July 16 2009
Lost Rock — Eddie and the Hot Rods
posted by Nick Sampson at 1:53 pm
Lost Rock with Nick Sampson
Eddie and the Hot Rods were a hard gigging pub rock band from Essex (South East England) that created a classic song and helped birth the UK punk scene.
They first hit the boards in 1975 with a unique version of fast, tough, cheeky rock n roll. Unlike many other pub rock contemporaries (Dr Feelgood etc) they also celebrated teenage rebellion.
In 1976 the Hot Rods played a set at London’s Marquee Club supported by the embryonic Sex Pistols. During a residency that followed they duelled for alternate weeks with AC/DC during one of the hottest summers on record. Later in the year they made the UK Singles Chart with the Live at the Marquee EP and the single ‘Teenage Depression’.
The band’s biggest hit came the following summer with ‘Do Anything You Wanna Do’. It reached number nine in the UK chart in August and became a sing-along classic. Unfortunately they couldn’t repeat the magic and although still popular in the UK punk scene and touring the US, the band gradually faded from site, eventually breaking up in 1981.
Over a decade later in 1992 the Hot Rods reunited for a European tour. Other shows followed, and in 1994 they were offered a recording contract with the Japanese record label Creative Man. The Hot Rods subsequently recorded their first album in 16 years – released in the UK in the spring of 1996. The band is currently enjoying renewed popularity throughout Europe…
Nick Sampson is a founding member of Netherworld Dancing Toys. He now plays in Auckland rock band Rata & Sons
Video: “Do Anything You Wanna Do”
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Great stuff.In NZ they were noted on a compilation LP called “That Summer” (1979)
that included almost every one of the punk era and was a big hit at parties.I wish I could get my hand on another copy- everyone from Elvis Costello to Patti Smith etc.