Patrik Fitzgerald - The London SS

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Wanting to find a band, Patrik trod the well worn route of scanning the musicians wanted ads in the music paper Melody Maker.

"I’d been through trying to find some like minded musicians when I came across the ad in the Melody Maker from the London SS. They advertised for people who liked the Stones, Dolls and Mott the Hoople and I wasn’t falling over backwards about any of those particularly but it was the only ad in the music paper that I thought was vaguely interesting. At the same time as they advertised I had arrived vaguely at the New York Dolls who I remember seeing on the TV and thinking ‘Nah I don’t really like these.’ I vaguely liked them but I didn’t think they were terribly good. It looked like showbiz to me.

I went up to Tony James' flat in Highgate or Archway for the audition and I remember it was quite funny because they both looked quite hippyish. Mick Jones came over as quite aloof and a bit rock starish and I thought obviously I’m not the right person for them. I was little and quite tubby and certainly not rock starish looking at all and I couldn’t play slide guitar which is what I thought was what they wanted as they were advertising for people who liked the Stones. I did play slide guitar in the audition and it was appalling because I can’t play slide guitar to save my life! I’m sure they must have thought I was completely useless. I didn’t know they were heading to be honest and I don’t think they did either. There must have been a severe rethink to get to the Clash!!
     

Ken Pitt

 At the time of the audition I had also written some songs and I wrote off to Ken Pitt, who was Bowie’s manager, and asked him to be my manager. I went up to his flat and played him some songs and some tapes and he put me in touch with contacts in the music business. I went and saw some publishers but they just thought my songs were kind of odd.

Certainly two of the songs taken to the publishers were 'No Fun Football' and 'Backstreet Boys' and the others were things along the same lines as that. In 1975/76 I already had these songs fully formed. A lot of my stuff was lyrical music along the lines of Bowie and Ray Davies and I was into Bertold Brecht. I didn’t really like Bob Dylan. I thought ‘He’s American. What’s that all about? ‘

Bertold Brecht
 
In England we have a tradition of ‘we gotta get out of this place’ and ‘don’t let me be misunderstood’. Stuff that you could call punk had been going on for a decade.

My reason for getting into writing was obviously because I wanted to express myself in some kind of way and basically what punk was about was writing about what was there. So like other people I just started writing about what I saw really.

I didn’t speak to people where I lived or anything and I never had any connection with anybody hence my connection with punk. The punk scene was a connection for rootless people and homeless people who didn’t fit in and felt alienated. The whole punk thing was like a generation with no home. Everybody seemed to have no home!! (lol)"

Apart from the Sex Pistols and Clash there was other stuff going on at the time. Little political subversive bands coming out of the woodwork. Pub and big bands had had their day and a lot of people were using the stage to express themselves. I wanted to be a part of that.

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