SHELLSHOCK ROCK -      An alternative blast from Belfast.

Shellshock Rock – the definitive documentary film on the N. Irish punk scene made by John T Davis.

With a musical renaissance going on in his own back yard, John Davis felt he had to capture it on film. John recalls, “Belfast in the late 70’s was a very different place from the one in which I had enjoyed live music in my youth. Now Belfast at night was a ghost town. No-one was going into town, there was no place for the kids to go.  But they were making music, they were coming together to identify with things, and what better place to identify with punk than Belfast. And importantly they were coming together from different sides of the community. This was a real chink of light in what was Northern Ireland’s darkest hour, and I just felt I had to record it on film. I’d started attempting to make films as far back as 1974. I had been left an 8mm camera by my uncle Jack, who I made an a documentary about years later. I loved music and I loved pictures, so that combination of picture and sound really appealed to me. Alywn James, a partner of mine, then brought me along to a Stiff Little Fingers concert one night. I was literally blown away by their music and their lyrics. Their classic song ‘Alternative Ulster’ should be on the radio every day driving home the message. I was also a long time friend of Terri Hooley, so that eased my path into his record store where I researched the film, albeit at the back end of three bottles of red wine!”

The film was shot at various venues and locations in 1978 and early 1979 on a tiny budget of only seven and a half thousand pounds, which inevitably called for a very creative approach.  People were inspired by the idea of the film and gave their time and expertise for free.  And as John recalls; “Necessity is the mother of invention.  I remember during the shot of Stiff Little Fingers, Derek Booker our soundman had a soldering iron out about 30 seconds before the band were due on, trying to fix a plug. Even the rolling credits at the end of the film have a story. I couldn’t afford rolling credits at that time, but I really wanted them. So I had all the credits printed out onto a long strip, white on black cardboard. I then used part of a childhood train set, straight track and coaches. I placed the camera on a tripod above the tracks and put the credits on the coaches. I then pulled the credits along at the right speed and that’s how I managed to have my rolling credits at the end of the film!”

Despite the limited resources, John did an expert job in capturing the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm of the times. The film contains some wonderful live footage of local bands performing some of their most popular numbers at venues across the country, including Rudi’s Big Time filmed at the Glenmachan Stables on January 26th 1979, and Stiff Little Fingers Alternative Ulster at the National University of Ulster on October 25th 1978.  Henry Cluney says of the film “ShellShock Rock was a great document of that period. I loved the fact that it covered basically everyone, even the bands that never really existed. It still stands as a real feel of that time, I miss it.”

Protex’s Strange Obsessions was recorded at the Glenmachan Stables 26/1/79,  The Outcasts’ You’re A Disease at Wizard Studios  on 21/11/78, The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks at Chesters, Portrush, on 4/11/78 and Here Comes The Summer at The Pound, Belfast, Victim’s Trademark World at the Harp Bar on 23/11/78, Rhesus Negative Lies In Vain also at the Harp Bar on 23/11/78 and The Parasites’ Society in a Youth Club in Andersonstown, Belfast on 22/11/78.

The Idiots performed the film’s title song Shellshock Rock. John had hoped to release a soundtrack album for the film in conjunction with the Good Vibrations label but a lack of capital scuppered plans for the album and it had to be shelved. The film was also scheduled to have a premiere showing at the Cork Film Festival in mid 1979, but for some reason the festival jury decided to ban the film. John recounts events “Yeah, I received a call from the Festival organisers on the day we were to travel down. They told me that the film was being withdrawn from the official selection because it ‘was not technically up to standards’. I was amazed. I telephoned Terri Hooley. We were all ready to set off to Cork with a big caravan etc. The Outcasts and Rudi were also going down. We just decided, fuck it, we’re going anyway”. The assorted members of the bands, together with John and Terri eventually arrived in Cork all at different times. They regrouped to form a battle plan. John says “I can vividly recall all of us standing on a street corner. Terri was drinking a tin of Coke and he was innocently holding it out in front of him. At the same time two American tourists were walking up the street and one proceeded to put money in the tin.” Terri Hooley remembers “I was really hung over that day; I’d got up, shaved and ironed my shirt and all, trying to look my best. I turned around to John and said I think we’d better brush up our image John after the American put money in the Coke tin.”  John adds “We eventually organised a press conference to complain about the jury’s decision and to give our side of the story. I even approached the festival jury and asked them to justify their decision. They couldn’t.”  A gig with The Outcasts and Rudi followed later that night at Cork University.   Elvera Butler, Entertainments Officer at U.C.C at the time, recalls - “The Cork University gigs were actually held in an old ballroom, the Arcadia, under the moniker Downtown Kampus.  After my first year of running student entertainment on campus, I seized the opportunity to move the bigger gigs to the downtown location in late ‘77, to avoid the restrictions on entertainment imposed by the college authorities, and so was able to keep the venue open out of term time.   It also meant that the gigs weren’t confined to the student population, but were fully accessible to the general public, so there was a good mix of people among the regulars. The building itself was something of a mausoleum, but had all the basic facilities and a capacity of almost 2000, and with a purpose-built stage, albeit made out of packing cases from the local Ford assembly depot, painted black, when the houselights were dimmed, and the show began, the transformation was magic, and by ’79 we were a firmly established part of the circuit of all major Irish tours.   

30 June 79 …The world premiere of Shell Shock Rock!…The idea of showing the film and staging the bands was so irresistible that whatever complications arose it just had to happen.   I remember it as being all so last minute – the film was meant to have been shown as part of the Cork Film Festival but got pulled at the eleventh hour, when for some strange reason the festival decided to ban it. I had met Terri Hooley some time earlier when we were both guests on Dave Fanning’s Rock Show on RTE, talking about rock music in the north and south of the country respectively, and he got in touch with me to see if I could do anything to help. With the prospect of being part of a unique event, and great night’s entertainment, how could I not!   So in my usual fashion when presented with something interesting, I quickly said ‘yes’ and then sought to sort out the logistics. Somehow 16mm projection equipment and a screen were acquired and set up, with the bands’ equipment ready to go behind the screen.   The fact that it was all arranged so late meant that publicity was difficult; bands had already been booked and advertised, but we just managed to get an ad in the local  evening paper, and  enlisted the help of the pirate radio stations to get the word out and let people know what was happening. We could depend on eight hundred or so regulars even out of term time in any case, so having an audience wasn’t going to be a problem, but it was good to let people know that the advertised bill had changed, and create the appropriate sense of occasion. Cado Belle, who were over from the UK on an Irish tour, had already been booked to play, and at this late stage, try as I might, I could find no other way of rearranging their gig. And so the show had to go on.  The local support band were only too happy to put their slot off for a couple of weeks so that they could be part of the crowd that night, and catch the film and bands, but it must have been a pretty strange night for the very mellow Cado Belles, who, maintaining their top bill slot as per contract, chose to appear last, and had to go on stage and play after the film and blistering sets from The Outcasts and Rudi. There was a real sense of occasion about the evening – the local network had managed to let the regulars know about the additions to the bill, and they all arrived with a great sense of expectation, all spiky hair and attitude. Cork was to get its own watershed night a year or so later when some of those Kampus regulars who had formed bands were given their own night which was recorded for posterity, giving birth to the Reekus label - among them Micro Disney and Nun Attax/Five Go Down to the Sea - but on Saturday June 30th 1979, the night firmly belonged to Belfast!”

The up shot of all this publicity was that everyone wanted to see the film, and the jury had to publicly withdraw their original decision and the film was shown.  John T Davis - “On the back of the ‘ban’, everyone wanted to see the film, so it really worked to my advantage in the long run.”  Teri Hooley remembers, “I went over to this journalist and asked him did he know who that was over there. I told him that it was John T Davis, director of Shellshock Rock, a fantastic film about punk rock in Belfast, which has just been banned. I told him, if you were doing your job properly you’d be over there interviewing him. Then I went to another journalist and asked him why he was letting this other journalist get an exclusive interview with John T Davis. Next thing there’s about twenty journalists around John.”  All the controversy only added to the public interest in the film, which was bought by a Swedish TV company and taken on by American distributors. The film was screened to wide acclaim in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Chicago and Berlin. In November 1979 it won a silver award at the International Film and Television Festival of New York, and this provided John with an entry into a world that had been a major influence on his work.   As John says, “Shell Shock Rock was hot because it portrayed a completely different side of Northern Ireland than the usual one presented by the media.  It allowed me to become really involved in the underground film scene in New York, and opened doors to major influences in my life such as D.A. Pennebaker and Alan Ginsberg.”

John remained in New York for a year on and off, promoting the film.  Among the friends he made there were The Stimulators who later travelled to Belfast to play at a ‘Battle of the Bands’ concert arranged by Terri Hooley.  While he was there Protex were making their American debut at the Hurrah Club and John decided that it would be a good idea to capture the moment on film. John recalls “It just seemed appropriate. Here was this little Belfast band, captured in their embryo state in Shellshock now making their American debut and all this on St Patrick’s Day too!”  Owen of Protex remembers “We arrived in NYC to do some gigs around St. Patrick's Day. We played in a couple of the clubs - Hurrah, Max's Kansas City and Irving Plaza. John had been spending some time in the city and filmed us watching the Paddy's Day parade and then over two shows at Hurrah.”

‘Self Conscious Over You’, The Outcasts movie, was John’s third piece in his trilogy of Ulster punk films. It came about because John was a fan of The Outcasts’ music and partly because of the nature of the concert at the time. It was basically organised to raise much needed money for the Good Vibrations record label. All the films capture the atmosphere of the times.  Indeed John later made the band’s promo video for the track Winter in the early eighties. John says “it was great to be able to show off the music in the States; it was important to be able to spread the message that we’d rather be punk rockers than terrorists.  The film has been a great vehicle for spreading the message all over the world, and I’m proud of that.”

Several television stations around Europe (including a showing on Channel 4 in the UK) have screened Shellshock Rock. The film has reached cult status and become a must of ‘cultural studies’ in many universities.

In 2012 the film was screened as part of the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival and in the same year John sees a book published about his Film “The Uncle Jack” .On the 7th of March, which also happens to be my 65th birthday, at the Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, there will be a screening of ‘The Uncle Jack’, hosted by Dr. Mike Catto and Dr. Des O‘Rawe, followed by the Belfast launch of the book with the DVD ‘The Uncle Jack‘, all this accompanied with wine and music, and the good will presented by the creators of my book – Prof. Lance Pettitt, from St. Mary’s University College, London, and Dr. Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos, from São Paulo, Brazil. I ‘The Uncle Jack’

John is also an accomplished singer songwriter and regularly performs live with The Sky Ranch Boys, a band he formed with Ojibwa Canadian double bass player Shane Sunday. They are a unique band whose country & western lyrics and sound have attracted a growing audience on the Belfast circuit.

SHELLSHOCK ROCK…DO YOU REALLY CARE? by Brian Young (RUDI)

Sadly most films that were actually shot back in the halcyon days of punk veered from the laughably pretentious artfag slop like Jubilee to the shameless showboating and self mythologizing that characterised such celluloid dreck as the Great Rock N Roll Swindle and Rude Boy. Apart from Don Letts thrilling Punk Rock Movie most every other documentary styled work fell neatly into the category of tediously predictable ‘Shock! Horror!’ exposes or quickie idiotic fast buck cash ins like Suburbia.
But for my money the best punk film ever made – and one of the very few that not only still stands up today, but actually improves with the passing years, is ‘Shellshock Rock’, John T Davis’ affectionate snapshot of Northern Ireland’s burgeoning punk scene in 78/79.

I first became aware of John late in ’77 when, working part time as a freelance photographer, he’d been sent out with some gormless local hack to take pics of Belfast’s earliest punk combos for a piece in the Belfast Telegraph. Rudi were the first Belfast punk band and back then by far the most popular. We practiced in a hall just off the Albertbridge Road and while the journalist who ‘interviewed’ us (I use that term loosely as he ignored everything we said…) simply wanted to leave as soon as possible, the photographer, who looked looked like Keef Richard’s skinny half brother chatted away to us, impressing us with his knowledge of the 60s garage punk covers we were practicing. This cowboy booted individual turned out to be none other than John T Davis in the flesh -  and though we’d pegged him as some hippy throwback at first,  we soon figgered that anyone who recognised the godlike genius of ’96 Tears’ was OK by us! 

Several months later and Ulster punk was making it’s presence felt on the bigger stage as hot local combos unleashed a string of killer 45s. Though oft derided by the Belfast punk cognoscenti as ex heavy metal bandwagon jumpers, Stiff Little Fingers were first outta the traps with ‘Suspect Device’ with Rudi’s ‘Big Time’, the first release on Belfast’s Good Vibrations label and the Outcasts ‘Frustration’ EP on Portadown’s IT records snapping hard on their heels. Good Vibes kept up the pace with Victim’s ‘Strange Thing By Night’ and the Outcasts ‘Teenage Rebel’, finally hitting paydirt with the Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’….
 
Though more used to churning out industrial information films and evangelical shorts John realized this was too good an opportunity to miss and after snagging a tiny grant from the local Arts Council he set out to capture what was happening round him on celluloid. He was in the right place at the right time and filming started in late summer 1978 finishing at the end of January 1979.

Sure, folks were suspicious at first but when it became patently obvious that John wasn’t gonna make some lame pisstaking shockumentary or heavy handed political diatribe he was quickly accepted. Unlike most everyone else the wrong side of 30 he treated us nasty punk rockers with courtesy and respect and besides we all wanted to get our ugly mugs on film! It mighta helped too that it was strongly rumoured that John was the first ever registered drug addict in N Ireland!

Though short on budget, Shellshock Rock is long on imagination and the aerial shots alone are breath taking. Texturally it’s mighta impressive too and John helms each scene skilfully, keeping it tight and focussed and avoiding the tiresome bomb and bullet chic beloved of so many lesser film makers. Sure, there are shots of soldiers and armoured cars but John was careful not to take sides, simply documenting everyday life here impartially and honestly.

Shellshock Rock not only looks good but sounds it too and musically it punches way above it’s weight. Stars to be, SLF and The Undertones are captured live and raw, before the record company marketing men got their hands on ‘em, and both never looked better. Local heavy hitters RUDI are immortalised travelling by bus to practice in an Orange Hall and live at the notorious Glenmachan and their regular sparring partners The Outcasts are seen recording in Belfast’s Wizard Studios -  where many a great band and song were ruined by Davy Wizard/Smyth’s pathetic production technique.

A pre Polydor Protex are still feisty and refreshing at the Glenmachan and Rhesus Negative and Victim are filmed down and dirty at the legendary Harp Bar. Barely into their teens the Parasites tear it up at a local youth club and local cults The Idiots stopped fighting amongst themselves long enough to shamelessly rework Dion’s ‘Teenager In Love’ as the title track ‘Shellshock Rock ( Do you really care?)’
 Sure the bands were rough and ready but they more than made up for what they lacked in technique and err professionalism with spunk, pizzazz and reckless teenage
abandon – a sharp contrast to the studied, cynical posturing of so called punk bands elsewhere. This was our 5 minutes of fame and boy were we gonna make the most of it!  (Sadly a planned soundtrack album on Good Vibrations fell through).

But where Shellshock Rock scored highest was recognizing that there was so much more to Ulster punk than simply some great music and it’s the scenes where enthusiastic local punters reflect on what punk means to them and how it impacted and changed their lives that carry the most weight. While punk mighta proved to be little more than a sharp marketing ploy elsewhere, here it drew people together, cutting across divisions of class and religion, creating a very real sense of local pride and inspiring folks to think for themselves and go out and do their own thing – and unlike any other punk film I can think of ‘Shellshock Rock’ carries a refreshingly positive message.
 
Better still, it’s damn funny too and I defy even the most po faced critic not to crack a smile at the scenes where some local punks wander through Belfast city centre at Xmas much to the amusement of visiting shoppers and encountering such diverse delights as a Salvation Army brass band and Mickey Marley’s Roundabout.

Shellshock Rock was set to debut at the Cork Film Festival in 1979 – but bewilderingly it was banned at the last minute! Thankfully this attracted more attention than if it had been shown and over 1000 locals packed into UCC Kampus later that evening to watch the film, accompanied by sets from Rudi and the Outcasts.

Rudi played with the film too at its Belfast debut in a sardine packed Harp Bar shortly after where it played to riotous acclaim. We shared a stage with the film many many times in the months that followed at clubs and pubs throughout Ireland as John eschewed traditional distribution methods, preferring instead to turn up guerrilla style armed with a screen, a projector and his film. Those were the days!

Sadly, Shellshock Rock never received the wider exposure it so richly deserved, although in recent years it has garnered plaudits when it has turned up amongst several cinematic punk retrospectives. Tragically, the possibility of any such future shows looks bleak as John’s house and film archive were destroyed by fire some years back.
 
Though never officially released on video or DVD, bootleg copies have turned up over the years - though avoid copies taken from the one Channel 4 TV showing of the film as the Undertones had insisted their appearance was removed and it was replaced by footage of the somewhat less impressive X Posers.

But, watch this film and see what you missed. Brian Young  - 18th August 2004

In July 2020, Cherry Red Records issued a 3CD / DVD hardback book set, exploring punk and the post-punk landscape in Northern Ireland. This release featured 74 tracks plus a DVD of the seminal John T. Davis Shellshock Rock film. Sean at Spit Records supplied many of the band biographies and he also assisted on the track listing.