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Sounds
14.1.78
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How did you come to play the
Roxy?
I'm not blowing my
own trumpet but the Blitz were a huge cut above the norm, we'd been
rehearsing for 6 or 7 months prior to turning punk. We were a really sharp
outfit. We were writing on classy pop songs like 10cc and Abba. Then in
the evening we'd hop off down the Nashville and watch Joe Strummers
101ers, or Kilburn & The High Roads, or The Damned. I remember us all
saying how shit they were, but we kept going back to see them. Our first gig at
the Roxy was a baptism of fire, just turning up took some bottle. We'd
been along a few times and so we knew there'd be hardcore punks spitting
who the fuck are you? at us. It was Noel Martin from Menace who saved
us. After our first song he walked up to the stage and said 'you're
fucking great'. That was it, he was a big man on the scene, so we were
'in'. Typically a band would start to play and someone would open up a
half a pint can of Watneys pale ale, shake it, throw it at them so it
would hit them on the head, cut their eye open and be fizzing around on
stage. I must have seen that happen 15 or 20 times. A very intimidating
atmosphere. |
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How did Kevin St John
Come to manage you?
Kevin St John
called us to his office and offered to manage us. Shell shocked and
obviously not thinking straight, we agreed. Mind you, two days later we
were supporting Sham69 and a week later was on tour (a string of dates in
the west end) with Adam and the Ants (pre Ant Music oi oi oi oi oi). e played at the Roxy more than any other band in history, but I think
we only ever got paid once - £25. As Kevin St Johns band, it was our job
to stand in for any band who didn’t turn up, headline Friday Saturday and
Sunday nights, as they were poser and foreign journalist nights, and
they’d pay top dollar for any old tosh. When we weren’t playing, we were
serving drinks, collecting glasses, working on the door, checking bondage jackets
into the cloakroom and chauffeuring Kevin St John to and from his house,
all hours of the day. As for building a following, all the regulars became our
mates and we had loads of fun playing our classic hits of never year, like
“Pulling Wings Off Baby Sparrows” and “London Is For Tourists”
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George & Jez
..ahh! aint they cute?
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From when you started
playing to when you stopped how did the club change - atmosphere/people
etc?
The Roxy was a tragedy from beginning to end. It started off as
a complete shithole and ended up as a tourist attraction, a home for
fucked up misfits, somewhere for the nouveau riche to get a bit of street.
Its a Speedo swimwear shop now, or was the last time I went, with the Mrs
on our 25th wedding anniversary to visit the spot where we met, arhhh! |
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Any other places
played?
Another notable
night was at the Speakeasy in Margaret St. We played there a few times,
but the last time, it got raided. Another shithole that was well past its
sell date. Not like it was in the 60's, or so I'm told. It was always wall
to wall faces, Lemmy on the fruit machines, Sid Vicious puking up in a
pint glass. This particular night there were loads of people just getting
off on the band, which never usually happened, but we were loving it. And
so were they it seemed, dancing there heads off, that was until the
whistles started to blow, and suddenly our new fresh faced fans were
fixing POLICE armbands on. The whole place froze, and at that moment you
heard the sound of pill bottles and chunks of silver paper hit the floor.
Everyone was searched. We were there for hours, they took our drummer Ed
out into the van to check through the van and all the amps were stripped
down. It was a big big bust, but as I recall Kevin went back a day or so
later to retrieve a cricket ball lump of a brown spicy smelling matter. He
loved a spliff or dozen, who didn't back then? |
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We did
gigs with Black Uhuru, it was the done thing in them days, a punk/reggae
bill. It was a good mix. Except when some black geezer pulled a knife out
and mugged me at Fulham Town Hall. When I told the promoter (a socialist
worker type) what had happened he started ranting at me 'you fucking
racist!' No No I'm the victim of a crime mate! One aspect of these gigs
that never worked out very well was the jam together at the end of the
show. |
Part 1 - The
Beginning | Part 3 - Recordings |
Part 4 -Farewell To The Roxy Tour |
Part5 - The End
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