One great powepop track on the a-side and one great punk rock blast on the flip. What more could you ask for? Maybe a sleeve that actually represents the greatness of this release. I first heard this at the Anntenna Radio Show called Gift Wrapped Crap hosted by Scott Bass. Ah those where the days. It was one of the best internet radio stations there was. Too bad they had to close down.
The only thing I’ve found about the Disguise is a small note about them from an old issue of Smash Hits magazine: “DISGUISE seemed to have a bright future ahead of them when they signed for Chiswick Records in late ’77, but the label’s lack of interest after they had taken on the band left them disillusioned. They had to wait over a year for their single to be released, and even when it was, “Hey Baby” didn’t have any effect on the record buying public, which is a shame. Disguise recently split up. (Their drummer is now with the Cassetes.)”
Country: UK
Year: 1978
Label: Chiswick
Format: 7″
Songs:
Hey Baby.mp3
Juvenile Delinquent.mp3
They were from the NE, and had some connection with White Heat (“Nervous Breakdown” etc). There’s apparently an obviously worryingly-rare early test-pressing of this with a different catalogue number. Never seen one though. Anyone?
Funny you mention the Gift Wrapped Crap radio show– I used to write a regular column on reissues for the show’s weekly e-newsletter. Scott Bass is a really cool guy, and the show was a lot of fun and ran from 1998 to 2002. I did some guest hostings which was fun too. But the RIAA (Recording Assocation of America) was giving Scott a hard time about paying royalties (!?!) and that led to the demise of Gift Wrapped Crap and Antenna Internet Radio unfortunately. Fuck. I have not talked to Scott in a while but he has a new radio show online… which I cannot remember the name of right now.
Speaking of punk radio shows Jason Ross, a guy I’ve known for many years, does a cool show called “Scene of The Crime” that you can stream online:
http://www.kdhx.org/programs/sceneofthecrime.htm
He does the show with his wife Ann. She played bass in the Last Sons of Krypton who put out the amazing “Atom Bomb/Meteor(ite)” 7″ back in 1996.
Thanks for the link Tony! Really great radio show.
I first heard “Hey Baby” on a mix tape someone gave me over 20 years ago, it’s a lot better than I remember it being. Surprisingly punky B-side that I’ve never heard before. Nice one Peter!
The planned NS-44 catalogue number was scrapped due to Chiswick’s, then, new distribution deal with EMI. I think the only record to officially bridge the gap between the ‘NS’ and ‘CHIS’ prefix’s was The Bishops “I Want Candy” but there may be test pressings of others. Another record that may have over-lapped was the Jook EP (SW-30), early copies had a PS, later ones the same label/company sleeves as the Disguise 7″. Can anyone confirm that the Jook PS copies had old-style ‘street map’ labels?
Yes, The Jook EP had the ‘map’ labels. The bloke who’s on top of all-things-Chsiwick as much as anyone is Jeroen Vedder, who has a Chiswick blog at:
http://chiswickrecords.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the nice info Steve and James!
I was positive the Jook 7″ had the new style labels but I’ve since seen a copy in a red/white Chiswick bag with ‘map’ labels, so it’s probably safe to say I was wrong and that all copies had ‘map’ labels.
Back to Disguise, there was a great unreleased track called “There’s A Boy On Our Street” included on Chiswick’s budget comp CD “Good Clean Fun”. Pretty good, though it doesn’t sound like either of the tracks on their single. Sounds like a band who were unsure of their direction, which is probably the reason they split after one single.
Then you know you have to post that track on Worthless Trash James ;). Love to hear it.
Here’s a link for “There’s A Boy On Our Street” which was recorded at the same sessions as the single. I’ll keep it active for a week or so.
http://www.razorcuts.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/disguise.mp3
The band line up was Peter Scott (g/v), Jimmy McKenna (b), Alan Scully (d). Not sure if any of the band were connected to White Heat but they were from the Newcastle area.
Thanks for the post James! Not too exciting compared to the ones on the 7inch.
Scott is working with http://punkradiocast.com/ now. He does High energy Plan and I believe he has another show on there as well. Check it out, good stuff.
That’s right Dustin!
My brother Peter Scott formerly of Disguise is still around .and is still a brilliant guitarist,,,wish someone would discover him…….
and his mate Jimmy Mckenna ,,,,,,,
Disguise might be getting back together again in the near future…..I hope so anyway
I like the b-side. Unique in the way it almost sounds like a lost psychobilly tune form the 1950s.