Punk rotters hit rock bottom

By Mike Parker and Bob James

Photo: ROCK BOTTOM... the punk group, The Clash, churn out more obscenities for their gleeful audience at the council-run Chancellor Hall.

Foul-mouthed punk rotters staged their own obscene show backstage when they came face-to-face with the man who gave them licence to play. Council arts chairman, Tony Carpenter, was sworn at and insulted by the loud and ugly members of The Clash after a concert at Chelmsford's Chancellor Hall.

But The Clash seemed thoroughly pleased with their performance supported by three other punk groups to a capacity 600 audience at the council-run hall on Sunday. Fans from London wearing safety pins, swastikas, dog collars and chains flocked into town to support their strange idols. Backing The Clash were Buzzcocks, The Subway Sect and an all-girl group called The Slits.

Apart from the swearing, the whole show passed off in peace — albeit drowned in a noise audible way down the road. Hall manager, Brian Storey Smith, said: "I was sure there wouldn't be any trouble, and there wasn't." The bar was closed all night, every seat was taken out and a special security squad stood by in case.

Afterwards, Cllr. Carpenter said: "All the swearing at me was an obvious put-up job. They just want the publicity. But I was pleased with the way things went generally. I think the arts committee would be prepared to allow another punk concert after this showing."

Punk rock hits town

By Mike Parker and Bob James

A special squad of bouncers will be standing by in case of trouble when punk rock makes its explosive debut in Chelmsford. Organisers are ready for an invasion of London fans at the town's council-run Chancellor Hall on Sunday. Hundreds are expected to be locked out as four punk groups belt out their violent music on stage.

Topping the bill are The Clash, whose bizarre followers wrecked London's Rainbow Theatre last month. And yesterday, Chelmsford promoter Tony Rupp warned: "What they do is up to them. If they start to smash the place up we’ll have to take avoiding action."

Cult — "We are just out to give the fans what they want." Supporting acts include an all-girl ensemble called The Slits and fellow punkers Buzzcocks and The Subway Sect. Their past performances have included vomiting on stage, screaming obscenities and anything else rebellious they can think of.

Their uniform, worn with pride by cult followers, includes chains, dog collars and safety pins through their ears and noses. Their strange names, like Joe Strummer and Tory Crimes, are revered throughout their own twilight world. All this — the essence of punk rock — is being given a chance in Chelmsford by the council's arts committee.

Tory arts committee chairman Tony Carpenter said: "I shall be going along to watch on Sunday and I hope the other members will too. You’ve got to give something like this a chance, without spoiling it for the youngsters. It's up to them now. If there is trouble it's all over for them. But I don't think there will be."

Extra stewards have been drafted in for Sunday’s concert, when security at the Chancellor Hall will be at its tightest. Promoter Rupp said: "If Sunday goes well, there's a chance we might get the Sex Pistols down here. I shall approach the council about them at the right time. I don't anticipate any violence at the Chancellor … but you never know."

Photo: THE CLASH

Punk freakshow — but no trouble

Report by Alan Revell
Pictures by Peter Baun

Decked out in their razor-cut hairdos and jumble sale uniforms, the bizarre army of punk rock followers hit Chelmsford on Sunday. All day long the nation's punctured fanatics arrived from London and even farther afield for the latest stop of The Clash’s White Riot Tour at the town’s Chancellor Hall.

Billed as the White Riot Tour, the bands, headed by The Clash, had brought with them a fearful reputation for provoked crowd violence and having concerts wrecked. Fearing the worst, the Golden Fleece police beat stayed alert all evening; each fan was searched for weapons and the police kept a not-too-low profile in case of trouble from the 50-plus fans who were locked outside.

Even the bar in the hall itself stayed closed — having tempers running high — so the 600-capacity audience with its tickets clearly said drinks would be on sale. To the audible relief of hall manager Mr. Brian Stacey-Smith, the state of the building was all standing when the punk fans, deafened but happy, headed for home.

In the dressing room after the gig, members of The Clash handed Sex Pistols masks at Mr. Tony Carpenter, chairman of the district council’s arts committee. The band blessed him for the bar being shut, but Mr. Carpenter decided to join in with the bar-keeping results. "I thought it was a thorough job. They were just acting perfectly."

Hotel — "I didn’t understand a word of what they were supposedly singing, but they all performed well."

Back at the smart Swan Lodge Hotel in Writtle Road, the 24-strong punk rock entourage lay back in velvet armchairs drinking and smoking with occasional outbursts of horseplay and anecdotes. Guitarist Joe Strummer said: "Chelmsford is a really great place to play, the hall is just right. You ought to have the Sex Pistols down here — they’d really give your council something to worry about."

Next morning as The Clash teamed up with the stage crew to take on members of the other bands at football in the hotel car park, the proprietor Mr. George Gillott said: "If every night in Chelmsford was like tonight I would have no complaints. We were a bit worried at first, after we heard they had smashed places up and stolen things from other hotels, but we’ve had no complaints from other guests and they would be welcome here any time."

The Clash Chancellor Hall Chelmsford 1977 White Riot Tour

Looking Back To The Day The Clash Came To Town On The White Riot Tour With Subway Sect, The Slits and The Prefects

We were just bored teenagers on that day on the 29th of May For this was going to be a very special day 1977 was the year 'I hope go to heaven' was in my ear!

CBS was the label on my turntable Over and over it got played, just before this big day it was almost worn out before they played. Turn it down turn it down my parents did say weeks before this most memorable day. Then we got dressed in our best punk gear Never thought I would wear that Baddow Comp Blazer again with fear But all torn up it made me look good again.

Barry Magowan was my, now punk mate Who called round with some spray paint My mum got some gel and spiked up our hair While Barry sprayed me all over without a care Now I'm bald on top of my head, perhaps it was that paint that was on my brain that made me so insane. So dressed up we did on this day, for it was the Clash that led us on our way The Lion and Lamb was the place to meet. before the big gig and have a treat London punks with locals alike, Chelmsford was now a sight, No Teds or Skins could be seen, punks in town all looking mean.

Subway Sect set the scene to start us of on this punky theme. The Slits made a scream, these girls could make you cream, in your dreams Prefects no longer part school, but they made a noise to made you feel cool. But we were there on that night, as Strummer led the Clash band out pogo up, pogo down, as girls and boys jumped around Hate and War and Jamie Jones said it all 'a white riot, a riot, I want a white riot, a riot l want Garage band Garage Land'!

The Chancellor Hall said it all..... are we bored with the USA, yes we are, and still today Gob in your mouth to spit it out Remote Control led us about Career opportunities, the ones that never knock Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock London's burning with boredom now London's burning dial 999999 Music will never be the same on the day that punks came our way a life changing concert it was for us all never played my Zepp anymore.  

Maurice Hyde 28th May 2017

I don't have any nostalgic tales about the White Riot Tour coming to Chelmsford. Don't get me wrong, I was there and it was a blast but my memory is of a collection of bands from all round the Country being very angry about matters that meant F all to me.

I remember The Prefects sang "Birmingham is a shithole" which I thought was funny but obvious - having now visited our town, the singer must have realised that anywhere north of Chelmsford would fall into that category (must be why they never recorded it!)?

I completely forgot about Subway Sect and haven't a clue about their songs - must have been at the bar for their set? The Slits were sluts because one of them touched Barry's arse on the way to the stage - spent their set laughing at that and not thinking much of them musically, good album cover though, inspiring stuff for an adolescent!

Loved The Clash - that backdrop is a brilliant representation of the time - but we didn't have riots like that in our Town so was a little difficult to sympathise but the songs, the anger were groundbreaking for us. Shame the best punk band to come to town was the first, in hindsight all the bands that followed weren't quite so inspiring.

In recent times, I was one of the 50 or so that saw Carbon/Silicon at V a couple of years ago when everyone else was watching Muse - old Mick is still out there folks, sometime Gorilla(z), shame he only comes to town every 31 years.

Ash July 2010

I remember the build up to the evening, about how sleepy Chelmsford was going to be invaded by hordes of rabid Punk Rockers marauding our streets from London, how drugs and alcohol were going to ruin the adolescent youth for years to come. I was 18 at the time and thought it was great. I can remember the Lion and Lamb, AKA the Animals (this was the pub in front of Dukes) having a lot of the local thugery, waiting for the punks and I think we actually drank in there and the Fleece before the gig. I do recall getting dressed up in an old school blazer with a skinny black tie. The blazers were ripped and had safety pins festooned all over them. Also this was the time of the Queens Silver Jubilee, there were many little plastic Union Jack flags in abundance, a lot of these were saftey pinned to jackeetsand shirts. We must have looked stupid but we thought we were cool.

Inside the hall it seemed ever so dark and sweaty, between the bands heavy Dub Reggae seemed to shake the venue to its core. I can't remember a lot about the bands apart from that, I thought that the Slits were excellent, I think that this was my reggae upbringing. They played what I thought at the time the best song of the night, "New Town" When they sang this they rocked from foot to foot in unison. I know the Subway Sect also played and I think the Prefects, but this part of the night was a blur. The Clash were good and I remember "White Riot" blaring out and everyone going mental. They also did a version of Junior Murvins "Police and Thieves." The strange thing at that time was that I couldn't hear much difference between them and the Feelgoods. Fast exciting music.

The night seemed to go really quickly and I did realise at the time that I had been to something that had probably changed my life musically. If it wasn't for that night, I would have never seen some of the great up and coming bands before they were famous. I wouldn't have enjoyed a lot of the bands that I saw at the Chancellor and in a lesser degree the Rock Club. I would not have preferred my music to be rough and raw, rather than the practised polished rubbish that everyone else enjoys (excluding 70's syrupy soul, because that is the best).

Summing up I think I was lucky to have been a teenager when I was, it was an exciting time to be young. There was an air of innocence about which made the punk scene, seem very dangerous. You could see bands cheap on a Sunday which were on Top of the Pops on a Thursday. The music felt as though it was breaking down barriers and not conforming to the norm. I suppose like the 60's protested against something, as the only other time I saw the Clash was with Maurice at Vicky Park in Bow, supporting the Rock against Racism campaign. Most surprising of all though, was that the Clash would become Megastars and the Slits were not as good as I thought.

Duncan Egleton June 2010

I was so excited when the Clash came to town, I had just bought the first single "White Riot" b side "1977" I had played them over and over and Punk was all new to me. Such raw short and fast tracks that I just loved , Punk was well and truly here now. I lived in Great Baddow with my parents then a 17 year old bored teenager fascinated by the emerging new wave bands.
Having already seen pub rockers Dr Feelgood, I was now certainly ready for the White Riot Tour at the Chancellor Hall. I had read stories in the Media about rioting in other towns and the local paper reported that the council had restricted admittance numbers to 400 with a soft drinks bar only following these reports.
My self and Barry Magowan who lived a few doors away talked and planned how we would dress as Punks for the night. We had sprayed and spiked our hair and dressed best we could as Punks that Sunday evening. The walk into to town was memorable as the older generation look on in shock as here were some of those terrible Punks they had read about in the press.

Is all we had to watch out for were local Ted's who might want a Punch Up as there were still quite a few Teddy Boys in Chelmsford then but they never appeared. We started of at the "Lion And Lamb" locally known as "The Animals" now "Dukes". As we arrived there were about 60 Punks outside some probably from the London area, we had a couple of drinks here. I must admitt I was a bit scared at the time as this was the first time I had mixed with such characters ,some of whom were frightening to look at. Sounds crazy that I tried to dress to shock, but was instead terrified of other scary punks.

The Slits

Once inside the hall we made our way to the bar that was busy serving soft drinks, Barry had managed to talk to some punk girls who we did not know until they appeared on stage, they were the Slits. I don't remember a lot about the Prefects who I think were the first band on , other than that they were fucking terrible. When the Subway Sect came on rumours started in the crowd that Ted's had gathered outside the venue armed with iron bars, this sent the crown running over to the front windows to view, but I never saw any. Having said that, "where have all the Ted's gone in Chelmsford". I always remember seeing Ted's all the time round town but now there's none to be seen.

The Slits sounded bad as well as they could hardly play, just a screaming horrible noise, but I remember this song were they danced side to side like stiff dummy's it was called "New Town" one of there better efforts of the evening. Click on image to play the 1978 video of this song and you will see what I mean.

The Prefects
We had moved close to the front when the Clash came on and you soon new that here was a band of the future, they were just superb. The punks did pogo and dance to the sounds that came from the first Clash LP , London's Burning, Jamie Jones, Remote Control, Hate and War, What's My Name, Career Opportunity's, I'm So Bored With The USA, Cheat, 48 hours and Garageland that could have been played but defiantly 1977 and White Riot as I remember these. We had witnessed the turning point in music live, that changed us for ever more. All in all local history had been made when the Clash came to town.

Maurice Hyde

Punk Rock show: The first ever

Story by Bob James, Pictures by Tony Tween

Massive security operations will greet Britain's first-ever punk rock circus. At Chelmsford City stadium tomorrow at least thirty bouncers will be on guard when the non-stop 15-hour show hits town.

Up to 15,000 fans — many of them Londoners — are expected to head to the festival, which has been organised to save the town's football club from bankruptcy. Nobody knows quite what to expect, but the punk followers have a reputation for being anti-social, and the promoters are not taking chances.

A spokesman said: "We have enough bouncers to handle anything unless it turns into a great siege. Inside the ground there will be ninety bouncers and seven patrols, while the police monitor activity outside the stadium."

Only about 500 tickets were thought to have been sold for the concert up until this week. But late publicity on several radio stations, all the leading music papers, and on 3,500 posters splashed around central London, could lead to frantic ticket selling at the gates.

The event will feature five top punk bands with a number of conventional rock groups like the top ten band Eddie and the Hot Rods. The line-up for the festival, hosted by disc jockey John Peel, is The Rods, Doctors of Madness, Lew Lewis Band, Chelsea, Slaughter and the Dogs, Aswad, Fruit Eating Bears, Solid Waste, Glory, and The Damned.

15-hour day — The concert promoter is 21-year-old Bob Mardon, of Little Baddow, who set up a Festival Office at New Writtle Street and has been working up to 15 hours a day to organise the circus.

In his upturned-madhouse office on Tuesday, where builders were asking for more cash for their ground alteration work, the telephones were buzzing with inquiries from all and sundry. Bob announced: "Chelmsford was dead until about six months ago — but it's really lifting off now."

Concert sponsor Martin Havelin, who is hoping to raise at least £5,000 for crisis-hit Chelmsford City from the concert, gave his own prediction when I asked him about the size of tomorrow's crowd. He said: "We don't know what will happen. It's like going out to play a football match without knowing if we will win. We can only hope."

Staging Britain's first all-day punk rock festival... the builders move in to prepare Chelmsford City's New Writtle Street stadium. The football club's perimeter fencing has been rebuilt to keep the punk fans inside.