released July 28, 2023

Janus Stark
'Whatever Happened To The Harold Smith Demos?'

All songs written by Gizz Butt.

1. Personality Breakdown
2. Raw Power
3. Changes (demo version)
4. Think Vice (demo version)
5. Personality Breakdown (demo version)
6. Raw Power (demo version)

Gizz Butt - Lead Vocals & Guitars
Shop – Bass & Backing Vocals
Pinch – Drums & Backing Vocals

Tracks 1 and 2 recorded at Livingston Studios, North London,
19 April 1999.
Produced and mixed by Terry Thomas.
Engineered by John Mallison.

Tracks 3, 4, 5 and 6 recorded at 10 Fletton Avenue, Peterborough.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Gizz Butt.

Mastered by James Pepper.

℗ 2023 Time & Matter Records
T&M 059

© 2023 Janus Stark
Licensed from Gizz Butt

Design & Cover Artwork by Matt Rayner
Front Cover photograph © Gizz Butt
Back Cover photograph © Gizz Butt

DOWNLOAD INCLUDES FULL COLOUR FRONT AND BACK COVER ARTWORK PLUS A PDF OF GIZZ BUTT'S LINER NOTES.

GIZZ BUTT NOTES:

JANUS STARK REWIND TO 77

And… action!

On 8th March 1999 I received a fax from Janus Stark’s manager and producer Terry Thomas which had originally been sent to him from BMG Publishing. It was the synopsis for a new film called ‘Whatever Happened To Harold Smith?’, an historical comedy drama starring James Corden, Tom Courtenay, Stephen Fry, David Thewlis, and Lulu!

In just six weeks, there followed a whirlwind of activity, with four songs being written and recorded in demo form for the movie before being sent to the director Peter Hewitt.

These were ‘Personality Breakdown’, ‘Raw Power’, ‘Changes’, and ‘Think Vice’, with the first two of those four chosen to be used in the film.

Our ‘Great Adventure Cigar’ LP team of Terry Thomas and John Mallison recorded and produced the chosen tracks at Livingston Studios in North London, whilst the band were on a ‘day off’ from our UK tour.

Janus Stark would also get to play a cameo role in the movie, in a scene which was filmed in an old Sheffield bus depot, situated in the city where the film company ‘West Eleven Films’ were based.

My main contact was Matt Biffa who worked for the company Air Edel, but I found myself speaking to the director about what I should be coming up with song wise.

It was all about 1977, that punk period in time, what people were seeing, what they were thinking. We traded thoughts and memories and I took some notes; bear in mind, this was pre-internet for me! Actually, I did have a computer back then, but was yet to really explore the World Wide Web.

The two-song London recording session date was 19th April, which was actually just before we travelled up to Yorkshire where filming took place a couple of days later over the 21st to 22nd April.

Matt Biffa sat in with us for the sessions and started offering me singing tips, which Terry wasn’t very happy about! My voice was suffering as we’d been out for the past few nights on tour with Pitchshifter.

For both songs, we were going for a faithful 1977 approach but had just the one day to get them down, which was in actual fact the authentic way to have done it, in the true punk low-budget fashion.

Once we had the mixes, we had them couriered to the film company in Sheffield. I’d also been speaking to Isobel Thomas, who was part of the production team and I’d also chatted to Emma who was head of wardrobe. She’d warned me a week before that we would all have to wear wigs for the shoot, so I questioned her in depth regarding the hairstyles and colour that she envisaged for us.

I then proceeded to book an appointment with the hairdresser!

On the day of filming, we turned up to wardrobe, taking it in turns to receive our treatment! I was relieved when I was told that I wouldn’t need to wear a wig but I had to laugh out loud when I heard Pinch and Shop’s shouts of protest!

We were then given our vintage clothes to wear, mine was a wine coloured suit jacket and a gold and black school tie, along with a painted white shirt, and a red dyed pair of Levi’s, plus, to my amazement, an original pair of 1977 Adidas trainers which would have been very expensive, even back then.
Pinch donned a leather waist jacket and a dog collar, a painted white shirt with red T-shirt and black Levi’s.
Shop was kitted out with leather jacket and khaki army trousers. All of us were decorated with chains, safety pins and badges.

We subsequently spent two days jumping around in front of an audience who were extras hired for the scene, all made up to look like authentic 1977 punks, also with chains, safety pins, bottle openers, studs, neckties, rope, razor blades, toy guns, handcuffs, wrap-around glasses, leopard print, fingerless gloves, bondage attire, heavy eye make up, bright red lipstick, blusher, and extreme fingernail paint!

One of our friends, Samantha Coles, also took part but thought that she looked hideous in her punk outfit. However, it really was a brilliant time, especially with lots of after show parties with the actors. We stayed friends with Matt Biffa, who accompanied us on tour and invited us to his London apartment at Emperor’s Gate, where, we certainly had the best of times.

I even managed to save a fax of the film’s synopsis which reads …

“1977 - A university town somewhere in the north of England.

Vince Smith 18 years old, works as a clerk in the legal firm of Nesbitt Norrow and Keighley. Two desks away is Joanna, also 18 who is from the south of England, likes nothing better than teasing young Vince. Harold Smith – Vince’s dad, is retired and likes the quiet life. His wife, Irene, enjoys a rigorous night life in the company of well built, young men. Vince is firmly focused on imitating the dance technique of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ star John Travolta. Joanna’s family lives in the posh part of town, her escape route from this middle class pressure cooker is being a part time punk. On Christmas day, Harold performs an amazing party trick, which astonishes everyone, by levitating his favourite pipe. Vince is impressed by his dad’s paranormal powers, but his main interest is the local disco. One night, he sees an exotic punk girl across the road. It’s love at first sight. Vince’s whole life changes, and the dedicated disco boy becomes a punk. Whilst Vince struggles with his new identity, Harold performs a trick in an old people’s home. In an attempt to stop a pensioner’s watch, by mistake, he stops three pacemakers. Three of the old folk keel over dead, and Harold becomes notorious but is promptly arrested for manslaughter. His lawyer, Keith Nesbitt, decides to call in an expert to disprove Harold’s powers… (Stephen Fry)…”

The film was released for the London Film Festival on 13th November 1999 and we went to the premiere in Leicester Square to watch ourselves on that big screen. Our scene shows the main character Vince entering a club packed with punks pogoing to Janus Stark performing the song ‘Personality Breakdown’. Vince then gets in to a fight and his dad, who, remember, has supernatural powers, enters the picture and levitates the villain up before ejecting him out of a smashing window. The electricity then cuts out leaving the band without power, so the crowd begin to riot. The band all scream at the ‘manager’ - played by Matt Biffa - and it looks as though it’s all going to kick off. Vince then proceeds to re-enter the club and throw a sequence of John Travolta moves to the Bee Gees’ hit single ‘Night Fever’. Of course the audience all join in with Janus Stark firing up a punked-up accompaniment to that song, along with an energetic performance to go with it. We’d also ended up recording the ‘Punk Night Fever’ track with the other two songs back at Livingston.

Once the film had made its big screen debut with subsequent showings, the VHS and DVD releases followed before it eventually made its way to our television sets. Of course with the benefit of YouTube nowadays we can all get to see the film again, anytime that we want.

Check it out. The Janus Stark cinematic magic happens 1 hour and 19 minutes into the film.

Cut!

Gizz Butt – July 2023