Brixton news, rumour and general chat - April 2014

[Rushy]

That is true.


unfortunately the narrative link gives no clue as to what Eddy Grant thought the Front Line was in his song. He just said the bass riff was very strident

He was not lying. Have I mentioned that his is one of my favourite bass lines....

 

[SarfLondoner]

If you are referring to me (maaaate) - my first comment was:

Yeah - people in London who smoke weed. Yeah - a few people who actually knew what Eddie Grant was singing about (I didn't have a clue - I lived in rural Spain in 79). But the riots made the name well known across the country. So much so that Ed, like so may others, thought that's where the name came from.

I wasnt referring to you mate, It was to Teuchter's original post,im not great with the reply and quote thingy.

 

[Rushy]

I wasnt referring to you mate, It was to Teuchter's original post,im not great with the reply and quote thingy.

It's "maaaate".

 

[teuchter]

If you look at the lyrics to Living on the Frontline there's nothing to indicate it was written specifically about Brixton.

Yeah, oh yeah
Mmm, oh yeah
Mmm, alright

Oh you got me
Living on the front line
Oh you got me mama
Living on the front line

Oh mama
You gonna mourn me in the wrong time
Oh you got me mama
You gonna mourn me on the front line
They got me living on top of my existence
Oh appreciating my resistance

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line

I said yeah, yeah, oh yeah
I said yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Oh what kind of man could I be
If I can't talk about what I see

Oh they tell me do beware
Take your little money and go
Me, no want no dirty money
No, me, no want no dirty money

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh mama, mama you got me
Born in the wrong time

Ah yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Woo woo yeah, yeah, oh yeah

Do all my brothers in Africa
All stop shooting your brother
Do all my brothers in Africa
All stop shooting your brother

I need your brother in Africa
Oh we are born from the same mother
Oh mama, mama you got me
Born on the front line

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh, yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Woo-woo-woo, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, aah

Me, no want nobodys money
There lord they sugar me no want to see
Me, no want to shoot Palestines
Oh I have land, oh I have mine

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line

Stop this brother killing brother
Over in our land in Africa
Stop this brother shooting sister
Over in our land in Africa

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line

Me no want no bloody money
Me have a talk about what I see
I don't want your bribery
Me have a talk about what I see

Me no want to go America
Oh, me no want to be come big Star
Me no want to take cocaine
Oh, to block off my brain

Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line
Oh mama, mama you got me
Living on the front line

I said yeah, yeah, oh yeah
I said yeah, yeah, oh yeah

Oh mama, mama, oh mama
You got me living on the front line
Living on the front line

They got me living on the front line
They got me living on the front line
They got me born in the wrong time

 

[editor]

If only I could look though people's long-forgotten notes from over a decade ago, find a single throwaway line from those ancient comments to build an entire argument around and then completely ignore anything they've written or said on the subject since - even after they've corrected the original error.

Wouldn't that be a really grown up way to conduct a discussion?

 

[Rushy]

If you look at the lyrics to Living on the Frontline there's nothing to indicate it was written specifically about Brixton.

Don't spoil this shit for me Teutchy.

 

[teuchter]

"an entire argument" ?

 

[SarfLondoner]

It's "maaaate".

Sorry maaaate. Fucking hell im now saying maaaate with an Aussie accent as i type.

 

[Rushy]

If only I could look though people's long-forgotten notes from over a decade ago, find a single throwaway line from those ancient comments to build an entire argument around and then completely ignore anything they've written or said on the subject since - even after they've corrected the original error.

Wouldn't that be a really grown up way to conduct a discussion?

 

[Rushy]

Sorry maaaate. Fucking hell im now saying maaaate with an Aussie accent as i type.

Time to stop, before it goes too far.

 

[teuchter]

So apparently St Pauls in Bristol was also known as "the frontline".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/sop/grosvenor_road/frontline.shtml

An interesting quote from that article:

In the programme it is likened to Brixton which was once a no-go zone and is now an expensive area to try to move into.
Middle class people are buying up the houses and prices have risen dramatically.

That's written in 2002.

 

[teuchter]

I wasnt referring to you mate, It was to Teuchter's original post,im not great with the reply and quote thingy.

Yes I remember what I said in my original post. It was designed to stimulate debate, and as such I think it has been a productive evening's work.

 

[SarfLondoner]

So apparently St Pauls in Bristol was also known as "the frontline".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/sop/grosvenor_road/frontline.shtml

An interesting quote from that article:



That's written in 2002.

There is a famous reggae band from Bristol called frontline they took there name from a bbc sitcom(The frontline) after been asked to record a theme tune for the sitcom. This would have been in the early eighties.

 

[Gramsci]

Im just reminding you of your orignal post.It's since been established and proved that "The Frontline" was the frontline quite some time before the riots.It was notoriously known as that in the seventies let alone the eighties to anyone that smoked a bit of grass. It wasn't called the frontline because that's where some of the rioting took place. Im surprised you havn't implicated the house of bottles in your argument due to the amount of petrol bombs that were used.

I worked for a Jamaican builder (early 80s) who used to go down there to get grass.

And they would sell him the real stuff not rubbish.

I agree it was called Frontline before the riots. Everyone around then knew that.

 

[Rushy]

Yes I remember what I said in my original post. It was designed to stimulate debate, and as such I think it has been a productive evening's work.

Actually - it has totally fucked up my evening's productivity. I intended to move my domains over to namecheap due to poor mail forwarding but have instead engaged wholeheartedly in this nonsense. I curse you.

 

[editor]

I worked for a Jamaican builder (early 80s) who used to go down there to get grass.

And they would sell him the real stuff not rubbish.

I agree it was called Frontline before the riots. Everyone around then knew that.

I've heard quite a few stories about how some families would take substantial detours rather than risk walking down that stretch of road (known locally as The Frontline) in the 1970s.

 

[teuchter]

Actually - it has totally fucked up my evening's productivity.

 

[SarfLondoner]

I worked for a Jamaican builder (early 80s) who used to go down there to get grass.

And they would sell him the real stuff not rubbish.

I agree it was called Frontline before the riots. Everyone around then knew that.

We would go to the older blokes in the dapper suits and pork pie hats because they wouldn't rip you off and would give you something decent.

 

[Gramsci]

I've heard quite a few stories about how some families would take substantial detours rather than risk walking down that stretch of road (known locally as The Frontline) in the 1970s.

That does not surprise me.

It was the stretch of shops/houses by St Georges Residences that were used to deal. From what I remember.

 

[Gramsci]

We would go to the older blokes in the dapper suits and pork pie hats because they wouldn't rip you off and would give you something decent.

And it would be grass not this super strength stuff that got popular later on.

The Jamaican builder I knew used to smoke it and still work fine.

 

[Gramsci]

Where was the big off license on Atlantic road back then? My memory fails me. Where Kaff is now? I always remember it as Frontline off license.

The Lounge is where the "Grain Barn" was ( now called Brixton Wholefoods and moved across the road).

SarfLondoner

 

[SarfLondoner]

That does not surprise me.

It was the stretch of shops/houses by St Georges Residences that were used to deal. From what I remember.

From my hazy memory it went on from where montego place now stands and continued along the parade up to Barnwell rd.That was the main bit iirc, and there was the odd shop here and there and of course quite a few pubs.

 

[Gramsci]

From my hazy memory it went on from where montego place now stands and continued along the parade up to Barnwell rd.That was the main bit iirc, and there was the odd shop here and there and of course quite a few pubs.

That sounds right to me.

 

[editor]

Where was the big off license on Atlantic road back then? My memory fails me. Where Kaff is now? I always remember it as Frontline off license.

The Lounge is where the "Grain Barn" was ( now called Brixton Wholefoods and moved across the road).

SarfLondoner

There was a couple further up Railton Road.

I'm really glad I took these photos of old shop fronts because so many of them have gone already.

More here: http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/atlantic-road-2008.html

 

[SarfLondoner]

Where was the big off license on Atlantic road back then? My memory fails me. Where Kaff is now? I always remember it as Frontline off license.

The Lounge is where the "Grain Barn" was ( now called Brixton Wholefoods and moved across the road).

SarfLondoner

I think it was where Kaff is too! There was another offy further up opposite Lesson road they also sold amazing pattie's.

 

[Gramsci]

I think it was where Kaff is too! There was another offy further up opposite Lesson road they also sold amazing pattie's.

Yes it was really big and did wholesale as well.

 

[SarfLondoner]

There was a couple further up Railton Road.

I'm really glad I took these photos of old shop fronts because so many of them have gone already.

More here: http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/atlantic-road-2008.html

The bottom picture is the offy i mentioned in my above post.

 

[editor]

Yes it was really big and did wholesale as well.

Howes Cash & Carry was where Kaff is now.

http://www.urban75.org/blog/atlantic-road-brixton-archive-photos-from-2001/

 

[SarfLondoner]

Howes Cash & Carry was where Kaff is now.

http://www.urban75.org/blog/atlantic-road-brixton-archive-photos-from-2001/

The white poster (top right) are "return to the source" flyers which was a trance night every second Friday at the fridge. I think they did the acadamy once a month as well.

 

[editor]

Return to the Source are in fact returning to the Fridge/Electric Brixton this very August!