Alistair Murray (Person)

Alistair 1981 © Helen Craig

A guitarist, Alistair (we always pronounced his name as such, but he is in fact Alastair) was one of the best musicians around and was extremely active at the end of the '70s and in the first half of the '80s. A striking figure, he resembled Vini Reilly and, at least for a time, favoured leather trousers. In 1980 he was the front man of punk band The Rotting Corpse, until John Peel told them that their time had passed. He then founded Pogle. He was also involved on and off with High Wycombe punk legends, the Xtraverts, and was second guitarist with local heavy rock sensations Overdose (a.k.a. The Tuxedos). Alistair was a member of the Snot Babies and performed with CA on four occasions, including our very first performance (in our guise as the Snot Babies. Having been banned from the premises, Alistair appeared (playing bass, with which he is also proficient) with a brown paper bag over his head), and at our penultimate appearance at Ewelme Village Hall. He also recorded with CA, his largest contribution being to the collection of tracks known as the Biohazard Sessions, recorded in July 1981 (and again in the summer of '82), and around which we did one of our two concerts alongside A House, a local band that CA shared some common ground with, and the first band that Geoff Rushton featured in (later to become John Balance). The ubiquitous and highly energetic Alistair was also a member of the final line-up of that ensemble.

See also:
Concerts