Grin & Bear It is The Ruts

The Ruts

The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.-Career:...

' 1980 second album and features a compilation of singles, B-sides and live performances recorded at London's Marquee Club

Marquee Club

The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....

. The cover artwork was by Oliver Howard.

"In A Rut"/"H Eyes" was the first single recorded at Fairdeal 8-track studio in Hayes

Hayes, Hillingdon

Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added in order to house factory workers...

 in May 1978. Originally to be released as an EP with a considerably slower version of "Society" on Misty in Roots

Misty in Roots

Misty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...

’ own label People Unite.

"Love in Vein" was the B-side of "Staring at the Rude Boys", and it was produced and engineered (for Dukeslodge Enterprises) at Air and Townhouse Studios, February 1980. Brass was added later.

"Staring at the Rude Boys" was covered by U.S. hardcore band Dag Nasty

Dag Nasty

Dag Nasty was a Washington D.C. punk band formed in 1985 by guitarist Brian Baker of Minor Threat, drummer Colin Sears and bassist Roger Marbury, both of Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, and vocalist Shawn Brown...

 in 1987 and by English hardcore punk back Gallows

Gallows (band)

Gallows are a hardcore punk band from Watford, England. The band was formed in 2005 after the disbandment of founding member Laurent Barnard's previous band, My Dad Joe. Gallows' debut album, Orchestra of Wolves, was distributed in the United States by Epitaph Records, and they were subsequently...

 in 2007.

"Demolition Dancing"/"Secret Soldiers" are taken from the John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 radio session recorded in February 1980.

"S.U.S."/"Babylon’s Burning"/"Society" were recorded live in late 1979 and mixed live onto 2-track with no overdubs.

The cassette version of this album claims that the live material was recorded "live for Chorus in Paris 7 January 1980".

The track "S.U.S." was an attack on a 1970s UK law under which the police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

 were able to stop people on the street and arrest them ‘on suspicion’ of causing (or being about to commit) a crime. This came to be known-as the "Sus law

Sus law

In England and Wales, the sus law was the informal name for a stop and search law that permitted a police officer to stop, search and potentially arrest people on suspicion of them being in breach of section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824.-1824 legislation:The power to act on "sus" was found in part...

", and was widely regarded in some areas as being used as a justification by the police for the harassment of the young and racial minorities. The law was eventually repealed.

Track listing

Personnel

• Malcolm Owen - vocals
• Paul Fox
  Paul Fox (musician)
  Paul Fox was a British musician and singer, best known from his work with the UK punk band, The Ruts. The Ruts' style combined punk with dub reggae, a sound that owed much to Fox's guitar skills and earned him respect and admiration...
  
   - guitar
• John "Segs" Jennings - bass
• Dave Ruffy - drums
• Gary Barnacle
  Gary Barnacle
  Gary Barnacle is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work Gary Barnacle (born 1959, Dover, England) is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work...
  
  - saxophone on "Love in Vein"
• Bill Barnacle - trumpet on "Love in Vein"