A Facebook campaign to make ‘Kick Out The Tories’ by The Newtown Neurotics the UK’s Number 1 single in election week has sadly failed.
But that hasn’t stopped the band regrouping for a series of dates, while frontman Steve Drewett has been invited by Billy Bragg to play the Left Field Stage at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
‘Kick Out The Tories’, originally released as a single by the Harlow, Essex trio in 1982, marked a major politically-charged shift in the lyrics of frontman Steve Drewett, directly influenced by the 1979 election of the Conservative Government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
As part of the thriving early 80s UK punk scene, the band released a series of classic singles including ‘Living With Unemployment’ and ‘When The Oil Runs Out’, along with albums such as Beggars Can Be Choosers and Kickstarting A Backfiring Nation (featuring Porky The Poet alias Phil Jupitus).
Disbanding in 1988, Drewett formed The Indestructible Beat before fielding a reconfigured Neurotics for sporadic gigs over the past decade, most recently playing an election special at London’s Pipeline club in April. Latest dates
22 May Voodoo Club Belfast
23 May Fibber Magee’s, Dublin
11 June Fox & Newt, Leeds
12 June Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough
13 June Hairy Dog, Derby
26 June Leftfield Stage, Glastonbury (Steve Drewett solo)
http://steve-drewett.com/
