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Last updated 16 January 2016
updated July 2021 - added Sounds review

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Ron Watts, Promoter
The Clash at The Nags Head High Wycombe

Link

Details on his promotion of bands including The Clash at The Nags Head High Wycombe.

"Violence at the punk gigs at The 100 Club bought a 'punk' ban at the Oxford Street venue ñ the infamous Sid Vicious bottle throwing incident at the September 1976 Punk Festival being the final straw. But London's loss was High Wycombe's gain as Watts brought the up and coming punk bands to The Nag's Head. Following the summer heatwave of 1976, Watts promoted gigs from the likes of the Stranglers, The Damned and The Clash ñ all before they had signed deal with major record labels.

Wattsí gigs at The Nags Head would play a significant part in the rise of ëpunk rockí and also helped wake up the 'terminally uncool' High Wycombe to develop a punk movemenet of its own, putting on many local bands as support acts to the wave of artists that exploded onto the national music scene at the time. However, a brief foray into band management in 1976 with The Damned ended on a sour note when he objected to the band swearing at the paying punters, shouting from the back of the loft venue at The Nag's Head, "Keep it up and I'll fetch my shotgun. We'll see how much of a punk you are then."

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Nags Head Flyer unearthed in 2022

Nags Head, High Wycombe

The Nags Head in High Wycombe was a famous music venue and pub, particularly popular in the 1960s and 70s. It was a significant part of the local music scene, hosting various bands and artists. The building has been lost to developers, and 21 flats have been built on the site.

The Nags Head was known for its association with the punk music movement, and it was at this venue that the punk originals, The Clash, played for the only time on Thursday, 18th November 1976. The gig was arranged by Ron Watts and was still fairly low key, providing a chance to see the West London-based band away from their familiar surroundings. The venue, located on London Road, was a half-full establishment at the time, but the 30-minute electrifying set by The Clash left a significant impact on the local music scene.

The building's architectural style and the identity of its original builder are not explicitly mentioned in the provided search results.

Links:
Wycombe Gigs - The Clash at The Nags Head
Chairboys - The Nags Head Lost
Bucks Free Press - Remembering The Nags Head
Record Collector Magazine - A Walking, Talking Sound Clash
Bucks Free Press - Inside The Nags Head

See here. The Xtraverts played there a lot and there is some info here.

Not a lot known known - Google Search

Legendary venue

The Clash: Nag's Head, High Wycombe

Live Review by Kris Needs,
Sounds, 27 November 1976

@wycombegigs

Enlarge image 1
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THE CLASH gave the provincial nightmare of High Wycombe an electric shock it won't soon forget last Thursday night. ...

Paul Lewis - Wycombe Gigs on X: - "Thursday 18th November 1976 The Clash Nag's Head, High Wycombe Journo Kris Needs had seen #TheClash the previous month in Leighton Buzzard and wrote a review of their appearance at the 'provincial nightmare of Wycombe' for Sounds. https://x.com/wycombegigs/

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"Both bands blew my mind and that was it for me - I wanted to be a part of this new scene."

Book: Growing Up With Punk
Jordan - SEX shop assistant

Link

"The Pistols looked great too, so different for the time. With their sound and Johnny's voice, they were something I hadn't heard or seen before. Rotten was totally memorising and had so much front. It was revolutionary at the time, and so were the five blues I'd dropped! After that, we saw them (and the five-piece Clash) at the Punk festival at the 100 club. Ron Watts was the promoter and he also ran the Nags Head in High Wycombe. Both bands blew my mind and that was it for me - I wanted to be a part of this new scene."

Punk originals The Clash
play The Nag's Head for the only time.

Thursday 18th November 1976 - Clash - Nag's Head
WYCOMBEGIGS.co.uk

Link or archived PDF version

‘Punk' was still waiting to happen in High Wycombe, so it was a half-full venue who were lucky enough to witness a 30 minute electrify set, filled with anger and hate. But for some who stood among the A&R men that night in The Nag's Head loft, it would prove another milestone in the catalyst for a change in the local music scene.

Eight months before this gig Clash lead singer Joe Strummer had played The Nag's Head with pub rockers The 101'ers.

Strummerville to Waterlooville November 1976
The Clash at The Nags Head

Link

[Edited] While demand to see Wanderers' tie at Waterlooville, some 80 miles from High Wycombe, was impressive, an event closer to home, just two days prior to the trip to Hampshire, failed to capture the imagination of the Buckinghamshire public.

Playing down The Nag's Head, on the London Road, High Wycombe on Thursday 18th November 1976 were an up and coming punk band called The Clash. 50p would have gained you entry that night to the Ron Watts promoted gig - this assuming you could have drawn yourself away from watching the live coverage of Miss World broadcast by the BBC from The Albert Hall. The Nag's Head was half-full that night, with much of the audience made up of record company A&R men eager to see why there was such a fuss about a band who had only debuted on the live circuit the previous July - a support slot for The S*x Pistols at a Sheffield pub.

Lead singer Joe Strummer came on stage at The Nag's Head sporting freshly dyed blonde hair and a boiler suit with HATE AND WAR painted across the back. They blasted through a set including ‘White Riot', ‘London's Burning' and '48 Hours'. Just over two weeks later The Pistols said some rude words on national TV and punk was truly born - a month later The Clash signed a £100,000 record deal with CBS.

An extended article on The Clash gig at The Nag's Head in November 1976 is due to be published on the soon to be launched www.wycombegigs.co.uk website.

Ron Watts, Promoter, obituary

Online or Archived PDF

Details on his promotion of bands including The Clash at The Nags Head High Wycombe.

Ron Watts Interview, promoter of the Punk Festival at the 100 Club

Rob Maddison, Tamworth, 19th November 2006.

Ron Watts Interview part 1
Ron Watts Interview part 2
Ron Watts Interview part 3

Friday 17th November 2006, 30 years since Punk detonated, and I had the pleasure of sharing a few drinks with Ron Watts in my home.

Ron promoted many of the early bands, and organised the now legendary Punk Festival at the 100 Club on the 20th and 21st September, 1976.

Ron's just published a great book which documents those heady and (for those lucky enough to have been there) exciting times. I switched on the tape recorder, put some wine on the table and off we went, talking about our mutually favourite subject. Music! I hope people will find this interview as interesting as I did, he's a top bloke with some great memories.

BOOK :100 Watts, a life in Music.
Written by Ron Watts and forward by Glen Matlock. ISBN 0-9543884-4-5. Available from Heroes Publishing, the Internet (it's on Amazon) or even a bookshop.

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