Lost Album Classics Volume IV
Title: Gun Shy
Artist: The Screaming Blue Messiahs
Release Date: 1986
1986 marked the end of an era for me. In January 1986, the two remaining members of the Clash, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon announced the Clash was calling it quits after a decade in the vanguard of both the punk and post-punk music movements. By 1986, many of my favorite bands like Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Blondie, the Specials, the Beat, Devo, the Talking Heads and Stiff Little Fingers had either pulled the plug or were in the final stages of disintegration.
Madonna and Michael Jackson had become the most influential artists of the Eighties and MTV became the dominant force in shaping the direction of pop music.
One band gave me hope amid the mediocrity of MTV's new world order. The Screaming Blue Messiahs, a London based power trio released it's American debut album,
Gun Shy. SBM played a hybrid of punk and pub rock that recalled the glory days of rock and roll. The album opened up with the rockabilly influenced
Wild Blue Yonder.
Guitarist and vocalist Bill Carter developed a reputation for his high volume energetic live performances. On stage Carter was an imposing figure, suited and booted, bald head dripping sweat, and spitting out the words with venom.
Screaming Blue Messiahs toured the United States in 1986 to rave reviews. One American critic wrote, "The Screaming Blue Messiahs play rockabilly from hell and have a strong passion for Americana, cars, motorcycles, guns, airplanes and broadcast evangelism." On the 20 March 1987 edition of the Channel 4 TV show The Tube, David Bowie announced that his favorite band of the moment was The Screaming Blue Messiahs. An avid fan of the group, Bowie repeated his affection of the group on other occasions.
What many reviewers missed was the radical political views of the band.
Smash the Market Place was a scathing attack on Margaret Thatcher's yuppie vision of Britain.
Smash the Market Place was the equal of any of the Clash's incendiary anthems against the evils of Thatcher's predatory capitalism.
Unfortunately Bill Carter got sick of the music business and the group broke up in 1989, three short years after
Gun Shy was released. Bill Carter's whereabouts have been the subject of frequent speculation, since there's hardly a trace of his existence after that. I may have answer to that "whatever happened to question."
In 2002 I wrote a short piece on the Screaming Blue Messiahs for the online edition of the UK music publication Mojo. My article prompted an email from the Screaming Blue Messiah's former manager who gave me an update on Bill Carter.
He said Bill was "hiding in plain sight" in London and was the owner and operator of a motorcycle repair shop. He told me Bill Carter's first love has always been fast cars and motor bikes. The former SBM manager told me that Bill was exhausted from having to prepare himself all day ahead of the gig for the sheer emotional and physical onslaught. Bill was sick of coming back from touring and having to sell autographed guitars in order to live. After 1989, Bill Carter burned his bridges and wanted nothing more to do with the music business. Bill is quite content to live anonymously earning a steady income tinkering with motorcycles .