Accident On The East Lancs

The "East Lancs" is a large road between Liverpool and Manchester. They formed in Rochdale in 1976, when Andy Sharrocks (vocals), Dave Addison (bass), Kieran Miskella (guitar) and Pete Kenyon (drums) set up a rather powerful act whose live-set would only include covers, mainly of the Stones, the Small Faces, the Velvet Underground, the Doors, and the New York Dolls. Very soon Sharrocks would start writing original material for the band and in 1979 AOEL recorded and mixed in one only day their first single, released through their own label Roach Records. It was a double a-side.In Sharrocks words: “ [the single] would not get much airplay, it did not get much anyway, only John Peel and Dave Fanning of RTE radio in Dublin playing it as far as I am aware, John Peel however did say it was the most exciting record he had heard since the Sex Pistols, which was pretty groovy at the time. Apparently Sharrocks’ songwriting was not much welcome by the band, and, also due to an obvious alck of commitment) all members quit to be replaced by Andy Schemet (bass), Nor Pilling (guitars) and Phil O’Dell (drums). This line-up recorded the second single in 1980, also double a-sided he Back End of Nowhere / Rat Race (1980),in the same year AOEL recorded a cassette album called Shotguns And Hotshots featuring 12 original angry tracks, recorded in four days, and released in 1981 on Cargo Records. (This was re-released on vinyl two decades later in Germany, with Back End Of Nowhere and Rat Race added as bonus tracks).