The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll. The verse came from Robinson's memories of driving back to London through the night after gigs with Café Society: "By the time our van hit the last stretch of M1 into London the motorway sun really was coming up with the morning light. VG/EX means that the item's sleeve is in Very Good condition and the disc is in Excellent condition. in Sweden on 27 January 1978, and staying at the top for 4 weeks, while in the US (Harvest 4533) has "2-4-6-8" on both sides. The tie into the gay liberation movement comes to those enlightened with a familiarity of the popular gay lib chant “2,4,6,8, Gay is twice as good as straight… 3,5,7,9, Lesbians are mighty fine”.

Not to be confused with Davies’s song Lola, which proved that boys would sometimes be girls (and vice versa). singing solutions to entertainment venues, bars, pubs and anywhere else people want to sing together! All of which goes to show that boys will be boys – as Robinson would remind us with his next hit, Glad To Be Gay. It was the way everyone played it on the record, and especially Danny Kustow’s guitar work, that finally persuaded EMI they had a future hit on their hands.It was released as a single in 1977 by British punk rock/ new wave group the Tom Robinson Band, and reached No. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. Although it seems like a straightforward song about the freedom of the open road in a long tradition of rock’n’roll songs, it has since been claimed that 2-4-6-8 Motorway has a gay subtext. Tim Cooper has written for most national newspapers and many magazines on every subject from politics to pop culture.

This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Comment: Tom Robinson Band - 2 4 6 8 Motorway - 7 Inch - UK Pressing - Emi - 1977 - EMI2715 - Four Prong Label Design B/W I Shall Be Released In Plain Sleeve - In Plain/Company Sleeve, Condition (Disc): /EX. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. It was only after six months of playing everywhere from prisons to pubs to public schools that the band became ‘gig-fit’, ie tough enough and tight enough to put the song over with real conviction, so it would connect with listeners on first hearing.

All my new songs had to be written with a dead simple chord sequence so the various players could learn the entire set in half an hour during the soundcheck.

Joined by singer and double-bassist Miranda Sykes in 2004, and percussionist Cormac Byrne in 2019, Show of Hands continue to perform as a duo as well as in the four-piece band format. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.By the time our van hit the last stretch of M1 into London the motorway sun really was coming up with the morning light. The chorus hook was a straight lift from my favourite chant at Gay Lib demos - ‘2,4,6,8, Gay is twice as good as straight. Sláðu einfaldlega inn hljómana sem þú kannt hér að neðan, aðskilda með kommu, og við sýnum þér hvaða lög þú getur spilað! Tom Robinson "2-4-6-8 Motorway" at Glastonbury 2016 | "2-4-6-8 Motorway" 40th ANNIVERSARY TOUR takes place October 2017, performing Power In The Darkness album in full. However, after touring the band became much tighter, and guitarist Danny Kustow expanded his riffs, which persuaded EMI to release the record.