invited to stage to guests on vocals on the song "Youth".
Mick seemed unusually reluctant to grab the spotlight, and when Carl
was hit by the projectile and went down, it became blatantly obvious that
Fitzy didnt know the words to the song, but carried on on his improvised
swahili-mumbling best reminiscent of any Business gig.
Cynics amongst Micks Lewisham crowd reckoned the bottle was meant
for him, to shut him up!
Carl obviously knew the bottle was meant for him, and so at subsequent
London gigs the animosity became worse, turning to complete indifference.
Such gigs heralded an end of an era for Blitz, and summed up their
indifference to their fans, their bad luck, planning and their inherent
self destructive streak, which all made them what they were, but was
also to kill them off.
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