The Ruts were one of the great late 70's punk bands, and I still consider them amongst my top five British bands, though terribly shortlived they were.

Here's some information on a much overlooked classic band;

There's a bit of everything there in their music. From the explosive punkery of 'Babylon's Burning' or 'Backbiter' to thrash punk like 'I ain't Sofisticated' or 'Human Punk' to the mesmeric tour de force of 'It Was Cold' to just the excellent tunes of 'West One 'and 'Staring At The Rude Boys' to the reggae of 'Train In Vain' and 'Jah Wars'. One minor criticism. Their record covers were some of the worst I've ever seen and like The Sex Pistols, never featured band members on their covers!

"I don't think there's another band like us. We play fast numbers. We play slow numbers. We play reggae and we play good music and yeah we're very punk." Dave Ruffy 14.7.79 NME

from: punk77

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Hard punk outfit the Ruts, noted for their love of reggae and solid musicianship, were formed by Malcolm Owen (vocals), Dave Ruffy (drums), Vince Segs (a.k.a. John Jennings; bass) and Paul Fox (guitar). Their early years were characterised by relentless gigging, honing a set of breakneck stormers like "Criminal Mind" and "Human Punk", which were interspersed by slower, reggae-influenced numbers. They played numerous 'Rock Against Racism' benefits, often appearing on the same bill as London reggae artists Misty.

January 1979 saw a first wave of national recognition. A debut single, "In A Rut", financed by Misty's People Unite label, was an excellent mix of heavy power chords and a barked chorus of 'You're in a rut, and you gotta get out of it!'. Although it missed Britain's Top 40, the band were rewarded with three sessions for BBC Radio, and a contract with Virgin.

The second single, "Babylon's Burning", was even better: opening with emergency sirens, it featured an irresistible escalating punk riff and lyrics decrying the pressure cooker of Britain's inner cities. A commercial breakthrough, it reached the UK Top 10 in May 1979, but live appearances were beginning to attract the unwelcome attentions of skinheads, some of whom did not share the band's anti-racist stance.

The consequent violence became a source of great depression, especially for Owen, whose heroin habit was also causing problems. Nevertheless, the Ruts' debut LP, The Crack (1979), demonstrated that musically they were one of the most accomplished products of the punk rock era. Numbers like "Something That I Said" (the third single) and "Savage Circle" were tuneful power-punk anthems, and "Jah War", an account of an anti-National Front riot, underlined their mastery of dub rhythms, while "SUS", a song about excessive police powers, showed their political commitment hadn't cooled.

"Staring At The Rude Boys", their first single of the 80s, was the band's most accessible, and charted Top 30 in the UK. Tragically, though, it was to be their epitaph: in July 1980, Malcolm Owen's heroin-related death brought everything to a halt.

Virgin cashed in with a compilation of old material, Grin And Bear It (1980). Meanwhile, the remaining Ruts regrouped with Gary Barnacle (saxophone/keyboards), and with Fox taking over as lead vocalist, as Ruts DC (from the Latin 'da capo', meaning 'from the beginning'). But the creative chemistry had gone, and two further albums - Animal Now (1981) and Rhythm Collision Dub Vol. 1 (1982) - were a disappointing mix of pop-punk, funk and reggae.

By 1983 the band had disintegrated. Ruffy joined Aztec Camera and Barnacle became a busy session musician. Nevertheless, the original band's influence lived on: bands as diverse as New Model Army and Nirvana cited them as an inspiration, and posthumous releases like The Ruts Live (1987) and The Best Of The Ruts (1995) have testified to their continuing appeal.

link

Today, at this moment, 3pm, I'm under heavy medication once more, and spent the past few hours in surgery. My head feels like Salisbury Plain, my knee like the Thames Estuary, and my spine like Dunwich, so it could be worse.

My blood pressure reading a couple of days ago was 177/100, last week, 176/98, and today, 131/88. Because today's reading was OK, it seemed to ease everyone's worries. However, I have a lot of test results pending, for blood, heart and spine. The MRI result is expected...in six months!! Yes, really, that is what I have been told, it will take six months for the December 9th scan to be processed, assessed, written and posted to my GP. Lisa Simpson created life with her tooth, and saw it destroyed by Bart in a hundredth of that time.

Here in surgery, I heard on a distant radio, that Britain's alcohol problem is twice as bad as that of America. I'd like to know the precise definitions of the report, as to what exactly does "problem" and "bad" mean here??
I readily accept that in some cities, Norwich included, there are a very large number of winos around.

Well, I'm off to rest now, I shouldn't be posting or using PC at all, but I wanted to add these funnies below;

A layperson’s guide to medical terminology

Antibody - Against everyone
Artery - The study of fine paintings
Bacteria - Back door to a cafeteria
Benign - What you be after you be eight
Caesarean Section - A district in Rome
Cardiology - Study of poker playing
Cauterise - Made eye contact with her
Coma - A punctuation mark
Congenital - Friendly
Dilate - To live longer
Fibrillate - To tell lies
Genes - Blue denim slacks
ICU - Peek-a-boo
Impotent - Distinguished, well-known
In-patient - Tired of waiting
Minor operation - Somebody else’s
Morbid - A higher offer
Nitrate - Lower than day rate
Out-patient - A person who has fainted
Paralyse - Two far-fetched stories
Pathological - A reasonable way to go
Protein - In favour of young people
Recovery room - Place to upholster furniture
Red blood count - Dracula
Serology - Study of English knighthood
Tablet - A small table
Urine - Opposite of you’re out
Varicose - Very close
Vein - Conceited

SASUB

And a few more, from students;

"When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire."

"H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water"

"To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube"

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

"Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects."

Music: De-Phazz: Anchorless [from "Soho Lounge"]
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Spellbound
The Ruts: Staring at the Rude Boys

A monk asked Joshu, "What is the meaning of Bodidharma's coming to China?" Joshu said,
"The oak tree in the front garden."
A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the living meaning of Zen?." Zhaozhou said,
"The cypress tree in the courtyard."
- Mumonkan, Case 37

“True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings; Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings”
William Shakespeare

The Swallow is also known as the 'svale' bird according to Danish folklore, and received it's name by trying to relieve the sufferings of Christ while nailed to the Cross, with the cry, 'Svale, svale' literally translating as, 'Cheer up, cheer up!'

Swallows will drink by skimming the surface of rivers, lakes or other sources of water by scooping up a mouthful and they also bathe on the wing by diving into water, though occasonally they can be seen dust bathing or smoke bathing.

Scotland believed the Swallow contained the blood of the Devil.

The low flight of a Swallow invariably signals rain, while a Swallow nest upon your house was thought to be a lucky omen, also protecting against fire, lightning and storms, though the sudden abandonement of such a nest would spell great misfortune to the houseowners.

Should a Swallow fly into your home, this was believed to of considerable good luck, according to English folklore, while an old German belief says that a woman treading on Swallow eggs, (quite an unlikely event one must say), then she will "become barren". In parts of France they said in folklore, that a Swallow, (Hirondelle), landing upon your shoulder is a signal of death.

Universally it is believed that the killing of a Swallow will result in a poor milk yield, and the disturbance of the bird's nest will spell a poor harvest.

Should you witness a group of Swallows fighting, then this too, according to folklore, is a very unfortunate sign indeed. The bird was believed to carry within it's body, two stones, one of black for good luck and one of red as a cure for insanity.

Together with the Wren, the Swallow is given the credit of having brought fire to humans, hence the red feathers.

Until the latter part of the 19th century, swallows were believed to hibernate beneath water; now we know that British swallows spend the winter in South Africa. The trip between the northern breeding areas and southern Africa usually takes a couple of months but one bird was recorded flying 12,000km from Johannesburg to Russia in just 34 days!

Swallows often used to nest in chimneys before the advent of central heating!
Interestingly, European female swallows incubate the eggs by themselves but in North America males and females share this task!

A brood of swallows will have consumed some 150,000 insects by the time they fledge.

by lauren6

There are 375,000 breeding pairs in the UK. [rspb]

Swallow
Hirundo rustica
AKA: Barn swallow

Swallows are small birds with dark glossy blue backs, red throats, pale under parts and long distinctive tail streamers. They are extremely agile in flight and spend most of their time on the wing. They are widespread breeding birds in the Northern Hemisphere, migrating south in winter. Recent declines due to loss of habitat quality in both their breeding and wintering grounds mean they are an Amber List species.

More...

RSPB

The interested friend is a swallow on the roof. (Prepared to leave at the approach of winter.)
French proverb