ACTION PACT
Drowning Out the Big Jets
(BBC Radio Sessions 1982-83)
John Peel and David Jensen sessions issued for the first time; a limited edition on red vinyl.
Action Pact were a punk rock band from Stanwell, a small isolated village nestled under the flight-path of London Heathrow Airport – inspiring the song this album takes for its title. Formed in 1981 with guitarist Wild Planet, bassist Dr. Phibes, and then 15-year-olds drummer Joe Fungus and singer George Cheex, who got the job because of "her courage to scream along with the band".
Both George and Joe were still attending school when the Heathrow Touchdown EP was released in October, 1981. The band got the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. He played the single many times and booked them for their first radio session, which they recorded in February 1982.
The EP and Peel session were heard by Fall Out Records, a subsidiary of Jungle, who signed the band as one of the first acts on its roster. Action Pact's label debut, the Suicide Bag EP was released in July 1982 and rocketed to the top of the British punk chart.
Drummer Grimly Fiendish and bassist Thistles later joined the band, and their producer Phil Langham (of The Dark) also provided bass for a while under the name Elvin Pelvin. Dr. Phibes continued to contribute his insightful lyrics to the band.
A series of five further singles entered the indie charts including Yet Another Dole Queue Song and a reworked London Bouncers, along with two albums, Mercury Theatre – On The Air and Survival of the Fattest. Another Peel session in ‘82 and one for David Jensen in ‘83 were also recorded and broadcast – all collected here and available for the first time.
They gigged around the UK and in Europe, building relationships on the way with other bands like the Newtown Neurotics, whose Steve Drewett featured on one of their singles. They eventually called it a day after four years, around 1985/6.
Journalist Mick Mercer writes in the inner bag notes:
''Anger
and frustration were principal unifying factors of Punk bands but Action
Pact attracted interest from
all corners because of their different approach. They were the only band with sardonic humour, which made their
points more successfully than ranting contemporaries,
and nobody dripped disdain the way George did. There was nuance here, intelligence and warmth.”
16 tracks: - Suicide Bag, Losers, Mindless Aggression, People, Cowslick Blues, Fouled on the Footpath, Times Must Change, Drowning Out the Big Jets; Fools Factions, Protest is Alive, These Are a Few…, Gothic Party Time, Question of Choice, Cruellest Thief, New Kings Girl, Mercury Theatre (On the Air Again)
FALLLP062 Fall Out Records/Jungle Release date: November 3 2023
Ltd Ed red vinyl: Cat.No: FALLLP062 UPC: 5013145306215
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