April 30th, 2010
Intaferon – Get Out Of London
Here is this week’s song off my iPod. This is a song from 1983 that most of you have probably never heard of.
Intaferon was a new-wave duo from England made up of Simon Fellowes and Simon Gillham. They released three singles on Chrysalis Records and then vanished from the face of the Earth. Their song, Get Out of London was featured in the 2001 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie Winning London. They were also played on the TV show, Max Headroom. It was also done as a cover by The Pretenders in “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” (2002).
For those of you who are too young and have no idea what a single is, it is a record that has only two songs on it. It is called a single because you usually buy it just hear one song, the other song usually being a song that you never listen to because it isn’t very good. Unlike a CD, it has two sides and you have to flip it over to hear the other side. Most singles are a little larger than a CD but this record was a 12″ record. The other side had a slightly different version of this same song.
I tried to find out what happened to these two fine young men but my research has led basically nowhere. I have heard some rumors that one of them is a college philosophy professor but that is about all I have heard. Anyway, if you like MGMT I think you will really like Intaferon. If anyone knows what happened to the two Simons, please leave a comment.
Get Out Of London
Hold Tight
Monday morning wake up yawning
Break an egg, bust my head, maybe it’s a warning
Ring on the bell says it’s half past eight
Keys on the TV, hey I’m gonna be late
I’m walking on the pavement skipping all the lines
so the bears don’t eat me send me to the salt mines
Get on the bus but the bus don’t stop
my feet are sitting downstairs my head on the top
I can’t see out the window cuz there ain’t no sun
I think somebody’s tellin me to G-G-G-G-Get out of London
My feets keep movin and i don’t wear any socks
Can’t stop singing, head ting-a-lingin
Left my house, now I hang out in a phone box
Making coffins out of bits of old wood,
Sell ‘em cheap to the council though i know it’s no good to be a traitor,
collaborator, still i’d rather be a snitch than a cocktail waiter
Commit my crime now pay my penalty later
Okay all right i know I’m doin wrong but save it till tomorrow
got to G-G-G-G-G-Get out of London
Last night I lost my purity it started with a kiss,
I settled in to revel in a night of bedded bliss
I had a bee in my bonnet, a tiger in my tank
I was on my maiden voyage but my liner just sank
They call me jack of hearts, some would say a knave
My mother was the queen of tarts my baby was a sex slave
Pa’s selling weapons to the Red Army Faction
I burn myself in public just to get a reaction
Tattoo my face so my race is run
My car is on fire got to G-G-G-G-G-Get out of London
Don’t wear a suit don’t wear a smile,
Don’t wear my spikes out on the golden mile
Keep my hand on my gun, keep my eye on my mines
Keep my heart on the beat when I’m running through the front lines
Chain Gang chasin’ me but I’m quick as a fox
An’ i rock my body to the sound of the box
The louder you scream the faster we go
It’s an ack ack battery a boom-boom-boom
Helter Skelter flattery coming down soon
Pay packet, jug drug, babies buying fun,
Purdie’s on speed I got to G-G-G-G-Get out of London
Run don’t walk keep as straight as a crow,
I’m waiting for my treasure at the Admiral Benbow,
Blues in my pockets, Reds in my bed,
The weights are building bodies and the blacks are pumping lead
A Face in a photo, the beauty is bare tears on her cheek
She’s living in a nightmare turn the page to a brand new leaf,
Resolute swagger loot time to be a thief,
Go to task wear a mask four ponies a ton,
Keep out of Sing Sing got to G-G-G-G-G-Get out of London
Everybody in the land turn into a sugar tooth beg like a puppy dog,
Brains like a hedgehog
Gimme Ten p and I’ll tell you the truth, sell you a wonder drug, elixir of youth
Threw a party for my friends so they wouldn’t be lonely
They wouldn’t let me in said it’s membership only
don’t worry bout me
Cuz I’m doin fine standing on my head
And sitting on a gold mine
Keep taking the nitro three times a day,
Keep out of the cross fire and G-G-G-G-G-Get out of London
Maman Paul wrote,
I am one of the few people (besides the group) who can actually sing this song correctly
Link | May 9th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Merv wrote,
Simon Fellowes released a couple of solo albums under the name Simon F.
The first album, “Gun” is actually quite good. Of course it was never issued on CD, but it is worth tracking down mp3s. It contains the great song, “Baby Pain” which I believe was previously an Intaferon single. Another good song is “I Want You Back”, which I’ve seen a music video for on Youtube.
His second album, “Never Never Land” is good too and though out of print, was available on CD and you can probably get it used for under a dollar.
Third album was under the name F. Machine and is supposedly flat out awful. I’ve never heard it though. A brief description from a review:
“On Here Comes the 21st Century (the cover of which charmingly pictures a dozen infamous murderers, from Hitler to David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz: is there a rock’n'roll message here?) he assembles an overproduced collection of riffs learned from Rebel Yell, this asshole nonchalantly endorses rape and drug abuse, complains about “Too Many White People” (“Gonna get a gun, gonna kill me some / Won’t that be a lot of fun”) and sings lines like “I want to raise my fist / To my sexy terrorist / Escape from Czechoslovakia / Make love in the back of her daddy’s car” as if such wanton stupidity actually meant something.”
Link | July 15th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Tom wrote,
Thank you Merv! That was very interesting stuff. When I get home from work (youtube is blocked here) I’ll look up the video you mentioned.
Link | July 15th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Cristina wrote,
Thanks for the lyrics, btw!
Link | July 28th, 2010 at 12:54 am
Cristina wrote,
Oops, the first part of the message didn’t came. I sadi I remember that song too! I used to love it. Impossible to find, all I have is an old VHS with the vid. Better than nothing I suppose. But what a cool ringtone it would make.
Link | July 28th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Cat & Elly wrote,
Simon Gillham is a fantastic philosophy teacher in a sixth form college – we should know. We get the impression that he doesn’t like to talk about his Intaferon days much.
Elly & Cat
(yes we are taught by Simon)
Link | August 9th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Tom wrote,
Thanks Cat and Elly. I think that is too cool that he is a philosophy professor. Please tell Simon that there are still a few of us who remember his music days.
Link | August 26th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Tom wrote,
Christina – send me an email and I might be able to help you find a version of the song.
Link | August 26th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Buffa wrote,
The review of the F Machine album Here Comes the 21st Century was sadly and not unexpectedly way off the mark. It was in fact a satirical album – way before the work of Jarvis Cocker – decrying a slew of prejudices that abounded in the late 20th Century. Not surprisingly it flew over the heads of most people, particularly the rock critics. Shame. There was some good stuff on it. Sexy Terrorist presaged the idiot thinking behind 9/11 by some 10 years.
Link | September 11th, 2010 at 3:20 pm