Loud, Tuneless and Thick: Chaotic Dischord
Chaotic Dischord are one of the rare bands where you can proclaim "I celebrate their entire catalog."
Began as a joke reaction to all the "tuneless thrash" that was coming out on Riot City Records (mainly Chaos U.K. and Disorder), Shane Baldwin and Dave Bateman of Vice Squad wanted to show label head Simon Edwards that anyone could knock out a thrash record in 10 minutes. Thus they recruited a couple of friends and proceeded to have one of the longest runs and largest cult followings of any of the UK82 era bands.
Starting with "Fuck The World" (a salvo of what was to come), Dischord took on everyone they could including Chaos U.K., Cliff Richard, E.T. (the poor little guy), Michael Jackson (before it was cool), the Royal Family, the Batcave and goths, Ripcord, and really anything else that they fancied having a go at. Aside from a biting (and hilarious) lyrical sense, they wrote some great tunes and had guest spots from the likes of Captain Sensible of the Damned and Knox of the Vibrators.
But the thing that separated Dischord, along with made their records sell, was the fact that they wrote fucking HITS. Tracks like "Don't Throw It All Away" (with its hypnotic bassline), "Hey Goth Fuck Off" and "Fergie's Baby Is A Dischord Baby" were just a few of their many smashes. Thus they are highly regarded still to this day.
Shane Baldwin kindly gave this interview with us on the inner workings and stories of Chaotic Dischord.
Photos from the archives of Simon Edwards of Riot City Records and used with permission.
NI: Did you know Simon through being included on Heartbeat's 1979 compilation "Avon Calling"?
Shane: Yes, that's right. We started our first band, which had many names, the best known being TV Brakes, in 1977, with me on drums, Dave Bateman on guitar, Tim 'Howard Exciting' Clench on bass and Ian 'Cliff Dangerous' Minter on vocals. We played a lot of local gigs, but never got anywhere, and when that fell apart we got in first Mark Hambly on bass, then advertised for a female singer. We never dreamt that anyone who looked like Beki would not only turn up to audition, but even agree to join! Our first gig as Vice Squad was a Rock Against Racism show at Bristol University's Anson Rooms on 12 April, 1979. We were bloody awful, but when we came off Simon offered us a track on Avon Calling. After two years of plugging away but getting nowhere we could hardly believe it!
NI: Vice Squad were the first two releases on Riot City and then I've read you guys also suggested the next release be The Insane's "Politics" EP next? Is that correct, and how did you guys hear of them?
Shane: Well, as Simon said in a previous interview with you, strictly speaking we also did the third release. I forget which tour it was, either the Anti Pasti/Vice Squad/Chron Gen tour or our own Oi! The Absolute Fucking Disaster tour, but we put all six tracks from the two EPs on a twelve inch record to sell on the tour and to our surprise it sold loads.
But yes, the Insane were next, and that was down to Beki. She was going out with their drummer, Dave Ellesmere, at the time, but they were a good band so we were happy to have them on board.
NI: Was the fourth release, the Abrasive Wheels "Vicious Circle" EP, also your choice?
Shane: Me and Dave saw them support Slaughter, which was a later version of Slaughter and the Dogs, at the Granary in Bristol and thought they were great. We went out the next day and bought their "ABW" EP and that was brilliant, so we suggested them to Simon.
NI: At what point were you unhappy with the bands Simon was choosing for Riot City?
Shane: The way things panned out, Simon was right and we were wrong. We weren't very keen on hardcore, but he was right, that was the future.
NI: Is this when you had an argument with him about how anyone can make a noise like these other bands? Can you recount that?
Shane: Yes, arrogant little shits that we were! We reckoned we could knock off a hardcore track in 'about 10 minutes,' so we had a go and that was "Glue Accident" by 'Chaotik Dischord,' that was included on the Riotous Assembly compilation.
NI: Chaotic Dischord were Vice Squad plus roadies Igor (Ampex) and Bambi (Ransid). How was the line-up formed?
Shane: It was just for a bit of fun. We were all mates and spent most of our time drinking together anyway, so why not?
NI: Can you explain the whole idea behind the Chaotik Dischord demo, how it was submitted for the "Riotous Assembly" comp, and how you got it to Simon?
Shane: Once we had the "Glue Accident" tape, the problem was getting it to Simon without him knowing it was us. So, to cut a long story short, Dave posted it to a girlfriend in Swindon so she could send it back and we could give it to Simon with Swindon postmark on it. We said they were a Swindon band who were mates of ours and would only deal with him through us. It was quite a feeble ruse really, but he fell for it.
NI: Who was in Dead Katss? (Mitch and Flea) Did you consider turning this into a band as well?
Shane: Dead Katss was always a bit of a vague project really. Flea was in it at one point, presumably on drums, but for the track on "Riotous Assembly," Kerry, who was Mark's girlfriend and ran the Vice Squad fan club, sang, Igor played bass, Bambi played drums, and I assume 'Kirk' on guitar was Mitch, but I couldn't swear to it.
NI: At what point did you decide you could keep Chaotic Dischord going as a legitimate project?
Shane: Good god, there was never anything 'legitimate' about Dischord! But having said that, those records sold very well. Not as many as Vice Squad, but whereas a Vice Squad album would take a month to make, with two weeks writing and rehearsing and two weeks in the studio recording, we could write and record a Dischord album in two days, so the profit margin was very high.
NI: Did you guys have regular rehearsals?
Shane: None.
NI: How did Sex Aids come to be formed during this time, and who was in the band?
Shane: It depends how you look at it really. I can't deny that it was total self-indulgence, but I also think we were aware that we were not only signed to a major label but had our own indie label that we could make use of. Without ever saying so, I think we all knew that we were in a very lucky position, and that it couldn't last forever, so we decided to make the most of it with side projects like Sex Aids.
NI: How did Sex Aids differ from Chaotic Dischord?
Shane: In the end, very little. Me and Dave used to drink in two pubs in Hanham called the Swan and the Maypole with a group of friends called The No-Hoper's Drinking Club, and the original idea was that these guys would play on, first, the "Lady Diana" track, and then the single. Trouble was, none of them could actually play anything. So then we decided that it would be, essentially, Dischord, but with us all swapping instruments, so we did that for "Lady Diana," but the results were diabolical, so for the single it was really just Dischord with Igor singing. Or something like that!
NI: Were you surprised at how well releases like "Fuck The World" and "Never Trust A Friend" sold considering you intended them as a joke?
Shane: Very surprised. Though after those two singles we realised that it took half a day in the studio just to get the gear set up, then only an hour or so to record a single, so it made more sense to keep going and record a whole album, so from then on we just made albums.
NI: What was the reaction from the punk press to them?
Shane: They hated them, of course, but that only helped sales. But for the first album John Opposition, who was of course Attila The Stockbroker, gave it five stars in Sounds and got uncomfortably close to the truth in his very insightful review. Everyone else fell for it and took it seriously though.
NI: One band you took repeated shots at in your lyrics were Chaos U.K. Were you friendly with the guys in Chaos U.K., Disorder and Lunatic Fringe or was there actual animosity?
Shane: It was only really Chaos himself that we didn't get on with from Chaos UK. I'm not sure we even knew the others back in the day. I've interviewed Andy the guitarist in later years, and he's a nice bloke, and I always got on with Gabba, but he didn't join until later. Beki used to go out with Steve from Disorder, so as far as I remember we got on with them okay. And the Fringe were good friends of ours, which was why me and Dave released their first single.
NI: So Resurrection Records and the Lunatic Fringe single was your label? How did that come about?
Shane: Me and Dave just fancied having a go at setting up our own label, so we got Garry Bushell to put a bit in Sounds asking for bands to apply. Unfortunately all the tapes were terrible, so we asked our friends Lunatic Fringe instead. I can't remember why we never signed them to Riot City in the first place though. They were one of the biggest and best bands on the Bristol Scene.
NI: Were any other releases planned after that one?
Shane: The only other thing we 'sort of' released was the Flowers of the Past single. They supported us on tour in October 1982 and had already self-released their own single, but they had no distribution so we put stickers on the sleeves and put it out through our distributors (Revolver/Cartel).
NI: You also played shows with the likes Battalion of Saints and other hardcore acts during your US tour. Did you find these thrash bands more palatable than their U.K. counterparts?
Shane: It was a real eye-opener for us, seeing how good those bands were, and kind of embarrassing that they were supporting us. I think the only time we played support over there was for Bad Brains in New York, and we certainly wouldn't have liked to have gone on after them!
NI: How did guest appearances from Captain Sensible of the Damned, Mark Perry from the Only Ones, and Knox from the Vibrators end up playing on "Don't Throw It All Away"?
Shane: Me and Dave were talking to Alvin from UK Subs, and he offered to play on the next record, and suggested asking Captain, Rat Scabies and Knox, so we did. Captain agreed as long as we recorded in his local studio in Norwood, which was great of him as of course he had recently been at No. 1 in the charts with "Happy Talk" and at that point was in the Top 10 with "Wot," so he was a proper pop star, but he still agreed to do it. Sadly, we couldn't get the dates to work with Rat, but Knox agreed to play and so did John Perry who we knew because he was living in Bristol at that time. Amazingly, we had the man who played the majestic guitar solo on "Another Girl Another Planet" on our record but we made him play bass and piano! Next thing we knew, we read in Sounds that Alvin had moved to LA and married a gorgeous model, so he couldn't be on the record, but we could hardly hold that against him, the lucky sod!
NI: Is the actual song "Don't Throw It All Away" an original song? It's a brilliant song. And if it's a cover with altered lyrics, it’s done quite well. Sounds like a classic 77 era tune.
Shane: "Don't Throw It All Away" was written in the studio in London while we were waiting for Captain who got the dates and times wrong. It was written by Knox, Dave, H and me. We were pleased with it and put it in the set of our next band Sweet Revenge.
NI: There have long been rumors that the 1984 album "Fuck Off You Cunt !... What A Load Of Bollocks!!!" (later issued as "You've Got To Be Obscene To Be Heard") is a fake Dischord album with Beki singing for it after she'd left Vice Squad. What's the real story behind this, and who else plays on it?
Shane: When Beki left Vice Squad and moved to London, Igor went with her, but asked if he could still be in Dischord, and us being reasonable and mature adults we said ‘Nah, fuck off!’ So him and Beki did that record as a sort of spoiler. I think Steve Roberts played drums, but no idea who played guitar.
NI: You guys continued after Riot City folded by putting out two more albums on Not Very Nice Records. What made you decide to continue post-Riot City?
Shane: Quick and easy money, and it was fun.
NI: Was Not Very Nice your own label?
Shane: Yes, we used that as a new label name for the Now! compilation as Riot City was winding down at that time and kept it going for the later albums.
NI: One final lineup related question. On the "Very Fuckin' Bad" album, who are Merv ("Hippy Metal Guitar") and Sven ("Poofy Bass Bits"), and who the hell played bass on the album and is listed as Ampex if Igor was out?
Shane: Merv was Martin Woolford from SAM studio, great guitarist and the most sarcastic man on earth. We loved him. Sadly he died a long time ago. Sven was Sooty. I forget if he played on all or just some of the album. Dave may well have played most of it.
NI: As a big Ripcord fan, I must say the song "Fuck Off Ripcord" from your final album ("Very Fuckin' Bad," 1988) is hilarious. Did you guys know them at all? Any thoughts on the mid-late '80s bands like them, Heresy, ENT, The Stupids, Amebix, etc.?
Shane: We had nothing whatever against Ripcord, we just did that song for a laugh. In fact we had nothing against any of the bands you mention. I liked the Stupids, and with Tim from COR Records tried to put on a gig by them at the Moon Club, but it never came off. I recently interviewed Stig from Amebix for a book that I'm writing on the history of Bristol punk and that was a real pleasure. What a lovely bloke.
NI: Does it annoy you that today the "Bristol punk sound" is often associated as being the thrash style of Chaos U.K., Disorder and Chaotic Dischord?
Shane: Actually, what's more annoying is that in documentaries on the Bristol music scene they usually skip straight from the Cortinas and Pop Group to later stuff and don't even mention any of the '80s punk bands. Or the Pigs for that matter.
Complete Chaotic Dischord catalog from the collection of Tom of General Speech
Sex Aids "Back On The Piss Again!" EP and "Riotous Assembly" comp LP (featuring Vice Squad, Dead Katss and Chaotic Dischord) from the collection of Negative Insight staff
