Police Car

Album: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1979)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In 2010, Jeff Turner of Cockney Rejects published his autobiography - co-written with Gary Bushell. In this book he relates two incidents which between them inspired no less than three songs: "I'm Not A Fool," "Police Car" and "(They're Gonna) Put Me Away."

    At the age of 14 he was in a gang, and one day they tried to shake down someone for £200,000, a sort of mini protection racket. They thought it was a laugh but ended up in court where the police spun a web of lies that made this none-too-humorous joke sound credible. Three weeks later he was arrested at a football match. This appears to have been gratuitous. When the first case came to court he was convicted and given a suspended sentence and a £100 fine. Thinking he couldn't do any worse, the second time he sacked his lawyer and defended himself.

    Turner related: "It was a very simplistic argument: why would I be shouting, punching and kicking in an end full of my own supporters? I said that it beggared belief." His friend who was tried with him said the same. The magistrates agreed, obviously "because they gave the copper a grilling. Then they summed up the case in no time and said that the two of us were not guilty and we were free to go."

    The very short "Police Car" was inspired by this second misadventure. It was actually recorded as The S--tters, but fortunately that didn't last long; it remains to be seen how far the band would have got had they not changed their name. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining Victims

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining VictimsSong Writing

Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.