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T Dragster
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That line-up only stuck it out long enough for one gig, at a squat party in Hackney, which nobody remembers much about, save the cover version of 'Are Friends Electric', of all things. The remainder of the songs were Murph's compositions, a couple of which may have been cannibalised for later songs. Jay and Ray quit that autumn, largely thanks to Murph's arrival at one rehearsal, still pissed from the night before, turning (but not tuning) up his guitar and making the most horrendous cacaphony for four hours. To be fair, Murph's guitar was virtually untunable; it was one of those german ones with a metal neck. Minor temperature changes would throw the strings out a whole tone. Murph wrote prolifically throughout 1992, and a certain dextrous way with an obtuse lyric and a clangy chord seqence was developing. Potential drummers and guitarists were checked out throughout that year, to no avail. However, another Hackney squat party presented itself in early 1993, so the remaining two Dragsters decided to wing it with another band's drummer bravely improvising on the night. Not long after this, Dragster were joined by Graham Holman on guitar and Chris Hilton (sometime banjo player with 'the Dust Devils') on drums. This line up began gigging almost immediately and maintained a fairly frequent schedule on the small venue circuit throughout that year, including a couple of gigs in support of Swimmer, whose vocalist Chris has since gone on to front the awesome Ten Benson. Early gigs varied wildly in quality and coherence; Dragster could horrify a crowd with their ineptitude, or inspire the longstanding good will of audience members, sometimes in the same evening. Whatever, they usually alienated the right people, particularly the night they played with 'Khan' at the George Robey. This was not Khan featuring Kid Congo Powers, but a very dubious pub-metal outfit who covered Guns'n'Roses' cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door. Their bass player is memorable for his close resemblance to a medieval jester. Boy did their audience deserve Dragster (whose alchohol intake that evening ensured the most objectionable performance of their existence). For all the inebriation/chaos, performances were starting to shape up, and the band began to record, initially in Chris and Graham's basement on an eight-track with Toby (forget the surname) at the controls, (two songs, 'Different' and 'Jerky'(?), then in spring 1994 at an eight-track studio in Bethnal Green ('You Shouldn't Drink' - bit rich, eh? 'Dragster Theme', 'Double Dog's Knot', 'Kid Frankenstein' and 'Yellow'). Dragster also ventured out-of-town that summer, for a free festival held in Hulme, Manchester, which also featured Dog-Faced Hermans and Suns of Arqa. Back in London, there were some memorable nights at Camden's Monarch (back when the stage was downstairs), a support with the estimable Atlantis Love Boat at the Dublin Castle, and a benefit for something-or-other at Chat's Palace in Dalston, which also featured Dragster's close compadres, Vague on the bill.Dragster activity became less frequent in the first half of 1995, with Chris leaving town to study TEFL, apart from a couple of gigs on the Camden circuit. However, the band booked into Redchurch Recordings in Bethnal Green for further recording with Fred Baggs engineering. Just prior to this Fred had worked on Drugstore's debut album, which was at the time receiving critical acclaim, and had recorded that band's first two singles (Coincidentally, Jay Bell had auditioned for Drugstore in their previous incarnation, Folks Who Live on the Hill. Bet they're glad someone's around to remind them of that name!) Dragster completed two tracks here, 'Breaking Soon' and (? forget title). Summer '95 saw a couple more gigs, one in a basement club in Drury Lane and one at Camden Falcon, but general demotivation kicked in around that point. Chris skipped town to teach English in Poland, Hugh auditioned (and failed) for Rose Carlotti's post-Heart Throbs outfit, then played in a short-lived group with the ex-guitarist of Gew Gaw Mule, (which was joined briefly by Jay Bell), and was involved in an even shorter-lived outfit going by the working title 'The Gynaecologists'. Murph immersed himself in various home recording projects. None of Dragster's recordings ever had a proper release, but the DATS are still kicking about and Murph has recently threatened to burn them to CD, so you never know. Dragster was sloppy, noisy and a lot of fun. Most audiences would probably agree with at least two out of the three. 'Wind in your hair. Flies in your teeth. Shit in your pants... Dragster.'
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