Category: 1988

Poems on this day – 15th June 1988

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Blind Date

Set up for a night with fate
Seeing someone on a blind date
You know it could be love or hate
So excited I just can’t wait
But I maybe in a state
Get out before it’s too late

Wonder

Wonder stuff from the wonder boy
Wonderful
Wonder-full
Of shit
Knew everything about nothing
But never failed to impress
Wonderful
Wonder-full
Of shit
Knew something about everything
Something more
Nothing less

Settle Down Lads

I beat up me mates
At the match last week
Got real pissed
And a curry to eat
Even though England can’t play
Great Britain’s gonna have it’s day
Hooliganism will lead the way
Britain will be great some day
Settle down lads
It’s the second half
Out on the streets
Let’s have a laugh
Kick his fuckin’ head in
One-nil
Smash his fuckin’ face
Two-nil
Britain will be great one day

Ache

Argh – good clean fun
Shower – bullets from a gun
Thorn – in my side
Born – screaming inside
I-ache
Argh-ache

21 Later

When you take a test
It is for courage and strength
Not for trust and emotion
When they are obsessed
Power is length and breadth
And deeper than the ocean
21 Hiroshimas later
Will we have learned our lesson?
21 later

Bough

Frank Bough
Don’t scoff
He needs the money
Selina Scott
Should be shot
Now that’s funny

Shame You Died (4 D Boon)

You brought love to the world
Gave us some kind of hope
When the chips were down
You could help us cope

Not Much

Not much going on right now
But they say a lot is too much
I’d like to try and walk alone
Don’t want your god-damn crutch

Follow That Car

High speed chase
Hand to wheel embrace
Sweat pouring down your face
Tyre rubber burns
Sixty mile-an-hour turns
Crashed – caught – learned

Hate That Smile – Energise – 14th June 1988

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Alex Vann: Drums 
Rich Waitland: Guitar/Vocals 
Paul Chambers: Bass/Vocals 
Paul Simmons: Guitar 
Shaun Hemsley: Vocals

26th Feb 2021 – Not certain about the date for this but 1988 would be correct. This was the first iteration of Hate That Smile. Rich left fairly soon after recording this as we started to want to play more shows and I think he had young kids at the time and wasn’t able to commit his time. If I remember correctly I joined the band a little later after formation and still wasn’t sure about how to sing some of Paul’s lyrics so he and Rich ended up singing their songs in the studio.

Alex, the two Paul’s and I had all played together in Atrox which disbanded after Dave Redfern and Charlie Mason went off to university. I’m not sure of the genesis of Hate That Smile anymore. I think the Paul C came up with the name though not sure what the meaning was behind it. This was the time of the rise of Acid House music and raves which adopted the smiley face symbol and I found an image that was similar but the smile had been manipulated into something a little more sinister. I got 500 stickers made up and spread them everywhere I could around my little town. I don’t think they had any impact.

I still enjoy listening to these songs and we felt part of the much larger punk scene of the time though musically sometimes it’s hard to see where we fit in. I was always critical of my vocal skills, especially as this band needed a strong singer and not so much a shouter (which I also wasn’t particularly good at anyway) but considering how badly I sing these days I think I gave it a fair shot. The music holds up as interesting and I was happy with the lyrics I was contributing.

Telethon – 30th May 1988

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Yes, the telethon was for a commendable cause
But the whole idea just made me sick
In our hi-tech world, it should not be necessary
To ask for more donations from the public
You can call it charity and that’s what makes us give
Because it’s to help less well-off people live
So what the fuck is our government for?
Once again, it seems to be the rich against the poor

30th May 2023 – As Flux of Pink Indians wrote – There’s enough for all of our need but not for all of our greed. I’m a socialist I guess? It just doesn’t make sense to me that as a singular group of beings we don’t help each other to all have a reasonably good life. I never liked charity for this reason. It felt to me to be a useful role of government to take care of everyone.