Conned Again (original) (raw)

The movie "Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains" is a strange beast. Although having a cult following in America, it was never released or even transmitted on television in the UK.

The film which featured Steve and Paul as members of the fictional band The Looters, was filmed in Vancouver in 1980. Paul Simonon on bass and Ray Winston on vocals completed The Looters line-up.

Steve and Paul contributed four songs to the soundtrack; "The Professionals" ( later known as "Join The Professionals"), "Conned Again", "Don't Blow It All The Way" and "La La La". Although the latter two songs can only be heard briefly in the movie via a portable cassette player, "Conned Again" is performed by The Looters at a pivotal point in the movie.

Despite the claims made during the film's closing titles, a soundtrack album was never released. However, in the case of "Conned Again" all is not quite lost. In 1992 the American punk band Sloppy Seconds covered the track on their EP "Lonely Christmas". The group faithfully recreated the authentic Cook and Jones sound, and in common with most US punk bands, performed the track at a blistering pace. The American accent is an obvious contrast to Ray Winston's Cockney vocal. The vocals are in fact quite low in the mix, and the booklet lists a "?" where the lyrics should be! It may not be the real thing but as it is highly unlikely that the real thing will ever see the light of day, it's close enough. A terrific interpretation.

Also worth noting, the track "Hooray for Santa Claus" subsequently appeared on the 1995 various artists compilation "Punk Rock Xmas"(Rhino R2 72174 ), as did The Greedies' "A Merry Jingle" featuring Steve and Paul!