We didn't have a name until we performed our first gig.  We managed to get on the bill of The Calton Hill jam & we still didn't have a name.  We were sitting in a pub & were reading a newspaper when we saw the headline "Inner Chambers of Tutankhamen discovered".  We managed to name ourselves "The Inner Chambers" from that article, though they billed us on the posters as The Chambers. 

     That first gig saw the live debut of almost all of our core line up.  Andy played lead guitar & Calum rhythm guitar, whereas I sang once more (just like The Pterodaktyls),  No Head Jackson & the Sharecroppers from Hell had split up at this point so we were joined on bass guitar by Iain Livingstone.  Iain also used to be a member of the splendidly named Memphis Louie & The Rocking Firebirds of Death & The Subterraneans.  Memphis Louie did some way cool versions of songs such as "Out of the question" by The Seeds, "You're gonna miss me" by The 13th Floor Elevators & "Strychnine" by The Sonics to name but a few!  We still didn't have a full time drummer so a friend of ours Glen Mohammed sat behind the kit for that gig.

          The most memorable thing about that gig was our epic version of Gloria which went on for what seemed like an eternity.  Supposedly you could hear our version of it from Princes Street!  We also got our picture taken by a group of bemused Japanese tourists, so I guess somewhere in Okinawa somebody must have some pretty cool pictures of a crazy Scottish band.  Apart from that I really cannot recall much more of the set, though early cover versions we did included "Can't seem to make you mine" by The Seeds & "Rollercoaster" by The 13th Floor Elevators.  Whether or not we performed them that day I have no recollection.  Other early cover versions were "Roadrunner" & "My Babe".  Early original songs that we never got around to playing live included "Sad little eyes" & "She doesn't love me anymore" which were both Folk Punk numbers & "She can't lose" & "Out of my head (over you)" which were more R&B & Psychedelic respectively.

     What the gig did highlight to us was that the West Coast USA sound was not for us. Generally speaking the first gig was pretty awful & because of that we asked Glen to step down on drums & we changed our name to Johnny & The Deadbeats & adopted the more bluesy/garage punk style we were best known for.

We started rehearsing by sharing the practice room with The Pterodaktyls at Blair Street, now the notorious sauna & later we used to practice in the reputedly haunted Niddrie Street Vaults though we never saw anything.  I am surprised we didn't become ghosts ourselves as the water dripping off the ceilings of the dingy dungeon-like place often dripped onto the lead cables of our microphones/guitars etc.

     We managed to find another drummer called Ian Fraser who was once in a band called The Dancing Bears.  Ian was a professional drummer so was a huge step forward from the previous incumbent in that seat.  We did mainly our own songs plus cover versions of songs such as "Orphan Boy" by Half Pint & the Fifths, "Out of the Question" by The Seeds, "Sittin' there standin" by The Chocolate Watchband, "Don't bring me down" by Johnny Dee via The Pretty Things, "Little Girl" by The La De Da's & "Too Much Monkey Business" by Chuck Berry to name but a few.  Our best original songs were the Bo Diddly-fied "Deadbeat" &  the storming beat punk of "A River of Tears". Other original songs included "My Baby's an angel" (a song I brought with me from The Pterodaktyls), "Who's laughing now?", "(You've got) A Dirty Mind", "Stoneage Love", with its inverted Batman riff & the feedback drenched instrumental "Lookin' Good", for which Andy quite blatantly ripped off an old Elmore James number to great effect.

     Ian didn't last long on drums as he had other commitments, though we did a couple of killer gigs with him, including one splendid performance at The Cavern so once more we found ourselves without a drummer.  Iain remembered an old friend of his from the Isle of Lewis called Donald "Kiwi" MacIver.  Kiwi used to play drums in a punk group so he brought an even harder edge to the music.

     Kiwi made his live debut with the band on December 20th 1988 at a gig we did at the Venue.  I am not sure if we were playing with someone else that night or on our own.  What I do know is that we managed to record the gig through the PA system of the venue & it was an OK gig, not our best, but then Kiwi hadn't been with the band long at that time so we still had to gel as a unit.  We introduced a couple of new songs to the set at this time in the shape of the old R&B standard "Leave my kitten alone" & "Bad Boy" which would be one of our better cover versions.  As an encore that night we did a version of "Gloria" which featured Calum on Lead Vocals & his girlfriend of the time Clare on rhythm guitar & backing vocals.  I sang backing vocals on that song as well.  I don't know why, but I never wanted to sing this song live (even with The Pterodaktyls who had wanted to cover it but didn't).  Everyone & their dog knew this song, I really wanted to do more obscure cover versions.  It was quite a cool & interesting version.  I had completely forgotten about that gig until I was trying to find old band recordings & stumbled across it.

     We actually had three songs included on a tape called Xmas SNAFU syndrome.  This was a live recording of a gig we did at Moray House Students Union.  I thought I would get a copy for nothing, but I didn't.  I had to pay £1 for mine!

     We recorded a live demo in our practice rooms.  We just set up the instruments & played.  I think this best captured our live sound.  We included the songs "My Baby's An Angel" (from The Pterodaktyls), "Deadbeat", "A River of Tears" & "Too Much Monkey Business" amongst others.

     We played the Edinburgh District Council's "Spring Fling" festival in 1989.  Also on the bill at that gig were The Austin Envy Band & the God-awful Python Lee Jackson.  We must have been better, or at least not as bad as the other bands as we actually got asked to perform more songs than the five we were originally asked to perform.

     Our best gig was at The Bikini Club which was held at The Kasbar in the Cowgate area of the city.  Usually Beatles inspired band The Spooks played there, it was their club, but one of their members was going on holiday so they asked us to fill in.  Calum had other commitments that night & couldn't make the gig so we played as a four piece.  We were like the Rolling Stones to their Beatles.  I remember one of the notable things about that gig was this old dude dancing around to our music in his full cowboy outfit & flashing his fake pistols.

     Our last gig was also as a four piece.  This was at The Edinburgh Fringe Cabaret Club at Teviot Row.  We didn't get to do a sound check & had a limited time to set up our instruments.  On top of that the stage was the size of a postage stamp.  Subsequently it was not a terribly good gig.

     After that we managed to get a gig in Livingston, west of Edinburgh.  Andy & Me went to check the place out.  It was called The Lizzie Brice & was a fairly large concrete structure.  We talked to them & they seemed quite happy for us to perform there, however a few days later Andy called me & said that he & Kiwi were leaving the band.  I think we were maybe not bluesy enough for Andy & were too bluesy for Kiwi.

     In the beginning we had started off doing Garage & R&B covers & by the end we were doing Elvis covers (Baby, let's play house) & Eddie Cochrane songs such as "My way".  I think our own material sat quite comfortably in all of those genres, from Garage, R&B, Rock and Roll & punk,

     I would later try to form a band with Iain & Dave Nelson (from the 16 Dillons) who played bass guitar & guitar/organ respectively, but after months of practising & not being able to find a drummer we eventually called it a day at the end of 1994.  Our music by this stage had taken a turn for the Garage/Psych again with songs such as "Jenny Artichoke" by The Kaleidoscope (UK) & original numbers such as the Kinsky "Garbage Bag Girl" & the downright weird "Trees & the insects".  My favourite though was undoubtedly "The Flesh was weak (the spirit was strong)" a storming Garage Psych number with the weirdest of endings.  The bass descended an octave while the rhythm guitar rose an octave & the organ played the same two notes.  To show our versatility we even did a cover version of "Do they owe us a living?" by Anarcho Punks Crass!

     So the story of Johnny & the Deadbeats finally comes to an end.  We outlasted The 16 Dillons & just about outlasted The Heretics (previously The Pterodaktyls).  I think The Spooks were the last of the "independent" bands left standing (for a little while).  I think our decline really showed up more of a world wide phenomenon.  Grunge was the new Garage & many that had been stalwarts of the scene started drifting off to listen to Nirvana etc.  Still, for a few brief years Edinburgh really did rock!

     Just today (August 18th 2004) I heard from Iain Livingstone again.  I can't believe it's been 10 years since we were last in touch.  He's got back together with his fellow Memphis Louie cohort Roddy Huggin & they have been recording some new material...cool!

Johnny & The Deadbeats

Johnny Watson (Lead Vocals; Percussion)

Andy Akhtar (Lead Guitar; Vocals)

Calum McDonald (Rhthym Guitar; vocals)

Iain Livingstone (Bass Guitar; vocals)