The Ruts

The Ruts
The Ruts c. 1979
Background information
Also known as	The Ruts D.C.
Origin	London, England
Genres	Reggae punk, Punk rock, reggae rock, ska punk
Years active	1977–1983, 2007–present
Labels	People Unite, Virgin, Bohemian, Sosumi, Westworld
Members	David Ruffy John "Segs" Jennings Leigh Heggarty
Past members	Paul Fox Malcolm Owen
Website	www.theruts.co.uk

The Ruts (later known as The Ruts DC) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly played by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. The band's newfound success was cut short by the death of lead singer Malcolm Owen from a heroin overdose in 1980. Despite this, the band continued under a different musical style as Ruts D.C. until 1983, when they disbanded. The band reformed in 2007.

Initial career (1977–1980)

Formation, Rock Against Racism, debut single, and BBC Peel Sessions (1977–1978)

The band's origins are somewhat in dispute; in interviews in 1992, the band members stated that they formed after Malcolm Owen joined his friends' soon-to-disband pub rock group called Hit & Run in 1977 and renamed the group The Ruts. The drummer for Hit & Run, Paul Mattock, who was also briefly in The Ruts before The Ruts finalized their "classic" lineup, recalled that The Ruts instead formed from Aslan, an Anglesey-based hard rock band. In any case, The Ruts officially formed in August 1977 in London, England. The band's "classic" lineup consisted of singer Malcolm Owen, guitarist Paul Fox, bassist John "Segs" Jennings, and drummer Dave Ruffy. The band played their first live performance in Middlesex on 16 September 1977; the band they performed with, Mr. Softy, was another of Paul Fox's groups.

The Ruts soon became involved in explicitly political and anti-racist musical initiatives as a response to the band members witnessing the National Front, a Neo-Nazi movement, recruiting youths. Early in the band's career, The Ruts became involved in the Rock Against Racism campaign. At a show for the campaign, The Ruts met members of a British roots reggae band called Misty in Roots, who invited The Ruts to record a single for their label/collective, People Unite. In late 1978, on the People Unite label, The Ruts released their debut single "In a Rut"/"H-Eyes," which sold 20,000 copies. In a 24 March 1979 interview, Malcolm Owen would suggest that the band's involvement with Rock Against Racism was largely due to the fact that the movement offered The Ruts performing opportunities they otherwise would not have had, and less because of the band's own personal or political stances or militancy: "We gigged solidly in the [Rock Against Racism] clubs with bands like [Misty in Roots]. . . . We played gigs like that for a year with virtually nothing else. . . . they were giving us gigs when no one else was."

"In a Rut" piqued the interest of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Months after the release of the single, Peel invited the band to perform in one of his radio show's Peel Sessions. The band did not perform "In a Rut" during their set, but their set led to a second session for the BBC, this time at the invitation of DJ David Jensen, in February 1979; Peel invited the band to a second Peel Session in May 1979. Following the band's BBC sessions, Virgin Records executives offered The Ruts a record deal in spring 1979.

The Crack and "Babylon's Burning" (1979)

Following their signing to Virgin Records, the band recorded and released the 1979 single "Babylon's Burning," which had a B-side of "Society." The song is stylistically rooted in punk rock with reggae influences; its lyrics address strife and protest in the UK's urban centres. The single's initial success also led to the band making an appearance on Top of the Pops on 21 June as the song barely reached the top 40 of the UK singles chart; the band's appearance on Top of the Pops helped propel the song to further chart success. "Babylons' Burning" proved to be The Ruts' highest-charting single, peaking at number 7 on the UK singles chart, remained on the chart for 11 cumulative weeks, and became the fifth most successful punk rock song in UK chart history, behind four songs by the Sex Pistols. It sold 230,000 copies to Jennings' recollection, just 20,000 sales short of achieving silver certification. Their follow-up single, "Something That I Said," peaked in the top 30 of the UK singles chart.

The Ruts toured as a support act with The Damned later in 1979. Following the tour, they released their debut album The Crack on 29 September 1979. The Crack peaked at no. 16 on the UK Albums Chart and also featured "Babylon's Burning" as its opening track; the album's version of the song features a blaring alarm and police sirens before the instrumentals start, although the alarms and sirens are absent from the single version. The Ruts released "Jah War" as their next single to promote the album. "Jah War" is more reggae-influenced and dub-influenced than "Babylon's Burning." It contains lyrics that are more blatantly political than "Babylon's Burning" but also address urban unrest and riots, specifically taking inspiration from London's Southall riots following the death of Blair Peach at the hands of London police. "Jah War" did not chart at all and was "informally banned" from being played on British radio stations due to its controversial lyrical content.

Headlining tour, "Staring at the Rude Boys," and debt (1980)

In 1980, The Ruts had their first headlining tour. Following the tour, the band featured on a new single by Jamaican ska musician Laurel Aitken, "Rudi Got Married." In April 1980, the band released a new single, the two-tone-inspired "Staring at the Rude Boys," which peaked at no. 22 on the UK singles chart.

The record deal The Ruts signed with Virgin Records would leave the band in debt. Jennings later stated that he and Ruffy had wanted to keep The Ruts an independent band, but Owen and Fox wanted to be signed by a label due to the marketing opportunities being signed would provide. By the time Jennings gave an interview in May 1992, the band was left in debt of £23,000, which was less debt than they had a decade prior, as the band members paid a significant amount of the debt by 1992; still, Jennings stated that he did not have regrets about the record deal: "I still do maintain now that it was better to have had a really bad deal, but had fun and released some great records, than not at all. I don't have any regrets about it. I can't really afford to feel too bitter about it, but I'd like justice. The point I think is wrong is that Virgin didn't misinform us, but they didn't fully inform us either. They knew what they were doing. All record companies do, and that's what I hate."

Malcolm Owen's death, and the end of The Ruts' initial run (June–December 1980)

Despite the band's success, Malcolm Owen's issues within his private life generated strife within the band; Owen had a years-long addiction to heroin, which worsened after he and his wife separated in 1980. The band was due to begin writing and recording material for their second album following The Crack, but Owen's issues with his addiction led the band to cancel several UK tour dates; after recording one last single with Owen, "West One (Shine on Me)," the band fired him. They released the single shortly thereafter.

Following his firing, Owen attempted to reconcile with his band mates, agreeing to meet with them. While the meeting was a success and the band welcomed Owen back with the intent to record additional music with him, and while Owen appeared to have begun recovering from his addiction, he soon experienced an accidental heroin overdose over the weekend of 11 July 1980 and unexpectedly died on 14 July, at the age of 26.

One month following Owen's death, "West One (Shine on Me)" charted in the UK, peaking at no. 43 in August 1980.

The Ruts' final release under their initial name was Grin & Bear It, a compilation album consisting of B-sides, outtakes, three early demos, and audio recordings of live performances, including some from the band's Peel Sessions. "Staring at the Rude Boys" was included on Grin & Bear It, as was an alternate version of "Babylon's Burning" and its B-side, "Society." Virgin Records began collecting songs for the compilation after Owen's death; the compilation was released in late 1980 and peaked at no. 28 on the UK Albums Chart in on 18 October.

The Ruts DC (1980–present)

Initial reformation and split (1980–1983)

The Ruts, now a trio, renamed themselves The Ruts D.C. with "D.C." standing for the Italian phrase da capo, meaning "from the beginning," to signify a restart in the aftermath of Owen's death. Part of the band's restart involved shifting their musical style, performing more in line with dub music and a more dedicated fusion of reggae and punk rock. The band's restart led to the release of Animal Now, their first album since their renaming, in May 1981 on Virgin Records. Also in 1981, The Ruts served as the backing band for Valérie Lagrange's album Chez Moi.

In July 1982, The Ruts released Rhythm Collision, Vol. 1, a collaboration with dub producer Mad Professor. However, neither Animal Now nor Rhythm Collision, Vol. 1 charted in the UK. The Ruts D.C. dissolved in 1983.

In 1987 Dojo Records and Castle Communications released Ruts Live, an eleven-track album licensed from Link Communications (DOJO LP52).

In 1987, BBC label Strange Fruit collected together the group's three Radio One sessions for The Peel Session Album: The Ruts. Live albums soon followed, including BBC Radio One in Concert (Windsong) recorded at London's Paris Theatre on 7 July 1979, The Ruts Live (Dojo) and Live and Loud! (Link).

1990s and later

Virgin released The Ruts vs. The Skids EP in 1992 to promote their Three Minute Heroes compilation album. "In a Rut" and "Babylon's Burning" were lined up against the Skids' "Into the Valley" and "Working for the Yankee Dollar". Demolition Dancing (1994) was an album of live tracks recorded in 1979, two of which – "Shakin' All Over" and "In A Rut" – featured members of the Damned. Also in 1994, the German record label Vince Lombardy Highschool Records released Rules which featured sixteen tracks by the Ruts and Ruts D.C., including "Last Exit", a previously unreleased song.

1995 brought Something That I Said – The Best of the Ruts album (re-released in March 2003 and on EMI Gold in 2005).

Ruts: In a Can (2000) was an album of demos from three sessions in the period before they signed to Virgin, released in a metal tin. Fox, Jennings and Ruffy compiled and remastered this release, and also supplied liner notes. The sessions date from 25 April 1978 (8-track Fairdeal Sessions), 20 February 1979 (Underhill Studio) and Mystery Studio Sessions (early 1979).

In 2001, Virgin released Bustin' Out – The Essential Ruts Collection on CD. It included "Denial", a previously unreleased instrumental track. "Bustin' Out" was rounded out with a twenty-minute interview with Jennings. The same year, the 2-disc CD Criminal Minds appeared on Snapper in the UK. The second disc was a reissue of Live and Loud! from 1987. Anagram Records came up with a collection of unreleased tracks and alternate versions for their sixteen-track CD, In a Rut in 2002 (reissued 2008). The compilation included a snippet of John Peel praising "In a Rut", and offering to help listeners obtain a copy if it is not available in their local record shop.

Babylon's Burning Reconstructed (2005) was an album-long tribute to the band's most famous song, remixed sixteen different times by Die Toten Hosen, Don Letts, Dreadzone and the Groove Corporation. The wide range of remixes included beatbox, drum and bass and ambient reworkings.

Fox came out of semi-retirement to play Ruts songs as Foxy's Ruts with his son, Lawrence, on drums. Foxy's Ruts supported Bad Manners on their Christmas tour of the UK in December 2006.

Two retrospective live albums appeared in 2006. Get Out of It!! featured eighteen songs including a sexually-themed early number by the band, "Gotta Little Number" (also titled "Stepping Bondage") from a London Marquee show on 19 July 1979 (these recordings have also surfaced as Marquee 1979 and Ruts 1979 – Marquee Club). Live at Deeply Vale, featured thirteen songs from a July 1978 performance recorded at the free Deeply Vale festival that was held annually near Bury, Greater Manchester.

2007 reform

On 16 July 2007, the band reformed for the first time in 27 years, and played a benefit gig for Fox, following his diagnosis of lung cancer. Henry Rollins stood in for Owen. They were supported by Tom Robinson, the Damned, Misty in Roots, UK Subs, Splodge (Splodgenessabounds), John Otway; and the Peafish House Band. Fox died on 21 October of the same year, at the age of 56.

On 25 January 2008, Henry Rollins presented The Gig, a short film about the 2007 benefit gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. The event, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, was accompanied by live performances from Alabama 3, T. V. Smith, members of the Members, the Damned's Captain Sensible and Beki Bondage.

In June 2008, another compilation, Original Punks, was released by Music Club Deluxe in the UK. The two-disc set included demos, alternate versions and live tracks plus songs recorded by Ruts D.C.

In December 2008 John "Segs" Jennings and Dave Ruffy returned to Ariwa Studios as Ruts D.C to record some new tracks with Neil "Mad Professor" Fraser. The project, entitled Rhythm Collision Vol. 2, was mixed in Brighton by Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi and was finally released in 2013.

The band enlisted Leigh Heggarty on guitar, Seamus Beaghan on Hammond organ, and Molara on additional vocals and percussion, and completed some British dates supporting Alabama 3 in November and December 2011. The band also played the Rebellion Festival in August 2012, at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, alongside Rancid, Buzzcocks, Goldblade, Social Distortion, Public Image Ltd and a reformed Anti-Pasti amongst others.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Label	UK
1979	The Crack	Virgin	16
1980	Grin & Bear It		28
1981	Animal Now (as Ruts D.C.)		—
1982	Rhythm Collision (as Ruts D.C.)	Bohemian	—
2013	Rhythm Collision Volume 2 (as Ruts D.C.)	Sosumi	—
2016	Music Must Destroy (as Ruts D.C.)	Westworld/Sosumi	—
2021	Electracoustic Volume One (as Ruts D.C.)	Sosumi	—
2022	Counter Culture? (as Ruts D.C.)	Sosumi	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live

• BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Windsong International – split with Penetration)
• The Ruts Live (1987: Castle Communications)
• Live at Deeply Vale 1970's (2006: Ozit)
• Get Out of It Live (2006: Ozit)
• Live On Stage Ruts DC 2014 Sosumi SOSLP103

Selective compilation albums and EPs

• The Peel Sessions (December 1986: Strange Fruit)
• Peel Sessions – Complete Sessions 1979–1981 (May 1990: Strange Fruit)
• Demolition Dancing (1994: Receiver) – mostly live material, and including two tracks with the Damned: "Shakin' All Over" and "In a Rut"
• Something That I Said: The Best of the Ruts (March 1995: Virgin)
• Bustin’ Out: The Essential Ruts Collection (June 2001: EMI)
• The Crack/Grin and Bear It (2003, EMI; both original albums on one CD).

Singles

Year	Title	UK
1979	"In a Rut"	―
	"Babylon's Burning"	7
	"Something That I Said"	29
	"Jah War"	―
1980	"Staring at the Rude Boys"	22
	"West One (Shine on Me)"	43
1981	"Different View" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
	"Dangerous Minds" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
1982	"Whatever We Do" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
1983	"Weak Heart" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
	"Stepping Bondage"	―
2016	"Music Must Destroy" (with Henry Rollins; as Ruts D.C.)	―
	"Psychic Attack" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
2020	"War on Crime" (as Ruts D.C.)	―
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

See also

• List of British punk bands
• List of Peel sessions
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)

External links

• Ruts DC website
• The Ruts at Punk 77
• The Ruts discography at Discogs
• Something That I Said on YouTube