The Stereotypes were formed in late 1977 in Ilford, Essex by punk aficionados Jon (Guitar), Chris (Guitar), Steve (Drums), Ashley (Vocals) and the mysteriously monikered Mr X (Bass). Their influences ranged from the Punk bands of the time - Ramones, Pistols, Damned etc - to earlier acts such as The Doors, MC5 and Iggy & The Stooges. Notable for having a 15 year old singer and breakneck chord changes, the band developed a sound not dissimilar to The Dead Kennedys (who they’d never heard of as they hadn’t released anything yet). Is it possible that Jello Biafra had an epiphany whilst on a whirlwind trip around the concrete sights of the A12?

    Jon was the main songwriter with other members chipping in with the odd lyrical twist and arrangement techniques which usually boiled down to ‘let’s play faster’. Ashley was adept at fitting in all the words whatever the speed, while Steve and Mr X formed a solid, pumping backdrop for the quickfire assault of the cranked, punk-up guitar riffs.

   They clubbed together and released one single in July 1979, The Countdown EP, which was limited to 100 copies. It featured four tracks on 7-inch single, all of them a testament to The Stereotypes blistering sound. ‘Countdown’ reflected the band’s accelerated style as it foretold of forthcoming apocalyptic finality. The message was ‘let’s do everything now as you don’t know when it’s going to end.’ Ashley’s cockney drawl on the countdown of 10 to 1 conveyed both his young age and the band’s exuberance. ‘Champagne Suicide’ was a much darker affair and hinted at the emotional problems that lay deep at the heart of The Stereotypes. It’s lyrics and minor chord melancholy were pure Goth and, once again, The Stereotypes had stumbled upon a style of music that hadn’t yet been invented. If only they’d known how far ahead of time they really were. The flip side featured two songs about unrequited love, perfect for a band all under 18. The first was about a brief encounter with a French Girl, very school trip, mistakenly titled, ‘Parisian’, rather than ‘Parisienne’. Although the lyrics were fun and flirty, the music still ached with teenage angst. The final track, ‘Telephone Affair’, was a song close to every adolescent, the girl or boy you never got. When Ashley sings, ‘Telephone Affair - It Went Wrong. Telephone Affair - Took Too Long’, it sums up The Stereotypes brief appearance on the musical map perfectly. The single is now one of the rarest and most sought after records of the Punk era.

    The Stereotypes played one well supported gig and vanished. Rumours of arguments and overdoses abounded, but they simply played so fast and so furiously no-one could catch up with them to say how brilliant they were. If they had just kept going long enough to truly hone their intoxicating style they could have made a real impact on the forthcoming New Wave and Goth scenes of the late Seventies.

    The Stereotypes were a shooting star of a band - bright, fizzing, prophetic and astonishing, but before you could catch your breath, they were gone. I, for one, miss them.

 Ashley, The Stereotypes

23/08/11