The Ruts

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The Ruts

Background information
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Punk rock
New Wave
Post-punk
Years active 1978 – mid 1983
Label(s) People Unite,
Virgin Records,
Bohemian
ROIR
Associated acts Ruts D.C.
Website The official Ruts Myspace Page
Former members
Paul Fox
Malcolm Owen
Dave Ruffy
John "Segs" Jennings
Gary Barnacle

The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.

Contents

[edit] Career

The band consisted of Malcolm Owen (vocals), Paul Fox (guitar), John "Segs" Jennings (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums). As part of the People Unite collective based in Southall in West London the band were active in anti-racist causes, and their song "Jah War" is about the Special Patrol Group's violence in Southall in 1979, in which Blair Peach was beaten to death and Clarence Baker was severely injured.[citation needed]

The Ruts backed Laurel Aitken who was then signed to the Secret Affair record label, I-Spy Records on a John Peel session for BBC Radio 1, in April/May 1980, and also backed Aitken on his support tour to Secret Affair - The line-up was Aitken, Fox, Jennings, Ruffy, Owen and Barnacle.

Malcolm Owen died from a heroin overdose on 14 July 1980 at the age of 26. The b-side "H-eyes" of "In a Rut" was a song against heroin use, and two other songs, "Dope for Guns" from the album The Crack, plus "Love in Vain" (b-side of "Staring at the Rude Boys") were also anti-drug songs. 1980 also saw the collaboration of the remaining band members with Kevin Coyne on one half of his double album Sanity Stomp, at a time when Coyne was suffering a nervous breakdown.

The band continued as Ruts D.C. (D.C. standing for Da Capo meaning 'back to the beginning') but never repeated their earlier success. As Ruts D.C., the band toured Germany in the autumn of 1980, playing at the small nightclub, To Act, in rural Bavaria (Weißenohe, near Nuremberg). However, without the charismatic persona, stage presence and voice of Owen (and despite guitarist Paul Fox handling the vocals), the band struggled to re-live their past glories.[citation needed]

On 16 July 2007 the band reformed for the first time in 27 years and played a special one off benefit gig for Paul Fox, following his diagnosis with lung cancer. Henry Rollins (of Black Flag), stood in for Owen. They were supported by Tom Robinson, The Damned, Misty in Roots, U.K. Subs, Splodge (Splodgenessabounds), John Otway; and the Peafish House Band which featured Lee Harris, (The Blockheads), Tony Barber (Buzzcocks) and Rowland Rivron, plus Edward Tudor-Pole and T. V. Smith.[citation needed]

Fox, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in mid 2007, died on 21 October of the same year at the age of 56.[1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Selective compilation albums and E.P.s

  • The Peel Sessions (December 1986: Strange Fruit)
  • Peel Sessions – Complete Sessions 1979-1981 (May 1990: Strange Fruit)
  • Demolition Dancing (1994: Receiver) - mostly live material, but including two tracks by the Damned
  • Something That I Said: The Best of the Ruts (March 1995: Virgin)
  • Bustin’ Out: The Essential Ruts Collection (June 2001: EMI)

[edit] Singles

  • "In a Rut" / "H-Eyes" (May 1978: Record label:People Unite, SJP 795 & RUT 1)
  • "Babylon's Burning" / "Society" (June 1979: Virgin, VS 271) Also released as a 12 inch single # 7 UK Singles Chart[2]
  • "Something That I Said" / "Give Youth a Chance" (August 1979: Virgin, VS 285) # 29 UK
  • "Jah Wars" / "I Ain't Sofisticated" (November 1979: Virgin, VS 298)
  • "Staring At The Rude Boys" / "Love in Vain" (April 1980: Virgin, VS 327) # 22 UK
  • "West One (Shine On Me)" / "The Crack" (August 1980: Virgin, VS 370) # 43 UK
  • "Different View" / "Formula Eyes" (as Ruts D.C.) (February 1981: Virgin, VS 396)
  • "Whatever We Do" / "Push Yourself – Make It Work" (as Ruts D.C.) (July 1982: Bohemian, B 02)
  • "Weak Heart" / "Militant" / "Accusation" (as Ruts D.C.) (March 1983: Bohemian, B 03)
  • "Stepping Bondage" / "Lobotomy" / "Rich Bitch" (as Ruts) (May 1983: Bohemian, B 04)

[edit] Audio sample
The Ruts - Babylon's Burning excerpt
An excerpt from Babylon's Burning
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Guardian newspaper obituary - October 2007
  2. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruts"
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