| Brighton-based four-piece The Depressions were originally formed in their south coast home town as early as 1975 when, under the name of Tongue, they gigged solidly around their local area playing mainly Small Faces and Who covers. They changed their name to The Depressions and began to concentrate their efforts on their own songwriting abilities after the first punk impact in 1977. The East Sussex-based Pebble Beach Production company, run by future Bad Manners manager Andy Cowan-Martin, picked up on the band, and as well as finding them gigs, also brought them to the attention of ex-Animals bassist and former Jimi Hendrix/Slade manager Chas Chandler, who, after seeing them at a gig in Brighton, signed The Depressions on his Barn label. In fact, Barnard and Smith celebrated the signing by scrawling the band's name with spray paint across some prominent walls in Brighton, for which they were both arrested and fined 100 pounds! The LP was released in 1978, and was the first LP where they mixed their patented punk with rock and those power-pop/pub-rock moments. However, it was while supporting The Vibrators on a UK tour to promote the LP that tragedy struck the band with the death of a fan during the last number of their set at Preston Poly. A fight broke out between two rival sets of football supporters, leaving a 22 year-old dead of head injuries. The national press had a field day covering the "punk riot" and all the adverse publicity led to the band losing a lot of gigs and the departure of the guitarist Smith. Limited edition of 500 copies, pressed on 180 gram vinyl. |
