Cult Edinburgh punk band The Prats will be releasing a vinyl compilation of reissued material from 1977-1981. It will be out via One Little Independent Records on November 13th. The album features three singles released by Rough Trade and Da Da Records plus demos and a previously unreleased 1979 John Peel session, and is the first time the band have been released on 12”.
Check the new video for the track “Disco Pope“.
They’re currently the subjects of the documentary ‘Poxy Pop Groups – The Story of The Prats’ by independent filmmaker Angus McPake which is due out later in the year and documents their largely untold but fascinating career.
Tragically in July of this year bassist Jeff Maguire passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer and the band have chosen to dedicate ‘Prats Way Up High’ to his memory. In a statement they say “Jeff was always involved in the band – we used words like roadie and manager initially to describe his role although the reality is that we had very little idea what either of those meant! Jeff was great at engaging with people – a talent he displayed throughout his life and he had no problem collaring the great and the good of the local music scene, getting us gigs, support slots, interviews in fanzines etc. He eventually joined the band on bass and played on all three singles.
After the Prats, Jeff played in local bands, went to university, studied and taught languages, here and in Spain and then worked as a civil servant for the Scottish Government where he was a highly regarded colleague, known for his ability to relate to and get on with pretty much everyone. He had a wide range of passions including punk, post-punk and classical music; football (he was an avid Hibernian fan); cycling, wine and lots more. He was also a husband and a father, married to Celine and the proud dad of Serena.
Somebody came up with a title for a short piece which Jeff did on his experience in the band for a tape magazine in 1980. It was simply ‘The Joy of Being Jeff’. The expression was used several times at his funeral to sum up a life which was lived well and to the full but which ended way too early.”