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"Punk rock seems like my childhood, the glorious
naivete of rock'n'roll. Stenguns and guitars seem very idealistic when you're
twenty."
Tony James. Punk The Illustrated History Of A Music
Revolution. "This group are important. They are
something new, young and exciting. They're f****n great ! "
Mark P. Sniffin Glue 5.
November 1976. |
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They could have been
contenders - youth and excitement coupled with "sten
guns for guitars". Formed in November 1976 as Chelsea with Billy Idol (William Broad) on
guitar, Tony James on Bass, John Towe on Drums (later Alternative TV,
The Adverts & Rage) and Gene October singing. Its hard to imagine Gene
singing 'Ready Steady Go' and it didn't last as the whole
band minus him decamped on November 21st 1976 to become Generation X (named after the title
of one of Billy's mum's books). Billy was
one of the Bromley Contingent with Siouxsie et al, though
his punk look of side parting and tweed jacket needed a
little tweaking compared to the rest of the gang ! First act to play the Roxy
club on December 21st 1976. Chelsea
Mark1>> |
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They got mixed initial press
and antagonism to their more rock'n'roll image and poppy punk sound.
Drummer problems forced them to have a short layoff resulting in Mark Laff from
Subway Sect assuming the seat after narrowly missing out to Topper
Headon for the Clash's drummer position. It didn't affect their gaining a
record contact however, as shortly before their first tour in May 1977 A&R men
were competing for their signatures. They signed with Chrysalis (home of
Genesis, Steeleye Span and Jethro Tull) in the summer of 1977. While
missing the initial punk explosion they had built up a solid set of pop
punk songs that were more accessible to the general public who were
warming commercially to the lighter side of punk.
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Pictures
Denis O'Regan, Erica Echenberg, Ray Stevenson & Jill Furmanovsky
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Generation X
