I think at one point Captain Sensible was also a band member and they made perfect sense.
1 Like
The Mopeds also spent time as roadies for the Damned.
They had a bass player called Jacko Pistorious which shows a refined level of musical awareness for an early punk band!
3 Likes
Still touring too - amazed he’s above the turf even TBH - I still get updates from Damaged Goods!
4 Likes
Wow! He of Weather Report fame! 
Think that might have been Jaco.
1 Like
Jaco Pastorius is a different fella.
Edit: beaten to it 
1 Like
If you have Netflix,the basically Johnny moped doc is well worth a watch with captain sensible,Christie hynde etc in.
The story is interesting of how that Croydon area music scene happened
1 Like
Was confused! That’s not difficult, really! Cheers to you and @Valvebloke for clarification!
The point was that the Mopeds bass player knew who Jaco Pastorius was and took the piss and adopted the changed name in true punk fashion, but he had to have a decent musical knowledge to know who Jaco was in the first place.
2 Likes
I love the idea of the actual Jaco plying his trade in a one chord punk band 
1 Like
Forgot that the original bass player killed himself in the 80s
There is a sad postscript to the Johnny Moped story. According to several sources, it is fair to say that Fred Berk, the band’s chief songwriter, liked a drink, even when on stage. Phil Burns remembers a gig in which he seemed the worse for wear: “He was able to remain standing for most of the concert but by the time of the encore he was totally drunk and had to lay down on the floor, doing his best to play bass.” At another gig Dave Berk threw Fred off the stage. Fred left the band soon afterwards. He began to struggle with his alcoholism which led to a break-up with his partner. A couple of years later, he committed suicide by throwing himself under a train near Thornton Heath Station. He was just 28. Captain Sensible would name his son after him, and as Fred Burns, he would later produce the Johnny Moped documentary Basically.The band continue to perform, but with a number of line-up changes over the years.
More on the Croydon area scene here;
4 Likes
Great article!
I name checked a lot of the pubs and venues mentioned.
A live music venue called The Cartoon gets a mention. It was in Broad Green, about half way between Croydon and Thornton Heath. Live music most nights of the week.
A biker famously drove his bike through the front windows after a row about something.
Had some great nights there
I don’t remember it looking quite as shoddy but there were normally loads of bikes outside and it was dark!
I hired the place for my 21st Birthday on a Saturday night, cost £15 and I put £100 behind the bar
8 Likes
Stuart was a very decent chap to me and my mates. Spent waaaay too many great nights in that place 
Much respect for having your 21st there 
1 Like
I knew you would have been a patron
Patron!?
I pretty much lived there 
('78-80ish)
Glasgow, 80s, Thatcher, poverty. Kids in these areas didn’t do too well on the entrance exams for bursary grants to private schools
3 Likes
It was confusing enough when we were there ('88-'89) but it looks a whole lot worse now. You always had to be careful which lanes you were allowed to use (some were HOV - high occupancy vehicles only - and others had tolls, and only some were technically part of I-10 which is what you needed if you were heading out of town).
We once drove it all the way to some point between Tucson and Phoenix AZ IIRC, where we cut south to San Diego.
1 Like
If you like that then this is a smaller English version, in a way
(not my pic).
It’s called The Summerhouse and it’s in Eyton-on-Severn (that misty hill on the left horizon is The Wrekin). Built around 1607 it was a separate banqueting house in the grounds of the much larger ‘main house’. The latter burnt to the ground so now The Summerhouse is all that’s left from the early 1600’s there.
You can rent it, by the way.
5 Likes