Nothing To Do was the first ever song Mike Peters wrote as he walked home from The Bistro in Rhyl to his home in Kinmel Bay in 1977. This was a song that became part of the live set for The Toilets. Nothing To Do was the first song played by The Toilets at their first gig at The Palace Hotel, Rhyl, a gig arranged by Dave Sharp are seeing The Toilets in their rehearsal room after he had returned to Rhyl after a period spent with the Merchant Navy.
Nothing To Do Lyrics from the Mike Peters Songbook
Hello, Welcome to Rhyl, this is the Foryd harbour in Rhyl, where the Clywd river flows down through Denbighshire all the way to the sea, to the East here we got Rhyl town centre where I was brought up and I’m sat here right by the site where the Metal Mikey statue to Mike Peters, one of Rhyl’s sons, it was put here, the council wanted to have these statues to commemorate people who had done well coming from Rhyl, including Mike Peters from The Alarm which is a very big honour and it’s just occurred to me when I came here with Ziggy for a walk, that when I was walking along the promenade from The Bistro, where we used to out every night in the late 70’s and 80’s young Mike Peters, punk rocker was walking along to his home in Kinmel Bay, over the Foryd Bridge. It was probably at this point, that the first ever song I ever wrote arrived in my imagination, I was walking home on my own back coming back from The Bistro probably had a couple beers and was thinking how do you write a song, I had no idea, I remember I’ll start with my imagination, I’ll imagine the first ever record for the band I’m going to start I’ll imagine it in my mind and I’ll come up with a song. As I was walking along I came up with “Really messed up here, messed up, got no-one to talk to, no-one, got no future, future, I got nothing to do, bam bam, got nothing to do, got nothing nothing nothing to do”. I was off I was a proper song writing punk rocker from that moment on and I got a song book, just any old black ledger book with white paper, put a sticker on it that said Mike Peters Songbook and I’ve still got it to this day and the first song on the first page is called Nothing To Do – Mike Peters, Rhyl Promenade 1st March 2021 originally from the Alarm Central platform
Nothing To Do was the first song performed at The Swan public house, Rhyl, Wales on the Friday evening of the first Gathering in December 1992, when Mike put together a mainly punk rock set as The Toilets, with Mike on guitar, Patrick Smith on guitar and Dave Watkins-Clarke on drums.
Click player below to hear an audience recording made of Nothing To Do at The Swan, Rhyl. Wales 11th December 1992
The first time the song was released was in 2004 as part of the Alarmstock II release, The fifth Set 5 of the day released under the title of Yesterday As If It Was Today.
Nothing To Do has occasionally been played live, normally in an acoustic format, it has certainly been performed at a Gathering and part of the Sixty Eight Guns 40th anniversary event at The Red, Dyserth in 2024.
The song was revisited to become part of the Vinyl film and consequent Vinyl Soundtrack album. As far is known currently there are no studio / rehearsal recordings of the song as recorded by The Toilets.
Vinyl Soundtrack recording details 2013
Running length 1:11
Written By: Mike Peters
Musicians & Credits
Mike Peters – Lead Vocals, Punk Rock Guitar
Phil Daniels – Vocals
James Stevenson – Bass & Electric Guitar
Steve “Smiley” Barnard – Drums
Craig Adams – Bass Guitar
Recorded at Aerial Studios, Wrexham, Wales
Recorded by Mark Warden, Martin Wilding & Mark Joy
Produced by Mike Peters
Music Supervisor Steve Allan Jones
Mixed by Andrea Wright at Aerial Studios, Wrexham, Wales
Mastered by Kai Blankenberg at Skyline Tonfabrik
Click on above image for audio of Nothing To Do from the Vinyl soundtrack album, hosted on the Official The Alarm youtube channel
Album appearances & discography of studio version
The following is a Worldwide release
(v) 15th March 2013 : The Alarm – Vinyl Free Rock and Roll
Released on CD by Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C062
2013 original recording
Officially released live recordings ~ Audio
All are Worldwide releases except where stated
29th August 2004. Record at NEWI Lecture Theatre Stage, Wrexham, Wales
Running length 4:01
Performed by Mike Peters solo acoustic
Released on CD in 2004 Mike Peters Alarmstock II Set 5 Yesterday As If It Was Today, no catalogue number
(v) 26th January 2013. Recorded at The Gathering 21, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales
Running length 1:07
Performed by The Alarm : Mike Peters, James Stevenson, Craig Adams, Steve “Smiley” Barnard, Mark Taylor
Released on double CD Disc 1 in 2013 as The Alarm Abide With Us Live at The Gathering 2013 by Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C063
Lyrics ~ Vinyl Free Rock And Roll version
I’m really messed up here
Messed up
Got no-one to talk to
No-one
I got no future
No future
Got nothing to do
I got nothing to do
I got nothing, nothing nothing to do
What you going to do now
No-one
Your kick in the teeth thrills
No where
Life is such a bore
Boredom
I got nothing to do
I got nothing to do
I got nothing, nothing nothing to do
I got nothing to do
I got nothing to do
I got nothing to do
I got nothing, nothing nothing to do
(Page updated 14/09/2024)