If folk situated in Mid Sussex believe that they are going to participate in Sunday cream teas with cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off and Earl Grey in china tea cups, then they’ve got another thing coming!
On Sunday 21st September the building, known as Mid Sussex Music Hall, which is physically (and ideally) located in the car park of Hassocks Railway Station, will be hosting a quartet of punky types spanning across the past 47 years. Doors will swing open at 4pm and the first band will hit the stage at 5pm where they will be performing all the Flanagan and Allen music hall hits from days gone by! Oh alright then, that last bit was a porkie!
What actually is going down is renowned Peter Bywaters will be riding once more with his pals as Peter And The Test Tube Babies and they will be rockin’ the building to its foundations before scarpering off up the car park and on to the Brighton bound train! We are rather hoping that ‘Run Del Run’ Strangefish will again be attending this year as part of the lineup, but at the time of publishing we aren’t actually totally sure what the Test Tubes lineup will be.
In the year of our lord 1978 the 17 year old punks Peter Bywaters and Del Strangefish founded Peter And The Test Tube Babies in Peacehaven. After a couple of rehearsals they made their first recording, ‘Elvis Is Dead’, which appeared on the ‘Vaultage ‘78’ compilation of Brighton new wave bands. Radio 1’s iconic and sadly missed DJ John Peel loved the song instantly, a John Peel session with the Test Tube Babies swiftly followed. The success was breathtaking and Peter And The Test Tube Babies became one of the hottest unsigned bands in the UK overnight.
The first single ‘Banned From The Pubs’ which was met with great enthusiasm followed and fans and press freaked out in equal measure. From that moment everything went crazy, sold out concert halls in the UK and Europe and their big success in the media pushed their debut album ‘Pissed And Proud’ to No.1 in the UK independent charts. Directly after that ‘The Mating Sounds Of South American Frogs’ was released – a must have for every record collection – and sold more than 100,000 copies, resulting in invitations from far and wide. The Test Tube Babies played shows all over the world and cemented their status as one of the most brilliant and funniest live bands in punk rock culture. They also had the honour to represent the United Kingdom at the historical MTV East/West party to celebrate the fall of the Berlin wall.
The band line-up may have changed over the intervening 47 years…. Yes I know right, forty-seven years!!! … but the manic smile from Peter, the driving bass and drums, and power based guitar is still all there!
The trio of other acts on the bill are The Hotknives, Electric Cowboy Club and Vegan Meat Raffle. I’m absolutely sure that the new guard will be flying the punk banner harder and faster than the headliners have done in the past, so you’ve been warned! So let’s have none of this turning up a few hours into the event, as you would have arguably missed all of the action! So grab your tickets and arrive as the doors swing open, purchase your liquid refreshments and get ready to mosh as best as you can!
Tickets for this forthcoming bash are on sale now and can be purchased HERE.
www.instagram.com/veganmeatraffle
