467. Stiff Little Fingers / Hanx! 1980. 4/5

In a very short space of time, the Stiff Little Fingers had risen from relative obscurity in Belfast in Northern Ireland to becoming a far bigger thing that even they probably expected. On the back of two single releases back in 1979 the band had released their debut album “Inflammable Material” in February 1979, an album that even though it had had an independent release still reached #14 on the UK albums charts. Band guitarist and lead vocalist Jake Burns and his fellow bandmates had taken a lot of inspiration from their fellow punk leaders The Clash, and had moulded their sound to the popular sound of the day. Burns had been quoted as saying that The Clash’s success gave him the confidence to write songs about his life and experiences, and present them as subjects that needed to be expressed through their music.
On the back of the success, the band moved to London, and recoreded and released their follow up “Nobody’s Heroes” in March 1980 – the episode on which you can find as Episode 26 of this podcast. Their continuing success saw them asked to appear on the popular TV program “Top of the Pops” for their single “At the Edge”. In fact, after their apparance at that time the band was told that they would never be invited back again as they had not taken it seriously, as they were not playing live and they made it obvious that it was recorded. It has been suggested that it was one of the most infamous appearances on the program. Despite this, the band did return a few months later to perform when their single “Nobody’s Hero” and its rise up the charts forced their hand.
Their success eventually led to the band deciding to tour North America, and as a lead into that tour they decided to release a live album to introduce the band to America. This didn’t go down well with the fans in the UK as they felt as though they were missing out, even though they were the reason the band had become so popular. Rather than have their UK fans pay for an expensive import of the album from America, as was the way back in the day, they then released a budget, low priced version for the UK audience, something that appeased the masses. Recorded in July 1980, the album was released a little over 6 weeks after the gig itself was played, and became the band’s debut live album titled “Hanx!”

The bonus of getting a live album from a band so early on in their career is that you are basically offered every great track that they had written to that point of their career. And you can’t argue with that on this album. Five of the 11 songs come from the debut album “Inflammable Material” and the other six all come from “Nobody’s Heroes”. If you were to put those two albums together to form one album, this would pretty much be it. Sure, I wold make on or possibly two alterations, but it's pretty close.
The one glaring song here that sticks out like a sore thumb – for me at least – is the cover of the Bob Marley song “Johnny Was”. This was done on the debut album, and that version as well for me is just problematic. Punk rock in the UK did have this slight obsession at time with reggae music, which is my least favourite infusion into punk rock. And although Stiff Little Fingers version is okay, it has never been a song that has enamoured me. What creates a further problem with the live version here is that it is a fully live extended version with some free forming in the middle of the track. This live version stretches beyond ten minutes, and that is far too long to have to put up with. The eight minutes of the studio version is too much let alone ten plus minutes live. Still, that is a personal preference, and not one shared (or so it seems) by the majority of the band’s fans.
Elsewhere, the remainder of the setlist is terrific. Full of great songs with meaningful lyrics and fast paced punk styled attitude and guitar riffs and hard-hitting drums, you can feel the energy blasting out of the speakers at you. And that is the beauty of this live album. It captures the band at its theoretical peak, playing out to packed houses on the back of two hugely successful albums at a time when the punk industry was just holding on before its decline into the years of the 80’s decade. Everything was right for this moment, and it offers the great joy this band was giving its fanbase at the time. The live versions of the songs, almost without fail, shine here brighter than their studio versions. This is the place that the band does its best work, and to have it recorded for posterity turned out to be a fortuitous event.

Back at the end of 1985, for the end of Year 10 in high school, our year all went on a week long school camp to celebrate an ending of sorts. About half of the students would leave school for good at the conclusion of the school year while the remainder of us would continue on to do our Higher School Certificate. We got to choose between three different sites. My friend group and I chose to go to a place called Bundanoon in the southern highlands, about an hour's drive from where we lived in Kiama. This week long camp, amongst many other things, was where my true awakening to heavy metal and punk music occurred, through a mixed cassette that became known as the Pommie Punk Tape, and the mimed air guitar performance of two songs by some of that friend group on the final night at a talent quest. The two songs performed by the air-guitar gods were “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden, and “Go For It” by Stiff Little Fingers”. The group’s taken name was the Stagnated Little Fingers. If you are interested in that entire story, you can find it by signing up to my Patreon channel at the handle @realmetalkevin where I tell the tale in detail. The Pommie Punk Tape had the song “Go For It” on it as well, and on return home I made sure I got a copy of that tape, where I discovered every great punk band in existence. I wish I still had it. It was awesome.
Having discovered this one track by the band, I wanted more, and as it turned out, it was “Hanx!” that became the first album I got of the band. Which, in a way, was the best way to go. Like I’ve said here, it really is the best songs that the band had written to that point in time. To be fair, it’s probably the best they EVER wrote! And when it comes to live albums, it is the songs in their best environment, and that is the case here on “Hanx!” Everything sounds great, you hear the passion in Jake’s voice, and the band is in top form. And while I still love the first three studio albums the band released and the way they sound, here on “Hanx!” you get the best that sound the best.
I’ve seen the band live on five occasions, all beyond the time when I thought I would ever get the chance. And each time they have been magnificent. Warriors of the road, still getting into battles with other bands at festivals who pick fights with the wrong band. And that’s exactly the way I have enjoyed this album again over the last week reliving it again, bringing back all of those great memories of the end of high school, of school camps and mimed performances, and the innocence of youth. You can’t beat it.