• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

"THE PIES THE PIES" On The M6 & Other Classic Graffiti

Where in Leamington was this (sorry, my hometown)?

IIRC, round the back of the big church at the bottom of town, by the Royal Mail sorting office - I think it was on one of the white buildings at the junction of Church Terrace (from looking at Google Earth). I seem to recall it might have appeared on the wall of the old Polish centre too. It was a good 20+ years ago now, and it took me some considerable time to find out who this George Davis was (not helped by the fact it looked like George Pavis) and what he'd not done...and then did do. Nowadays, you'd just Google it and have the whole story before you reached the end of the street.
 
IIRC, round the back of the big church at the bottom of town, by the Royal Mail sorting office - I think it was on one of the white buildings at the junction of Church Terrace (from looking at Google Earth). I seem to recall it might have appeared on the wall of the old Polish centre too. It was a good 20+ years ago now, and it took me some considerable time to find out who this George Davis was (not helped by the fact it looked like George Pavis) and what he'd not done...and then did do. Nowadays, you'd just Google it and have the whole story before you reached the end of the street.

I actually remember that, now you've given it a location.
 
IIRC, round the back of the big church at the bottom of town, by the Royal Mail sorting office - I think it was on one of the white buildings at the junction of Church Terrace (from looking at Google Earth). I seem to recall it might have appeared on the wall of the old Polish centre too. It was a good 20+ years ago now, and it took me some considerable time to find out who this George Davis was (not helped by the fact it looked like George Pavis) and what he'd not done...and then did do. Nowadays, you'd just Google it and have the whole story before you reached the end of the street.


That *does* sound vaguely familiar. Not that I spend my time hanging around All Saints Church, but the Jug and Jester pub (these days The Old Library) is next door to the churchyard and I've frequently parked up in the road behind it to collect parcels from the sorting office since the late 90s.
 
In the town of Tempe, Arizona, they've had a problem with a graffiti "artist":
Oh the vulgarity (vid at the link, too)

Except all he (or she? Probably not) writes is "PENIS MAN" over and over, obsessively across the place. Either that or he's more profound than we thought, and he's writing "PEN IS MAN".
 
In the town of Tempe, Arizona, they've had a problem with a graffiti "artist":
Oh the vulgarity (vid at the link, too)

Except all he (or she? Probably not) writes is "PENIS MAN" over and over, obsessively across the place. Either that or he's more profound than we thought, and he's writing "PEN IS MAN".

But what *is* Penis Man's superpower?
 
“Bored kid writes something he knows will push buttons. Councillor Bartoli achieves several column inches of publicity.”

maximus otter
I recall a great photo of a tory mp posing in a kids playground on a slide or something. Someone had drawn a cock and balls on the side of it. Unknown to him he was standing in exactly the right place for it to look as if he had his tackle out. I posed it here but it got took down for being 'political'.
 
I recall a great photo of a tory mp posing in a kids playground on a slide or something. Someone had drawn a cock and balls on the side of it. Unknown to him he was standing in exactly the right place for it to look as if he had his tackle out. I posed it here but it got took down for being 'political'.
Post it again Lord!
 
Here you go. He deserved it!
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co....otice-rude-graffiti--says-election-candidate/
Tiger Video Still.jpeg.gallery.jpg
Tiger Video Still.jpeg.gallery.jpg
 
I didn’t know there was a THE PIES thread! I was involved…
 
Some 25 years ago someone sprayed 'Unorfadox' on a railway bridge, which I thought was quite clever.
Sadly it turned out to be a local band's name.
 
more! pretty please! :twothumbs:
So…! I used to do some of the artwork for them Poster art, T-shirts, flyers etc. My main contribution was the “Pieface” artwork, and my proudest achievements were an enormous “Pieface” stage backdrop in UV fluorescent green with bright orange eyes, and a dancing Pieface with inflatable guitar, built in the style of those dancing flowers that were popular in the 1990s.

The Pies had a bit of a guerrilla attitude to promotion, hence the memorable graffiti campaigns (I had no involvement in any of that I hasten to add!)
One of the earliest graffiti appearances was I think at Kirkdale station; “THE PIES” emblazoned on the big sandstone wall to the east of the platform - a familiar landmark to anyone travelling on the Merseyrail Northern Line.

The imaginative approach to publicity wasn’t just limited to graffiti - there were extensive flyposter campaigns, and they had some friend in regional telly, which led to one or two memorable occurrences.
In one incident, on the TV show Brookside, Ron Dixon is at the “Poly” student union bar, where Ron’s son is performing in his band. Ron is having a heart-to-heart with the lad, telling him he needs to ditch these fancy ideas of becoming a musician and generally knuckle down. On the wall by Ron’s head there is a tour poster of “The Pies” clearly visible. Ron pauses, turns to the poster disparagingly, and says words to the effect of, “I mean, come on! The Pies? For crying out loud!”
Another time, on a Sunday midday talkshow / current affairs / debate programme on Granada, (I forget the name) they managed to get Pies T-shirts on a large number of the participants.

Sadly, it was all a bit chaotic though, and throughout the 90s they never released anything, ultimately disbanding. However, the lead singer, Ashley, kept the band alive. He brought in a new crew and they have had some modest success since, releasing at least a couple of CDs. They occasionally pop up to this day, playing one-off gigs here and there.

It is a big regret that I never got any photos of the stage backdrop at a gig, it looked spectacular. The dancing pie was slightly less impressive - it didn’t work properly and just juddered around a bit. I do have some of the T-shirt artwork still, and one or two of the old posters. I shall pop up into the attic and take some pics.
 
I ride that route all the time - it was my commute from Bath to Bristol for a few years - and missed that bit of wisdom!!

(But Paddington 2 was fantastic, of course...)
It's going back a bit - maybe eight or nine years. I haven't ridden that section for ages: though I still work in Bath quite regularly I usually bus it. I do use the Bristol end of it a lot though- they've cleaned it up no end, so no clever graffiti .
 
Last edited:
View attachment 19108

I got this from an exhibition in the Turner gallery. There's some reflection from the glass over the photo.
Dunno if I've mentioned this before, but that photo rings a bell.
I've seen it, or one like it: a reminder to Rhyl, north Wales, beachgoers not to leave litter or specifically broken glass on the sand, on pain of prosecution.
 
Back
Top