Early years
Prior to becoming Stiff Little Fingers, Jake Burns, vocals and guitar, Henry Cluney, guitar, Gordon Blair, bass, and Brian Faloon, drums, were playing in a rock music cover band, Highway Star, in Belfast. Upon the departure of Gordon Blair (who went on to play with another Belfast group, Rudi), Ali McMordie took over on bass. Cluney had by this time discovered punk, and introduced the rest of the band to it. They decided that Highway Star wasn't a punk enough name, and after a brief flirtation with the name "The Fast", decided to call themselves Stiff Little Fingers, after the Vibrators song of the same name.
It was while they were doing a gig at the Glenmachan Hotel that they met up with Gordon Ogilvie, who was a Marxist journalist with the Daily Express newspaper, invited along for the evening by Colin McClelland, another journalist, with whom Jake had been corresponding.
Ogilvie suggested they play material based upon their experience of the Troubles. McClelland arranged to get the band some recording time at a local radio station, and in the studio normally used to record jingles, they recorded "Suspect Device". The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a cover depicting a cassette bomb, apparently causing great hilarity in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for another copy, as they'd thrown the first one in a bucket of water for fear that it was a real bomb.
A copy of the single was sent to John Peel. He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal through Rough Trade. The single was released on the band's own Rigid Digits label and sold over 30,000 copies. Peel would later do the same with the first single by another famous Northern Irish band, The Undertones. There were a number of well-publicised arguments between the two bands; the Undertones accused Stiff Little Fingers of sensationalising the Northern Ireland conflict, while they retorted that The Undertones ignored it.
The lyrics of many Stiff Little Fingers' songs concerning the troubles are extremely critical of the paramilitary organisations and governments involved, showing them to be exploititative of ordinary people (particularly the young) and all as bad as each other. Their second single, "Alternative Ulster", was originally intended to be given away free with the fanzine of the same name.
Inflammable Material
In the second half of 1978, they toured with the Tom Robinson Band, and in 1979, they released their first album, Inflammable Material. The band agreed a contract with Island Records, but it fell through, leaving the band to release the album on their own label. Despite the album's independent release, it reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart and reached Silver status, selling over 50,000 copies. Inflammable Material was the first album distributed Rough Trade records, and the first independent album to chart in the UK. This inspired their move to London, which led to the departure of Brian Faloon and Colin McClelland (who along with Gordon Ogilvie had been joint manager of the band up until that point).
Jim Reilly became their drummer in time for the "Gotta Gettaway" single, and played in the Rock Against Racism tour.
Nobody's Heroes and Go for It
In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed their Rigid Digits label to Chrysalis Records, and in 1980 released their second album, Nobody's Heroes. 1981's Go for It followed. Soon after the Go for It tour, Jim Reilly left the band. His place was taken by Brian 'Dolphin' Taylor, who Jake remembered from Taylor's days with the Tom Robinson Band.
Breakup
Now Then...
In 1982 came a 4 song EP called £1.10 or Less and then their fourth studio album, Now Then... (although their fifth album, as they had released a live LP, Hanx, between Nobody's Heroes and Go for It). By this time they had diversified musically, and Now Then had an almost pop feel about it in places. This led some of their more hardcore fans to feel alienated, and in the face of low sales and concert attendances, they broke up in 1983, when Burns said: "Our last LP Now Then was to my mind the best album we have made. But it is also unfortunately the best I think we will ever make. So I have decided to call it a day." The band later revealed the original split had been somewhat acrimonious, with bandmembers apparently having fistfights rather than talking through their differences.
Reformation
They reformed in 1987; according to Burns, because they were "skint and wanted to make a bit of cash to get back to Ireland for Christmas". They released some live albums and did short tours towards the end of the 1980s, and by 1990 were thinking of reforming permanently.
Flags and Emblems
Ali McMordie decided he could not commit the time to tour full-time or record, and so left, being replaced by Bruce Foxton (previously bass guitarist in The Jam) in time to record 1991's Flags and Emblems. In Britain, the single from this album, "Beirut Moon", was withdrawn from sale on the first day of release, allegedly because it criticised the government for not acting to free hostage John McCarthy, who had been held in the Lebanon.
In 1993 Burns made what he described as one of the hardest decisions of his life and asked Henry Cluney to leave the band, and the trio of Jake Burns, Bruce Foxton and Dolphin Taylor continued for the next four years, joined on live shows by either Dave Sharp or Ian McCallum.
Get a Life
In 1994 they released Get a Life in the UK, releasing it in the U.S. in 1996. By the end of 1996 Taylor left due to family commitments. Burns called in Steve Grantley who had played drums for Jake Burns and the Big Wheel in the late 1980s.
Tinderbox - Guitar and Drum
The trio of Burns, Foxton and Grantley recorded 1997's Tinderbox album, with help from Ian McCallum who joined as a full time member for 1999's and best of all...Hope Street . This same line-up recorded 2003's Guitar and Drum.
Lineup change
On 18 January 2006, the following announcement appeared on the SLF Website. Bruce Foxton has announced that he is to leave Stiff Little Fingers with immediate effect. After 15 years of writing, recording and touring with SLF Bruce says it is time to move on and concentrate on other projects. "The situation is amicable" says Foxton. "I have enjoyed my time with Jake, Ian and Steve and will miss them. Naturally I wish them all continued success and hope to catch up with the boys during their spring tour."
Obviously, we as well wish Bruce every success in everything he goes on to do in the future. He has been a fantastic asset to the band and we'll miss him as well.
Jake, Steve, Ian.
On 23 January 2006, it was announced that original bass guitarist Ali McMordie was to rejoin the band for the duration of their upcoming March tour. The tour was a success, with many fans writing into SLF's message board saying how much they enjoyed it, and how fired up the band seemed to be. After much discussion regarding the status of McMordie within the band after the tour, on 21 April 2006, Burns posted the following on the message board.
"For the time being Mr. McMordie is happy to continue as long as his busy schedule allows. It may be that occasionally we have to bring on a "substitute", if he is up to his eyes and we need to do something, but hopefully we can avoid that.
Cheers,
Jake."
New album
On 9 March 2007, Jake Burns announced that Stiff Little Fingers would be recording a new album which would hopefully be completed by the end of 2007. They have previewed a track from the new album, "Liars Club", at live concerts. The track is named after a bar Jake drove past on his way home whilst listening to a press report about Tony Blair, George W. Bush and the Iraq War. As of February 2009, the new album is still unreleased. This is mainly due to the fact that Burns had more or less completed writing, when he decided on a change of direction, and scrapped most of the songs.
Piccadilly Circus
Stiff Little Fingers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just passing time beneath the lights
Up in town and all alone
Got no business so minds his own
The hotel room is lonely and cold
He might as well go for a stroll
Idly looking in a hi-fi shop
And they didn't even see his face
See him flinch or hear him groan
They didn't even see his eyes
One mean blow and on they ran
He put his fingers to his side
And felt his flesh was open wide
He felt the rent the blow had made
For the hand that fell had held a blade
And they didn't even see his face
See him stumble, hear his cry
They didn't even see his eyes
Just lashed out in passing by
What can it mean?
Who can make some sense of that?
Did it mean a thing to them?
What can make a mind like that?
Those forty stitches helped him over
Who can live life over his shoulder?
He tried to put it in his past
And flew safe home back to Belfast
And they didn't even see his face
See him stagger, watch him fall
They didn't even see his eyes
They never knew him at all
Never knew him
Tried to kill him
Never knew him
Tried to kill him
The lyrics to Stiff Little Fingers's song "Piccadilly Circus" describe a man walking alone at night in Piccadilly Circus, a popular tourist destination in London. The singer is passing time beneath the lights and has no business to attend to. He is staying in a lonely and cold hotel room and decides to go for a stroll when he is attacked by a group of strangers who hit him with a blade. The attackers didn't even see his face or hear him groan when he is hit, and they quickly run away.
The singer puts his fingers on his side and discovers that the blow had made a deep cut. He needed forty stitches to help him recover from the attack. The lyrics pose a series of rhetorical questions about the meaning of such senseless acts of violence and whether the attackers felt anything when they assaulted the singer. The song ends on a note of defiance, with the singer returning home to Belfast, suggesting that he will not let the attack define his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Piccadilly Circus in the dead of night
The singer sets the scene of the song, a lonely and desolate place.
Just passing time beneath the lights
He is aimlessly wandering around, with nothing to do.
Up in town and all alone
He is in the city, completely by himself.
Got no business so minds his own
He is not looking for any trouble, and is keeping to himself.
The hotel room is lonely and cold
His hotel is not providing him any comfort or companionship.
He might as well go for a stroll
He decides to take a walk to pass the time.
Idly looking in a hi-fi shop
He casually glances into a music store.
Footsteps, a chuckle, and one hard slap
Suddenly, someone violently attacks him from behind.
And they didn't even see his face
The attackers are not interested in who he is, and do not bother to look at him.
See him flinch or hear him groan
They attack him so quickly and without mercy that he doesn't have time to react.
They didn't even see his eyes
They do not try to make any kind of human connection with him.
One mean blow and on they ran
They hit him hard and then run away without a second thought.
He put his fingers to his side
The singer assesses his wound while still dazed from the attack.
And felt his flesh was open wide
He is horrified to realize the extent of his injury.
He felt the rent the blow had made
He is still in shock from the sudden attack.
For the hand that fell had held a blade
He realizes that he was stabbed by his attacker.
What can it mean?
The artist is confused and doesn't understand why he was attacked.
Who can make some sense of that?
He wonders if anyone can shed some light on the situation.
Did it mean a thing to them?
He questions whether his attackers had any motive or reason.
What can make a mind like that?
The artist is baffled by the mentality of someone who could commit such a violent act.
Those forty stitches helped him over
The artist receives medical attention, but is still left with a physical and emotional scar.
Who can live life over his shoulder?
He questions how he can stay vigilant to prevent such an attack from happening again.
He tried to put it in his past
The singer tries to forget about the traumatic event and move on with his life.
And flew safe home back to Belfast
He is glad to leave London and return home to Northern Ireland.
They never knew him at all
The attackers did not know the singer, and did not care about him as a person.
Never knew him
The singer was attacked for no reason.
Tried to kill him
The attackers were prepared to take the singer's life.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: GORDON ARCHER OGILVIE, JAKE BURNS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind