Description
The self-titled, sole album by the British punk/new wave band What of the Night was released on Budj Records in 1979. The album was engineered by John McLarty with John Coulter producing.
The band was formed at Bath University by Adrian Wylie and Matt McArdle (ex Birmingham band The Killjoys) one year earlier. In early ‘79, What of the Night recorded a demo tape at the BBC Radio Bristol studios. This helped them to win the title of ‘Best new gospel band in the UK’ after entering a competition to find the best new gospel bands in the UK on Anne Nightingale’s BBC Radio One show. Their reward, to gain exposure through national airtime on Radio One. The rest of ’79 was then spent recording material for their debut album, at a studio near Glasgow, in Scotland.
Budj Records was founded by John ‘Budgie’ Coulter in Ballymena, Ireland, in 1979, to release Christian punk and heavy metal records. What of the Night’s self-titled album was the first release by the label, followed by Tsunami by Tempest (1980) and Distant Kingdom by Therefore (1981).
The album is an inventive mix of punk and garage rock in interesting arrangements with psychedelic edges – it could be seen as an early example of neo-psych, but let down by poor production. It was released on the Ballmena based Budj label. [Irishrock.org]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Soaked Right Through”
A2. “M.T.I’s”
A3. “Show Me A Love”
A4. “Black Satin Lovers”
A5. “Fighting Solo”
Side Two
B1. “Dying World”
B2. “Summer Lament”
B3. “Cure For Death”
B4. “The Wall”
B5. “Caught In The Firing Line”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Budj Records.
CREDITS. Produced by John Coulter and engineered by John McLarty. Photographics: Ian Ramsden. And thanks to Dick and Esther without whom this album would not have been made. Gloria in excelsis deo.
What Of The Night: Adrian Wylie (Lead Vocals), Matt McArdle (Guitar, Vocals), Jem Mackay (Guitar, Vocals), Hugh C. Betteridge (Bass), Trevor Marshall (Drums).
The story of Budj Records
Budj Records were an interesting, if somewhat controversial label founded in 1979 by John ‘Budgie’ Coulter. John, the son of prominent Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Robert J. Coulter, was a student at the University Of Ulster, Coleraine. The label itself was based in Ballymena, in the heart of County Antrim’s ‘Bible Belt’ and it caused quite a stir by specialising in Christian punk and heavy metal music! Says John ‘ Budj’s real message was that Jesus Christ could revolutionise your life. Budj used the medium of punk to communicate that message’.
John, himself a ‘born again’ Christian since 1972, states the reasons for forming Budj as firstly “a form of rebellion against those in my father’s congregation who were opposed to my interest in punk and metal and targeted at those in the community in which I lived who tried to impose a Victorian-style code of behaviour on a ministers son”. And secondly – “It was a chance to try to get the Gospel message across to young people through the medium of punk & heavy metal, as Christian music at the time was dominated by the Country & Western or traditional Gospel genres”. As John, being a Christian, didn’t indulge in the usual things teenagers experimented with – sex, drugs, booze etc., he channelled his own teenage rebellion through his taste in music.
Adrian Wylie, an old school friend of John’s from their days at Ballymena Academy, had formed a Christian punk band called ‘What Of The Night’ while studying at Bath University, England. The band line-up was – Wylie (lead vocals), Jem McKay (rhythm guitar), Hugh Betteridge (bass), Trevor Marshall (drums) and Matt McArdle (lead guitar). Back in ‘77, before being ‘born again’. McArdle had been a member of legendary Birmingham punk band The Killjoys, whose singer Kevin Rowland went on to find fame and fortune with his band Dexy’s Midnight Runners! McArdle was also heavily involved in the London, Manchester and Coventry punk scenes, and regards several members of The Buzzcocks, The Clash and The Heartbreakers as personal friends. John Coulter recalls “I had originally suggested that What Of The Night be called The Clergy. It was intended that they would walk slowly on stage dressed as clerics, complete with traditional religious dog collars. It would be to the sound of monks’ chanting with a single spotlight focused on the drums. The band would take their places and then suddenly launch into a full-blown punk number. In the end, the idea and name were dropped as it was thought that it would be too blasphemous”.
In early ‘79, What Of The Night recorded a demo tape at the BBC Radio Bristol studios. This helped them to win the title of ‘Best new gospel band in the UK’ after entering a competition to find the best new gospel bands in the UK on Anne Nightingale’s BBC Radio One show. Their reward, to gain exposure through national airtime on Radio One. The rest of ’79 was then spent recording material for their debut album, at a studio near Glasgow, in Scotland.
Their self titled album was released on Coulter’s newly formed Budj label, amid a flurry of publicity in the local press, at Christmas ’79, and immediately came under fire from Christian fundamentalists who believed Punk and Heavy Metal to be the ‘music of the devil’, so they waved placards and boycotted the shop selling the records in Ballymena. The band also came under attack from punk purists who regarded it with suspicion due to its Christian sentiment! Despite the opposition, the three thousand copies of the album which were made (50% on vinyl and 50% on cassette) sold enough copies to enable Budj to record and release a second album, this time by Christian Heavy Metal Band, Tempest, who came from Belfast. Again three thousand copies of this album were released, half on vinyl, the rest on cassette. The third and final release was a cassette only album by the Dire Straits and Eagles influenced Christian Rock band Therefore, who hailed from the Ballymena area. Three thousand copies of this release were issued on cassette only. However, by this time in 1981 Coulter had graduated from University and had decided to pursue a career in journalism rather than the music industry. [spitrecords.co.uk/budj.htm]
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