Wednesday 20 October 2010
Sunday 6 June 2010
Released From An Iso-Cube After 25 Years
Unheard for over 25 years, but now he's escaped from Jail Mean has dug up this stash of old music from under the dust of the cursed earth. Hear The Origins of the Fink Brothers Sound. An early demo of the Music for this Mutant hit, before any Judges or Citizens were sampled on to it. Here for all Norms to hear with their 2 ears.
Saturday 5 June 2010
Return Of The Fink Brothers On Mad Songs?
Have The Fink Brothers ever returned to a Madness Record?
Since 1985, along with Suggs, Carl has appeared on 4 more Madness albums as well as penning his own Velvet Ghost album. Mean Machine had a "Brutal" setting on his metal head dial, and in 2000 Carl wrote the song "Why be Brutal?" about anger including the line "Why be murderous, Anger is just turbulence" perhaps a small peice of Mean's life there coming through? Equally he wrote the dark tale "The Weak and the Strong" which has small echoes of the Cursed Earth struggles within in it's wider scope. Neither is directly related though.
While it would be amusing to suggest The Dangermen's Dreader Than Dread is somehow connected it's clearly only in a lineage to the name sake ska Judge character from jamacian songs and not 2000ad's central character. The 2000ad early Judge Dredd Mythos parrallels most closely perhaps with the 10 minute epic title track of Madness's new album The Liberty Of Norton Folgate. The long and ghastly story of a small Liberty outside of the Main city of London is a victorian themed setting across time but it bares comparrision with the Mutants out side Mega City One in places too...
"Night wanderers, the feeble, the ghastly, upon whom death, Had placed a very sure hand, Some in shreds and patches,"
The only sure fire certain return of The Fink Brothers though comes surely on Suggs Solo Album "The Three Pyramids Club" and it's title track. The clues are more blatant.
"On the tables in the their brown suede shoes, While the band plays the rhythm of a mutant blues."
The Fink B side is name checked early on in this tune. To be Followed by the more telling...
"Except the man with the metal head, Who stands up slowly eyes full of hatred."
This tale of a soho inspired drinking den in some unknown plastic backwater clearly gets a visit from Mean Machine and things start to kick off. Quick call for Judge Dredd.
Since 1985, along with Suggs, Carl has appeared on 4 more Madness albums as well as penning his own Velvet Ghost album. Mean Machine had a "Brutal" setting on his metal head dial, and in 2000 Carl wrote the song "Why be Brutal?" about anger including the line "Why be murderous, Anger is just turbulence" perhaps a small peice of Mean's life there coming through? Equally he wrote the dark tale "The Weak and the Strong" which has small echoes of the Cursed Earth struggles within in it's wider scope. Neither is directly related though.
While it would be amusing to suggest The Dangermen's Dreader Than Dread is somehow connected it's clearly only in a lineage to the name sake ska Judge character from jamacian songs and not 2000ad's central character. The 2000ad early Judge Dredd Mythos parrallels most closely perhaps with the 10 minute epic title track of Madness's new album The Liberty Of Norton Folgate. The long and ghastly story of a small Liberty outside of the Main city of London is a victorian themed setting across time but it bares comparrision with the Mutants out side Mega City One in places too...
"Night wanderers, the feeble, the ghastly, upon whom death, Had placed a very sure hand, Some in shreds and patches,"
The only sure fire certain return of The Fink Brothers though comes surely on Suggs Solo Album "The Three Pyramids Club" and it's title track. The clues are more blatant.
"On the tables in the their brown suede shoes, While the band plays the rhythm of a mutant blues."
The Fink B side is name checked early on in this tune. To be Followed by the more telling...
"Except the man with the metal head, Who stands up slowly eyes full of hatred."
This tale of a soho inspired drinking den in some unknown plastic backwater clearly gets a visit from Mean Machine and things start to kick off. Quick call for Judge Dredd.
2000ad - Destinys Angels. - The Story that Inspired the Fink Brother Record
Borag Thung, What's up Earthlets? Welcome to the new Blog comic 2000MAD! The 2 comic strips included here, are to commemorate the Fink Brothers record released 25 years ago. Below is The Fink, The first appearance of this truly mad mutant that led to the name of the band. But first see the Fink Brothers fight Dredd as Destiny's Angels here. For more light relief check out Judge Bedd (Judge Bedders get it?) Further down a 2000AD themed strip from Madness' own comic the MIS magazine. Finally the 15th anniversary strip Drip Fed Dredd by the blog master taken from this site's previous incarnation from the year 2000. Enjoy.
SPLUNDIG VUR THRIGG THARGG
Large Screen Off Site Version
House Of Fink - A new 2010 Madness Book
In 2010 a new book House Of Fun - The Madness Story is due for release. An unofficial but detailed history of the band and all their projects. The Fink Brothers project therefore gets a bit of a mention within the book. And this Fink Blog can exclusively tell you that author John Reed has words from both 2000ad artist Brian Bolland about the artwork for the Project. And also spoke to No.1 Magazine's Fink Brother Photographer Mike Prior, who first created the look of the live Fink Brothers experience. So expect a couple of new comments on the record to come in it's 25th year. (Unless Fink and Mean reach the publishers first as they intend to rewrite the book as House Of Fink, making it focus only on them and containing photographs of all the bones of people they have dispensed with over the years along with a few holiday snaps of Cursed Earth.)
2000ad Prog 403 in 1985 Announced The Record
THARGS MEGA PLANYes, Earthlets, It's True! You can now get your grabbers on 7" and 12" versions of a record featuring the legendary Judge Dredd! The Time Machine stolen by the Fink Brothers transported them to the murky waters of North London. There the marauding mutants disguised themselves as ordinary Terrans by transferring into the bodies of two members of Thargs favourite pop group! I know the Squaxx dex Thargo will want to buy their own copies of the record, so I have programmed a Disc File elsewhere on this page to give them all the necessary information.
MEGA TIMES - DREDD DISC - FINK BROTHERS FLEE! By Dan Sette
A criminal record has been produced by notorious mutants the Fink Brothers - and it features no less a personage than Judge Dredd on backing vocals! The record -sources inform me it's entitled "Mutants in Mega-City One" - Was secretly programmed, using stolen tapes of Judge Dredd's voice, in the basement of downtown B.B.King Block. Those mutie boys have now hightailed it out of the city, taking thousands and thousands of copies of their illicit audio-slug with them.
Our Music Correspondent Writes….. Say hey, Juves I've heard this disc, and I've just gotta tell ya the sound abounds! Gabba gabba gabba!
Our Legal Correspondent Writes…. In producing this record, the Fink Brothers place themselves in direct contravention of city ordinances 13906, 22/Kappa Delta/1-1-1, and 8901/Penal. This morning a spokesman from the Justice Department told me that Possession of the 7" version carries a mandatory sentence of 7 years while the 12" gets you a straight 12 stretch.
++STOP PRESS++ Our Music Correspondent gets 7 years for possession of "Mutants in Mega-City One"
++STOP PRESS++ Anonymous source claims Fink Bros, stolen Time Machine
Judge Bedd - An MIS Parody
Madness Fan Stuart Harrison drew this Strip Judge Bedd (Starring Bedders from Madness as the Judge) for a Madness Fan Club Magazine. Click Here to Download the 3 page strip as large scans from MIS online.
Mutant Blues - Lyrics
FINK - (Here we come)
MEAN - Stuck out in the city dump
The sewers are our home
Five miles deep (deep) underground
Where nothings all we grow
Leppo
Bad thing
Viscously ?
All aboard
FINK - All aboard towards the city
MEAN - There one thing that we all hate
The norms above in bed
By the light of the moon we'll be coming soon
The only good norm's a norm that dead
Get up off your backs
Sharpen your axe
Mega city one here we come
Mental Pauly
Chainsaw Charlie
All goin out to a bone picking party (ha ha)
Both - Them bones
Them bones
Them dry bones (Repeat times 13)
Mean - (Send my regards to ……….to cursed earth )
MEAN - Stuck out in the city dump
The sewers are our home
Five miles deep (deep) underground
Where nothings all we grow
Leppo
Bad thing
Viscously ?
All aboard
FINK - All aboard towards the city
MEAN - There one thing that we all hate
The norms above in bed
By the light of the moon we'll be coming soon
The only good norm's a norm that dead
Get up off your backs
Sharpen your axe
Mega city one here we come
Mental Pauly
Chainsaw Charlie
All goin out to a bone picking party (ha ha)
Both - Them bones
Them bones
Them dry bones (Repeat times 13)
Mean - (Send my regards to ……….to cursed earth )
Suggs Marries Fink Brother Shocker!
Mean (Fink Brother) met the woman of his dreams - Sarah 'Seven-Pound Sadie' Suggs, so named because of the seven-pound hammer she wields. They first met when Mean butted his way into a Texas bank, intent on violent crime - but Sadie Suggs was already robbing it. She hit him with her hammer and escaped, while Mean was left dazed and smitten - love at first smash. After some wooing and canoodling, the date for their marriage was set. The Angel Gang used the wedding as an excuse to extort 'wedding presents' - minimum value 50 creds - from the local population. The marriage went ahead but before the honeymoon could begin, Sadie duped Mean into knocking himself out and she stole away with all the loot, never to be seen again!
In the story "Mean Machine Gets Married!", in the Dredd Annual 1983, Script writer Alan Grant named this character slightly after Suggs. It being a Female mutant, I'm sure he was thrilled! This being two years before the Fink Brothers record, it is perhaps the first link between the band and the comic and the character of mean machine, though Madness were always vocally fans of 2000ad. A start that lead to greater things.
(With Thanks to W. R. Logan & Mark Latus)
In the story "Mean Machine Gets Married!", in the Dredd Annual 1983, Script writer Alan Grant named this character slightly after Suggs. It being a Female mutant, I'm sure he was thrilled! This being two years before the Fink Brothers record, it is perhaps the first link between the band and the comic and the character of mean machine, though Madness were always vocally fans of 2000ad. A start that lead to greater things.
(With Thanks to W. R. Logan & Mark Latus)
2000ad The Artistic Inspiration for the record
2000AD was launched in 1977 as a boys sci-fi comic as an attempt to cash in on the American sci-fi films popular at the time. The comic is a mix of action, violence and adventure with a futuristic angle to most stories. It's most popular strip is Judge Dredd.
Carl: "For anyone who had any interest in the Marvel comics when they were young, they just didn't change over the years. Nothing really happens, it's still 50's America. The biggest problem that happens is Peter Parker loses his girlfriend. I think the very real appeal of 2000AD is that it turns everything upside down, heroes may die and things aren't always what they seem." - Jammin Magazine 1985
Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd has appeared in almost ever issue of 2000AD. The A side of the record is very much a Judge Dredd Tribute even featuring him as a supposed vocalist uttering his famous catchphrase "I am the law!" The Judge Dredd character was developed over the early issues of 2000AD. He is a cop, Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled into one, the only way to uphold the law in Mega City One. Ruthless in his pursuit of justice , he rides on an interactive Lawmaster bike. He is the most accomplished and feared of the Mega City judges of which there are many. The rookie judges mentioned on the lyric sheet are trainees. Dredd is the enemy of most mutants because they are not allowed into Mega City One "It's the law". For more info on the judge see 2000AD Links.
Mega-City One
Mega-City One is the home city of Judge Dredd. The city he is responsible for up holding the law in. It is a futuristic New York, increased dramatically in size and mainly height. Name checked in the song are "Justice hall" and "Zappa Block". The former is the Judge HQ building and the latter an example of the many areas of the city named after celebrities from the past. The cubes mentioned in the song are iso-cubes, Isolation cubes, the jails of Mega City One. There are other cities Two and Three and The UK has Become Britz City.
Mutants
Both sides of the Fink brothers record, paint pictures in the lives of the mutants.
The 2000AD sagas Cursed Earth - Progs 61-85 and then The Judge Child Progs 156 -181 tell stories of the land beyond the Mega City. A land desolated by nuclear fallout, a desert know as Cursed Earth. Mentioned in the songs this is where a variety of mutants of different shapes sizes, colours and afflictions herald from . Genetically flawed or altered the concept of mutants gave the artists free reign to create a canvas of monsters, so many that the mutants became a firm part the Dredd strip leading non-mutants to be coined as Norms (short for normal.).
The Fink brothers / The angel gang
The Judge Child saga was the story that introduced the Angel Gang and Mean Machine 2000AD's definitive mutants. Mean and the rest of the gang terrorised local townships and often smashed their way into nearby Texas City, looting, burning and pillaging. Dredd executed them all. They were so popular that they lived on despite this! The
Fink story introduced a fifth member of the gang out on revenge for his family. However the story that most likely influenced the making of the record was Destiny's Angels The story sees Fink break out of jail and Mean Machine resurrected by the Judge Child and then both sent to kill Dredd, a mission they need little persuading on, read extracts from this strip later in 2000MAD
Suggs: "Although it's (Judge Dredd) not supposed to have any sort of relationship to reality I think it does in a funny sort of way relate very much to America and the exaggerated consumer society. The thing with the mutants is just like with any minority group, they're not allowed into the city because they're mutants which is hardly their fault, they were just blown up during nuclear wars."- Jammin Magazine 1985
Mutants In Mega City One - Lyrics
Judge Dredd - What's up, Earthlets?
Hysterical Citizen - Mutants have entered the city!
MCTV Newsflash - From their holes in cursed earth
The mutants crossed the chem-cloud burst
Nothing in their hearts but hate
Breaking down the city gates!
Judge Thud - All citizens stay in your zones
Do not panic
Repeat Do not panic stay in your zones.
Rookie Judges - From Justice hall to Zappa Block
We Patrol the streets around the clock
Sister sump - Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge Dredd
Mutie - My god, My brains exploding
Caruso Block Male Voice Choir - Try to hide you could not run away.
Memphis Mutants - Sixteen muties on a dead norm's chest
Heat-seeker bullet will do the rest,
Yo - ho, Yo - ho, Yo - ho.
Sister sump - When mutants are waiting on every corner
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Lawmaster Bike - Survival Factor 75% and decreasing
60% and decreasing
MCTV Newsflash - The city's being overrun by mutants.
Joe Norm - I am normal, not no juve, I am getting out of my cube
I am normal, I am clean, I'm not frightened and I won't scream.
Sister Sump - When your in danger and you are frightened
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Joe Norm - Why should I call anyone, I am not frightened
Why should I be frightened ?
Aaaaaiiiieeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Sister sump - When mutants are waiting on every corner
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Mutie - Don't be slow got to run, mutie coming with his gun!
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - Judge Dredd
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - What's up earthlets?
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - I am the law ….. I am Judge Dread
Hysterical Citizen - Mutants have entered the city!
MCTV Newsflash - From their holes in cursed earth
The mutants crossed the chem-cloud burst
Nothing in their hearts but hate
Breaking down the city gates!
Judge Thud - All citizens stay in your zones
Do not panic
Repeat Do not panic stay in your zones.
Rookie Judges - From Justice hall to Zappa Block
We Patrol the streets around the clock
Sister sump - Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge, Judge Dredd
Mutie - My god, My brains exploding
Caruso Block Male Voice Choir - Try to hide you could not run away.
Memphis Mutants - Sixteen muties on a dead norm's chest
Heat-seeker bullet will do the rest,
Yo - ho, Yo - ho, Yo - ho.
Sister sump - When mutants are waiting on every corner
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Lawmaster Bike - Survival Factor 75% and decreasing
60% and decreasing
MCTV Newsflash - The city's being overrun by mutants.
Joe Norm - I am normal, not no juve, I am getting out of my cube
I am normal, I am clean, I'm not frightened and I won't scream.
Sister Sump - When your in danger and you are frightened
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Joe Norm - Why should I call anyone, I am not frightened
Why should I be frightened ?
Aaaaaiiiieeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Sister sump - When mutants are waiting on every corner
Remember to call for Judge Dredd
Mutie - Don't be slow got to run, mutie coming with his gun!
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - Judge Dredd
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - What's up earthlets?
Mutie - Don't stop gotta keep running
Judge Dread - I am the law ….. I am Judge Dread
25 Years of 2000ad Event in 2002
The song was used on this LWT coverage of the 25 years of 2000ad event.
(with thanks to asuplex)
The Fink Brothers Criminal Record Guide
Mutants in mega city one came on the following Zarjazz formats!
-
7 Inch - Jazz 2
7 Inch square picture disc - JazzS 2
-
12 inch Jazz 2 - 12
- 12 inch Jazz 2 - 12 (Poster Version)
All formats featured the same two songs.
A - Mutants in Mega City One
B - Mutant blues
Although the 12 inch had the A side in an extended (mutie mix)
The Cover Art
The cover art was drawn by Brian Bolland The 2000ad Artist that drew most of the Cursed Earth and Judge Child Story lines that were around the time of The Fink Brothers first being written into the Judge Dredd Strip by John Wagner.
On the sound of the record
Suggs: "What sort of prompted it was sitting in discos in New York where everything is just so brain-numbingly loud. It immediately kind of threw us together with Mega City One, that sort of uneasy street feeling when you're out late in New York." - Jammin Magazine 1985
Just a One Off?
Are the Fink Brothers your 'wacky' side now? I can't hear any of the so-called nuttiness on the four tracks off the forthcoming Madness album.
"A channel for extra-terrestrial nuttiness? Not really," denies Mr McPherson. "We didn't start The Fink Brothers and then have an idea to make a record, it was the other way around. The name came from a project we were doing, and we didn't intend to do any more with it." - Sounds Magazine 1985
Buy The Record
Long since deleted, the record is available from dedicated fan store Retro Madness at reasonable prices for this collectible work. Most normally instock, some times even with Press Release sheets as an added bonus.
Smash Hits - The Fink Brothers
What makes two members of Madness want to turn into mutants? Read on, Earthlets...
It's not the first time the sci-fi comic 2000 A.D. has inspired a pop record. It was partly for Judge Dredd, the comic's all-powerful exterminator, that The Human League wrote "I Am The Law", a track on their "Dare" LP.
The mighty Judge's arch rivals in 2000 A.D. are two rather horrible-looking persons known as The Fink Brothers, which is the name Carl and Suggs of Madness have assumed for their new single, a slice of manic panic called "Mutants In Mega-City One". But why?
"We both used to read American 'superhero' comics when we were kids, but they never seemed to progress much and were just too unrealistic," explains Suggs. "2000 A.D., however, is much more true-to-life; there's a lot of black humour in the Judge Dredd story for instance."
For those who've never seen a copy, 2000 A.D. is a sci-fi comic apparently produced in an outer space metropolis called Mega-City One and, somehow, distributed to perfectly normal newsagents on Earth. Its readers are referred to as "Earthlets", and it even has its very own mutant language used by all the various beserk creatures who inhabit its pages - "Borag vun thungg!", for example, means "Greetings Earthlets!"
This daft vocabulary is, in turn, adopted by many 2000 A.D. devotees. Like Carl.
"The word 'Zarjazz' (the name of their record label) is 2000 A.D. talk. It's a word we use when we talk to each other: we used to say 'nutty', now we say 'zarjazz'. It means 'great, 'brilliant'."
So how did this unlikely partnership of Mutants and Madness come about?
Suggs: "We wanted to make an electro/hip-hop record like the ones we'd heard in the New York clubs. And as we'd already had several mentions on the Judge Dredd strip" - (there's references to a Madness tenement block and a bizarre marriage involving a certain Mrs. Suggs) - "we felt that The Fink Brothers would be ideal."
Buy this record, Earthlets - The Finks want Megacreds (i.e. lots of mney).
(With thanks to Looby, Steve, Madness Central In Print)
http://www.madnesstradingring.com/InPrint/InPrint.html
It's not the first time the sci-fi comic 2000 A.D. has inspired a pop record. It was partly for Judge Dredd, the comic's all-powerful exterminator, that The Human League wrote "I Am The Law", a track on their "Dare" LP.
The mighty Judge's arch rivals in 2000 A.D. are two rather horrible-looking persons known as The Fink Brothers, which is the name Carl and Suggs of Madness have assumed for their new single, a slice of manic panic called "Mutants In Mega-City One". But why?
"We both used to read American 'superhero' comics when we were kids, but they never seemed to progress much and were just too unrealistic," explains Suggs. "2000 A.D., however, is much more true-to-life; there's a lot of black humour in the Judge Dredd story for instance."
For those who've never seen a copy, 2000 A.D. is a sci-fi comic apparently produced in an outer space metropolis called Mega-City One and, somehow, distributed to perfectly normal newsagents on Earth. Its readers are referred to as "Earthlets", and it even has its very own mutant language used by all the various beserk creatures who inhabit its pages - "Borag vun thungg!", for example, means "Greetings Earthlets!"
This daft vocabulary is, in turn, adopted by many 2000 A.D. devotees. Like Carl.
"The word 'Zarjazz' (the name of their record label) is 2000 A.D. talk. It's a word we use when we talk to each other: we used to say 'nutty', now we say 'zarjazz'. It means 'great, 'brilliant'."
So how did this unlikely partnership of Mutants and Madness come about?
Suggs: "We wanted to make an electro/hip-hop record like the ones we'd heard in the New York clubs. And as we'd already had several mentions on the Judge Dredd strip" - (there's references to a Madness tenement block and a bizarre marriage involving a certain Mrs. Suggs) - "we felt that The Fink Brothers would be ideal."
Buy this record, Earthlets - The Finks want Megacreds (i.e. lots of mney).
(With thanks to Looby, Steve, Madness Central In Print)
http://www.madnesstradingring.com/InPrint/InPrint.html
Fink Video And Saturday Starship
Here is the Fink Brothers video, (skillfully extended by Shiny317 to now cover the whole song) from a clip of it that was shown on Kids TV. Followed by The Fink Brothers Invading Saturday Starship and causing their usual violent chaos.
Record Mirror 1985 - Invasion of The Bodysnatchers
Emergency! Emergency! Earth is in danger of being invaded by mutants from the 22nd century led by the notorious Fink Brothers. They stole a time machine and transported themselves back in time to 1985, to wreak more havoc than Maggie Thatcher and Arthur Scargill.
Hot on their heels is the legendary lawman Judge Dredd and the mighty Tharg, part time ruler of the universe and editor of the Galaxy's greatest comic 2000ad.
For periods of time the Fink Brothers have been taking over the bodies of Suggs and Carl from Madness, forcing them to record the single "Mutants in Mega City One " which features the additional track "Mutie Rap". (Became Mutants Blues - Editor)
"There was absolutely nothing we could do we were powerless to fight back." Explains Carl. "The time machine landed tight outside our offices and the Fink Brotheres broke down our door and walked right in.
"Apparently, It's always been their ambition to record a single. One of the brothers is called Mean, his father tore his arm off when he was young and he also tore off half his head, so he now has a metal arm and a metal head. His head has a dial on it and if the the dial is turned to four he gets really angry. Even if the dial is on one or two, you've got to be careful.
"The other one loves poisoning people and Animals" Explains carl. "One of his other hobbies is throwing spiked balls around. Both the Fink Brothers also like nuclear war and Ronald Reagan, which makes them even more unpleasant."
"They live in an are called Cursed Earth which is outside Mega City One and they're trying to get into the city with the other Mutants. Mega City One is where Judge Dredd and his friends dispense Justice The Fink Brothers have stolen some tapes of Dredd's voice which they've used on the single, so that's why he's coming after them.
"The Fink Brothers say they want to go out on tour, but their behaviour is terrible. They don't just bite the heads off pigeons, they bite the heads off humans as well and they smell worse than Lemmy's feet."
Carl and Suggs are praying that if the single sells enough copies the horrible brothers will be content to return to their own time and leave them in peace to concentrate on Madness.
"If the Fink Brothers go soon or if they're Zapped by Judge Dredd. Madness will be able to release a single followed by an album and then a tour. Says Suggs.
So instead of getting involved in the heady world of the heavy duty music biz, Chas and Suggs are happy to down by the fire and pore over their comic collections.
"I like american comics as well" says suggs "like most kids i was attracted by the shiny covers. I've gone off them a bit now though, I dont think the scripts in american comics are as good as they used to be.
"2000ad, which features Judge Dredd, is really great - a modent comic for modern times and deal with violence in an honest way. There's talk of making a Judge Dredd film but I dont know if and when that will happen."
"The Fink Brothers are also demanding that we make a video of their single. They say that if we can't afford it they'll rob a bank for us".
Hot on their heels is the legendary lawman Judge Dredd and the mighty Tharg, part time ruler of the universe and editor of the Galaxy's greatest comic 2000ad.
For periods of time the Fink Brothers have been taking over the bodies of Suggs and Carl from Madness, forcing them to record the single "Mutants in Mega City One " which features the additional track "Mutie Rap". (Became Mutants Blues - Editor)
"There was absolutely nothing we could do we were powerless to fight back." Explains Carl. "The time machine landed tight outside our offices and the Fink Brotheres broke down our door and walked right in.
"Apparently, It's always been their ambition to record a single. One of the brothers is called Mean, his father tore his arm off when he was young and he also tore off half his head, so he now has a metal arm and a metal head. His head has a dial on it and if the the dial is turned to four he gets really angry. Even if the dial is on one or two, you've got to be careful.
"The other one loves poisoning people and Animals" Explains carl. "One of his other hobbies is throwing spiked balls around. Both the Fink Brothers also like nuclear war and Ronald Reagan, which makes them even more unpleasant."
"They live in an are called Cursed Earth which is outside Mega City One and they're trying to get into the city with the other Mutants. Mega City One is where Judge Dredd and his friends dispense Justice The Fink Brothers have stolen some tapes of Dredd's voice which they've used on the single, so that's why he's coming after them.
"The Fink Brothers say they want to go out on tour, but their behaviour is terrible. They don't just bite the heads off pigeons, they bite the heads off humans as well and they smell worse than Lemmy's feet."
Carl and Suggs are praying that if the single sells enough copies the horrible brothers will be content to return to their own time and leave them in peace to concentrate on Madness.
"If the Fink Brothers go soon or if they're Zapped by Judge Dredd. Madness will be able to release a single followed by an album and then a tour. Says Suggs.
So instead of getting involved in the heady world of the heavy duty music biz, Chas and Suggs are happy to down by the fire and pore over their comic collections.
"I like american comics as well" says suggs "like most kids i was attracted by the shiny covers. I've gone off them a bit now though, I dont think the scripts in american comics are as good as they used to be.
"2000ad, which features Judge Dredd, is really great - a modent comic for modern times and deal with violence in an honest way. There's talk of making a Judge Dredd film but I dont know if and when that will happen."
"The Fink Brothers are also demanding that we make a video of their single. They say that if we can't afford it they'll rob a bank for us".
No.1 Interview with The Fink Brothers From 1985
Across the Cursed Earth they came, two stinking mutants glowing green with radiation. Fink Angel and his brother Mean Machine Angel - two of the galaxy's ugliest, meanest criminals. They were heading for the 22nd Century's largest conurbation Megacity One for a fun evening of death, destruction and ten pin bowling. Then an idea struck them...
THE STORY SO FAR
Fink and Mean, known collectively as The Fink Brothers, have ditched their crime routine in favour of pop music.
The reckon they can coin the creds (money to you, citizen) by selling massive quantities of records.
So, after time-warping back to the 20th Century, they've signed up with Madness' record label Zarjazz.
Their first single 'Mutants From Megacity' is an anarchic dance song that sticks up with two green, grizzled fingers at Megacity's finest lawman, the famous comic character Judge Dredd.
By sheer coincidence Fink looks a little like Suggs and Mean bears an uncanny resemblance to Carl from Madness.
Pin-up material they are not - but you can still rely on No. 1 to come up with the first interview with The Fink Brothers themselves.
MAD MUTANTS
No. 1: How would you describe your record?
Fink: "It's really scrungey."
Mean: "It's dance music."
Fink: "Yes, we can understand your Earthlet trend of dancing. We had to realign our brain cells to the modern pop music of the 80s.
"The kind of record we'd like to make would be unlistenable to the average norm. (That means you and me, citizen.)
"People'll have to buy it or we'll turn to crime."
No. 1: I thought you muties hated norms, yet you're sitting here with me...
Mean: "We'll take your leg off later."
Fink: "We only hate norms because we were kept out of the city by them. Mutants aren't allowed in Megacity One, it's the law. They tend to warp out."
Mean: "It's nice here because there are no Judges. Judges are the people we really hate. Especially Judge Dredd."
No. 1: How come he appears on your record?
Fink: "Records about Judges are illegal in Megacity. If you were a norm and made a record about a Judge you'd get seven years in an iso-cube..."
Mean: "Which is not very nice."
Fink: "It's also seven years if you get caught with the record."
No. 1: We have a record here by The Human League named after Judge Dredd's famous line, 'I Am The Law'.
Fink: "Poofs."
Mean: "No, no, what are they?"
Fink: "I think they're grovelling squirmers."
Mean: "Humes."
Fink: "Norms."
Mean: "We have utter contempt for humes."
Fink: "No, they're grovelling, squirming norms because they were in praise of Judge Dredd, which is utterly comtemptible... really normish (both dissolve into hysterics)."
No. 1: As an awesomely ugly duo producing hip dance music, you're obviously going to be compared with Wham. Have you heard of them?
Mean: "I've heard Wham!"
Fink: "It's the noise he makes when he butts people."
Mean: "I'll butt anything, walls, vehicles..."
Fink: "My first musical experience was hitting someone over the head with a metal bar."
Mean: "There's a band over here called SPK that hit inanimate objects. We only hit live objects."
ZARJAZZ
The Fink Brothers are obviously going to be very big when it comes to audience participation on tour.
But what of their record company Zarjazz, the label set up by Madness - whose two vocalists could easily be mistaken for Fink and Mean with a large amount of make-up on?
No. 1: Zarjazz recently had a hit with Feargal Sharkey. Does the name ring a bell?
Fink: "Norm."
Mean: "Boring norm."
Fink: "We're using these norms to put out records on Zarjazz to make us a few creds."
Mean: "They have their uses."
No. 1: There's also this wacky band called Madness... (This is definitely the wrong question to ask. Fink starts to snarl at me and Mean begins to polish his metal claw menacingly.)
Mean: "Good name but... (sighs)"
Fink: "They're not mad at all."
Mean: "They don't know the meaning of the word."
Fink: "They've never poisoned whole families."
No. 1 (Trying to change the subject hurriedly): Tharg, the editor of 2000 AD comic, is a Betelgeusian. Is it easy to spot a Betelgeusian in a crowd?
Mean: "Oh yeah, certainly."
Fink: "The red dial on their forehead usually gives it away."
No. 1 (To Mean): You've got a dial on your forehead, too. What's that for?
Mean: "It's basically stages of viciousness. I can go from one to four. If they get the Mean Machine coming at them on four then they've had it."
No. 1: What's your favourite hobby?
Mean: "Going up to four."
MUTIE-VISON
These muties are very touchy people. Mean hasn't killed anything for hours - or so his press officer says - and he's beginning to get an itchy dial.
I can't possibly ask them if they'd enter the Eurovision song contest ... or can I?
Fink: "Yes, we would."
Mean: "But we'd have to kill all the other contestants."
No. 1: How would like to be remembered in the pop biz?
Mean: "For slime, for sludge."
Fink: "For evil."
Mean: "Our basic drives are fear, hate, pain..."
Fink: "Jealousy, greed, envy."
Mean: "All the good norm points reversed."
No. 1: What's your favourite strip in 2000 AD?
Fink: "Strontium Dog, he's a mutie."
Mean: "Yeah, he kills a lot of people. That's good workethic."
Fink: "He tries to catch criminals which a bit contemptible, but at least he does it for the creds."
Mean: "At least he does it for gain, which is OK by us."
No. 1: How are you boys giong to kill me after the interview?
Mean: "Slowly ... we always kill people slowly."
Fink: "We needn't kill him, we could always torture him..."
THE STORY SO FAR
Fink and Mean, known collectively as The Fink Brothers, have ditched their crime routine in favour of pop music.
The reckon they can coin the creds (money to you, citizen) by selling massive quantities of records.
So, after time-warping back to the 20th Century, they've signed up with Madness' record label Zarjazz.
Their first single 'Mutants From Megacity' is an anarchic dance song that sticks up with two green, grizzled fingers at Megacity's finest lawman, the famous comic character Judge Dredd.
By sheer coincidence Fink looks a little like Suggs and Mean bears an uncanny resemblance to Carl from Madness.
Pin-up material they are not - but you can still rely on No. 1 to come up with the first interview with The Fink Brothers themselves.
MAD MUTANTS
No. 1: How would you describe your record?
Fink: "It's really scrungey."
Mean: "It's dance music."
Fink: "Yes, we can understand your Earthlet trend of dancing. We had to realign our brain cells to the modern pop music of the 80s.
"The kind of record we'd like to make would be unlistenable to the average norm. (That means you and me, citizen.)
"People'll have to buy it or we'll turn to crime."
No. 1: I thought you muties hated norms, yet you're sitting here with me...
Mean: "We'll take your leg off later."
Fink: "We only hate norms because we were kept out of the city by them. Mutants aren't allowed in Megacity One, it's the law. They tend to warp out."
Mean: "It's nice here because there are no Judges. Judges are the people we really hate. Especially Judge Dredd."
No. 1: How come he appears on your record?
Fink: "Records about Judges are illegal in Megacity. If you were a norm and made a record about a Judge you'd get seven years in an iso-cube..."
Mean: "Which is not very nice."
Fink: "It's also seven years if you get caught with the record."
No. 1: We have a record here by The Human League named after Judge Dredd's famous line, 'I Am The Law'.
Fink: "Poofs."
Mean: "No, no, what are they?"
Fink: "I think they're grovelling squirmers."
Mean: "Humes."
Fink: "Norms."
Mean: "We have utter contempt for humes."
Fink: "No, they're grovelling, squirming norms because they were in praise of Judge Dredd, which is utterly comtemptible... really normish (both dissolve into hysterics)."
No. 1: As an awesomely ugly duo producing hip dance music, you're obviously going to be compared with Wham. Have you heard of them?
Mean: "I've heard Wham!"
Fink: "It's the noise he makes when he butts people."
Mean: "I'll butt anything, walls, vehicles..."
Fink: "My first musical experience was hitting someone over the head with a metal bar."
Mean: "There's a band over here called SPK that hit inanimate objects. We only hit live objects."
ZARJAZZ
The Fink Brothers are obviously going to be very big when it comes to audience participation on tour.
But what of their record company Zarjazz, the label set up by Madness - whose two vocalists could easily be mistaken for Fink and Mean with a large amount of make-up on?
No. 1: Zarjazz recently had a hit with Feargal Sharkey. Does the name ring a bell?
Fink: "Norm."
Mean: "Boring norm."
Fink: "We're using these norms to put out records on Zarjazz to make us a few creds."
Mean: "They have their uses."
No. 1: There's also this wacky band called Madness... (This is definitely the wrong question to ask. Fink starts to snarl at me and Mean begins to polish his metal claw menacingly.)
Mean: "Good name but... (sighs)"
Fink: "They're not mad at all."
Mean: "They don't know the meaning of the word."
Fink: "They've never poisoned whole families."
No. 1 (Trying to change the subject hurriedly): Tharg, the editor of 2000 AD comic, is a Betelgeusian. Is it easy to spot a Betelgeusian in a crowd?
Mean: "Oh yeah, certainly."
Fink: "The red dial on their forehead usually gives it away."
No. 1 (To Mean): You've got a dial on your forehead, too. What's that for?
Mean: "It's basically stages of viciousness. I can go from one to four. If they get the Mean Machine coming at them on four then they've had it."
No. 1: What's your favourite hobby?
Mean: "Going up to four."
MUTIE-VISON
These muties are very touchy people. Mean hasn't killed anything for hours - or so his press officer says - and he's beginning to get an itchy dial.
I can't possibly ask them if they'd enter the Eurovision song contest ... or can I?
Fink: "Yes, we would."
Mean: "But we'd have to kill all the other contestants."
No. 1: How would like to be remembered in the pop biz?
Mean: "For slime, for sludge."
Fink: "For evil."
Mean: "Our basic drives are fear, hate, pain..."
Fink: "Jealousy, greed, envy."
Mean: "All the good norm points reversed."
No. 1: What's your favourite strip in 2000 AD?
Fink: "Strontium Dog, he's a mutie."
Mean: "Yeah, he kills a lot of people. That's good workethic."
Fink: "He tries to catch criminals which a bit contemptible, but at least he does it for the creds."
Mean: "At least he does it for gain, which is OK by us."
No. 1: How are you boys giong to kill me after the interview?
Mean: "Slowly ... we always kill people slowly."
Fink: "We needn't kill him, we could always torture him..."
Who Are The Fink Brothers?
THE FINK BROTHERS
(Left) - Fink Angel - Graham "Suggs" McPherson
(Right) - Mean "Machine" Angel - Carl "Chas Smash" Smythe
Suggs and Carl are two members of Madness the seven piece ska and pop band from London. They are the lead and second vocalists in the band. www.madness.co.uk
The Fink Brothers was a side project these two undertook in 1985 after setting up the Zarjazz record label to expand the creativity of the band, into other areas. They were both avid 2000AD readers at the time of this project and they took the name the Fink Brothers from the comic strip Judge Dredd .
Fink Angel and Mean Machine Angel are two members of the angel gang a vicious band of hill-billy mutants from the waste land outside of Mega-city one. Sworn enemies of Judge Dread not least because he killed most of their family. They sampled Judge Dredd's voice and came back in time with this record to make money and take over the world, without a Judge to stop them!
Suggs and Carl on why they chose the Fink Brothers characters...
Suggs: "We wanted as much as possible to make it like the comic, not just a record by a couple of out of work pop stars, but to make it something that (was) actually part of the comic, more for the people who read it and for other people to be able to get a vague grasp of what it is, as opposed to just writing a Madness song about Judge Dredd. We keep to the characters because it makes it more fun for the readers of 2000AD, it would have spoiled it if it said the real
people on the back."
Carl: "Y'see the comic is full of thrill power, every Friday we get up and we look for our comic, so if we let the front slip and admitted it was by us, then our thrill circuits would be sucked by thrill suckers who are all around us at all times." - Jammin Magazine February 1985
Fink Angel
Fink angel is the character the name The Fink Brothers originates from. (Although they starred together in the strip Destiny's Angels as a Duo, they are not referred to as the Fink brothers directly in 2000AD.) Coming to life in the four part story "The Fink", he appears as a badly mutated member of the Angel family out for revenge on Dredd for his deceased family members. A ghastly killer he is an expert on poison and used to live in a hole estranged from his family kept company by his bowler hat wearing pet rat. He later teams up with Mean and goes after Dredd , finally perishing when Dredd pushes him onto his fathers own torture machine.
The Fink appears in 2000AD PROGS 194 - 197 and 280 - 288.
In Prog 1250 - 1261 a Fink from another dimension appears.
Mean Machine AngelMean machine Angel was actually nice before his cruel father, wanting him to be evil like the
rest of the family, had him operated on. Given a robotic claw arm and his brain mostly replaced with a metal helmet featuring a dial that sets his emotions - 1-Surly 2-Mean 3-Vicious 4- Brutal - he occasionally he gets stuck on 4 1/2 and goes into a head butting frenzy. He lost his other arm when Dredd shot it off. He died when head butting a petrol pump. This is his general level of intelligence. He was later resurrected by a powerful mystic called the Judge Child and has been in and out of the Mega-city one jails (Iso-cubes) ever since often failing attempts at rehabilitation.
He appears in 2000AD PROGS 160, 177-180, 195, 280-288, 450, 730-736, 958,1084. Dredd annual 1983, In the graphic novel "Three Amigos", the Batman crossover "Judgment on Gotham", The Lobo Crossover Pycho Bikers from hell. He appeared in the Judge Dredd film. Had his own solo series running in Megazine #2 issues 47, 63-72, 82. 1995 and 1996 Sci fi specials. 1995 Judge Dredd Yearbook. 1996 Judge Dredd Mega Special. Megazine #3 issue 69, 74, 78 And issues 215, 218 - 220. And a prequel series on the Angel gang in issues 258-256.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW
After serving seven years in an Iso-cube (pop wilderness) for sampling a Judge on their record, the Fink Brothers reformed for a series of one off concerts in Finksbury park where the ground shook (cus they blew it up). They recently set up Fink Book a ghastly time sucking website that enslaves the masses and makes them into brainless mutants.
Madness are still rocking away with a new top five album "The Liberty Of Norton Folgate" out in 2009, Suggs has worked on solo music projects and numerous TV and Radio shows since the 80's and even written a book about London. Carl was very much the star of the movie version of "The Liberty Of Norton Folgate" directed by Julien Temple and his solo victorian character moments echoed the tough spirit of his creative comic past and he is currently working on a dubstep album, his return perhaps to dance rythms too, he now lives in Ibiza.
A Few Words From The Fink Bloggers
FINK - "Don't be slow, have to run, Mutie coming with his gun!"
"Welcome to the bone picking party!" - MEAN
(Bok!..Bok!….sound of vicious head butting)
A FEW WORDS FROM SOMEONE A LITTLE MORE SANE
Welcome, Madness fans, 2000AD fans and people who have nothing better to do than aimlessly surf the internet. Twenty Five years ago (1985) the nutty pop band Madness formed a record label named ZARJAZZ! inspired by their favourite weekly comic 2000AD. "Zarjazz" is Betelgeusian for "Brilliant" and brilliant it was. One of the first records on Zarjazz was Mutants in Mega City One. Recorded by members of Madness under the name The Fink Brothers, it was a tribute to the 2000AD character Judge Dredd. This blog is an archive celebration of this mutant masterpiece. Here you will find a guide to this record and the inspiration behind it. Also pictures of Madness as the Fink Brothers and interviews with these mad mutants from 1985. See 2000AD Prog 403 which Madness appear in, (check out the cover!) See pictures of a character named after Suggs! See the video and The Fink Brothers caught on camera! Attacking a kids tv presenter! Finally read extracts from some of the actual Judge Dredd strips read by Suggs and Carl that gave them the idea to write this single and call themselves FINK. Also for the 25th Anniversary year something new from the Finks will appear on this blog too.
Enjoy this new Fink Bloggers edition of 2000Mad before Judge Dredd shuts us down because IT'S THE LAW!…………
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