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Chapter 8

Hurricane Damage in Leeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


"Hurricane Damage in Leeds" is one of the Works' pieces that chronicles the devastation wrought by the winds of rabid conservatism. It creates mental images of Edge City...Marx and Engels wandered around these mazes of red brick back-to-backs studying the birth of the Industrial Revolution. Now, their ghosts haunt the bricked-up terraces and derelict mills which illustrate only too well the poverty of modern-day Britain."

Extract from "The Junk Manifesto" by L.Syd

Hurricaneinterview by solomonrobson

 

 

WDR: "The tune 'Hurricane Damage in Leeds' - people in Germany don't know much about Leeds right - except that it's somewhere in England...But to me, I've been to Leeds and I know a bit about it - the unemployment, a lot of people without jobs - How was the situation for you, growing up in Leeds?"

Louis: "I didn't grow up in Leeds"

Gene: "No, neither did I"

Louis: "So I've no idea, and not only that, all that spiel about 'Hurricane Damage in Leeds' being about urban decay and despair was made up by our Manager!"

Gene: "Yeah it was!"

Xero: "Yeah it was - it's all hype that!"

Gene: "The title was taken off a newspaper board, y'know - Headline - 'Hurricane Damage in Leeds!' "

Xero: "And it was an' all wasn't it? Christmas decorations everywhere - falling off onto cars - a scene of utter..."

Gene (very forcefully): "It's got absolutely nothing to do wi' the state of society"

WDR: "Well what about calling the record 'Shove It' - didn't you want to make a political statement?"

Gene: " I think more of an a-political statement. "

Xero: " Yeah! A-political! Like....we disapprove of things. "

Louis: (laughing) " Lots of things. "

WDR: " Like what?"

Xero: " Electric guitars. Margaret Thatcher. Anything that begins with P. "

Gene: " Radio interviewers......what else don't we like ?"

Louis: " Hip Hop....."

Xero: "What, don't we like Hip Hop?"

Much shaking of heads.

WDR: " Record Companies? "

Xero: " No....we don't mind record companies, especially rich ones that give us loads of money. We like them. "

WDR: " So is that where The Works are headed then? "

Xero: " What, with loads of money? I fucking hope so, and the sooner the better if you ask me."

WDR:" Is that your prime motivation then? "

Gene: " Well, it's more of a way of life, like, man. "

Louis: " Yeah...like, y'know....we dig !"

Gene: " It's Jazz City y'know, all of this touring Europe lark. "

Louis: " It's like, we're all hip to the same message..."

Xero: "...-ville. "

( laughs all round )

Louis; " Yeah....-ville....and then when the groove got going between the three of us..."

Gene: " We got down and dug it. "

Louis: " And we've been digging it ever since, and we've dug lower, and lower, and lower. "

Xero: " Boogieing on down....Anyway, we might go to Japan. "

(Incredulous laughs from Gene and Louis, as this is the first they have heard of this.)

WDR: " And you've said that America's out, right?"

Gene: " Yeah, definitely, we totally disapprove of America!"

WDR: " Why is that? "

Xero: " It's chockers with Americans, isn't it?.....We don't like Americans. You can watch it on the Telly if you want. If jazz keeps on getting better in the Eastern Bloc then we might emigrate there. Or New Zealand, maybe. Now that's the place to be! "

WDR: "And what about Germany, you've played there twice?"

Gene: "Didn't like it"

WDR: "Why not?"

Gene: "Too many rich people who stare at you in the street"

Louis: "That's true, that's one thing that isn't very pleasant about Germany - the looks you get"

Xero: "Essen's a carrier bag full of worms innit? There's nowt there and what is there is closed - or broken"

Gene: "One good thing about Germany though is the cigarette machines - you can put four five pence pieces in and get a packet of twenty - now that's what I call good value"

 

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