Wild Billy Childish & The Buff Medways
Posted: Wed Nov 2, 2005 7:31 pm

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Velvet tiger are tremendously delighted to announce the first New Zealand visit, for your musical entertainment, from Mr. Billy Childish’s thrilling beat combo, The Buff Medways.

For nearly three decades, Billy Childish has been at the vanguard of the DIY underground of English rock’n’roll; heading such enduringly-inspiring acts as The Pop Rivets, Thee Milkshakes, and Thee Headcoats, providing a jumpstart for the careers of such luminaries as Holly Golightly, and being heralded as the prime influential force in at least three “garage rock” revivals.

Kurt Cobain was a devout admirer, as were Mudhoney, who collaborated on with him on the ‘You Make Me Die Now’ single; and now The Hives, The Dirtbombs, and The D4 are among the latest to laud Childish’s endeavours as seminal and important. Jack White wanted to have Billy appear with the White Stripes on Top Of The Pops painting a picture while the band performed, and when the programme vetoed the idea, Jack appeared with
Billy’s name written prominently on his arm. Perhaps the BBC were unaware that Billy Childish had been proclaimed “Britain's greatest cultural asset” by The Guardian newspaper.

Hailed throughout Europe, the USA and Japan as an innovator and visionary, his various achievements are in stark contrast to his once-proposed ‘Right Not To Work’ campaign. The patron saint of prolific, Billy Childish has recorded (at last count) 100 albums, painted approx. 3000 paintings, published 3 novels and over 40 collections of poetry. Now, his
trio The Buff Medways heads towards New Zealand.

Though the exciting presentation of The Buff Medways may appear closer to “archaic” than “anarchic” --playing through vintage amplification instead of modern public address systems in order to keep total control of the sound, with no off-stage mixing whatsoever -- there is nothing Luddite about the feverish, jagged tunes these fellows deliver.

Indeed, they realize that playing a classic form of music is quite unlike cultivating a classic moustache: it need not be waxed, trimmed, twirled and coiffed in quite the same way, nor is it confined to one specific era of fashion and style. While many may decide the occasional Kinks cover-tune indicates a nostalgic harking back, The Buff Medways certainly know where
they are coming from: Chatham, England, in the year 2005.

But what exactly is on offer here? Recently, when pressed by an inquiring journalist as to precisely what kind of music The Buff Medways play, Mr. Childish attempted to sum it up in words we could all understand:: “punk rock rhythm’n’blues”; “mod music played in a dustbin”; “a cross between the 1976 Clash and the 1965 Who"; with further inspiration from Hendrix “before he started wearing Moccasins."Witness it all with The Buff Medways: drummer Wolf Howard; bassist Johnny Barker; and the ever-beguiling Billy Childish.

"I am not a painter, I am not a musician, and what sort of idiot would want
to be a poet?" - Billy Childish

The answer to many unasked questions may be discovered by seeking out Wild Billy Childish and the Friends of the Buff Medway Fanciers Association when they visit our shores.

velvet tiger presents …

WILD BILLY CHILDISH
&
THE BUFF MEDWAYS
Kings Arms
Sunday 4th December

RE: Wild Billy Childish & The Buff Medways
Posted: Fri Dec 8, 2006 12:37 pm

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