A cracking 7” single by Restricted Hours and The Syndicate released on Stevenage Rock Against Racism Records in 1979.

Restricted Hours was basically Mark Wilkins AKA Mark Astronaut with Alan Cowley and Gordon Walker, both early members of The Astronauts.

The Syndicate, I know nothing of, but their song; ‘One Way Or Another’ is sheer lo-fi punky class. Please give that a listen.

The standout track on the EP, in my opinion is; ‘Getting Things Done’ by Restricted Hours.

An absolutely amazing song, so good I am going to place all the lyrics here.

‘Getting Things Done’

There's a woman on the corner and she's carrying a banner
Saying death to the oppressor and the men who overran her
And at least she's getting things done

There's a factory, there's a union and the men are having doubts
About working for a pittance so they're going to do a walk out
And at least they're getting things done

You sit there with a grin on your face
Yeah, you've always been a moderate and you know your place
Slowly going nowhere in this nowhere race
And if you get into power nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing's going to change

There's some schoolboys on the corner from the school just down the road
Teacher was going to have to punish them so they decided not to go
And at least they're getting things done

And they've got a sort of feeling there's a better sort of scene
So they put their heads together and they start a magazine
And at least they're getting things done

But you sit there with your pint of real ale
If you'd been so oppressed you know you'd turn quite pale
But "I'm alright" is what you always wail
And if you get into power nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing's going to change

There's a lot of them been thinking and their heads are getting prouder
There's a lot of them been thinking and their voices getting louder
And at least they're getting things done

They're growing in their numbers and they will not go away
And they're growing in their numbers and it's waiting for the day
And at least they're getting things done

But you turn round and say "That's not quite fair - "
"You know that Anti-Nazi rally, man, I was there"
But when the music stopped that's when you ceased to care
And if you get into power nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing's going to change

And you still sit there with your pint of beer
You don't really like radicals - you think that they're weird
But you'd still do anything to get out of here
And if you get into power nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing's going to change

And now some sadder news.

REST IN PEACE MARK WILKINS one of the loveliest men in Panshanger, an area of Welwyn Garden City who sadly passed away on 7th July 2022.

The Astronauts, the band that Mark fronted for forty five years, were among my favourite bands throughout the eighties, and the songs that Mark wrote still continue to inspire me.

In the eighties and early nineties, I visited Mark at his Panshanger flat lots of times.

In the small confines of his bedroom/living space, happily listening to some of his scruffy dog-eared and scratchy old album collection successfully turned me onto bands like Third World War, Soft Machine, King Crimson, Gong and Kevin Ayres (among others).

I will also remember his skeletal round dial telephone with fondness.

Thank you Mark for the time we spent together, and for your encyclopaedic knowledge of music and your musical taste, some of which filtered down to me.

I was lucky to have witnessed Mark (with the varying line ups of The Astronauts) perform dozens upon dozens of times, in pubs, clubs, and festivals all around London and the southeast.

Mark would always give 100% even to a half empty hall.

The Astronauts were one quarter of my inspiration when in 1985 I visited All The Madmen Records based in one of the crumbling squatted houses along Brougham Road in Hackney. After that visit I started working there, volunteering, I just received travel costs, and some free records. Around the dawn of 1987 All The Madmen Records moved to another equally crumbling premises in Kings Cross. The Astronauts had three albums released on the All The Madmen record label. The Mob, Flowers In The Dustbin and Blyth Power were the other three quarters of my inspiration to get involved in one of my favourite record labels, kick-starting a three decade stint in the record industry.

Mark was so gentle, sometimes fragile, enormously intelligent, sometimes mischievous, and he was easy to get along with.

His passion for writing lyrics was immense, an obsession, and those lyrics (sometimes being carried around in a plastic bag among other flotsam and jetsam) were of an extremely high quality.

Now Welwyn Garden City has lost a special, special man, a bright light among the greyness of the town.

The world of music has also lost a one-of-a-kind lyricist and performer.

May He Rest In Peace.

свернуть