The story of Rudi...

DISCOGRAPHY

Big Time b/w N°1 Good Vibrations Records GOT 1) Released April 1978..original sleeve Karloff mummy/ lipstick design - several colours of sleeve exist - depending on what colour of paper it was printed on. Re released in October 1979 in a completely different sleeve. 7” format only. Re released in 2009 on Sing Sing Records, USA.

I spy b/w Genuine reply / Sometimes/ Ripped in two (Good Vibrations Records GOT 12) Released in July 1979 in a fold out sleeve (orange or white ) On 7” only. Re released in 2009 on Sing Sing Records, USA.

When I was dead b/w Berewolf!/ The pressure's on (Jamming! Records CREATE 1) Rush released August 1981 in colour sleeve with lyric insert. 7” format only.

Crimson b/w 14 Steps (Jamming! Records CREATE 3) Released February 1982 in colour pic sleeve. Again 7” format only.

Here's what Brian had to say about the song "14 Steps"
The B-side '14 Steps' is about much the same thing (as 'Crimson') only it's just saying you only get one life so don't waste it or poison it with guilt, hate and other fun emotions..the title came out of us wondering (probably drunkenly!!) why there are always the same number of steps in a staircase...(14... ulp! what were we on!) That's it in a nutshell.. Both were recorded in a few hours in Konk Studios in London and produced by Dave Woolley who engineered some Jam stuff but had never produced a record in his life before! We had wanted Mike Robinson who did the BBC session which we loved to produce the record but Jamming! couldn't afford the £200 he wanted paid to do it. Dave did O.K. though. Robin Richards who did so many of the old punk t-shirts did the sleeve for free - it was his wife on the front of it.....so we thought the finished article coulda been produced better but it did real well for us...in fact one of the best memories I have of the time I was in RUDI was the last night of our stint as support to the Jam on the Transglobal unity express Tour when we played the Queens Hall Leeds which was the biggest venue we ever played to a packed house and Dave Liddle (Paul Weller's guitar roadie) introduced us with the news that Sounds had made 'Crimson' 'Single Of The Week'..and we went down a storm.... We always said it was up to the listener to decide what the songs were about and whatever it meant to them was what it was about...(just remembered one guy thunk it was a song advocating suicide...aw well!) ya can't win em all!"

...and "Crimson"
"Ronnie, Grimmy and I wrote it when we were still a 3 piece and the riff and intro were originally part of a song called 'Murder on The Second Floor' which never quite came off.. A few months later as if by magic we'd kicked it into shape and Crimson was born..! Unlike most bands we did write our songs together..words and music..it just worked better that way.. We used to get slagged for writing 'obscure' lyrics - well they weren't obscure to us - but we hated the dumb sloganeering that was so prevalent at the time (and we'd done some ourselves when we were starting out..!)..so we let people figger it our for themselves..Crimson, like a lot of our later songs was political - but with a small 'p'...not silly party political crap but I s'pose what people would call personal politics..though we never sat down and figgered that out!
Idiot English journalists used to criticise us and the Undertones for not writing about the situation here - we always did but we avoided all the dumb cliches so I guess they missed the point..as if we cared! Anyways the way we put it was that we couldn't have written the songs we did living anywhere else but Belfast... Crimson was our quirky way of saying that if you wanna do something with your life, or change your life or whatever, that it was up to you to do it..and that no one else would do it for ya..but that there was always hope..even when it looked impossible...we wuz kinda optimistic back then!"

v/a 'Battle of the bands' - track: Overcome by fume (Good Vibrations Records GOT 7) Released February 1979 as part of the BATTLE OF THE BANDS EP - a double single packaged in a fold out sleeve. A later sleeve also exists without the printed inner - rushed off when sleeves ran out? 7” format only.

The pressure's on b/w Who? You (Bad Vibrations Records - Last Year's Youth Records LAST 2) Quasi bootleg 45 issued in summer 2000. This 45 was originally to have been issued by Good Vibrations Records to coincide with the Belfast edition of the highly rated BBC TV show ‘Something Else' on which RUDI played both songs! Amazingly it remained unreleased until last year! Comes in a snappy ‘Good Vibes' style wraparound pic sleeve - 5 colours. Limited pressing of 500 all numbered. 7”

14 Steps to death b/w Crimson/Radio on/The prince of pleasure (Last Year's Youth Records LAST 5-2001) Released July 2001 by an enterprising German label in suave colour pic sleeve. Contains unreleased cuts from 1981! Limited pressing of 500 are all hand numbered. 7” format only.

Yummy Yummy b/w Without You / Time to be proud / The Pressure's on (Last Year's Youth Records LAST 9-2002) Released 2002 Limited pressing of 500 - all hand numbered. 7” format only. Two different P.S.

The Band That Time Forgot LP (Last Year’s Youth Records LAST BIG 1 ) Released 2002 .Coloured vinyl with free booklet (limited pres. of 900) Tracks listing: Time to be proud - Radio on - Claw & dutches - Mission impossible - Murder on the second floor - Bewerewolf! - Crimson - Tigerland - Excitment - Toytown - Frozen by your touch - LifeJam

Singles Collection LP (Last Year’s Youth Records LAST BIG 3) Released 2002 . Limited edition includes free Yummy Yummy 7" EP Tracks listing: Big time - N° One - Overcome by fumes - I spy - Genuine replay - Sometimes - Ripped in two - The pressure's on - Who? You! - When I was dead - Bewerewolf - The Pressure's on - Crimson - 14 steps - Love is electricJam

Big Time - The Best of Rudi CD Released September 1996 as part of the ‘Punk Collectors' series. Contains all the official singles released by RUDI and a host of demos/out takes/ live cuts. Compiled by ex RUDI frontman Brian Young - who was fed up with people issuing RUDI material without permission and decided to do it properly! He also wrote the fully comprehensive sleeve notes. CD only format.

Tracks listing: Big Time", "I Spy", "Crimson" and "When I Was Dead". Also included are 7 previously unreleased demo tracks. Big time/ Number one/ Overcome by fumes/ I spy/ Genuine reply/ Sometimes/ Ripped in two/ Who? You! (demo)/ Time to be proud (demo)/ Without you (demo)/ The pressure's on (demo)/ Yummy yummy yummy (demo)/ Tigerland (demo)/ When I was dead/ Bewarewolf!/ The pressure's on/ The prince of pleasure/ Love goes on/ Crimson/ 14 steps/ Cops (live)/ Excitement/ Frozen by ypur touch (live)

The Radio Sessions 1979 - 1981 (Wizzard In Vinyl - WIV 037) Released January 2005 in Japan.

Tracks listing:

DOWNTOWN RADIO - MAKING TRACKS 17/10/79 TIME TO BE PROUD RADIO ON CLAWS AND CLUTCHES THE PRESSURE'S ON WHO? YOU! EXCITEMENT	RADIO ONE - MIKE READ SHOW 28/4/80 YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY THE PRESSURE'S ON TIME TO BE PROUD WITHOUT YOU
RADIO ONE - JOHN PEEL SHOW 21/9/81 WHEN I WAS DEAD CRIMSON TIGERLAND EXCITEMENT	RTE2 - DAVE FLANNING ?/11/81 CRIMSON 14 STEPS RADIO ON THE PRINCE OF PLEASURE

GUEST APPEARANCE - Terri HOOLEY - Laugh at me (Fresh Records FRESH 4) Released in October 1979 RUDI backed up Good Vibrations supremo Terri Hooley on one side of his debut 45 under the name ‘Terri and The Terrors'. Issued in a wraparound sleeve. NB Even though the GOOD VIBRATIONS PUNK SINGLES COLLECTION CD on Anagram credits ‘The Terrors' - the version on the CD is in fact the flip side - the orchestral version by Terri And The My Ways

COMPILATIONS APPEARANCES

LP - 'Labels Unlimited' - track: Big time
(Cherry Red Records A RED 4) Features BIG TIME as first track ..released December 1979 and played incessantly by Mike Read prompting yet another push/reissue of the 7”…yawn! 12” vinyl format only.

LP - 'Rodney on the ROQ: Vol.3' - track: Crimson (exclusive remix)
(Posh Boy Records PBS 140) CRIMSON was remixed in Gold Star Studios , Los Angeles by Posh Boy for inclusion on this American comp - at the time Posh Boy were trying to get RUDI to sign with them. Issued in mid 1982 and initial copies came with a free copy of Flipside 35 zine. Also released on cassette (PBC 140).

LP - 'Seeds III: Rock' - track: Big time
(Cherry Red Records BRED 78) BIG TIME again on yet another punk sampler. Released June 1987 on 12” vinyl. Also issued later the same year as a doubleplay cassette (C BRED 80) which contained both SEEDS III : ROCK and SEEDS IV : PUNK

LP - 'Bloodstains across Northern Ireland' - track: Time to be proud
(No label-) Long running bootleg series finally gets round to N.I.punk. Fittingly the very first cut on the first side is TIME TO BE PROUD from the first punk band in Belfast!. Issued sometime in 1999 on 12” black vinyl only.

LP - 'Bloodstains across Northern Ireland 2' - track: The pressure's on
(No label) More of the same. THE PRESSURE’S ON (LIVE) from the BBC ‘Something Else’ TV programme in 1979 is released here for the first time ever. Issued sometime in 2000 on 12” LP only - but both green and black vinyl editions exist.

LP - 'England belongs to me - Vol.4' - track: Overcome by fumes
(77 Records) Yet another bootleg - though this time with OVERCOME BY FUMES from BATTLE OF THE BANDS. 12” black vinyl format only. Released 2000

LP - 'Powerpearls- Vol.8' - track: I spy
...another bootleg . 12” black vinyl format only. Released 2001 - Germany

CD - '1234 - Punk & New Wave '76/'79 ' - track: Big time
(Universal Records MCD 60066) 5 CD box set from 1999 which gathers up a truly stupendous collection of ground breaking punk 45’s - including BIG TIME ! Came originally in a tasty long box format w/informative booklet too! Later editions in smaller cube box. Pity nobody asked any of the bands for their permission to use this stuff!

CD - 'The Indie Scene 1978' - track: Big time
(Connoisseur Collection IBM LP 78) BIG TIME yet again! This surprisingly good double album featured the best small label 45’s from 1978 and was also issued on CD ( IBM CD 78) and cassette format (IBM MC 78)

CD - 'The Good Vibrations Story' - tracks: Big time/Overcome by fumes/I-spy
(Anagram Records CD PUNK 36) BIG TIME / OVERCOME BY FUMES / I - SPY Same RUDI cuts on this CD only release which surfaced to everyone’s surprise mere months after the Dojo comp in 1994. Again this one arrived out of the blue - without any of the bands being consulted!

CD - 'Aggro and attitude' - track: I-spy
(Summit Records SUD CD 4502) Cheapo double CD of various punky waver tunes including I - SPY. Released to total apathy sometime in 1996 - and can be found in supermarket browser racks everywhere to this day!

CD - 'Indie punk classics 2' - track: Big time
Emporio Records EMPRCD 690) Another cheapo CD only punk comp w/ BIG TIME. Yawwwn.

CD - 'Punk fiction- 60 punk classics' - track: I - spy
(Summit Deluxe Records SUD CDBX 3651) Triple CD box set released in 1998 which contains I - SPY yet again. In fact it’s two cheapo comps AGGRO AND ATTITUDE and SPIKED stuck in a cheesy yellow box with a punked up chichuahua on the front…yaawn!

CD - 'No Spitting' 60 :Punk Classics'' - track: Big time
(Disky CB 904113) Triple CD box set. it's cheap but a good ish selection of stuff!

CD - 'Last Years Youth!" - tracks: The pressure's on - 14 Steps - Yummy Yummy Yummy
(Wizzard In Vinyl - WIV 039) Japanese release

FILMS
'Shell Rock Shock' 1979 film. http://www.trakmarx.com/2004_04/05_shellshock.htm
This is a fairly well known short film/ documentary about the bands and music scene in Northern Ireland. As well as Rudi, also featured are The Outcasts, Stiff Little Fingers & The Idiots, The Undertones,amongst others. In addition to live performances, most of the bands are interviewed . It's possible that this particular film has also been known as New Wave In Ireland. This film was once shown late one night on Channel 4.There are some awful quality bootleg copies of their performances circulating amongst collectors.

COVER VERSIONS
TERRI HOOLEY - BIG TIME EP BIG TIME / RED CADILLAC AND A BLACK MOUSTACHE / SINS OF the FAMILY. (Immortal Records MWJ 011) Hooley bludgeons the RUDI classic and two other much loved covers into submission on this CD only release from July 1999 on Belfast’s Immortal Records label. Alarmingly Ex RUDI person Brian Young not only played guitar on this release - but also put the band together and worked out the arrangements…has this man no shame!

THE SAWDOCTORS With their roots in punk band Blaze X, Tuam’s finest have often loudly proclaimed their love for the early N.I. punk bands and often romp through a handful of Ulster punk classics during their encores.. Out of the blue they asked ex RUDI man Brian Young to get up and sing and play BIG TIME with them in front of a packed house at Belfast’s Limelight a few years back. They seemed to know the song better than he did ! (not surprising as he hadn’t played it since RUDI folded in 1982!) Minutes later they all stumbled through TEENAGE KICKS as well! Bootleg tapes do exist!

THERAPY? head honcho the dark lord Andy Cairns once listed his all time favourite gig as ‘RUDI at the Ulster Hall’ in Melody Maker. Still it came as a pleasant surprise to find THERAPY? slashing manfully through BIG TIME live on primetime TV (RTE / BBC) a while back - citing it as one of their favourite ever songs - no doubt to the consternation of such yawn inducing artists as The Corrs and Sinead O Connor who were also on the show! Even better THERAPY? have only recently recorded the self same BIG TIME in Seattle for release very very shortly..watch this space!

OTHER CRAP YOU OUGHTA KNOW....
Kid Jensen once played a new release by A Flock Of Seagulls (Wishing?) and then played CRIMSON straight after - asking his listeners if they noticed the uncanny similarity of the Flock’s new release to the (earlier) RUDI one which he had been playing a lot! Where are lawyers when you need ‘em!

In the early days here SLF motormouth Jake Burns always introduced 78RPM as being ‘stolen from BIG TIME by RUDI’..how true! (Ex RUDI bassist Gordy Blair - who played in hippy metal combo Highway Star with Jake always insisted he wrote the riff and music for Gotta Gettaway..who knows? Better still who cares!)

Not content with ripping off several RUDI songs during the Good Vibrations Tour 1979 ( and that’s according to Nigel Hamilton their drummer/songsmith!) The Tearjerkers even ripped off the I-SPY comic style cover (drawn by Brian Young fact fans!) for their Good Vibrations debut 45 Love Affair…sheesh!

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