By Jim Rowland
Back in December 2021 we lost one of the truly great icons of British punk rock – Thomas ‘Mensi’ Mensforth, frontman of the mighty Angelic Upstarts. This month, Cherry Red release a fitting tribute to the man in the shape of ‘The Singles 1978-1985’, a 44-track 2CD set covering every A and B-side issued by punk legends Angelic Upstarts between 1978-85.
Having seen the Upstarts live numerous times over the years, I for one can vouch for the fact that Mensi was indeed a special character – a formidable performer with a wonderful sense of humour, despite the seriousness of many of his lyrics, that would endear him to generations of punk fans. Every time I saw the Upstarts, I would have a big grin on my face thanks to Mensi. This extensive CD set goes long way to illustrating how great he, along with the differing line-ups of the Upstarts, was.
Although this set only goes up to 1985, it is in fact the vast majority of all the singles Angelic Upstarts released, with only a small handful being released after that date, despite the fact that they continued, on and off, releasing albums and performing live right up until Mensi’s passing. In terms of albums they finished on a high too, with the final album, 2015’s ‘Bullingdon Bastards’, being an absolute stormer and highly recommended.
Disc one of this set is pure punk rock gold. The likes of ‘The Murder Of Liddle Towers’, ‘Teenage Warning’, ‘I’m An Upstart’, ‘Never ‘Ad Nothin’, ‘Police Oppression’, ‘Out Of Control’ and ‘Shotgun Solution’ are all punk rock gems that have stood the test of time, and would remain in the Upstarts’ live set until the end. ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ appears here on CD for the first time in its original punchier 7” version, and the likes of ‘England’ and ‘Last Night Another Soldier’ illustrate the more thought-provoking side to the band. Of interest here as well are the more obscure, but very decent, stabs the band had with a reggae sound on the ‘I Understand’ and ‘Different Strokes’ singles.
Kicking off in the year 1982, disc two is a bit more patchy, but there’s still enough good points to make it a worthwhile listen. At times, the Upstarts seemed to veer too far away from their original punk roots and fell victim to the sounds and trends of the 80’s, illustrated by the ‘electro meets Big Country’ sound of ‘Never Say Die’ or the indie-pop of ‘Not Just A Name’. Still, the pop-punk of ‘Woman In Disguise’, the politically-charged acoustic flavours of ‘Solidarity’ and ‘Soldier’, the pure punk of ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ and the controversial ‘Brighton Bomb’ more than make up for those occasional wrong turns. Plus you get some explosive live versions ‘Leave Me Alone’, ‘Liddle Towers’ and the Clash’s ‘White Riot’.
This double CD comes with an excellent booklet dedicating a page to each single, with the artwork, tracklisting and insightful commentary on each, and is the most definitive collection of Angelic Upstarts singles you are ever likely to get, most of which are absolute gems. It is, of course, dedicated to the memory of Mensi, a punk rock icon who certainly will not be forgotten.
- ‘The Singles 1978-1985’ is released on Friday (20 January). You can get your copy HERE.
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