Oil City Confidential is a new film from director
Julien Temple, previously responsible for
The Filth and the Fury, about the Sex Pistols, and
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, focusing on Strummer and The Clash. This time round, in a kind of prequel to both those films, he tackles the life and turbulent times of
Dr. Feelgood. Finding fame on the same
Pub rock circuit (as
remembered by writer and Kursaal Flyers drummer Will Birch) that also supported
Ian Dury's Kilburn and the High Roads (not to mention
Eddie and the Hot Rods and Joe Strummer's pre-Clash band
The 101ers), Dr. Feelgood played stripped-down, taut and aggressive
R&B. Hailing from the wildlands of Essex's
Canvey Island – the "Oil City" of the film's title – Dr Feelgood were punk before punk really hit, a whirlwind of raucous energy, with a fierce work ethic. In
Wilko Johnson, they had a guitarist with a scorching, slash and burn technique, while their singer,
Lee Brilleaux (
1989 interview), who died of cancer in 1994,
aged just 41, oozed cheap-suited menace, and, into the bargain, helped found
Stiff Records.
[more inside]
posted by Len
on Jan 27, 2010 -
9 comments
Best laid schemes? Back in 1945 the
Bruce Plan [click on images for video footage] was a radical proposal to knock down, and then rebuild, the Victorian centre of the city of Glasgow. The city’s
slums* would be cleared;
new towns* would be established; Glasgow would rise again, triumphant, once again the second city of the
Empire*. In
1971*, there were grand visions of the Glasgow of the future; the Glasgow of tomorrow would be a bright, shining new city, and the
Clyde* would once again be something to be proud of. A fascinating film archive of the
Glasgow of the 20th century.
*All links contain embedded video goodness.
posted by Len
on May 17, 2005 -
13 comments
