Punishment Of Luxury - or Punilux for short - from fringe theatre to Post-Punk.
Punishment Of Luxury In Session – 1978 – Past Daily Soundbooth
Punishment of Luxury (or Punilux for short) to end the week. In session for John Peel, their first of two – this one recorded on August 22, 1978 and broadcast on August 30th.
From a background working in left-wing English fringe theatre groups, Punishment Of Luxury were a four-man post-punk band formed in December 1976 in Newcastle. Taking their name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the band consisted initially of Brian Bond (born Brian Rapkin – vocals), Neville Luxury (born Neville Atkinson – guitar, vocals), Red Helmet (guitar, vocals), Jimi Giro (bass guitar, vocals), and “Liquid” Les Denham (drums). They released a single, “Puppet Life” on the Small Wonder label in July 1978. In 1979 they signed to United Artists and released the singles “Engine Of Excess” with Mick Avery on drums, then with new drummer Steve Sekrit (born Steven Robson), made “Secrets”, and the album Laughing Academy. In the Summer of 1979 they played at the Reading Rock Festival after Bostik Swastika and The Cure and before The Tourists and Motörhead. 1980 saw the release of the single “Laughing Academy”. An extensive European tour followed and United Artists sent the band into the studio to record another album, a concept album to be called Gigantic Days. However while the recording was still going on, United Artists were taken over by EMI, who dropped the band. A final European tour was followed by Bond’s departure.
Neville, Sekrit and Giro recruited guitarist Tim Magenta to a new lineup, now going by the name Punilux. They released a further album on the Red Rhino label, 7 in 1983, with Magenta replaced by Rab Aitch, before Neville Luxury went solo, releasing the mini-album Feels Like Dancing Wartime in 1984. The album Gigantic Days was finally released, on CD, in 1998 by Overground Records.
I don’t think they made it over to the States, so my U.S. pals may not be all that familiar – no excuse not to hit the play button and give a listen, right?
