Patrik Fitzgerald
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Patrik Fitzgerald is a singer/songwriter, born in Stratford, London March 19 1956, of working-class Irish immigrant parents. He started recording and performing with the uprising of the punk rock movement in 1977, after working briefly as an actor.
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[edit] Early Recordings
Early songs were generally short, sarcastic efforts, recorded with just an acoustic guitar and occasional studio effects, with lyrics containing a large amount of social comment. Patrik was soon regarded as an original of his genre, somewhere between a punk-poet and an urban folksinger, and was lauded in some circles as "the new Bob Dylan". After starting out as a busker, he approached David Bowie's original manager, Ken Pitt, requesting his services; Pitt declined but an audition was set up with Noel Gay in 1975 who also turned Patrik down. In 1976 Patrik auditioned, alongside Mick Jones and Tony James for the band London SS, again without success. After a spell acting in a communal theatre group, he drifted towards the developing Punk scene. He was a regular customer at the Small Wonder record shop in London, and when Small Wonder launched a record label Patrik was one of the first to submit a demo - and got a deal, with the new label releasing his first three EPs, the first being 'Safety-Pin Stuck In My Heart', still his best-known work, and one which he subtitles "a love song for punk music". Patrik became a regular performer at London Punk gigs, and supported The Jam on their national tour.
[edit] Polydor Era
These early recordings attracted interest from Polydor who signed him up to record his first LP, 'Grubby Stories' in 1979, recorded with established punk musicians including Robert Blamire of Penetration and John Maher of The Buzzcocks. The LP contained 17 tracks, 7 of them recorded with these musicians. Two singles were also released by Polydor, either side of the album, and Patrik undertook a tour with a new group of musicians: Colin Peacock (guitar), Charlie Francis (bass) (later to join Toyah), and Rab Fae Beith on drums (later of The Wall).
Patrik appeared in the post-punk documentary 'Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed' in 1979/80 contributing the title song 'Island of Lost Souls' and one performance of 'Tonight' with Colin Peacock on keyboards.
[edit] Early 1980s
After being dropped by Polydor, Patrik continued to play solo acoustic concerts, gradually forsaking the ironic, sarcastic mode for a more deeply-etched, darker formulation.
Now unmanaged, Patrik returned again to acoustic solo performance, then releasing a single under the pseudonym Josef Garrett, then, using a borrowed Revox, he began recording a series of backing tapes to use in live performance. These recordings, based partly on the former group's unreleased material, with Patrik playing everything, were released in 1982 by Red Flame as his second album 'Gifts and Telegrams'.
At this point, Patrik formed a small group of solo performers, working under the banner, Ghosts of Individuals, and featuring himself, David Harrow, U.V.Pop, Kevin Hewick and Anne Clark (known for her solo albums on Red Flame). The forerunner of London's cabaret scene, the Ghosts, like Patrik's music, was aimed at, and appealed to London's loners.
Following this, in mid 1983, Patrik formed a collusion with a peripheral musician from the Ghosts, clarinet player Alistair Roberts, and along with three more brass instruments players he recorded his next LP, 'Drifting Towards Violence'. The music on it is mostly acoustic, accompanied by the gloomy sound of the brass section and hard-hitting lyrics. Released by Belgian label Himalaya the record went completely unadvertised, and, consequently, sank without leaving a trace. The release was followed by a solo tour of Europe, where Patrik has retained a loyal following.
[edit] Return in 1986
In 1986 he released 'Tunisian Twist', which introduced a radical change of style towards a more commercial sound. The album features a guitar/bass/drums/keyboards band, with a brass section; its sound is thus much fuller than Patrik's previous work. The lyrics deal with subjects as diverse as terrorism, surrogate birth and trade unionism in the climate of Thatcher's 'economic realism'. While some of the songs are heavy with ironic humour in the manner of Patrik's early days, there remains the biting incisiveness which has always been his hallmark.
In that year he also contributed a duo with Anne Clark to the compilation LP 'Abuse - Artists For Animals', dealing with the controversy of bullfights.
In the absence of commercial success, Patrik took a job as a waiter at the House Of Commons, before relocating to Normandy in France in 1988. However, he found himself disenchanted and unable to find gainful employment, and so returned to England three years later.
[edit] 1990s and beyond
The early 1990s saw Patrik return to playing gigs again, and he also launched an acting career, the most high-profile engagement of which was a version of Moliere's The Miser at Stratford.
Seven years after his last release, 1993 saw the release of a new album on Red Flame, 'Treasures from the Wax Museum', a compilation of early 80s material, with four new tracks.
In 1995 he released 'Pillow tension' on the Greek label Lazy Dog and relocated to New Zealand.
Beat Bedsit Records issued 'Room service' a CD with new bedroom recordings in 2001.
The album 'Floating Population' (2006) was issued to coincide with an European tour with Attila the Stockbroker. It contains a few new songs and alternative versions/recordings of songs spanning his entire career.
'Dark side of the room' (2006) is a split CD with the band POG. It contains 12 tracks from Patrik Fitzgerald, mostly versions of old songs.
A documentary shot by filmmaker Dom Shaw (Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed) is in production and has a working title of 'Improve Myself'. Details of this project appear on www.anonymousfilms.co.uk
