59:1 - fiftynine to one

TV Smith rose to prominence in the first wave of British punk rock as singer and songwriter for the Adverts who, after frequent early appearances at the seminal Roxy club in London in 1977, gained cult success with the Stiff Records single "One Chord Wonders." This turned to notoriety when their next release, "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" thrust them into the upper reaches of the U.K. charts. A further single, “Not Time To Be 21” also entered the charts, and the band spent the rest of the year playing live, including major tours with The Damned and Iggy Pop. The album that followed in 1978, "Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts" charted on its first week of release, and is considered to be one of the few genuine classics of the era. The Adverts released one further album, “Cast Of Thousands,” before their split in 1979. Mercilessly slammed by the critics at the time, the album has recently found new favour, and was recently described by Mojo magazine as “the long lost punk album that rivals The Clash’s ‘London Calling,’” TV went on to tour and record with TV Smith's Explorers, who achieved a hit with the single “Tomahawk Cruise.” When the band split, he spent a period away from the live circuit, writing and recording songs – among them “Lord’s Prayer” for Lords Of The New Church. He entered the live arena again in the late 1980’s, playing sporadic gigs with his band Cheap, before re-emerging as a solo artist in 1992 with the release of the acoustically-infused "March of the Giants” on the Cooking Vinyl label. The nineties saw TV gigging relentlessly throughout Europe, as well as releasing two further solo albums, 1995's "Immortal Rich" - which came out in the U.S. on long-time fan Henry Rollins' label - and 1999's "Generation Y." In 2001 German chart-toppers Die Toten Hosen performed as TV's backing band to record "Useless," an album of re-recordings of classic TV Smith songs, which became his biggest selling album since The Adverts. In 2002, an internet-only acoustic anti-war single “Not In My Name” released during the build-up to the Iraq invasion received more than 7,000 downloads. Since then, TV has continued to prove himself as one of the UK finest and most consistent songwriters with the release of “Not A Bad Day” (2003), and “Misinformation Overload” (2006). In 2007, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of The Adverts, TV put together a band called The Bored Teenagers to play a sold out performance of “Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts” at London’s historic 100 Club. A CD and DVD was released of the concert, and the band went on to play a number of festivals through Europe, including a triumphant main stage appearance at the annual Rebellion punk festival. A new studio album “In The Arms Of My Enemy” was released on the Boss Tuneage label in 2008 to critical acclaim **** Mit ihrem neuen Album präsentiert die GARDEN GANG eine variantenreiche, powerswingende Punk-Rock-Scheibe. Die Songs vereinen sämtliche musikalischen Einflüsse der Band, die vom Rock`n`Roll, Sixties-Beat bis zum Glam und New Wave der späten Siebziger und frühen Achtziger reichen. Diese Mischung verleiht jedem einzelnen Song das gewisse Flair und sorgt für den absoluten Wiedererkennungsfaktor. In seinen satirischen Texten erzählt Sänger PamP kleine, vom Wahnsinn des alltäglichen Lebens provozierte Geschichten. In Songs wie PARCEL PACKER No 1, RENT A FRIEND, DAILY SOAP WRITER oder der Singleauskopplung, und dem gleichzeitigen Titeltrack, SHOPPERS UNITED wird einem eindrucksvoll und nachhaltig die pure Live-Energie der GARDEN GANG und der Reiz die Band Live zu erleben vermittelt. Als längst kein unbeschriebenes Blatt mehr in der europäischen LIVE Szene spielten sie seit der Veröffentlichung des letzten Albums „FOLLOW THE TREND“ (2003) mehr als 200 Clubgigs und Festivals in Deutschland, Österreich, UK, Spanien, Slowakei und in der Schweiz, zusammen mit THE VIBRATORS, L.A. GUNS, THE LURKERS, THE DAMNED, TV SMITH und vielen anderen internationalen Acts. Besonders mit TV SMITH entwickelte sich eine freundschaftliche Zusammenarbeit, mit dem die GARDEN GANG mehrere erfolgreiche Tourneen spielte und der, wie bereits bei FOLLOW THE TREND, einige Backing Vocals auf SHOPPERS UNITED beisteuert. Nach der Album Release-Tour in Deutschland im Frühjahr 2006 folgten Shows in Spanien und im Sommer die erste Club-Tour in England mit einem Auftritt beim alljährlichen WASTED, dem weltweit grössten Punk Festival in Blackpool.