Remembering Malcolm Owen: The Ruts 5 Best songs

The Ruts : Something That I Said

[Purchase]

On July 14, 1980, just weeks after Ian Curtis's suicide, Malcolm Owen of The Ruts died at the age of 25 from a heroin overdose. The charismatic frontman with the hoarse voice had hit rock bottom earlier in the year. He had been kicked out of the band, sold all of his possessions, separated from his wife and moved in with his parents. He had just persuaded The Ruts he was ready to rejoin the band when he was found dead of an overdose in the bath at his parents' home. 

For 18 months The Ruts were among the most exciting bands in the U.K. Here are 5 Ruts songs you need to know.

1. Babylon's Burning

One of the great singles from the Summer of '79, "Babylon's Burning"peaked at UK #7 while providing a soundtrack as Margaret Thatcher's anti-union, anti-immigrant, monetarist policies took effect. Appearing on the Times Square soundtrack in the US, this is far and away their best known song.

2. In a Rut

John Peel championed this song which sold 20,000 copies. Enough to be a UK #1 these days, but too few to break into the UK Top 75 in '79. Considering the fate of the singer, its chorus "If you're in a rut You gotta get out of it, out of it, out of it" resonates as much as its anti-heroin B-side "H Eyes".

3. S.U.S.

From the Ruts debut The Crack, which Henry Rollins calls "the best album ever made". The band's roadie Mannah assisted in writing "S.U.S" which deals with the vagrancy act, widely used by London's Metropolitan Police Service in the late 1970s to hassle anyone they wanted.

4.  Staring At The Rude Boys

This UK #22 hit, the last before Malcolm's death, celebrates crowded night clubs, invoking a special kind of nostalgia in this day of social distancing: 

The skins in the corner are staring at the bar 

 The rude boys are dancing to some heavy heavy ska 

 It's getting so hot people are dripping with sweat 

 The punks in the corner are speeding like a jet 

5. Something That I Said

One more from The Crack. this UK#29 hit is a message to all the rude boys,"So get off your pedestal Before you ain't got no friends no more".