Lost And Found

‘The first gig we did in London was at Dingwalls and it was magnificent … It was so packed, I thought … Oh boy, we’re gonna be the next Beatles. Of course, the last Beatles weren’t wildly self-destructive junkies … ‘

Leee Black Childers, manager of the Heartbreakers.

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The Heartbreakers were the great missing link between rock and punk, any sleaze rock you have ever liked has their slime in its DNA. Ex New York Dolls Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan roped in Walter Lure and Billy Rath and hopped over the pond in ’77 to London to seek their fame and fortune. They brought effortless NY cool, biker jackets, biting rock n’ roll, non-punk-regulation hair, great musical chops and heroin to the UK punk scene**; three junkies and a meth addict, they weren’t born for the long haul.

A great guy I worked with unloading lorries in a warehouse in Leeds, called Ian Bailey* who was an original punker, once taped the track ‘One Track Mind’ at the end of something for me. It blew my mind. Ian told me most of the LP was terrible, a disappointment^. Thus began the quest.

I bought a CD copy of L.A.M.F years later and it just sounded muddy as hell, which was frustrating because you could hear how great the tunes would be if they were mixed and fixed properly. Over the years I have chased the dragon through the medium of cassette only versions of demos on ROIR records, the ‘Lost ’77 Mixes’, alternative mixes, yadda, yadda, yadda. Sometimes tracks sounded better, you’d get a glint of gold at the bottom of the bass pan, sometimes it just sounded wrong.

So obviously when Jungle Records announced L.A.M.F: The Found ’77 Masters^^ for RSD 2021, on purple vinyl, limited to 1100 copies I said, ‘no, I am a mature personage who has already frittered away his family fortune on chasing down the non-existent perfect mixes of this LP, begone with you and your siren call I will spend my money on some morally improving literature instead’.

I queued up to buy it that Saturday, of course.

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It took me about four days to play L.A.M.F because I just didn’t want to be disappointed yet again. I schlepped it on the turntable one lunch time and within minutes the neighbours were treated to a graceful and heartfelt display of air-microphoning, this version of L.A.M.F does exactly what every other previous improved version promised it would.

The sound is as clear and warm as it should be, you can hear the instruments properly separated and so you can hear how great the songs really are, how great the band were, just how damnably great L.A.M.F really is. I finally feel like my faith in the Heartbreakers has been vindicated.

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Bursting right out of the gate with ‘Born Too Loose’^* this LP just feels like a homecoming to me; not that I ever lived in a rat-infested needle strewn alley, where embittered junkie ladies of the night serviced their clients up against a dumpster. It’s a great loser anthem and establishes the swing and guts of the band up front.

From there the Heartbreakers careen through another 13 great tracks of heavy, thuggish rock and rolla punk-a-boogie. The band’s love of a good tune and dynamics are really allowed to shine through now. And boy do they have some good tunes:

• Chinese Rocks: A cowrite between Dee Dee Ramone and Johnny Thunders, is my favourite song about copping heroin at the moment. A lot less flippant than the Ramones version.
• Get Off The Phone: Power pop before its’ time.
• All By Myself: Just a great chord progression and spiky tune.
• I Wanna Be Loved: A right rave-up, like a sloppier Yardbirds, complete with an ace guitar solo.
• Do You Love Me: A bonus track, B-side tear through of the old Contours track.

The real gems in the crown are the trifecta of ‘Pirate Love’, ‘One Track Mind’ and ‘It’s Not Enough’. The appropriately swashbuckling heaviness of the former is now served up perfectly with a distinctly audible rhythm section, bassist Rath is just brilliant on this one.

I got tracks on my arms
Tracks on my face
There's track on the walls
And all over the place    (One Track Mind)

The none more junkie anthem of ‘One Track Mind’ is what led me here in the first place, it’s scabrous and mean, heavy and pounding. There’s simultaneous self-loathing and braggadocio here, not to mention a fucking great guitar solo – this is that shot of adrenalin right into your heart. Perfection. When Thunders snarls the lyrics here you know he’s been there:

Everything's nice
When you're covered in ice
But you open your eyes
And it's one big lie!      (One Track Mind)

My other choice is the yearning, heartfelt ‘It’s Not Enough’ where Johnny shows us one of his few remaining intact, untapped, untracked veins of emotion. Yeah, yeah I know I’m a sucker for a slightly off-key male confessional but there’s something genuinely touching here; plus I like the fact it’s a blatant steal of ‘Needles And Pins’, dragged through a NY gutter.

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Unsurprisingly given their recreational habits, the métier of the Heartbreakers is pure want. However that want is expressed, freedom, money, love love love or junk, L.A.M.F and all its energy was generated from that desperate need that lay right at the heart of the band. I find it compelling.

As did the legion of sleaze-os that picked up on the Heartbreakers in later decades filtering their music back into the mainline via Hanoi Rocks, GNR, a thousand bands from L.A, London and Oslo. L.A.M.F lives!

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Sadly we may never know what the Heartbreakers meant by the acronym L.A.M.F, ah well, over to you future historians, I am sure it meant something nice and wholesome.

• Lick a marshmallow fiercely?
• Lemon and mango fritters?
• Looking at my feet?
• Light animals might fly?
• Lost and mysteriously found?

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I should also say that the whole package for this edition of L.A.M.F is excellent, it’s a fittingly good pressing on lovely purple vinyl, with great sleeve notes and a poster of an outtake from the Roberta Bayley photoshoot for the LP cover. Highly recommended.

1106 Down.

PS: Taken from New York gang graffiti L.A.M.F stands for Like A Mother Fucker, obvs.

PPS: Great track and an explainer about the master tapes – I ran out of space and didn’t want to test your patience:

*I remember he was from Castleford and ludicrously strong. Nice fella.

**as well as Nancy Spungen; I recommend Viv Albertine’s brilliant Clothes Music Boys on Nancy’s arrival on the scene.

^the sad story of the LP mixing and the Heartbreakers heartbreaking lack of luck would fill a book, I’ve got at least 5 that discuss it all. Short version: junkies often don’t make good career decisions.

^^I will revert to L.A.M.F here, L.A.M.F.T.F.77.M is just silly.

^*a misspelling of ‘Born To Lose’ that the band kept. I’ve always wanted to cover it as ‘Born Toulouse’ in an outrageous French accent, anyone else want to join Les Cœurbreakers?