The first time I visited the Roxy was in August 1977. It was a place I wanted to visit, as it had been well hyped up by the London based (and biased) music press. I’d actually been heavily into punk since mid 1976, and been a regular at the Bowie Ranch Bar in Manchester and then the brilliant Erics club in Liverpool.

My outstanding memory of the Roxy  is of a small, grubby place, not particularly friendly. It was quite edgy – there was a definite undercurrent of violence, and I witnessed several skirmishes of varying intensity there. This was totally alien to me –  there was never any trouble at Erics, apart from the occasional over zealous pogoer.

Obviously the Bromley Contingent had moved on, and the first wave of hard core Roxy goers decamped to the Vortex or wherever. To me, a large faction of the audience seemed very young and fuelled by cheap amphetamine and The Sun’s 'A to Z'  of Punk. They were rude and aggressive – I felt they were trying a bit too hard to shock. I found the whole en masse safety pin through cheek  and ripped fishnets and t shirt thing old fashioned and uninventive. Howard Devoto was my punk  pin up – there was no intelligent, individual totty like him in the Roxy, in fact the few guys I spoke to seemed to have difficulty remembering their names.

I only went to the Roxy about three times, the last time was October 77, and it was pretty much the same as usual -  young wannabe punk kids, bit of an undercurrent of violence and quite hot. The Roxy wasn't my worst ever punk club, that honour has to go to the appalling Swinging Apple in Liverpool -  crap name and crap club. I couldn't tell you what I was talking to the menace guy about, though as my mate Margaret reminded me, we were fuelled up on cheap speed and had necked half a bottle of gin on the tube to Covent Garden, so it was probably a load of bollox.

The London scene I knew was generally a lot more edgy and hardcore than the scene up north. In London, the punks I knew lived in squats and shoplifted to survive. There was a lot more class a drugs, in particular heroin and morphine, plus loads of sulphate. In Liverpool, everyone lived at home or had cosy but messy flats and smoked weed. Fashion wise, the Liverpool punks had more of an element of glamour and creativity mixed with the safety pins, but then I'm biased!!!!!

I’m glad I went to the Roxy, it was a big part of punk history, but I can’t help thinking that it’s been over romanticised over the years, at the expense of clubs like Erics, which must have hosted every punk act, including local talent, played white label reggae and had better toilets. Rita Pike (Burgess)  April 2008

'First Time at the Roxy' from 'Summer Salt' Fanzine No2 1977

I hated getting to the Roxy. The tube journey from Islington was slightly disarming but walking down Neal St in darkness, imagining an organised gang of punk bashers were lying in wait ready to jump from behind almost made me want to run home. Even getting inside was not without its shocks. My friend Margaret and I were to have been on the guest list. (She is the girlfriend of Menace vocalist Morgan who was playing that night.) We weren't mentioned. After a lot of hard work from Morgan she got in free, but I had to hand over £1.50, and then the Roxy staff acted as though they were doing me a favour. (And it only cost me 70p to see Elvis Costello in Liverpool).

More trouble as we entered. A fight broke out in about two feet of space between half a dozen people trying to get in. Inside the club was sleazy and sweaty and smaller than I thought. At first glance the audience didn’t look as outrageous as I'd expected or been led to believe. My knees weakened when I saw the ultra dear prices of the drinks.

Cameras at the ready, Margaret and I stood by the side of the stage as Menace came on. At first I thought they were really going to drive the audience wild. People began pogoing as soon as their first number began. Gradually their interest waned and the tension in the atmosphere dropped. The band's sound system was faulty.The bass wasn't coming through properly.

The two songs that stood out in the set were ‘The Young Ones’ a vicious revamp of the Cliff Richard teen anthem, and a song about rich kids I think it's called ‘I Need Nothing’, and they're releasing it as a single soon (produced by John Cale incidentally.) Considering the set had so many setbacks, Menace on a good night must be pretty dynamic. Morgan had lots of energy, the band play fast and together. Apparently the last time they played the Roxy the audience went wild for them. This night the audience annoyed me intensely especially two ugly female posettes attempting to attract limelight by lying on the stage generally getting under Morgan’s feet. Menace left the stage with hardly a whisper of applause. They deserved a medal for devotion to and bravery in facing the enemy.

Sham 69 were heading the bill. Jimmy Pursey their singer looks really mean. From the moment they leapt onto the stage and announced their first number ‘I Wanna Fight’ the atmosphere was truly electric. They play fast and violent songs. I was pogoing myself in between snapping shots of the band in action. The audience were really getting frantic, hurling themselves against the stage so violently that the bouncers had to rush onstage and force them back. The band didn't like this. One guitarist took of h1s guitar executed a perfect head butt to an over violent bouncer. The less brave members of the audience stampeded to the safety of upstairs. The violence subsided once the bouncers left the stage. Sham 69 were even better after the outbreak. The crowd were behind them all the way. One scene I'll never forget was Jimmy Pursey pogoing with a fan who had been upstage fighting for him. The band came back to do two encores, they could have played all night and still kept the same force.

This is partly due to the incredible Jimmy Pursey. He has charisma onstage, and is a vocalist. It was an experience watching him sing. He is so dedicated and into the music. No superficial bandwagon jumper, could sing with such conviction. I hope Sham 69 come to Liverpool soon. They're too good for London to keep exclusively.

After all this excitement, when the band had finished I visited the famous Roxy Ladies toilets, which were not up to my expectations, squeezing past men on my way out, I was accosted by a blue uniformed person. A quick look round, and I realised the Roxy was being raided. I was asked my age and date of    birth then had to wait while everyone else had to suffer endless and strange questions from the force. They were looking for under age drinkers, apparently, but they succeeded in disrupting my night out and every one else’s, as the club closed at about 11.30 once they had ‘Left’ (there were police vans hanging round the club for ages afterwards.)

Obviously the authorities are playing dirty in order to destroy the punk scene. They hated seeing young people ‘being different’. Heaviness from the authorities and lies from the media wont stamp out bands like Sham 69. Or anyone else who believes in the freedom of the individual and will fight for their rights.   

Rita Burgess 1977

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