tracks: Geschiedenis Herhaald (“history repeated”) / U.S.A. / Krisis / Hoe moet Ik Weigeren (“how do I refuse”) /// Brainwashing
This tape is a contribution by Dirk Michiels (Punk Etc).
‘Vergaene Glorie’ (“faded glory”) was a punk band from Kortrijk with Ludo Halsberghe (bass; Bizar Poseur & Insipid fanzines) & Tom Warlop (vocals) – both were in ‘Resurrection’ after this; plus Nico Decock (guitar; later ‘XXX’, ‘Zyklon-B’, ‘Midnight Men’) & a “hardrock nozem” called Ronny De Buf (drums). They never released tapes or vinyl. These recordings were made during a gig at the Nieuwe Fabriek.
setlist (courtesy Martin Vantomme)
Gig-review in Insipid #12: >>The last time with drummer Ronny (30 years with moustache). Positive thing: it was some sort of benefit to help out the pub-owner of the De Nieuwe Fabriek. The band’s music was powerful, melodic but not hard. Their lyrics deal with how you end up in a fight when going for french-fries, how the revolution eats its children, etc. Hopefuly ‘V.G.’ continues to criticise this rotten society. The band, praised by some, reviled by others; is pretty much OK.<<
Brob
We sang in Dutch.
Ludo Halsberghe
‘Vergaene Glorie’ was some kind of a ‘tale of two cities’, where punks from Kuurne and Kortrijk found a connection. The step from a rural suburb to the ‘city’, where punk as a subculture got another dimension, was thé source of inspiration behind ‘V.G.’ The ideas for the band was taking shape around the end of 1980 but the actually start was when started rehearsing, early 1981. The core consisted of Tom (later ‘Resurrection’, ‘Yum Yum Club’, ‘Hot Rod Honeys’), Ludo (later in ‘Resurrection’, ‘P.O.G.O.Z.’) and myself (later ‘XXX’, ‘Midnight Men’, ‘The Buckweeds!’, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (From 1998 to 2004 I lived in Japan. My girlfriend at the time did the tour-mangement for major U.S. bands. JJ was a friend of her and in 1998 I was the stand-in for the guitarist who was out because of an accident. I did a small tour playing U.S. bases in te Pacific.), ‘Marky Ramone & The SpeedKings’, ‘P.O.G.O.Z.’, ‘The Sonic Salvations’). The spot at the drumkit appeared the achilles-heel in the line-up and the band didn’t succeed in finding a steady member. There was a coming and going of drummers: ‘Den Dikken’ [the fat one], Piet’n [Piet(je) Roobrouck] (ex ‘Lunatix’) & Ronny [Debuf], who turned out to be a better wife-abuser than drummer. The band once tried to make the transition into a more industrial direction (with oil-barrels as drums) but the price of crude oil reached a historical high and that idea got dismissed quickly. The band played rudimentary three-chord punk with Dutch lyrics. The orginal ‘V.G.’ only wrote 13 songs in total (Kortrijk, Hoe Moet Ik Weigeren [“how do I refuse”], Geschiedenis Herhaald [“history repeated”], USA, Democratie [“democracy”] , Revoluties [“revolutions”], Asperine C, Attentie [“attention”], Continental, Freaks, Brain Washing, De Frituur [“the chip-shop”] & Krisis). The lyrics were all about life in a province-town where the police intervened in a very repressive manner and affected the band-members, at the time between 15 an18, every day; in combination with adolescent hormones and heartbreaks. The core of the Kortrijk scene was [the pub] Den 21, illustrious punk hangout near the railway-track. It attracted punks from Flanders and the North of France, and was an eyesore for the mayor at the time (Lambrechts). Alleged nighttime-noise, vandalism and skirmishes with North-French skinheads got whipped up in the local media and were the ideal excuse to close down the pub (at first temporarily, later definitively). With these circumstances in the background, ‘V.G.’ made a passage/played at the ‘Nacht Tegen Politiegeweld’ [“night against police-violence”] at Limelight [mainstream venue] (where, at the time, also ‘Killing Joke’ played a concert) together with ‘De Brassers’ [notorious Belgian new wave/punk band]. Most of our other gigs were in Kortrijk and surrounding area. We played most often in the youthcentre Reflex, where the band rehearsed. Bands we played with die included ‘Moral Demolition’, ‘221bis Baker Street’, ‘Electronaze’ [punk band from Roubaix/Lille, France], ‘LumpenFuckers’ [Lille], etc. The very last concert was mid 1983 the one @ Nieuwe Fabriek in Kortrijk (the only one recorded). The band had plans to record three songs in a studio (for the compilation-tape Second Time Around [hence why it was sent to Punk Etc] but because of disagreement the band fell apart at the moment the members had finally gotten to master their instruments somewhat. Despite the mutual quarrels Ludo & Nico had written and rudimentary recorded some 15 new songs on a 4-track. (e.g. Kuurne Brandt [“Kuurne’s burning”], Punkrock Prente [prente is local dialect for beautiful girl], Vive Le Rock, Velo Zonder Plak [“bike without a plate”], Congé Continental [“continental holiday”], etc.), but these got lost…
Here’s the lyrics to an old song… [in the local dialect; untranslatable ;-)]
>>DACH VAN DE ANARCHIE: Fukt de stoat, fukt kapitoal. De moatskappie ès gin rock en roal. Kè gin wirk, moa me stoan zie an zie. We goan noa de dag van du anarchie. Anarchie, anarchie, anarchie. Kamreroaden, aller landen. Tid voe bruggen te verbranden saloeng socialisten zin der nie bie. We goan noa de dag van du anarchie. Anarchie, anarchie, anarchie. Tès den dag van de anarchie. Den dag van de anarchie. Tès den dag van de anarchie. Anarchie, anarchie, anarchie. Ze wachtten ip ons in de stroaten. De rikswacht mè waterkanongs. En an den andre kan vant woater. Fascisten èn du VMO. Gin pilchards voe du soixante-huitards. Zéten liever oesters en homards. Limelight pseudos twoogkamperen. Caberdouchen voe de stars. Middenklassers toarteklaajs de revolutie zin zool moe. Ne molotov in du ljiw van Vloandren. Breugelfjiste met nen barbekjoe.<<
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