Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - A
    Artists - A Music - 1980s 2 Mins Read

    Attila The Stockbroker

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    After graduating from the University of Kent with a degree in French, this performance poet (born John Baine on 21 October 1957) really was a stockbroker, or on the way to becoming one, before he set out on the live music circuit.

    Accompanied on occasion by his own mandolin backing, he regaled his audience with good-humoured invective on the state of the world.

    Viewed as one of the new ‘ranting poets’ (a term he disliked) his influences were poets Roger McCoughlan and Brian Patton, alongside Monty Python and the energy of punk.

    After playing in forgotten punk bands English Disease and Brighton Riot Squad, he joined Brussels-based punk band Contingent. His usual early environment, indeed, was supporting punk bands.

    He played frequently enough to earn himself a session for BBC disc jockey John Peel, which in turn led to a deal with Cherry Red Records and his debut, Ranting At The Nation, was a highly colourful selection of verse and spoken word highlighting the absurdity of British life.

    Nightmare visions of Soviets running the social security system and his affection for obscure European soccer clubs were among the targets: “So go to your Job Centre – I’ll bet you’ll see/Albanian students get handouts for free/ and drug-crazed punk rockers cavort and caress/ in the interview booths of the DHSS”.

    The Cocktails EP (October 1982) boasted some of his finest pieces to date, from the serious (Contributory Negligence) to the absurd (The Night I Slept With Seething Wells). Sawdust and Empire (1984) saw a greater emphasis on music.

    seethingwellsattila
    Seething Wells (Steven Wells) and Attila.

    Increasingly, Attila was seeing himself as a folk artist, and in-between releases was becoming a near-permanent fixture at various festivals, working alongside John Otway and TV Smith (ex-The Adverts).

    He was involved in the staging of Cheryl The Rock Opera alongside Otway and Blyth Power, for whom he occasionally plucked a fiddle, and contributed to the pages of the Guardian with essays on social change in eastern Europe while on tour in the region.

    Attila formed the band Barnstormer in 1994, combining punk rock and medieval music.

    The band performed regularly across Europe and released the albums The Siege of Shoreham (1996),  Just One Life (2000),  Zero Tolerance (2004) and Bankers and Looters (2012).

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Billy Idol
      Billy Idol
      Billy Idol was born William Michael Albert Broad on 30 November 1955 at Stanmore, Middlesex, England. While studying English Literature at…
    • Chumbawamba
      Chumbawamba
      Chumbawamba formed in the early 1980s and were closely allied with anarcho-punk collective Crass (their first release was a track on…
    • Anti-Nowhere League
      Anti-Nowhere League
      In good punk tradition, the Anti-Nowhere League formed in Kent, England, in 1980 out of sheer boredom. The band members…
    • Haircut 100
      Haircut 100
      Formed in Kent in 1980, Haircut 100 lit up the charts in 1981 and 1982 with music so cuddly and…
    • Johnnys, The
      Johnnys, The
      Formed in 1982, and described as a cross between Marty Robbins and The Sex Pistols, Australian band The Johnnys dressed as…
    • Black Flag
      Black Flag
      Napalming its way onto the often violent California punk scene of the early 1980s, Damaged (1981) is one of the angriest and…
    • Ian Dury (& The Blockheads)
      Ian Dury (& The Blockheads)
      With or without his backing band The Blockheads, Ian Dury was a formidable performer in the early days of punk's…
    • Lydia Lunch
      Lydia Lunch
      By 1977, the New York punk scene had run out of steam. Into the vacuum charged a second generation of…

    Oi!
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleAnti-Pasti
    Next Article Au Pairs, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Emerald Soup
      1 9 6 3 (UK) 7 x 25 minute episodes In the Maxwell laboratory, […]
    • Isaac Hayes
      Isaac Hayes lived a remarkable life. One that took him from […]
    • Babycham
      Launched in the UK in 1953, Babycham was the first alcoholic […]
    • Sherbet Remembered
      The intermission lights were dimming and scattered chatter was […]
    • Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The (1984)
      Most cult classics didn’t start out trying to be that way. […]
    • Newsfront (1978)
      Set in Australia in the late 1940s, before the coming of […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    7 hours ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64418847 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
    1 day ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

    Put some "beefiness into your mid-week menu" with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the "Radio Times" on 30 September 1965. ... See MoreSee Less

    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 54
    • Shares: 22
    • Comments: 7

    Comment on Facebook

    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

    View more comments

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

    nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 4
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😢

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Jeff Beck: British guitar legend dies aged 78

    www.bbc.co.uk

    One of rock's most influential guitarists, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Hi everyone. Were in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes.

    Hi everyone. We're in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes. ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 5
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 2

    Comment on Facebook

    Ironically, this post has jumped off the page at me. You'll probably get most traffic today because everyone will want to see what they might be missing!

    Martin Platt

    RIP Fred White, drummer with Earth, Wind and Fire, who has died aged 67. 😢

    RIP Fred White, drummer with Earth, Wind and Fire, who has died aged 67. 😢 ... See MoreSee Less

    4 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 4
    • Shares: 2
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    Great band

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.