Originally booked for Tiffany's
Short 'Secret' Midlands Tour
No known audio or video
If you know of any recording, please email blackmarketclash
Short mini-tour of the Midlands
In January of 1978 The Clash undertook a 'secret' tour of the Midlands in the UK and played three gigs. It seems that they were arranged mostly for the benefit of American record producer Sandy Pearlman, who was best known at the time for producing Blue Oyster Cult.
Sandy Pealrman who was being brought over from America to the second album. Johnney Green in A Riot of Our Own pg97 describes the near riot that took place. The NME report [below] screams the headline 'White Riot in Dusnstable'.
He turned up at all three gigs and tried to get into the band's backstage dressing room before the gig. The band's over-zealous the last (at Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, on 26 Jan 1978) zealous roadie Robin Banks used undue force to keep him out, resulting in the long-haired American laying prostrate with a bleeding nose as the band stepped over him to get on the stage.
PAUL: The record company had this idea that they wanted a big name American producer for the second album. I think Mick probably had an inter-est in Pearlman, and anyway he kept turning up at our shows. Mick's old schoolmate Robin Crocker (AKA Banks) used to be our security and at this one gig we're trying to get changed before going on, and this guy's trying to get in, when suddenly there's a 'wallop' and Sandy Pearlman's lying on the floor with blood coming out of his nose. So he's dragged out as Mick shouts at Robin, 'He's our producer!' But he kept coming back even after the punch-up so he was obviously keen.
Robin Crocker wallops Sandy Pearlman
Whilst most witnes acocunts list this as Lanchester Polytechnic, notably New York Rocker in attendance and Johnny Green, 'A Riot of our Own', a ticket exists from Tiffany's. Any infomation on why two venues are identified would be welcome.
This is where infamously Robin Crocker walloped Sandy Pearlman in the dressing room before hand.
Sandy Pearlman with The Clash
THEY CAME FROM GARAGELAND
Lanchester Polytechnic 78
Johnny Green
Sunday 3 August 1997
Online or archived PDF version
Life with the Clash was about as wild as it gets in rock 'n' roll. And road manager. Johnny Green lived it every gig of the way. Twenty years later he's telling the story
It's 1978. With their debut album, 'The Clash', and a series of riotous concerts behind them, the group are established in the vanguard of the punk protest movement. Trouble is a way of life, especially when the pressure comes to change their raw musical style ...
Tickets
Ticket from the original owner who went to the concert. It states Tiffany's. We presume the venue was altered?
courtesy fo Robin Tate at Clash City Collectors
See attached 3 signed Clash tickets from 26 Jan '78.
The band were all so kind
The tickets have Tiffanys on them but the gig was at the Lanch SU (Coventry). At that time, I was a student at Lanchester Poly Art Faculty and had the pleasure of seeing every band there and at other Covo venues. What a great period and to be involved in the early days of the Ska era.
After the gig, I went backstage to their dressing room to get their autographs, they gave us beers, chatted about everything and all four signed the tickets. The following morning I awoke to find them still in my shirt's top pocket, after sleeping in said shirt. Thank god, it wasn't a dream.
I remember grabbing this handful of tickets off the floor, not realising by good fortune that one of them was ticket No1. Which is the only one signed by all four! For me, this was THE classic Clash line up with Nicky 'Topper' Headon, rather than Terry Chimes and other skin bashers. Thinking about it, The Clash's relationship with drummers was a little like Spinal Tap. I think I had the presence of mind to grab the promo poster too. Must find that.
I had seen them before but THIS was the gig! I went to see them everywhere at every opportunity and have my Brixton Academy stub somewhere, Oakland bootleg tape, all original albums and 45s in original sleeves etc. And, when asked, I always say they were and still are my favourite band.
RIP Joe. Thanks for the ride.
Lanchester Polytechnic Students Union, Coventry
Lanchester Polytechnic, commonly known as "The Lanch," was a significant music venue in Coventry, England, during the 1970s and 1980s. The venue was part of the Coventry University campus, which was known as Lanchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1987[2][4]. The Lanchester Polytechnic was created in 1970 through the merger of the Coventry College of Design, the Lanchester College of Technology, and the Rugby College of Engineering[4][10].
Lanchester Polytechnic Students Union became well known as a venue in the city for music in both its Main Hall and in the basement bar of its Priory Street building from the mid 1960s onwards.
It was a central hub for the emergence of 2-Tone music, with bands like The Specials and The Selecter regularly performing there[1]. The venue also hosted the annual Lanchester Art's Festivals in the 1970s[1]. Notable performances at the Lanch included artists like Slade, Billy Preston, Pink Floyd, and Chuck Berry[1]. The venue was also known for hosting a variety of other bands and artists, including the Jack Bruce Band, Colosseum, and the Modern Jazz Orchestra[5].
This reputation grew considerably with the appointment of Ted Little, a mature student who had previously worked in the music business and knew many booking agents. From 1967 to 1970 Ted Little developed the Lanchester Arts Festival of music, film, poetry and theatre.
Coventry music historian Pete Chambers, who was a regular at the venue, has documented the changes in the city's music scene and the role of the Lanch in these developments[1]. The venue's importance is also highlighted by the fact that Chuck Berry's only number one hit, "My-Ding-A-Ling," was recorded live in Coventry[1].
The festivals normally lasted a week to ten days. Significant events in the festival were advertised in the national press (including festival supplements in the music press).
The students union continued to be a major national venue for rock music throughout the 1970s from the 'prog rock' of ELP in the early part of the decade to punk and post punk, "Coventry became a centre for the UK music scene," (Pete Chambers).
Most importantly, the Two Tone Record Label was formed at the students union in 1979. Members of the founding bands of the Two Tone record label, The Specials and The Selecter, were students at the Lanchester Polytechnic, most importantly amongst these students was Jerry Dammers who had been an art student.
However, by the end of the 1990s, the Lanch, like many similar venues across the country, began to suffer due to shifts in the music scene and changing trends. Gigs and events were generally held at The Planet nightclub, and very few were held in the downstairs gymnasium that gave the Lanch its infamy[4].
Unfortunately, no images from the 1970s and 1980s of the Lanchester Polytechnic were found in the search results. However, there are some images available on the internet, such as those found on the blog "I Was A Teenage Sisters of Mercy Fan"[9] and "Coventry Music Articles by Pete Clemons"[11]. Please note that these images may not be from the 1970s or 1980s, and the actual source and date of the images should be verified.
Further information on the Extensive archive of bands and other cultural performances at the students union can be found at the Coventry Music Museum.
Wikipedia
Coventry University - How Ska Music Came to Coventry
Sisters Fan Blog - Temple of Cov: Lanchester Poly, May 1983
Coventry Gigs Blog - The Lanch (Lanchester Polytechnic) Gigs
45worlds - Lanchester Polytechnic
45worlds - Lanchester Polytechnic
Concert Archives - Lanchester Polytechnic
The Free Library - Rocking the Gym Hall at the Lanch
Sisters Fan Blog - Temple of Cov: Lanchester Poly, May 1983
Coventry Disco Archive - Lanchester Polytech Arts Festivals
Coventry Gigs Blog - The Lanch (Lanchester Polytechnic) Gigs
Getty Images - Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic
Coventry Telegraph - Exhibition Relives Glory Days of Lanchester Polytechnic
Coventry Disco Archive - Lanchester Polytech Arts Festivals
Getty Images - Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic
Historypin - Lanchester Polytechnic
Alamy - Lanchester Polytechnic
Lanchester Poly Bands Blog - About Lanchester Polytechnic
Coventry Music Museum - The 2 Tone Tour
Lanchester Polytechnic
The Lanch as it was known back in the 1970's referred to The Lanchester Polytechnic, now called Coventry University, "can be traced back to when it was known as Coventry College of Design back in 1843. During 1852 it became Coventry School of Art which then became a College of Art in 1954. During 1960 the college's city centre buildings were erected and housed the newly created Lanchester College of Technology. The art college also shared the buildings.
About the Lanchester Poly Arts Festivals
From c1989 to the early 80's, The Lanchester Polytechnic Student Union, Priory street Coventry, organised a Winter Arts Festival for a whole week in February. These were amazing multimedia events mainly centred around some of the best upcoming underground bands and artists in many genres and solo artists. There were also poetry, theatre events etc as you will see for the programmes here and included the first ever Live Performance by Monty Python's Flying Circus.
The Lanch of course had regular Friday night band sessions in the Main hall for students and non students. Most of the budding musicians and fans would have gone to see these bands at the time. Sometimes you could see three top name bands quite cheaply by today's standards.
Lanch Social Secretary Ted Little, summed up the festival in 1970 -
"The Lanchester Arts Festival is different from most of the other leading festivals in that is aimed to be progressive, and not just in the 'Pop' sense of the word. Basically the aim of the festival is to bring together people who do not normally perform on the same stage,and get them to do something out of the ordinary. For example, Sir Adrian Boult has very rarely played with Nathan Milstein, and is likely not to do so again in the near future. Similarly what Ron Geesin and Ivor Cutler do on stage at the end of their evening will be worth seeing."
New York Rocker - Pearlman dates & interview
Vol 1 #No12 - April / May 1978
“We just wanted to keep our hand in,” said Mick Jones. “There’s a lot of people in Luton and Dunstable who wanted to see us.
The Queensway Hall itself is a coliseum-like oval ballroom. The Sex Pistols - The Jam, would you believe once played by- before 70 people at the same place. Tonight it’s packed. A top heavy punk audience.
The bar at the back of the hall is stocked with no glasses - plastic or otherwise - just those long, economy size ring pull cans. A ludicrously naive move on the part of the hall management.
The first band, Birmingham’s Modelmania, come and go. By their third number, the sporadic can starts flying towards the stage. The situation gets worse until, after the set, the road crew face a struggle to shift the gear offstage against a torrent of cans.
Joe Strummer walks onstage to cheers and makes a worthy effort to calm down the fans as a can bounces off his head. Joe steps into the swelling mass at the front of the crowd and a kid who a moment earlier had aimed a can at a roadie rushes up and vigorously shakes his hand.
Just when it seems things are cooling down, the worst scenes of the evening begin.
Female French quartet The Lous take the stage. On their night,The Lous are a great little band. They play bouncy, rocking rhythm `n blues, and enjoy it like no-one else around. On the last full Clash tour, they surprised a lot of people by their tough resilience to life on the road
The giants of punk rock the Lanch bar
Coventry Telegraph 28 Nov 2006
Lanchester Poly Gigs
Record Collector HANG HIGH
A review of the making of Give Em Enough Rope LP
21 January 2012
or archive PDF
[quote] "If Dunstable saw Pearlman experience The Clash in the extreme front line [see p81], Lanchester gave him a taste of punk justice when he tried to access the dressing room after the show, only to get thumped on the nose by acting security man Robin 'Banksy' Banks.
He was Mick's school friend, fresh out of jail for armed robbery. I'd just given him a writing post on Zigzag. "Oh no, you! ve hit the producer!" groaned Mick, as Bernie hastily mopped up the blood and the band stepped over him.
The myth has been that Robin mistook the producer for an overzealous fan but he confirms now, "I knew exactly who he was and I'm glad I hit him! I took the first opportunity I got because he was a fucking MOR producer brought in for the American market.
I knew this would be the most boring album ever to record. An ordeal of immense purgatory, so I whacked him in the face. Anyway, he looked like a dork. Pearlman generously saw it as his rite of passage into Clashworld."
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No known recording known to exist. If you know of any recording email blackmarketclash
Extensive archive of articles, magazines and other from the 'Sandy Pearlman dates in early gigs in 1978, and the Festival gigs in May 1978
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