Eccentric Sleeve Notes (ESN) was a fanzine published in Newcastle Upon Tyne from 1981 to 1984. (Read about the two un-scholarly 15 year olds who launched it.) Scans of the original issues can be viewed by clicking on the covers below. More recent interviews and archive photos are available on the menu. Post Punk Britain is a related radio show. SIMON McKAY
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Book available from publisher
Fenella Fielding Obituary (The Sun 2018)
 North East Bands on StagePost Punk Britain tie-in with book on north east bands who played Newcastle in the 70s & 80s. |
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 Newcastle in the 1980sNewcastle bands, alternative club nights and the people who were part of it all. |
 Newcastle Clubs in the 1980sPost Punk Britain: Simon McKay recalls the music, people, venues and feel of his nights spent in Newcastle's 1980s alternative clubs. |
 Au Pairs (Lesley Woods)Lesley selects songs and, for the first time in 30 years, speaks about being in the Au Pairs. |
 Gang of Four (Interview)Andy Gill, speaking about the band says: "It's not a smiley thing, is it?" |
 Fenella Fielding 'Pre-Punk'Fenella plays short snappy, no-nonsense pre-punk songs from 1960s British bands. |
 Record Shopping in NewcastleHow just 3 years of buying records in Newcastle turned my hair purple and spiky. |
 Toot (Nigel Lewty RIP)Tribute to Big Toot, a central figure in the 1980s north east punk scene. |
 Don Letts Film MakerPost Punk Britain: inspired by Don Letts post-punk footage screened at the BFI in 2014. |
 Said LiquidatorNewcastle acoustic-pop band who notched up 33 songs, 139 gigs and 44 rejection letters! |
 Newcastle Bands GalleryNewcastle bands photographed in the 1980s including Daintees and Laverne & Shirlie. |
 Coming SoonMonochrome Set, Smiths, Hurrah! and many more from the ESN back issues. |
Viv Albertine is best known as Slits guitarist 1976-1982. When they split, she abandoned music until 2008 when she re-learnt her instrument and started to write new songs. Interviewed then, Viv describes her modest return to the stage in front of "a fisherman and a lady in a bobble-hat leaning on the bar, hiccuping" and what she recently learned about the special appeal to teenage boys of the photo on the 'Cut' LP. click here
The Clash's 1982 tour brought them to Newcastle City Hall. Despite playing a fantastic set, afterwards Joe Strummer said, "It was such a crap show tonight we didn't feel like it... We shouldn't be playing here. It's seats. We were banned for two years. I wish they'd kept the ban up." click here
Neale talks about how originally he was a fan of Penetration before becoming their guitarist. When they split in 1979, he found himself back with his parents and on the dole. click here
George Melly interviewed in 1982 talks about the Stranglers, Patti Smith and how he would 'spend the night in a different girls arms' if he could. click here
Newcastle's dumdum SCORE, previously
ju-ju pell-mell, performed a handful of shows in the 1980s, but like no other! They stood in a structure made of fabric and steel and projected images onto themselves while they added guitars and voice to sometimes thunderous backing tapes. In 1987 they released a stunning LP of layered sound. Then stopped. More than 30 years on they remain an online enigma. What was it all about? What will they do next? click here
Dave Ruffy's 'CV' reads like a 'who's who' of left field pop over the past 30 years. His drum credits include the Ruts, Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, Waterboys, Sinead O'Connor and Kirsty MacColl. Interviewed in 2007, Dave speaks about these bands including candid recollections of Malcolm Owen's sad demise. Dave also recalls an early gig... selling second-hand records in Cannon Street! click here
Penetration, from Ferryhill, were amongst the first salvo of groups associated with punk. In the space of two years they released a handful of singles and two albums on Virgin Records. In 1979, onstage at Newcastle City Hall, they announced their break-up. Interview, from 2008, with Pauline Murray & Robert Blamire. click here
Simon McKay presents ‘Post Punk Britain’. Music from the late 70s, early 80s that was considered weird and artless at the time, but now very influential: punk, post-punk and always some reggae. Also shows co-hosted with Fenella Fielding featuring gospel, soul, jazz and cult TV themes. click here
In 2017, the BBC were so tickled by the 44 Said Liquidator refusal letters published on this website that they included the band in a piece about 'rejection letters that will inspire you 'to not give up'. The other acts were Madonna, Nirvana, Nina Simone, David Grohl, U2, Deee-Lite and Nick Cave. To read the BBC article click here
Julien Temple, interviewed in 2007 to coincide with his third major punk documentary 'Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten'. Julien offers very considered, but honest responses; describing how, in 1976, it was easier to work with the Sex Pistols than the Clash because Joe was intent on hiding his middle class background. As 'it takes one to know one', Joe couldn't hide it from the rather well spoken Julien. click here
Photos of punk and post-punk posters from various exhibitions: 'Blank Generation' (Brixton, 2011), 'Process' Barney Bubbles (Chelsea, 2010), 'Loud Flash' Toby Mott Collection (Mayfair, 2011) & 'London Calling' Ray Lowry (Shoreditch, 2010).
The 'Said Liquidator Anthology 1987-1991' contains 33 songs mastered from the original sources, mainly studio master tapes. For the first time it makes available high quality format releases of some songs that were only released on cassette during the band's lifetime. ESN Shop
Gang of Four made a name for themselves in the post-punk scene of 1979 with their funky beats and edgy cutting guitar sound. Contemporaries such as U2, REM & INXS cited them as influences. More recently, it's been Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. In 2005 the group’s guitarist, Andy Gill, recollects the recording of their great LP ‘Entertainment’ and the long running rivalry between him and drummer Hugo, which erupted in a ‘drum off’ in a Japanese video game arcade. click here
Don Letts was close to the Clash, Slits and John Lydon when they were practically under siege. In 1976, he was DJ at the Roxy club during its original 100 day run. He played reggae and brought in his mates to work behind the bar where they used their skills to make spliffs to sell to the punks. The punk movement inspired him to make films, including 'Punk Rock Movie', Clash 'Westway to The World' and his latest 'Punk: Attitude'. click here
The Soul Kitchen was the beginning of Newcastle's Kitchenware Records. In 1981, they began putting on then unknown Scottish Pop bands in the Casablanca Club and then some of their own bands in Tiffanys and Greys Club. This is a selection of flyers and posters from that period. click here