The Resurrection of The Crazed, by Paul Wainwright

Join the author as he journeys back to those mutant rockin’, venue wreckin’, snakebite sodden days of the Psychobilly/neo-Rockabilly scene of the 80’s. His fanzine ‘The Crazed’ was right there, reporting on the scene as it grew and writing about bands such as The Meteors, GuanaBatz, Demented Are Go, King Kurt, Long Tall Texans and Restless.

Travel back through those articles and interviews and revisit the experience. Enjoy noisy nights at The Klub Foot, mecca of all things Psychobilly, where many of these interviews were conducted after sweaty gigs. Read the bands own words, full of enthusiasm, excitement and optimism about what the future might hold, and discover what it was like to produce and edit a fanzine back then.

The scene meant so much to so many and ‘The Crazed’ was there to document it.

This book recaptures how it felt at the time.

After lying dormant for over 30 years ‘The Crazed’ has now been resurrected.

The Crazed book was officially published on 7th December 2023 and is available now, shipping immediately.

Foreword by Craig ‘Bracko’ Brackenridge of Vintage Rock magazine.

Klub Foot cover art by Paskal Millet.

About the author:

In Paul’s teenage years during the 1980’s he was totally captured by the Psychobilly, Garage and Rockabilly scene. He couldn’t play an instrument and really didn’t have the patience to learn but really wanted to get recognised within the scene. He had an inquisitive mind and decided to attempt to produce a fanzine which would give him the opportunity to meet and question many of the bands whose records he was so religiously buying.

The first interview he conducted was with arguably the biggest Psychobilly band in England - The Meteors. This set-in motion a series of interviews with other bands and musicians within the scene, many of whom had not been given any exposure from the English music press.

Many a Saturday afternoon saw him spending his hard-earned cash to jump on the train and travel up to the legendary Psychobilly venue in Hammersmith, The Klub Foot, a few interviews were actually conducted there.

His fanzine was called ‘The Crazed’ and lasted for just four issues, but featured interviews with quite a few of the leading 80’s Psychobilly/Rockabilly bands, such as The Meteors, GuanaBatz, Demented Are Go, Restless and more.

For a while within the 1980’s the scene shone, but like most things, eventually faded along with his enthusiasm for producing the fanzine.
‘The Crazed’ became a yellowing photocopied memory put away in a drawer and forgotten about for years.

It wasn’t until many years later that ‘The Crazed’ emerged again in Craig Brackenridge’s book about Psychobilly, ‘Hell Bent on Rockin’. Parts of Paul’s interview with the GuanaBatz was also featured within the CD booklet for Cherry Red Records re-release of their second album, ‘Loan Sharks’. Paul was then interviewed about ‘The Crazed’ by the ‘Ole School Psychobilly’ website and this led to the genesis of the idea for the book.

The creation of ‘The Crazed’ book has been quite a journey, with new friendships made, and a few lost.
Old friendships were resurrected, with an understanding of why some of those were never maintained.

Paul travelled back to those heady times in the 80’s where music and fashion ruled his life and re-captured his enthusiasm for the Psychobilly / Rockabilly scene.

Paul lives in Kent with his family and still maintains a strong interest in many different genres of music.

From Earth Island Books