Eater might not have left much in the way of a musical legacy but they were one of the first punk bands – and also the youngest.
When I first saw them, supporting The Damned at the Hope & Anchor in January 1977, their average age was 15.
I remember looking around and being surprised to see some”old” people at the back, moving around enthusiastically to the fast tuneless racket emanating from the stage. They were the band’s mums and dads.
Eater were formed at school in Finchley by Ashwan Radwan (aka Andy Blade) on vocals and guitar, his brother Lufti (aka Social Demise) on drums and guitarist Brian Chevette (aka Brian Haddon).
They couldn’t really play their instruments but somehow hoodwinked the local paper into writing about their “band”, rehearsing with a pair of stolen guitars.
They made their debut in Manchester, borrowing a bass guitarist from a local group. Their support act was a local band that had just formed, called Buzzcocks.
That would be the highlight of Lufti’s one-gig music career. By the time I saw Eater, he had been replaced as drummer by 14-year-old Dee Generate (Roger Bullen to his mum at the back).
They had also found a bassist called Ian Woodcock, a veteran of 17 who answered a Melody maker ad in time for their first London gig – but not, evidently, in time to come up with a stage name of his own.
They were regulars at the Roxy in those early months of 1977, playing with The Damned, The Lurkers, Sham 69 and Johnny Moped, and featured on the Roxy compilation album performing a version of Alice Cooper’s I’m Eighteen – retitled Fifteen as none of them were.
This was their first single, Outside View, and it came out in March 1977 on an independent London label called The Label.
It’s unmemorable but the eagle-eared will spot that the best thing about it – the bassline – bears a strong resemblance to the one on Eno’s solo tune Third Uncle.
It was followed by Thinkin’ Of The USA and Lock It Up, and in November by an album – The Album, released on The Label. It’s not a lost classic and Eater split up in January 1979, following a final release, a live EP called Get Your Yo-Yo’s Out.
Woodcock joined The Vibrators, Rowland joined Slaughter & The Dogs, Steadman joined Classix Nouveaux and Blade published a memoir called The Secret Life Of A Teenage Punk Rocker.