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Restricted Hours / The Astronauts - Getting Things Done - Mark Wilkins & Alan Cowley

389 views · Published 5 June 2018 · 3:39 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: divergence films · 2018 · Music

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Astronauts offshoot Restricted Hours featuring Mark Astronaut (  Mark Wilkins )  and Alan Cowley. Arcade Eclectic Stage at Rhythms of the World festival in Hitchin.
The Astronauts - https://www.facebook.com/TheAstronautsBand
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Listen to Astronauts songs playlist here :  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ1gHxL1-eBtCLbDm_aofrgdSz_OhxNzX

Inspired by the UK punk explosion Mark Astronaut ( Mark Wilkins ) formed the band with a few friends in 1977 and began playing local gigs in their hometown of Welwyn Garden City. By 1979 The Astronauts were regularly appearing at free festivals and gigs in London organised by a hippy collective known as Fuck Off Records and from these began a close friendship with punk bands Zounds and the Mob.That year the first Astronauts ep was released on local label Bugle Records and musically it reflected the hippie drug culture combined with the energy of punk.'All Night Party' still sounds like the paranoid nightmare it did back then.The record established the Astronauts on the local gig scene among the non mainstream hippie/punk/biker crowd.Also in 1979 an ep was released under the assumed name of RESTRICTED HOURS on the Stevenage Rock Against Racism label.'Getting Things Done' attacked the political apathy of smalltown life while 'Still Living Out The Carcrash' was musically a typically nightmarish theme.

By 1980 gigs throughout England with Zounds had won over an army of fans and the 'Pranksters In Revolt' ep sold all its copies within weeks.Musically the 4 songs were not as adventurous as the first ep although the lyrics were as incisive as ever.Like many great bands from the postpunk era the Astronauts were completely ignored by the UK music press which then as now was only interested in anything trendy,fashionable or middle class.Local fanzine Zero began to champion the band as did the local newspapers.
'Peter Pan Hits The Suburbs' was released in 1981 to widespread acclaim.Incredibly it received great reviews in virtually all the UK music press.The typical Astronauts audience at the time was largely hardcore punks attracted by the energetic gigs and a handful of hippies so the album was something of a surprise.Full of heartfelt folk ballads and featuring legendary jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill the album was not what fans had expected but appealed to a different audience.The contradiction of heavy chaotic punk performances and structured melodic alternative pop/folk/ambient songs continues to this day.

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