The Pitiful

Eltham, S.E. London

*Replaced by Mark Tate

The legend of the Pitiful continues....

Remembered as the band that upset the recording guys at the Roxy and were dropped from appearing on the album!

The story was that they were too dreadful to appear on vinyl?

The other story is that the band upset the recording guys and a glass was thrown at them?

Chapter 1

The atrocity that was to become The Pitiful was formed in late 1976. The band comprised 4 guys from Eltham, South East London. The original line up was as follows: Steve Mason (guitar), Jim Jarret (bass), Tony Cunningham (vocals), & Steve Hopkins (drums). All four were ardent followers of the burgeoning R&B scene around Canvey Island, featuring bands such as Dr Feelgood, Eddie & the Hotrods, & The Kursaal Flyers. However, it was when they started to hear the noises made by a new genre of music, that would be called punk rock that they decided to form the band as this type of music was not a million miles away from the British R&B bands: fast, furious & energetic. The major attraction, though, was that it required little or no musical ability! The term legendary has been used to sum up The Pitiful on various occasions, but this is attributed to their lack of musical prowess and unpredictable performances. This will become evident as the story unfolds.

Thru early 1977 the band rehearsed relentlessly. Bearing in mind that the only member of the band to have a modicum of musical know-how was Steve Mason, they were faced with an uphill struggle to create a cohesive unit, but after many months of practice they decided they were as ready as they would ever be. Once fully primed the band started making calls to pubs and clubs, desperate to get their 15 mins of fame. The call was answered by Kevin St John of the Roxy club, Covent Garden: The Pitiful were to play at the Roxy on December 14th, 77. They were to be supported by the Furs, later to become the Psychedelic Furs. Unfortunately, Tony decided that the prospect of playing live was too much to handle, so he promptly quit the band. Without a singer, they were left searching for a replacement. This came in the shape of Mark Tate. Mark was given a very short course in Pitiful etiquette and lyrics. Mark was another Eltham lad who shared the same musical tastes as the rest of the band, but also had a passion for Eddie Cochran & Rockabilly. Mark had a week to rehearse before The Pitiful's first gig at The Roxy.

Because of the short notice given to Mark, he didn't have a cat in hell's chance to memorize the sophisticated lyrics that had been thrust upon him, so on the night of their debut a top shelf porn mag was used as a convenient foil, to disguise the fact that he hadn't learnt the lyrics. This was done by pasting the songs on a page that Mark could read from, but always making sure that a most explicit sexual act was facing the eagerly awaiting audience. Blimey! It worked and their sparse set commanded an encore. The Pitiful were not mohair suited twats from Woking nor pseudo skinheads from Hersham or mullet headed groups wearing blazers that had probably a year previously were doing covers of Kool & the Gang. They grasped and ran with the spirit of the punk ethos and just had a go: they were the real deal.

Interest in the band began to gain momentum, gigs started happening, and they had developed a small following. When The Pitiful were invited to perform on the recording of the farewell to The Roxy album, they thought they had arrived. It was on the 2nd of January 1978 and the band turned up at the venue eager to impress. They took their slot and proceeded to plough thru their repertoire. Unfortunately, their performance was derailed when Steve Hopkins, with total disregard for the sound engineers, went for a piss half way thru their set, leaving drumming duties to a hapless member of the audience. On his return, Steve gallantly proceeded to bash away at his kit.
Unfortunately, an over enthusiastic drum roll caused one of his sticks to leave his uncertain grip, sending it cart wheeling across the stage, halted in it's trajectory by the forehead of the already disgruntled sound guy, who fled his post in dismay and headed for the bar.

They were not selected to appear on the album, leading to the myth and legend, WHY NOT!

Unperturbed, The Pitiful continued to gig. Over the months following The Roxy debacle the band had some line up changes: Steve Hopkins left, leaving drumming duties to Jim, bass was taken over by Dave Jeeves who hailed from Belvedere. Steve Mason and Mark Tate were always a constant but in the ensuing months the band were to appear in varying incarnations: Dave was replaced by Mole, who had been the bass player for the 101ers. Thru Mole, on various other gigs, they got to have many former members of the 101ers making guest appearances. They were also now rehearsing around the Notting Hill area, which led to members of the Slits & the Vincent Units to join in the Pitiful party. They rehearsed and played with bands like the Mo-dettes and The Barracudas and strangely had a mismatched gig supporting British Soul sensation High Tension at the Notting Hill Tabernacle (how did that happen!). Mark rehearsed with the likes of Joe Strummer & Den Hegarty of Darts fame. In mid 1978 the band went into musical liquidation, unwittingly leaving a Pitiful legacy. They had subsequently inspired new bands from the Eltham area including Conflict, who they became friends with.

Thanks to Detour Records, the only surviving tape of The Pitiful, is soon to be released, entitled the Deptford Sessions. It will sure give you an insight into how 4 kids from Eltham had their moment, right place right time, listen and make your own mind up.

Dave Jeeves	Jim Jarret	Mark Tate
Playing live outside in the 'New Eltham Recreation Ground', Southwood Road, London SE9 early 1978. <<< Just check out the girl holding her ears!!! >>>

Mark Tate, 2011, Remembering Jim Jarret, my best man & a good egg!

Thanks to Mark & Jo Tate

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