K SPECIAL
The Ruts - The Virgin Years (4CD) (2015) + The Ruts - The Crack (40th Anniversary Remastered Expanded Edition) (3CD) (2019)
Following on from last week's Misty in Roots post, here are their label mates The Ruts who released their debut single 'In a Rut' on People Unite in January 1979, marking the 45th anniversary (2024) of this seminal release.
The Ruts are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly played by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. The band's newfound success was cut short by the death of lead singer Malcolm Owen from a heroin overdose in 1980. Despite this the band continued under a different musical style as Ruts D.C. until 1983 when they disbanded. The band reformed in 2007.
Formation and early days
The Ruts were formed on 18 August 1977. The band consisted of singer Malcolm Owen (vocals), Paul Fox (guitar), John "Segs" Jennings (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums). On 16 September 1977, the band made their live debut, playing three songs during a break in a set by Mr Softy (another Fox band) at The Target, a pub in Northolt, Middlesex. Ruffy moved from bass to drums after original drummer Paul Mattocks left, and the band was active in anti-racist causes as part of the Misty in Roots People Unite collective based in Southall, West London, playing several benefits for Rock Against Racism. Although the band were often described as coming from Southall, Owen was from Hayes, Fox moved from Kilburn to Hayes in the 1960s, whilst Ruffy and Segs were based in South London. Ruffy had been born in York but spent his formative years in the East End of London, whilst Segs grew up in Southend-on-Sea, having been born in the East End.
Schoolboy friends Fox and Owen shared a mutual interest in music, having met at Hayes Manor School. In the early 1970s they lived together in a commune on the Isle of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales, where they formed a rock band called Aslan with Paul Mattock, who played flute, guitar and keyboards and later became the Ruts' first drummer.
Post Office telephone engineer Jennings met record shop manager Ruffy in 1976 and became interested in punk after discussing the latter's Ramones' T-shirt. Meanwhile, Owen's interest in punk was piqued when he saw the Sex Pistols playing live. At the time, Fox was playing with Ruffy in a funk band, Hit and Run, which included J. D. Nicholas (who went on to join The Commodores in the U.S.) and sixteen-year-old saxophone player Gary Barnacle, who later played on several Ruts songs. Hit and Run were a covers band who released one single, a version of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' 1965 hit "Wooly Bully". The Ruts' initial history is described in an audio interview with Jennings, conducted by Alan Parker, which appears on the album Bustin' Out.
1970s
Early Ruts songs recorded at The Former Orange studios in London's Covent Garden on 1 October 1977 were "Stepping Bondage", "Rich Bitch", "Out of Order", "I Ain't Sofisticated" and "Lobotomy". The group began to evolve and become more musically adventurous, incorporating reggae and dub elements into their repertoire. Dave Ruffy returned to the drums and a new bassist, 'Segs' Jennings, was recruited. The new Ruts line-up debuted supporting Wayne County and the Electric Chairs at High Wycombe Town Hall on 21 November 1977.
The Ruts' first single, "In a Rut" was finally released on People Unite in January 1979, having been recorded back on 24 April 1978 at the Free Range 8-track studios. It was backed up with anti-heroin tirade "H-Eyes" on the B-side ("You're so young, you take smack for fun/It's gonna screw your head, you're gonna wind up dead"). DJ John Peel expressed his admiration for the group on air and a session for the BBC swiftly followed the same month.
DJ David Jensen also showcased the band in a further session recorded for the BBC in February 1979. A second Peel session was in May 1979.
John Peel was hugely impressed with the group's debut single, "In a Rut" (released on the People Unite label of Misty in Roots), as the number of plays on the programme demonstrates. On 12 April 1979 he stated that it was for him the best single of the year so far. On the evening of 24 April 1979 he enjoyed an Indian meal with the band before presenting that night's programme (in which the band's debut session was repeated). Before the first airing of breakthrough 45 "Babylon's Burning", on 28 May 1979, the DJ proclaimed, "this is gonna knock you dead."
Peel played the first side of the group's debut LP "The Crack" on 26 September 1979. The second side was broadcast on 01 October 1979. On 29 October 1979, Peel gave their latest single 'Jah War' its first airing.
After the early death of Malcolm Owen, Peel repeated all of the band's three sessions on 22 July 1980 as a tribute to the singer. He was later to comment, "you'll never forget about Malcolm Owen as long as I've got a radio programme, if that's not an over-emotional thing to say." The remaining members later recorded a session as Ruts DC and subsequent releases under that name were also played by Peel.
In a 2015 interview, Ruts bassist John "Segs" Jennings recalled:
"After John Peel raved about us we went from playing to a few people to having lines around the block. John really moved life forward for us, he was a champion of the outsider. He was a true guy, quite shy. Whenever he had to DJ on TV he had to really force himself to do that. He was a genuine guy who is really missed."
In 1979, after a chance meeting with the Damned drummer Rat Scabies, the band toured the UK as the Damned's support act. A bootleg of their 3 November slot at Strathclyde University includes a rendition of the Damned's "Love Song" as well as a cover version of the rock and roll standard "Blue Suede Shoes". The Damned also played live covers of "In a Rut" during this period as evidenced on the Noise: The Best of the Damned Live album.
In June their debut single for Richard Branson's Virgin Records, "Babylon's Burning" reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, prompting an appearance on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. The second Virgin single, "Something That I Said", followed in August 1979 and garnered a second Top of the Pops spot. The B-side was a reggae track "Give Youth a Chance" (also known as "Blackman's Pinch") originally recorded for the band's John Peel session in May.
Their debut album The Crack was produced by Mick Glossop and released in September 1979, reaching number 16 in the UK Albums Chart. The two singles "Babylon's Burning" and "Something That I Said" were re-recorded for the album. Edited from the album, the band's third single for Virgin at the end of October 1979 was the roots reggae track "Jah War", about the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group's violence in Southall disturbances in April 1979. However, the BBC refused to play it, labelling the song as "too political".
The Crack cover picture by artist John H. Howard shows the members of the group (from left to right: Malcolm Owen, Paul Fox, Dave Ruffy and Segs - who is perusing a copy of Exchange and Mart) seated on a large sofa, around them are some of their contemporaries such as Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible of The Damned (top right corner), Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 (bottom right), while Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are standing behind Malcolm, John Peel appears to be doing something to a schoolgirl (in uniform) with a bar of chocolate on the left hand side, Jimi Hendrix looks on from the right, the wives and girlfriends of the band members appear in various poses, as does the band's roadie Mannah (seen from the back) who assisted in writing the song "S.U.S." which deals with the vagrancy act, widely used by London's Metropolitan Police Service in the late 1970s. The astronomer Patrick Moore looks on somewhat disapprovingly from the left.
The album sleeve contains a dedication to Jimmy O'Neal, one of the organizers of the Deeply Vale Free Festival, where the band had their beginnings.
The original painting is now in the possession of punk icon (and fan and friend of the Ruts), Henry Rollins, who had gone on a search for the painting with the band's blessing. Rollins proudly displayed the painting in a video promoting the 2019 remastered vinyl edition of The Crack.
1980s
On 11 February 1980, the band returned to a BBC studio for their third Peel session, two tracks of which - "Demolition Dancing" and "Secret Soldiers" - later appeared on Virgin's posthumous Grin & Bear It album.
By this time, singer Malcolm Owen was suffering with health problems, a combination of sore throats and a heroin addiction. Contrary to some later reports, which suggested he had started taking heroin when his wife, Roxana had left him, Owen had been dabbling with heroin since the time he and Fox spent in Wales. A UK tour was arranged, the 'Back to Blighty' tour, but a number of dates had to be cancelled due to Owen's condition. What turned out to be the last Ruts gig with Owen took place at Plymouth Polytechnic on 26 February 1980.
On 27 March 1980, the Ruts released their fifth single, "Staring at the Rude Boys", a comment on the rapidly rising Two Tone scene. It was backed by another reggae song "Love in Vain". The single reached the No. 22 spot on the UK Singles Chart.
The Ruts backed Laurel Aitken who was then signed to Secret Affair's record label, I-Spy Records, on a Peel session for BBC Radio 1, in April 1980, and also backed Aitken on his support tour to Secret Affair. The line-up was Aitken, Fox, Jennings, Ruffy, Owen and Barnacle. The band also played for Aitken on his single, "Rudi Got Married".
With their latest UK tour sold out in advance and a US tour lined up, the band began work on their second album in early 1980. Having been forced to cancel a number of UK tour dates, the other three band members fired their frontman over his drug addiction, shortly after completing work on their next single, "West One (Shine on Me)". After negotiations, Owen briefly rejoined the band.
Despite having spent time living at his parents’ house, free from heroin, Malcolm Owen was found dead in the bathroom of his parents' house in Hayes, from a heroin overdose on 14 July 1980 at the age of 26. Prophetically, the track "H-eyes", which was the B-side of their first single "In a Rut", was a song against heroin use, and two other songs, "Dope for Guns" from the album The Crack, plus reggae lament "Love in Vain" ("don't want you in my arms no more") were also anti-drug songs. A year later, the Damned wrote a song, "The Limit Club", about their deceased friend which mentions the "velvet claws" that Fox talked about with reference to Owen's heroin addiction.
On 22 August 1980, the band's sixth and final single was released, "West One (Shine on Me)". Co-produced by the band themselves as they were "starting to get pissed off with the music business" (according to Jennings in an audio interview on "Bustin' Out"), the song featured brass and segued into a dub remix. The B-side was "The Crack", a lighthearted mini-pastiche of their debut album, recorded in a number of musical styles. It peaked at No. 43 in the UK Singles Chart. The band refused an invitation to perform on ‘Top of the Pops’, as the BBC had insisted that Jennings or Fox mime Owen's vocal part, which the band found distasteful.
Virgin issued a second album later in 1980, a compilation of singles, demos and live tracks entitled Grin & Bear It. The three live tracks - "S.U.S.", "Babylon's Burning" and "Society" had been recorded for Chorus, a French TV show, in January of that year. When this was later reissued on CD, early tracks "Stepping Bondage", "Lobotomy" and "Rich Bitch" were added. 1980 also saw the collaboration of the remaining band members with Kevin Coyne on one half of his double album, Sanity Stomp. In 1981 they performed as the backing band of French singer Valérie Lagrange on her album Chez Moi.
The band continued as Ruts D.C. (D.C. standing for the Italian term da capo, meaning "back to the beginning") in a different musical vein. They released two albums, Animal Now (May 1981 on Virgin) and Rhythm Collision (July 1982 on Bohemian Records), the latter in collaboration with Mad Professor, a renowned dub producer. Ruts D.C. split in 1983.
2007 reform
On 16 July 2007, the band reformed for the first time in 27 years, and played a benefit gig for Fox, following his diagnosis of lung cancer. Henry Rollins stood in for Owen. They were supported by Tom Robinson, the Damned, Misty in Roots, UK Subs, Splodge (Splodgenessabounds), John Otway; and the Peafish House Band. Fox died on 21 October of the same year, at the age of 56.
On 25 January 2008, Henry Rollins presented The Gig, a short film about the 2007 benefit gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. The event, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, was accompanied by live performances from Alabama 3, T. V. Smith, members of the Members, the Damned's Captain Sensible and Beki Bondage.
In June 2008, another compilation, Original Punks, was released by Music Club Deluxe in the UK. The two-disc set included demos, alternate versions and live tracks plus songs recorded by Ruts D.C.
In December 2008 John "Segs" Jennings and Dave Ruffy returned to Ariwa Studios as Ruts D.C to record some new tracks with Neil "Mad Professor" Fraser. The project, entitled Rhythm Collision Vol. 2, was mixed in Brighton by Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi and was finally released in 2013.
The band enlisted Leigh Heggarty on guitar, Seamus Beaghan on Hammond organ, and Molara on additional vocals and percussion, and completed some British dates supporting Alabama 3 in November and December 2011. The band also played the Rebellion Festival in August 2012, at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, alongside Rancid, Buzzcocks, Goldblade, Social Distortion, Public Image Ltd and a reformed Anti-Pasti amongst others.
Ruts D.C. still continue writing, recording and performing shows to this day.
Enjoy!
K
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Track lists
The Ruts - The Virgin Years [2015]
CD1
01 Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:35
02 Ruts - Dope for Guns 2:11
03 Ruts - S.U.S. 3:49
04 Ruts - Something That I Said 3:54
05 Ruts - You're Just a... 2:55
06 Ruts - It Was Cold 6:48
07 Ruts - Savage Circle 3:05
08 Ruts - Jah War 6:53
09 Ruts - Criminal Mind 1:34
10 Ruts - Backbiter 3:02
11 Ruts - Out of Order 1:50
12 Ruts - Human Punk 4:36
13 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 2:32
14 Ruts - Society (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 1:55
15 Ruts - Something That I Said (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 3:06
16 Ruts - Give Youth a Chance (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 3:11
17 Ruts - Jah War (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 3:37
18 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 2:19
CD2
01 Ruts - West One (Shine on Me) 5:40
02 Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys 3:15
03 Ruts - Demolition Dancing 2:35
04 Ruts - Secret Soldiers 2:18
05 Ruts - H-Eyes 2:49
06 Ruts - In a Rut 3:41
07 Ruts - Love in Vain 4:10
08 Ruts - S.U.S. (Live) 3:38
09 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (Live) 2:37
10 Ruts - Society (Live) 2:02
11 Ruts - West One (Shine on Me) (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 2:56
12 Ruts - The Crack (7" Version) (Bonus Track) 5:48
13 Ruts - In a Rut (Kid Jensen Session February 1979) (Bonus Track) 3:00
14 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (Kid Jensen Session February 1979) (Bonus Track) 2:34
15 Ruts - Something That I Said (Kid Jensen Session February 1979) (Bonus Track) 3:58
CD3
01 Ruts - Savage Circle (John Peel Session January 1979) 2:57
02 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (John Peel Session January 1979) 2:31
03 Ruts - Dope for Guns (John Peel Session January 1979) 2:27
04 Ruts - Black Man's Pinch (John Peel Session January 1979) 3:08
05 Ruts - Criminal Mind (John Peel Session January 1979) 1:36
06 Ruts - S.U.S. (John Peel Session May 1979) 3:17
07 Ruts - Society (John Peel Session May 1979) 1:53
08 Ruts - You're Just a... (John Peel Session May 1979) 2:47
09 Ruts - It Was Cold (John Peel Session May 1979) 5:12
10 Ruts - Something That I Said (John Peel Session May 1979) 3:17
11 Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys (John Peel Session February 1980) 3:21
12 Ruts - Demolition Dancing (John Peel Session February 1980) 2:37
13 Ruts - In a Rut (John Peel Session February 1980) 3:14
14 Ruts - Secret Soldiers (John Peel Session February 1980) 2:18
15 Ruts - You're Just a... (BBC In Concert July 1979) 3:02
16 Ruts - It Was Cold (BBC In Concert July 1979) 4:29
17 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated (BBC In Concert July 1979) 2:17
18 Ruts - Dope for Guns (BBC In Concert July 1979) 2:23
19 Ruts - S.U.S. (BBC In Concert July 1979) 3:32
20 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (BBC In Concert July 1979) 2:34
21 Ruts - Jah War (BBC In Concert July 1979) 3:10
22 Ruts - Criminal Mind (BBC In Concert July 1979) 1:55
23 Ruts - In a Rut (BBC In Concert July 1979) 4:15
CD4
01 Ruts - Something That I Said (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 4:46
02 Ruts - H-Eyes (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:40
03 Ruts - Gotta Little Number (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:05
04 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:01
05 Ruts - S.U.S. (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:38
06 Ruts - Criminal Mind (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:04
07 Ruts - Dope for Guns (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:52
08 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:53
09 Ruts - Backbiter (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:14
10 Ruts - Jah War (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:18
11 Ruts - You're Just a... (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:56
12 Ruts - It Was Cold (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 5:29
13 Ruts - Out of Order (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:42
14 Ruts - In a Rut (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 6:54
15 Ruts - Human Punk (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 5:46
16 Ruts - Savage Circle (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 3:14
17 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (Encore) (Live at the Marquee July 1979) 2:37
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The Ruts - The Crack (40th Anniversary Remastered Expanded Edition) [2019]
CD1
01 Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:37
02 Ruts - Dope for Guns 2:13
03 Ruts - S.U.S. 3:51
04 Ruts - Something That I Said 3:56
05 Ruts - You're Just a... 2:57
06 Ruts - It Was Cold 6:51
07 Ruts - Savage Circle 3:07
08 Ruts - Jah War 6:55
09 Ruts - Criminal Mind 1:36
10 Ruts - Backbiter 3:04
11 Ruts - Out of Order 1:52
12 Ruts - Human Punk 4:36
CD2
01 Ruts - In a Rut 3:44
02 Ruts - H-Eyes 2:51
03 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (7" Version) 2:34
04 Ruts - Society 1:57
05 Ruts - Something That I Said (7" Version) 3:07
06 Ruts - Give Youth a Chance 3:12
07 Ruts - Jah War (7" Version) 3:38
08 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated 2:20
09 Ruts - You're Just a... (Rough Mix) 3:25
10 Ruts - Criminal Mind (Rough Mix) 1:37
11 Ruts - Savage Circle (Rough Mix) 3:09
12 Ruts - Backbiter (Rough Mix) 3:18
13 Ruts - Out of Order (Rough Mix) 2:05
14 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated (Rough Mix) 2:23
15 Ruts - It Was Cold (Rough Mix) 5:03
16 Ruts - S.U.S. (Rough Mix) 3:57
17 Ruts - Jah War (Rough Mix) 3:49
18 Ruts - Something That I Said (Rough Mix) 4:01
19 Ruts - Dope for Guns (Rough Mix) 2:15
CD3
01 Ruts - Savage Circle (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 3:31
02 Ruts - Something That I Said (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 4:01
03 Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:44
04 Ruts - S.U.S. (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 3:34
05 Ruts - Demolition Dancing (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 3:21
06 Ruts - Backbiter (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:41
07 Ruts - Out of Order (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:05
08 Ruts - Jah War (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 4:40
09 Ruts - Criminal Mind (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 1:55
10 Ruts - Babylon's Burning (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:46
11 Ruts - Dope for Guns (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:30
12 Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 3:17
13 Ruts - H-Eyes (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:30
14 Ruts - In a Rut (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 6:00
15 Ruts - You're Just a... (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 2:42
16 Ruts - It Was Cold (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 4:42
17 Ruts - Society (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 4:00
18 Ruts - Love Song (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 1:45
19 Ruts - Human Punk (Live in the Netherlands 1980) 3:15
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