When the Punk explosion came I was at the 'Kingsway Princeton College' in Kings Cross. My art class contained 'Nina' from 'Muvvers Pride' along with her best mate 'Bookie' - A germ was growing inside us all and the blue touch paper was being lit.....
We totally believed and lived the philosophical anarchy of Punk and thought that we could contribute some ironic humour to the mix by putting on a 'show' rather than conform to the stereotypical band. Hence playing our instruments was secondary. I feel sorry for today's young generation who don't seem to have the wit or intelligence to create their own 21st century ideology! My 20 year old son went to see the Damned and the Pistols last year!
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People forget that it was quite dangerous back then - the street battles with the rockers down the Kings Rd. I often got spat on or stones thrown at me just for looking a right idiot wearing home made bin liner clothing etc... Oh and never spray your hair with silver car spray - when it sets rock hard it fucking hurts like hell! |
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So in 1977 three unemployed 17 year old Camden Town school friends with no experience whatsoever formed a band.
Wot No Singer?
Yep! That's right - we had the lyrics written out on sheets of
paper and asked the audience if anyone would give it a go (sort of early X
factor ).
'Lynn'
where are you? This girl was brilliant! She belted out the lyrics whilst
drinking a bottle of tomato sauce. After this one gig and we never saw her
again.
'Dan Knight'
our bass player and lyricist once pretended to be blind! Resplendent in National
Health dark glasses and a white stick he fooled everyone. People felt sorry for
him, the audience even bought him drinks all night & even helped him with his
bass guitar - Brilliant!
'Anthony
Gregston' on drums, well someone
has to be. Went to live in a van in darkest Cornwall... the best place for him
after enduring those awful paradiddles!
'Ben'
was an earlier bassist who hid behind
the speakers at a gig and refused to come on stage - the chicken!
'Gary Orange'
can't remember exactly what he did.
'Phoenix'
wrote some terrible lyrics about love -
so we chucked him out.
The Gigs
We supported "Madness" at their first gig! It was in a shop in
Camden Lock called, "Blind Alley" - Bizarre!
The time when once we were lugging our gear back from a Roxy gig, when we
discovered a 13 amp socket on the northbound Northern Line platform at Tottenham
Court Rd tube Station. We promptly started to play an impromptu set to startled
passengers.
We only once had a car to move the gear when our drummer borrowed his mum's Morris Minor Traveller. We were driving down Oxford Street when it started to snow. The winds screen wipers packed up so he had to drive with his head out of the window!
We were regulars down at the Roxy when one of us dared to ask the manager (a bit of a Soho gangster if I remember) if we could play. He said yes and gave us a residency on Monday evenings! Surprising really coz he hated the din we made.
Our most pleasing accolade was to come from either Kevin St John or Jock McDonald, can't remember which. Whist playing our set at the Roxy one of them in a fit of rage and disgust, rushed downstairs and pulled out all the plugs on the amps. I still to this day don't know how we got a residency there.
God the Roxy was a shit hole! We loved it!
I get it a bit mixed up with the Vortex but recollections include the feeling of being amongst our own kind. A good night down there was judged by how many cuts and bruises we sustained Pogoing. Don't remember meeting any foreigners.... ever so often some one from out of town who had heard about the place would turn up. It was common to end up going off to someone's squat afterwards. Too many brilliant gigs to discuss, like 'Johnny Moped' when 'Slimey Toad' started chucking little plastic frogs at the audience. God there was some energy down there and you could quite often end up on stage with the band! If there's not a blue plaque on the wall of 41/43 Neal Street, then there ought to be. Didn't really know 'Kev St John' that well, but his reputation as a Soho gangster proceeded him.
I have a dim recollection of other venues we could have played. An Anti-Racism gig, '100 Club', 'Hope and Anchor' Etc...
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I seem to remember the clipping was from the "Jaws" section of SOUNDS (8.4.78). It was a blatant lie sent in by one member of the band to garner some publicity for the Roxy gigs. We never had a manager or made a single. I suppose we just wanted to see our name printed somewhere - how sad is that?
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The Songs
Most of these songs were written one afternoon after the guitarist and
myself had seen the famous, "Sniffin' Glue" fanzine with the pictures of where
to put your fingers to make 3 chords. Couldn't be arsed with all that shit! So I
just used the E bar chord in various places on the fret board.
Rock and Roll Salmon ( a tribute to the Botulism outbreak of 1977 )
"I'm a John West and I think I'm the best. they may not eat the bones - but they
always get affected" Etc...
The Braille Song
"I'm oh so blind I can not see - my fingers do the walking for me.
I feel the dots in my book - so I don't have to take a look.
I'm deaf and dumb on a heart machine - incontinent with a ruptured spleen"
Etc....
The Last Resort
"50 million loud-mouthed yanks packed in one hotel - Donkey's trotting on the
stiffs and the smell is fucking Hell" Etc...
All Change to Bikes
"Pain in the rectum - bleeding from the ear - concussion of the testicle - of
street lamps I've a fear" Etc....
Do The "Spotty Dog"
For the love of me I cannot remember this - save to say there was a special
dance that the fans (all 2 of them) did emulating Spotty Dog puppet from the
Wooden Tops TV show - not very original I know nevertheless amusing.
I have no recollection of these other songs but they were on a song list:
Pubic Region
Fall in - Fall out (this
song was about bra's)
Straight
and Narrow
ACG (I'm a window-cleaner)
The Demise
We split up due to irreconcilable differences as to the colour we should choose
for our Rolls Royce's!
Acknowledgments
I
was about 16 and was child minding for an actress called 'Patricia Quinn' (she
was "Magenta" in the Rocky Horror Picture Show). She was living the high life
and needed someone to take care of her son in the evenings. She was an
incredible woman who confided in me a lot. It was her ex husband who came round
one day and asked me if I wanted to go and see a great band (I think he was
somehow involved in the music industry).
It was Adam and the Ants. I think at the Roxy or The Vortex. I went wearing an
old school blazer with the words "The Ants" formed by loads of metal studs on
the back. Got on really well with the band who had never seen anyone with their
name on a piece of clothing. It was their suggestion that I was to be the first
name on every guest list. I was Adam and the Ants #1 fan and in love with
Jordan. She gave me her Vivienne Westwood "Venus" T shirt! I was chuffed. We
used to go so mad at their gigs that someone once told me that people come to
see the audience more than the band!
I used to hang around with Andy (bassist) when he lived in a great flat opposite the Science Museum. I remember one party possibly Derek Jarman's? It was in a type of warehouse apartment with a toilet with no walls! I was too shy to have a dump with everyone being able to see but there were others who were not so shy!. What really stuck in mind was Andy getting electric shocks from his bass strings (no earthing!). He had to play with leather gloves!
As a band we owe respect to our mentors; The
Ramones, Talking Heads, Johnny Moped (Slimey Toad hasn't got one), Menace,
The Lurkers, Skrewdriver (nice lads), The Slits, Muvvers Pride, Gloria
Mundi, Augustus Pablo, to name just a few..........
If you were there - you know what it was like.
Justin Semmens
(Spotty Dog Guitarist) 2008
The bloke who spray-painted,
"Sign the Banshees"
in Wardour Street.
(The Banshees were holding out for ages to sign for a record label, far too long in my humble opinion. We were getting really pissed off that there were no records. One night after a gig a gang of us decided to make our feelings known. I guess we were blaming the industry for not recognizing such a brilliant band.)
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| "Paula" | "Lynne" | "Ant" The Drummer |
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| Ant | Phil | Ben |
| "Band Rehearsals" | ||
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| Justin Semmens with Safety Pin stuck through his cheek. This actual photograph was taken by one of the members of "Plastix" at the "Kingsway College", Kings Cross, London 1977. |
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"Justin Semmens" live on stage at the "Marquee while playing with his next band 'Fear' in 1978" |
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Thanks to Justin Semmens for all the above info & pics
©Detour Records
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