The A-10
Radio Confusion

The story of the A-10 is one of those that fascinate me, stories of bands that play punk'n'roll, playing it with excellent quality to say the least, but no one notices them in the slightest apart from a few insiders, then from that story other ones arise that all go the same way, until everything ends in the worst possible way, with a persistent sense of bitterness that over the years becomes nostalgia or melancholy.

In short, one of those romantically rock'n'roll stories, and yet if rock'n'roll were less inclined to the suggestions of emotion and more rational, sometimes it would be better: for the A-10 it would have been better, I have no doubt about it, because with a minimum of sanity they would have been immediately counted among the cult punk bands of the '80s, some already did count them, now as then, but too few to change the course of history.

I discovered them practically by chance — what you would call a stroke of luck — and it happened quite indirectly: it happened that in the mid-'80s in Rome, a band called Kim Squad and Dinah Shore Zeekapers played but lasted only a short time, just the space of a beautiful album, then each went their own way; the guitarist Giorgio Curcetti, for example, joined the Garbages, another story that ended quickly leaving an impressive little record for those with ears to hear, titled «Where the Alien Is?»; in the Garbages, the bass player was Romano Pasquini, who then took the first plane to London, which is the place where the action is, certainly more than Rome; on the back cover, among the traditional thanks, there were names of many good people and a few unknowns, like the A-10 and, in parentheses, it said (Massive at Blind School). Now, I have the good habit of always reading the thanks printed on the cover, and over the years, I've discovered so much good music this way, just as I've avoided a lot of bad music. Anyway, that's how I got to know the A-10, thanks to a line of thanks on the back cover of an unknown Roman band's record.

Then, they should have been predestined, the A-10, just for being born in Ladbroke Grove in London and playing punk, because Ladbroke Grove is where, a decade before, Strummer, Jones, Simonon, and Chimes met and put together the Clash.

A New Zealander living there, named Jeremy Chunn, played in a band called Henchmen, is the brother of Mike who played bass in a band with a certain fame, Split Enz; at the moment Jeremy is unemployed, but he can't stand idle, especially can't live without making his guitar scream; so, he handwrites four lines on a piece of paper torn from a pad, makes about a hundred copies, distributes some in shops and venues where the right music is played, sends some to specialized magazines. On that sheet Jeremy wrote “Looking for people to form a band inspired by Ramones, Barracudas, and Radio Birdman”, period.

And already here, I feel a great affection for the A-10, who aren't even a band yet, because of the Ramones and Radio Birdman, of course, but even more for including my adored Barracudas.

«First!» shouts Romano Pasquini, the Garbages member who flew to London, which is the place where the action is: Romano is twenty years old, little more, in London looking for action and from time to time writes for Rockerilla about what's happening there; put that way, it might seem like a cheap plug that only Claudio Sorge writes about the A-10 in Rockerilla, but it's something else entirely, attitudes that fit together perfectly like two halves of the same apple, rather.

«Second!», and that's Lee Robinson: imagine, Lee played drums in the Fortunate Sons, the band formed by Robin Wills after the Barracudas split up, and when he reads that "name" he rushes like a maniac to the pub where Jeremy and Romano have arranged to meet.

Habemus bandum, which named itself A-10: Jeremy on vocals and guitar, Romano on bass, and Lee on drums.

The first rehearsals, the three go at it like maniacs; at a certain point Lee bursts out «Damn, you two play too fast, okay for the Ramones, okay for 14 songs in 14 minutes, but I can't keep up with you», throws away the sticks and declares himself the singer. «And who's going on drums?» Jeremy and Romano ask him, like when during soccer games among friends you scold the one who never wants to be the goalkeeper. «Not me, but I'll try calling J.P.», J.P. is Jean Pierre Jezequel who shares twenty square meters of floor and a roof with Lee in London; J.P. agrees to play drums, and so Lee moves in front of the microphone.

There they are, the A-10, the first multinational of punk'n'roll, there's a New Zealander, an Italian, an Englishman, and a Frenchman: it sounds like the beginning of a joke, but in the short span of a few years it becomes one of the most beautiful and unknown stories of the second punk wave, at least for me and at least for the premise. Which is something like, we don't care about making records, least of all about making money, we just want a place to play the music that messes with our heads, hearts, and guts.

The place, if no one gives it to you, you find it: the first concert is on the sidewalk, in front of the Rough Trade door, under the snow that falls abundantly; about ten curious people stopped to watch those four intent on setting up makeshift equipment, a few songs and then the officer on duty politely asks everyone to disband that unauthorized meeting. That's how the first concert of the A-10 ends.

Aside from the officer, among the audience – let's say – there is a guy called Gog, who is struck by that impromptu performance of 5-minutes-5: Gog, for history, remains always and only Gog and maybe he's crazy, maybe not, but he comes up with a bit of money, creates a label from nothing (Innocent Records), and allows the A-10 to record their music on a small piece of vinyl, two songs «Badly Burned / Don’t Look into My Eyes Tonight»; Gog doesn't care about turning that reckless spirit of rebellion into money, even less than Jeremy, Romano, Lee, and J.P., so «Guys, the label is yours, do what you want with it, and if you earn something, the money is yours, every last penny, I just want the pleasure of hearing your music».

And here too I confirm that you can't help but have a great deal of affection for certain people.

Okay, «Badly Burned / Don’t Look into My Eyes Tonight». Only Claudio Sorge writes about it in Rockerilla, and no, it's not a cheap plug: the A-10 follow the «Motor City of Detroit fire trail and the path of new English bands like Birdhouse … the A-10 are destined to do great things in the future»; they do, but no one notices.

It's only the beginning, but it could already be time for the end credits: Jeremy leaves, the one who wrote the ad by hand on a sheet, the one of Ramones, Barracudas, and Radio Birdman; he goes back to New Zealand, the visa has expired and in England he is now illegal. He will never return. Or no, then he returns, in '93, after the release of the second album, this «Radio Confusion»: «Hey Jeremy, can you believe it, we released another album, there's a party to be made, we’re waiting for you» and he, without a second thought, throws something into a suitcase, rushes to the airport, boards the first plane to London and after 15 straight hours of flight is on stage with the others grinding out riffs and recalling that concert from 7 years before, in front of the Rough Trade entrance, the same unchanged spirit; and reminding everyone who doesn't know or often forgets why a great punk'n'roll band is born, grows, and (inevitably) dies.

And anyway, I go back to the story.

There's a need to replace Jeremy, Robin Wills and Kathy Freeman arrive: Robin Wills, the one of Barracudas and Fortunate Sons is approached by Lee and he doesn’t hesitate a second if it's about lending a hand to a friend, even if just for a couple of tracks; Kathy Freeman, also a guitarist, plays in Birdhouse, the ones mentioned by Sorge in his piece on the A-10, she’s also a kindred spirit and doesn’t hold back. From it comes another single «Declaration / Terminal Beach»: «Declaration» is among the most beautiful songs of the A-10, ultimately Lee records a new version for the debut album of his new band, the Sin City Six, as if to say that, even if paths diverge, certain experiences stay with you forever.

The A-10 and the Birdhouse soon find themselves together in «Motor City Madness», a tribute from Glitterhouse to the timeless sound of Detroit Rock City, along with many great names: Broken Jug, Thee Hypnotics, Green River, Miracle Workers, Reptiles At Dawn. Zero money, passion at its peak, for those who play that music and for those who find those albums in their hands; however, such operations mean only one thing, that the name of the A-10 starts circulating and for those who know it, the band is one to watch because they will do great things, as Sorge predicted.

Meanwhile, the first “real” label arrives, Mantra, which isn’t a multinational but still is headlined by Disfunzioni Musicali and for Italy that is no small thing.

And so does the first album, «Sex God War: Contributions & Rewards». Of the inspiration, Romano says «The whole album is soaked with London's moods which is a very literary city, but also very harsh with a spirit of madness. Things that I found in the novels of J.C. Ballard who has always been one of my favorite authors»; about the content, Lee adds «I like the songs, but I would like to have the opportunity to remake Sex God War, in a good studio and with a lot of time on my hands», in any case, to have albums of such a kind. For myself, I only note the remake of «Dead Skin» from «Mean Time» by Barracudas, which speaks well and without too many words about the band's inspiration and motivation.

And here ends the first part of the story, the A-10 MK1.

The A-10 MK2, which are still only A-10, start from a lineup change: Stefano Costantini joins on guitar and Pippo Pasquini, Romano's brother, joins on drums: someone with little faith crosses their fingers and hopes the band doesn't lose its way.

The A-10 fulfill those fervent prayers and put out a record that doesn't give up an inch of ground gained, the mini «Burnin' Chrome»: there's still Kathy Freeman, there's Kent Steedman of the Celibate Rifles as producer, there are 5 songs still in the deep groove of the Detroit sound traced by Stooges and Radio Birdman, there's a cover of «Cheere» by Suicide which earned a place in the tribute «Your Invitation to Suicide» set up by the Spanish label Munster and this time the A-10 are accompanied by Mudhoney, Thin White Rope, Gories, Sonic Boom, Flaming Lips, Nomads; in short, the A-10 are a band of high caliber, internationally.

Finally, someone notices, for example they notice in Spain where the A-10 become the subject of a small cult: they perform consistently sold-out concerts and we are not talking about a few dozen people but 5,000 in the worst case scenario; they home down with Munster.

Until '93 this second long album, «Radio Confusion», the best of A-10, for maturity and sound compactness, variety of styles and awareness of their means come out. Still Romano «The reason there are many styles is because we live in three different countries, we are people of different ages, with different personal stories and cultures that then blend to make music». And again, Lee «There are several songs because this group went 4 years without being able to record as many tracks as we would have liked to, and therefore there are different styles coming from different situations and different times of composition». I keep it short and limit myself as always to one highlight, «Blue Sky Variation», the indescribably beautiful final ballad, halfway between the Radio Birdman of «Love Kills» and «Cryin' Sun». A few years from then, the A-10 would end up playing with New Christs of Rob Younger, just to say, but they were already no longer the A-10.

Lee leaves, the others try to keep going under the same name but soon realize it's not the same thing, they break ranks, and each goes their way; yet the spirit continues and the music flows, the best comes from Lee with the Sin City Six, simply splendid the eponymous debut album from 2000; a few days later Lee dies of cancer and everyone loses the will to continue playing; the A-10 end, the Sin City Six end, Romano's projects end.

What remains is that sense of bitterness, tempered into something that is a bit nostalgic, a bit melancholic, a precious story told months ago in a fanzine made only with the heart, but above all remains the awareness that this A-10 story was a beautiful one. For those interested, there's the compilation «Down in the Late 80's» and the expanded version of «Radio Confusion» to discover all there is to know about them.