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The Business
rn 1979, in southeast London, singer
Micky Fitz formed a band that to this day still refuses to take
shit from anyone... ANYONE. They are called The Business.
Along with Micky, The Business is guitar player Steve Whale,
bassist Bones, and drummer Mick Fairbairn. The Business have
put out 12 studio albums, 12 live albums, and they have over 35
comps under their belts. They have a new record due out on
Epitaph in the future. Their manager John Smith informed me,
"The Business' favorite soccer team is 'West Ham United' from
East London. All other soccer teams from other cities in London
are irrelevant."
...CMPX7......MFV22......SPP522
I said he was a bouncer but didn't have a staff shirt
or anything. To hear it from John it sounds like a fucking war.
"Denver was a misunderstanding that turned into a fight, then a brawl,
then a shooting. After sound check and before any of the opening bands
even played, Bones and a 'Mexican gang member' got into a dispute of
words. The gang member stupidly decided to step up to Bones and
antagonize him. Bones is probably the last person on earth you would
want to fuck with because he is 6'5" and weighs 300 pounds."
So, as the story goes, Bones headbutts this guy so hard his head splits
open and blood is running everywhere. The guy calls the police and tries
to have Bones arrested; he says he wants to file a lawsuit against him.
According to Smith, "The police laughed at the gang member and
promptly left the scene. Police are not normally into helping gang mem-
bers with their personal problems."
Well, thirty minutes later this
...Bones headbutts this guy
guy and eight of
so hard his head splits open... his friends are
So I'm sitting in the basement bar of Top Cats with Steve Whale from
The Business. They just finished an amazing set and now all we have left
to do is get Micky Fitz, lead singer, to stand up and walk outside for a
photo. This has been going on for 20 minutes. "He gets like that some-
times," says Steve. While we're sitting I ask him about this wild press
release I got from John Smith and the crazy stories it describes. I am
completely stunned to find out that everything matches word for word.
America, watch your ass, The Business is "in country."
According to John Smith it starts in Hollywood, of all places. The
Business are playing a sold-out show at the Key Club on Sunset
Boulevard, and "everyone was there including all the major label A&R
guys in suits who all desperately wanted to sign the band, but they were
told by the band to fuck off." The Business had already signed to Epitaph
for their US releases.
We are still sitting in the bar, and Micky hasn't moved since he said hi
and shook hands. Steve goes on to tell me about Salt Lake City. "So we're
in Salt Lake City and there are these 'straight-edge nazis'. I've never
heard of 'straight-edge nazis' in my life." Only in Salt Lake City, folks.
From here on in I'll let John tell it. "They're at the DV8 in Salt Lake City,
and the third song into the set some maniac gets onstage and attacks
Micky. Stage security knocks this asshole out cold and, like scene from
an old Western movie, the entire place turns into a classic domino-effect
brawl where this guy hits that guy, who bumps into this guy, who hits that
guy, and so on and so forth. Salt Lake City police respond to the 'distur-
bance' by overreacting in full riot-gear regalia and announcing they are
ordering the venue closed down and the gig over. No one paid any atten-
tion. Then came the tear gas and rubber bullets. Show over." Sounds like
a rough life? Well, you haven't heard the half of it.
Micky still hasn't moved, so we keep talking about the cross-country
brawl. Steve tells me about a show in Denver where there was guy who
banging on the
door of the RV, wielding bats and steel pipes, yelling for Bones to "come
out of the bus so we can kick your fucking ass." Bones comes out of the
bus swinging a pool ball in a sock saying, "Who wants some?" and, in
Smith's words, "proceeds to whack four of the gang members in the
head." In a few seconds they are on the ground, knocked out cold, blood
beginning to pool on the ground in front of their heads. Everyone who
wasn't knocked out ran like the wind, and a little while later the cops
came back to see what was up.
"The cops congratulated Bones on a job well done, and with no wit-
nesses willing to speak to the police they just stood around talking
amongst themselves," tells Smith. "Then five minutes later a car drove
by in front of the venue with more gang members in it. They opened up
with a 12-gauge shotgun and began pumping rounds into the side of
the RV."
I'm stunned. I ask Steve what's up with this story, and he promises to
give me a chance to take pictures of the holes in the RV. He proceeds to
tell me that at the time of the shooting, "Luckily everyone was either
going to the bathroom, laying down, or getting something to drink. The
first shot hit right under the driver's seat and missed 'em by a hair." We
later walked outside and sure enough, there are big buckshot holes in the
side of the RV. "Denver police were standing right there in front of the
venue when the shooting went down, and they quickly arrested the
shooter, the driver, and his accomplices. They were charged with
attempted murder and now sit in a Denver jail cell facing stiff Colorado
laws of 25 to life, minimum. The RV was impounded for 24 hours as
evidence and unfortunately the next day's gig in Oklahoma City had
to be cancelled." The Business is no joke; they put on an amazing
show, and if they come to your town, don't even think about
missing 'em.
After trying in vain to get Micky to come out and take some
pictures, we took a roll of photos without him. For a bunch of hardcore
brawlers, you will never meet a nicer, more accommodating band than
The Business. Unless of course you decide to "butt heads."
I shook hands and told Steve I hoped he had better luck with the rest
of the tour since it was ending in Boston, and who knows what could
happen there? "As long as nothing gets burned down, we'll be fine.
Burned down? "Oh yeah, once in..."
At the end of their U.S. tour The Business is headed back to England
and into the studio to record a new record, and then it's off to Germany,
Sweden, and Denmark to play 80,000-plus-seat stadiums with Slayer.
-Words and photo by Tyler Borich
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