User:Bentham23

THE JETTISOUNDZ STORY - William John Bentham

I remember it well, a sunny afternoon in 1982. Karen and I had decided to go

for it !!! It wasn't long before we discovered how difficult it was to earn

a living managing local bands "One Way System" & "Zanti Misfitz". The

"System" got off to a good start by being signed to "Anagram Records" and

quickly made their way into the independent chart, whereas the "Misfitz",

although signed to Mike Stone's "Clay Records", had many disappointments

trying to gain attention. We eventually found a way to make a semi-

professional video for the bands new single, which gained them a prime time

TV spot on North West show Granada Reports. This didn't turn the act into

pop-stars, but it did give us an idea for the future.

With the help of friends Russell Ingham & Steve Loach, we ended up with a

very basic one camera film of the "Up Yer Tower" Punk gig in Blackpool.

"GBH" headlined the gig with their album at No.10 in the UK National Chart.

Whilst I felt certain it was a worthwhile exercise, we were unsure what to

do next and reluctant to risk £30 we didn't have, on a "Sounds" mail order

advert. People were telling us that Punks didn't have the money to buy

video's and we wouldn't sell any !!!!

Then out of the blue a guy from Bolton called, asking if we knew a mail

order company in Blackpool. He and his friend had sent money for Sex

Pistol's videos that didn't exist. This was incentive enough and we took the

advert. By the next Friday we had 5 orders and needed to find a way to make

copies. The Jettisoundz Video label was born.

Then we filmed "Nico" in Preston at a Punk club. It just happened, it was

Russell's Club ! It was one camera and a bit shaky, but an historic record

and eventually released as a collectors issue. Next up was "One Way System"

and "GBH" playing at the Ace Brixton, all filmed on borrowed VHS equipment.

When the gig finished I checked the recording only to find the sound totally

unusable. Nightmare !! So I looked for the Punk I'd seen earlier with a tape

recorder. He accepted the bribe and I ended up with a soundtrack. In fact it

was so much better than what we'd been getting into a VHS system that I

bought a serious Sony Walkman and recorded the next batch of gigs that way.

The video label developed. Barry Gold called to say that if we could make

covers for the videos he could wholesale them to the shops. Karen's artwork

skills came in very useful as we introduced some packaging and moved on from

hand written cassette labels.