The No Fightin’ 2022 review

Just before the state of the year, I said we had big plans for No Fightin’ in 2022. I didn’t get around to doing everything I wanted to, but that just leaves good stuff for ’23!

Two big goals for this year were to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “King King” in a big way, and to post every week, if possible. All told, we had 40 posts on No Fightin’ this year (this post is No. 41).

Not bad for a site about, well, one 30-year-old cassette tape.

Thank you to everyone for visiting No Fightin’, and for your stellar contributions. It’s the fans who are helping to piece this story together … NoFightin.com is just the place where we keep track of it all!

Here’s a quick look back at some of our highlights from the year.

#KingKingXXX

Yes, the big project was the #KingKingXXX 30-year anniversary celebration. In all, we published seven deep-dive stories into the disc, as well as three “Influence” stories. Those influence pieces (on Billy Boy Arnold, Joe Hill Louis, Willie Nix and Papa Lightfoot) were a chance for us to write the blues story beyond The Red Devils. It’s something we’d like to continue into 2023 and beyond.

The Lester Butler Tribute Site

The long-dormant Lester Butler Tribute Site by Jasper Heikens was born again on NoFightin.com. We worked with Jasper to migrate over his content, which we continue to build into No Fightin’ as we go, making this site into the one-stop shop for all things Lester Butler, 13 and Red Devils.

Support/shop

Two new features we added this year: A “support” link as well as an apparel store on Threadless.

NoFightin.com is a labor of love. We have the cost of domain hosting and storage, among other fees. We sell no ads or charge any kind of subscription fee (which, frankly, would not be in our best interests). Instead, we ask the good folks who enjoy this site to tip us if they feel so inclined. Kind of like giving it up to a band when they really move you with a song!

The shop at nofightin.threadless.com has various styles and graphics that can go on everything from vintage Ts to pullover hoodies. We’ve recently added a couple of new designs for the discerning fan. We plan to offer more in 2023.

Favorite posts

Besides the aforementioned #KingKingXXX stories, there were several posts this year that were favorites for us at NoFightin.com:

Video: Red Devils’ ‘Backstroke’ in Scotland, 1993

London’s Borderline club forever tied to Red Devils’ myth

The Red Devils rock London’s Tower Records, 1993

Paris on fire: Hook Herrera joins Lester Butler at Chesterfield Cafe, 1996

Paul Size got robbed at Mick Jagger’s birthday party. Then Dave Lee stepped in

What’s in store for 2023?

Some of our plans for 2023 are rollovers from last year. But we do have several projects in the planning stages for the next several months:

• We have a big plan for a No Fightin’ souvenir to be made available, commemorating The Red Devils’ 2017 reunion tour of Europe.
• A further expansion of what the site is all about. The response to the “Influence” mini-project told us we can go further out in our storytelling, using the Devils and Lester Butler as a launch pad. We have a great chance to turn Red Devils fans onto blues they haven’t heard yet!
• To that end, I’m hoping to have some exciting news for fans of West Coast harmonica great William Clarke. His career overlapped a lot with Butler’s, and it’s a connection worth exploring next year.
• I also have plans to note some historical dates, including the 25th anniversary of Butler’s death on May 9, 1998 (with never-before-published information), and the 30th anniversary of the Devils’ seminal Pinkpop set.

Thanks for joining us this year, and we’ll see you in 2023. Happy New Year!