The Lungs - Bloody Hell! It's The Lungs (1987/88)

The Lungs existed for a relatively short period of time during which they made an impact on the music scene completely in proportion to their level of success.
Rising from the ashes of Third Spain in late 1986, Maeyc and Alan recruited bass player Tim Parry to form a lean, stripped-down trio that played short fast songs that were described by Huw Prestatyn as like "Johnny Cash on speed" and by John Robb as comparable to The Minutemen.

The only official Lungs release during their lifetime was a calendar, entitled "Bloody Hell! it's 1988" which featured 366 reasons for a party, together with 12 portraits of the group. They appeared on two compilation cassettes, Central Slate's "Burning Down The Chapels" and one put out by the late Welsh studio wizard Les Morrison, and had a retrospective "best of" entitled "Bloody Hell! it's The Lungs" released some years later on Central Slate Records, originally as a 9 track cassette and later as an expanded CD reissue featuring 20 tracks. It is the CD version that we feature here, containing as it does, virtually the entire repertoire of the group, except for a handful of covers that the group would sprinkle into their live sets. These included The Modern Lovers' "She Cracked" and "Old World", The Fall's "Rebellious Jukebox" and "Totally Wired", Nico's "Janitor of Lunacy", Third Spain's "Better Myself" and The Saints' "This Perfect Day". Versions of some of these songs may well appear in a future post covering The Lungs' live recordings.




In their initial incarnation, The Lungs played the following gigs:

27th November 1986 Trax, Bangor
23rd December 1986 Trax, Bangor (with Cut Tunes, Picasso's Mind, Alex Hutchings)
9th January 1987 Dolbadarn, Llanberis (with Cut Tunes)
20th January 1987 Trax, Bangor
19th February 1987 Royal Victoria, Llanberis (with The Jukes & Chris Walker)
22nd February 1987 Bangor University main bar (with Y Cyrff & The Strand)
3rd March 1987 Trax, Bangor (with Y Cyrff, Zod Maelstom & Krystalnacht)
17th April 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with APV & The Tarantulas)
1st May 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with Traddodiad Ofnus & Cut Tunes)
9th May 1987 JP Hall, Bangor (with Anhrefn, The Jukes, Fflaps & APV)
3rd July 1987 Carlton Club, Salford (with Anhrefn & Parade)
11th July 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with Cut Tunes & Garden Of Eden)
24th July 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with Anhrefn, Tynal Tywyll & Fflaps)
29th July 1987 Princess Charlotte, Leicester (with Anhrefn)
28th August 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with The Membranes & Chain Gang)
24th September 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with APV & Yr Orsedd)
29th October 1987 Jazz Room, Bangor (with Fflaps & Krystalnacht)
12th November 1987 Trax, Bangor (with 4Q & NRG)
4th February 1988 Jazz Room, Bangor (with Walkingseeds & Dinistrio'r Diniwed)
27th February 1988 Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge (with U Thant, Eirin Peryglus & Richard Hopewell).. 24th May 1988 Jazz Room, Bangor (with The Jitters)
16th June 1988 Bangor University Mandela bar (with Eirin Peryglus & Radio 23)
28th June 1988 TJ's, Newport (with U Thant & Fflaps)
30th July 1988 Jazz Room, Bangor (with The Trees & Burnham Burnham)

However they did reform briefly during 1992 for a further handful of gigs, of which no record has been found. If anyone remembers being at these events, possibly at the Normandie / Barrels in Bangor, we would be grateful for further information.



The Lungs - Bloody Hell! It's The Lungs

Maeyc Hewitt - drums/spanners
Alan Holmes - guitar/vocals
Tim Parry - bass

1 Stalagmiteman 2:00
2 Scumbag 2:54
3 Charming Bastards 2:49
4 The Orange 2:02
5 Derek V12 2:38
6 Ruth Is on a Train 1:50
7 Raising Cain 2:37
8 In the Capital 2:03
9 Oleoleo 2:15
10 Scrabblebrain 3:23
11 Out in the Sunshine 2:17
12 Hey Peter 1:59
13 Silver Star 2:02
14 Bang! 3:13
15 Heartbreak Hotel 3:14
16 Do As You Are Told 3:03
17 At the End of My Street 2:02
18 The Place Where Time Stands Still 1:55
19 The Day James Cagney Died 2:11
20 Tra La La 4:57

all songs by The Lungs except 15 (Axton/Durden/Presley) and 16 (Stephen Davies/The Lungs)

tracks 1-15 recorded at 5 Regent Street, Bangor on 25th & 26th November 1987
track 16 recorded at 5 Regent Street, Bangor on 16th June 1987
track 17 recorded at 5 Regent Street, Bangor in January 1988
track 18 recorded at 5 Regent Street, Bangor on 5th May 1987
tracks 19 & 20 recorded at Unlucky Søn, Bethesda by Les Morrison on 1st March 1988

get it here