Bad Weeks. Mole's Memories (a look at the past through frosted glass). This is only a personal view of the events and circumstances surrounding the band. I'm sure the others will have their own personal opinions and takes on events, in fact Robin's are contained in Alex Ogg’s wonderful book “No More Heroes“ (a history of UK punk rock from 1976 to 1980) where you'll find us named as Badweeks and that also applies to a YouTube search. For me, that was an attempt to sanitise us and since I'm the guy who named us, I remember us as “Bad Weeks”.

We were outsider boys from the scattered satellite villages and hamlets to the North West of Edinburgh schooled in the shadows of The Forth Bridges in conformity and low expectations at Queensferry High School from whose doors we were all hence ejected around 77/78. Into what was despite its socialist heritage still a very conservative in attitude (soon to be in government) central Scotland and those attitudes were only compounded within our small town envires. Our kickback was music and turning 16 in 1977 and being an avid John Peel listener I was enthused with the spirit of the times when old school friend Richard suggested I could be the drummer in his fledgling group where talent or an actual drum kit weren't high requirements in his musical vision. Though his Hawkwind/Pink Faires tastes weren't actually my idea of “the young idea” they were close enough. His enthusiasm was infectious and inspiring, what's more he could actually play his guitar and had equipment in the form of a 100 watt Marshall amp and cab.

Initial formative bedroom rehearsals took place with the addition of old friends Derek “Soupy” Murray (Rhythm Guitar) and Bryce Watson (Bass Guitar) both turning up their respective practice amps to ten in the vain hope of combating Richard's “Stack” while I battered out the resemblance of a rhythm on upturned plastic buckets and old school bags. Eventually we moved out of the bedroom and into Friday night rehearsals at the local bowling club with me now on a mongrel kit made up of old discarded drum gear and Soupy highly amplified with the acquisition of a brand new combo (the racket increased) alas poor Bryce was still stuck with his practice amp and had to adopt a prostate position on the ground with his ear against his speaker as he manfully plucked away to actually hear himself above the maelstrom around him. Our set consisted of a couple of Hawkwind numbers a souped up Motorhead like version of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” and an original called “Dum Dogs“. We played a couple of gigs but Soupy and I were always looking to a more “Punk Sound” (in hindsight we were the epitome of punk) but we always felt Richard was somewhat reluctant so it came as a huge surprise one Friday night when he informed us he was leaving his own band and us to form a new punk band called “The Zoo”.

 We didn't hang around and we recruited a likely lad by the name of “Commie” as our new singer named because he wore a red star among the punk badges on his lapels, I came up with the band name at a posh girl’s party during a game of beer can tennis on her back garden court. We took the huge decision for us to move our rehearsal space into Edinburgh and we came to be resident within the rats warren and passageways underneath Auld Reekie’s South Bridge that made up Mr Iain McKane’s Blair Street practise rooms in a £40 a month shared and electric metered vaulted ceiling room with the damp and rats for company along with our new room buddies and kindred spirits “Twisted Nerve.” Bryce would still need a new amp though! The only collateral he had was his beloved collection of Marvel Comics and it was a teary bass player who handed these away for the funds to purchase a new bass amp which promptly blew up on its first outing on practice night and along with it went Bryce’s ambition and enthusiasm. Now we were in need of a new bass guitarist preferably with solid equipment.

 Our call was answered in the shape of Fraser “Fritz” Sinclair a friend to our hometown new wave recording artists “The Thermometers” (Turn On A Sixpence records). Commie missed more rehearsals than he attended! Our buddy Alan “Coby” Cockburn was on hand and knew the lyrics to our short set list, so he was IN...

 Now with new singer and bass in situ we set about building our repertoire and forming alliances with like-minded bands within the bowels of Blair Street. There we found “The Axidents”, “Sceptix“ and the fore mentioned “Twisted Nerve” (who we would go onto gig with within a loose collective called “Capital Chaos.”) Others practising within the confines of Blair Street at that time were an embryonic and as yet unmohicaned “Exploited” and next door was future “Waterboys” head honcho Mike Scott forming his master plan with “Another Pretty Face.” Late arrivals Black Flag (not the American outfit) contained the two future “Proclaimers” given the inspired nickname of “The Buddy Holly Skinheads.”

 Our first gig took place in the small West Lothian village of Torphichen. There were a couple of young local punks, but the majority of the audience would have been happier to see something more akin to “Status Quo” turn up to entertain them that evening and afterwards, while we were packing our gear away into the van, the locals gathered to give us a not so friendly farewell. Luckily we had brought a couple of minders /roadies/driver with us and our first, but not our last, taste of hostilities from locals was averted.

 We lost “Fritz” as our bass player one night at The International Hotel in Grangemouth while supporting his buddies “The Thermometers”, maybe we did try to push our attitude a bit too far that night, but whatever it was it was too much for “Fritz” who quit mid set and sat down with his pals with an embarrassed demeanour, so we just carried on playing. However, if we were to carry on for real we were now in search of our third bassist.

 I remembered Robin from a year above me at school, I don't remember why he got called George when his name was Robin, but I do remember Coby and I meeting him outside Johnny's chip shop in Kirkliston and badgering him into joining the ranks of “Bad Weeks.” He never liked the band name, but he said yes anyway and it was singly the best thing that ever happened to us as a band and with him he brought a fresh impetus and a coolness under pressure along with some great musical knowledge and chops. We had studio time booked and gigs and luckily Robin was a fast learner and improver of bass lines.

 The tracks contained here in this compilation were recorded at “Mike’s Recording Studio” in West Savile Terrace, Edinburgh and were produced (he pressed record and stop!) by original singer and founding member of The Bay City Rollers, Nobby Clark. From what I remember we never sent the tapes to anyone. We had no thoughts of records or record deals we just made copies for pals, but that was that. More gigs followed and we moved out of Blair Street into a better rehearsal space at Abbeyhill in Edinburgh within the old Regent Cinema now re-christened “The Moon.” We got to be a pretty tight unit practising at The Moon, Robin still didn't like the band name he suggested “The Mountbatten Jigsaws” we said no! We reached a compromise and changed our name to “Burning Flags“ and that's what we remained till our end. Another out of town experience that was to hasten our actual end came one night in Forfar at the Reid Hall when the “Capital Chaos” bands were to share the bill in the sleepy Angus town. In hindsight it maybe wasn't the best of ideas to hire a coach to transport the bands northwards and fill the remaining seats with friends and fans to give ourselves a readymade audience. Who knows what went down when these spiky tops were decanted into town that afternoon while us bands went to set up and soundcheck, but by gig time there was a malevolent atmosphere pervading throughout the hall. “Burning Flag” actually completed our set, but it kicked off totally while “Sceptix” were on stage. To this day I've never witnessed scenes of violence like what ensued that night in Forfar which was a whirlwind of iron bars, flying cymbals Hells Angels and enraged locals. When the police eventually showed their face there was carnage all around. They detained and charged Sceptix singer Brian for questioning their late arrival, we were left with injured and confused punk, male and female and without a window left in the coach which was given a very draughty police escort to the Tay Bridge and told never to return.

 Things changed after Forfar. Capital Chaos kinda fell apart and an innocence was lost, our actual end came at The YMCA in Edinburgh with support from local Ferry maniacs “The Berlin Gorillas” who dedicated their version of Stretcher Case to me. By that time I felt like one! It was my 20th birthday that night and even though we were “Burning Flags” by then, it was the end of “Bad Weeks“ for me. Robin and I went on to play for a much watered down version of The Axidents and then another incarnation of Sceptix as they were throwing off their old anarcho punk rags for a more post-punk Killing Joke vision of the future. Alan and I would eventually team up again with Richard down the post-punk line in a band called The Shattered Family, but for me nothing matched those early Bad Weeks.

 Craig “Mole” Harrower 2018

Soupy	Coby & Soupy

Mole & Coby	Mole & Coby	Coby & Mole

Above is an original gig flyer from Monday 19th November 1979 with 'Twisted Nerve', 'Bad Weeks' & 'The Axidents' that took place at 'Old St. Paul's Church', Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh.

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