The Buzz Club: Primal Scream October 1989

21st October 1989 The Buzz Club – Primal Scream / The Ruby Tuesdays. 

In the two years since their last Buzz Club performance, Primal Scream had left Alan McGee‘s Warner’s label, Elevation and re signed to Alan McGree’s Creation Records! They had also all moved to Brighton.

This had just been released.

Myself and a few friends had started a record label, Push Records. We had signed a wonderful band from Stoke called The Ruby Tuesdays, who also played.

There were about 200 in again, similar to the first time Primal Scream played. It was a really good night.

As I came downstairs from Jem Barnes‘s office, having sorted the money all out, the singer from the other support band, Something Pretty Beautiful, came up to me and asked if they could come to the party?

Word had got round that my Mum and Dad were away for the night (they were) and that there was to be a party. I’m not sure how this rumour started, but everyone thought they were coming, including Primal Scream, so I thought, ‘why not?’.

My parents’ house in Frimley Green was pretty well known. My Dad was the village GP and my Mum ran the nursery school from our house. I am the youngest of 6 children, Elm Cottage was always mad crazy. My parents often had parties. Dad played the bagpipes and Mum sang and played the mouth organ. Their friends took turns to sing or tell stories and the whiskey and Martinis ran throughout them all.

By the time the whole Primal Scream entourage arrived for the Buzz Club aftershow, I realised to my horror that all my records were now in London, no one was home and all there was to play was my Dad’s pibroch bagpipe music collection.

One of the most relieved I’ve ever been in my life was when Throb, Primal Scream’s guitarist pulled out a cassette of Sly and the Family Stone, popped it in the cassette deck, whacked the volume up and we had ourselves a party!

I had brought back a couple of crates of White Lightning cider from the West End Centre, which was a fairly potent brew. It also helped get the party started.

The Ruby Tuesdays decided to bring all their gear into the house and played an impromptu gig in one of the rooms. Bobby Gillespie was last seen heading off at about 4am, on foot, asking which way Brighton was.