The Fire Engines

Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The band was a part of the same literary art-punk scene as the Scars and Josef K.  The members were Davy Henderson (vocals/guitar), Murray Slade (guitar), Graham Main (bass), and Russell Burn (drums).  The Fire Engines' debut release was the "Get Up And Use Me"/"Everything's Roses" single, released on manager Angus Groovy's Codex Communications label in 1980; The band had recorded their entire set twice in a Fife bungalow with producer Wilf Smarties, at a cost of £46, with these two tracks selected for release.  "Get Up and Use Me" was given 'Single of the Week' in both NME and Sounds. The band's live shows rarely lasted longer than twenty minutes — Henderson said of the early live shows: "We played to our strengths, which were minimal, but somehow, as a band, it worked. We never played chords and Russell didn’t use cymbals or hi-hats. It was very violent although no-one got hurt. Pure aggression, attitude and hate was what it was." The band were offered a deal by Postcard Records, but opted for Bob Last's Fast Product label.