Prag Vec, May 1979

File under “Could Go Somewhere.”

There are a lot of bands destined to be a footnote in rock history. Prag Vec can claim their place because they’ve had a Half Man Half Biscuit track named after them: PragVEC at the Melkweg.

I don’t know when they went from Prag Vec to PragVEC. Or maybe that was always their name and I got it wrong.

Maybe the ending to my review, “File under Could Go Somewhere” was a bit optimistic. Or maybe not, because they stayed together until 1983 and released an album. Which is more than a lot of bands manage to do.

Anyway, I found a ten-year-old interview with singer Sue Gogan on the online music mag Perfect Sound Forever, which sheds some light on the band’s subsequent history.

I particularly liked what she said about punk: “what came across most significantly was the right to tell your own story, and invent your own music.”

And yes, the tickets were 30p, as the flyer below proves. Well, for members anyway. For guests it was 60p.

Prag Vec

Eric’s, Liverpool

Melody Maker, May 26, 1979

Prag Vec’s third visit to Liverpool, and a quiet Thursday night at Eric’s. A handful of people were scattered around the club to watch Penetration (playing the university the following night) watching Prag Vec. I mention this as a coincidence as I remember reading in a rival paper that Prag Vec were once compared to Penetration. Well. It’s an occupational hazard of having a girl singer in the band.

Sue Gogan’s voice hasn’t yet the strength of Pauline’s, though there are certain similarities. It’s refreshing anyway to find a female singer in a new band who hasn’t got aspirations to be Siouxsie. Sue makes no concessions to image, is appealingly normal, and jokes with the audience. What there is of them.

I last saw Prag Vec as part of a package of “avant garde” bands at Eric’s, and any impact they may have had on their own was submerged I was expecting more of the same, but I was wrong. They’re individual, but unpretentious.

The music is sharp and rhythmic, the songs are short. There are nods in the direction of weirdness: token unpleasant noise at the end of “The Follower”, a bit of spasmodic keyboard, a bit of shouting from Sue (the difference between Siouxsie and Pauline is that between a vocalist and a singer: Prag Vec aren’t sure which they want. At the same time they maintain the orthodox virtue of discipline keeping a balance between two possible directions.

“Laughed” combines the two, beginning with a disciplined build-up of noise, then suddenly revealing a real tune, an uplifting discovery. “Box”, which follows, has lyrics which sound as though they might be interesting. The band finished with “Expert”, which is to be on their second single, also on their own Spec label. By then they’d succeeded in overcoming the apathy of a mid-week hall-empty club, not a bad achievement. File under “Could Go Somewhere.” Not bad for 30p.

Listen to PragVEC

Here’s a 1978 track, Cigarettes.

Back in the 21st century

I’ve just been invited to appear at the Louder Than Words festival in Manchester in November. I’m going to be on a “Women in punk” event with Molly Tie and Helen McCookerybook. I’m very much looking forward to meeting them both.

Readers seem to like my book. I was very pleased by the response here on Substack Notes by Mike Press. He says: “at its heart is a powerful expression of the meaning and joy that music brings into our lives. It’s one of the best books on music I’ve read.” Thanks, Mike!