Patrick Fitzgerald, the original “acoustic punk poet”, was born in London around 1957. Twenty years later, the UK punk/new wave scene had adopted him (with his name now spelled "Patrik") as it’s “new Bob Dylan”.
He was known for his uniform of badge-encrusted blazer, red drainpipe trousers, and sandals, and for his lyrically-oriented folk-punk songs which, although simple and unadorned, had a lo-fi urgency that made them much more punk than folk.
As a teenager, Fitzgerald often frequented the Small Wonder record shop, and when the Small Wonder label was started he quickly submitted a demo tape. His first record, the five-song “Safety Pin Stuck in My Heart” EP, came out 1977, followed by the “Backstreet Boys” EP and the “Paranoid Wars” EP.
In 1979 he signed to Polydor Records, and two of the records he released on this label featured John Maher of the Buzzcocks on drums.
Following the commercial failure of his 1986 album Tunisia Twist, Fitzgerald retired from music performance for a while and took a job waiting tables at the House of Commons. In 1988 he moved to Normandy, only to return to London three years later, to resume a career performing music and acting. Among other engagements, he appeared in a version of Moliere’s “The Miser” at Stratford.
In 1994 he did a bit of market research work, to pay the bills, but there were rumors that he was planning a musical comeback. That’s pretty much all the information I could find, save for –
a discography:
Safety-Pin Stuck In My Heart E.P. (Small Wonder SMALL-4), 1977
Backstreet Boys E.P. (Small Wonder SMALL-6), 1978
The Paranoid Ward E.P. (Small Wonder WEENY-1), 1978
Grubby Stories L.P. (Polydor 2383.533), 1979
All Sewn Up / Hammersmith Odeons (Polydor 2059 091), 1979
Improve Myself / Bingo Crowd / My New Family (Polydor 2059 135), June, 1979
Tonight EP (12") (Final Solution Records FSEP001), 1981
Personal Loss / Straight Boy (Red Flame RF-708), September 1982
Gifts & Telegrams L.P. (Red Flame RF-8), November 1982
Drifting Towards Violence L.P. (Himalaya Records/Red Flame HIM-009), 1983
Tunisian Twist L.P. (Red Flame RF-48), 1984
Tonight E.P. (12") (Red Flame FSEP-001), April, 1984
[Treasures from the Wax Museum (CD) (Red Flame), 1993
The Very Best Of Patrick Fitzgerald (CD) (Anagram CDPUNK-31), 1994
Pillow Tension (CD) (Lazy Dog LZD-012), 1995