sit back and we'll tell you a story, of how four young men made music that didn't change a damn thing, but they had some fun doing it....... in 1978, a guitarist called pete put an ad in the melody maker (gone & forgotten) and it was answered by a drummer called tino. they wanted to get their energies channelled into some decent music, inspired by what was coming out of london and the other big cities around the uk. they soon found a bass player called bob, then a punk sneer called dave as a singer.they gave themselves the name the negatives they started to rehearse and write songs and pretty soon they had enough to go out and play, but no-one knew what punk was and whether they would want it played; so in the summer of 1978, thier first gig took place at a festival run by the council. what a treat for all there to listen to songs about prostitutes, killers and death....... hhhmmm - they weren't invited back......... over the next few months they played everywhere and anywhere around the west yorkshire area, a favourite of ANL and RAR because of the crowds they drew. they recorded a trio of songs, two of which were released on the look label - love is not real b/w stakeout. the other song would not appear for years........ the single was released in time for christmas following the first of their legendary xmas gigs - a tradition which is being carried on today - and sold about 400 copies on the first day. it was sent to the usual places, including sir john peel, who played it a few times (see later) and did ok but, as it was financed by tino's boss who wanted to keep all the money, it never made it out to proper distribution channels and stopped in its tracks. due to personal differences, dave left in 1980 and the others carried on as a trio under the name mysterious footsteps, taking in reggae influences which had rubbed off on them when they supported bands like aswad. another single was release following a recording session at the great cargo studios in rochdale (used by the buzzcocks, joy division etc), with john brierley at the controls. six tracks were recorded and again only two made the light of day, the rest sitting in the dark for the next 20 years. in 1981, tino got fed up and left, leaving pete and bob to carry on for a while with another drummer, but in 1982 they gave up as well. everything went quiet. then in 2000, tino got a letter out of the blue from detour records in sussex. they had got hold of a copy of the first single and wanted to release it on their punk label binliner, along with other tracks from less well-known punk bands of the same era. contact was made with pete and bob, and the ok was given for dizzy to have the tracks plus the previously unreleased "we're from bradford", the band's grumpy riposte to the fashionable centres of music in the late 70s. it only existed on a c90 cassette - remember those kids?- and was a bit ropey, but dizzy got it cleaned up and in 2001, BORED TEENAGERS VOL 2 was released with all 3 tracks available for the first time legally; it turned out that the single had been bootlegged extensively in the intervening years - we coulda been contenders instead of bums....... so tino decided it would be fun to play again, but the others were scattered around the country and didn't have the same thoughts - a new set of players were found in the shape of local punks ripoff uk, and over the next 2 or 3 years they ripped up and down the uk, releasing an album (brain damage with mick on vocals) an ep (party music from the nursing home with kev on vocals) and another ep (wool city rockers with mark on vocals) - this last one recorded in london at superlava studios with mike minitello in 2004 before a long tour lasting over 40 dates during the first part of the year. this took its toll and created some friction with some members, and after playing at wasted in morecambe, it was all over again but there were a few gigs up to the end of the year. highlights of this 3 year period were gigs in london with the uk subs on the day joe strummer died, a fantastic detour night at the garage in london with knife edge, uxb and the zips, an appearance at the last holidays in the sun festival, supports to goldblade and abrasive wheels, and the mental geordie heavy crew that came to see us in newcastle every month for 6 months. john peel also started playing the songs again, and love is not real ended up in his top 100 singles box, found when he sadly died. out of 40000 singles in his collection, we've got to be proud to be in that top 100. so into 2005, tino, rik and tony are now doing the business. one guitar, one bass, one drum kit, 3 voices. no messing, just good time punk rock'n'roll, with catchy hooks, fast and loud like it should be. if you've got to go, go playing, not sitting watching corrie.