How and when did the band form and who were the original members?

DW: The Cortinas formed in February/March 1976.  The line up was always Jeremy Valentine (Vocals), Nick Sheppard (Guitar), Mike Fewings (Guitar), Dexter Dalwood (Bass), Daniel Swan (Drums).  The line up never changed.

What was the average age?

DW: By the time we played our first shows in London in January 1977 our average age was 16.

What sort of music were you originally playing and the types of songs covered?

DW: We started off rehearsing 60’s R&B and Garage Rock covers. I remember that the first song we played together was Bye Bye Johnny by Chuck Berry via early Rolling Stones. Soon after we added songs such as 96 tears (Questionmark and the Mysterions), I’ll Go Crazy (James Brown), Brand New Cadilac (Vince Taylor) and Gloria (Them/Shadows of the Night).  

NS: We had a great band intro during Gloria; everyone would be introduced as Johnny! “On bass – Johnny!” etc eventually Jer would wind up with “And my name is….. Johnny!”

The choice of material before we started writing originals was very hip, and we had a very sharp image from the very beginning. Most of that was down to Jer – he definitely knew what he wanted. We all kicked in because we instinctively understood that it was time for a change. 

How did you first get into punk and how much did your sound change as a result of this? Was it a conscious sound and image change?

DS: We were all music fans and were listening to a pretty wide variety of stuff, but I would say that we got into punk through the familiar channels. In 1976 we passed around records by the New York Dolls, Modern Lovers, Stooges, Count Bishops, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Ramones, John Cale, MC5, etc. We all read the music papers and heard about what was happening New York and London. Jeremy, Nick and Dexter all went up to London in the summer and autumn of 1976 to see bands such as The Stranglers and Ramones at the Roundhouse, the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club and The Clash at the ICA (you can clearly see Jeremy in the background of the famous Shawn McGowan ear biting incident photograph). By the summer of 1976 we started to wear ripped up, paint splattered clothes, funky sunglasses and introduced original material into our set. However, the first few months of our existence, when we were playing the pure 60’s covers, were as much fun as anything that came after. Audiences were quite perplexed to see a band so young with short hair and suits. We were just as much a shock then as we were later. Like a lot of the musicians in London around the time, if you were playing fast paced R&B and listening to the records coming out of New York, you were a prime candidate for Punk Rock. It was a conscious decision to move in that direction in the middle of 1976.

NS: As I said before, it was time for a change. People of our age and disposition were searching out music that reflected how they felt. Dr Feelgood definitely inspired us initially, but things moved along very quickly, we soon started covering songs from the Nuggets compilation and 96 tears etc. We used to play Roadrunner  and No Fun in rehearsals… For me the catalyst to write our own songs was the 4 July Ramones gig at the Roundhouse – for a start they were obviously into a lot of the same stuff as us BUT THEY WROTE THE SONGS! Also the crowd was full of PEOPLE THAT LOOKED LIKE US! You have to understand that, coming from Bristol in 1976, no one looked like us! Wearing straight trousers was a very definite statement of intent, and at that gig we realized that we were part of something big.

Was there a punk scene in Bristol i.e. the Pigs etc? What were the venues to play in Bristol and who were the other bands on the scene? DS :There were us school kids and then a colourful gang of lads called “The Chaps” who discovered punk though the funk and “kit” scene.  One of the chaps, Tim Williams, started Bristol's punk fanzine Loaded which came out in the early part of 1977. But in 1976 I don’t recall any other punk bands in Bristol.  The Cortinas started off playing schools, youth clubs and street fairs, then we moved into playing opening slots at clubs such as the Granary and Chutes. NS: I think Dan’s right – there were no other Punk bands in ’76 – the scene started to grow through the last half of that year, and we were playing fairly often as I recall. Have a read of “Bovver” by Chris Brown; he talks about a few of the venues – I remember The BQ Club in St Pauls and Barton Hill Youth Club as the venues for the Punk bands that started to come through later – I think the Pop Group’s first gig was at Barton Hill. They did a cover of “Pablo Picasso” by Jonathan Richmond. We all used to hang out at the Watershed Bar with the “The Chaps” as the bar manager would let us drink there, and we enjoyed the company of some of the hardest kids in Bristol; very handy when everyone wants to kick your head in!

How did you manage to mix playing in a band and going to school?

DS: I probably handled it the worst because the band started to take off as I was heading towards my O Levels and CSE exams. The others, who were mid-way through sixth form, managed it better and some of the band members picked up on their education after the band split up a year later.  During the first six months of 1977, I would say that we did the maximum we could do with the band while still attending school.

NS: I completely lost interest in school in ’77. Never stopped reading though… The punk scene we were involved in was not about being dumb. It was very sharp, very fast – an extension/development of the the Mod culture, I think.