Eddie and the Hot Rods cut their musical teeth playing covers on the tough 1970s London pub rock circuit. Relentless gigging across venues such as the Hope and Anchor, Nashville and the legendary Marquee club quickly earned the band a reputation for being one of the most energetic and exciting live acts around.Over the long, hot summer of 1976, and just a year after they formed, they laid a marker on the UK rock scene when seeing off the challenge of a rising AC/DC to win the battle for consecutive sell-out shows at the Marquee.
While firmly rooted in classic pub rock, the Essex-based band’s raw energy and loud, fast-paced rock offering chimed readily with the rebellious ethos of the emerging punk scene, engaging and exciting audiences high on a spirit of rebellion and defiance.
On the back of their headlining slot at the first European Punk Rock Festival in the French town of Mont de Marsan in August ‘76, the group were the first to be labelled ‘punk’ by the UK music press. They gigged regularly with Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band The 101ers and gave a support slot to an early-days Sex Pistols - a gig that also planted the seed that became the Buzzcocks in the heads of Howard Devoto and Pete Shelly.
In July 1977, after a series of moderate-selling singles, Eddie and the Hot Rods achieved a breakthrough with the release of Do Anything You Wanna Do. This rollicking call to youthful empowerment sold 500,000 copies, propelling it to No.9 in the UK Singles chart. The punk-without-the-politics anthem, which also featured on the hit album Life on the Line, was considered by many fans as the bridge between pub rock and punk rock and helped pave the way for a raft of emerging new wave bands. The following month, Eddie and the Hot Rods returned to France for another headliner at the second Mont de Marsan festival, further cementing the band’s credentials and punk sensibilities.
While major commercial success remained elusive, the compelling formula of a high-octane stage style and the powerful delivery of songs based on melodic hooks and catchy choruses won the band a loyal fanbase across the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and the US. As a popular play on US college radio, the band also toured regularly in the States with the likes of the Ramones, the Police, and Talking Heads.
While Do Anything You Want To Do remains Eddie and the Hot Rods’ biggest hit and stands as a ‘song for life’ for many fans, the band boasts a solid back catalogue of albums, singles, and EP’s that has earned it stage time at countless music festivals including Reading, Rebellion and Cambridge Rock.
Almost five decades on from their pub rock beginnings, through the various line-ups and iterations - whether Eddie and the Hot Rods, Hot Rods or The Rods - the band has stayed true to its original ideal of great rock music and high-energy live performances and remain as exciting and as relevant as ever.
In 2023, after a 16-year studio hiatus, the band released Guardians of the Legacy, its first album since the tragic death of founding member and charismatic frontman Barrie Masters. The voice may have changed but this rollicking 12-track collection of 24-carat rock ‘n’ roll nuggets ensures Eddie and the Hot Rods’ notable rock legacy is in safe hands while also paving the path to a new frontier.
Twisted Nerve
When the jagged undercurrents of punk and the atmospheric darkness of goth rock had a child, it was named Twisted Nerve. And in it, fans hear the echoes and influences of the goth rock pantheon – from Alien Sex Fiend, Sisters of Mercy and Sex Gang Children, all the way back to Siouxsie, Cramps and Black Album-era Damned.
Driving bass lines, pounding drums, melodic guitar and the sombre, flourishing vocals of towering frontman Craig Paterson deliver a sometimes edgy, sometimes hypnotic quality to songs that find a great balance between aggressive expression and moody introspection.
Twisted Nerve began life in the embers of the 1970s punk scene, originally as ‘The Insults’. The Edinburgh-based band built a solid reputation and fan base with regular appearances on the city’s vibrant live circuit in much-loved but long-gone venues such as La Sorbonne, Cockburn Lounge, and Nite Club. Following a 1981 John Peel session, they released a couple of singles, including the catchy Five Minutes of Fame. They then side-stepped into the emerging post-punk goth scene of the early 80s and earned an appearance at London’s famous Batcave club, considered the cradle of the UK goth scene.
Their remarkable 1984 mini-album Séance found favour with both loyal fans and a wider audience drawn to the musical theatre of dark psychology. Two years later, having shared billings with everyone from fellow local favourites The Scars and Exploited to Fife icons The Skids and Rezillos, the band split up in 1986. Then in 2007 after a 21-year break, Twisted Nerve reformed following an invite to appear at Europe’s first Drop Dead festival, in Prague.
Since then, they have never looked back and have toured with the likes of the Damned, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Model Army, Gary Numan, and the Psychedelic Furs. In August 2024, the band supported the Stranglers in a sold-out gig at the Fringe By The Sea festival.
Event Venue
La Belle Angele, 11 Hastie's Close, off Guthrie Street,Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Tickets
