Just a quickie with... punk legend Tim Smith, aka TV Smith of The Adverts.

You may have seen TV Smith on BBC4’s Punk Britannia series, spouting eloquently on the last great uprising in British rock music.

He is doing the touring rounds once more, playing downstairs in the Basement bar at City Screen, York, tonight.

Charles Hutchinson has a word with Mr Smith.

How come no young’uns are writing angry, social, political, state-of-the-nation songs about modern Britain any more, Tim?

“First of all, you will find 12 songs like that on Coming In To Land, my latest album, that does address what’s going on.

“But more seriously, people have been beaten down into thinking that any kind of resistance is futile, and they don’t dare to react to what’s happening, to write about it, to complain about it or express what’s going on.

“They just expect to have less influence, less money, and instead of making the most of the luxury of living in the 21st century, they’re being taught to accept that struggle is the normal way to be.

“That’s why I hated that woman [Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher] so much because of what she did.”

You tour solo these days. Why?

“I play 100 TV Smith shows a year and I’ve been doing it regularly for ten years now.

“The first time I played solo was after Attila The Stockbroker came to see my band, Cheap, in the late-Eighties, early Nineties, and he said, ‘You’ve got great songs, but the best thing for you to do is go out on your own’.

“I thought I’d give it a crack and actually it was very thrilling to be able to play my songs the way I wrote them, so it went from initially being a practical thing, when I couldn’t make any money from being in a band, to realising that this was the way I wanted to play, taking requests from the audience.

“And there’s no hiding place. It’s just you out there.”

What has been the impact on you of playing solo?

“I feel that when I started doing these gigs, I was reclaiming my own songs. Like when I played with Cheap, I couldn’t do any Adverts songs, so it’s been like a weight off my shoulders.

“To have a choice of 200 to 300 songs… you’d have to do an awfully long set to do all of them; I’d be playing non-stop for a couple of days, but I have done three-hour sets in Germany, where they don’t have that British curfew of closing at 11 o’clock. If people are into it in Germany, the gig keeps going!”

Are you comfortable with your status as a spokesman for the punk generation?

“There’s no getting away from it. The Adverts were one of the first ten punk bands and one of the first five that played The Roxy. I’m still out there playing songs and I’m happy to be a front man for punk.

“I’m 56 now and lots of the punk generation aren’t around any more, but I’m healthy enough to keep the spirit of punk rock alive, where you say what you mean in your songs rather than giving in to a commercial cop-out.”

• TV’s Over presents TV Smith in the Basement bar, City Screen, York, tonight at 8pm, supported by Jake And The Jelly Fish.

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