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NME INTERVIEW WITH TONY RUDD, November 2005
Recently accused of "doing a Tony Christie"...cult singer/songwriter Tony Rudd(in his first NME interview since 1985) talks frankly about his recentrevival...life...love...and profiteroles...
NME: First of all...let'sdispel some myths once and for all. Were you really a Pet Shop Boy?
TR: [laughs] No, I did however get involved with the writing of 'West End Girls' and'Suburbia', I was originally a roadie for Neil Tennant but never a bona fide bandmember as such. I still keep in contact with the boys, and they even came to theReading Festival last year to se my comeback as a solo artist.
NME: Myth ..2...Did you really get into a brawl with Chas'n'Dave?
TR: I'm ashamed to say yes! I got into a silly backstage game of 'I Look BetterThan Chas' which went a bit too far...I'd just had a skinful of Parmaynu with DLT,so I wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind. It got a bit ugly at the time butwe're okay now. Chas even sent me a bouquet of flowers afterwards, and dedicated'The Sideboard Song' to me at their gig at the Pink Toothbrush in Rayleigh. It'sancient history now.
NME: Okay last myth...Gang groupie-ism with Girls Aloud? Surely not!
TR: No Comment...[smiles wryly]
NME: How did you become so huge in Canada?
TR: Well, it was 1981 and I'd just got together with Antony Carmicheal [of 'TheRapping Song' fame]. After the disappointment of being runners up in BBC TV's'Music 2000', we decided to take a break away from all of the negative hype andresult fixing scandals that surrounded the show. We just couldn't believe that ToniBaxter had won. I still can't to this day in fact. Don't get me wrong, it's greatthat the Look Around You show has been finally released on DVD after all this time,but it just re-opened all those painful memories of losing. Tchaikovsky, the judge,died again in 1987 so I couldn't even get a second opinion now. Anyway...Idigress...Antony's family owned a successful profiterole emporium in Montreal, so weboth took sales assistant jobs to make ends meet. I'd play guitar on occasions tothe customers, with Antony MC'ing over my vocals. To cut a long story short, MikklaTimparsium-Sprogg, a record company mogul, heard our jointly written track'Rapper-daynu' and loved it. The rest as they say, is history...'Machadaynu' creptto No.1 and stayed there for 3 weeks. It didn't even make the top 50 over in the UK, I hateToni Baxter, I hate her so much the evil bitch
NME: When did you last see Toni Baxter?
TR: At the Cobbles'85 benefit gig in Peterborough. She had just duetted with GraceJones, and started bragging to me about the singer of Marillion or something...Ijust threw meat at her and ran off
NME: You shocked many rock fans when it was announced that you'd play Reading2005. What was that like to play at?
TR: Amazing! It nearly didn't happen because Razorlight were meant to be doing myslot. Johnny Borrell then had his sneezing pills stolen as we all know, so I wasdrafted in at the last minute. The best part was the reaction to my Slipknot cover'People=Shit'. Thousands of rock fans singing along, lighters held aloft was awonderful sight. Roll on Reading'06!
NME: What are the backstage requirements for a typical Tony Rudd gig?
TR: The rider? okay then...[Rudd reads from a list produced from his pocket] 4x drytowels (unwashed), 1x bottle of HP sauce, 1x Sinclair ZX Spectrum with 'SparrowAttack' game, 5x sparrows (preferably dead), 1x packet of 'Famous Numerical Digits'Top Trumps, 1x Hale & Pace (backstage entertainment), 44x chickens (alive), 1x meatcleaver, 3x knuckle dusters, 1x photo of Alan Davies, 288 (2 gross)x cocktailsticks, 1x Jonathan Creek series 1 DVD (or VHS if the gig is in Kent), 9xPodulators[tm], 4x thumbscrews....[Rudds breaks off from reading list] ...I couldgo on but I'm sure you get the idea!
NME: Has the tracklisting for your 'Best Of...' CD been finalised yet?
TR: Yes...the tracks are; [1]Machadaynu (original 7" version), [2]Don't Give YourSister Blisters Mister!, [3]Cold Bloody Meat, [4]I've Got Star Quality, [5]Tarvu!Tarvu! Tarvu!, [6]I Know The Hot Jon Meaning, [9]Fuck Dat Dis Niggaz Gone JiveBubba, [10]Machadaynu (Freelance Hairdresser Mix), [11]LAP Dance, [12]Icarus,[13]Kill Baxter, Kill, Kill, Kill Baxter, [14]Raining Blood On My Tongue,[15]Heartache (Pepsi & Shirley cover), [16]Machadaynu (Frank Butchered Mix), [hiddentrack]Endless, Nameless
NME: Some parts of the music press label you as 'emo'. Do you think that's a fair reflection of the type of music you create?
TR: Yes
NME: What's next for Tony Rudd then?
TR: I've got a new version of Machadaynu recorded with Funeral For A Friend that's got English lyrics...the cassette single will be released exclusively on myspace...so watch this (my)space!!!! [Rudd starts to get emotional]
