It's July 1985 and Steve Lines is organising a Live Aid gig at Compton Bassett village hall featuring several bands from the local music scene. He doesn't have a band of his own as the last gig he played was with The Victims and Bone Idol in 1983 and both bands have long since split up. However when he hears Mike Humphreys telling all and sundry in the King George that he could sing in a band Steve decides to call his bluff and ask if he wants to do a couple of songs at the gig. Mike agrees and the pair begin to rehearse a short set consisting of First Time by The Boys, the Ramones' Rockaway Beach and Surfin' Bird as covered by The Cramps and Ramones. To his surprise Steve realises that Mike can shout a bit, so it looks like he was right after all.
Vance Provins hears that Mike is singing and decides he wants to do a song as well so he and Steve have three rehearsals of Holidays in Cambodia by The Dead Kennedys.
They decide on The Ungrateful Dead as their band name.
The gig takes place on 25th July 1985.
Mike and Steve start the set with First Time and then it's straight into Rockaway Beach. To their surprise they're joined on stage by a complete stranger to them all, who claims he can play drums. He asks if he can join them. Steve asks if he can play punk and says yes and they launch into Surfin' Bird. It's a chaotic experience, with Mike stripped bare-chested, the drummer, who turns out to be an American named Tim Goodwin bashing along in bemusement and Steve rolling on the floor in waves of sonic feedback. And then it's
all over - well almost. Vance Provins stalks onto the stage,chemically fuelled and eager to go. Steve starts the opening riff, Tim joins in and much to Steve's relief Vance starts to growl out the lyrics in the correct place, chewing gum and prowling the stage like a caged beast. There's a little hesitation in the middle of the song where Tim Loses it, but Steve keeps the momentum and he soon picks it up again. Mike and Vance duo on the rest of the song and then it really is all over and they leave the stage and a dumbstruck audience. Most of the musicians there can't believe what they've witnessed - raw, aggressive rock 'n' roll, no holds barred. It was this template that would ultimately become Calne's favourite punk band, The Chaos Brothers.
