THE JETTISOUNDZ STORY - William John Bentham
I remember it well, a sunny afternoon in 1982. Karen and I had decided to go
for it !!! It wasn't long before we discovered how difficult it was to earn
a living managing local bands "One Way System" & "Zanti Misfitz". The
"System" got off to a good start by being signed to "Anagram Records" and
quickly made their way into the independent chart, whereas the "Misfitz",
although signed to Mike Stone's "Clay Records", had many disappointments
trying to gain attention. We eventually found a way to make a semi-
professional video for the bands new single, which gained them a prime time
TV spot on North West show Granada Reports. This didn't turn the act into
pop-stars, but it did give us an idea for the future.
With the help of friends Russell Ingham & Steve Loach, we ended up with a
very basic one camera film of the "Up Yer Tower" Punk gig in Blackpool.
"GBH" headlined the gig with their album at No.10 in the UK National Chart.
Whilst I felt certain it was a worthwhile exercise, we were unsure what to
do next and reluctant to risk £30 we didn't have, on a "Sounds" mail order
advert. People were telling us that Punks didn't have the money to buy
video's and we wouldn't sell any !!!!
Then out of the blue a guy from Bolton called, asking if we knew a mail
order company in Blackpool. He and his friend had sent money for Sex
Pistol's videos that didn't exist. This was incentive enough and we took the
advert. By the next Friday we had 5 orders and needed to find a way to make
copies. The Jettisoundz Video label was born.
Then we filmed "Nico" in Preston at a Punk club. It just happened, it was
Russell's Club ! It was one camera and a bit shaky, but an historic record
and eventually released as a collectors issue. Next up was "One Way System"
and "GBH" playing at the Ace Brixton, all filmed on borrowed VHS equipment.
When the gig finished I checked the recording only to find the sound totally
unusable. Nightmare !! So I looked for the Punk I'd seen earlier with a tape
recorder. He accepted the bribe and I ended up with a soundtrack. In fact it
was so much better than what we'd been getting into a VHS system that I
bought a serious Sony Walkman and recorded the next batch of gigs that way.
The video label developed. Barry Gold called to say that if we could make
covers for the videos he could wholesale them to the shops. Karen's artwork
skills came in very useful as we introduced some packaging and moved on from
hand written cassette labels.