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Protex

From: Belfast

Active: 1977-1981

Style:

Lineup:

Bio:

Formed in 1977 after The Clash's first Belfast gig and originally called Protex Blue after a song (about a brand of condom) on that seminal punk bands first LP. The name was later shortened to Protex to avoid comparisons with The Clash.

Aidan Murtagh (guitar) and Owen McFadden (drums) had both previously been in a pre-punk school band called The Incredibly Boring Band which also yielded The Peasants. After some well received radio sessions and a successful debut single on Good Vibrations Records which was licensed and reissued by Rough Trade to meet demand, Protex signed to Polydor Records UK in early 1979 along with another Northern band The Xdreamysts who were scouted at the same gig.



Protex relocated to London in the summer of 1979 after their first Polydor single, released another one shortly thereafter and began work on an album provisionally titled "Strange Obsessions" with Chas Chandler producing. This LP never came out (the Xdreamysts meanwhile only managed to get their Polydor LP released in Holland). They supported the Boomtown Rats on their 1979 UK tour from Sept 27 - Nov 6th, and ended the year on tour with U2, including a gig at The Arcadia, Cork on December 29th 1979. Despite a fourth single in 1980 and touring successfully in America (captured on film in NYC by John T.Davis on March 17th), the band lost momentum after the shelving of their LP and had split by 1981.




Protex live in 1979

Discography:



• Downtown Radio Session 1978.
Details unknown.


• Don't Ring Me Up // Just Want (Your Attention) / Listening In
7" - Good Vibrations Records - GOT-6 - November 1978 - poster PS
7" - Rough Trade/Good Vibrations - RT/GOT 1 - UK - 1978 - PS, two different designs

Notes:
The Good Vibrations edition came in the familiar folded poster PS (promo copies came with a band bio taken from Alternative Ulster fanzine). The first Rough Trade issue used the same design as the Good Vibrations issue but used a regular PS instead of poster cover; the second Rough Trade issue uses a new design.



• Filmed live at Glenmachen Hotel, January 1979
for John T.Davis' Shellshock Rock documentary.
One track "Strange Obsessions" appears in the film

• Kid Jensen Show Session (BBC Radio), January 1979
All 4 tracks are included on the "All We Wanna Do Is Rock'n'Roll" bootleg LP.


• I Can't Cope / Popularity
7" - Polydor Records - 2059 124 - UK - May 1979 - PS
7" - Polydor/Fiction Records - 2814 214 - Spain - 1979 - different promo only PS
Note the regular Spanish issue (2059 214) uses the same cover as the UK PS


• Summer 1979: band relocates to London


• I Can Only Dream / Heartache
7" - Polydor Records - 2059 167 - UK - October 1979 - PS


• Live EP
7" - Polydor Records - ??? - (1979) unreleased
Cancelled live EP


• Strange Obsessions
LP - Polydor Records - ??? - (1980) unreleased

Notes:
Recorded October 1979 - April 1980 with Chas Chandler producing. Neither band nor label was particularly happy with the results and it was shelved.



• A Place In Your Heart / Jeepster
7" - Polydor Records - 2059 245 - April 1980 - PS


• Protex Hurrah (aka Sham Rock)

A short film shot by John T.Davis in NYC on St.Patricks Day 1980 climaxing with two tracks from a live performance at the Hurrah Club ("Don't Call Me Up" and "A Place In Your Heart"). Both tracks turned up on the All We Wanna Do Is Rock & Roll bootleg LP. More footage from this show must exist surely?



• various artists - Made in Britan LP - Polydor Records - PDI-6295 - USA - 1980
• various artists - Made In Britan Promo Sampler EP
12" - Polydor Records - PRO 141 - USA - 1980
See Compilations section for full track listing.

Notes:
This US compilation contains the only officially release of the track "All I Wanna Do (Is Rock n Roll)". The other three are single versions.



• various artists - Now In Session
LP - Downtown Radio - DTR SC1 - 1982
See Compilations section for full track listing.


• Listening In...
LP - Good Vibrations - BIG-4 - 2001 - bootleg

Notes:
14 track compilation that collects all 9 tracks released on singles, plus the exclusive track from the "Made In Britain" sampler, plus four John Peel BBC Radio session tracks from January 1979. This album is designed to look like an official Good Vibrations release but is in fact a bootleg.



• All We Wanna Do Is Rock'n'Roll
LP - FF Records - FF02 - NL - 2003 - bootleg?

Notes:
17 track compilation that collects all 9 tracks released on singles, plus the exclusive track from the "Made In Britain" sampler, plus a Kid Jensen BBC Radio session from 1989, plus 2 live tracks from the Protex Hurrah film.



• Can't Leave Those Strange Obsessions To Rest EP
7" - Punkerama Records - ??? - UK - 2012 - 250 copies in different colour sleeves: 50 pink, 75 red, the rest white.
CDS - Punkerama Records - ??? - UK - 2012
The blurb says "first protex recordings in 27 years" suggesting these are new recordings.


Other compilation Appearances:

• various artists - 20 Of Another Kind Vol.2
LP - Polydor Records - POLX-1 (2478-134) - 1979
tracks: I Can't Cope


• various artists - Bloodstains Across Northern Ireland
LP - bootleg - ??? - UK - 1998
See Compilations section for full track listing.
tracks: I Wonder Why (from "Now In Session" LP)


• various artists - Bloodstains Across Northern Ireland Vol.2
LP - bootleg - ??? - UK - 1998
See Compilations section for full track listing.


• various artists - Powerpearls #2
LP - bootleg/no label - PEARL 2 - UK - 1998


• various artists - Pure British Pop for Raw People Vol.2
LP - boot)leg - ??? - ???
tracks: A Place In Your Heart



Help!

We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.



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