THE SNIVELLING SHITS

BROWN VINYL REISSUE OF ‘I CAN’T COME’ LP – COMING JULY 2022

I always loved their single ‘Terminal Stupid’ that came out on Ghetto Rockers records in late 77 but I knew nothing about them, so when I started Damaged Goods it was something I wanted to unearth and possibly re-issue. I asked around and eventually someone mentioned that the main person behind the band was Giovanni Dadomo and that he worked in Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill, so I headed down there and eventually met him. We arranged to meet for a beer after he finished work and that’s how the album came about. I showed him the Slaughter & The Dogs album and said I wanted to re-issue the 7” and he said did I want any other tracks, we met up at his parents house and searched through old boxes and dug up a whole load of cassettes and even an acetate or two.

We then went over to Dave Goodmans house and cleaned everything up and eventually put the album together. Photos were found over at Ray Stevenson’s house and we had a cover. Gio put together a mock review of the album and we were away. One thing I never knew was that the Shits did have a second release called ‘isgodaman?’ as Arthur Comix on the Beggars Banquet compilation ‘Streets’. The reason it was under a pseudonym was because Beggars didn’t want the word SHITS on the cover!! how punk!.

Giovanni also co wrote a couple of Damned songs ‘I Just Can’t Be Happy Today’ and ‘They’re ‘Aint No Sanity Clause’.

Gio died a few years back, it was a pleasure to have met him and recover a few great tracks.

This is from the Trouser Press site….

‘The hazard of anyone-can-do-it musical movements is what might get dragged in. Fortunately, the jokey Snivelling Shits – two London rock critics (singer Giovanni Dadomo and guitarist Dave Fudger) and such musician friends as Steve Nicol of the Hot Rods and bassist Steve Lillywhite – were sharply skilled at smuttily satirising the sounds of ’77. As anthologised in this archival colored-vinyl document, the band’s brief recording career (eight whole tracks, including the viciously irreverent “isgodaman?,” originally released on a Beggars Banquet compilation LP under the name Arthur Comics?) included incisive swipes at the Sex Pistols, John Cooper Clarke (“I Wanna Be Your Biro”) and the Velvet Underground.

That’s history for you.

NEW IN 2022 – A Snivelling Shits Live LP!!

RELEASE DATE 15TH APRIL 2022

A limited-edition colour vinyl LP put together by original founding member Pete Makowski and us at Damaged Goods to celebrate the reunion gigs by The Snivelling Shits in late 2018 and 2019.

The original Snivelling Shits album ‘I Can’t Come’ was released on Damaged Goods back in 1989 with original frontman Giovanni Dadamo supplying the tapes and helping with the artwork.

We started to get to know the other two original Shits, Pete Makowski and Dave Fudger in the 2010’s and Pete was very keen to “get the old band back together” as they say…so they commandeered Tom Crossley on vocals, he was in Giovanni’s second band, Famous Monsters after the original Shits imploded so he was a perfect replacement, another good friend of Pete’s was James Sherry (of Done Lying Down / Toast / Desperate Measures) who took over the drums, and firstly Richard Leeds from Du Bellows and later Moyni from Tom’s current band The Phobics on bass duties.

After a few rehearsals they did a low-key warm up gig billed as Arthur Comix, then their first proper gig at the Damaged Goods 30^th anniversary gigs at The Lexington on the 15^th December 2018 supporting Johnny Moped, swiftly followed by another gig at The Pelton Arms in Greenwich on the 16^th February 2019. Both gigs were recorded by Lee McFadden and sounded great, so Pete suggested making a live album up to “celebrate” the events.

The Shits went onto play a gloriously unhinged and chaotic set in front of a huge crowd at the Opera House at the Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool in August 2019. That was the last gig as soon after the pandemic hit and very sadly and tragically, Pete Makowski died in late 2021.

We’re really proud to have this coming out, albeit a lot later than planned due to the vinyl shortages. It’s a fitting tribute to Pete (who oversaw the artwork and tapes) and the band’s amazing comeback gigs. It also includes two demos from the original line-up that appeared as a very limited 7″ for sale at the Rebellion Festival show in 2019, which sold out and is already a sought-after collector’s item!

Pete would only let us release it if it was on brown vinyl…However due to vinyl shortages, brown vinyl was scarce so it ended up on a rainbow of colours ! When the shits hit the fans, one could say. We think Pete would approve

Dedicated to Pete Makowsi 1956-202 and very much missed by us all. R.I.P.