PAUL FISCHER
In one of the sources for this post, the online magazine Louder than War, Paul Fischer describes the music by Lightning Strike as “an incendiary mix of Clash/B.A.D. and the Beastie Boys”. Big Audio Dynamite is the original punk/rap band, formed by Mick Jones in 1984 after he was thrown out of the Clash the year before. Most, though not all info on Lightning Strike lists them as a punk band or even a hardcore punk band.
Paul Fischer, in his interview with Eddie Auffray for Louder than War, gives this overview of the scene around Lightning Strike: “If you were a leather-jacket wearing teenager in London around that time you couldn’t miss them, they were the house band of the ‘Intrepid Fox’ and at the hub of a scene that has never really been documented, based around said boozer in Soho’s Wardour Street where everyone congregated before gigs at the Marquee which was over the other side of the road.”
“Beat Street” was actually the second choice by Lightning Strike for their first single. As related by Paul Fischer: “Debut single was due to be live favorite ‘Exocet Alley’, a blast of Rick Rubin-esque rap-rock via Sigue Sigue Sputnik, which derided Jeffrey Archer in the lyrics.” Jeffrey Archer is a Conservative Party politician in England who had been caught with a prostitute in 1986. In July 1987, Archer launched a high-profile libel suit against one newspaper who reported the story, the Daily Star; and the record label decided to pass on the release.
In the Paul Fischer interview, Eddie Auffray reports that Lightning Strike worked for two years on demos for a second album on RCA, but the label wasn’t interested.
* * *
Eddie Auffray of Lightning Strike stuck with it; as reported by Paul Fischer: “I continued to play in different bands one of them being Trash. Eventually Trash split and just after that I auditioned for Speedway, the bass player being a mate of mine and suggesting me. The rest is history! Ha! I wish!” But Speedway did wind up recording an album called Entertainment (1999) for Socal Records.
* * *
Paul Fischer reports about their debut album: “Ravales’ debut album Barrio Chino has just been released [2012] and is a fierce collection of 17 punked-up rocky gems. At its best it really does sound like Steve Jones and Paul Cook [of Sex Pistols] playing a Ramones set, albeit mostly sung in Spanish!”
(September 2016)
