Sold Date: September 29, 2023
Start Date: September 24, 2023
Final Price: £23.77 (GBP)
Bid Count: 2
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CHELSEA - THE ALTERNATIVE - DOUBLE ALBUM - RED VINYL - SEALED.

The original line-up of Chelsea was assembled in late 1976 by John Krivine and Steph Raynor, the owners of Acme Attractions, the rival shop to Malcolm McLaren's fashion boutique SEX in the King's Road.

Comprising of vocalist Gene October, guitarist Billy Idol, bassist Tony James and drummer John Towe, after just three support gigs playing cover versions of other bands' songs, Idol and James departed in November 1976, taking Towe with them, to form Generation X.

Undetured October then recruited Carey Fortune (drums), Martin Stacy (guitar) and Bob Jessie (bass), with the last two soon being replaced by Henry Daze and James Stevenson.

Chelsea's fantastic first single, "Right to Work", was released in June 1977, and was recorded by the October/Fortune/Daze/Stevenson line-up of the band, and also appeared on the soundtrack album to the film Jubilee in which October had appeared.

For Chelsea though a rapid turnover of band members would be characteristic throughout their existence, with October the only constant presence.

Never one to be beaten October returned in the early 90s with a line-up featuring the returning Austin and new bassist Mat Sargent, they released The Alternative (1993) and Traitors Gate (1994).

Amazingly In 1999, the original line-up from the first album, including Stevenson, reformed for the Social Chaos Tour across North America, augmented by former Buzzcocks bassist Tony Barber, releasing the Faster, Cheaper and Better Looking album in 2005.

Chelsea are the band that simply refuses to die thanks to the talent and determination of Gene October, if ever there was a medal for Punk Rock Survivor it would definitely be awarded to Gene October.

Sealed new, mint reissue of The Alternative on red vinyl, acquired within a large private punk collection I bought recently, lots more to list in the coming months so keep checking my listings.