It's been a long time since my first days of punk so some of the names of places and people might be spelt wrong so bear with me. Punk for me started in Coventry in late 76, a mate of mine, Jinks had a cousin who had a local  band called Roddy Radiation and the Wild Boys( Roddy later went on to join The Specials) and he suggested we go check out his band and see what this new thing called Punk Rock was all about, and that was it I was hooked.

In the beginning punk in Cov. started out very small and not many places to go, there was about 15 to 20 Punks all coming from different walks of life but getting together to be a part of the scene. The only pub that allowed punks in at the time was a gay pub and the student union bar at the Lanch Poly sometimes let us in,  non students would get hassle etc.

The main Pub we used  was a gay pub called the Rose and Crown,gay people were very tolerant to punks but it did have its draw backs, because we hung around the gay pubs punks were often labeled as queers and perverts and where often targeted for violence and abuse( catching the last bus home or going to the chippy late at night was a no no) and things got even more heavy when the media started running negative stories about punk rock, then the Teds got involved etc. etc. I don't want to go on and on about the violence that was associated with punk but it did play a role and to be a punk was not all rosy, my trips to the emergency dept. to get stitched up became quite frequent but one instance of madness sticks in my mind. A couple of  us had traveled over to Birmingham to see the Boom Town Rats at Barberellas, we  were sitting in a pub across the road from the club with a couple of the band members ( Bob Geldof was trying to sort out a squat for the night ) when in come this maniac with a huge kitchen knife yelling all punks must die because they had killed Elvis Presley( and he wasn't even a Ted ) no one was seriously hurt but it shows what a negative role the media did play in portraying punk rockers. 

Back in Cov. the punk scene started to grow very quickly and was being accepted which lead to more pubs in Cov becoming punk friendly, some pubs let us put our own records on their juke boxes, a punk disco started at the weekend at the Rose and Crown, the Bear Inn become a big punk hang out, a mainly metal disco up stairs in The Golden Cross started to play punk rock and a couple of night clubs started to have punk rock nights. The first one was The Cottage, Wednesday was punk night sometimes letting local bands play. Monday nights at Mr Georges became a great venue for live bands, a lot of national acts played there plus many local bands had the chance to play ,this helped play a big part in building the local scene. Local bands started to hire out back rooms in pubs, places like The Heath, The Hand and Heart, and up stairs in the Domino played a big role in keeping music live also musicians who didn't have a record out, had no management and all that other record biz bull had the chance to book a gig and play( after all thats what punk rock was all about .)Early punk and new wave bands which contributed to the local scene in Cov. were The Flys, Roddy Radiation and the Wild Boys, The Squad, The Urge, The Automatics( later to become ska band The Specials ) The Vietnamese Babys, Gods Toys, The Pink Umbrellas ( fronted by 80ts pop Icon Paul King ) and a couple of years later came Riot Act, Oi band Criminal Class and various ska bands, The Selector. Swinging Cats.

The punk scene in Cov. had really grown from a handful of punks wearing converted Oxfam and second hand store clothes( not having the money to buy punk fashion items from the Kings Road or over priced punky stuff from Khan and Bell or the Oasis in Birmingham) to a genuine supportive group of punks, we would try to attend every local gig, anything from seeing The Stranglers in front of 3000 people at The Locarno Ballroom to attending Anti Nazi League demos in London or Birmingham ,we supported the punk movement, but a few years later I personally started to get really tired of the politics of punk and the way a punk should be or not be, to me punk opened my eyes to a way of life and gave me values which I still have today, so before I start rattling on about being born into a class system and having no future and all that fucking crap I'll end by saying Thanks for letting me contribute and I hope you enjoy this small part of punk history.

Regards

GUS CHAMBERS 18/5/02

P.S. Paul I am still working on The Squad history as soon as it's ready you will have it