Paul wrote:
I'll bow to your memory on that. It may not have been Shag, just for some reason the name sticks in my mind. Makes sense about The Gents. Steve left school end of 78 and I only saw him again end 79, early 80.
Great times, but proof that some of the condiments at the time seriously mess with either amount or functioning of brain cells, mine at least.
One thing Steve wasn't happy about with the Kids is they wouldn't let him (or the style of music wouldn't) go moggy on the kit, the drumming was tight, but no improvisation allowed. While Robbie used to go apeshit at times playing guitar hero.
Do you remember a 'club' they used to have in the upstairs of a derelict warehouse in the bottom end of town? (Somewhere near Dungeons I recall) I think it was owned by one of Dino's relations. The roof used to leak and I remember gigs with a few inches of water on the floor, leads trailing through the water, and the odd spark flying! Awesome.
The band was almost certainly named "Shag" when Steve met Dino and Robbie. I'm not sure when they stopped being Shag and started calling themselves The Asylum Kids. There was a short transitional period during which they went from 5-piece to 4-piece to 3-piece.
I recall them recording a demo with the 4-piece lineup that was presented to WEA (or perhaps Gallo) as "The Asylum Kids". I'm not sure the A&R guy realised it was essentially the same band. He said the band he'd just heard on tape was "much better than Shag".
I say essentially the same band. It was Shag minus one guitarist and with Steve now on drums, but they'd chucked nearly their entire setlist away because they'd wanted to rework their sound.
I don't recall the club you describe - but then I wouldn't. I'd been "hanging" with Shag/Kids when they were playing at The Boogie Barn in Hillbrow. Their manager was also running the BB and Shag were the house band (usually there were guest bands - Flash Harry, Corporal Punishment, Rag Dolls amongst them) That venue got given back to Taubie Kushlick, and I was interested in spiritual activities and also in making ends meet, so I didn't see so much of them from then on. I recall a recording studio in Booysens and a practice room that must have been down near the Top Star drive-in - that must have been owned (or rented) by Dino's family. I saw less and less of them as time wore on, though I stayed in touch with their manager and saw him from time to time.
I liked the band, and I agree with the A&R man mentioned above - they were a better unit than Shag. You might argue that without Cliffie they had less firepower in the guitar department, but the trio of Dino, Robbie and Steve was the combination that really clicked, and Dino and Robbie's songwriting took off - not for any apparent reason, just planets being in the correct alignment or something.
