VIA PRESS RELEASE | Liberation Hall will issue Emergency at the Old Waldorf 1979, a previously unreleased concert recording by the English punk band 999, on October 18.
Newly remastered by Randy Perry, this high-energy live set will be available on LP, CD, and download. CD and download will feature six bonus tracks. In addition to standard black vinyl, this title will also be available in a limited edition, translucent ruby red vinyl pressing sold exclusively at independent record stores. All formats are distributed by MVD Entertainment Group (USA) and Wienerworld (UK).
Formed in London in the closing days of 1976, just thirteen months after the Sex Pistols had made their live debut, 999 rose from the ashes of the UK’s “pub rock” scene. Nick Cash had been the guitarist for Kilburn and the High Roads, one of the leading proponents of pub rock, and the group in which legendary punk-poet Ian Dury originally found fame.
“The bones of punk was happening, Joe Strummer’s 101’ers were doing things,” Cash recently told Vive Le Rock magazine. “I was already working with Guy writing songs when I left Kilburn and the High Roads.” Cash would soon be sharing songwriting and guitar duties with his brother, Guy Days, in 999, and the group was rounded out by bassist Jon Watson and drummer Pablo LaBritain.
By July of 1979, when Emergency at the Old Waldorf was recorded, 999 had released a pair of classic punk LPs for the United Artists record label. The self-titled debut album featured Cash’s vocals on the bristling, sneering singles “I’m Alive,” “Nasty Nasty,” and “Emergency.” Second album Separates was retitled High Energy Plan for the US market. Lead track “Homicide” quickly became the band’s signature tune, featuring its melodic, irresistible refrain of “I believe in Homicide!”
Despite resistance from the UK music press, 999 jumped at the chance to tour the US when Ian Copeland of Frontier Booking International offered to set them up with a van and a coast-to-coast itinerary. “We constantly toured all over the States, which enabled us to build up a strong following,” Cash explains in his new liner notes for the package. “New Wave/Punk music was very popular at the time because audiences were looking for something new, same as they were in England and Europe.”
Emergency at the Old Waldorf 1979 was recorded, mixed, and produced by Terry Hammer on July 2, 1979, during the second of two sets at the Old Waldorf. Several tracks were immediately aired on Hammer’s local radio show on KALX, but the entirety of the show has been archived until now. In addition to Cash’s liner notes, music journalist Bill Kopp also contributes a booklet essay detailing Hammer’s significant contribution to the San Francisco music scene.
999 continues to record and perform. They most recently visited the U.S. in May to play a show at the Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Las Vegas. A UK tour begins October 17 and details can be found here.
