THE NOSEBLEEDS - LIVE (AUDIENCE TAPE, UNKNOWN LOCATION, 1977)

The Nosebleeds formed in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England in 1976 under the name of Wild Ram. They changed their name to Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds in early 1977 with the following line-up: Edmund "Ed Banger" Garrity (vocals), Vincent "Vini" Reilly (guitar), Phillip "Toby" Tomanov (drums) and Pete Crooks (bass).

On July 25, 1977, the band released their one and only single: "Ain't Bin To No Music School / Fascist Pigs". The record was released by Rabid Records and was available both with silver and blue labels; it is reported that 10.000 copies were pressed and sold in total. Both songs on the single were written by Banger/Reilly:

Sadly The Nosebleeds didn't release any album: when Banger and Reilly left, Morrissey (...yes, him!) and Billy Duffy replaced them, but the band survived just for a limited time and no releases came out of that later lineup.

Before dissolving in late May of 1978, The Nosebleeds performed two concerts, one at the Ritz (supporting Magazine) and one at the Manchester Polytechnic for a Rabid Records benefit.

After the group split up Banger released a few solo singles and joined Slaughter and the Dogs during their period as Slaughter, Morrissey went on to form The Smiths, Toby appeared with Ludus, Blue Orchids and Primal Scream, and Pete Crooks joined up with Vini Reilly in the first incarnation of The Durutti Column under the "guide" of Tony Wilson.

The Nosebleeds performing live in 1977

Well, at last I was able to lay my hands on this rare live recording of The Nosebleeds. Location and exact date of recording are unknown but since Ed Banger is on vocals and unmistakable Vini Reilly is on the guitar I guess that this is 1977.

Technically speaking, the recording in my possession is not in the best shape and there are a few cuts here and there. I tried to make my best to enhance the quality, but miracles are beyond me.

Oddly enough, the two tracks published on the "Ain't Bin To No Music School / Fascist Pigs" single are performed at the beginning of the concert... Seeing that usually bands don't play their strongest material as opening numbers, I speculate that maybe the tracklist has been changed and that the original running order may well have been different.

Two songs are specially worthy of being mentioned because they offer succulent curiosities: the guitar solo at the beginning of "Don't Know" is very similar to the one featured on the earlier versions of Joy Division's "Interzone", while "Middle Class Suburban Creep" offers the same riff that Vini Reilly will use a few years later on "Jazz", a track included on his debut album "The Return of the Durutti Column".

Ed Banger performing live with The Nosebleeds in 1977, picture by John Crumpton

Here's the complete tracklist of this precious live document:

01. Ain't Bin To No Music School (2:21)
02. Fascist Pigs (2:24)
03. Uptight (2:07)
04. Rich Kid (2:35)
05. Don't Know (1:00)
06. Middle Class Suburban Creep (1:20)
07. Blackpool Rock (2:18)
08. Another Ounce of Rock (1:31)

All tracks were remastered in October 2012, they are available as a single FLAC lossless format file or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 file. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files.

Before you burn this album on CD-R using the provided CUE file you will need to convert the original files to WAV format using an appropriate software. Here's an option for FLAC to WAV conversion and one for MP3 to WAV conversion.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download links.

The following video offers a rare chance to watch the band performing live on TV in 1977. Some sources mention this as being part of the "So It Goes" series hosted by Tony Wilson but I'm inclined to think that the programme was "Granada Report". Anyway, Tony appears several times in the video and we can see him receiving the warm attentions of Ed Banger... Horrible quality, but what a find!

More information about The Nosebleeds, Ed Banger and the Manchester Punk scene is available here:

http://www.dorsetmusicguide.com/toby-toman-interview/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Banger_and_the_Nosebleeds

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds2.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleedsinterview.htm

http://punkygibbon.co.uk/bands/n/nosebleeds.html

http://www.johncrumpton.co.uk/page15.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGsU2s7Yj1w

http://www.edbanger.net/

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77.html

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77b.html

If you have any other useful information concerning this post - or if you spot any dead links - please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!