King Kurt were formed in 1981 with Jef Harvey on vocals and were originally called Rockin Kurt and the Sour Krauts
(so named because they used to give away saurkraut at the early gigs to the audience) Add Paul Laventhol (Thwack)
and John Reddington on guitars, Rory Lyons on drums, Bert Boustead on bass and school boy Maggot on a borrowed Sax
from the ILEA and you got the unique band who's tunes would still be appreciated over two decades later.
Jef left the band in 1982 to go to Birmingham and Smeg (previously of Smeggy and the Cheesy bits) was found in Brighton
to take over lead vocals. This 6 piece outfit hit the psychobilly scene big time with their original sound, humour and style.
Playing mostly at the 101 Club in Clapham in the early days, the messy antics started on the night that Jef left .
The rest of the band decided to turn him into a cake and smothered him in flour, eggs and shaving foam, and the fans just carried it on from there.
Most of the songs were based on the antics of Kurt the Rat, who was infact a real life rat that lived in Rory's front room.The Rat and Rodent Club
was formed late 1982 and you could get a whole Saturday nights entertainment at the 101 in the form of sausage juggling, baked bean eating competitions,
Smeggy fire breathing and a cheap haircut, all for 50p, unless you were a student and then it cost you £1.50.
Their first independant release was Zulu Beat on Thin Sliced Records which was produced in various coloured vinyl and limited edition hand drawn
covers. It was reported in Sounds that the flip side "Rockin Kurt" was recorded in Paul's living room!
By 1983 their popularity had increased and they were signed to Stiff Records. Their debut album Ooh Wallah Wallah, was produced by Dave Edmunds
and October 1983 saw them appear on TOTP with Destination Zulu Land which reached no 36 in the charts. Bet the BBC didn't know what hit them,
what with Rory dressed as a Zulu Warrior, Paul wearing a kilt split to the thigh with fishnets, John's horns and Bert's hair reminiscent to a skunk.
Smeg looked very dapper in his suit until Rory poured a bucket of gunk over his head and Maggot quickly followed with a bag of feathers.
Recently shown on TOTP2 the presenter made comments like "when this band came on, we played a joke on them and took the mirrors out of the dressing room"
and "they didn't know what they looked like, god bless 'em" HOW RUDE!!! Maybe he should have taken a look at the audience!
Here KURT the Rat takes up the story with an article he sent into "The British Scooterist Scene" magazine in August 1985:
Hi there!
I'm King Kurt, remember me? The rat with the extraordinarily handsome band? Yeah? Good, right, so you're probably wondering why you haven't
heard so much as a squeak out of me for nearly a year. Smeggy, the singer suffering from a phantom pregnancy in sympathy with Alison Moyet? Yup,
I heard that one too, but I'm afraid its just a wicked rumour.
We'll have to go back to June 84 if you want the true story... Deeply embarressed by the rave reviews for my lst single Banana Banana,
and having run out of audience to beat up, Handsome John, the guitar man, left and took his lifelong friend and shadow, and my bass man, Bert,
away with him to explore the dark depths of marriage and childbirth. The others were devastated - I tried everything, everything, to console them,
but it was no good, I mean, I even tried giving them money and sending them off to the hills for a holiday, but all they did was drink, pick mushrooms
and scamper about in the moonlight. What could I do? I must admit I thought it was the end.
The rumours started - you know - too much too soon, that sort of thing, and our fans started getting their golden calves back out of the wardrobe.
There was just one chance left. I bundled them off to Germany with a couple of stand-ins for a 2 week tour. Eureeka!! Pelted with foodstuffs from
start to finish, it was like the coming of the rainy season in the desert. They regained their composure and confidence and their will to play.
The future looked rosy again. But then disaster struck. The last night party got a bit out of hand - the fire brigade came 5 times and they weren't
even invited - and all of us, yes me too, were catapulted into involuntary bankrupcy, with a £3,000 hotel bill. They returned home rather quickly
and sank back into the depths of depression. "Never mind" I told them, "at least we've still got a record deal". Ha Ha oh dear. Stiff,
hearing about our national debt, and realising that they would have to pump more money in, did the only thing possible in the circumstances -
sacked us all? The End you think? Well not quite. Every cloud has a silver lining and this one was no exception.
Turning to their old trades of carwashing, house painting and deer stalking, they discovered to their horror, no-one would employ them.
Unemployable! They'd have to eat so with no choice, they attacked the music with new vigour.
Dick Crippen, a short but longstanding member of Tenpole Tudor was drafted in on bass, and Whistling Jim a highbrow from Bath (famous band that)
leapt into Handsome John's books on guitar. Austria fell to their assault in February, flour once again fell outside London Clubs, and on a wave
of enthusiasm, and a TWA jet, they conquered the east and west coasts of America on their debut tour in March. "Brilliant clodhoppiing redneck music"
yelled the LA Times. "help" whimpered Philadelphia. I called them home before they got too fat; besides we had some records to make.
The record companies were lining up at Heathrow waving pound coins as they flew into Gatwick, but Stiff, how could I abandon them to the ravages of
Irish folkie bands, and anyway, all the secretaries had got a petition together demanding the handsome boys return.
So back we all came and set about the new single. Dave Batchelor, a Scot in exile, who produced the early Skids hits - member Into the Valley? -
and the sensational Alex Harvey, came to a London Show and volunteered for the unenviable task of producing. And what a job.
The single "Billy" oozes sleaze and atmosphere and shows a controlled power that wasn't there last year. There's 2 b sides, Alcoholic Rat and Back
on the Dole (well, you don't think I paid for all that time off do you?) and the 12" has a live version from San Francisco to prove they didn't
let the yanks off lightly.
So back they are, Smeg, Paul Rory, Maggot, Dick, Whistling Jim, with a bucketful of new songs, and ready to blow the cobwebs out of your town.
Just when you thought it was safe to let go of your daughter..... Kurt
King Kurt continued to release records - most of the singles came in 7", 12", picture disc and coloured vinyl. Next album was Big Cock,
aptly named because of the giant rooster on the cover. Even so WHS still banned it because it was not suitable to sit on their shelves.
Each record cover came with the highly colourful artwork depicting KURT THE RAT in different scenarios, which in turn were then printed onto t-shirts,
and sold in hundreds at gigs. It has been said that King Kurt sold more t-shirts than records.
King Kurt gigs were an experience and a half. The band's stage outfits over the years included 50s ballgowns worn with Dr Marten boots, banana print
suits, convicts outfits, heavy metal rockers compete with long hair, vicars in tights and even The Belle Stars. Of course, they expected their fans to
follow suit and at many of the early gigs, admission for males was only if you had a dress on! On stage drinking games usually started off the night
with many willing volunteers getting up to drink beer through a long tube. Oh I can still hear the dulcet tones of Smeg shouting "Pipe in the bucket,
5-4-3-2-1 SUCK!!!!" Of course, those that failed, got a bucket of the coloured gunk chucked over their head. This, added to all the flour, eggs and
baked beans that were already being chucked around the venue, made for a very messy evening. As they matured they progressed to Tequilla Slammers which
resulted in the band hitting the headlines due to many of the contestants being rather ill afterwards.
King Kurt toured extensively, they were also big in Europe, USA and Japan and disappeared from our fair isles to please their massive fan base abroad.
It was a sad day when I received the newsletter from the Rat and Rodent club telling me that King Kurt had split up (around 1987/8).A couple of
members went on to form THE KURTS who released only one record - Bye Bye Baby. I remember bumping into Maggot and Smeg sometime later at a gig,
who told me they were at that time in a band called FISH TANK GRAVEL.
You cant hold a good band down and King Kurt were touring again from 1992-1996, the line up consisting of Smeg, Paul, Maggot, Billy and Daniel; and
many albums got rereleased and reedited on CD.
In the past few years there has been a rekindled interest in King Kurt. Don't know if it's got anything to do with all of us born again
scooterists and psychos wanted to reclaim our lost youth, but King Kurt records and memorabilia are trading hands for large figures of money
leaving many of us wondering where all our KK stuff went. I've even seen t-shirts on Ebay - how they ever survived a typical gig let alone the 80s
is beyond me.
Smeg (showman extrodinaire) brought back the sounds with I CANT BELIEVE ITS NOT KING KURT and belted out all the old King Kurt classics to a
very appreciative audience at the Woolacombe Scooter Rally in 2002. Ably backed by members of I Cant Beleive it's not Punk - Ulysses, Dave and
Damian on bass and guitars, Andy from the Riffs on trumpet, Keef on drums, and guest vocals from Jonah, Neil & Tony.
More gigs followed in 2003 and we even got to experience some of the traditional drinking games rearing their messy head again.
Having now dropped the "I Cant believe its not" bit to avoid confusion, KING KURT are back again and we can all step back in time and relive our
wreckin days. T-shirts have been sold at gigs, in the traditional King Kurt style, and there's even stick on quiffs for the men who's hairlines have now
disappeared, obviously from all the abuse of the bleach, backcombing and hairspray of the 80s
2004 saw some line-up changes with the welcome return of Billy to the band, and Dave and Ely joining on drums and guitars. More changes in
2005 replace Billy with Ben and Strangy joining on upright bass.
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