Eater were originally formed in 1976 by four high school friends from Finchley, North London: Anglo-Egyptian singer and guitarist Andy Blade (real name: Ashruf Radwan), guitarist Brian Chevette (real name: Brian Haddock) and Blade’s brother, drummer Social Demise (real name: Lutfi Radwan). The band’s name came from a line in the 1970 T. Rex song ‘Suneye’; Eater later recorded a cover version of T-Rex’s ‘Jeepster’.
Eater were known for being one of the youngest bands, if not the youngest band, in the punk scene. They were 14–17 years old when they formed the group. The band made its first public performance on 20th September 1976 at Manchester’s Holdsworth Hall, featuring Buzzcocks as their support act.
Eater became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of the now-legendary Roxy Club. They topped the bill twice in January 1977; the second time they were supported by the Damned. They headlined again in February, this time supported by Johnny Moped, and twice more in March, supported first by the Lurkers and then by Sham 69. They also supplied two of their tracks, ‘15’ (a version of ‘I’m Eighteen’ by Alice Cooper) and ‘Don’t Need It’, to the seminal live compilation album ‘The Roxy London WC2’, released on 24th June 1977 by Harvest Records. Extracts from their performances at The Roxy were also included in Don Letts’ ‘Punk Rock Movie’ (1978).
The band released three singles in 1977 ‘Outside View’ (March), ‘Thinkin’ Of The USA’ (June) and ‘Lock It Up’ (October), plus a long player simply titled ‘The Album’ (November 1977), which included sped-up versions of songs by David Bowie (‘Queen Bitch’) and the Velvet Underground (‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘Waiting For The Man’). Both ‘What She Wants She Needs’ single and ‘Get Your Yo Yo’s Out (Eater Live E.P.)’ followed in 1978.
The band split up in January 1979 and its members went on to join the Vibrators, Slaughter & the Dogs, and Classix Nouveaux, and Andy Blade published a book about his times with Eater and beyond, called ‘The Secret Life of a Teenage Punk Rocker: The Andy Blade Chronicles’.
Andy Blade is now back in action in 2022 and has now reformed his iconic band Eater with a band of young glam gunslingers, giving the band a distinctly 21st century slant.
Their set includes tracks from the recently remixed and re-mastered album ‘Ant’, as well as all the singles…and more. This is no backwards looking nostalgic trip, but an anarchic brand of rock’n’roll. Eater are fresh from their dates with Dinosaur Jr, and sell out headline gigs around the UK, which certainly created quite a buzz. With a US tour lined up, along with a new single and album earmarked for 2023 – not forgetting a movie based on Blade’s other book ‘Outside View’ in production, Eater are suddenly more relevant than ever.
Fans will get the chance to decide whether this is indeed the case, as the band have announced that they are to play live in Brighton at The Prince Albert on Saturday 3rd June 2023. They have also lined up two decent support acts in the form of Jamie Perrett as well as PollyPikPocketz. Brighton & Hove News are certainly no strangers to these two, having previously witnessed their live performances.
A singer songwriter based in London, Jamie Perrett has rock ’n’ roll coursing through heart, mind, body and soul. Initially earning his stripes as a guitarist in the original line-up of Peter Doherty’s Babyshambles; Jamie is also notably the son of The Only Ones icon Peter Perrett, with whom he played a pivotal role in masterminding his creative rejuvenation of recent years. His current band will be gigging throughout 2023 with his dad’s buddy, Andy Blade and the new look Eater.
Jamie Perrett kindly performed at the Concorde 2 back on 29th May as part of the Jordan Mooney’s Official Memorial Charity Concert, which incidentally featured a set from his dad Peter Perrett. Read the account of that day’s events HERE.
PollyPikPocketz fronted by the enigmatic Myura, are a crazy, colourful Punk Rock band from London, who take no prisoners with their unique brand of melodic cartoon rock’n’roll.
The Brighton & Hove News have reviewed PollyPikPocketz on four previous occasions from 2019 to 2022. So far, they have never failed to deliver. Our last encounter was back in October – Read our account HERE. Check them out on Spotify.
Tickets for this forthcoming concert at The Prince Albert on Saturday 3rd June 2023 can be purchased now from HERE and HERE.
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