Zos Kia & Thee Angels ov Light (Psychic TV) - Stoke Newington Town Hall - 11th December 1985

This was a great concert, Psychic TV billed as thee Angels ov Light on the 11th of December 1985 at the Stoke Newington Town Hall, two days before my nineteenth birthday. The support bands for the evening being Blyth Power, The Astronauts and Zos Kia.

This night was organised by Temple Records (Psychic TV / Zos Kia) and All The Madmen Records (Blyth Power / The Astronauts) and the evening was a benefit for the Blue House squat .

I do not think the Blue House squat actually got any money, I do not know why, but...

All The Madmen was the record label (and mail order service) that I was helping out at a few days a week towards the end of 1985 (and I was still there helping out a few days a week until February 1988).

Psychic TV were billed as thee Angels ov Light for this night, the first time that this band name was used.

Psychic TV were also billed as thee Angles ov Light, when they performed at Kerouac's AKA the Mankind squat in Hackney in June 1986, the last time this band name was used.

In the mid 1980’s I would visit Genesis at his home several times a month. I would be picking up records, cassette tapes, books and T-shirts for the customers that had ordered such fare from All The Madmen, that I was helping out with, as being unemployed, I had some time, and more importantly some enthusiasm, to do so.

All The Madmen Records / WOT Distribution mail order, was based just around the corner from 50 Beck Road, in Brougham Road, number 96 to be precise. A five minute walk or a couple of minutes run!

I always found Genesis pleasant to deal with, and as a Psychic TV supporter I felt quite privileged to have close dealings with him during this time. Beautiful Paula, toddler Caresse, and baby Genesse were generally all there of course. Several other people would visit and leave.

Every now and again, Genesis would give me a little something special, knowing that I would be interested, and thankfully for me, Genesis appreciated me being interested.

A demo cassette tape of Getting The Fear, with Bee’s original sleeve artwork would be placed into my hands. Several other cassette tapes of Getting The Fear and Psychic TV interviews. A rare PTV T-shirt or two. Various booklets and so forth. Genesis also gave me this white label test pressing of ‘Godstar’ and the odd newly released album, and also a super-rare Psychic TV 7" acetate pressed by CBS.

The concert at the Town Hall in Stoke Newington was the last Psychic TV performance of 1985.

The Psychic TV performances that I attended in 1986 started in March at the Kilburn National Ballroom with Golden Horde, Annie Anxiety and Zodiac Mindwarp in support.

In April, central London’s Virgin Megastore. Psychic TV performing next to the record racks for around thirty minutes in the afternoon to perplexed punters walking around. The Hackney Hell Crew turned up in their unwashed glory to pretty much take the piss, throw some ‘BRIAN JONES DIED FOR YOUR SINS’ stickers around, and to avoid the store detectives so as to thieve some records.

In May at The Marquee in central London supported by Webcore. An International Times benefit. This event also had a couple of artists constructing a cardboard box structure. A brilliant night.

Under the moniker thee Angels ov Light, Psychic TV performed at Kerouacs in Hackney AKA the Mankind squat in June with Jackels, Silverstar Amoeba and My Bloody Valentine. Curtis of Blyth Power, ex of The Mob (another All The Madmen band) was there to see Debbie of My Bloody Valentine, his old Yeovil friend. This performance went on late into the following morning.

July there was a trip to the Basildon Peace Festival with Erasure and lots of other bands and artists who I have forgotten about. I recorded Psychic TV’s performance that afternoon and there is a YouTube post of the audio from that cassette tape up on this channel.

September there was a wonderful evening, an intimate boat trip party/performance down on the river Thames celebrating something that I do not recall. Ten years of punk presumably, the 100 Club punk festival occurred in September 1976.

There was another performance arranged in September at the Hackney Empire supporting a ‘No More Censorship Defence Fund’ money going to the ex Dead Kennedy’s vocalist, Jello Biafra’s court case in the USA. A great gig this one.

There was a performance in October at the Town And Country Club in Kentish Town with Primal Scream, Shockheaded Peters, ex Lemon Kitten Karl Blake’s band, the Shamen (a very early gig for the eventual big hitters in the charts, with ‘Move Any Mountain’ and ‘Ebeneezer Goode’, and the Godfathers in support.

That was that for 1986.

I continued to attend Psychic TV performances throughout the rest of the 1980’s until the last time ever I saw the band in August 1990 at the Reading Festival weekender.

The audio for my YT post was recorded on a Sony Walkman by Johan from the Netherlands. His YT channel is called Vortexear.