The movie "Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains" is a strange beast.
Although having a cult following in America, it was never released or even
transmitted on television in the UK.
The film which featured Steve and Paul as members of the fictional band The
Looters, was filmed in Vancouver in 1980. Paul Simonon on bass and Ray Winston
on vocals completed The Looters line-up.
Steve and Paul contributed four songs to the soundtrack; "The Professionals"
( later known as "Join The Professionals"), "Conned Again", "Don't Blow It
All The Way" and "La La La". Although the latter two songs can only be heard
briefly in the movie via a portable cassette player, "Conned Again" is performed
by The Looters at a pivotal point in the movie.
Despite the claims made during the film's closing titles, a soundtrack album
was never released. However, in the case of "Conned Again" all is not quite
lost. In 1992 the American punk band Sloppy Seconds covered the track on
their EP "Lonely Christmas". The group faithfully recreated the authentic
Cook and Jones sound, and in common with most US punk bands, performed the
track at a blistering pace. The American accent is an obvious contrast to
Ray Winston's Cockney vocal. The vocals are in fact quite low in the mix,
and the booklet lists a "?" where the lyrics should be! It may not be the
real thing but as it is highly unlikely that the real thing will ever see
the light of day, it's close enough. A terrific interpretation.
Also worth noting, the track "Hooray for Santa Claus" subsequently appeared
on the 1995 various artists compilation "Punk Rock Xmas"(Rhino R2 72174 ),
as did The Greedies' "A Merry Jingle" featuring Steve and Paul! |