The Ruts – Virgin Records 1979

Jah War

I Ain’t Sofisticated

Top notch gear from a top notch band, got the reggae / punk crossover just right on Jah War. Blistering B-Side in an age when B-Sides where not just dodgy tracks chucked onto the vinyl as an after thought. No need to introduce this band to the general public, if you dont know them, then perhaps you have clicked onto the wrong website.

16 comments
  1. john
    john
    February 25, 2008 at 1:08 am

    saw the ruts a matter of weeks after malcolm owen died supporting the damned in manchester,belle view ,elizabethan ballrooms.it was a bit strange,they had a bloke on vocals who really looked like malcolm owen,did a blinding set,but slightly spookey.
    top upload.
    not a thfc fan but glad they beat chelski 🙂

  2. Nic
    Nic
    February 25, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Great single – The Ruts definatly had a real sensibility for Reggae / Dub…
    Their Ruts DC ‘Rhythm Collision’ album (with Mad Professor) is great…

    LKJ also wrote a song about Blair Peach…
    http://video.aol.com/video-detail/lkj-reggae-fi-peach/2089255516

    I remember really liking the graphic design of the labels on the first Ruts single when I bought it, and seeing a comparison with the graphic design of the Alien Kulture single labels (and also ‘Temporary Hoarding’ newspaper)…
    The bassplayer of Alien Kulture was the subject of the Merrill Lynch ‘Sex Discrimination’ trial a couple of years ago…

    It’s a real shame that most of the ‘People Unite’ releases by Misty in Roots are out of print…

  3. john
    john
    February 25, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    aint there a band called ‘the gallows’ who have recentley covered a couple of ruts tracks?
    thanks for the lkj not heard his stuff for sometime-great stuff!:)

  4. simon
    simon
    February 25, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    Was always partial to some Ruts, remember buying “In A Rut” and it’s still one of my favourite tracks amongst many, from those times. Got it the day it came out after hearing it on John Peel’s show, had tried all the well known record shops in Romford, but they seemed to be avoiding anything vaguely punk related! Bizzarely I managed to get it from a little market stall, the guy on the stall was loving it too and stuck it on his deck, it was great to hear it blaring across the market! “West One” is an awesome track too. Sad and ironic what happened to Malcolm after tracks like “H-Eyes”.

    Here’s a Ruts link:

    http://punkmodpop.free.fr/ruts_pic.htm

  5. luggy
    luggy
    February 25, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    Malcolm tried to start a fight with me once for no good reason. Liked their music but the man was a twat.

  6. Nuzz
    Nuzz
    February 25, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    The Gallows track “Staring at the rude bois” (their spelling) is shite.

  7. Pavlik
    Pavlik
    February 25, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    Excellent LKJ vid Nic.
    I used to love seeing him. Slightly boring without the band but still well worth it.
    And the Ruts? They had a very postive influence on me as a young, teen, music lover..

  8. Penguin
    Penguin • Post Author •
    February 25, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    I have all the Misty 12″ / LP stuff on Peoples Unite, ditto the LKJ stuff on Virgin. May stick a few 12″ up in my next reggae post…yeah, fancy that! Maybe when I get back from work…

  9. Pavlik
    Pavlik
    February 25, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    Go for it.
    Love a bit of Misty too.
    I downloaded several LKJ albums the other day after hearing a bit of one round me mates. I’d forgotten all about him but his was probably the first reggae album I bought.

  10. john
    john
    February 26, 2008 at 10:52 am

    “The Gallows track “Staring at the rude bois” (their spelling) is shite.”

    i doth concur

  11. Dave Sez
    Dave Sez
    March 9, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    As the best way to thank for a gift (Misty, ATV) is to give back, here ya go, a special uploaded just for you: rare Ruts … their earliest known (to me) recordings in studio quality. Cheers, Dave Sez: go get, you won’t regret!

    Ruts – Freerange Studio Session (01.10.77) @ 160 kbps

    01. Rich bitch (demo)
    02. Out of order (demo)
    03. Lobotomy (demo)
    04. Stepping bondage (demo)

    http://sharebee.com/814d812f

  12. Kent
    Kent
    November 29, 2009 at 1:19 am

    I met Foxy (Paul Fox) at the crown & treaty Uxbridge before he died of Cancer last year, What a Nice bloke & He’d still get up on stage giving it 100% though he knew his time was up!! The Ruts Sound is Awe-inspiring

  13. Nick Hydra
    Nick Hydra
    May 24, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    “The winds were blowing and stirring up reaction/ A storm broke out a militant action/ Hot heads came in uniform/ Thunder and lightning in a violent form”

    Written in the aftermath of the Southwall ‘riots’ where the local community organised to stop an NF march, and were met by deadly force from the Police (notably the SPG). Many were injured, and Blair Peach was murdered by a blow to the head. His killers are still at large.

    Unsuprisingly, it didn’t get a lot of airplay.

    Great cover.

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