SGT.BILKO'S KRAZY COMBO

 SGT. BILKO'S KRAZY COMBO

Here's a bit of a timeline, leading up to Bilko's playing at the Klub Foot. 

The bands constant line-up changes and eventual mothballing, led to the correct alignment of musicians, to play the Klubfoot. 

In 1986 the band was over. I was feeling depressed and lost. 

On my shelf was a tape that we recorded in 1983 ,  featuring Mark Bending 13 years old! ( lead guitar), Berni Bilko (double Bass and Rhythm Guitar) and Roy Mason? (session Drummer). 

It rarely got played, just gathered dust, on the shelf. 

The tape contained home studio demos of

Married to the bottle, Point of no return and Public Enemy number one. 

They were self penned, neo rockabilly in style. 

Out of sheer frustration, I sent the tape to ABC Records, not expecting a reply. 

OK, let's go back a few years.... 

Berni ( Bass) was busking with Tim Lumb (Guitar) in and around Northampton, in 1982....gradually others would come and go. 

Pete Turland ( prior to "The Baskervilles", Nervous Records) joined us, on Bass, meaning I moved on to Guitar and Tim on to Guitar or Drums. 

Pete introduced us to, his school friend, Mark Bending ( Guitar). 

Mark stayed with Bilko's, when Pete left the band, 6 months later.... and I returned to playing Bass. 

As we went further afield to busk, we picked up another Bass player, Stuart Bates, this was late 83, early 84. 

Whilst busking in Coventry and Birmingham, Al Gare would follow us around and sometimes play a bit of bass. 

Mark's parents were called into a meeting, with the headmaster, at School. 

His Schoolwork was suffering.... Rock'n'Roll had to go! 

By the middle of 1985, Mark was on a curfew. 

By then Tim was drifting deeper into the world of drugs. He was becoming so unreliable. 

So an advert was placed in one of the National music papers NME of Sounds..... for a drummer. 

We found a drummer. 

Martin Smith of Oxford. 

But the deal was, we had to take his girlfriend, Helen Ingham ( Helen Shadow) on guitar. 

So for a while we played in two bands... 

Sgt. Bilko's Krazy Combo and The Blue Ridge Rockets. 

Helen had been in the Shillelagh Sisters.... and later played with Mark Robertson in the Queen B's and Nigel Lewis in the Johnson Family.....

but for now, the closest she got to Psychobilly, was as a temporary member of Bilko's. 

The Blue Ridge Rockets was pure rockabilly.

It was an uneasy truce, having to compromise and be part of two bands. 

So we would take gigs under one name, or the other, depending on what the venue required. 

The tensions in the group, with having two people vying for 'front man' status, meant another split was inevitable. 

Stuart was the first to make noises. about calling it a day.... he was married and had family commitments. 

The band folded shortly after. 

Then I sent the tape off. 

I received a reply, within a few weeks. 

To my shock, we were offered a gig at the Klub Foot, supporting Restless! 

( This would have been mid 86) 

But I had to refuse.... I had no band. 

I had kept contact, with the young Bass player Al Gare.... and spent the next 6-8months teaching him how to play Sgt. Bilko's Krazy Combo's set list. 

During this time, I was busking outside the Klubfoot, with Tim.... and whoever else turned up. 

Once we were up to speed.... I phone Martin Smith and he agreed to rejoin the band. 

Then the unexpected happened.... we were asked to play the Klub Foot again.... 

This was mid 1987....

I couldn't turn it down. 

_______________________

More to come later. 

Regards

Berni Bilko. 

The First time Sgt. Bilko's Krazy Combo played the Klubfoot, was in mid 1987. It was to be one of many gigs there, that took us up to April 1988, just before the place was bulldozed. 

It was bound to be chaos.... a band quickly thrown together, with little chance to really gel. 

We had managed to play a few venues local to ourselves, I being from Northampton, Al Gare about 20 miles north, in Rugby and Martin Smith was about 45 miles south of me, in Oxford. 

We played a few gigs, at the Jericho Tavern, in Oxford, in the run up to our first Klubfoot. 

We played there, with a couple of Klub Foot bands, The Flintstones and the Kat Burglars, in the early months of our new line-up. 

We also played at The Black Lion, in Northampton. It was a small, gritty pub, in the town center, where all the sub cultures mixed. Punks, Skins, Mods, Greasers, Hippies, Goths and Rockabillies and Psychobillies. 

I remember telling, a few of the local Psychobillies, that Bilko's would be playing at the Klubfoot. " Bullshit ", was the reply. 

The next time I ventured into the Black Lion, I had a copy of Sounds music paper, under my arm. I showed everyone the Klubfoot advert. I think we were supporting the Highliners and Torment. 

At the time, Martin was the only driver and car owner in the band. 

This left Alan and me to use public transport buses, coaches and trains. 

We would be carrying all our instruments, from the coach station and then dragging them to Hammersmith, on the tube. 

We would turn up at the Klub Foot, at different times, to each other. On one occasion Al turned up first... and was beaten up by the bouncers, whilst being interrogated about where the rest of the band was. 

Al was only just 16 years old and very skinny, at the time, so took a beating, without responding... he just curled up on the floor, waiting for it to end. 

The queue of multicoloured quiffs and flattops, was hundreds long.... it was so great not to have to stand in line. 

We played the Hammersmith sleaze pit, 7 or 8 times ( it could be  more ) 6+ times upstairs and possible twice in the cellar ( Broadway). 

A couple of times, I had gone there, as an audience member, on a guest pass. 

It was a big deal to play the Klubfoot. 

I was very anxious about facing a big, sometimes hostile, crowd. 

We had a crate of beer, supplied by the promoter, before we went on. 

24 cans, between the three of us... so all our feelings of doubt and unworthyness, soon evaporated! 

We seemed to get through the ordeal, by the skin of our teeth.... clutching success from the jaws of chaos! 

The stage was large, wide and about shoulder high. The audience would be pressed right up against it, whilst the wrecking pit was kicking off, only a few feet behind the first few rows. 

Being a support band, we had less space to move, the stage was crammed with each band's amplification. By the time the main band played, all the support bands had taken their amps away. 

But when we played, cables trailed everywhere. 

There were plenty of opportunities for us to trip up.... and we did. 

We would emerge from the left side wing, facing the audience. We'd be wearing rubber glove head gear ( they would only stay on for a song or two, before flying off our sweaty heads) .... and I wore diving flippers, on my feet. 

I once danced across the stage and managed to kick the microphone, from in front of the guitar amp. 

I was unaware, that for half the time, I was standing, with a flippered foot covering the microphone. 

The sound guys had a hard time, trying to sort out the levels and feedback. 

I remember the jeering crowd, hurling abuse at us.....it was a baptism and every gig, after that became a little easier. 

We seemed to draw energy from the crowd. 

We were powered by booze and nervous energy. 

More to follow.