Saints Alive

While not quite the “Australian Sex Pistols” they’ve been made out to be, The Saints certainly gave the mid-70s pub rock scene in Oz an almighty kick up its bloated arse.

The Saints’ fame – or should that be infamy? – quickly spread to the goldmining town of Warracknabeal where young Nicholas Edward Cave was so impressed with their Stooge-ian noise he immediately formed his own garage punk band, The Boys Next Door.
Fast forward four decades, and Cave and Saints mainman Chris Bailey are now the bestest of buddies.
“I spent most of 2003 in his company, firstly singing on his Nocturama album and then touring in Europe, the States and Oz with him,” says Bailey from his current base in Amsterdam. “He does appear to be a rather big admirer of The Saints, though I think he’d have got where he is today without us!
“When we first met quite a few years ago, we spent the whole night talking about country & western music and trying to write a country & western song which we’ve yet to complete. Contrary to his public persona, Nick is not The Dark Prince. He has a well-developed sense of humour and irony that would be the envy of many a stand-up comic. It’s full-steam ahead at the moment with The Saints, but I imagine we’ll collaborate again in the future.”
Having upset a good few of the beergutted locals – “We had our fair share of bottles thrown at us, and a misunderstanding with AC/DC’s road crew!”– The Saints decamped to London in 1977 where, despite their lack of spiky-hair and safety-pins, they were clasped to the punk bosom.
“Our record company, EMI, tried to get us into the punk uniform of ripped t-shirts and dayglo trousers, but I didn’t join a rock band to go for that instant cabaret,” Bailey laughs. “That said, apart from a run-in with a group of Sunderland skinheads, we had a lot of fun and got to hang out with people like The Damned who, attitude-wise, were quite like us. We didn’t expect that 28 years later we’d still be around, but I’m glad we are.”
Me too!

The Saints play Whelan’s, Dublin (March 1) and The Spring & Airbrake, Belfast (2).