...This is some old PUNK DIARY excerpts that were found in his inbox whilst doing a random search.....enjoy
In 1981 I decided to write a diary and for the Punkiest-Squat-Gigging-Seeking Die-Hards amongst then read on as I'll take you through
Loads of Punk Gigs, from 1980, 1981 and 1982, all over the UK seeing...loads of Punk Rock gigs
..The bands I saw from (1979-1985) are below - including some of them as diary years...
Discharge (49 times)
Antisect (17) , English Dogs (17)
Conflict (15)
G.B.H (14), U.K. SUBS (14)
CRUCIFIX (11)
THE MOB (8), THE EXPLOITED (7). LOST CHEREES (7). SUB-HUMANS (7)
ANTI-PASTI (6), CHRON GEN (6). DIRT (6),
HAGAR THE WOMB (5)
THE DESTRUCTORS (4), NAKED (4), MOTORHEAD (4), THE VARUKERS (4)
COCKNEY REJECTS (3), D & V (3), FLUX OF PINK INDIANS (3), ICONS OF FILTH (3), METALLICA (3), THE PARTISANS (3), STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (3)
ABRASIVE WHEELS (3), A-HEADS (3), ALTERNATIVE (3), ANNIE ANXIETY (3, ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE (3), ANTHRAX (3), BROKEN BONES (3)
CHELSEA (2), THE DEFECTS (2), THE INSANE (2), OMEGA TRIBE (2), POLEMIC (2), THE SEARS (2), VICE SQUAD (2), THE VIBRATORS (2), VENOM (2)
...and a plethora of bands that I caught once including...
.....ACTION PACT/AC/DC/AMEBIX/BAD BRAINS/BLACK FLAG/BLITZ/CHUMBAWUMBA/CRASS/CULT MANIAX/THE DARK/DEAD KENNEDYS/DISORDER
THE FITS/GIRLSCHOOL/HERESY/IRON MAIDEN/K.U.L.K/ONE WAY SYSTEM/PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES/POISON GIRLS
The SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION/VIOLATERS/YOUTHINASIA/ ZOUNDZ...and many many more.....!!
Punk Diary 1981
JANUARY
Thursday 1st
Top of the Pops (Music TV Programme) was rubbish.
Sunday 4th
Yorkshire police say that they have caught ‘Jack The Ripper’ (a man responsible for the murder of 13 prostitutes in the north of England over the last few years). Rock for Kampuchea was on TV featuring THE CLASH singing 'Armagideon Time' live.
Monday 5th
Ripper murder-man (Peter Sutcliffe) charged with 13th victims (prostitutes) murder.
Wednesday 7th
Watched 16UP on TV (programme) which was about SUS laws - it wasn't bad. Some clever person sent a letter-bomb to Maggie Thatcher (Prime Minister of the UK).
Friday 9th
Got my Social Security money - I’ve got £34.40p to spend. IRA claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion at R.A.F Uxbridge yesterday - they say there’s worse to come.
Saturday 10th
Old Grey Whistle Test (Music TV programme) with The SKIDS, John Martyn, OTWAY & BARRETT, JOE JACKSON, no good.
Sunday 11th
Film about Aushwitz concentration camp was good.
Monday 12th
Stuck up Sid (Vicious) on bike poster, listened to John Peel (alternative radio DJ) rubbish.
Wednesday 14th
Mike (my brother) got his pictures back - picture of him and Angus was best (of AC/DC as he went to see them in concert live in Lille, France and got backstage with the band). Mum stitched 2 patches on my bondage trousers at last.
Thursday 15th
Watched Top Of The Pops - terrible.
Saturday 17th
Old Grey Whistle Test - Adam and the Ants.
Monday 19th
Rock Goes To College (Live Music TV programme). I had a sandwich fight with Mike.
Wednesday 21st
Watched a bit of 16UP. I got a reply from the UK SUBS FAN CLUB - they sent me a 2-page newsletter plus 2 badges and a 4" x 4" UK SUBS sticker and a picture of the new line-up.
Thursday 22nd
Went up to WH Smith got SOUNDS (UK Music press weekly paper) came back read it. Turned to page 53 reading Jaws (Gossip section) suddenly I saw an article on DISCHARGE it said "Super-Punks Discharge have parted company with their drummer Tezz". Oh crap I said to myself, I read on it said he left by mutual consent. So the last gig Tezz played with Discharge was Paisley (Bungalow bar) on December 29th. Where on earth are they gonna get a 2000 m.p.h. drummer.
Friday 23rd
Went round to get dole money (social security benefit) but 'cause mum woke us at 11:45 (a.m.) it was too late to 'sign on' - she said come back at 2:00(p.m.) - I did and got money and come home.
Saturday 24th
Boxing from U.S.A (on TV) Marvin Hagler versus some other black bloke -Hagler won - he deserved to. The Old Grey Whistle Test (Music TV programme) Roxy Music and Mike Oldfield from Germany.
Sunday 25th
Mike went to see Angelwitch and Tank at the Winter Gardens, Margate he enjoyed it.
Monday 26th
Watched Rock Goes To College (Uk Music TV Programme) It had The Motels on it, they were better than I thought. Listened to John Peel heard Angelic Upstarts new single 'On The Street' - very good. (it obviously was not called 'On The Street' gawd knows what it was!!!)
Tuesday 27th January
John Peel was crap.
Wednesday 28th
Missed 16UP - will see (repeat) on Sunday. A group of Punks are squatting a derelict property in Fareham (Hampshire - about 75 miles South-West of London) were on tele (TV) the (y had) Anarchy flags and were dancing on the roof - really funny.
Thursday 29th
I knocked out Mikes tooth with a blow to the face. Went and got Music papers. Sounds had a 2 page feature and a review of Angelic Upstarts new single. Record Mirror had a 1 page feature on Gen X. Sounds had a picture of CAL (Discharge) above Decontrol in the 'Independent Charts'. And in the gig-guide a Angelic Upstarts gig with Discharge supporting in Digbeth Civic Hall, Birmingham - 1 problem = it's all ticket - I'll phone up tomorrow and find out how to obtain tickets by post.
Friday 30th
Sent away for Discharge Hanky £1.70p (incl. p&p). Hope to get it back before the Birmingham concert. I phoned up about tickets - you can buy tickets by post - I decided to pay on the door. the place holds 1,000 and only 500 tickets have been printed so I'll (I’m) definitely not going to grim old Ireland and I'm definitely going to see Discharge playing their first gig with their new drummer, plus Angelic Upstarts are playing. It will be my first concert of 1981.
Saturday 31st
John Lydons Birthday today (of Pil-Public Image Ltd and of course the Sex Pistols).
FEBRUARY
Monday 2nd
Played a few games of darts (with Mike my older brother, 20) and while we were playing Mike said "If I get over 60 with these 6 darts I will thus continue to beateth me!", and he deliberately got over 60 so he could turn off the light and steam in. But not to his knowledge I lay in wait for him and when he got within a distance...I pounced and....run into a fist = roly-poly in the dark etc. Made a terrible pie.
Tuesday 3rd
Played a couple of games of darts then Mike said "Lets go downstairs for a cup of tea and biscuits" so we went down and the dining room door was locked and there was no key in it - Grumps had locked it (I think that’s my dad!). So we thought try their bedroom so we could go through the garden (to the kitchen) but that was locked. So we tried Flat 1 so we could go down the roof (of the kitchen) - but that too was locked. So we thought 'get out of the toilet window (first floor) - I did had cup of tea - phew.
Wednesday 4th
Went out with mum and dad to get Polistil racing car track - paid £25 for it and brought it back home. It consisted of 6 cars, 15 straights, 15 bends, 2 crossovers and loads of accessories. Set up new stuff and old stuff and made some really good long tracks and Tina (our cat, aged 8) was chasing the cars like she did back in Keston Road (Peckham, South London in the early to mid 1970s)
Thursday 5th
Went round to the Careers Office and the lady sent me up Tesco's (supermarket) for a job. I saw the sub-manager but he said he needed someone with work experience. Got Sounds on the way back - very good - UK SUBS LP review, Virgin Prunes interview, Wendy O'Williams interview (of The Plasmatics) Upstarts (Angelic) London gig review. Discharge will not be playing Birmingham coz they haven’t got a drummer. Gig guide Friday Manchester Discharge -but I think they have cancelled that for the same reason. T.O.T.P (Top Of The Pops) was crap
Friday 6th
Went round to Capitol House (Social Security/Dole money) and 'signed on'. While I was in there I met Kay (Punk girl from Deal - 10 miles south of Margate) she said she has moved to Margate. People in Flat 2 changed their lock on their door. I had to climb up and open it from the inside (first floor) they said they're not moving tomorrow.
Saturday 7th
Missed O.G.W.T (Old Grey Whistle Test).
Wednesday 11th
Went into the garden with Noddy (my dad) and gave him loads of bricks and he started to build on Austin’s (labourer for back extension we were having built - rather cheaply!) nice level brickwork and of course bird-brain couldn't lay a straight brick in a million years. he kept building 'em higher and messier. What a disaster - he won't admit he can't bricklay, stupid scrooge. Got letter about claim (car crash compensation) - will see a specialist soon.
Thursday 12th
My Hanky of Discharge arrived -it's really good. Watched Top Of the Pops - best Pretenders, Slade. Got Sounds Discharge interview, good pics bad interview. It said in it Discharge will have a tour set up for April and will release a 12 inch 12 track 45 to coincide. I can't wait, they still haven’t found a drummer. Virgin prunes played London tonight and tomorrow.
Friday 13th
Watched Family Fortunes TV programme) really good. We had a game of our own (mad). Mike writ out some silly valentines to some ugly people in Eire (Southern Ireland)
Saturday 14th
Only my only (line) of '4 aways' (UK Football betting on the 'away' Football teams to beat the 'home' sides at their own ground) I GOT 4..!!! I win for the third time in 14 weeks. Mike says I'll get around £50 quid, I reckon £30 - Mum gets 20% for using her name. A fire in Dublin kills 49 (Artane, in North Dublin).
Sunday 15th
Sunday People (Paper) predict low dividends for 4 aways, which I got. I fink I'll get around £10.
Thursday 19th
Read the paper to find out what I won on the Pools 4 aways = Pools void. It means nobody won on the pools but they use your money towards your next entry. Totp crap.
Friday 20th
Went round to Capitol House (Dole money/Social Security) got cheque went into Careers Office. The lady there tried to persuade me into combing my hair down. Cashed my dole cheque - the bloke on the Post Office gave me 40p too much for my dole cheque. Went into WH Smith and looked at Record Mirror. Virgin Prunes all the rest rubbish.
Wednesday 25th
Watched Rock and Pop Awards on Nationwide (TV Programme). Adam and the Ants were on it - all the boring old farts won the awards.
Thursday 26th
Looked at Sounds no good except Cockney Rejects interview. Siouxsie was on the front and interview with her. Top of the Pops crap.
Saturday 28th
Got a letter from Dole headquarters in Ramsgate (3 miles south-east of Margate) saying I have to go there on Monday. Old Grey Whistle Test - U2, Iron Maiden, best.
MARCH
Sunday 1st
Decided to go see U.K. SUBS at the Lyceum (in Central London). Left at 3.50, went down and had my picture taken for the railcard I bought for £10. Got a special '1 journey free' pass as well. Caught the 4.03pm but had to go from Sittingbourne to Rainham - arrived Victoria (railway station) at 7.00pm. Jumped on a 11 bus straight to Lyceum, got off queued up, went in after 10 mins - £3.00p in. As I went through the door I was handed an album UK SUBS new one - no record inside - Warhead 45 (pic) a badge and a giant poster. Not bad for nuthin'. I bought 2 fanzines with Discharge features in - really smart.
After a while ANTI-PASTI came on.
The singer had pink hair - they were much better than I thought they would be - fast -raw - very good -they went down well.
Then 15 minutes later THE STIFFS came on.
They were rubbish rock.
Then later on CHELSEA came onstage
...they were also better than I thought they'd be, but the bent singer kept stopping halfway through a record to have a chat with the crowd.
Finally much later on...The UK SUBS came on
...cheers from the crowd etc. Nicky Garrett ran around the stage like he was trying to break the mile record, Charlie seemed to be a little bit tired and his voice went twice. Alvin Gibbs was O.K., Steve Roberts hammered away non-stopper 1-hour through C.I.D, Tomorrows' Girls, I Couldn't Be You, Emotional Blackmail, and some off their new album - great gig.
Monday 2nd
While I was over in Ramsgate at my dole interview I saw a pretty punkette. Rock-Stage a new rock (TV) prog started tonight - it will feature Motorhead, OMD in coming weeks.
Thursday 5th
Got the Music Papers - UK SUBS interview. T.O.T.P. Set all my stuff out for Discharge in Manchester.(...their gig tomorrow at The Mayflower in Bellevue, Manchester)
Friday 6th
Got up at 10.30 am, went round got (dole) money. Met KAY (Punk girl from Deal now living in Margate) came home cashed (dole) cheque. Ordered a taxi -it came late I missed the 11:48 train and caught the 12:23pm got to Victoria (railway station in Central London) at 2:10pm. Bought flashes for camera phoned up the Mayflower (gig venue in Manchester) - it was engaged. Caught a tube (underground train) to Euston (railway station in North Central London for the connecting train to Manchester). And bought a Manchester single £8.65p it cost. That pulled out at 2:55pm stopped at Stoke, Stockport - got into Manchester Piccadilly (railway station) at 5:30pm (after a 200 mile journey north from London, and 275 mile journey from home in the south-east of England in Margate, Kent). Asked at information how to get to Asburys for Belleview (...the suburb in South-East central Manchester was called 'Bellevue') I caught a local train to a station in a suburb called 'Gorton'. Got off - asked ticket bloke if he knew where the Mayflower was? He said try the paper shop up the road. So I went in the shop and he said it's in Belleview (Bellevue), so he wrote down directions. So caught a train from Gorton to Asburys. Got off, walked down steps, down the road turned into Birch Road and came to it. A few Punks were there so I went around the side and listened to support bands soundchecking. I went in -after about 1 hour, and I saw Bones, he recognised me, he was signing T-Shirts. I went over and I bought one (..a white T-Shirt with the Discharge 'equality face' (on the rear of some of their early 7-Inch singles) - he signed it, so did the new drummer, his name is Dave ('Bambi') Ellesmere, he looks OK, he said "Cals down there" - so I went down and he was surprised to see me, had a chat - he went off to the toilet and didn't come back.
The first support band came on...
....they played Elvis Presley records (...songs) and went - they were crap (...I am not sure of their name...but they had a black kid playing basss guitar called 'toothpaste').
After a while NOVA VAGA came on
...they were as bad as their name.
THE VIOLATORS came on next
...a hardcore Punk band (...wot a larf) are guess what..? Yes a bunch of skinheads, crap.
After about 1 and half-hours DISCHARGE came on
.... I took 4 pictures during 'Realities Of War' (opening song). Discharge played some new songs off their forthcoming 12", 'War' (...that'll be 'Why' then...!) 'Death And Destruction' plus all the old songs. They went down with the crowd really well. Discharge went off and they called them back for a 2nd encore then they went off. They still came back on for 1 last song - 'War' (...thats ahem...'Why' again...!) with Cal falling onto the ground with exhaustion. They went and the gig was over.
After an hour I went out to Discharges van, I got in talked a bit then the driver (Martin) came back..I got a lift with the band and at about midnight we left South Manchester. Then we were on our way 'home' - we drove through the early hours across Manchester city centre area and then out to Wigan (...25 miles north-west of Manchester) to drop Dave ('Bambi' Ellesmere) off. We all went into his house for a cup of tea (...up a winding nice cul-de-sac as it happens at about 1 a.m...!) then the rest of us left (...at around 01:30 a.m.). We drove down the M6 (...motorway southbound) to Sandbach service station - We all had something to eat (...at 3 a.m. then we drove on the short distance south) and I got dropped off by Discharge at Stoke railway station at about 4:30 a.m. in the morning.
Saturday 7th
Got into Margate at 11:40 a.m, and got home at 12:20pm. I watched The Old Grey Whistle Test - no good. I counted how much money I have left. I've got £32.27p for Birmingham tomorrow week (..the next Discharge gig) - I should be able to go.
Monday 9th
I watched Siouxsie and the Banshees on Rock Goes To College. They were better than I thought they'd be, but were still no good. Rock-Stage (...TV Music programme) had a band called Sad Cafe on it.
Tuesday 10th
I played Discharges three first E.P's
Thursday 12th
I played Discharges three 7-Inch E.P's. I bought Sounds music paper- no good this week. It said Discharge are playing Birmingham, Cedar Ballroom tomorrow (Friday 13th) - I thought they were playing there on Monday 16th - I will phone up the Cedar Ballroom in Birmingham tomorrow morning to find out.
Friday 13th
I phoned to see if Discharge are playing (at the Cedar Ballroom, Birmingham tonight) - they said they are. I walked down to Margate railway station and caught the 12:48pm train and got into London at 2:40 pm. Then I caught a tube train north to Euston and got there at 2:55pm. The next train to Birmingham was at 3:10pm, so got a Birmingham single ticket - it cost £5.15p. I got into Birmingham New Street station at 4:30pm and asked at information desk for directions to Constitution Hill (for the gig venue at Cedar Ballroom). I walked out of the city centre heading south a few miles and waited outside a place (in south Birmingham) I thought was the Cedar Ballroom Club for about 20 minutes then Bones and his girlfriend (Helen) came along - they said they were looking for the club earlier in Edgbaston which was miles away in North Birmingham..!!!! We all walked up the road past a chip shop then came to the Cedar Club (...the place I was waiting outside wasn't it either...!). Then I heard a horn beep - it was Discharges van on the other side of the road. They pulled up and got out. Dave (Bambi) said "I'm mad travelling up thjis far to see us", we all rushed around the side entrance out of the rain. We all went inside and I had a look around the gig place then I went and bought some chips. Came back and helped the P.A. and hire stuff in from the van. Had a game of Space Invaders - 850 pts. Music played over the sound system and people started coming in after a while.
G.B.H the support band came on
...they were good and went down really well with the crowd.
After about an hour after that
DISCHARGE came on
...everybody went to the front. The bouncers were a bit rough. Discharge played really a good gig, people getting dragged off stage and out the door. They encored once with 'Fight Back', 'They Declare It' and 'War' (...'Why'...!).
I went out to van and said 'see-ya' and I then walked back into Birmingham City centre and to the railway station in and waited 6 hours for my train back to London. (100 Miles)
Saturday 14th
I got back into Margate just after midday at around 12:15pm, walked home. I watched The Old Grey Whistle Test - no good (...9 Below Zero and Bruce Springsteen).
Monday 16th
I got woken up by Mike (...my brother) at 9 a.m. and he was telling me how he met Iron Maiden at a 5-star hotel in Hammersmith after the gig in London last night. Rock-stage was rubbish - AWB (Average White Band) RGTC (?) and After The Fire.
Tuesday 17th
I watched Janet Brown (comedienne impersonator) taking off a Punkette (punk girl).
Wednesday 18th
I Played Realities Of War, Fight Back and Decontrol, Discharge E.P.'s and Slaughter & the Dogs 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone'.
Thursday 19th
I bought the Sounds music paper and it had a feature on Anti-Pasti, Damned and Cockney Rejects. T.O.T.P - crap.
Friday 20th
Mike bought the Record Mirror music paper - it was absolutely terrible I could have done an 8 from 10 (Football Pools betting) line for that money and won £750,000.
Saturday 21st
O.G.W.T (Old Grey Whistle Test) was crap- Joni Mitchell.
Monday 23rd
Michael Foot (Politician) said if he gets into power he will start to disarm. Clever idea - but once he gets into power we will realise it was just one of his lies to get into power.
Tuesday 24th
The Spot-The-Ball (...gambling game via the newspapers) results tomorrow - can't wait.
Wednesday 25th
Sportsnight (TV programme) had England versus Spain on - England lost 1-2 - terrible team.
Thursday 26th
Mum bought me Sounds music paper - it's got nuffink good in it except that on the gig page it had the Porterhouse (Retford, Nottinghamshire) April 10th gig by Discharge in the lists. So I should be able to afford to that coz I get dole money a week before that gig - it's on a Friday. T.O.T.P - crap.
Friday 27th
I had to lend Mike £5.25p for his football pools coz he's broke - so am I now.
Saturday 28th
The Grateful Dead live from Germany, they were very bad hippies at playing mucus (...music).
Monday 30th
I went upstairs into Mike’s room and played a few records and thought up a competition. It was to see who could drum best to different records then we proceeded to mark accordingly - Mike won. Dad then rushed in and said President Ronald Reagan had been shot - me and Mike just burst out laughing. We went downstairs and waited til the next news came on. Jan Leeming (BBC) said "President Raygun has been shot and they have it on TV film". He was coming out of a conference and was waving and smiling - then there were 5 shots. Reagan got hit just 1 inch from his heart and 2 coppers got hit and one of his men in the head. Everyone bit the dust and the security men grabbed the bloke who was just standing there. Then we watched it again in slow motion...it was brilliant.
APRIL
Thursday 2nd
Mike went and bought the Sounds music paper. it said that Supercharge were playing The Retford Porterhouse the same day as Discharge - I wonder who is? I watched STIFF LITTLE FINGERS when they were on T.O.T.P singing their new 45 'Fade Away' - not bad.
Saturday 4th
Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest from Dublin, Southern Ireland for the U.K. Old Grey Whistle Test played a S.L.F (Stiff Little Fingers) track off their new LP - it had trumpets on.
Monday 6th
I watched the TV music programme called Rock-Stage with Girlschool who were pretty good and Motorhead = Shakey 'eds noise and lights.
Thursday 9th
Mum got Sounds - nuthin' in it besides UK SUBS new single 'Run And Run Til You Burn' (...'Keep On Running Til You Burn’...!) review and Discharge aren't playing The Retford Porterhouse - Supercharge are playing instead. Top Of The Pops had Public Image Ltd on it singing their new single 'Flowers Of Romance'.
Saturday 11th
John Lydon and Keith Levene (of Public Image Ltd) in an interview on the radio with Tommy Vance (the 'Rock Show' on BBC Radio...!). He talked with them a lot and played 4 tracks off of 'Flowers Of Romance' LP. Me and monster Mike had a really funny big cushion fight, in which I stubbed my toe and can hardly walk. O.G.W.T - Thin Lizzy and Gang Of Four. Brixton riots (...a South London suburb), Blacks versus the Police - houses burned, cars etc.
Sunday 12th
The news showed remains of Brixton (...In London).
Monday 13th
Watched the news at 6 o'clock all about the Brixton Riots. Nationwide (TV programme) also had a 20-minute thing on it. Panorama had loads of snobs (...'Posh' or 'Rich' people...!) talking about the rioting in Brixton.
Wednesday 15th
I went around and signed on (the dole - state benefit) saw Andy (...A Margate punkey type bloke) and another bloke in there - also saw Kay the punkette. The Careers Office sent me to a job interview up near where Andy lives. It was plastic moulding stuff for the Royal Wedding - Pay = £30 per week. On the way home I saw a lovely punkette - black hair like Siouxsies walking an alsation- hope I'll see her again. In Sounds it had an advert about the new Discharge single out now 10 tracks £1.99p (...'Why'..!).
Thursday 16th
Top Of The Pops had Girlschool on it, The Cure and the U.K. SUBS singing their new 45 'Keep On Running Til You Burn'. John Peel played 999's new 45 'Obssessed' and S.L.F LP track.
Saturday 18th
On The Old Grey Whistle Test it had The Scars and Wilko Johnsons' band in the studio and they had Krokus live from Hammersmith.
Monday 20th
On TV I watched 'Rock-Stage' - Lene Lovich, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. Mike went to see Rose Tattoo at the Marquee Club in London - he will get me Discharges' new 45 while he is up there in London.
Tuesday 21st
I played 'WHY' Discharges new 12" - 10 track 45. It was pretty good - nice 'n' raw and noisy - they are all short tracks 'Why' 'Feeble Bastard' 'Is This To Be' 'Mania For Conquest' 'A Look At Tomorrow' 'Maimed And Slaughtered' ' Massacre Of Innocence' 'Does The System Work?' ' Visions Of War'. Rose Tattoo - not bad for Heavy Metal.
Wednesday 22nd
Mum saw two punkettes down Cecil Square (....near the Margate seafront) with Discharge on their leather jackets.
Thursday 23rd
I watched Top Of The Pops - crap. News - Ronnie Biggs is free - he's back in Brazil now living the high life. There are 2.5 million on the dole thanks to (Margaret) Thatcher (...The Prime Minister...in the U.K. now).
Saturday 25th
We played a 'Blind' darts game. On TV The Old Grey Whistle Test from France had Trust (...a French heavy metal Band) on it but we missed 'em.
Wednesday 29th
Had my first bath for 11 weeks and 5 days. England 0 Romania 0 in a World Cup Football qualifier - England played awful. Jack The Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe) appeared in court - he said he was guilty.
Thursday 30th
I bought Sounds music paper...it was really great - The Exploited's new LP review - it's called 'Punks Not Dead'. and also Discharges Why E.P came straight in at number 9 (...in the alternative charts) and believe it or not a review of their E.P. By Phil Sutcliffe - not a bad write-up. Plus a new Discharge picture in their back yard - great. (...it was the back yard of Clay Records shop in Stoke). On TV Top Of The Pops had Thin Lizzy, and also Tenpole Tudor on it.
MAY
Friday 1st
I timed Discharges tracks on their 'WHY' E.P. They are all around 1:30 mins the shortest record is 'Maimed And Slaughtered' (1:04) and the longest is 'A Look At Tomorrow' (1:50). Side 1 is 6 minutes 51 seconds long and Side 2 is 7 minutes 12 seconds long - altogether 13 minutes 53 seconds...that is 20p a track.
Saturday 2nd
Crass were on BBC Radio talking to Tommy Vance and he played two of their tracks. One was O.K. one was terrible.
Sunday 3rd
I phoned up the Lyceum (in London) to see if Anti-Pasti and The Exploited were still supporting 999. The bloke said they've both pulled out so I didn't go.
Tuesday 5th
Bobby Sands MP cum hunger-striker died after 66 days today. Rioting in Belfast and Dublin, shops in Grafton Street smashed. On the TV I watched the O.G.W.T it had a Rose Tattoo film of them live in Australia.
Wednesday 6th
There were more riots in Belfast (..Northern Ireland) again. Three MP's got letter bombs today - all were intercepted.
Thursday 7th
I bought the Sounds music paper this week which was very bad - the only good thing was that Discharge are top of the Indie singles chart with their 'Why' E.P. -straight in at number 9, then straight to number one. On TV it had T.O.T.P live - with Adam and the Ants playing 'Stand And Deliver'. TV Eye about C.N.D (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) was good. Bobby Sands was buried today.
Friday 8th
i read this weeks Sounds and in it it said that Discharge are playing two shows (4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) at the Manchester Mayflower gig tomorrow. Mum lent me £15 so I could afford to go and will phone them early tomorrow.
Saturday 9th
I got up by the alarm clock at 7:20 a.m. and walked down to Margate railway station a mile away and caught the 8:23 a.m. train to London which included a bus journey from Sitingbourne to Rainham for 3 miles as they were doing line-track repairs. I arrived in Victoria station (London) at 10:50 a.m. and caught a tube up to Euston railway station where I saw a few Manchester City football supporters on their way to the F.A. Cup final versus Tottenham Hotspurs at Wembley, London. I caught the 11:55 a.m. train north the 200 miles to Manchester and then got a train to Asburys from the centre of Manchester. When I got to The Mayflower (in Gorton) there were about 100 punks there, so I went around the side of the building (...it was a near-derelict red bricked old church building on a patch of desolate wasteland in South-east Manchester and the area was pretty grim indeed...!). Discharge were sitting in their van. We talked a bit then after a while took in all the equipment. I bought a 'WHY' hanky (that measured 12" by 12" and was the same as the cover of the 12" record, on white cotton) and a wristband (that was more like an 'armband than a 'wristband'...it was made of white cotton with Discharge written on white not their logo though!) both came to £1.80p. Tending the stall was Cals girlfriend Heather and chatted and she wrote down a few dates of the next Discharge gigs for me - Stevenage (...In Hertfordshire - 30 miles north of London) this Sunday and the next one was headlining over Anti-Pasti and The Exploited at the Lyceum in London in two Sundays time. I should be able to go to both of those gigs.
DISCHARGE came on for their 'Matinee Set' (...for the younger kids I think?) at 6 p.m.
...they played a pretty good set and four encores and Discharge even dedicated 'They Declare It' to me - I'm getting famous now. Cal climbed on top of the speakers and nearly fell off.
After the concert (...the 'Matinee set') the crowd went out, but I stayed in as a guest for free. I listened to Bones soundchecking on his guitar he played 'Tomorrows Girls' (UK Subs) 'Telephone Numbers' (UK Subs) Jimi Hendrix 'Wild Thing' and getting some good tunes just mucking about - it was great.
At 11pm DISCHARGE came on (...again...! - for their second set)
...and they played all the same set of songs except 'Society’s Victim' and encored twice but they messed up 'Maimed And Slaughtered' with 'Massacre Of Innocence'.
Cal gave me a pasty he got in the kitchen - it was spicy so I had to buy a 35p bottle of coke to cool my throat down. Dave (Bambi) went back to Wigan with his mates. Rainy disappeared altogether so we packed away the gear into the van and all went back (...down the M6 motorway 60 miles southbound)to Stoke. We stopped off at Sandbach services again on the motorway at around 1 a.m. Where I bought one sausage and beans - cold as usual for 64p. We pulled into Stoke-on-Trent at 03:20 a.m. and I got dropped off at the (...desolate) railway station (...about a half-mile from where Bones and Cal lived). I had to wait there (...on a Sunday morning) til 09:30 for a train to London, and even then I had to change at Stafford (...about 25 miles South-West) for another train that was going straight to London. Then I caught a straight-through service south (...the 140 miles) to London. I got back into Margate, Kent at 4pm on Sunday afternoon a full 38 hours after I left.
Monday 11th
Bob Marley died of cancer in America today.
Tuesday 12th
I watched TV and The Old Grey Whistle Test - It had a band called 'Holly and the Italians' and also a group called 'The Plastics' from Japan..after that it paid a tribute to Bob Marley.
Wednesday 13th
I cut the red bondage straps off my 'Bondage' trousers. The Pope got shot three times in an assassination attempt on him while he was in a car in the Vatican City (.....in Rome, Italy). He got shot once in the head, once in the arm and once in the belly - he's ok. The villain was caught.
Thursday 14th
On the television I saw Top Of The Pops - Thin Lizzy were the best on it this week. In the N.M.E (...New Music Express - music paper) they had a one-page feature on Discharge. It had pictures of Rainy, bones and Dave (Bambi) but Cal didn't want to be a 'pop star'.
Friday 15th
Princess Anne (...erm maybe she was the Queens sister..??) had her 2nd baby, a girl and I hope its got brain damage - it would be really funny - a mental snob.
Sunday 17th
Discharge play Stevenage Bowes Lyon tonight ...(in Hertfordshire 30 miles north of London..over 100 miles awy from me) - I didn't go coz I had to pay mum the £15 I owed her.
Monday 18th
Mum bought me a small paintbrush to paint over my Discharge 'Fight Back' picture on the back of my leather jacket with white gloss. I painted over it and I did a good job except the face.
Tuesday 19th
I touched up and painted my Discharge 'Fight Back' leather jacket with black gloss - still can't get Cals face right. On the TV I watched 'Rock-Stage' with Hazel O'connor and The Stranglers. I also watched The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Thursday 21st
I watched Tv and TOTP. While painting the back of my Discharge leather jacket I totally messed up Cals face on the back of my jacket - boring day - oh I nearly forgot - boring day,
Friday 22nd
I went out on my bike up to buy the music paper Sounds. The best thing was The Exploited interview in which Wattie said " The only true punk bands left are Discharge (true, true) us (meaning The Exploited) Anti-Pasti and Vice Squad". The news - Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the 13 murders he committed, plus 9 attempted murders.
Sunday 24th
I got up at 12:20pm. Got a taxi down to Margate railway station passing loads of snails cum turtles cum Mods they looked stupid (...It was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and Mods, Skinheads and Punks were renowned for heading to sea-side holiday resorts en masse - violence usually occurred at the most popular resorts with the gangs - these location are old time seaside resorts where families go too they are Blackpool, Margate, Brighton etc - hence I took a taxi to the railway station...!). I caught the 2:23pm train and got into Victoria station in London at 4pm. Then I caught an 11 bus to the Lyceum Ballroom in the Strand, Central London. I waited outside the back door a while then Rainy came out with a girl - he said Cal, Dave and Bones were inside. Cal came out later and gave me a free ticket to get in tonight, he then disappeared. Then I took a stroll along the Strand and Cal came out of a burger bar with Bones so we all walked back to the Lyceum. They went in the back-door and I went around the front and queued up for about one hour then went in. I went over to the badge/merchandise bar where I saw Cals girlfriend, Heather. She said "How ya going, Ok.?" - I said yeah- I bought 1 quid’s worth off badges - 2 'Fight Back', 2 'Equality' Blokes and 1 tiny 'Fight Back' in words.
After a while the first band came on ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE.
The singer was a biker with straggly hair and chains hanging from his arms and he was wielding an axe and swinging it around. They were OK
Then shortly after that CHRON GEN came onstage
- they were rubbish.
Then after that ANTI-PASTI came on
they played a great set and they were really lively moving around - a great live band and they got the crowd going.
Then next up were THE EXPLOITED
the crowd gave them a great reception. Wattie had a great time taunting the English crowd over the Scotland victory (...in Football, Scotland won at Wembley 0-1 in London versus England yesterday..!). They played a great gig with Wattie playing bass guitar for a rendition of UK Subs 'Warhead' with the ageing Charlie Harper joining in halfway through a 10-minute version of it. They came back for 3 encores and then went off.
Then later DISCHARGE came on
and I went down the front. They had smoke all over the stage - they played 'Realities Of War' then they ran into a 10 minute technical hitch (..something up with guitar leads and connections). They played a pretty bad sounding set although it was mainly technical problems - coming back on for 4 encores. I was really tired after that.
I left the Lyceum and went around back-stage where I met Dave (Bambi) who was looking for groupies and his poster (...of the gig?). I also "rubbed shoulders" with Wattie, Big John (...of The Exploited) and also Anti-Pasti's singer Martin. I waited outside with some London skins who were talking about Scotland football supporters. Oh yeah - a bloke recorded the Discharge concert and Dave said "They've recorded the gig for a live album" - I personally don't believe him. Then I left and walked back the 3 miles west through central London to Victoria railway station. I got on the 03:30 a.m. mail-train a(..this is actually a 'mail' train for bags of letters and parcels etc..it only has ONE compartment for 'passengers' - people who missed their connections no doubt like me -which sometimes has no lights or no heaters or sometimes both are not working...yet you pay the same price..if a ticket guy gets on it - which was rare) I got an empty compartment and then it pulled out. At Chatham (....an hour into the journey, of over 2 hours, about halfway back to Margate -35 miles east of London) eight skinheads and one drunk one got on, they were going to Calais (...in northern France) and got out at Faversham (...to change for the Dover train service, for France). There was a few punks down a compartment and they got out at Margate at 06:00hrs. At the station there were about 20 skinheads there. I walked down along the seafront homeward and there were about 20 Mods there - who asked me "Where there any Skinheads up at the station" I said "Yeah" (...I then took a detour and I walked the long way home away from the sea-front...!). I got home away after 06:30 a.m.
Tuesday 26th
I had a bath and cut my hair and blow-dried it. It is now 80% spikier than it was before hand.
Thursday 28th
I will go to Derby tomorrow to see Discharge if Sounds has a phone number for the venue.
Friday 29th
I got Sounds music paper it had a 999 interview in it. I looked at the Gig Guide it had Discharge at Derby but no phone number - so I didn't go.
Saturday 30th
England lost 1-2 at home to Switzerland in Football at Wembley, London. The English fans were fighting Swiss supporters on the terraces.
Sunday 31st
Mike (...my brother) kept getting bad scores at darts while we played so he grabbed the dartboard off the hook and threw the dartboard on the floor and threw the darts out of the window down into the street (...seeing as he and I lived up in the dormer/attic rooms this was quite a dangerous thing to do, perhaps even more so at night...!).
JUNE
Monday 1st
Mike went to see Ted Nugent at the Hammersmith Odeon, in London.
Tuesday 2nd
I watched 'Rock-Stage' on TV with Squeeze, the audience weren’t in one though.
Wednesday 3rd
Mike and I played football in the kitchen with a tennis ball - I won 10-9.
Thursday 4th
On Top Of The Pops on the television it had Siouxsie and the Banshees on it singing their new 45 "Spellbound". Siouxsie looked nice in leather.
Friday 5th
I got up at 09:20 a.m. with an alarm clock and I caught the 10:23 a.m. train from Margate railway station to Victoria in London. Then I walked along to Victoria coach station and bought a coach ticket to Retford, Nottinghamshire (...it is 200 miles north of London and 275 from home in Margate,Kent..!). It cost £4.50p and left at 2pm. It went up the A1 and we stopped at a service station for half an hour after a while. It also stopped at Grantham (Lincolnshire), Newark and Worksop, which were quite close to Retford. We pulled into Retford at 6:45pm (...it was quite a pretty quaint historical small town centre I recall..!). I got off and walked around to the Porterhouse venue place straight away (...up a narrow street off of the old main 'square'). I chatted to a punk from boring Grantham who said my 'Fight Back' picture on the back of my leather jacket was 'ace'. I then walked through the front door and upstairs where I met Cals girlfriend Heather and Bones and his girlfriend Helen (....who has died her hair blonde). Dave (Bambi) gave me a can of beer I didn't want so I gave it to Helen. After a while we all went up to the dressing room and I had a long talk with Cal about gigging and how much money they get. He said Discharge are lining up another tour and they are playing Glasgow Tiffanys with The Exploited supporting them. He also said that Stevenage was a great gig, while Derby was OK.
After a while G.B.H left the dressing room and went onstage.
They went down with the crowd really well from the vibrations and songs through the floor - coz I couldn't be bothered to go downstairs and watch them. After G.B.H finished they came up - they were sweating and they said it was like playing in a sauna.
After a while Bones started tuning up his guitar without it plugged it and then a bloke came in and said the DJ is playing two more songs then your 'Gunfight' tape then you come on.
DISCHARGE went on
...and started after the 'intro sound tape' had finished and went straight into 'Realities of War' and churned through their set (which was rather short) only 30 minutes in all. I was standing on the stage hanging onto a pole supporting the ceiling a good viewpoint. Plus they came back for 4 songs as an encore. Because of the heat Cal puked up and fell on the floor with exhaustion - it was a very good gig, both of the bands and also the crowd were good.
Then I went upstairs to the dressing room where Cal and the band were signing autographs - I drunk my ice cold coke I bought for 30p. After all the punters went home me the driver and Danny from derby took all the equipment out to the van - then we had an argument with G.B.H which turned into a water and spit fight in and around the equipment lift in which we all got soaked in the music gear lift. It was funny going up and down really fast. We then jumped in the van and left the Kilburn teacher to finish his holidays (...must have chatted in the dressing room to this 'normal' looking chap who inadvertently stumbled upon Discharge tonight mid-way through his holidays I reckon...!). En route we stopped at services where Dave (Bambi) failed to get away without paying for his 75% eaten chocolate cake.(..I would have thought it would have been a lot cleverer to eat 100% actually..!!). I had 2 sausages and beans for a rip-off 90p. Cal dealt out the wages - they each got £25 - a lot of that went into the video-machines, then we left. We dropped off Danny on the outskirts of Derby at about 2 a.m.Then we drove to Stoke. We dropped off Rainy and the roadie first, then Bones and his girlfriend Helen at Bumby Road-Thorndyke Street, then I got out with Dave and a girl and a bloke and said ta-ra to Cal and his girlfriend Heather. We all went to Dave’s (Bambi's) flat...in a dead-end red-bricked terraced street (...not that far from Stoke-on-Trent station or Bones and Cals place..!). Dave (Bambi) lived downstairs in a few rooms and it was OK and quite spacious (...if gloomy). I stayed there the night with a few people chatting and making tea etc...after getting some sleep til about 10ish or so in the morning.
Then I left Dave (Bambi) and his place and I walked up to Stoke-on-Trent station in the rain. I caught a train at 12:54 in the afternoon straight to London (...150 miles south from Stoke). Then I travelled across London southwards to Victoria Station and caught a train from Victoria eastwards (...75 miles) to Margate-on-sea at 3:10pm. I had to change trains halfway to Margate (...at Faversham) and got into Margate at 5pm and walked up home getting in at 5:30pm.
Wednesday 10th
We had a game of football in the kitchen (...with Mike, my brother). It ended '10-6' to me and '10-7' to Mike and he also messed up two bulbs in the ceilings light fitting (..I think I meant 'smashed them'..!!).
Thursday 11th
I bought the Sounds Music-Paper....in it it had Angelic Upstarts LP review, plus Crass's LP.
I watched the TV and Top Of The Pops, the best were Ultravox 'We All Stood Still'. On TV Mastermind (...a general knowledge and specialist subjects quiz) final had an Irish bloke answering questions on Rock Music. I 'starched' up my hair properly (...I think i recall buying as tin of 'Spray-Starch' thinking it would be good for prefect spikey-hair...it wasn't..!!).
Friday 12th
I got woken up at 10:20 a.m by my alarm clock then I went around and signed on the dole and cashed my cheque. I then got a lift down to Margate train station from dad who was going to look at caravans with Mike, Mum and Auntie Marie. I caught the 12:23 p.m. train and got into London Victoria railway station at 2:10pm and I walked along to the Victoria Coach station 5 minutes away from there. I bought a ticket to Stoke (Hanley) - a single for £3.50p and it pulled out at 3pm. It stopped (...on its 150-mile northward journey) at Coventry and Birmingham (Digbeth) and then it pulled into Hanley in Stoke at 7:30pm. The Victoria Hall was only 100 yards away. I got the doorman to tell Cal I was here. So he came back with a ticket for me so I went in. I saw Cal's girlfriend Heather. I then bought a poster of the concert (...A2 sized one...which was with a black background with white print on it). Then I went backstage with Heather where the bands (Disharge and G.B.H) were sitting around drinking and writing on the walls.
...The VARUKERS were onstage
already by that time....and were playing to a fairly lively crowd too - they weren’t too bad (...with the future Discharge drummer on drums of course...Garry Maloney..!). There were only about 300 people in the crowd tonight. They went Ok toa small amount of that crowd.
Then G.B.H went on
....minus the Joe Cunningham lookalike bassplayer 'Ross' (...Joe Cunningham was a friend of mine while I was living in Ireland looked rather too much like the bass player of G.B.H...!). They played a good set getting the crowd going. I watched from an area leftside of them playing 'backstage'. The singer (Colin) had just a pair of black PVC's on - the bass player came on with one song left - then they went off. (...Not entirely sure what was going on with Ross there...?!?!?!).
....Tezz (...former Discharge drummer) was at the gig tonight - he is now playing in a heavy-metal band - he acted like a bouncer though at the Victoria Hall. Danny from Derby was there too.
Then over the sound-system came Discharges 'War-Fight' intro tape - it was time for them to go on.
DISCHARGE went on
...to a cheer or 300...and played a good set but the venue was vet echoey coz it was so big. A few punks got up onstage but they were thrown back into the crowd or carried out. Cal missed out on the vocals a couple of times and the intro of 'Massacre of Innocence' was messed up by Dave (Bambi). Rainy was onstage complete with his new £380 yellow flying V bass guitar. Later on upon the high-over-eye-level stage Cal puked up.
They returned for a four-song encore. I'll give them 6 out of 10 for the gig, the crowd 6 as well. I watched the gig from the area side-stage all the way through their set.
..We all went back to the dressing room where The Hatred singer (...the band that supported them last year at Discharges Nuneaton gig in November) Glenn had a fight with a Discharge roadie, he had an ear-ring pulled out and a nose-bleed - it only lasted about 20 seconds. Then loads of 8-year old kids came in wanting autographs - they got them and promptly left. Then after a while we all packed up their equipment in Discharges van and left and headed for a disco at Stoke Polytechnic near the railway station about a mile away. We all walked there which was not that far, Cal and (his girlfriend) Heather, Me Danny (from Derby) and his mates, Bones and (his girlfriend) Helen it was about a mile. When we got there it was packed. I got in for nothing - all 'smoothies' in there disco dancing. We all stayed in there til 12:30 a.m. Cal and the rest went home early. We walked up a couple of streets and just walked into a house that was having a party - the lady came up to us and said we must leave as it's "A private party". But after a while she apologised and said we could stay, I had a can of coke. We stayed there dancing to reggae songs for about an hour. Then we left and walked heading for Stoke City centre. Went through the centre area stopping at an all-night garage getting a can of fanta and some chocolate and then walked on a but further and turned up a street and into another party...! We went into the kitchen and grabbed a 2 and half litre bottle of coke and one of lemonade and went into the front room and sat down and listened to the Damned LP 'Machine Gun Etiquette' and The Vibrators 1st LP that me and Dave (Bambi) were singing to it. We listened to those two Lp's until a girl put on a Peter Gabriel LP then we all left at about 3 a.m. As we all walking back to Martins flat (the Discharge driver) the police stopped us. They just questioned us about where we had been and are going then we arrived at Martins place at about 4 a.m. Which was in a rather run-down part of Stoke (...that could be anywhere I gathered..!!). I ran upstairs and grabbed a dirty quilt and ran back downstairs and we fell asleep in the back room downstairs shortly after that at about 05:00hrs.
Saturday 13th
In the morning after waking up about 10 or 11 o'clock we played some of Martins record collection - Discharges 'Why' E.P. - Damneds 'Machine Gun Etiquette' the S.L.F (Stiff Little Fingers) 'Inflammable Material’ and an Anti-Pasti single. At 1pm Martin came back with the van with Cal and the rest of the Discharge were also in it. We all went out and jumped in - then we left for the Birmingham gig today at The Cedar Club. We stopped off at a service station, on the way southbound 50 miles or so...where I nicked a choc-ice then all piled back into Discharges van and we left and we pulled into Birmingham at around 2pm. The Cedar Club (...venue for the gig) was closed with no-one nside at all so we all went for a group walk around the Birmingham Bull-Ring Shopping Centre where I nicked a can of coke and we went into Virgin record shop then we got lost in the centre of Birmingham....and I had to show the lot of 'em the way to gig place at Cedar Club. We got there about 4pm or so. We all went in and then came out and got all the equipment in from the van. I played 'Destroying Tortoises' on a video game. We all went down the road into a pub on a corner where Bones bought me a pint of lemonade, it was quite packed in there too (..with normal working 'Brummie' (..thats 'Birmingham folk' to you...!!). I got the next gig/tour dates off of Rainy and got into the gig for nothing.
The gig place was a great place..small and dark but it had a great shape and housed an intimate atmosphere...a great venue for punk gigs indeed...
...later on G.B.H came on
...it must have been as late as 11 p.m. I reckon. It was their 'hometown' (...yes they were 'Brummies'..!!) They played a better set than last night in Stoke...with a set list of songs including...'Shell-Shocked', 'Big Women', 'The Executioner', (..that'll be 'State Executioner'..!) 'Britain Needs You' (...that'll be 'Generals'..!!)) and 'Lycanthropy'. They were really good and they went down well.
...it wasn't too long between the time G.B.H weft the stage and the main act came on...
At around midnight DISCHARGE came on
...they played a good set aswell. 7 out of 10 for the gig and 5 out of 10 for the crowd. They came back for an encore of four songs. Then returned one more final time for an encore of three more songs. They played 'Tomorrow Belongs To Us' three times. A girl jumped up on stage and was dancing crazily.
...The crowd left and later we left too at about 02:30 a.m. We drove through the centre of Birmingham and through the 'Spahetti-Junction' on the M6 motorway (...this is a tangle of roads, elevated and ground level that links the M6 motorway and the city of Birmingham..!) northbound to stoke 50 miles up the M6 motorway. The police stopped Discharges van on the M6 Motorway (...shortly after joining the M6 outside of Birmingham). Th Police opened up the back of the van complaining that "a van like ours was 'shedding its load' along the motorway" (...it may have had something to do with someone pulling up the back shutter while we were going along the M6 chucking bits of cardboard and paper out I reckon...!). The Police locked us in the back of the van for the rest of the journey to Stoke and we stopped for a break at the same services on the way back to Stoke. I bought two sausages and beans, warm this time with chips for £1.04p. Me and Dave (Bambi) tipped up a video-machine to get some money out of it as it was deserted - and 'beat it up' after that...when we realised that it just wouldn't work. We left the service station at Sandbach and pulled into Stoke at around 05:00 a.m. We dropped Rainy, Bones and Helen off. I got out with Dave and Lindy and another girl and went to his flat again and slept on Bambi's floor. He played me a live tape of when Discharge played Bradford and there were only 5 people in the crowd...! I got to sleep easily on the floor.
Sunday 14th
I left Bambi's flat in Stoke at 11 a.m. As I was coming up Dave’s street two punks walked across the top of the junction and shouted down and waved - it was Bones and Helen walking up towards Cals place, they walked on as I walked off to the Coach Station just up at Hanley. I bought a £3.50p ticket to London and Lindy and the other girl were on the same coach. I crossed London around 3pm and later I got back into Margate at 6.20 p.m. A bloke shot blanks at the Queen when she was riding a horse at the Trooping Of The Colour ceremony in Pall Mall (central London) today, it turned out to be a 17 year old kid from Folkestone, Kent (...about 20 miles from where I lived).
Tuesday 16th
I watched on television the Old Grey Whistle Test which had Stiff Little Fingers on it in concert. It live from Belfast - not bad.
Thursday 18th
I bought the Sounds music-paper...which wasn't bad. It had an Angelic Upstarts interview, an interview with Crass, a Killing Joke LP review, and a Siouxsie and the Banshees LP review and also an interview with them too. I sent off £3.75p for a live cassette of Discharge at the Lyceum. I also watched T.O.T.P and it had Siouxsie and the Banshees singing 'Spellbound' - good. I had a fight with Mike - I came out worst.
Friday 19th
I got up at the unearthly hour of 04:00 a.m. in the dark by alarm. I left the house at 04:25 a.m. and walked down the seafront to Margate Railway station. I caught the first train out at 05:30 a.m. to Victoria, London. I crossed London from south to north via an underground tube journey and then caught a train to Stoke from Euston railway station at 08:00 a.m. The train got me into Stoke at 10 a.m. I then walked up to Hanley coach station to meet Danny (from Derby) but he didn't turn up coz he was working. Then I walked back down to Bambi's flat. He was in and I went in. After a while Discharges van came round. So we walked up the road and got in. Cal and Martin were in there and Tezz's bike. Then we drove a short distance around to 15 Thorndyke Street where Bones lives. We picked him and Tezz up and his equipment then drove over to Mike Stones Record shop (Clay Records in Hope Street) where Bambi received £125 royalties from the cassette of the Lyceum gig. He spent around £50 on drums, cymbals and boxes for cymbals. Then we all got back in the van and drove off to Rainy's house. We picked him and Steve up and the drums and Rainy's equipment, Rainy's hair is black now. We then left Stoke and headed off towards Wales (...about 75 miles north-westwards on the coast) for the Rhyl gig in north Wales singing 'Uncle George is dead' songs in a deep-voiced Mississippi mode and that entertained us no end all the way. We pulled into into Rhyl at 5pm. We found the gig venue called 'The Gallery' after stopping and asking a few people on the seafront...and we then unloaded the equipment from the van and set it up on the stage, which was tiny - about 10 foot by 6 foot. The venue was right next to the seafront too. Rainy had to bend his head down to do the soundcheck it was so tight and cramped. Discharge did a soundcheck and then we all piled into the van and drove along the seafront and went into a cafe where I bought an 8-inch long sausage with beans and chips for a rip-off price of £1.23p. Cal had a food fight with Bambi while we were in there and after that we went into the local record shop - I bought a Discharge badge for 20p and got a gig poster (of tonight’s gig) from the window. We then went into various arcades along the sea-front where I had loads of games of Space Invaders - my best was 930 pts, three times. Then we went to Rhyl's seafront fun-fair where we all went on the bumper cars, (...'Dodgems' as some people call them) it was a great laugh. Then I bought a bag of chips and a hamburger, 55p. Then we all got back into Discharges van and drove back to the 'The Gallery' gig place. I went in for free with the pass Discharge had given me earlier. After a while there was a fight, the DJ got beaten up and his records scratched and the Police turned up and threw out all the kids under 18 (...I was 17 then..!!). Then I bought a pint of lemonade for 50p. I went into the dressing room and drunk it.
The support band THE V.O.T.S (The Victims Of This Society) came on.
They were a local band (possibly from Rhyl itself) who played 'Police Oppression' (The Angelic Upstarts cover) and also 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?' (...The Slaughter and the Dogs song) - they were terrible.
...The gig place was airy and had a lot of space inside but there were quite of few rough looking types in the crowd too...
Later on at around 11 o'clock
DISCHARGE went 'onstage'.
...They didn't play too good and the crowd were terrible. There was another fight and a glass was thrown onstage just missing Cal and Rainy. Bambi said through the microphone "Go outside and fight". I'll give Discharge 6 out of 10 for the concert and the crowd 2 out of 10.
...After Discharge went offstage I went back to the dressing room and stayed in there for about half an hour with the band. Then we all went out to the van and piled in. This kid with a carrot-haircut from near Rhyl said "I know a farmhouse we could stay the night", so we drove there with him directing us. We had to open up a field gate and drove in and mucked about in the straw bails for a time. Then stayed back inside the van a while. Then we had to drive off fast because someone said someone was coming. So then we drove and found a chip shop at 3 o'clock in the morning in Rhyl which was amazingly still open. I bought a hamburger and chips for 60p then we headed for a 'camping site' someone had seen or knew of. Here is where Calvin would 'Make Like Worms' in his sleeping bag in his tent to keep warm. Then Bones took it upon himself to drive the van around the field, we all got out and watched him at dawn jerkily speeding around a camp site with people in tents dotted here and there in his path. He was not by any means any good at driving at all and nearly ran over Martin in his tent aswell as many other campers. I crashed out in the van, after Bones had had his driving fix at around 4.a.m. Infact Bones had the van keys taken away from him for everyone’s safety in the immediate area and beyond.
Saturday 20th
In the morning we packed up all the tents and gathered everyone up into Discharges van and we drove back to 'The Gallery' (the gig place) to pick up the equipment. After loading the van up we set off for the gig in south Wales at Cardiff southbound some 130 miles. Dave (Bambi) bought two bootlegs, Sex Pistols - Live at San Francisco and David Bowie - Live at Wembley. It was really warm and sunny as we drove all across the Welsh mountains heading from the very tip of North Wales to the very south coast. We stopped at a place called Welshpool about a third of the way there where we all got out for a stretch. I bought three lovely cakes for 54p then we left Welshpool. We pulled into Cardiff at 5pm. Then searched for the gig venue called 'Grass Roots' and found it after stopping to ask a few people in a sort of university area that was not that pretty at all. Went into the gig venue and then lugged the equipment out of the van around the back door and in. (...the gig place was a long dark hall with little atmosphere...it was like a youth club..maybe it was) We set up the equipment and Discharge did a soundcheck. Bones had a lot of trouble with his guitar and its sound. Rainy played his harmonica through the microphone. I bought some chocolate and a chicken and mushroom pie with chips inside 'Grass Roots'. Then went back to the dressing room and sat down and ate my food. The doors opened and about a hundred (if that) Welsh punks and a lot of skinheads turned up for the gig. The gig venue was like a long thin cellar of concrete. The support band came on first at around 8ish or so. They were called
THE OPPRESSED
...and they were a skinhead/punk band and had a little bit of a following but they were rubbish and all their songs were the same. They were an Anti-Nazi band. They used a load of Discharges equipment their sound, and Discharges drums and bass guitar.
...Then after they went off I went over to Mark and Big-Bum (..I think it was a girl from Stafford with a 'big bum as it happens..!) from Stafford who were selling Discharge cuff-bands (...or 'armbands'..!) and neck-scarves (...Hanky's).
..t.hen at 10:30 p.m.
DISCHARGE came on
....and they played a brilliant set. The crowd were really good all piling on the stage, I was in there too. Rainy pushed Bambi's new cymbals onto his drums while he was playing them. I was singing through Rainys microphone onstage. Later on when I was in the crowd I could smell burning and it stank (...smelled really strong..!!) but no-one else was duly concerned until it became too much and as I turned to leave the crowd Then some punk kid pointed to my spikey hair looking quite concerned. Someone had lit something and plonked it into my hair in the crowd - I tipped my head down and the offending smouldering item fell out - it felt like it was done on purpose. Halfway through 'Decontrol' I was pulled offstage by my jacket - I landed on my back on the ground - then I got punched in the face...I scarpered into the crowd with my nose bleeding. I guess there was an anti-me or anti-English feeling going down tonight?. Even though I was hurt and burnt a bit the crowd seemed to be really enjoying the gig but there were also a lot of stares going on between the crowd and the circle of onlookers a sort of split statement in the crowd here tonight?
...Discharge finished their set and went off behind the stage into the dressing room at the back of the building (...where their van was parked outside). I went to the side of the stage and Cal said "Are you ok.? " I said "I'm a bit sore" and we were sitting there talking then some Skinhead threw a mug us lot down the side of the stage (...I think he was aiming at the bloke in front of me) and it smashed on the wall and a splinter of it hit the bloke in the ear and he was cut pretty bad. The atmosphere was full of anger and a standoff sort of appeared for a few minutes with stares and shouting etc and shortly after that the Police turned up. The Police tried to get Cal to make a statement, but Cal didn't as he 'wanted no trouble'. After it calmed down and a few people left we checked out the back (...which was very dingy, dark and industrial like business/shops loading bays out the back of their premises...etc) to see if any of the skinheads or punks were out there but they weren’t. So we quickly loaded the equipment into the van in record time and we all piled into the van and left Cardiff as fast as possible. The 'we' were-: Cal, Rainy, Bones, Bambi, Helen, Danny, Big-Bum from Stafford, Mark, Martin (Discharge van driver) his girlfriend, Lindy and her blonde friend and me - 13 people in a white van with all the equipment too...!). We then headed the 150 miles north-eastwards towards Stoke at around 02:00 a.m. or thereabouts. It took a few hours and we talked about the gig and the trouble etc and got some kip on the way too on the journey that took 2 and half hours or so. We dropped Danny, Mark, Windy Lindy and her blonde friend off at Birmingham at 5:40 a.m. in the morning. The rest of us in Discharges van drove to Stoke and got there at 07:00 a.m. We dropped Bones and Helen off, then I got out with Bambi and went with him to his flat again where Mork and his girlfriend were in bed. Bambi taped his David Bowie and Sex Pistols Bootleg LP's then we and I fell asleep about 9 a.m. or so.
Sunday 21st
I woke up at about 4pm in the afternoon and went to the toilet and no-one was in or up so I then left Bambi's flat in Stoke for home in the clear blue sunshine shortly after that. I walked up to Hanley Coach station about 10 minutes away and I caught the 4:30 p.m. coach to Victoria coach station in central London. There was a massive traffic jam due to an accident on the M1 motorway going south the 150 miles. I eventually got into London 5 hours later at 9:20 p.m. I walked up to Victoria train station five minutes way and jumped on the 9:34 p.m. train to Margate that would take me the 75 miles home to the sea-side eastbound and it arrived there at 11ish. There was also a tube crash in London and it caught fire, one person died and seventy were injured. My mum thought I got caught up in it and even rang the incident room for details of the fatality and injured people as she was getting worried about me. I must have missed it by an hour or so if that. There were riots in Peckham, South London tonight too (...my birthplace..!). At the fun fair (...a travelling Amusement park) on Peckham Rye (park), which turns up twice during the summer months - 500 black youths ran down Rye Lane smashing windows and looting shops (This was my playground area when I was growing up...!).
Monday 22nd
John McEnroe had an argument with an umpire at Wimbledon Tennis tournament calling him "an incompetent fool" and also the referee he labelled "Pits of the world". I painted my Discharge jacket coz some of the 'Fight Back' picture had come off after the recent gigs.
Wednesday 24th
I found a dead Robin (bird) in the front garden and chased Mum around the house with it, I also had a laugh with Tina (...our cat) with it. I tied a piece of cotton onto one of its legs and swung it around her head, she was going crazy - I've left it tied on the washing line out in the back garden.
Thursday 25th
My Discharge cassette came through the post this morning. It has the picture cover of the 'Decontrol' 7-Inch Discharge single cover also as its sleeve cover. It has 25 tracks on it, with a 6-song encore - it's not too good of a recording mind you it wasn't too good of a gig. I watched television and saw Top Of The Pops which was rubbish. I bought the Sounds music paper and it had a picture of Discharge and the dates of their soon-coming tour. I stuck up some of my Discharge posters and cuttings on my bedroom wall...that’s it..!
Friday 26th
I woke up then got up at 10:30 a.m. and I walked around to sign on the dole then went and cashed my giro-cheque. Then I got a lift with dad down to Margate Railway station, for the near 200-mile trip to the West Runton Pavilion gig in northern Norfolk to see Discharge. I then caught the 12:23 train to Victoria in London. It pulled into South London at about 2ish. I went down on the underground (..the 'Metro' or 'Subway'..!) then jumped on a tube train and caught the Circle Line eastbound and changed at Aldgate onto one going to Liverpool Street and got off there. Then ran up to the Railway station and bought a single-ticket to Norwich (£5.10p which was cheaper than the coach which was £5.50p). I caught the 2:45 p.m. train eastwards to Norwich (...80 miles north-east into Norfolk in the middle of eastern England). The train went through the east-end suburbs of London, Bethnal Green, Gidea Park, Ilford then out into Essex stopping at Chelmsford, Colchester (...which apparently has the longest railway platform in England..!), Ipswich, Stowmarket, Diss then it pulled into Norwich at 4:30 p.m. I had to wait for an hour for a train connection to West Runton (which is right up on the northern Norfolk coast another 30 miles or so). So I caught that train at 5:30 p.m. and I met Danny and Mark on it too. They had a look at my 'Love In A Void' Siouxsie and the Banshees Bootleg LP I brought with me to swap with Bambi for some Discharge posters and memorabilia and Live tapes he has). There were loads of Punks on the pay-train to West Runton (...it only had 2 carriages too..!) it cost me £1.20p for the ticvket. The train pulled into West Runton at around 7:20 p.m in the evening. We got off and walked down the high street til we came to a pub, we went in and Cal, Rainy, Bambi, Bones, Helen and Martin the driver were in there drinking lager, and loads of it too. I bought a bag of crisps and had a chat with Bambi and he took the Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Love In A Void' Bootleg even though he didn't have any of the Discharge memorabilia stuff with him but he bought me a boat-full of sausage, chips and beans - luvly. Then we left the pub and had a short walk up to the venue - The West Runton Pavillion. It is a smart place indeed. I hung around a while then went to the dressing room where Cal, Bones and Rainy were drinking lager again, loads of it..(...again..!) ! It was quite a strange place to hold a Punk gig as West Runton is tiny and way out in the sticks by the sea-side and nowhere near even a big town letalone a city - and it was full with travelling punks tonight. Then The Exploited and Chron Gen turned up.
...First up onstage tonight were a local support band - they were terrible.
.... the guitarists blue guitar sounded like a banjo, they went off (...no idea what they were called..!).
...I went off to the dressing room and hung about there.
...Then THE EXPLOITED came onstage
...I stood behind the drums in the wings and watched them from there. They played a really good set getting the crowd going. They encored with a couple of songs then went off.
...DISCHARGE were ready to go onstage but Bones' amp wouldn't work at all so he had to rig up and use someone else’s.
...They then went onstage after that and I stayed in the wings where I was and watched them with Helen, Danny and Mark too. It was Helens 42nd time to see Discharge (...she is Bones girlfriend though..!!!).
Discharge played OK. Rainy kept stepping on peoples fingers at the front of the stage. Cal puked up and they went down really well.
They came back on for a four-song encore then went off for good.
...I picked a can of coke up and drunk it offstage. Discharge packed up all the gear and got it into their van. They were staying in a bed and breakfast the night, all bar Rainy and Martin.
...So me Rainy, Martin (the Discharge Van Driver) and Mark and a girl from Norwich slept in Discharges van which was rather spacious tonight, at around 1 or 2 a.m. parked in the Bed and Breakfast car park.
Saturday 27th
In the morning after waking up slowly we all got together and piled into Discharges Van and then we drove to a tea-shop and had something to eat which was quite quaint and quiet in West Runton just off the sea-front. It was funny to see a typically-idyllic English-Tea-Part at a little place filled with Discharge and their punky entourage in their sitting eating and 'passing the tea-pot' just hours after a 'full-on' manic punk gig the night-before. I had a cup of tea and a chocolate eclair. Cal, Bones and Helen came along and we all got into the van and we drove out of West Runton for the Northampton gig across country around 75 miles or so eastwards. On the way we saw two punks who were hitchhiking (...after seeing Discharge last night) so Discharge picked them up in their van..! (...Imagine that...going to see your favourite band then hitching home the afternoon after the gig and the actual band you travelled to see are the ones that stop and pick you up..!). We went through Peterborough. In a small village, about halfway there we stopped off at a pub. It was a sunny day and we went in and I bought some crisps while Discharge and the rest drank a pint of beer. We sat outside in the sun and blue skies in the countryside near a roundabout. Then swinging around the roundabout came a bouncy Citroen 2CV car. As the car got closer we realised that the the people inside looked rather 'Punky'..! It was infact none other than the Leamington/Daventry mobs 2CV car...Antisect infact. Lots of talking and chatting and they joined up travelling with us from then on. We all went in and out of that pub a lot and sat in there chatting and eating for an hour or so in the sun. Before our 'Discharge Mob' van left we tied a dead hedgehog to Antisects 2CV car radio-aerial and capped it off with a 'Johnny Bag' (condom) while Antisect were inside the pub. (...I recall Cal and Rainy giggling wildly like school-kids frantically tying them on as quick as possible so not to get caught finalising this rather 'mature world changing punk' joke..!!). We rapidly filled our van up with everyone and as we just started to drive away Antisects mob came out and we (The Discharge Van mob...!) sped off beeping and laughing as they came out to see what we'd done...! . About 3 miles down the road they caught up with us (..Now 2CV's are quite slow but they still caught us..!). Antisect in their 2Cv were over taking us and swerving in front of us and tried to ram us off the road while beeping and waving at us. We got into Northampton at 4 p.m. We stopped off at a Joke Shop in the centre of Northampton where Bambi bought loads of stink-bombs, fart sweets and spray string. We then drove off to the gig venue which was called 'The Roadmenders Club' and was up a dead end cul-de-sac near a dual carriageway in the centre of Northampton. We met Wattie from The Exploited was there and Cal hit threw some eggs at him which he had bought. We took all the equipment and instruments out from the van and into the Roadmenders Club. Bones' later tried out his guitar amp but it turned out to be knackered after all (..Ka-Put..!!). I grabbed a few tables and organised them for Helen to sell the Discharge merchandise from tonight.
...First up onstage on the bill tonight were
CHRON GEN
...Who were from near that area a place called 'Hitchin' (...ironically) and were formerly called 'Chronic Generation' but shortened it. they were 'light-weight' melodic punk...but tonight they didn't play too good at all.
...Next up on the bill were
ANTI-PASTI
...who played for the first time on the tour (...This was a 'tour' called 'The Apocalypse Now Tour' - which was formed around Discharge and The Exploited...with Chron Gen and Anti-Pasti supporting more often that not on the other dates...Anti-Pasti were from Derby or Mansfield I think about 60 miles north east of Northampton). They played badly.
...Next up tonight onstage were
THE EXPLOITED
....and they played good. (The were from Scotland...Glasgow i think)
...I went right down to the front of the high-stage when
DISCHARGE came on
They were headlining the whole bunch. They played brilliantly and Danny and Mark were down amongst the crowd at the front too.
...After they finished I went back to the dressing room which was really large and had 'Ping-Pong' table-tennis tables in it. Bambi let off loads of stinkbombs so we vacated the area immediately. We took all the equipment out later on and packed the van around midnight or after that. We left the Roadmenders Club heading for the next venue on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour. It was a gig tomorrow in Leicester - the Discharge van was absolutely packed out with people and eqiupment. We still managed to give a lift to two punks and dropped them off, as we were going their direction to a place called Market Harbourough at a pub. When dropped them off at 02:00 a.m. in the dark. When we turned around to pull out across the road from the pub forecourt a white Mercedes nearly hit us and swerved and skidded and mounted the pavement. We sped away (..in the opposite direction - not easy with about 12 people and a whole gig-full of gear in a white VW van..!) but the car turned around and chased us down the deserted roads through Market Harborough at 02.00 am.. The car was travelling faster than us and kept coming up right behind Discharges van getting really close flashing its lights and swerving in and out like it was going to overtake us. Some people in Discharges van were saying to 'stop' while others said carry on going...but we couldn't out run it. They were behind us and Martin the van driver could not go any faster so we could not out-run them at all. It was dark, after 2.a.m and we didn't know the area at all. Shortly after that the white Mercedes car overtook us beeping his horn wildly and the driving was waving his fist and shouting at Martin. Most of us were piling forwards to look while the van was speeding side by side with this car at 50 or 60 mph. He over took us and got in front of us....so most of us said "there’s loads of us lets stop he can't take us all on". So we motioned to 'pull-over' slow down and stop and he did too. The driver of the white Mercedes got out quickly (..and I think there were 2 more men in the car that got out too..!) but we slid open the side doors and one front door before we stopped and about 15 people piled out. He (and his mates) ran back into his car and sped off much to our enjoyment. We were jeering at him as he disappeared into the Leicestershire night never to be seen again. Me, Danny, Mark and Bambi got dropped off at Highfields Station somewhere in Leicester. Bambi stayed at Mark’s flat. I stayed at Danny’s place which was nice (...like a half-a-house..the downstairs flat). He cooked chips and oxtail soup for me too which was lovely. We played some records and then I went to sleep on his sofa at about 4 a.m. in Leicester
Sunday 28th
In the morning Bambi, Mark, Rainy, Lindy and Diane came around to Danny’s where I stayed last night. Then we all went off to The De Montfort Hall where tonight’s gig was. It is a really imposing building and has rose gardens around it and walkways etc. We went inside and it was absolutely huge in there with a giant 200 foot by 150 foot dance floor space plus it had a seated balcony area upstairs. It also has a raised high-up huge stage at one end too. I watched The Exploited tune-up and soundcheck...and Wattie was drumming to 'Cop Cars' (The Exploited song) and Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Metal Postcard' too. Big John (The Guitarist for The Exploited) was playing 'The Wombles of Wimbledon' on his guitar. Later on they ran through a few songs to soundcheck which was o.k to watch. Bambi was mucking around playing the stage 'light-man' while they attempted to do their sound-check. Then I walked up to the foyer at the front and bought a couple of bars of chocolate and ate them. Then after a while I went down to the tearoom where I bought a cup of tea and cheese roll and a marathon.
...Then the first band on tonight came on it was
CHRON GEN
...they played good and their guitarist tripped up and fell over onstage.
.....After they went off I hung around the stage and dancefloor til...
ANTI-PASTI came on
...they got the 300 in tonight moving and they played a really lively set. The bass guitarist flew around the huge stage getting really into their music as they played a 40-minute set then they went off.
...I sat on the side of the stage after going backstage for a while then I waited til...
The EXPLOITED came on
...they played a really good set. Danny tried to get onstage while they were playing but he was shoved back off. They went off...
....and I sat back on the side of the stage then later on
DISCHARGE came on
...I went down the front right into the middle with John the old bald-headed bloke. (..this guy was small and 'old' by that I guess I mean he looked late thirties or early forties..quite unusual to see at gigs back then of course!) Cal was really lively running around the stage tonight and he nearly hit me with the microphone stand. Discharge played great. Even Danny and Mark got to join in on vocals for 'Decontrol', then Discharge went off.
...I went outside after the gig and around to the back door and got in with a mohican-girl. We went into the dressing rooms I had a chat with Chron Gens' singer. I wet my hair, Heather (...Cals girlfriend) came along and said "You look exhausted". We went back to Discharges van. Then outside we heard a lot of laughing getting nearer and nearer until Wattie of The Exploited turned up at Discharges van with a fire extinguisher! He set it off after opening the side doors and we all scarpered out the other side in amad rush. But he caught a few people by drenching them who couldn't escape. As Big John and Wattie and a few of the Exploited gang were laughing away Me, Cal and Bambi sneaked down to their van as they were 'away on business' we filled their van with stink-bombs in their absence and re-closed the doors and scarpered. Shortly after that Wattie left and it wasn't long before he came back again! He had another fire extinguisher and was chasing me across the rose gardens outside the De Montfort Hall with it and The Exploited mob sought revenge for their 'aromatic form of transport' - I grabbed some handfuls of earth and pressed them into 'earthballs' and lobbed some at him and Big John and anyone Scottish...! Watties ammunition ran out so he lobbed the whole fire extinguisher at me! Things calmed down after that, as there were no more fire extinguishers to be had. I went back inside the De Montfort Hall and bought a hamburger. Then shortly after that me, Helen, Bones and moany Nigel left, we stopped at a chip shop on the way, where I got a can of coke and a portion of chips. The rest of the Discharge crew went to Mark’s flat, while me and Nigel slept at Danny’s place again. We played some of his record collection...The Exploited album and the girl who liked G.B.H from Birmingham woz there too. I went to sleep on the sofa again while moany Nigel moaned to sleep on two chairs at around 04:00 a.m.
Monday 29th
In the morning sometime me, Danny and Nigel walked to Marks place where Helen, Bones, Bambi and Mark were. Shortly after that we took a trip to an Indian Restaurant where I bought a raspberry milkshake for 30p. After that we all went back up to Highfields Railway Station in Leicester where we sat down in the sun and waited for Discharges van to come along - we all got in but there wasn't much room and it was clear that a few people had to find another way to the gig in Gloucester later on tonight. No one, including me really wanted to get out but after much talking and discussions I got out and walked off to the Coach station to get there that way. I met Nigel there and we sorted out a way to get across the midlands from Leicester to the gig place. Nigel said it was in Gloucester, The Winter Gardens (...although - based on what he said - I had written down 'Malvern Winter Gardens' by mistake from Rainy or Heather’s scribbled notes at a gig or three ago). Which was a bit hard to try to travel to as both 'towns' are not that big and most travel routes go north or south not across in one go. So we caught the next available coach to Birmingham (although we bought a through-ticket to Gloucester) it cost £3.50p and the coach left at 2:50 p.m. Then after arriving at Birmingham we had to wait for a while for the Gloucester coach so we took a stroll up to Birmingham’s Bull-Ring shopping centre to kill some time. We returned to Birmingham Digbeth Coach Station and caught the Gloucester coach at 4:50 p.m. - it was really sunny and the coach flew along and we got into Gloucester at about 5:45 p.m. Got off and headed for a record shop to find out where the 'Winter Gardens' gig place was. Asked in there and the guy in there said "There are no Winter Gardens in Gloucester" but he added "There is a Winter Gardens in Malvern" (I knew it - it seemed like Nigel was wrong in making me come to Gloucester with him). I checked my tour dates on the bit of paper I carried with me and it said 'Malvern Winter Gardens - Monday 29th June'. I was not impressed with Nigel and he said nothing to me about it (...Like "oops sorry I fucked up big time"..!!). So we found a phone box and tried to call the Winter Gardens (...yes, in Malvern where we were not in...!) but there was no answer and time was ticking by. So we thought of catching a local bus from Gloucester to Malvern on a summers evening and we walked to a bus stop. But the last bus had already gone at 5:55 p.m....just 20 minutes ago. It was now 6:15 p.m. and we were in Gloucester with no bus service to get us to Malvern from here. So we had to go to the train station in Gloucester for an attempt to get there. But on the way to the station we met two punks and we asked them about the gig and they said that there is a special bus or coach that’s going at 7 p.m. And so we went with them and waited by this car park for what seemed like ages with nothing coming and even a few punks got bored and wandered off from the 'pick-up place' never to be seen again. I waited till 7:30 p.m. then had had enough and even though Nigel wanted to wait I said, "I'm going to get a train instead....this bus is not coming". He came with me and we headed for the railway station again in Gloucester, like we should have done over an hour ago. I rang Malvern Winter Gardens and they answered and asked them what time Discharge are coming on and they said 10 p.m. which was pretty early but that gave us about 2 hours and there was a train at 8:30 p.m. So we got tickets to Malvern from Gloucester for £2.64p and got on the train and it went through Cheltenham Spa and some lovely countryside. But it was seemingly so slow it was untrue and seemed to be going zing-zagging from town to town then stopped at Worcester (Shrub Hill). We had to change there for the train to Malvern and had to wait till 9:42 p.m. for it...! - Things were going from bad to worse in the middle of nowhere thanks to Nigel. Got on the train after 9.50pm and it stopped at Worcester Central, Malvern Link where I was thinking of jumping off in case it was near there, then onto Great Malvern. Got off the train running around as fast as we could, Nigel was quite chubby so he couldn't run that fast. I asked a girl where The Winter Gardens were in Malvern. She said right up the hill. It seemed like Malvern was on a small mountain...we ran up the hill as best we could, then turned left at the traffic lights like she said and went down the road and eventually came to The Winter Gardens, Malvern. This is where I would have headed had I not met Nigel at the coach station in Leicester, had there been enough room in the van also too...! As it was so bloody late we just walked in for nothing as no one was there on the door asking for money or tickets. We went backstage and the band were surprised to see us. They thought we'd never get here, they were very nearly right...! We missed the support bands but Discharge had not been on yet...yeah...!
We missed ALL the support bands which were....Demob, Surgical Fish and The Subhumans. (The Sub-Humans I would have loved to see.....thanks to Nigel I missed them all)
DISCHARGE came on
...and the hall was quite small and pokey really and a country feel to it. The stage was low too...The sound they got was pure chaos, microphones kept failing over...and Cal ended up singing his main vocals through a spare microphone they had wired up. The crowd were stupid, running and jumping over kids at the front and landing on the speakers or onstage...then getting thrown back into the crowd or fighting with the bouncers....?!?!? Discharge were finished in 40 minutes flat...and thus ended a hellish gig for me travelling to get to see it and for them to play it I felt.
We took the equipment out into the van - and I actually got the joy of a lift out of Malvern with Discharge...thank god...although the days 'fun' was not over by a long way for me...!. Discharge were off to stay at a girls house in Cheltenham with the rest of the people in the van...everyone infact bar me..! After a while of driving in the misty darkness at way after midnight. They stopped the van and the door opened and I was at the end of my lift. So I got out at a motorway junction exit somewhere on the M5 in the middle of nowhere in Gloucestershire at about 1 a.m. or so. I said "See ya later" and they all drove off to go stay at someone’s house (...I kind of thought that one extra person would not have 'broken the bank' for them, or the girl having the party at the time.....!!). Still I got on with getting to the next gig...just a whole lot earlier than anticipated that’s all....(...at 01:00 a.m. in the dark and mist in the middle of nowhere on my own. I had just a leather jacket and trousers and t-shirt on..that was it..not equipped for a night anyway...letalone here..!) The road they dropped me off at was also a junction with the M5 motorway. It was a bad one and it was not the best time to be there. There was about one vehicle every ten minutes...if that...mmm 5 an hour from which to hitch a lift by a punk at 01.30 a.m. in a deserted place deep in Gloucestershire. I tried to hitch an while but gave up after 3 or 4 cars ( 30-40 minutes). So I tried to find a place to sleep in the misty countryside but cover was not good unsurprisingly and everywhere seemed damp and wet from the mist. So I gave up on that crazy notion and ended up sitting on a M5 Motorway embankment under the bridge. After an hour I decided to go back up to stand and hitch-hike again. The few cars came and went seemingly surprised to see me but drove on...then out of the blue a lorry came up and I thought I stood a chance...and it stopped...!!!!! The guy was going to Birmingham - yesssssssssssssss (...the next gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour was in Manchester in 2 days time..!!). What a great piece of luck at about 02.00 a.m. for me (..but I still would have preferred that girls house in Cheltenham though). He took me up the deserted M5 right into the centre of Birmingham just five minutes from New Street station, which had cover and was warmer than the street. I thanked him and walked up through a handful of deserted Birmingham city centre streets with no-one on. I hung about there at New Street station with some homeless people and drifters all night and also walked about along the Bull-Ring shopping centre a while too when i could not sleep. I got some sleep behind a pillar on the New Street station floor which was a kind of waiting area. Not a comfy nights kip at all by any means at about 05:00 a.m..
Tuesday 30th
God knows what time I woke up, possibly about 6 or 7 a.m. (...so it meant I only got 1 or maybe just 2 hours sleep..!) and I just tried to waste time till I felt marginally better and a little more human. I decided to 'get up' (!) and go walking about Birmingham city centre as I had to waste a day between gigs. The next gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour was tomorrow, in Manchester and not tonight. At 10:30 a.m I left the New Street railway station in central Birmingham and took a walk down to Digbeth, which is a city suburb south of the centre. It was a mile to the Digbeth coach station. I asked them in there the time of the last coach to Stoke (Hanley Coach station) as I fancied taking the night coach to Stoke and therefore not crashing out in New Street again for the second night...and anyway there was an open waiting room and wooden bench awaiting me at Stoke-on-Trent railway station...that now seemed like luxury to me..! The last coach to Stoke was at 9:30 p.m. so I bought a ticket for that some 11 hours away. During my 'Birmingham day' I bought a couple of hamburgers to eat and basically walked my time away around Birmingham and New Street and the Bull-Ring shopping centre until around 8:30 p.m. Then I walked back down to Digbeth coach station for the last time that day for to catch the 9:30 p.m. coach out of there to Stoke (Hanley). It only took 45 minutes and got into Hanley coach station in Stoke at around 10:15 p.m. I then walked down to Stoke-on-Trent station which was about 1 and a half miles away. On the way I stopped at a chip shop and bought some hot food by the way of a mushroom pie, chips and a saveloy for 63p. Then I walked with those around the corner to the railway station at about 11 p.m. I sat in the foyer and ate my food and waited for the ticket office to shut. I then went to the toilet, which was by the waiting room. When I came out of the toilet I went into the waiting room which was empty and I slept on a wooden bench at about 12:30 a.m.
JULY
Wednesday 1st
I woke up at around 7 a.m. then I jumped on the first train to Manchester (...which is north of Stoke by about 50 miles). It went through Eturia (...nice named place for Stoke...!) Macclesfield, Stockport and pulled into Manchester Piccadilly railway station at 8:10 a.m. I did not get on with a ticket of course so I strolled up the guy checking tickets. When I was asked about a ticket I said I hadn't got one because the ticket office was shut (...it wasn't...!) so I told the ticket guy I'd come from Stockport to save a bit of money to last longer on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour. But he said that "you cannot get on at Stockport without a ticket". I argued with him a while but he had taken my railcard from me already and asked me to write my name and address on a piece of paper. When I did I wrote 86 Athelstan Road (...a road in Margate, Kent where I lived...but I did not live at that actual address..!). But they checked it out, which I didn't think they could..! Then took me on foot to the Railway Transport Police Station that was just around the corner (...bloody great isn't it...!! - I am trying to save cash I end up nabbed by the Police now at 8:15 a.m. in Manchester. So suddenly the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour is looked rather grim indeed. When they asked me about what station I got on I changed my story from 'Stockport' to 'Stoke' saying that the ticket guy had misheard me. They took me into a room and asked me to empty my pockets. They also took the laces from my Doctor Marten boots and also the safety pins from my trousers too..! (...they'll sell anything in Manchester...!). Then they took me to a Police Station holding cell where I stayed for about an hour. Then I got dressed...and I didn't make a statement. Then they let me go at about 11 o'clock for free saying that I would hear about a court date by letter soon (...what a bollocks start to the day....Manchester so much to answer for....! - if you think this is bad...read on what happens in just 90 minutes time to me....!!!). Then I walked around for an hour trying to find the Polytechnic (...where the gig later on was being held). I found it by midday and went in. I was playing loads of pool upstairs and bought some milk and chocolate. At 2pm I went out and bumped into Nigel down the road a bit and showed him the way back to the Polytechnic (...as you know from the journey from Derby to Malvern that he was not a 'lucky mascot' for me...!) It was not a residential area at all...just old buildings and old businesses. As we crossed a road two black kids come up behind us and grabbed me and Nigel and demanded cash as they were threatening us. I was pretty scared but I was not going to give them any cash. I said "I'm hitching around following a punk band on tour and sleeping rough so I haven’t got much a few pence". But Nigel blurted out unbelievably pointing to me "He's got loads of money he travels about by coaches" - I could not believe it - but had no time to think about that as both the guys roughed me up and helped themselves into my pockets and took all my money and even took my railcard (...thats twice in 4 hours - today is getting rather shittey and Nigel is rather pissing me off a fucking lot...!). I think I had over £20 (...enough money easily for the rest of the 'Apocalypse Now' tour...!). So now thanks to two muggers and a mouthy twat I was relieved of it all. Although one of the muggers said to his mate "Give him back his railcard man, you don't need that...its worthless" his mate said "Nah way - I'm chucking that away" but his mate then said "Give it him back c'mon give it to him" (...which under the current circumstances seemed weirdly generous indeed...!). So he did....! His mate also gave me a handful of change. Then they both walked off calmly chatting down a side street and with them disappeared my Discharge tour money. So this then was my last gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour thanks to them and that mouthy slimy cunt called Nigel. He was such an arsehole and I don't think he gave them anything at all. I said to him so angrily "What did you say that fucking for?!?!?!?". He said..."we'll you had the money and they wanted it...its best to give them what they want and you don't get hurt" - I said to him "Yeah, my fucking money you told them I had - you never mentioned yours..."..! - He never even offered me any money out of sympathy. Like to give me half of his as we both escaped uninjured...No...nothing from him...He kept his money...while he told them to take all mine...he just did not give a fuck about anyone but himself. I walked with him to the gig and said very little to him after that if anything at all. I was seething, angry and livid. We'd have stood a chance...well I would have, to keep my cash and given them maybe a fiver or tenner (...5 or 10 UK pounds) and not lose way over £20 of MY money and not his. What a fucking disaster today has been...come to think of it since I travelled and met Nigel its been one fuck up after another....he was to blame for the Malvern fuck-up too with his 'Gloucester Winter Gardens'. What a tosser that guy is...at least the more caring of the two muggers gave me a few pounds back and my railcard. I think they could tell we were miles from home and needed something if a few pence or pound to help get me home. So I got my railcard and was in the gig place. I was 'nicked' (arrested) for bunking the train and then mugged by 2 black blokes in Manchester all within 5 hours. Oh deary me. I hung about at the Polytechnic and Discharge turned up at 5:30 p.m. I hung about inside of the Poly until they chucked everyone out at 6.30pm. Then they closed the doors and I waited outside on my own nowhere near Nigel twat. Although he came over as Diane and Lindy turned up after a while. Cal came out and luckily gave me a ticket to get in (...as I couldn't have afforded to go in tonight now...!) cheers Cal. I had just over a quid on me (1.25p in English money!) and I am 275 miles from home. I sold some 'Chron Gen Tickets' for 5p each (...or 4 for 20p to make some money...I am not sure how that worked but that is what it states in my diary...maybe you could go in and watch the first band or something...?). I went in with that free ticket from Cal at 8pm (I felt quite hollow and saddened by today...I was not at all mentally looking forwards to the gig and did not enjoy it at all).
Then first up onstage were
CHRON GEN
...and they played OK...and went down really good with the crowd...it had scaffolding (metal tubes) for a barrier at the front of the stage.
Next up tonight in Manchester were
ANTI-PASTI
...and the sound of their drums was terrible. But it was sorted out by the end of their set and they ended up playing OK in the end...and they went down good as well with the crowd.
Then next up were funnily enough
DISCHARGE
...and I climbed a scaffolding pole on the stages right to grab a great vantage point to watch them from. Discharge played good. Rainys' yellow flying V got broken when a fan climbed onstage and piled into him...the bouncers pulled him off but as they did his feet got caught around Rainys' bass guitar lead and it was yanked out but it worked a while later O.K. The crowd liked Discharge a lot.
...After a while the headliners...for tonight
THE EXPLOITED
...came on last. I went down the front and sat on the stage...they played really good. They got the crowd really going and a stage-invasion came during the encore of the set...but The Exploited kept on playing til the end.
...after they left the stage I left the Polytechnic and I went outside and who should be outside but Discharge-hater Garry Bushell (...he was a 'journalist' for the English Music paper called 'Sounds') and he was chatting to people outside about the gig. And he asked me who I came to see, I said "Discharge" and he said "I dunno what they are singing about - I can't understand them". I went back into the Polytechnic after a while and the singer from Anti-Pasti came over to me and we had a chat a while about their new LP and how long the band have been going etc. Then I went back out to Discharges van...I thought that I had better hang about there and mention I have just a quid left to get home and see if they can help me out with a lift possibly. Martin the driver was there and Rainy was wearing a bearskin hat (...like the type the guards at Buckingham Palace wear...!!!). Bones was there and Helen (...his girlfriend) with Cal and Bambi. Dave went back to Wigan with some friends of his. Then Cal and Rainy decided to let down The Exploiteds Vans tyres on their van for tour...!!!! Then me and everyone else got everyone into Discharges van and left the Polytechnic after midnight...thank god. I got a lift to Stoke with Discharge (...tonight of all nights I needed a lift from them and they gave me one..!). Now officially my 'Apocalypse Tour 1981' was over. I was gutted totally...and even though I had a lift to Stoke I was still worried as to how I'd get home the other 200 plus miles to Margate in Kent in south-east England. We headed out of horrible Manchester and travelled down the M6 and we pulled into Stoke at around 02:00 a.m. We dropped Rainy and Steve off, then we dropped off Bones and Helen. Then moany Nigel and Cal at his mums semi-detached house in Hanley. Then me, Martin, Lindy and Diane went to Martins new flat near the Polytechnic that we went to a while ago with Discharge after the Victoria Halls Stoke gig. I went with him through a side entrance and his flat-mate made us very welcome with a lovely cup of tea and even lovelier two pieces of toast. I then went to sleep in a room upstairs at 03:00 a.m. contemplating my journey back home tomorrow with just over one English Pound to get me 275 miles. If that wanker Nigel did not exist i would be going to another 6 Discharge gigs now...at Bracknell, Wakefield, Middlesborough, Bradford, Birmingham and Cardiff...instead I am going home like this....while the 'Apocalypse Tour 1981 goes on..it stops here for me tonight.
Thursday 2nd
I woke up just before 2 p.m. and said goodbye to Martins' flat mate and then left with just £1.20p to get me home so I had to hitchhike for sure. So I walked out in the sunshine of Stoke centre to just before the M6 junction on the west side of Stoke (...it was about 4 miles) then I got a lift for 800 yards to the M6 slip-road to hitch-hike. I tried to thumb a lift for about an hour til 4 p.m...it was very warm. Then a young office guy stopped and gave me a lift in his Escort and he gave me a can of Fanta (...'Orange' - coloured- drink..!). He liked The Specials (...they were a U.K. early eighties Ska band) and we stopped once for a little while then he dropped me at the north-Coventry exit of the M6 (...about 50 miles south from Stoke). It must have been about 5pm or later by then. So I hitch-hiked there til I got a lift from an Irish bloke driving a Triumph-estate and he was playing Irish 'Ceili' music. But he could only take me to the next exit...! It was south Coventry exit of the M6 and I waited there for another 45 minutes and then got a lift by a man in a mini metro (small car) but he was also just going one exit...! So he dropped me there and I spent another hour there waiting...while hitching for a lift southbound home...!!!! Just to seemingly it worse...another hitch-hiker turned up...on a Sunday early evening too...! He was wearing a boiler suit and had a clipboard thingy. He said "we'll get a lift within minutes" and we did..together. An estate car stopped and we got in. He was going to a place called Lutterworth and he dropped us both off at the Rugby turn off of the M1 (...about 90 miles from London now). The clipboard guy went on his way via another exit of the roundabout and I stood at the M1 slip-road for about about an hour or more which must have made it around 7pm by then and the thougts of 'not making it' to at least London was firmly in the air for me. And nothing was happening where I was standing on the slip-feeder road from the elevated roundabout. So I gave up and walked down the slip-road onto the actual M1 motorway in desperation...as the traffic was slow on a roasting Sunday and thumbed down by the M1 traffic....no luck though. A car pulled over - but it was a Police Car - they said "get back up on the roundabout" and drove off. So I did but on the walk back up I noticed a discarded hitch-hikers sign saying "Watford Please" (...Watford is about 60 miles south from where I am and just outside of London on the northern side.....but it is connected to London on the last-stop of the underground system...or metro/subway..!). So I put that up and started to hitch with that. I soon as I did I got a lift virtually straight away. I asked the guy "where are you going?". He said "Camberley"....excellent as he was going past Watford on his way to Slough and then Camberley and around London too...!!! Excellent bloody luck and a great sign-pick-up by me too...! He was Scottish and from Hamilton and supported their football team (...the 'accies' - the "Hamilton Academicals"). He gave me a lift off the M1 which took about 2 hours nearly. Then along a few green-tree-lined minor type roads around the outskirts of Watford. He dropped me off a few miles away from the town of Watford (...and the connection with the London Tube-Train network....!!). I walked from the outskirts hitch-hiking still. It was 6 miles and I had walked four miles or so and then I got a lift from a young bloke in a white Triumph Dolomite to Watford town. Then I asked at the bus station about a fare to Harrow (north London suburb) on a 286 bus...it was 24p so I caught that instead of the pricey tube, which I couldn't really afford. (...I knew that my money could not get me to Margate....without 'bunking' (not paying on) the train and the thought of doing that after Manchester again so soon was not that appealing of course..!). So on the 286 bus I went at 7.30 ish or so then got off that at Harrow and I looked for connecting buses in Harrow to somewhere in the centre or I knew better..! I noticed, then caught a 182 to Sudbury which was only 10p (..a cheap Sunday fare for a short hop...!). I caught that bus to Sudbury as I knew that an 18 bus went from Sudbury right into the centre of London. I was right and at Sudbury I waited at the 18 Bus stop then I caught an 18 bus from Sudbury to Baker Street, in central London. Then jumped on a 30 bus to Oxford Street from there...for 10p. So I was right in the centre of London now at about 10:20 p.m. on a Sunday evening and the London bus services are not that great after 10 p.m...especially on a Sunday. I knew I could not make it home by train with the 86 pence I had left and I am sure to make the last train anyway would be near enough impossible from where I was on a Sunday. So I had already decided if I could make it to my Aunties place (...her name was Marie and she lived in a suburb called Plumstead (...in south-east London about 10 miles out in that direction). She would definitely put me up for a night and lend me some money to go home tomorrow too. So that’s where I was trying to get to all day really as the later it got and the less money I had left..! So I ran to a phone box and rang her from Carnaby Street and she said yes...excellent. Although Carnaby was a haunt of Mods in the early 1980's and saw quite a few going up and down Regent/Oxford Street and around Carnaby Street too but steered clear of them before they noticed me down some side alleyways where I rang her in a phone box from. And I managed to make it back to the bus stop on Oxford Street to catch the last 53 bus to Plumstead at 11:04 p.m...! It took ages but at least I knew I was staying at Auntie Maries. It arrived at Plumstead Common at about 01.00 a.m...in the end...!!!! It was about 1 and half miles to her place from there and dead quiet too. I walked down the hill to her house from there...it took about 20 minutes to get there. They were all still up and awake when I got there...Aunty Marie, Uncle Tony (...my dads brother) cousin Gary (...who was once punk in 1980...!) and Denise my cousin too. Auntie Marie made me four cheese on toast sandwiches and a cup of tea or three...!!! I crashed out on her settee after that at about 02:30 a.m. I stayed up in Plumstead (...in London) on Friday then on Saturday I travelled down to Margate with my cousin Gary on the train (...no bunking this time...!).
Sunday 5th
Cousin Gary listened to some of Discharges records that I played him and he said they were " a load of noise". (..Well Gary Bushell said that to..now G-a-r-y my cousin too....maybe it is a 'Gary' thing..?!?!?)
Tuesday 7th
There was rioting on the streets in England again today. This time in Moss-side, Manchester and also in the Wood Green area of north london London too.
Thursday 9th
I went out and bought this week’s edition of the Sounds music paper. It had Wattie of The Exploited on the front cover in colour. It also had a centre-spread feature of the Manchester Polytechnic gig. With pictures of Discharge (Cal singing on stage), The Exploited (Wattie singing to the crowd) and Chron Gen (guitrist singer) and a gig review of the nights gig too. As usual Garry Bushell ground Discharge into the ground and praised The Exploited to the high heavens. I watched the TV and saw Top Of The Pops...The 900th edition of it with Jimmy Saville (...who I met at the R.D.S in Dublin in 1979 with dad when we was scaffolding there) Alan Freeman and Pete Murray (old UK DJ's). It had Motorhead on it playing 'Motorhead'. There was more rioting tonight in Moss-Side Manchester again with a supermarket attacked and buildings set ablaze. Also there was rioting in London too this time in Woolwich (..just a stones throw...literally....Woolwich is the next suburb city-direction from Plumstead..about a mile...!) from Gary and Aunty Marie’s place I stayed at t'uther night...!. There were 200 Youths, mostly black, and they threw stones etc at police and rioted along Powis Street for 30 minutes, which is where Auntie Marie works in a birthday card shop....! (maybe not anymore...!!)
Friday 10th
I paid my mum £4.00p 'keep' (...money for 'my food and board'...) and I owe her £70 now. There was more trouble last night on the rioting front with fresh rioting in Stoke Newington, Lewisham and Fulham (...all suburbs of London) plus new rioting in Brixton where cars were overturned and set alight. The police were attacked and stoned and petrol-bombed and shops were looted. On the news it showed footage of a group of black and white youths kicking in the windows a shoe shop (...if they needed new shoes...then this would have took longer than necessary I reckon). Tonight there was rioting in the north of Engand at Netherley, Liverpool, Moss-Side Manchester and Hull this time.
Saturday 11th
I watched the television and saw the 'World Of Sport' which had a caravan demolition derby on it which was great. There was more rioting in the West Midlands tonight in Wolverhampton, Handsworth (Birmingham) and also around the Bull-Ring Shopping Centre (...where I was the other day too...!).
Sunday 12th
Last night there was rioting in 20 English cities. Birkenhead (...Liverpool), Birmingham, Derby, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent (Hey...! Discharge...!), London, Portsmouth, Southampton and a few more. Here's a list of of all the places that riots have occurred and how many people were arrested after the place name (...from the front cover of the Daily Star newspaper) Cirencester (4), Gloucester (7), Corby (8), Halifax (11), Tunbridge Wells (11), Leeds (11), Maidstone (13), Wallasey (17), Sheffield (20), Huddersfield (20), Portsmouth (21), Kettering (21), Birkenhead (21), Derby (24), Preston (25), Fleetwood (25), Nottingham (29), Leicester (32), Manchester (38), Blackpool (40), Wirral (40), Blackburn (43), Stoke (50), Bradford (60), Hull (61), Luton (80), West Midlands (Birmingham etc...329) London 187.
A total of 2,554 people were arrested over a 12-day period during which the riots have occurred.
Tuesday 14th
I ran around the house chasing Mike threatening to stab him with a knife and a spoon over picking up Tina (...our cat) on a chair. There were riots in Aldershot last night. I watched the Tv and saw the Old Grey Whistle Test. It featured Joy Division and they were the best on there tonight. The police were tonight given new powers by the government to use plastic bullets and water cannons during the riotous disturbances.
Wednesday 15th
I helped dad do some scaffolding down the road for the guy that built our extension. He charged teh guy £60 (...I'll get £10 of that from him). I worked from 11:30 a.m. til 5:30 p.m. There were more riots in Brixton, south London tonight. It showed Railton Road, which is a no-go area for the police with houses set on fire.
Thursday 16th
I helped dad finish off that scaffolding job from 12 noon through until 5:30 p.m. When we got home I watched Tv and saw Top Of The Pops had Saxon (...a heavy metal band) singing 'Never Surrender' on it.
Friday 17th
Dad paid me £10 for scaffolding the back of the flats place with him recently. (...I worked 11 and a half-hours for £10 that is just 0.86p an hour....! - exactly what I had in my pocket when I finished my hitch-hike day from Stoke London with..!!). Me and my dad started work on the front of that flats place about 2 doors down Arthur Road (...our road). We worked from 12 till 4:45 p.m. The scaffolding fittings were really rusty. 108 people died at a dance hall in Kansas, U.S.A when two walkways collapsed at the same time (...one fell on another) then fell on the dancefloor below. I watched Tv and saw Pop Quiz which had Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers on it.
Saturday 19th
Watched 'Twentieth Century Box' which had John Lydon of Public Image Ltd on it. On my Football Pools betting (we now have Australian teams during the summer in England as there is no English Football as the season is over) I got 6 away teams out of 6...I won. I reckon I'll maybe get £40. I'll have to wait until Thursday to find out how rich I am.
Monday 20th
I mucked about playing on the electric organ dad bought in Southern Ireland when he was there recently. I've learnt to play almost all of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' and completely know 'God Save The Queen' (...which version though....The Sex Pistols or the 'National Anthem'..?).
Tuesday 21st
I learnt two new tunes on the organ today. First was called 'Fling Thing' (...A Scottish jig type tune that Angus Young out of AC/DC used to play...I think it was centred around 'You Take The High Rood And I'll Tek Tha' Loo Rood....an olde Scorteesh Traditional song....!) and 'Amazing Grace'. It was 12 years ago to the day that man first set foot on the moon.
Thursday 22nd
I went to work with dad again today. We went scaffolding down the flats for five hours and loads of rusty fittings again. Littlewoods (...the Football Pools company) paid out only £0.50p for 6 aways which I won. But I had £1 down s stake money so it meant that I got £5...not quite the £40 I was hoping for...absolutely terrible. They have got a grudge against me I reckon. Me and Mike were playing Table Tennis down in the kitchen on the dining table when dad came arguing about a light being on. The result...? A fight which left dad with a cut nose and Mike and he rolling around in the Living Room (...the next room) on the floor amongst the chairs. Dad then got a knife (...as you do...!) and Mike (...sensibly..!) scarpered out and upstairs. Dad then threw the table tennis bats out into the night-time garden...and I cannot find the net anywhere now. Sounds music paper was no good. Charlie Harper (...of the U.K. Subs) solo single 'Freaked' and Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Arabian Knights' vinyl release reviews. G.B.H have signed to Clay Records and will be releasing a 8-track 12" at the end of August. Anti-Pasti's cassette of the Lyceum gig is £3.75p...which is 50p dearer than Discharges and with 9 fewer tracks on it. (...but probably much more music in terms of time...!!)
Friday 24th
Me and Mike (...my brother) had a laugh in the kitchen listening to Tommy Vance (...Friday Night Rock Show on thr BBC radio) joining in with an 'oop-norf' (...'Up North') accent with him doing our own links to the tracks (...orl 'Bredge n Bucher' like...! - 'Bread and Butter' that will be then..!!!). "I wun T goo T Udderdfeeled" roughly translated is “I want to go to Huddersfield”) etc.
Sunday 26th
My mums sister (Jean) and her son John came down to Margate from Milton Keynes and she won £50 at bingo down on Cliftonville seafront (...area of Margate). She gave me and John £20 between us so we headed all night into Dreamland 'Theme Amusement Park'. Later on at 02:45 a.m. we decided to climb out of Mikes attic dormer-window onto the roof (...it had a gully along all the roofs in our road where the dormer-attic rooms could open a skylight window...so we clambered out of ours and ventured off in the wee small hours). So me, John and Mike decided to see how many houses up the road we could get past very quietly. We went 6 houses along up the road before it was impossible to go any further (...some people had lights on inside the windows when we went past...!). We then crept and shuffled back to Mikes window and decided to creep the other way down the road about 30 foot high above the street. We went past next doors and then there was a gap between our row of houses and the next much taller block of flats that are being converted....where me and dad are working on. We tried to reach the scaffolding but it was just too far from our outstretched hands...and too risky. But we did scale over the top ridge of the roof on our house to come into the back edition dormer...well I did...Mike and John chickened out in the pitch black at 03:45 a.m.
Wednesday 29th
It was the Royal Wedding Day of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. It was all over the televisioon forever. I watched a Documentary about drunk baboons in Africa...really funny.
Thursday 30th
I worked with dad along the flats place scaffolding from 12 noon until 6 p.m. I bought the Sounds music paper which was rubbish. It said that Vice Squad are playing at the Mayflower, Manchester on August 1st. Someone wrote into the Sounds letter-page about the Discharge review of the Manchester Polytechnic gig. He slagged off Gary Bushell (..who 'reviewed' it). The guy that qrote to letter named himself Nick Charge. I watched television and saw T.O.T.P but it was total crap. I listened to the John Peel Radio Show and I recorded 3 out of the 4 tracks he played off of the new Vice Squad E.P. (...I missed the first track...it was like 'Does The System Work'. (...by Discharge) ...I reckon the radio reception was playing up myself...!).
Friday 31st
I went to work with dad down the road again doing some scaffolding. We are up 3 lifts high (....levels which means about 40 foot above Arthur Road...!). We worked from 12 until 6 p.m. But we will be finished soon I reckon.
AUGUST
Saturday 1st
I measured myself today to see how tall I am. I am 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Sunday 2nd
I played the John Peel Vice Squad tape 5 times and the Discharge Live at the Lyceum gig tape too. Barry Sheene (..a UK Motorcycle racing champ) had a bad crash. I watched a programme about Hippey people called 'God Is In Poona'. In that place in India, they were dancing in the nude in this padded cell-type room...really funny.
Wednesday 5th
I woke up at 12 midday and then had breakfast and went down the beach with Jimmy (...our old Irish mate who came over to England for a week) and his mate and Mike. We went for a swim and took towels and an inflatable airbed, an inflatable boat, a radio and football. Met two sisters Sue (...good looking) and Jill (...not bad) they swam with us and came back to our spot with their giant tape-to-tape cassette music player (...excellent) and they played some UB40 (..a UK reggae pop band). We played a game of volleyball and then a dog came along and bit our ball and punctured it....bloody stupid mongrel. Later we went down to Dreamland amusement park and spent the night on rides. After that we went to a pub and later on back home. We decided to take Jimmy and his mate on the 'roof-tour' (like we did Cousin John) so the four of us giggling went up our road along the roof-top gully another 6 houses again and back. Then down to the gap near the scaffolding again. This time though I managed to scale the 30 foot drop across to my scaffolding and went along the planks. Then Mike and Mick did it too. Jimmy couldn't do it as his 'Belly Had Butterflies in it"...! We were able to climb into the flats being converted via the windows which were open. We went to the toilet and put the lights on then went out the flat door into the stairway and walked up the stairs to the top. We then got to the top of that and went up a ladder into their roof space. We went through a water tank door that led out onto their roof and went to the edge and looked down and said "Hello Jimmy" and he looked up to us about 30 feet from where he was on the edge (...30 foot himself off the ground...!). We then back-tracked all the same way we'd come and then got into Mike’s room after a bit of roof-sliding at 03:45 a.m.
Thursday 6th
I got the Sounds music paper when I was out earlier on and it has a Anti-Pasti LP review in it (..."'The Last Call'). Me Mike, Jimmy and Mick walked down to Dreamland and went Ice Skating. It was £1.00p to get on the ice. It was an artificial rink made of plastic and was terrible. The plastic was way too slow and my ankles were really hurting me after that like I had been kicked a lot on them. We spent 2 hours in there though shoving each other over etc. Mike, Mick and Jimmy went to a free disco down the seafront...there were only 4 people there...! I watched Television later on at home with Q9 with Spike Milligan...really funny and weird and mad and chaotic and silly.
Friday 7th
I went round and signed on the dole...Jimmy and Mick came around to see what it was like, and in there I saw Kay the punk-girl too. Lent Mike some more money...he owes me £13.90. I went to work with dad later on in the afternoon and did scaffolding down the road from 12.30 til 6.30 p.m.
Sunday 9th
I checked my Pools betting and I have won again. I got 6 away-wins out of 6. I'll probably win about £1 at the most for my 10p stake. Last time I had a £1 stake which multiplied the win payout amount by 10). Me, Jimmy, Mike and Mick sat up all night playing Derek & Clive LP's (...Dudley Moore and Peter Cook must-have LP's...!). Some bits are really funny.
Monday 10th
We all went up to Palm Bay beach (Me, Mike, Jimmy and Mick). It was really choppy out on the dinghy-airbed and rode a 5ft wave in about 60 feet to the sand. We bought a football for £1.69p (...a really tough one). I watched the television and a programme called Panorama about stupid cunts building 8 bombs on the scale of the Hiroshima scale...sick bastards.
Tuesday 11th
We all went to the beach again up at Palm Bay bundling each other in the lovely sea...met those two girls that were up there yesterday too.
Wednesday 12th
We spent another day up the beach with some girls. Then later on we went to a free music concert at the Winter Gardens in Margate. The best was a dancing midget with a sexy lady with him. On the TV they had a music concert of Stiff Little Fingers and U.2. Live from Belfast, Northern Ireland
Thursday 13th
Jimmy and Mick went back to Dublin today. I bought the Sounds music paper. It had a colour picture of Beki Bondage of Vice Squad on the front cover and an interview with the band inside. I went to work with dad down the flats place from 12:30 til 6:30 p.m. Later on I watched Top Of The Pops. The best was UB40 and Soft Cell. I got £1.50p for my pools win of 6 aways on the football bet win. In sounds it said that Anti-Pasti's LP 'The Last Call' jumped straight in at number 7 in the Independent charts.
Monday 17th
I put in my order in for 'Punks Not Dead' (...new magazine on Punk) in Beckleys (..a local newsagent).
Tuesday 18th
I listened to John Peel on the radio. He played G.B.H's track 'Dead On Arrival'. I taped it on my cassette recorder...but it came out crap. They play that track as good on record as they do when they play it live. It is an E.P./LP.
Thursday 20th
I got this weeks copy of Sounds music paper. It was no good except all four of Discharges E.P.s are in the independent chart (top 50) and Anti-Pasti's LP (The Last Call) is at Number 1 now. I watched the TV and Top Of The Pops it had UB40 on it singing 'One In Ten', U.2. 'Unforgettable Fire' and Siouxsie and the Banshees singing 'Arabian Nights'...no good.
Friday 21st
I walked around and signed on the dole. I then walked up to the Post Office and cashed my giro-cheque for £30.50p. I now have a total of £64.91p but 14 quid (pounds) is 'keep' for mum. I could buy the black guitar out of the music shop for £50...but I am going to go and see Vice Squad, Anti-Pasti and The Exploited instead...that'll leave a tenner (10 pounds) easily over for me. Mike made a 'Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution' banner for AC/DC concert at Castle Donnington.
Saturday 22nd
Mike woke up at 07:30 a.m. instead of 03:30 a.m. for the early trip to Castle Donnington AC/DC gig today, as the alarm didn't go off...he took his banner too.
Sunday 23rd
I woke up at 10:30 a.m. by alarm and then left after breakfast and went down to the railway station and got a 2-day return on the train to London for £5.50p...I still had £20 left after buying it. I caught the 12:23 p.m. train and pulled into London Victoria at 2:10 p.m. I then jumped on a 16 bus to Marble Arch where the Virgin Records shop was. That was closed so I caught a 73 bus down Oxford Street from one end to the other and went to the Virgin Megastore record shop...that was also closed...! Then walked from Tottenham Court Road back halfway up Oxford Street to Oxford Circus past the other Virgin Records shop which was closed-down and walked down Regent Street through Piccadilly Circus and then into Coventry Streets Our Price Record shop. I asked them if they had G.B.H's 12"...they said we'll have it tomorrow...so I bought Anti-Pasti's LP (...'The Last Call') and Vice Squads 'Last Rockers' 7-Inch E.P. The LP was £4.99p and the single was £1.20p. That left me with 13 quid still. I then met two punks and two nice punkettes from Holland who were also going to the Lyceum...so I showed them the way and we walked there together. Us five arrived there at 4 p.m. they said "Tenk yoo". I went around the back door stage area and met Johnjo the bald-headed old punk bloke from Leicester...he's on tour with Anti-Pasti. Wattie of The Exploited the came out and gave two tickets to Johnjo for him and a small Scottish punk. Kevin, Anti-Pasti's drummer came out for a while too. I then went around to the front entrance at 6 p.m. with my record bag to queue up. I had a bit of trouble queuing with that and struggled to get in but I did in the end. I paid £3.00p in and then went down the slope into the main hall and the dance-floor area. I went to the merchandise stall and I bought a fanzine called 'Ready To Ruck'. It had a great three-page interview with Discharge, Anti-Pasti, Vice Squad aswell. I also bought a Vice Squad poster too for 20p and an Anti-Pasti poster for 60p. While I was there the support band were onstage playing...they were called
ZOUNDS
were already on...they were shit.
Then I went upstairs and put what I'd just bought with my records in the cloakroom for 20p. By the way Dave (Bambi), who has my Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Love In A Voids' bootleg still) has been given 'the boot' by Discharge. They have got The Varukers drummer with white-really-spikey-haired guy in (Garry Maloney) as his replacement.
Then VICE SQUAD came on
...I walked down to the edge of the pogoing masses and watched from that gap. They went down really well with the crowd...but I wasn't that impressed by the music...just impressed by Beki Bondage. She was luvly in her short leather mini-skirt...Mmmmmmm...!
After a while after they had gone it was time up for the next band onstage tonight at the Lyceum in London and it was
ANTI-PASTI
...and I went right down the front. They played a really great lively set and encored with three songs then went off.
...I got a cup of milk for 30p...luvly and cold it was.
Then finally THE EXPLOITED came on.
I stood just where I had before when Anti-Pasti were on. They didn'y play bad really. Wattie again played bass on 'Warhead' and Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs came on for the vocals. I also saw Garry Bushell there too. After The Exploited finished I went upstairs
...to the cloakroom and got my records, fanzine and posters back. Then I left The Lyceum in the Strand...and jumped on an 11 bus to Victoria. I got there at 10:40 p.m. and I bought chicken soup, 25p for a cup. I just missed the last train to Margate. So then I got on the 3 a.m. Mail Train that is there all night till it pulls out. I met three punks on it....from Margate...!!! I had never seen them before, nor them me. We chatted a lot and had a laugh as it journeyed from London back to Margate at 3.a.m. One of the punks got out at Gillingham (...about 30 miles from Margate). I got one of the Punks phone number. One lived up on Millmead Estate, which I knew a little about (...quite a way from me though..!). We pulled into Margate at about 5 a.m. it was already light. As we walked back (...me and the Millmead Punk) we got stopped by the police and searched. I got in at 05:40 a.m.
Monday 24th
A guy called Paul from Athelstan Road came around and wanted to buy my Red Plastic trousers for £1. I gave them to him and he said he'd come around tomorrow with the money. I played Vice Squads' E.P. The track 'Living On Dreams' is the best song of those. Then I played the Anti-Pasti LP (The Last Call). It was not bad really. The best track on that is 'No Government'. I played the Anti-Pasti LP in Mikes room to him...he said it was o.k. I played Rubik’s Cube and I got 8 out of 9 colours on one side...it's really hard and confusing!
Tuesday 25th
I got a letter from the D.H.S.S (Department of health and Social Security) about my dole (financial state benefits) and I have an appointment in Ramsgate (4 miles away) tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. I played the Anti-Pasti 'Last Calls' Lp...just side two and the 'Living On Dreams' track by Vice Squad.
Wednesday 26th
Me and Mike caught a bus to Ramsgate (95p return) to go to that appointment with the benefits office. I had my interview with Mr Farrah and then came back then went down the beach with the boat and the football. The tide was far out and came back home at around 5 p.m.
Thursday 27th
I went out and I bought all four of the music papers, Sounds, Melody Maker, Record Mirror and the N.M.E. Mike has just spilt contact lens soaking solution all over my Wednesday diary (...I wondered what that blue smudge was..!). In Sounds it had a Discharge interview in it that was the same as the 'Ready To Ruck' Fanzine one...plus a picture of Cal I hadn't got. Melody Maker had a crap review of The Exploited, Anti-Pasti and Vice Squad Lyceum Gig on Sunday. On television I watched Top Of The Pops which was crap with more 'Clap every two-seconds re-recorded Medleys' on it than you can shake a medley-stick at. I later on watched the comedy series called 'Q9' with Spike Milligan...it was really weird.
Friday 28th
I dragged Mike down the stairs in a sleeping bag as he ripped one of my Discharge interviews that I put up on my bedroom wall.
Saturday 29th
I watched the TV and saw the last in the series of Pop Quiz. it had Toyah on it. She was luvly.
Monday 31st
MY 18TH BIRTHDAY
Mum woke me up at 2 p.m. with a cup of tea and an 18TH BIRTHDAY CARD for me with a £10 note for a present too. So I am 18 today...I'm a man, no I'm sorry....I am not...just a day older but not wiser...probably sillier. I had a (...birthday..?) bath and cut my hair a little bit. Will I be 19 tomorrow....???
SEPTEMBER
Tuesday 1st
My Auntie and her daughter (my cousins) Helen and son John (..he came back again...!) came down from Milton Keynes and visited us for short stay. Later on we took a trip down to Margate seafront and into Dreamland Amusement park. Then after that me, John and Mike went to the local Cliftonville arcades and amusements. We ended up going on the kiddie motorbikes (...with the sirens on of course...!). And we were trying to pull 'wheelies' on an electric bike and the kiddies bumper cars that went about 3 m.p.h. if that...! We just spent the whole time crashing into the wall and each other at 3 m.p.h. that was well stupid but fun. Also we were trying to ride up over the protection bumpers onto each others motorbikes. The manager came up to me and grabbed me...he was going mad and shoved me off the bike and off his amusement patch. We came home and played the two 'Derek & Clive' LP's to John...he thought they were great. I gave John two of my Metal Box albums, by Public Image Ltd (...as I had three...!) one was the Metal-Canister round container 'Metal One' and the other was the 'second edition' vinyl with cover copy. He is going to bring £15 (..£7.50p each) down next time with him to pay me for them (...he never did..just like Bambi of Discharge too). It was my first day of being 18 today.
Wednesday 2nd
At 04:30 a.m. I was woken up by mum in my room the dark talking to me. She said "QUICK PUT YOR CLOTHES ON AND COME DOWNSTAIRS". As my senses came round I could smell this immensely strong choking fume type smell everywhere (...No jokes please..!). It was like rotting fish but 100 times more concentrated...and I could hardly breathe. So I quickly got some clothes on and ran downstairs. Everybody was awake. The two Scootish blokes were there aswell. The smell came from their room (...jokes please...!). It smelled awful and it was the ammonia from their old fridge that had leaked. Mum rang the Police and Fire Brigade. After about 3 or 4 minutes the Police turned up. They went upstairs and tried to go into the Scots guys flat, but when they opened the door they were knocked back by the fumes from the fridge in that room. It was the centre of the smell and within another 2 minutes a Fire Brigade appliance turned up with sirens and flashing blue lights and the firemen piled out engine running and all came in with breathing apparatus and heavy boots and equipment. As they did another TWO Fire Engines turned up behind them..!!! They went into the Scots lads’ room with oxygen masks on and they carried the fridge out into the front garden. Everybody in all the houses and hotels in our street were now seemingly awake and were looking out of their windows...! After they 'stabilised' the fridge and made sure it was safe all the emergency services left our place at about 05:30 a.m. I gave the two Scots blokes a cup of tea at 05:45 a.m. The house still reeked of that smell even with all the windows open. The two Scotch lads slept downstairs after 06:00 a.m. in the 'Z-bed' (fold-away) and one of them had to get up for work at 7 a.m..! Before bedtime the smell dispersed as we opened the doors and the air flowed better in and out of the pooey property. There is a snooker table for sale for £40 (6ft X 4ft). I might buy it.
Thursday 3rd
I went out and bought the music paper Sounds.On the front cover had Anti-Pasti in colour and also a Chron Gen interview. I also bought 'Punks Not Dead' the new magazine. It was great and it featured a Discharge photo live at the Manchester Polytechnic and a one-page readers letters feature about Discharge. It also had an Anti-Pasti interview with two pictures of Martin the singer and colour pictures of The Exploited and a one and a half page interview. It featured also a Chron gen interview. Also colour pictures of Vice Squad and G.B.H and also Wendy O'Williams of The Plasmatics...great. I played Anti-Pasti's LP 'The Last Call' twice while I took all my Sex Pistols and Discharge posters down coz I am going to put all my Discharge stuff up properly on the big wall in my bedroom tomorrow.
Friday 4th
I went around and signed on then cashed my giro-cheque and walked up to Palm Bay beach and met Dad, Mum, Mike and Auntie Iris up there. Me and Mike went into the sea on the air-beds, which went down. We came home at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 6th
I watched the television and on it was Gary Numan Live in concert at Wembley, London...it was o.k. I stuck up some Discharge Fanzine interviews on my bedroom wall.
Monday 7th
I bought another copy of 'Punks Not Dead' magazine. I stuck up all my big Discharge cuttings on the wall. It looks real smart all stuck up with drawing pins the cuttings cover the big wall 75%.
Wednesday 9th
I watched a World-Cup Football qualifier with England playing in Norway live on television. They went into a 0-1 lead but that evaporated faster than pissing in the Sahara and they lost the game 2-1 in the end. England missed qualifying for the 1982 World Cup on that result...roll on qualifying for the 1986 World Cup then..! Watched Tv and a programme called 'Cosmos' with Carl Sagan. it was about how man has quickly invented Nuclear Weapons in his lifetime that will wipe out 16 million years of evolution.
Thursday 10th
I went out and bought Sounds the music paper...it was no good. They did have the G.B.H 12" single reviewed though. I watched a documentary on TV called 'In Defence Of The United States' (...sick joke eh..?). About how Reagan (...world renowned sub-human shit-head-cum slaughterer of innocent people) has 5,000 missiles and hopes to increase them to 12,000 spending 1.3 trillion dollars in just 5 years. The fireball would last 20 seconds and 100-mph winds would instantly blind you if you looked at the explosion. The fireball would rise to 80,000 feet high and you would suffer third degree burns even if you were as far away as 12 miles from the 'ground zero' exlposion location. No one can win, why can they not get it through to their thick dried-up brains..? The earth will lose...all because of power lust...Disarm Or Die...we don't get a second chance.
Friday 11th
After I got up at 10ish I went down the beach after calling around to Dave’s for the one quid he still owed me for the red plastic trousers he had off me...he was still at school. I walked to the outdoor swimming pool and while I was bending down to take of my shoes a gust of wind blew the inflated dinghy-boat off the promenade and into the sea. It started to drift out rather quickly around the rough rocks, so I ran back to the shore along the pool edge and then out on the slippery seaweed-covered rocks trying to give chase. The boat actually got caught on the last jutting-out rocks before it would have disappeared into open sea. I slowly and precariously made my way out to try and get to it before a gust took it off again. I managed to get it and went swimming in my long 'Anarchy In The U.K.' Sex Pistols T-shirt (...I got it from 'Seditionaries' in Kings Road, London in the 1970's...!!! - which I later sold on eBay for about 160 UK pounds..!!-) for a while. Then I came home at 5 p.m. I lent Mike more money...he now owes me £24 (...and he gets much more on the dole than me...!).
Saturday 12th
I stuck up my Anti-Pasti cuttings on my bedroom wall. I met the '293156' punk from Millmead Estate ...(Karl) and his punk-mate from Garlinge (...Lol-Lawrence) down at Drakes Bar.
Monday 14th
The kid that fired blanks at the queen (...or near her!) got five years in jail...a bit steep considering he didn't even hurt her...poor cunt...! Best Sellers on TV was yawny-moo's as was a profile on Dudley Moore (...of Derek & Clive fame..!)
Wednesday 16th
Mike got Kerrang issue number 4 and it has a great picture in the centre of it of AC/DC live at Castle Donnington. And who should be in it aswell...down the front in his blue denim jacket....? None other than Michael Lynch himself...really funny. Total Chaos ( a Newcastle Punk band) were featured on the 'Nationwide' TV programme on the BBC recording a demo...not bad.
Thursday 17th
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper which was no good...except it said that Ex-Discharge drummer Dave (Bambi) Ellesmere is now playing with the Flux Of Pink Indians. I Watched television and Top Of The Pops...Adam and the Ants are number one with 'Prince Charming'...they played the video of that song too. O.M.D (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) were on it too singing their song called 'Souvenir'.
Friday 18th
I got up at 10:30 a.m. and walked around to Capitol House and signed on the dole. I met Kay around there too. I went into the Careers Office like I always was made to do...but they said that now you are 18 you don't have to come in here anymore...brilliant. But instead I have to register at the Job Centre instead now..! I spiked my hair up with soap...it looks ok. I painted over the old cracked paint on the back of my Discharge 'Fight Back' leather jacket. It looks O.K. I have to touch it up with black gloss tomorrow.
Saturday 19th
I touched up the 'Fight Back' picture on the back on my Discharge leather jacket...it looks good. Me and Mike played table tennis and shortly after I beat him 5-4 he decided to sting-smash the balls into me and then smashed the ball up. (...I guess he was not a 'good loser' then..!)
Sunday 20th
I touched up the 'Fight Back' Discharge picture on the back of my jacket some more and gave it another coat of white-paint. Mum and Dad have nearly a full house letting 'holiday lets' and its late September. They are raking-in £150 per week at this rate..!
Monday 21st
Mike bleached his hair blonde again. Over 300 people killed in Brazil when a boat yipped over docking in Piranha infested waters. The Piranha's ate the people as they tried to swim to the shore 100 yards away.
Wednesday 23rd
I watched a programme on TV called 'Close-Up' about how Margaret Thatcher (...the Prime Minister of the U.K.) and her arsehole government spend 33 million pounds per day (...yes per day...!) on Nuclear Weapons. Not giving a shit about 3 million jobless and the housing problems...subhuman bastards.
Thursday 24th
I walked down to the Job Centre to register there then came back home. On the way back I saw a nice blue 'n' white spikey-haired punkette girl. I bought the Sounds music paper and in it it said Discharge (supported by G.B.H) will be playing at the Manchester Mayflower on September 26th...thats only this Saturday...! So I'll be going to see them play their first gig with their new drummer (Garry Maloney...ex-Varukers). I spiked up my hair with soap. I the television and watched Top Of The Pops...Adam and the Ants are still at No1 with 'Prince Charming'.
Friday 25th
A new TV series called 'Something Else' started on BBC 2 tonight. On it were The Angelic Upstarts singing '2 Million Voices' which was 'o.k'...and a second song called 'Different Strokes'...that was pretty bad. Also on there were The Tygers Of Pan Tang with their terrible heavy-metal singer. I go to see Discharge tomorrow up in Manchester..!
Saturday 26th
I got up at 9.a.m....mum called me. I caught a taxi down to the railway station for 90p...mum paid it..! I took £40 with me and I met Kay and her mum down at Margate station. I caught the 09:48 a.m. train to Victoria in London. It got there at 11:25 a.m. Then I walked along to the Victoria National Coach Station which is only 5 minutes away. I bought a £4.50p ticket to Manchester on the 12 noon coach which will get me into Manchester 200 miles north at 4:15 p.m. While I queued up for it at Bay 22 I met a blonde chubby, but nice, punkette-girl called Jan and her punk boyfriend Bill (...he turned out to be the guitarist in West London Punk band called 'Chaos' some years later...who I actually saw play live a few times). They came from Hayes, London and are also going up to see Discharge in Manchester..! (...although Jan likes G.B.H much more...!). We chatted on the journey by coach up to Manchester. It was their first time to see G.B.H. live too. We stopped at 'Watford Gap' Services on the M1 motorway (...about 30 miles north of central London) for about half an hour. We got out and I bought some crisps and a chocolate bar and a canned drink for 'eats' on the next part of the coach journey. The coach pulled into Manchester at 4:30 p.m. and it was pouring with rain (...as one would expect...!). Us three walked around the centre bus stands on the square til we found a bus going to Bellevue (217) in south Manchester. It cost 30p, and on the way there we passed the Manchester Apollo in Ardwick. It doesn't look too big actually. We got off the bus and we were trying to find an off-licence shop for some snack food, so we asked a vanload of punks...it was G.B.H 's van..! They asked us how we are getting home tonight...we said that we didn't know that far ahead...! So they offered us a lift back to Birmingham with them in their van later on after the gig..! We sat in their van a while...then we drove up to the Mayflower venue. We unloaded their equipment and instruments then went inside the Mayflower with G.B.H. I saw Cal (of Discharge) so went over and had a chat about when the new E.P. is coming out, he said "Next Friday", I said "Wots it called?" He said, "It's a 3-track e.p. called Never Again". That is what the A-side is called and the B-side has two-tracks on it 'Nuclear Stockpile' and 'World To Live In' or something like that. He said "We are playing the Cedar Club in Birmingham next Friday, the 2nd of October, Sheffield Marples Friday October the 9th, Bristol Granary 20th" (...I think..?) "And a London gig" (...which I didn't catch the venue of) and of all places "Gillingham Centre-Court Hotel on the 8th of November"...I can't wait for all of those..! He also astounded me by then saying "We are also going to be playing some European Dates...four shows in Holland and then following were three gigs out in Germany"...crikey I thought...Discharge are playing abroad...!!! And he astounded me some more after that by saying that "they are organising a van for their fans to go over to watch them in Europe" too. Cal asked me and said "are you up for coming"? ...for numerous amounts of dough (Money)....! I said "Yup" and he said "I'll give you my phone number later so we can sort it out in full later on mate.."! ...and off Cal went. After a while Discharge set up their music equipment. Rainy has got a new 6-foot high 8-speaker bass cab, plus a new amp head. Bones got a new 3 foot high 4-speaker guitar cab. They done their sound-check doing their new three tracks and 'Realities Of War'. They played 'Never Again' twice. They had a bit of feedback with the guitar but it was soon sorted out. They really sounded good and clear. Garry's (the new drummer) drums are camouflage green and brown. Rainy and Bones swapped instruments. Rainy played on Bones's guitar Jimi Hendrixs' 'Wild Thing' really well. Bones couldn't do the bass guitar as good as Rainy could play the guitar though..! I had a chat will Bill and Jan (the two West London Punks I travelled up with on the coach). Then G.B.H done their soundcheck, they sounded good although I got kicked out halfway through it. My name wasn't on the guest-list. I came back in though and told them we travelled over 200 miles to come here so let us in for a quid each...! G.B.H had finished soundchecking, so I chatted to Bill and Jan and we saw that blond mohican off of 'The Devils Advocate' TV programme aired last Sunday. He said he got £15 per show.
After a while it was the support band time and at 10 p.m...
G.B.H came onstage
We all went down the front and they played great. Colin, the singer, jumped onto Jocks guitar at the end. Jock broke his bottom string on a solo. They played for 45 minutes and the Manchester crowd liked them.
It wasn't too long after that when...
DISCHARGE came on
at around 11:30 p.m. I went right down the front. Discharge played good...but the crowd were crap for them (I think they were all G.B.H.'s crowd in Birmingham..!). Cal did sarcastic comments like "You can tap your feet to 'Fight Back'..! Garry Maloneys drumming was good. Discharge have shortened their set to 30 or 40 minutes only. They did a four-song encore and then went offstage.
Afterwards Cal came over and gave me his home phone number, which was Stoke 243**..! (..actually it was his mums house..!). I said Ta-ra to him and he said "Give me a ring on Thursday night" I will. I left with Jan and Bill and then jumped into G.B.H's van with them all for a lift back to Birmingham about 100 miles...! We stopped at the same sevices we did with Discharge on the M6 motorway southbound (Sandbach Services). G.B.H's roadies kept spitting at Jan and threw a lit box of matches at her. They dropped us off at 2:30 a.m. in Birmingham centre where the G.B.H bass player (Ross) got out with us and showed us where the coach station in Digbeth was (south of Birmingham centre a mile or two). Us three (Me, Jan and Bill) caught a night-coach going back to London that started out 'up-north' at 03:30 a.m. It went via Woburn (Zoo and Abbey) it cost £4.50p. And we got into London at 07:00 a.m. I said goodbye to Jan and Bill then I walked up to Victoria Railway Station and got the next train 75 miles back east to Margate’s sea-side at 9:45 a.m. Then walked home and arrived at home at around 10:30 a.m.
Sunday 27th
I watched the TV programme called ‘The Devils Advocate' which again had on that blond mohican Punk from up north on who I met at the Discharge Birmingham gig with G.B.H the other day...! Mikes heavy-metal mates came around (Rob & Kev, Laurence (Lols) the Punk guys older brothers) then we walked up to a Punks house up in Cliftonville area of Margate (Karl) together, it was miles away up the top end of the place. I stayed there chatting with them about Discharges European tour and Punk music. Lol and me walked back to my house and he went on home to Garlinge a mile or more away south of Margate’s railway station.
Monday 28th
Lol, Rob and Karl came around and I played them the Live Discharge Tape (..of the Lyceum London Gig). They played games with my handheld Space Invaders game and had a look through my record collection and later went home after an hour at 6pm. I watched a Tarzan and Jane film with Bo Derek in it. She was virtually in the nude...she had a great pair of tits.
Wednesday 30th
At 12 midday Rob, Kev (Heavy metalllers), Karl and Lol (Punks) came around and then me and Mike went with them down town to the Longplayer Record Shop down in Margate town centre a mile away. I played some records later at home Anti-Pasti (Last Call) LP and the Slaughter and the Dogs 'Do It Dog Style' LP. Then later went with Mike down to Cecil Square in Margate to meet Karl, Kev, Lol and Rob to go see a rock band called SPIDER live at the Ship Inn, in Margates Harbour area. We stopped off on the hill down to Margate’s seafront at a flat where Gary and Karen lived. They lived four or five floors up and had a great view of the seafront (...really smart flat). When we got to the Ship Inn we found out that Spider had cancelled (due to their van breaking down). We all had a drink in there (...I had a coke and a bag of crisps for 38p). We then walked up to Drakes Tavern and I got a coke in there and we listened to some Country ‘n’ western band with a girl singer and bumped into two Scottish blokes that were staying in our house too. Then we all went to Gary and Karen’s place getting chips (15p) on the way. We played their records there, AC/DC mostly - everybody headbanging like crazy. Then we left and walked home part of the way with Kev and Karl (who live further up Cliftonville).
OCTOBER
Thursday 1st
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper which was crap. The UK Subs supported by Anti-Pasti and Chron Gen are playing the Hammersmith Palais (London). G.B.H are going on tour and are playing the 100 Club in London. I watched television and saw Top Of The Pops and it had Siouxsie (of the Banshees) and Budgie on doing their new 45 which was really tribal...I think they were called 'The Creatures' or something. Adam and the Ants are still No1 with 'Prince Charming' while The Police are No2 with ‘Invisible Sun’. I phoned up Cal (singer for Discharge) the number is 0782 243***. Cal answered and I said “Hi its Tony from Margate” and Cal said “Ow alrite mate how you going, OK?” - I said “Yeah” and “have you got any more information on that van you’re hiring out for your fans?” - he said “No, except that their driver Tommy is too young to drive their van abroad”. I said “Are you gonna try and get another driver?” Cal said “If we can like”. Cal gave me their latest gig dates that Discharge have lined up which are as follows: - Tomorrow - The Cedar Club (Birmingham), Sheffield (Marples) on October 5th, Gillingham Centre Court Hotel on October 8th, Bristol (The Granary) October 23rd and the 100 Club in London on the 24th of November. I said “I’ll give you a ring next week after Sheffield” to which Cal replied “Righty-O and take care of yourself” I said “Right, see ya Cal…ta-ra.
Saturday 3rd
I won the Football Pools (gambling) getting four away wins from four games...all correct....only a 10p stake so hardly worth winning at all. Rob came around and he and Mike went to the Charles Drake pub to play pool. Lol called around later on and we played Realities of War E.P. by Discharge. Rob and Mike came back and sat in my room. Lol said he’d buy my giant Sex Pistols poster and also my Sid (Vicious) Sings poster for £1 each. He’ll bring around the money on Thursday. So we played my Sex Pistols Live at Winterland Bootleg ('Gun Control') and the 'Filth and The Fury' (Bootleg), then the Anti-Pasti (No Government) track, The Damned (...the 'White Rabbit' E.P.) the Penetration LP ('Moving Targets') Malcolm McLarens ‘You Need Hands’ 7-Inch and the Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ (Symphonic version) Slaughter and the Dogs tracks off of their 'Do It Dog Style' LP - ‘Where have all the Bootboys gone’ ‘Boston Babies’ and ‘You’re A Bore’. Lol and Karl are going to see the Dead Kennedy’s at the London Lyceum tomorrow.
Sunday 4th
I watched the television programme ‘The Devils Advocate’ with Stephen the Punk mohican from Manchester I met at Discharge. He said, “I’m the best dressed in here” on it. I made a giant 7 feet by 2 feet ‘Discharge’ logo cut out of sticky back plastic. It looks really smart...just like the real thing. I am going to stick it up on my bedroom ceiling tomorrow. Lol and Karl have now seen the Dead Kennedy’s and he is coming around tomorrow at 2pm to tell me about it.
Monday 5th
Rob and Kev came around and we played records in Mikes’ room. Derek and Clives ‘classics’, Alice Coopers ‘Cold Ethyl’ (great lyrics), Rose Tattoo’s ‘Remedy’, Stillwaters ‘Sam’s Jam’...they went at 6pm. I stuck up my huge ‘Discharge’ logo I made yesterday on my Discharge wall along the bottom...it looks great. I super-spiked up my hair with S.O.A.P...which means “Superspikes On A Punk”...!!!! A court letter came for me about jumping the trains in Manchester (...on July 1st while on the Discharge 'Apocalypse Now' Tour). I thought they’d forget about me after 3 months and 3 days.
Tuesday 6th
Rob, Kev and Lol came around. Lol paid me 50p towards the Sex Pistols and Sid Vicious Punk posters he is buying from me (for a £1). We played 'Derek and Clive' and Motorhead records. Lol liked my Discharge cut-out design-logo on my wall. He’s coming around on Thursday. I went with Mum and Dad out in a rainstorm by car to look at a 6 foot by 3-foot Pool Table. On the news it had pictures of President Sadat in the desert at a military parade then loads of gun-wielding guerrillas jumped off a lorry and started pumping lead into him and his officials...killing him and many more.
Wednesday 7th
We had our '6ft x 3ft' Pool table delivered today...and I led Mike 7-0 in games then he came back to lead me 10-9 but I won the tournament 11-10 on the black ball in the last game (incidentally my brother Mike went on to become one of the top ten UK Pool players in the UK in the 1990’s..!). I watched television 'Parkinson' (...chat show host) with comedienne Pamela Stephenson (Of ‘Not The Nine O’clock News’ - comedy show - fame) on it wearing a split thigh pink plastic skirt on it (lovely lady).
Thursday 8th
I beat Mike 6-5 in pool and dad came in the Irish bastard and said “stop playing and get it out of this (front) room”. So as Mike and me were carrying it down to the dining room one of the leg supports fell down and snapped the wood it was screwed into. It was split now aswell and all because face-ache wanted to annoy us, cunt. A letter for me came from the UK SUBS Fan Club. I received my Pools win money for my 'four aways'...that was £1.35p. I went out and bought the Sounds music paper was terrible except for a Discharge ‘Never Again’ advert (their new E.P.)...it was about 2 inches square. The cover is black with a white bird with a knife straight up through its body, weird eh?. At 7pm I phoned up Cal, the singer of Discharge (not to complain though...!) 0782 243*** - his mum answered (who I couldn’t understand...with her deep 'Stoke' accent..!) then Cal came on and I said “ Cal, it’s Tone from Margate”. He said “How you going?” - I said “OK”. I said “Any more information on the van you are hiring for the European Tour dates..?” - he said “No, I’m still looking for an older driver”. I said “how did the Birmingham and Sheffield gigs go?”. Cal replies “The Birmingham gig wasn’t too good but the Sheffield gig was really great”. I said “I suppose you are going to watch Jaws (the film on TV) now are you?” ...Cal laughed and said “Yeah”, so I said “I’ll ring you next Friday” and Cal said “O.K” and I said goodbye...then watched Jaws.
Friday 9th
I tried to fix the pool table with evo-stick but when we tried to stand it up the wood snapped again. I stuck up some of my Discharge-stencilled lyrics to their ‘Realities Of War’ E.P. on my wall, wardrobe and window (these were on the back of rolls of old wallpaper about 2 foot by 2 foot in size...I did all for tracks..!).
Saturday 10th
A Bomb explosion outside the Chelsea Army Barracks killed a 61 year-old widow (...an innocent passer-by) with explosives, including Bolts, Nuts and Nails. It was set off by remote control as a soldier’s coach went by. Later the I.R.A Irish bastards claimed responsibility (...my pool table hating dad...?). I listened to a Radio-Show called ‘Rock-On’ on Radio 1 at 4:30pm Tommy Vance started the show by playing the new 45 E.P. by Discharge and ‘Never Again’ sounded brilliant and is recorded great too and really long...great. After that he played the new E.P. by The Exploited ‘Dead Cities'...which was ok. Tommy Vance said that Discharges ‘Never Again’ was a great record. As the Pool tables legs are broken we played pool with it on the floor instead now.
Sunday 11th
Rob, Kev, Lol, Gary and Karen came around and all went up to Mikes’ room and played some of the 'Derek and Clive' LP tracks...they all went back home by around 6pm. On the television I watched a programme called '16 UP' It had Gary-wanker -Bushell on it and also The Ruts talking about heroin addiction and their singer Malcolm Owen who died from it.
Monday 12th
Kev came around, then five minutes later Rob and Lol turned up. We went up to Mikes’ room and played a few records then we all walked down to Gary’s new flat. On the way down there we stopped off at the Longplayer record shop in Margates town centre where I bought G.B.H.’s ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne’ 12” for £2.10p. We painted four of Gary’s’ walls and also headbanged with Mike, Lol and Rob to some of Iron Maidens LP's using loads of brooms as guitars...great larf. Came home and played the G.B.H 12” twice.
Tuesday 13th
I played the G.B.H 12” in my room and also Mike listened to it too.
Wednesday 14th
Rob and Lol called around and Lol had just bought the new E.P. by Discharge - ‘Never Again’. We all went upstairs into my room and played it. ‘Never Again’ was great. ‘Death Dealers’ the B-side was ok, but ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ was better. After that us four walked up to Karl’s house, but he was out so we called around to Kev’s. He was in the bath and had to get out to answer the door. We went in and played Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ on his smart record player...it sounded better. He also played an Lp by 'Trust' (...a French Heavy-Metal band), Raven, Spider and The Damned. We all walked back to Karl’s’...he was in playing Discharge records and we sung him ‘Happy Birthday’ coz he was 18 today also he played Police Story/Killing Machine by The Partisans...which was pretty good. Also he played 4-Skins ‘One Law For Them’ = crap, Blitz = ok, Chron Gen ‘Reality/Subway Sadist’...both good. I played Karl’s acoustic guitar then we walked home.
Thursday 15th
I got up at 10 a.m. and went straight down town to the Longplayer record shop and I bought ‘Never Again’ by Discharge and came back home. Rob had called around while I was out and was in the front room when I came in. We went upstairs and played the Discharge new single and other records and then later went down into the front room and played pool. I went out and bought the Sounds music paper, which had a Discharge ‘Never Again’ single review, which wasn’t too good. I also got The Record Mirror music paper as it too had a review for Discharges ‘Never Again’ in which was much better. On television I watched Top Of The Pops and on it it had The Exploited on it singing ‘Dead Cities’ (...but I never saw them as 'grumpy scrooge' was watching his yank film ‘Hombre’...cunt. I played my Discharge 7-inch single ‘Never Again’ twice and the G.B.H 12”. I listened to John Peel on the radio and at the end of his show he said, “This is the last track tonight...it’s by Discharge and its called ‘Never Again’...goodnight”! It sounded good on the radio, and after it he said “That was ‘Never Again’ by Discharge on Clay records and that should keep you up all night counting your Mr Men (children’s book/cartoon type story characters) on your wall”.
Friday 16th
Rob and Lol came around and they played Pool with me in the front room. Lol is buying some of my records off of me. The UK Subs 'Live'...Dutch Import LP, the Public Image Ltd (P.I.L) ‘Memories’ and ‘Death Disco’ for 5 quid (U.K. pounds). I played my ‘Never Again’ (Discharge E.P.) and the ‘Death Dealers’ track has a jump on it. I also played the G.B.H 12” aswell.
Saturday 17th
I walked down to Margate town centre and went in the Longplayer to change my Discharge ‘Never Again’ E.P. as ‘Death Dealers’ had a jump on that track. He changed it easily enough for me. When I got home Rob, Kev and Lol were here and we spent a few hours in Mike’s room listening to records and the radio. There was a bomb explosion today in West Dulwich in some army bloke’s car. He had one of his legs blown off and later had the rest of his leg amputated. The I.R.A claimed responsibility for it later on.
Sunday 18th
One year ago today (Sunday, the 19th of October) I saw my first Discharge gig at the Lyceum in London supporting Slade.
...Since then I have seen them in
(1) London - The Music Machine...October 28th 1980
(2) Nuneaton - 77 Club...November 17th 1980
(3) London - The Lyceum ...supporting Killing Joke...November 30th 1980
(4) London - Music Machine...December 4th 1980
(5) Manchester - The Mayflower...March 6th 1981
(6) Birmingham - The Cedar Club...March 13th 1981
(7 & 8) Manchester - The Mayflower (...2 shows) May 9th 1981
(9) London -The Lyceum...May 24th 1981
(10) Retford - The Porterhouse...June 5th 1981
(11) Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley) - Victoria Halls...June 12th 1981
(12) Birmingham - The Cedar Club... June 13th 1981
(13) Rhyl, Wales - The Gallery... June 19th 1981
(14) Cardiff, Wales - Grass Roots...June 20th 1981
- The 'Apocalypse Now' Tour -
(15) West Runton - The Pavillion...June 26th 1981
(16) Northampton - The Roadmenders Club...June 27th 1981
(17) Leicester -De Montfort Hall...June 28th 1981
(18) Malvern -The Winter Gardens...June 29th 1981
(19) Manchester - The Polytechnic...July 1st 1981
.....
(20) Manchester - The Mayflower...September 26th
...thats a total of 20 Discharge gigs in all.
Monday 19th
I phoned up Cal (...the singer of Discharge). He said “We still haven’t found a driver to drive our van out in Europe for the tour out there” and he also said that “G.B.H. are supporting them at Gillingham” that’s great. I timed Discharges’ 'Never Again' E.P. The times are...'Never Again' (2:15), 'Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles' (1:12), and ‘Death Dealers’ (1:40). The 'Never Again' E.P. lasts a total of five minutes and seven seconds.
Tuesday 20th
Rob, Lol and Kev came around at 10 in the morning and we all went up to Mikes’ room and played records. Also done the Kerrang (Heavy Metal magazine) quiz, which had 75 questions in it. Rob scored 17 answers correct in it (...well he is 'Heavy-Metal').
Thursday 22nd
Karl, Lol, Rob, Ken and Andre (a heavy-metal bloke) came around my place in the late morning. I played them my G.B.H 'Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne' 12” and 'Never Again' (Discharge) seven-inch single. Me, Karl and Lol walked over to Lols house in Garlinge later on in the afternoon. It’s about a mile and a half away easily. When we got there we went into Lols room. It’s the same size as mine and he has mostly got Sex Pistols posters up on his wall. Then we went into Robs room (...Lols brother) and played Lols Vice Squads LP ‘No Cause for concern’ which is bad to say the least, 'Never Again' by Discharge and the Kidz Next Door 7-Inch single...which was shit. I walked back later with Karl, it was really cold and very windy and it took us 45 minutes to walk back to my road and said bye to Karl. I bought the Sounds music paper. Discharges ‘Never Again’ single went straight in at number 5 in the alternative chart...and in at number 95 in the British chart top 100 too. There is a ‘Woodstock 2’ punk gig on at the Rainbow, London soon featuring Anti-Pasti, Angelic Upstarts and Vice squad but I’m not going...!
Friday 23rd
I got up at 4:15 p.m...which was diabolically late (...even for me..!). I played Discharges ‘Why’ 12-Inch E.P. the G.B.H 12” and the UK Subs 'Live' Crash Course LP.
Saturday 24th
Lol came around and woke me up at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon..!! I played the Discharge ‘Never Again’ 7-Inch single and then the G.B.H. 12”. After that we both walked up to Karl’s. He was out so we walked down to Margate town centre and met him in Cecil Square with a skinhead. So we all walked back up to Karl’s house but the skinhead went home. Us three went up into his bedroom and played the Poison Girls clear vinyl LP which was utter shit. After that Lol put on the Partisans ‘Police Story’ 7-Inch and Discharges Never Again E.P.(..again..!). Then I walked home with Lol. He and Karl are going to see the U.K Subs at Gillingham centre court hotel (..The Central Hotel..!) tomorrow. Lol said he’s coming to see Discharge with me at the Bristol Granary on November 23rd...and he is telephoning me on Tuesday about it. 150,000 human people turned out for an 'Anti-bomb' march in London today. Mike was in London today...but he went to saw Saxon (..a heavy-metal band) at the Hammersmith Odeon instead with Rob and Kev.
Sunday 25th
I stencilled out the lyrics to ‘They Declare it’ (by Discharge) on a giant piece of paper...it took about four bloody hours to do….and made three mistakes, but it still looks really smart (...good). Rob called around and I played him all 25 of Discharges tracks so he could put them into an order of what tracks he likes. His favourite Discharge song was ‘Decontrol’.
Monday 26th
Gary and Karen came around at 12 midday...and at 1pm Lol and Rob came around too. I played them the ‘Never Again’ Discharge E.P. and side one of the ‘Fight Back’ Discharge E.P. and the G.B.H 12” (...side one only). Then we all went out at 2:30pm, Lol went around to the careers office. We walked up to Karls after Gary & Karen went home. Later me Mike and Rob walked home doing American accents really loudly...very funny. It was freezing cold and dark when we got to Robs & Lols, who was in when we got there. We went into Robs room and played loads of records The Plasmatics (‘Monkey Suit’ and ‘Squirm’ live...not too good) Human League, More, Trust, (...both 'Heavy-Metal'), Venom and Discharge ‘Never Again’ 7-Inch single. Left Robs with him and Mike doing more America rip-offs. We bumped into a 'fat bumper-car' girl who came back to ours with us and we looked at Porn mags.
Tuesday 27th
The Exploited’s ‘Dead Cities’ went up to number 31 in the BBC charts (...after their appearance on Top Of The Pops - the BBC music programme).
Wednesday 28th
Rob and Kev came around to mine. We played pool in the front room from 2 p.m. til 7 p.m.
Thursday 29th
I went out at 12 noon and I bought the music papers. Sounds had a free-7-Inch flexi-disc on the front cover featuring a track from The Professionals (...Steve Jones and Paul Cooks’ new band of the Ex-Sex Pistols duo) off of their new LP called ‘I Didn’t See It Coming. The song was called ‘The Boys In Blue’, which was ok. The other track was a Gillan one = crap (Heavy Rock). The Sounds music paper was crap. The Record Mirror had an Exploited interview plus Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ went up to number 64 from number 67 last weeks position...brilliant eh..? G.B.H are on the bill at the Leeds Punk Festival this Christmas along with The Exploited, Chron Gen, Vice Squad, U.K. Subs, The Damned and Anti-Pasti...I’m probably going. Lol and Rob called around at 12:30p.m. We later walked up to Kev’s who was in. We played heavy-metal records mostly, which was boring. We all walked back down to mine and played Bar-Football (...table-top-football). It was a match between the Punks versus the heavies...! (...Me and Lol vs Mike and Rob..!) Of course the Punks won 10-6..! It was game, set and match to me and Lol. Rob went home, so me Mike and Kev watched Top of The Pops which had ‘It’s My Party’ by Dave Stewart at number 1.
Friday 30th
I sent off a letter to a green-haired Punkette girl with a photo of myself aswell she lives near the Kings Road in London (it was an advert in 'Punk-Lives' the magazine..!). At 9pm I phoned up Cal (...the singer from Discharge) but he had gone to Birmingham his mum said. Rob and Lol came around and we all went down the pub with Mike. Rob and Lol who came back later with Mike decided to stay the night and we had tea and sandwiches in Mikes’ room and had a great larf trying to get asleep in one room.
Saturday 31st
I played all of the Discharges E.P.s except the ‘Why’12-Inch and the G.B.H 12” (...side one of it only) and The Professionals flexi-disc track 'Boys in Blue'. We then all walked down to Rob and Lols kicking the football all the way and then we walked to the Longplayer record shop down in Margate town centre. Then after that we went down to a playing area near the sea-front which had grass and played ‘one-goal-and-in’. Later on we came back to mine and me and Rob went out the dormer window onto the roof for a while. Toyah (Wilcox) was on a Television chat show (...called 'Parkinson'). She was dressed in black and had black and yellow hair...she was a great interviewee, really talked sense.
NOVEMBER
Monday 2nd
Me and Mike walked down to Margates town (...Cecil Square) kicking the football and met Lol, Rob and Kev. Lol had a can of paint-spray for cars. He sprayed a ‘Discharge’ logo and an 'Anarchy A-sign' on a brick wall on the way back and we also set some old grass on fire on a cliff along the seafront by the lido. Then we kicked the football up Warwick Road and back alleyways behind the hotels and guesthouses looking for beer in crates (...I didn’t drink alcohol...so this made little sense personally speaking..!). We also played 'kicking the ball into litter bins' and then chasing who got it in...great larf. I sewed up my punk trousers and also I phoned Cal, but he was out.
Tuesday 3rd
I cut out a 12” square piece of sticky-back plastic.Then I cut out of that piece a ‘Discharge’ logo and a ‘Why’ logo too. Then I got a 12” square piece of polystyrene and slipped both inside a plastic LP sleeve and also put in Penetrations ‘Moving Targets’ luminous vinyl album behind the cut out logo’s. So now I have a luminous ‘Why’ and ‘Discharge’ logo lighting up my room...real smart one that was. I helped my dad in flat 2 (...in our house) with tenant Gordon (the Scottish guy) nailing down carpet. I phoned up Cal and he said “ We have a driver that can drive us out in Europe on our tour dates there...but they’re not too sure about him”. I told him that ‘Never Again’ was 64 in the charts. I asked Cal if they were playing at that Leeds Punk Festival at Christmas. He said “They could play there if they wanted too, but they don’t wanna”. I said “I’ll see you at Gillingham on Sunday” and told him I’ll be going to the Bristol and London gigs too, so I said “See Ya”. Spiked up my hair properly with soap. I played the G.B.H 12”, all The Professionals tracks, and two of The Ruts and Cockney Rejects 7-Inch singles.
Wednesday 4th
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper...which was crap. But it did have a picture of the cover sleeve of the ‘Realities of War’ (Discharges) seven-inch single in it. The Record Mirror had Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ single at number 75 in the BBC national record charts. So the Discharge 7-inch single ‘Never Again’ went in at number 67 (...on October 21st) then it went up three places to number 64 (...on October 28th) then it dropped back down 11 places to number 75 this week (...on November 3rd) not bad. I watched television and saw Top of the Pops...Dave Stewart of 'The Eurythmics' is still at number one with “It’s My Party” (...and I’ll cry if I want to - cover song). I caught a taxi with Mike up to Kev’s house...he had a bonfire in his back garden for 'Bonfire Night' (...to celebrate Guy Fawkes entering the Houses of parliament way back in 1600’s). Lol, Rob and 'Spam' (...Kev called his son by that name) were there with Kev too. We listened some records aswell...Rush and Judas Priest then we all left Kevs house as he had to baby-sit for 'spam'. We all left then we met Karl and his mates on Dane Road and chatted for 30 minutes and nearly getting hit by a descending fire-work rocket outta the sky...! We walked home talking to two girls and got chips (..for 20p). Lady Diana Spencer is pregnant...Charles stuck it up in October...filthy burger. Futurama (...a TV programme) had Siouxsie and the Banshees singing ‘Paradise’ and ‘Eve White/Eve Black’ on it.
Friday 6th
I played the records of Discharges’ ‘Why’ 12 Inch E.P. and their ‘Never Again’ seven-inch single in the front room (...on the good record player) as my parents went away 100 miles to relatives today. Mike played the Judas Priest LP ‘Point Of Entry’ and ‘Persons Unknown’ by the Poison Girls. Lol and Rob stayed over the night in my room.
Saturday 7th
I spiked up my hair really smart with soap. Rob and Kev came round to play pool.
Sunday 8th
I awoke up at 10:30 even without the alarm going off...! I walked down to the Margate railway station and got there at 1pm. Lol came along at 1:10pm and we got our train tickets (...a £3.64p day return to Gillingham). We waited till 2pm until our train came in. We had to catch a replacement bus, due to engineering works on the railway line. That took us from Sittingbourne to Rainham...which took 20 minutes. We got back on a train and pulled into Gillingham (...halfway to London) at 3:15pm. We walked up this long hill right to the top and turned left and walked down a country main road with hedges each side. A load of Mods went past on their washing machines (Scooters...!) wearing tents (...parka’s) and shouting at us....wat a larf. The Central Hotel was closed but the gig place was around the back. It was like a prefab farm. Then we asked if Discharge were here yet ...they weren’t...so we waited out on the main road for Discharges van to turn-up...but they didn’t come. So at 4:10pm me and Lol walked down to The Star Pub to meet Jenny (...A London punk-girl who had a place/squat in Bayswater, London). On the way I saw Discharges’ van go down the road...I shouted out and it pulled over after slowing down and it turned around and came back up and pulled in by us. Cal stuck his head out...he asked me the way to the Central Hotel, so I gave him the directions to the gig venue and said I’ll see you there later on. So me and Lol walked on down towards the station to meet Jenny. We met Jenny, who is 24 and has light purple hair, but she was not good looking. So us three all walked up to the Central Hotel. When we got there Karl and Wayne (..two Margate Punks) were there. So we all went around the back and Discharges van was there. I saw Cal go by through a window-hole in the gig venue door...he saw me and came over to it...and he said my names on the guest list. Then a van pulled into the Car Park behind us...it was G.B.H. I told them that Discharge had parked their van around the other side, so they followed me around there and parked next to their van. All of us went into the venue with G.B.H. I saw Cal in there and went over and had a bit of chat with him, and he said “We have a bloke who will drive us to Holland so ring me up on Tuesday”. Cal was mucking about on a rocket-heater firing at people and burning them. After a while Karl, Wayne, Lol and Jenny got thrown out and Cal put me on the guest list. Soon after that Discharge did their soundcheck and they done ‘Never Again’ (...twice) and ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ and ‘Death Dealers’. They had a bit of trouble with Rainy’s bass sound. Lol and the others came in with the crowd soon after at 7:30 p.m. I asked the G.B.H singer Colin if they had a 45 (...single) coming out...? He said “A 3-track E.P. called ‘No Survivors’, with B-Side ‘Self-Destruct’ and ‘Big Women’ is out soon”.
....Then G.B.H came on
...but G.B.H didn’t play too good. I watched them from the side of the stage to the right...in the 'wings'. sat on some speaker cabinets. The crowd were a little quiet for them and Colin the singer said to them "Cum clooser we dont bite"..!
...G.B.H went off
...Lol and Jenny joined me at the side of the stage and pretty soon it was time for
....DISCHARGE
....when they came on they played fuckin' brilliant. They played every one of their songs except ‘Society’s Victims’, ‘Visions Of War’ and ‘Massacre Of Innocence’. I got a Discharge and G.B.H set-list nabbed from the bands after they exited the stage. And even Cal signed a poster from the gig for me and he wrote 'Wars No Fairytale - Cal'.
...after Discharge went they asked me if it was O.K. to drive and stay at my house (...In Margate) I said 'Not really' - as its my mum and dads place and its 35 miles east of here and you'll have to drive back past Gillingham anyway tomorrow on the way back to Stoke...!). So off we went after saying goodbye and I travelled back to Margate after the gig with Lol, Jenny, Karl and Wayne by the late train. Getting home at about 01:00 a.m. Lol and Jenny stayed at my place in my tiny room and I’m sure Lol 'gave-away' (...not lost) his virginity to Jenny that night too...while I dreamt of Discharge instead.
Monday 9th
I walked down to the Margate railway station with Lol and Jenny at around 2 p.m. On the way down there I stopped off at the Dole office to find out about if I can get my 2nd next dole money before I go to see Discharge in Holland. Jenny caught her train just about in time and us two went over to Lols in nearby Garlinge. We played some of his records when we got there. The Exploited ‘Onstage’ live LP and the G.B.H. 12” and me and Lol did impressions of the members of Discharge. Rob, me and Lol walked up to my house and on the way we bumped into the 'bumper-car-sized' girl. Lol patched up his pink UK Subs poster of the Central Hotel gig in Gillingham and I stuck up my, signed by Cal, Central Hotel (Gillingham) Discharge gig poster from last night, on my wall. Me and Lol played on my racing-car track (...much like Scalextric, but it is an Italian version...called Polistil).
Tuesday 10th
I got up at 12:30 p.m. and played pool till 6 p.m. with Mike and Lol. I phoned up Cal and he said “If you want to come to Holland on the tour with us it’ll cost you £30”. So I should be able to afford to go on that tour as it includes a ticket across on the boat and sleeping in the van and getting in free on the guest-list. So all I’ll have to do is feed myself and chip in for the petrol. He said “Discharge are playing Birmingham Cedar Club on the 20th of November”.
Wednesday 11th
I went down to Cecil Square in Margate town centre at 8 p.m. and met Lol (...in his raincoat) Rob and Kev and walked along the seafront to the harbour area and went into The Ship Inn pub. A band was playing tonight called 'The Sharpees'...they were pop so we left. Rob and Lol said I can stay at their house the night so we walked over to there in Garlinge. On the way we kicked a sweet machine and got a Mars bar and a packet of Polo’s for 10p which we shared. I slept in Lols room talking about punkettes and Kay (the Margate Punk-girl).
Thursday 12th
I missed my Job Centre appointment at 12 noon as we didn’t leave Lols til 12:30 p.m. We walked into Margate town centre. I bought the Melody Maker (...music paper). In it it featured an interview with The Exploited. We walked up to Longplayer record shop where Rob got the guy to play the new Black Sabbath 12” & 7”. Us 3 walked up to mine at about 2 .p.m and went into Mike’s room but he was not up so we went into my room and played some of my records. My 'Raw-Deal' (...a 1977 punk compilation of various small punks) LP, G.B.H 12”, The Damned’s ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ LP, The Clash’s 2nd Lp ('Give 'em Enough Rope') and Public Image Limited’s (P.I.L.) ‘Fodderstompf’ tracks and 999’s 1st LP. Then I done my hair like the ‘Statue of Liberty’...really smart it turned out. Rob, Mike, Kev, Gary, Karen and June (...I’m sure was the bumper-car girl..?) came up into Mikes room. Gary and Rob came into mine and had a laugh singing along to Discharge ‘Realities of War’, ‘They Declare It’ and ‘Never Again’ using my giant stencilled lyric sheets on my bedroom wall. They all went to see a band called Rage at the nearby Winter Gardens along the seafront towards Margate town at 8 p.m. I watched the Television and saw Top of the Pops and The Police are No 1 with ‘Every little thing she does is magic’. Miss World was on...it was ok...Miss Venezuela won it, she was very nice. The Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ took off again today and Rob stayed the night at ours.
Friday 13th
Today could be unlucky for some...and me. I went around and signed on (the dole) and they couldn’t find my girocheque so they said come back to collect it at 3 p.m. I came home and played records in my room...the G.B.H 12”, the U.K Subs ‘Another Kind Of Blues’ LP. I later walked down town at 3 p.m. with Mike and met Rob and Lol there and took some photo’s of us lot. Me and Mike walked up towards ours and when I got to Capitol House (The Dole) it was shut... unlucky. So I went to get my Passport done for the Discharge Dates soon but I had lost the Passport Form I had filled out hadn’t I...? - unlucky again...! And it was not at home so I ran up to the Post Office for another one. Then ran home and quickly filled it out and got some money to pay for it and then ran up and took all the relevant identity I needed and paid £6.50p for it (...for a one-year passport). So I shall be going to Holland with Discharge now if I get my dole money and mum lends me £20 I shall be very well off indeed. On television it had 'Saturday Morning/Friday Night' (A TV programme I guess...?) had Adam Ant on it....he looked well common and normal. The Columbia Space Shuttle is coming down tomorrow (...I guess even N.A.S.A then are superstitious...!).
Saturday 14th
Lol and Rob came around at 8 p.m. and then me and Rob went skateboarding down the Lido seafront and Winter gardens crashing into the cliffs on the paths etc.
Sunday 15th
I played my G.B.H 12” (twice) and the Discharge ‘Never Again’ seven-inch too. I stuck up loads of my old cuttings featuring Discharge on my bedroom wall (...the light switch wall is covered completely). My bedside wall is 80% covered now. I phoned Cal and I told him that I am coming to Holland. He said “great, but the ticket now might be over £30”. He also said “as you are not going to the Birmingham or Bristol gigs you’d better post on to me the £30 in postal orders”. So he gave me his address in Stoke to post it to and I said “I’ll see you at the 100 Club gig with my sleeping bag and pillow next Tuesday ready for the European tour, see you then Cal Ta-ra”.
Monday 16th
Lol, Rob and Kev (...all three brothers) came around to mine at 2 p.m and came with me walking down to Capitol House to ask about my dole giro. They didn’t have it and told me again to come back tomorrow at 3 p.m. I lent £10 off of mum and along with £20 of mine to send to Cal. I went up to the Post Office to post off the £30 to post to Cal for the Holland Tour ticket etc. I sent it in Postal Orders and a note saying ‘Cheers, here’s the £30 for the ticket and I’ll see you at the 100 Club gig, Tone, Margate”. Me and Lol walked back to mine and played our 'T.V. Football Video-Game' and also the Electric organ, I learnt to play ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple. We then mucked about with Rob doing impersonations of bands.
Tuesday 17th
I went around to Capitol House and got my Giro-cheque at last. I played the G.B.H 12” - 'Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne', ‘Never Again’ by Discharge and The Professionals flexi-disc track called ‘Boys In Blue’. We also played the racing car track which was boring.
Wednesday 18th
I went down to the Job Centre for an interview then came back at 12 noon. In the Football World Cup England beat Hungary 1-0 so England have qualified for the World Cup Football Finals next year in Spain 1982. Thanks to a 16th minute goal by Paul Mariner, England played good and Hungary played really crap. Rob and Lol came around and stayed the night at my place in my room on the floor.
Thursday 19th
Me, Rob and Lol didn’t get asleep till 03:00 a.m. in the morning coz Mike stayed awake listening to his radio loud in his room. Before Mike went out he put one of Robs training shoes out on my roof and it slid down, but Rob bent a coat hanger into a hook and pulled it back up. Mike also locked us in by tying a length of rope from my rooms door handle to the spare rooms door handle, which we cut in the morning. Me Lol and Rob walked over to their house and on the way there behind the Dreamland seafront arcades in an alley we found a stuffed-with-straw-tacky-seaside-present-donkey. We played donkey-football actually with it....until it burst and all the stuffing came out of it. We lost our flat-punctured football in Arlington flats along the seafront. Before that we popped into the shop that Gary worked in along the seafront and played football in there with a beach ball which burst and also had a game involving throwing Cowboy hats onto hat racks. We then walked back to Rob and Lols’. Lol bleached his hair with Nestles lite. We then played records in Rob’s room...The Ruts ‘Sophistication’ = great...! and loads of Kraftwerk and Throbbing Gristle. I came home and watched television and saw Top Of The Pops = crap - Queen and David Bowie are number one...shit song. Also watched Rick Wakeman (ex-Yes) live at the Hammersmith Odeon - crap.
Friday 20th
I went out to the shops and bought film for my camera for the Holland Discharge dates (..I bought three x 20 exposures of film and two x 12 flashes aswell). Kev, Rob and Lol came around and we all played a few games of Pool. Lol had bought the new Dead Kennedys 12” which is called ‘In God We Trust’.
Saturday 21st
I woke up at 09:45 a.m. as I had to wake Mike early to get up to go to the Judas Priest Gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, London later on tonight. My parents also went off for the weekend up to London. Mike left at midday and Gary, Kev, Lol and Rob turned up and we all played Pool down in the front room. Later on after playing records me and Lol went skateboarding down the Lido on the seafront. We also climbed over the fence and into the 18-hole Crazy-Golf course going along and up and down the golf--hole-slopes in there. We all walked up to Kev’s after that. He had a party at his house for a nice punkette-girl (...she was ok) but going out with an ugly skinhead. They played The Exploited’s ‘Blown To Bits’ track. We left after midnight and a girl called Donna also stayed the night at mine with Rob, Lol and Mike all in my room. I didn’t get to sleep til 5 a.m though. Mike bought Rob, Gary, Karen and Kev some Black Sabbath tickets for their London gig soon.
Monday 23rd
Rob and Lol came around to mine. Rob had bought SFX - a cassette magazine. We played it on my crap cassette player...it was crap. Lol rang and said he’s coming with me tomorrow to see Discharge and G.B.H at the 100 Club up in London. I said meet me at the railway station at 11 a.m. Then I got all my stuff ready for the Discharge London 100 Club Gig and Holland Tour Gigs. My Doctor Marten boots, Sleeping Bag, Camera, hand-held video (space-invaders type) game etc.
Tuesday 24th
I got up at 8 a.m by the alarm clock. I later went up to the Post office with Mum and she lent me £30 and I went and bought some more film for my camera then walked down to Margate Railway station at 10:45 a.m. I brought with me a black dustbin-liner full of all my stuff for the Discharge UK and Dutch gigs. I had a pillow, sleeping bag, camera, my passport, and Video-Game. I met Lol down the railway station at 11 a.m. and we then both caught the 11:23 a.m. train to Victoria station in London. We got there at 1:20 p.m. Then we walked past Buckingham Palace (where the Queen, sometimes, lives) and The (Pall) Mall and into Trafalgar Square. Then we went up to The Haymarket and into McDonalds where me and Lol both got a Hamburger and Chips for 61p each. We walked up a minute to Piccadilly Circus and sat down and ate them there by the statue of Eros. We fed loads of pigeons with some of our chips, they were on our arms and legs. We then walked up Regent Street and turned right into Carnaby Street and looked at Punk badges and T-shirts a while. We then popped into Hamleys (a giant toy shop on Regent Street) which was boring. Then we walked along Oxford Street to The 100 Club - but it wasn’t open yet so we sat down and waited for Discharges van for about two hours till 5 p.m. I then saw Cal (singer of Discharge) on the other side of Oxford Street, so we ran over and he told me the bad news. The van is no longer going over to Holland for their gigs but Danny and a few other punks are hitching over to see them. So I didn’t fancy that. Cal then had to go so me and Lol walked down Wardour Street to the Soho area and bought some cold chips at a chip bar run by Iranians but we did scrounge a cold sausage and a hot dog before we left there. On the way back we both bought a Discharge badge on the way up back to the 100 Club at 7 p.m. While we were waiting, in the queue, a Policeman searched us both. We went into the 100 club at 8 p.m. and I put my black bin liner-bag in the cloakroom. I talked with Rainy and G.B.H a bit and also Jan and Bill (...of Chaos, the Punk band who both travelled up to that gig in Manchester for Discharge a while ago..!) from Hayes in London.
....G.B.H then came onstage
... at around 8:30 p.m. and they played good.
..I talked with Danny (...from Derby a travelling Discharge fan) a while.
...Then Discharge came onstage
... at 9:50 p.m. They played great and the crowd went mad. They played only one encore of ‘Decontrol’. Playing 18 songs in 30 minutes or so. I took six photographs of Discharge onstage.
...After they came offstage Cal gave me the £30 I had sent him for the Holland, now cancelled, van and gig tour. Me and Lol left the 100 Club and we got back to Victoria train Station at 11:15. But the last train home to Margate (...75 miles east to the coast in Kent) left just 6 minutes ago at 11:09 p.m. So we had then to wait four hours for the ‘mail-train’. We mucked about in my sleeping bag and got onto the mail-train at 1 a.m. Then, nearly two hours later it pulled out from Victoria at around 03:00 a.m. We pulled into Margate at 5:30 a.m. I then left Lol at the station and we went our separate ways home...I got in at 05:57 a.m.
Wednesday 25th
I walked down to The Ship Inn pub along the harbour with Lol and Rob in the evening to see a band (they always had bands on a Wednesdays night there) but they were a ‘Bluesy’ band so we left. So we walked down into Margates’ old-town into a pub where we played Cockney Rejects ‘West Side Boys’ on their jukebox. On the way back home me and Lol pulled off of a bus shelter an Echo and the Bunnymen (UK Indie Band) poster and stuck it face-in on a Bank branches window.
Thursday 26th
Lol and Rob came around in the late morning. I bought the Sounds music paper which was crap. I painted ‘Holiday In Cambodia’ (..the Cover of the Dead Kennedys 7-inch single) on the back of Lols black leather jacket. We watched tv later on and Top Of The Pops which had Toyah (...Wilcox) on it with real spikey hair...really luvly. We had a real good laugh (me, Rob and Lol) when we were looking (...spying) at Mike in his room whilst all three of us were standing on one chair (...as our rooms had a glass section above the door, which were next to each other). Naturally we all fell off and made a helluva noise and my dad then came bounding up the stairs and Rob knocked over an electric fire in the hall, which was plugged in. This fused the whole electric’s in the house...plunging it into total darkness (...paying rent-tenants and all...!!!). Rob and Lol still wanted to stay the night even after all of that...!
Friday 27th
I got up at 11:30 a.m. and rushed around to the nearby capitol House to sign on before they closed at 12 noon. When I got there they said there is no girocheque payment for me and to come back at 3 p.m. Rob went home at 2 p.m. At 2.30 p.m. me and Lol walked around to Capitol House and got my dole giro which had gone up to £30.50p for two weeks (A massive £2.17p per day to live on for a man of 19 years of age...!).
Saturday 28th
I painted over my ‘Fight Back’ Discharge painting on the back of my black leather jacket (again..!). I also painted a Cal-face (from the b-side of the cover of ‘Realities Of War’ 7-inch single) on Lols leather jacket with the Discharge logo under it. It looks real smart (...great). Lol and Rob also stayed over the night at mine again.
Sunday 29th
I got up at 4 p.m. coz we were late getting to sleep after bundling each other all night. My bed seemed to be the most popular place for landing on each other and we also had the unfortunate sight of Rob showing us his hairey bum a lot too. We also done ‘Sexy Aborigines’ (...which involved pulling ones under garments up into ones anal crevice and poking ones bottom out and walking in a sexy aboriginal manner...!). During the bundling I banged my head on my sink really hard...they left at 5 p.m. I watched the television and the Royal Variety Performance (...BBC TV programme with the Queen in the audience). It had the once laughably 'Punk' Adam and his (P)Ants on it.
Monday 30th
Mum got the Goodmans receiver repaired finally after 1 year, 7 months and 26 days. So we can now play records using the high-quality system again. The last record it played before it blew was in Ireland and it was ‘Freeway Mad’ by Saxon (...I think they were from Sheffield...so how they had a freeway there I’m not quite sure..!). The first record to be played on it this time was ‘Realities Of War’ of course by Discharge, followed by the ‘Fight Back’, ‘Decontrol’ and ‘Never Again’ seven-inch e.p singles too.
DECEMBER
Tuesday 1st
A plane travelling from Yugoslavia to Corsica hit a mountain in thick fog at 300 feet killing all 178 passengers. The Russell Harty TV Chat-show had Adam Ant on it. I played records and the G.B.H 'Leather, Bristles, Studs & Acne 12”.
Wednesday 2nd
I phoned up Cal (of Discharge), he said, “we went down really well in Holland”. He also told me “Danny and the rest of them made it to three out of the four Dutch gigs they played” by hitch-hiking to the venues out there. He also said “we have cancelled the gig at Bradford tomorrow night”, so I said “I’ll see you at Scarborough’s Taboo Club on Friday” (...but it really isn’t worth it to travel 350 miles for one gig...) and anyway I’ll miss most of Mike’s birthday party.
Thursday 3rd
I sewed my Discharge patch (..the 'equality-face' on the rear cover of the ‘Realities Of War’ E.P.) up on my trousers.
Friday 4th
I went down to Cecil Square in Margates town centre and met Lol and Rob at noon. Lol had purple hair as he dyed his blonde hair with black. I went into Millets and I bought a pair of Doctor Martens, black leather, boots for £18.99p (size 7). I put them on in the Margate Courts, where Lol paid £14 of his £15 drunk and disorderly fine recently. Lol bought two cups of hot chocolate from a machine and we then mucked about on the lifts in there a while.
Saturday 5th
I got up at 11 a.m and then Lol came around and we hoovered my front room so there was enough room to dance at Mike’s 21st Birthday Party (my brother). Later on various people turned up with booze and a few of Kev’s mates and him went up to Mikes room to smoke dope. We danced to Soft Cell (...UK electronic pop music...!). After a while they started to play heavier music and me and Rob had a laugh pogoing frantically to the Heavy-Metal stuff. Lol fell asleep and found him all floppy and crashed out halfway up the stairs (...I think he was smoking dope then). I managed to take him up to my room and put him in there to sleep but he came straight back out after I left him and went back to his spot on the stairs, a girl called Helen looked after him. One of the tenants (...a coloured-girl..I think the colour was black) came down and lit the candles on the birthday cake for Mike. He then blasted out AC/DC’s new LP which blew them all away and he spilt champagne over his cake too, which we had just opened. Various people like Gary, Karen and Kev were involved in a Chicken fight at 1:30 a.m. (...It was already dead, and food not alive in the hall or something...!). Me, Mike and Gordon (...Scottish tenant from upstairs) banged heads to Rose Tattoo, Saxon and Van Halen and danced strangely to T-Rex until about 05:00 a.m. Then we put the lights out and listened to Derek & Clive and then fell asleep at 05:30 a.m.
Sunday 6th
I travelled to Dublin (...in Southern Ireland) by plane for a specialist to examine me concerning my near-fatal car crash I had there in the summer of 1979 with regards to a court-settlement. I met Karl travelling up to see The Damned, at the Lyceum, in London on the 3:23 p.m. train I caught from Margate Railway station. I jumped on a tube (undeground/metro) train out to Heathrow Airport which is just on the edge of West London. I caught a plane from Heathrow to Dublin Airport arriving in Southern Ireland at about 9:20 p.m. (...the sight of a lone 18-year-old punk in 1981 travelling by plane must’ve raised many eyebrows I’d dare say...!). I caught a few buses in the pouring rain from Dublins Airport, which was way north of the city and into Dublin’s city centre. Then I caught a bus out to the southerly suburbs that my dads sister (..Aunt Sally) lived in where I was to stay (..called 'Drimnagh') for 32p. My dad had already travelled out to Ireland a few days previously and came back from the pub at 11 p.m. I shared a bunk bed with Leo one of my, many Irish, cousins.
Monday 7th
I travelled into the centre of Dublin with my dad and we met our solicitor at The Four Courts on Dublin’s North-Quay. I wore my dads’ coat to go into the court...to cover up my Discharge Leather-Jacket and trousers..! The judge inspected my head injuries for just 10 seconds then that was it. I left my dad and travelled up to and spent some time back in the suburb in County Dublin we lived in from 1977-1979 called Tallaght. It was about 6 miles south west of my Aunts house. I called in on 'Wardner' (Patrick Warren) and 'Jimboe' (Jimmy Kelly) and spent some time playing snooker at Tallaght Snooker Club (...losing rather heavily to the Irish potters...!). I stayed the night at 'Wardners' Patrick Warrens house in 'Mael ruans' it was called.
Tuesday 8th
I travelled back to the U.K. and Margate via buses into the city (...the 77 Bus from Tallaght into the quays by the River Liffey in Dublin). Then off out to the Dublin Airport and I caught the 4:20 p.m. flight to Heathrow (...all spikey-haired and leather-jacketed and booted up of course...!). I spent the last of my Irish money in a photo-booth and had two colour photographs taken. I saw a girl that 'went out' with Mike (...my brother..his old girlfriend) from Tallaght at the airport while waiting for my plane called Marie McNamee. She was with her husband and had just got married and was off on her honeymoon. I caught my flight and we flew over Birmingham, which was a massive huge collection of lights. We also had to circle over London due to congestion at Heathrow and missed a small biplane by about 400 foot...!!! Looking the way I did perhaps it was no surprise that I was stopped by customs at Heathrow. I was searched by them...but come to think of it how 'thick' (...stupid) would I have to have been to smuggle whatever into the UK and stick out the way I did...erm 'very' I reckon...! I caught the 8:29 p.m. train from a snowy Victoria in London bound for Margate (...but there was no snow there in Kent when I got home at about 11 o'clock in the night).
Thursday 10th
Lol and Rob came round and we had a great laugh bundling on my bed. We kept getting into my sleeping bag headfirst. Then you were found to be getting beaten up when you don’t know where you are. One of my bed legs broke under the weight...I put an old wooden-drawer with a few pieces of cardboard under it to keep it up straight after that. I watched Top Of The Pops on the T.V. and the Human League are number one with ‘Don’t you want me baby’. The Police were onstage and Adam and his Ants video (Ant Rap). Heavy Snow fell over a lot of England during the night...it was the worst for 31 years. But none fell in Margate, Kent. But it made me think about the Discharge Gig tomorrow in Northampton tomorrow and how the snowy-weather will be and also the travel situation in getting up there...its about 60 miles North of London and about 140 from Margate..!!!
Saturday 12th
I got up at 9 a.m. by my alarm and had breakfast and walked down to Margate Railway station and got a single ticket to London for £ 4.00. It left at 11:23 a.m. and It pulled into Victoria Station in London at 1 p.m. I phoned my cousin John (...who lives in Milton Keynes, 30 miles north of London) from the station in London. He said he is going to see Discharge at Northampton ‘The Roadmenders Club’ also tonight like me. So we organised to meet up at Northampton railway station at 7:15 pm. I then caught an underground tube train northbound to Euston railway station, London to connect with a train to Northampton. I got there at 1.45 p.m. I bought a single ticket to Northampton for £6.20p...what a rip-off. I caught the 2:02 p.m train from Euston to Northampton. It stopped at the snow-covered stations of Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Bletchley and it arrived in Northampton at 3:30 p.m. I walked into the town centre and found 'The Roadmenders Club' easily enough. The lights weren’t on and there were football goals and basketball nets out on the main floor and I thought the gig was cancelled due to the weather as Northampton was covered with fairly heavy snow. But soon after that te P.A. and sound system van and crew turned up. They lugged it all in and they packed the stuff away and set up for the gig tonight....! I went down the high street and bought a hamburger and chips for 61p at McDonalds. Then went back to the Roadmenders. Then G.B.H turned up in their van at 6 p.m. I went back inside the Roadmenders Club with G.B.H and listened to Jock (...the guitarist in G.B.H) sound-check and tune-up. He played ‘You Take Part In Creating This System’ (...A Discharge song...!). After a short while Discharge turned up at 6:15 p.m. in their van. Cal was wearing a leather jacket. Helens hair (...Bones's Girlfriend) flopped down in the snow. Cal said to me “You alrite Tone?”. I said “Yeah, any chance of getting me on the guest-list?” Cal said “I’ll try mate”. So I left and I walked back down in the heavy snow to Northampton railway station at 6:45 p.m. It was absolutely freezing and I had a pain in my nose the air was so cold. I waited down there from 7:05 to 7:25 p.m. then John (...my cousin) got off of his train which came in. he was wearing Doc Martens, jeans and a donkey-jacket. We walked up to McDonalds and I bought a Hamburger (45p) Chips (25p) and a cup of coffee (26p) 96p in all and ate it in there. Then we walked along to the freezing 'Roadmenders Club'. I wasn’t on the guest-list. So I had to pay in £2.30p. I met Danny (...from Derby) and we chatted and I bought some crisps and sat on the high stage.
At about 9 p.m. G.B.H came on
.... They didn’t play too good. But they managed to get the crowd going which numbered around 150 or so. They did a one-song encore of ‘D.O.A’ (‘Dead On Arrival’). I ended up watching them from side-stage in the wings with John my cousin too.
.... Discharge came on at 10:30 pm
...and the sound they created was tight and fast. Cal was wearing his leather jacket for the gig at first as it was so cold but he ended up bare-chested as usual. Halfway through ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ the vocals went and they tried to fix it for 20 minutes. Bones was playing little tunes on his guitar while they faffed around with leads and mikes etc. After a while they fixed it and Discharge went off around 11:30 p.m.
...Me and my cousin John and two punks from Milton Keynes ran (...as best we could in the heavy snow and punk Doctor Martens boots...!) to Northamptons railway station. We made the last train to a place called Wolverton and we waited 10 minutes for it and got on that at 11:23 p.m. It pulled into a place called Wolverton at 12 midnight. The last bus to Stony Stratford, where John lived with his parents, had already gone. It was freezing cold and the snow was 4 inches deep by now. It felt like minus 10 degrees out in the very windy night. So we had no choice but to walk to Stony Stratford from Wolverton railway station. We stopped at a Chinese take-away and bought chipped potatoes at 39p each. (...The sky was clear and moonlit and the desolate roads really bright and white like a false dawn...!). We trudged crunchily past a few roundabouts and flyovers later and we walked up the hill to Auntie Jeans (...Johns mum..!). She was in with her husband and also my cousin Helen. I took off my snowy Doctor Marten boots to defrost a little. I was pizza’d and tea’d up fairly soon and I slept in Johns room on a camp bed the night at about 03:00 a.m..
Sunday 13th
I walked down to the coach station with John at 3 in the afternoon to see if I could get a coach home. First to London...then down to Margate if possible. All the local connecting coach services were cancelled due to the heavy snow almost everywhere and there was no way to leave the Stony Stratford/, Wolverton and Milton Keynes today for me...! So stayed the night at Johns again.
Monday 14th
I got up at 8:20 a.m. and Auntie Jean drove me to the railway station at Wolverton with Cousin John too. I thanked them and said goodbye and jumped on a train to London as there was no ticket bloke was there (..he had probably frozen to death or something). I stood in the packed corridors with tons of commuters all the way to London (...what a horrific existence eh..?). There wasn’t a ticket bloke at Euston, London either...so I saved around a fiver. I caught a tube (metro/underground) train to Victoria railway station or 20p. I bought a Margate single ticket for £6.50p and I caught the 10:39 a.m. train out of London. It pulled into Margate, Kent at 12:30 p.m. I saw Kay (...'Yak' we called her...! - it is 'Kay' spelled backwards) the Margate Punkette-girl on the way home. It actually snowed too in Margate. I played all of the Discharge 7-Inch E.P’s on the big-record-player in the front room downstairs. I watched the television and saw UB40 live in concert on the it.
Tuesday 15th
Lol came over to my house and we later walked over to his place in Garlinge a mile or so away in the afternoon. Rob and Kev, his brothers were going to see Gillan (Rock Band) in concert in Folkestone. I played some of Lol’s records...The Varukers (Garry Maloney, of Discharge, played drums on that 7-inch E.P.) that '45' was good 'Protest and Survive'. I also played two Disorder 7-Inch E.P.’s...not too good. Me and Lol played most of the Discharge single E.P’s and mimed to them. Lol came back to mine and stayed the night.
Wednesday 16th
I went up to Kev’s with Lol and he was in with Rob. We played loads of records then walked back past mine to the seafront and Margate’s Winter Gardens. Bucks Fizz (..a right-out 'pop' band who won the Eurovision song contest recently) were playing there tonight. We amazingly just strolled through the foyer and in to the gig (...even looking as we did with leather jackets, spikey-hair etc..!). They were encoring with ‘Making Your Mind Up’...! We then walked around the back after they had left the stage. We wrote on the Bucks Fizz tour coach...‘Discharge Margate Punks’..! Then we walked further along the seafront towards Margate til we reached The Ship Inn pub. There was an electro-pop band on and we left. As we were walking back the Bucks Fizz Tour Coach passed us and I saw a blonde girl singer on board (...one of the singers...it had rather nice graffiti as it passed us though..!).
Thursday 17th
Rob and Lol stayed last night at my place in my bedroom and we all walked down the station at 9:10 a.m. for a trip to London. We got a £6.50p day-return, that left me with £32. We got a 20p tube ticket after getting into Victoria, London at 11 a.m. then we travelled over to west Londons 'Notting Hill Gate' area. We went into HMV (..big record Shop) along Oxford Street on the way there...and could have bought a cardboard (‘For Those About To Rock’) AC/DC cannon for Mike (my brother) for £5 from their display in the window (...but we didn’t..and he wouldn't have paid the money back anyway..!). Then popped into the famous cheapo-vinyl haunts of RTE (..the three or four shops called 'Record & Tape Exchange'). They have several shops in that area and in one basement of one of their shops they did 4 LP’s for 50p and we ended up chucking loads of records around in there (...pre CCTV of course..!). They had 17 copies of a gatefold ELO (...Electric Light Orchestra) LP...so those found their way airborne more than quite a lot...!. Rob and Lol nicked some stuff then we jumped on an 88 Bus to Oxford Street for 10p (..I think that was a child’s fare..! - you had to be under 16 for it..! - mind you the way we were acting that day..we'd easily qualify for it...!). We looked around at their records then left and jumped on a 159 bus for no pence to Hamleys Toy Shop in Regent Street. Then popped around the corner to the Carnaby Street area (famous 1960 psychedelic era place to hang out) and me and Lol bought ourselves a ‘Fight Back’ Discharge badge for 25p and two others for 25p and 30p. We walked past Piccadilly Circus then on to Leicester Square and into a McDonalds and I got a Hamburger and chips for 60p (...take-away price) but we ate them I there upstairs sitting down after ordering them. We left and walked up Wardour Street where I bought a cold Cornish Pasty for 25p and some Prawn Cocktail crisps for 10p. We stopped to buy a ‘Fight back’ (Discharge) patch at one shop, but they only sold them wholesale in bulk so we couldn't get it. We then walked up to Oxford Street and into Virgin Underground Record Shop and I bought a Punk Fanzine that had a picture of Cal and Rainy (of Discharge) in it..which was Live at one of the Apocalypse Now Tour Gigs and a review of one of the gigs on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour too. We then left and caught a 25 bus back down to Victoria Railway Station and stocked up on chocs (...a Mars, a Bounty and a can of coke for 56p totalled up). We caught the 7:09 p.m. train back to Margate in Kent the 75 miles home again. The train got into Margate at 9 pm. Then I walked along the seafront and home on my own. I watched the television and saw 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' which had Siouxsie and the Banshees on it and their video of their severn-inch single release called ‘Spellbound’.
Friday 18th
In Glasgow, Scotland tonight the temperature plummeted to minus 17 degrees. I worked out Discharges Holland Tour Dates which were :- Amsterdam (Thursday 26th of November), Apeldoorn (Friday 27th), Leiden (Saturday 28th) and Groningen (Sunday 28th).
Saturday 19th
I went out and bought the Christmas issue of N.M.E (...the New Musical Express) music paper It had a page pullout of ‘Never Again’ advert (...the Discharge 7-Inch single)...it cost 60p. I watched the television and saw The Police Live In Monserrat...it was good. Rob and Lol came over to my place and ended up staying the night too.
Sunday 20th
Up at 1 pm and outta bed. After getting-up me, Lol and Rob had a ‘Pant-Ripping-Off-Contest’. After which we were left with just tiny little pieces of our pants tied in knots to cover our ‘bared essentials’. We looked like 'Tarzan' in the end. After that we threw our 'Tarzan' jungle pants in the bin. We watched 'Ski Sunday' on TV...the Women’s Downhill was good...it had some great crashes. We later watched a film called ‘The Man That Fell To Earth’ with David Bowie. It was crap but a bit dirty (..rude...!) in parts and also very confusing too. It started snowing in Margate at 9pm and it’s still snowing now and its 1 a.m. and its settling and over 2 inches deep so far.
Monday 21st
Up at 1 pm in the afternoon. A UK Subs Fan-Club letter came for me today. It had a crap picture of the ‘sold-out’ Subs (...In flowy-new romantic type gear...!). It also had a load of useless information and the chords to their new single ‘Countdown’. I watched the TV and saw a 'Hammer House Of Horror' scary film with Prunella (...Sexy) Gee gets chased round the house in her knickers and bra by a 200 year-old witch (...as you do...almost nightly..!).
Wednesday 22nd
I went out and I bought the Sounds music paper which had Beki Bondage (of Vice Squad) and Mensi (of Angelic Upstarts) were on the front cover of it.
Thursday 24th
I watched the television and saw the Christmas Eve Top Of The Pops. This year for Christmas the Human League are number one with 'Don't You Want Me Baby'. Later on on tv there was Toyah live in concert from The Theatre Royal - Drury Lane in London. Toyah had thigh-length leather boots and she had 8" red spikey hair...she was lovely. I listened to the radio after that and caught the John Peels 'Festive Fifty' on his radio show at 10 p.m. SLF (Stiff Little Fingers) were at Number 32 with 'Suspect Device' and The Ruts were at Number 31 with 'In A Rut'.
Friday 25th
I got some Christmas presents today...Mum gave me a leather pair of gloves and a horrible brown jumper, but some good black socks (...2 pairs). Mike got me two 7 inch vinyl singles. The first was The Exploited's 'Dead Cities/Hitler’s In The Charts again/Class War' 3-song 7-inch E.P. and the second was Disorder's 'Distortion Til Deafness' three-track 7-inch E.P. The tracks on the Disorder E.p. are...'Must be More Than Fights' / 'Daily Life' / 'Gotta Be Someone'. An AC/DC interview was on the Tommy Vance (Rock Radio) show later on in the evening.
Monday 28th
Lol came over today and we played some of my records. The Exploited's 'Dead Cities' 7-inch E.P. and Side One of the Disorder E.P too...P.I.L (Public Image Limited's) 'Metal Box' LP, Slaughter and the Dogs ('Do It Dog Style') LP. Rob came over after that and him and Lol stayed the night at mine in my room with a triple bed with three mattresses high, Lots of chaos, shouting and pant-pulling etc.
Tuesday 29th
We woke up at 10 a.m. and had loads of bundles (jumping on each other). Listened to the radio later on to the John Peel 'Festive Fifty' countdown at 10 p.m until midnight. At Number 18 were The Clash with their track 'Complete Control'...at Number 17 was 'Holidays In The Sun' (by the Sex Pistols) at` Number 16 were SLF (Stiff Little Fingers) with 'Alternative Ulster'. At number 12 were The Damned with 'New Rose'.
Wednesday 30th
I listened to the Top Ten countdown of John Peel's 'Festive Fifty' on the radio at 10 p.m. until 12 midnight again. Number 10 were The Clash with 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais', Number 9 were The Dead Kennedy's with 'Holiday In Cambodia', Number 8 were The Cure with 'A Forest', Number 7 were Joy Division with 'Decades; Number 6 were The Undertones with 'Teenage Kicks', Number 5 were Joy Division with 'New Dawn Fades', Number 4 were New Order and 'Ceremony', Number 3 were Joy Division with 'Love Will Tear Us Apart, Number 2 were The Sex Pistols 'Anarchy In The U.K.' and Number One was a Joy Division song 'Don't Walk Away'. Oh yeah Siouxsie and the Banshees were Number 60 with 'Hong Kong Garden', The Sex Pistols were Number 59 with 'Pretty Vacant', and Anti-Pasti were Number 55 with 'No Government'.
Thursday 31st
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper. It had Angus (Young) of AC/DC on the front cover. I also bought the Melody Maker paper as it had a Christmas On Earth (Punk Festival) gig review. It had a picture of the G.B.H singer (Colin) - iit was real good. Mike went out to the pub with the two Scottish guys (Gordon and Colin) who lived in our house. Later on Kev, Lol and Rob (...the brothers) came around and we all went out searching for them three as they were supposed to be going to a party tonight. We walked to the Charles Drake Pub which was full of futurists and skinheads and after another five, fancy-dressed pubs they were not to be seen. So we commandeered a shopping trolley and used it as a go-kart on the walk up to Kevs house...we had loads of crashes. We went around to Karl’s house too...he got ready and joined us in to go looking for some parties to go gate-crash. We met a girl with black-hair in a leather jacket called Sarah and we bought loads of booze and crisps and joined her in going to a house near where Kev lived. She played some records (AC/DC and Led Zeppelin).
....Then at 12 midnight it was goodbye to 1981
.....and hello to......1982..!!!!!!
.....At five past midnight into 1982 we watched the tv and saw The Old Grey Whistle Test was on...and the best on there were the Stiff Little Fingers live with 'Barbed Wire Love and Jimi Hendrix's 'Wild Thing' from 1967 (...live in Blackpool) - it was great. At 01:40 a.m. we left and Rob and Lol decided to stay at mine, and so did Sarah for a laugh. We bumped into Wayne on the way to mine...his hairs really grown, long and black and spikey. Got back to my house at 02:05 a.m. But there was no key left out so I climbed through the window while they waited outside. Mike, Gordon and Colin were in the kitchen downstairs drinking tea. Everyone later went into Gordon and Colin’s room and blasted out some music, Mum came up and complained. So we drifted off upstairs to my bedroom and Mikes room next door to each other. By 04:00 a.m. Me, Lol, Rob were joined by Sarah in my tiny 8 ft by 8 ft room. There was not that much room so we all bundled Sarah (...trying to 'get her') and after a while of chaos, like Rob rubbing his bristley beard on my bum and pulling my pants down, we ended up in various positions touching and feeling her up. This resulted in a few hours of kissing fondling and separate session in a bed alone with Sarah which was great indeed to welcome 1982 in with...! Rob kept on saying "Muffin The Mule is an offence!". Lol got fed up after 'his go' and started playing my Space Invaders' game. I was in bed with Sarah at 07:00 a.m. and as we were canoodling Rob got his 'crane' out and rubbed it on my leg...it was horrid....I didn't like it all.
In 1981 I decided to write a diary and for the Punkiest-Squat-Gigging-Seeking Die-Hards amongst then read on as I'll take you through
Loads of Punk Gigs, from 1980, 1981 and 1982, all over the UK seeing...loads of Punk Rock gigs
..The bands I saw from (1979-1985) are below - including some of them as diary years...
Discharge (49 times)
Antisect (17) , English Dogs (17)
Conflict (15)
G.B.H (14), U.K. SUBS (14)
CRUCIFIX (11)
THE MOB (8), THE EXPLOITED (7). LOST CHEREES (7). SUB-HUMANS (7)
ANTI-PASTI (6), CHRON GEN (6). DIRT (6),
HAGAR THE WOMB (5)
THE DESTRUCTORS (4), NAKED (4), MOTORHEAD (4), THE VARUKERS (4)
COCKNEY REJECTS (3), D & V (3), FLUX OF PINK INDIANS (3), ICONS OF FILTH (3), METALLICA (3), THE PARTISANS (3), STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (3)
ABRASIVE WHEELS (3), A-HEADS (3), ALTERNATIVE (3), ANNIE ANXIETY (3, ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE (3), ANTHRAX (3), BROKEN BONES (3)
CHELSEA (2), THE DEFECTS (2), THE INSANE (2), OMEGA TRIBE (2), POLEMIC (2), THE SEARS (2), VICE SQUAD (2), THE VIBRATORS (2), VENOM (2)
...and a plethora of bands that I caught once including...
.....ACTION PACT/AC/DC/AMEBIX/BAD BRAINS/BLACK FLAG/BLITZ/CHUMBAWUMBA/CRASS/CULT MANIAX/THE DARK/DEAD KENNEDYS/DISORDER
THE FITS/GIRLSCHOOL/HERESY/IRON MAIDEN/K.U.L.K/ONE WAY SYSTEM/PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES/POISON GIRLS
The SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION/VIOLATERS/YOUTHINASIA/ ZOUNDZ...and many many more.....!!
Punk Diary 1981
JANUARY
Thursday 1st
Top of the Pops (Music TV Programme) was rubbish.
Sunday 4th
Yorkshire police say that they have caught ‘Jack The Ripper’ (a man responsible for the murder of 13 prostitutes in the north of England over the last few years). Rock for Kampuchea was on TV featuring THE CLASH singing 'Armagideon Time' live.
Monday 5th
Ripper murder-man (Peter Sutcliffe) charged with 13th victims (prostitutes) murder.
Wednesday 7th
Watched 16UP on TV (programme) which was about SUS laws - it wasn't bad. Some clever person sent a letter-bomb to Maggie Thatcher (Prime Minister of the UK).
Friday 9th
Got my Social Security money - I’ve got £34.40p to spend. IRA claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion at R.A.F Uxbridge yesterday - they say there’s worse to come.
Saturday 10th
Old Grey Whistle Test (Music TV programme) with The SKIDS, John Martyn, OTWAY & BARRETT, JOE JACKSON, no good.
Sunday 11th
Film about Aushwitz concentration camp was good.
Monday 12th
Stuck up Sid (Vicious) on bike poster, listened to John Peel (alternative radio DJ) rubbish.
Wednesday 14th
Mike (my brother) got his pictures back - picture of him and Angus was best (of AC/DC as he went to see them in concert live in Lille, France and got backstage with the band). Mum stitched 2 patches on my bondage trousers at last.
Thursday 15th
Watched Top Of The Pops - terrible.
Saturday 17th
Old Grey Whistle Test - Adam and the Ants.
Monday 19th
Rock Goes To College (Live Music TV programme). I had a sandwich fight with Mike.
Wednesday 21st
Watched a bit of 16UP. I got a reply from the UK SUBS FAN CLUB - they sent me a 2-page newsletter plus 2 badges and a 4" x 4" UK SUBS sticker and a picture of the new line-up.
Thursday 22nd
Went up to WH Smith got SOUNDS (UK Music press weekly paper) came back read it. Turned to page 53 reading Jaws (Gossip section) suddenly I saw an article on DISCHARGE it said "Super-Punks Discharge have parted company with their drummer Tezz". Oh crap I said to myself, I read on it said he left by mutual consent. So the last gig Tezz played with Discharge was Paisley (Bungalow bar) on December 29th. Where on earth are they gonna get a 2000 m.p.h. drummer.
Friday 23rd
Went round to get dole money (social security benefit) but 'cause mum woke us at 11:45 (a.m.) it was too late to 'sign on' - she said come back at 2:00(p.m.) - I did and got money and come home.
Saturday 24th
Boxing from U.S.A (on TV) Marvin Hagler versus some other black bloke -Hagler won - he deserved to. The Old Grey Whistle Test (Music TV programme) Roxy Music and Mike Oldfield from Germany.
Sunday 25th
Mike went to see Angelwitch and Tank at the Winter Gardens, Margate he enjoyed it.
Monday 26th
Watched Rock Goes To College (Uk Music TV Programme) It had The Motels on it, they were better than I thought. Listened to John Peel heard Angelic Upstarts new single 'On The Street' - very good. (it obviously was not called 'On The Street' gawd knows what it was!!!)
Tuesday 27th January
John Peel was crap.
Wednesday 28th
Missed 16UP - will see (repeat) on Sunday. A group of Punks are squatting a derelict property in Fareham (Hampshire - about 75 miles South-West of London) were on tele (TV) the (y had) Anarchy flags and were dancing on the roof - really funny.
Thursday 29th
I knocked out Mikes tooth with a blow to the face. Went and got Music papers. Sounds had a 2 page feature and a review of Angelic Upstarts new single. Record Mirror had a 1 page feature on Gen X. Sounds had a picture of CAL (Discharge) above Decontrol in the 'Independent Charts'. And in the gig-guide a Angelic Upstarts gig with Discharge supporting in Digbeth Civic Hall, Birmingham - 1 problem = it's all ticket - I'll phone up tomorrow and find out how to obtain tickets by post.
Friday 30th
Sent away for Discharge Hanky £1.70p (incl. p&p). Hope to get it back before the Birmingham concert. I phoned up about tickets - you can buy tickets by post - I decided to pay on the door. the place holds 1,000 and only 500 tickets have been printed so I'll (I’m) definitely not going to grim old Ireland and I'm definitely going to see Discharge playing their first gig with their new drummer, plus Angelic Upstarts are playing. It will be my first concert of 1981.
Saturday 31st
John Lydons Birthday today (of Pil-Public Image Ltd and of course the Sex Pistols).
FEBRUARY
Monday 2nd
Played a few games of darts (with Mike my older brother, 20) and while we were playing Mike said "If I get over 60 with these 6 darts I will thus continue to beateth me!", and he deliberately got over 60 so he could turn off the light and steam in. But not to his knowledge I lay in wait for him and when he got within a distance...I pounced and....run into a fist = roly-poly in the dark etc. Made a terrible pie.
Tuesday 3rd
Played a couple of games of darts then Mike said "Lets go downstairs for a cup of tea and biscuits" so we went down and the dining room door was locked and there was no key in it - Grumps had locked it (I think that’s my dad!). So we thought try their bedroom so we could go through the garden (to the kitchen) but that was locked. So we tried Flat 1 so we could go down the roof (of the kitchen) - but that too was locked. So we thought 'get out of the toilet window (first floor) - I did had cup of tea - phew.
Wednesday 4th
Went out with mum and dad to get Polistil racing car track - paid £25 for it and brought it back home. It consisted of 6 cars, 15 straights, 15 bends, 2 crossovers and loads of accessories. Set up new stuff and old stuff and made some really good long tracks and Tina (our cat, aged 8) was chasing the cars like she did back in Keston Road (Peckham, South London in the early to mid 1970s)
Thursday 5th
Went round to the Careers Office and the lady sent me up Tesco's (supermarket) for a job. I saw the sub-manager but he said he needed someone with work experience. Got Sounds on the way back - very good - UK SUBS LP review, Virgin Prunes interview, Wendy O'Williams interview (of The Plasmatics) Upstarts (Angelic) London gig review. Discharge will not be playing Birmingham coz they haven’t got a drummer. Gig guide Friday Manchester Discharge -but I think they have cancelled that for the same reason. T.O.T.P (Top Of The Pops) was crap
Friday 6th
Went round to Capitol House (Social Security/Dole money) and 'signed on'. While I was in there I met Kay (Punk girl from Deal - 10 miles south of Margate) she said she has moved to Margate. People in Flat 2 changed their lock on their door. I had to climb up and open it from the inside (first floor) they said they're not moving tomorrow.
Saturday 7th
Missed O.G.W.T (Old Grey Whistle Test).
Wednesday 11th
Went into the garden with Noddy (my dad) and gave him loads of bricks and he started to build on Austin’s (labourer for back extension we were having built - rather cheaply!) nice level brickwork and of course bird-brain couldn't lay a straight brick in a million years. he kept building 'em higher and messier. What a disaster - he won't admit he can't bricklay, stupid scrooge. Got letter about claim (car crash compensation) - will see a specialist soon.
Thursday 12th
My Hanky of Discharge arrived -it's really good. Watched Top Of the Pops - best Pretenders, Slade. Got Sounds Discharge interview, good pics bad interview. It said in it Discharge will have a tour set up for April and will release a 12 inch 12 track 45 to coincide. I can't wait, they still haven’t found a drummer. Virgin prunes played London tonight and tomorrow.
Friday 13th
Watched Family Fortunes TV programme) really good. We had a game of our own (mad). Mike writ out some silly valentines to some ugly people in Eire (Southern Ireland)
Saturday 14th
Only my only (line) of '4 aways' (UK Football betting on the 'away' Football teams to beat the 'home' sides at their own ground) I GOT 4..!!! I win for the third time in 14 weeks. Mike says I'll get around £50 quid, I reckon £30 - Mum gets 20% for using her name. A fire in Dublin kills 49 (Artane, in North Dublin).
Sunday 15th
Sunday People (Paper) predict low dividends for 4 aways, which I got. I fink I'll get around £10.
Thursday 19th
Read the paper to find out what I won on the Pools 4 aways = Pools void. It means nobody won on the pools but they use your money towards your next entry. Totp crap.
Friday 20th
Went round to Capitol House (Dole money/Social Security) got cheque went into Careers Office. The lady there tried to persuade me into combing my hair down. Cashed my dole cheque - the bloke on the Post Office gave me 40p too much for my dole cheque. Went into WH Smith and looked at Record Mirror. Virgin Prunes all the rest rubbish.
Wednesday 25th
Watched Rock and Pop Awards on Nationwide (TV Programme). Adam and the Ants were on it - all the boring old farts won the awards.
Thursday 26th
Looked at Sounds no good except Cockney Rejects interview. Siouxsie was on the front and interview with her. Top of the Pops crap.
Saturday 28th
Got a letter from Dole headquarters in Ramsgate (3 miles south-east of Margate) saying I have to go there on Monday. Old Grey Whistle Test - U2, Iron Maiden, best.
MARCH
Sunday 1st
Decided to go see U.K. SUBS at the Lyceum (in Central London). Left at 3.50, went down and had my picture taken for the railcard I bought for £10. Got a special '1 journey free' pass as well. Caught the 4.03pm but had to go from Sittingbourne to Rainham - arrived Victoria (railway station) at 7.00pm. Jumped on a 11 bus straight to Lyceum, got off queued up, went in after 10 mins - £3.00p in. As I went through the door I was handed an album UK SUBS new one - no record inside - Warhead 45 (pic) a badge and a giant poster. Not bad for nuthin'. I bought 2 fanzines with Discharge features in - really smart.
After a while ANTI-PASTI came on.
The singer had pink hair - they were much better than I thought they would be - fast -raw - very good -they went down well.
Then 15 minutes later THE STIFFS came on.
They were rubbish rock.
Then later on CHELSEA came onstage
...they were also better than I thought they'd be, but the bent singer kept stopping halfway through a record to have a chat with the crowd.
Finally much later on...The UK SUBS came on
...cheers from the crowd etc. Nicky Garrett ran around the stage like he was trying to break the mile record, Charlie seemed to be a little bit tired and his voice went twice. Alvin Gibbs was O.K., Steve Roberts hammered away non-stopper 1-hour through C.I.D, Tomorrows' Girls, I Couldn't Be You, Emotional Blackmail, and some off their new album - great gig.
Monday 2nd
While I was over in Ramsgate at my dole interview I saw a pretty punkette. Rock-Stage a new rock (TV) prog started tonight - it will feature Motorhead, OMD in coming weeks.
Thursday 5th
Got the Music Papers - UK SUBS interview. T.O.T.P. Set all my stuff out for Discharge in Manchester.(...their gig tomorrow at The Mayflower in Bellevue, Manchester)
Friday 6th
Got up at 10.30 am, went round got (dole) money. Met KAY (Punk girl from Deal now living in Margate) came home cashed (dole) cheque. Ordered a taxi -it came late I missed the 11:48 train and caught the 12:23pm got to Victoria (railway station in Central London) at 2:10pm. Bought flashes for camera phoned up the Mayflower (gig venue in Manchester) - it was engaged. Caught a tube (underground train) to Euston (railway station in North Central London for the connecting train to Manchester). And bought a Manchester single £8.65p it cost. That pulled out at 2:55pm stopped at Stoke, Stockport - got into Manchester Piccadilly (railway station) at 5:30pm (after a 200 mile journey north from London, and 275 mile journey from home in the south-east of England in Margate, Kent). Asked at information how to get to Asburys for Belleview (...the suburb in South-East central Manchester was called 'Bellevue') I caught a local train to a station in a suburb called 'Gorton'. Got off - asked ticket bloke if he knew where the Mayflower was? He said try the paper shop up the road. So I went in the shop and he said it's in Belleview (Bellevue), so he wrote down directions. So caught a train from Gorton to Asburys. Got off, walked down steps, down the road turned into Birch Road and came to it. A few Punks were there so I went around the side and listened to support bands soundchecking. I went in -after about 1 hour, and I saw Bones, he recognised me, he was signing T-Shirts. I went over and I bought one (..a white T-Shirt with the Discharge 'equality face' (on the rear of some of their early 7-Inch singles) - he signed it, so did the new drummer, his name is Dave ('Bambi') Ellesmere, he looks OK, he said "Cals down there" - so I went down and he was surprised to see me, had a chat - he went off to the toilet and didn't come back.
The first support band came on...
....they played Elvis Presley records (...songs) and went - they were crap (...I am not sure of their name...but they had a black kid playing basss guitar called 'toothpaste').
After a while NOVA VAGA came on
...they were as bad as their name.
THE VIOLATORS came on next
...a hardcore Punk band (...wot a larf) are guess what..? Yes a bunch of skinheads, crap.
After about 1 and half-hours DISCHARGE came on
.... I took 4 pictures during 'Realities Of War' (opening song). Discharge played some new songs off their forthcoming 12", 'War' (...that'll be 'Why' then...!) 'Death And Destruction' plus all the old songs. They went down with the crowd really well. Discharge went off and they called them back for a 2nd encore then they went off. They still came back on for 1 last song - 'War' (...thats ahem...'Why' again...!) with Cal falling onto the ground with exhaustion. They went and the gig was over.
After an hour I went out to Discharges van, I got in talked a bit then the driver (Martin) came back..I got a lift with the band and at about midnight we left South Manchester. Then we were on our way 'home' - we drove through the early hours across Manchester city centre area and then out to Wigan (...25 miles north-west of Manchester) to drop Dave ('Bambi' Ellesmere) off. We all went into his house for a cup of tea (...up a winding nice cul-de-sac as it happens at about 1 a.m...!) then the rest of us left (...at around 01:30 a.m.). We drove down the M6 (...motorway southbound) to Sandbach service station - We all had something to eat (...at 3 a.m. then we drove on the short distance south) and I got dropped off by Discharge at Stoke railway station at about 4:30 a.m. in the morning.
Saturday 7th
Got into Margate at 11:40 a.m, and got home at 12:20pm. I watched The Old Grey Whistle Test - no good. I counted how much money I have left. I've got £32.27p for Birmingham tomorrow week (..the next Discharge gig) - I should be able to go.
Monday 9th
I watched Siouxsie and the Banshees on Rock Goes To College. They were better than I thought they'd be, but were still no good. Rock-Stage (...TV Music programme) had a band called Sad Cafe on it.
Tuesday 10th
I played Discharges three first E.P's
Thursday 12th
I played Discharges three 7-Inch E.P's. I bought Sounds music paper- no good this week. It said Discharge are playing Birmingham, Cedar Ballroom tomorrow (Friday 13th) - I thought they were playing there on Monday 16th - I will phone up the Cedar Ballroom in Birmingham tomorrow morning to find out.
Friday 13th
I phoned to see if Discharge are playing (at the Cedar Ballroom, Birmingham tonight) - they said they are. I walked down to Margate railway station and caught the 12:48pm train and got into London at 2:40 pm. Then I caught a tube train north to Euston and got there at 2:55pm. The next train to Birmingham was at 3:10pm, so got a Birmingham single ticket - it cost £5.15p. I got into Birmingham New Street station at 4:30pm and asked at information desk for directions to Constitution Hill (for the gig venue at Cedar Ballroom). I walked out of the city centre heading south a few miles and waited outside a place (in south Birmingham) I thought was the Cedar Ballroom Club for about 20 minutes then Bones and his girlfriend (Helen) came along - they said they were looking for the club earlier in Edgbaston which was miles away in North Birmingham..!!!! We all walked up the road past a chip shop then came to the Cedar Club (...the place I was waiting outside wasn't it either...!). Then I heard a horn beep - it was Discharges van on the other side of the road. They pulled up and got out. Dave (Bambi) said "I'm mad travelling up thjis far to see us", we all rushed around the side entrance out of the rain. We all went inside and I had a look around the gig place then I went and bought some chips. Came back and helped the P.A. and hire stuff in from the van. Had a game of Space Invaders - 850 pts. Music played over the sound system and people started coming in after a while.
G.B.H the support band came on
...they were good and went down really well with the crowd.
After about an hour after that
DISCHARGE came on
...everybody went to the front. The bouncers were a bit rough. Discharge played really a good gig, people getting dragged off stage and out the door. They encored once with 'Fight Back', 'They Declare It' and 'War' (...'Why'...!).
I went out to van and said 'see-ya' and I then walked back into Birmingham City centre and to the railway station in and waited 6 hours for my train back to London. (100 Miles)
Saturday 14th
I got back into Margate just after midday at around 12:15pm, walked home. I watched The Old Grey Whistle Test - no good (...9 Below Zero and Bruce Springsteen).
Monday 16th
I got woken up by Mike (...my brother) at 9 a.m. and he was telling me how he met Iron Maiden at a 5-star hotel in Hammersmith after the gig in London last night. Rock-stage was rubbish - AWB (Average White Band) RGTC (?) and After The Fire.
Tuesday 17th
I watched Janet Brown (comedienne impersonator) taking off a Punkette (punk girl).
Wednesday 18th
I Played Realities Of War, Fight Back and Decontrol, Discharge E.P.'s and Slaughter & the Dogs 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone'.
Thursday 19th
I bought the Sounds music paper and it had a feature on Anti-Pasti, Damned and Cockney Rejects. T.O.T.P - crap.
Friday 20th
Mike bought the Record Mirror music paper - it was absolutely terrible I could have done an 8 from 10 (Football Pools betting) line for that money and won £750,000.
Saturday 21st
O.G.W.T (Old Grey Whistle Test) was crap- Joni Mitchell.
Monday 23rd
Michael Foot (Politician) said if he gets into power he will start to disarm. Clever idea - but once he gets into power we will realise it was just one of his lies to get into power.
Tuesday 24th
The Spot-The-Ball (...gambling game via the newspapers) results tomorrow - can't wait.
Wednesday 25th
Sportsnight (TV programme) had England versus Spain on - England lost 1-2 - terrible team.
Thursday 26th
Mum bought me Sounds music paper - it's got nuffink good in it except that on the gig page it had the Porterhouse (Retford, Nottinghamshire) April 10th gig by Discharge in the lists. So I should be able to afford to that coz I get dole money a week before that gig - it's on a Friday. T.O.T.P - crap.
Friday 27th
I had to lend Mike £5.25p for his football pools coz he's broke - so am I now.
Saturday 28th
The Grateful Dead live from Germany, they were very bad hippies at playing mucus (...music).
Monday 30th
I went upstairs into Mike’s room and played a few records and thought up a competition. It was to see who could drum best to different records then we proceeded to mark accordingly - Mike won. Dad then rushed in and said President Ronald Reagan had been shot - me and Mike just burst out laughing. We went downstairs and waited til the next news came on. Jan Leeming (BBC) said "President Raygun has been shot and they have it on TV film". He was coming out of a conference and was waving and smiling - then there were 5 shots. Reagan got hit just 1 inch from his heart and 2 coppers got hit and one of his men in the head. Everyone bit the dust and the security men grabbed the bloke who was just standing there. Then we watched it again in slow motion...it was brilliant.
APRIL
Thursday 2nd
Mike went and bought the Sounds music paper. it said that Supercharge were playing The Retford Porterhouse the same day as Discharge - I wonder who is? I watched STIFF LITTLE FINGERS when they were on T.O.T.P singing their new 45 'Fade Away' - not bad.
Saturday 4th
Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest from Dublin, Southern Ireland for the U.K. Old Grey Whistle Test played a S.L.F (Stiff Little Fingers) track off their new LP - it had trumpets on.
Monday 6th
I watched the TV music programme called Rock-Stage with Girlschool who were pretty good and Motorhead = Shakey 'eds noise and lights.
Thursday 9th
Mum got Sounds - nuthin' in it besides UK SUBS new single 'Run And Run Til You Burn' (...'Keep On Running Til You Burn’...!) review and Discharge aren't playing The Retford Porterhouse - Supercharge are playing instead. Top Of The Pops had Public Image Ltd on it singing their new single 'Flowers Of Romance'.
Saturday 11th
John Lydon and Keith Levene (of Public Image Ltd) in an interview on the radio with Tommy Vance (the 'Rock Show' on BBC Radio...!). He talked with them a lot and played 4 tracks off of 'Flowers Of Romance' LP. Me and monster Mike had a really funny big cushion fight, in which I stubbed my toe and can hardly walk. O.G.W.T - Thin Lizzy and Gang Of Four. Brixton riots (...a South London suburb), Blacks versus the Police - houses burned, cars etc.
Sunday 12th
The news showed remains of Brixton (...In London).
Monday 13th
Watched the news at 6 o'clock all about the Brixton Riots. Nationwide (TV programme) also had a 20-minute thing on it. Panorama had loads of snobs (...'Posh' or 'Rich' people...!) talking about the rioting in Brixton.
Wednesday 15th
I went around and signed on (the dole - state benefit) saw Andy (...A Margate punkey type bloke) and another bloke in there - also saw Kay the punkette. The Careers Office sent me to a job interview up near where Andy lives. It was plastic moulding stuff for the Royal Wedding - Pay = £30 per week. On the way home I saw a lovely punkette - black hair like Siouxsies walking an alsation- hope I'll see her again. In Sounds it had an advert about the new Discharge single out now 10 tracks £1.99p (...'Why'..!).
Thursday 16th
Top Of The Pops had Girlschool on it, The Cure and the U.K. SUBS singing their new 45 'Keep On Running Til You Burn'. John Peel played 999's new 45 'Obssessed' and S.L.F LP track.
Saturday 18th
On The Old Grey Whistle Test it had The Scars and Wilko Johnsons' band in the studio and they had Krokus live from Hammersmith.
Monday 20th
On TV I watched 'Rock-Stage' - Lene Lovich, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. Mike went to see Rose Tattoo at the Marquee Club in London - he will get me Discharges' new 45 while he is up there in London.
Tuesday 21st
I played 'WHY' Discharges new 12" - 10 track 45. It was pretty good - nice 'n' raw and noisy - they are all short tracks 'Why' 'Feeble Bastard' 'Is This To Be' 'Mania For Conquest' 'A Look At Tomorrow' 'Maimed And Slaughtered' ' Massacre Of Innocence' 'Does The System Work?' ' Visions Of War'. Rose Tattoo - not bad for Heavy Metal.
Wednesday 22nd
Mum saw two punkettes down Cecil Square (....near the Margate seafront) with Discharge on their leather jackets.
Thursday 23rd
I watched Top Of The Pops - crap. News - Ronnie Biggs is free - he's back in Brazil now living the high life. There are 2.5 million on the dole thanks to (Margaret) Thatcher (...The Prime Minister...in the U.K. now).
Saturday 25th
We played a 'Blind' darts game. On TV The Old Grey Whistle Test from France had Trust (...a French heavy metal Band) on it but we missed 'em.
Wednesday 29th
Had my first bath for 11 weeks and 5 days. England 0 Romania 0 in a World Cup Football qualifier - England played awful. Jack The Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe) appeared in court - he said he was guilty.
Thursday 30th
I bought Sounds music paper...it was really great - The Exploited's new LP review - it's called 'Punks Not Dead'. and also Discharges Why E.P came straight in at number 9 (...in the alternative charts) and believe it or not a review of their E.P. By Phil Sutcliffe - not a bad write-up. Plus a new Discharge picture in their back yard - great. (...it was the back yard of Clay Records shop in Stoke). On TV Top Of The Pops had Thin Lizzy, and also Tenpole Tudor on it.
MAY
Friday 1st
I timed Discharges tracks on their 'WHY' E.P. They are all around 1:30 mins the shortest record is 'Maimed And Slaughtered' (1:04) and the longest is 'A Look At Tomorrow' (1:50). Side 1 is 6 minutes 51 seconds long and Side 2 is 7 minutes 12 seconds long - altogether 13 minutes 53 seconds...that is 20p a track.
Saturday 2nd
Crass were on BBC Radio talking to Tommy Vance and he played two of their tracks. One was O.K. one was terrible.
Sunday 3rd
I phoned up the Lyceum (in London) to see if Anti-Pasti and The Exploited were still supporting 999. The bloke said they've both pulled out so I didn't go.
Tuesday 5th
Bobby Sands MP cum hunger-striker died after 66 days today. Rioting in Belfast and Dublin, shops in Grafton Street smashed. On the TV I watched the O.G.W.T it had a Rose Tattoo film of them live in Australia.
Wednesday 6th
There were more riots in Belfast (..Northern Ireland) again. Three MP's got letter bombs today - all were intercepted.
Thursday 7th
I bought the Sounds music paper this week which was very bad - the only good thing was that Discharge are top of the Indie singles chart with their 'Why' E.P. -straight in at number 9, then straight to number one. On TV it had T.O.T.P live - with Adam and the Ants playing 'Stand And Deliver'. TV Eye about C.N.D (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) was good. Bobby Sands was buried today.
Friday 8th
i read this weeks Sounds and in it it said that Discharge are playing two shows (4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) at the Manchester Mayflower gig tomorrow. Mum lent me £15 so I could afford to go and will phone them early tomorrow.
Saturday 9th
I got up by the alarm clock at 7:20 a.m. and walked down to Margate railway station a mile away and caught the 8:23 a.m. train to London which included a bus journey from Sitingbourne to Rainham for 3 miles as they were doing line-track repairs. I arrived in Victoria station (London) at 10:50 a.m. and caught a tube up to Euston railway station where I saw a few Manchester City football supporters on their way to the F.A. Cup final versus Tottenham Hotspurs at Wembley, London. I caught the 11:55 a.m. train north the 200 miles to Manchester and then got a train to Asburys from the centre of Manchester. When I got to The Mayflower (in Gorton) there were about 100 punks there, so I went around the side of the building (...it was a near-derelict red bricked old church building on a patch of desolate wasteland in South-east Manchester and the area was pretty grim indeed...!). Discharge were sitting in their van. We talked a bit then after a while took in all the equipment. I bought a 'WHY' hanky (that measured 12" by 12" and was the same as the cover of the 12" record, on white cotton) and a wristband (that was more like an 'armband than a 'wristband'...it was made of white cotton with Discharge written on white not their logo though!) both came to £1.80p. Tending the stall was Cals girlfriend Heather and chatted and she wrote down a few dates of the next Discharge gigs for me - Stevenage (...In Hertfordshire - 30 miles north of London) this Sunday and the next one was headlining over Anti-Pasti and The Exploited at the Lyceum in London in two Sundays time. I should be able to go to both of those gigs.
DISCHARGE came on for their 'Matinee Set' (...for the younger kids I think?) at 6 p.m.
...they played a pretty good set and four encores and Discharge even dedicated 'They Declare It' to me - I'm getting famous now. Cal climbed on top of the speakers and nearly fell off.
After the concert (...the 'Matinee set') the crowd went out, but I stayed in as a guest for free. I listened to Bones soundchecking on his guitar he played 'Tomorrows Girls' (UK Subs) 'Telephone Numbers' (UK Subs) Jimi Hendrix 'Wild Thing' and getting some good tunes just mucking about - it was great.
At 11pm DISCHARGE came on (...again...! - for their second set)
...and they played all the same set of songs except 'Society’s Victim' and encored twice but they messed up 'Maimed And Slaughtered' with 'Massacre Of Innocence'.
Cal gave me a pasty he got in the kitchen - it was spicy so I had to buy a 35p bottle of coke to cool my throat down. Dave (Bambi) went back to Wigan with his mates. Rainy disappeared altogether so we packed away the gear into the van and all went back (...down the M6 motorway 60 miles southbound)to Stoke. We stopped off at Sandbach services again on the motorway at around 1 a.m. Where I bought one sausage and beans - cold as usual for 64p. We pulled into Stoke-on-Trent at 03:20 a.m. and I got dropped off at the (...desolate) railway station (...about a half-mile from where Bones and Cal lived). I had to wait there (...on a Sunday morning) til 09:30 for a train to London, and even then I had to change at Stafford (...about 25 miles South-West) for another train that was going straight to London. Then I caught a straight-through service south (...the 140 miles) to London. I got back into Margate, Kent at 4pm on Sunday afternoon a full 38 hours after I left.
Monday 11th
Bob Marley died of cancer in America today.
Tuesday 12th
I watched TV and The Old Grey Whistle Test - It had a band called 'Holly and the Italians' and also a group called 'The Plastics' from Japan..after that it paid a tribute to Bob Marley.
Wednesday 13th
I cut the red bondage straps off my 'Bondage' trousers. The Pope got shot three times in an assassination attempt on him while he was in a car in the Vatican City (.....in Rome, Italy). He got shot once in the head, once in the arm and once in the belly - he's ok. The villain was caught.
Thursday 14th
On the television I saw Top Of The Pops - Thin Lizzy were the best on it this week. In the N.M.E (...New Music Express - music paper) they had a one-page feature on Discharge. It had pictures of Rainy, bones and Dave (Bambi) but Cal didn't want to be a 'pop star'.
Friday 15th
Princess Anne (...erm maybe she was the Queens sister..??) had her 2nd baby, a girl and I hope its got brain damage - it would be really funny - a mental snob.
Sunday 17th
Discharge play Stevenage Bowes Lyon tonight ...(in Hertfordshire 30 miles north of London..over 100 miles awy from me) - I didn't go coz I had to pay mum the £15 I owed her.
Monday 18th
Mum bought me a small paintbrush to paint over my Discharge 'Fight Back' picture on the back of my leather jacket with white gloss. I painted over it and I did a good job except the face.
Tuesday 19th
I touched up and painted my Discharge 'Fight Back' leather jacket with black gloss - still can't get Cals face right. On the TV I watched 'Rock-Stage' with Hazel O'connor and The Stranglers. I also watched The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Thursday 21st
I watched Tv and TOTP. While painting the back of my Discharge leather jacket I totally messed up Cals face on the back of my jacket - boring day - oh I nearly forgot - boring day,
Friday 22nd
I went out on my bike up to buy the music paper Sounds. The best thing was The Exploited interview in which Wattie said " The only true punk bands left are Discharge (true, true) us (meaning The Exploited) Anti-Pasti and Vice Squad". The news - Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the 13 murders he committed, plus 9 attempted murders.
Sunday 24th
I got up at 12:20pm. Got a taxi down to Margate railway station passing loads of snails cum turtles cum Mods they looked stupid (...It was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and Mods, Skinheads and Punks were renowned for heading to sea-side holiday resorts en masse - violence usually occurred at the most popular resorts with the gangs - these location are old time seaside resorts where families go too they are Blackpool, Margate, Brighton etc - hence I took a taxi to the railway station...!). I caught the 2:23pm train and got into Victoria station in London at 4pm. Then I caught an 11 bus to the Lyceum Ballroom in the Strand, Central London. I waited outside the back door a while then Rainy came out with a girl - he said Cal, Dave and Bones were inside. Cal came out later and gave me a free ticket to get in tonight, he then disappeared. Then I took a stroll along the Strand and Cal came out of a burger bar with Bones so we all walked back to the Lyceum. They went in the back-door and I went around the front and queued up for about one hour then went in. I went over to the badge/merchandise bar where I saw Cals girlfriend, Heather. She said "How ya going, Ok.?" - I said yeah- I bought 1 quid’s worth off badges - 2 'Fight Back', 2 'Equality' Blokes and 1 tiny 'Fight Back' in words.
After a while the first band came on ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE.
The singer was a biker with straggly hair and chains hanging from his arms and he was wielding an axe and swinging it around. They were OK
Then shortly after that CHRON GEN came onstage
- they were rubbish.
Then after that ANTI-PASTI came on
they played a great set and they were really lively moving around - a great live band and they got the crowd going.
Then next up were THE EXPLOITED
the crowd gave them a great reception. Wattie had a great time taunting the English crowd over the Scotland victory (...in Football, Scotland won at Wembley 0-1 in London versus England yesterday..!). They played a great gig with Wattie playing bass guitar for a rendition of UK Subs 'Warhead' with the ageing Charlie Harper joining in halfway through a 10-minute version of it. They came back for 3 encores and then went off.
Then later DISCHARGE came on
and I went down the front. They had smoke all over the stage - they played 'Realities Of War' then they ran into a 10 minute technical hitch (..something up with guitar leads and connections). They played a pretty bad sounding set although it was mainly technical problems - coming back on for 4 encores. I was really tired after that.
I left the Lyceum and went around back-stage where I met Dave (Bambi) who was looking for groupies and his poster (...of the gig?). I also "rubbed shoulders" with Wattie, Big John (...of The Exploited) and also Anti-Pasti's singer Martin. I waited outside with some London skins who were talking about Scotland football supporters. Oh yeah - a bloke recorded the Discharge concert and Dave said "They've recorded the gig for a live album" - I personally don't believe him. Then I left and walked back the 3 miles west through central London to Victoria railway station. I got on the 03:30 a.m. mail-train a(..this is actually a 'mail' train for bags of letters and parcels etc..it only has ONE compartment for 'passengers' - people who missed their connections no doubt like me -which sometimes has no lights or no heaters or sometimes both are not working...yet you pay the same price..if a ticket guy gets on it - which was rare) I got an empty compartment and then it pulled out. At Chatham (....an hour into the journey, of over 2 hours, about halfway back to Margate -35 miles east of London) eight skinheads and one drunk one got on, they were going to Calais (...in northern France) and got out at Faversham (...to change for the Dover train service, for France). There was a few punks down a compartment and they got out at Margate at 06:00hrs. At the station there were about 20 skinheads there. I walked down along the seafront homeward and there were about 20 Mods there - who asked me "Where there any Skinheads up at the station" I said "Yeah" (...I then took a detour and I walked the long way home away from the sea-front...!). I got home away after 06:30 a.m.
Tuesday 26th
I had a bath and cut my hair and blow-dried it. It is now 80% spikier than it was before hand.
Thursday 28th
I will go to Derby tomorrow to see Discharge if Sounds has a phone number for the venue.
Friday 29th
I got Sounds music paper it had a 999 interview in it. I looked at the Gig Guide it had Discharge at Derby but no phone number - so I didn't go.
Saturday 30th
England lost 1-2 at home to Switzerland in Football at Wembley, London. The English fans were fighting Swiss supporters on the terraces.
Sunday 31st
Mike (...my brother) kept getting bad scores at darts while we played so he grabbed the dartboard off the hook and threw the dartboard on the floor and threw the darts out of the window down into the street (...seeing as he and I lived up in the dormer/attic rooms this was quite a dangerous thing to do, perhaps even more so at night...!).
JUNE
Monday 1st
Mike went to see Ted Nugent at the Hammersmith Odeon, in London.
Tuesday 2nd
I watched 'Rock-Stage' on TV with Squeeze, the audience weren’t in one though.
Wednesday 3rd
Mike and I played football in the kitchen with a tennis ball - I won 10-9.
Thursday 4th
On Top Of The Pops on the television it had Siouxsie and the Banshees on it singing their new 45 "Spellbound". Siouxsie looked nice in leather.
Friday 5th
I got up at 09:20 a.m. with an alarm clock and I caught the 10:23 a.m. train from Margate railway station to Victoria in London. Then I walked along to Victoria coach station and bought a coach ticket to Retford, Nottinghamshire (...it is 200 miles north of London and 275 from home in Margate,Kent..!). It cost £4.50p and left at 2pm. It went up the A1 and we stopped at a service station for half an hour after a while. It also stopped at Grantham (Lincolnshire), Newark and Worksop, which were quite close to Retford. We pulled into Retford at 6:45pm (...it was quite a pretty quaint historical small town centre I recall..!). I got off and walked around to the Porterhouse venue place straight away (...up a narrow street off of the old main 'square'). I chatted to a punk from boring Grantham who said my 'Fight Back' picture on the back of my leather jacket was 'ace'. I then walked through the front door and upstairs where I met Cals girlfriend Heather and Bones and his girlfriend Helen (....who has died her hair blonde). Dave (Bambi) gave me a can of beer I didn't want so I gave it to Helen. After a while we all went up to the dressing room and I had a long talk with Cal about gigging and how much money they get. He said Discharge are lining up another tour and they are playing Glasgow Tiffanys with The Exploited supporting them. He also said that Stevenage was a great gig, while Derby was OK.
After a while G.B.H left the dressing room and went onstage.
They went down with the crowd really well from the vibrations and songs through the floor - coz I couldn't be bothered to go downstairs and watch them. After G.B.H finished they came up - they were sweating and they said it was like playing in a sauna.
After a while Bones started tuning up his guitar without it plugged it and then a bloke came in and said the DJ is playing two more songs then your 'Gunfight' tape then you come on.
DISCHARGE went on
...and started after the 'intro sound tape' had finished and went straight into 'Realities of War' and churned through their set (which was rather short) only 30 minutes in all. I was standing on the stage hanging onto a pole supporting the ceiling a good viewpoint. Plus they came back for 4 songs as an encore. Because of the heat Cal puked up and fell on the floor with exhaustion - it was a very good gig, both of the bands and also the crowd were good.
Then I went upstairs to the dressing room where Cal and the band were signing autographs - I drunk my ice cold coke I bought for 30p. After all the punters went home me the driver and Danny from derby took all the equipment out to the van - then we had an argument with G.B.H which turned into a water and spit fight in and around the equipment lift in which we all got soaked in the music gear lift. It was funny going up and down really fast. We then jumped in the van and left the Kilburn teacher to finish his holidays (...must have chatted in the dressing room to this 'normal' looking chap who inadvertently stumbled upon Discharge tonight mid-way through his holidays I reckon...!). En route we stopped at services where Dave (Bambi) failed to get away without paying for his 75% eaten chocolate cake.(..I would have thought it would have been a lot cleverer to eat 100% actually..!!). I had 2 sausages and beans for a rip-off 90p. Cal dealt out the wages - they each got £25 - a lot of that went into the video-machines, then we left. We dropped off Danny on the outskirts of Derby at about 2 a.m.Then we drove to Stoke. We dropped off Rainy and the roadie first, then Bones and his girlfriend Helen at Bumby Road-Thorndyke Street, then I got out with Dave and a girl and a bloke and said ta-ra to Cal and his girlfriend Heather. We all went to Dave’s (Bambi's) flat...in a dead-end red-bricked terraced street (...not that far from Stoke-on-Trent station or Bones and Cals place..!). Dave (Bambi) lived downstairs in a few rooms and it was OK and quite spacious (...if gloomy). I stayed there the night with a few people chatting and making tea etc...after getting some sleep til about 10ish or so in the morning.
Then I left Dave (Bambi) and his place and I walked up to Stoke-on-Trent station in the rain. I caught a train at 12:54 in the afternoon straight to London (...150 miles south from Stoke). Then I travelled across London southwards to Victoria Station and caught a train from Victoria eastwards (...75 miles) to Margate-on-sea at 3:10pm. I had to change trains halfway to Margate (...at Faversham) and got into Margate at 5pm and walked up home getting in at 5:30pm.
Wednesday 10th
We had a game of football in the kitchen (...with Mike, my brother). It ended '10-6' to me and '10-7' to Mike and he also messed up two bulbs in the ceilings light fitting (..I think I meant 'smashed them'..!!).
Thursday 11th
I bought the Sounds Music-Paper....in it it had Angelic Upstarts LP review, plus Crass's LP.
I watched the TV and Top Of The Pops, the best were Ultravox 'We All Stood Still'. On TV Mastermind (...a general knowledge and specialist subjects quiz) final had an Irish bloke answering questions on Rock Music. I 'starched' up my hair properly (...I think i recall buying as tin of 'Spray-Starch' thinking it would be good for prefect spikey-hair...it wasn't..!!).
Friday 12th
I got woken up at 10:20 a.m by my alarm clock then I went around and signed on the dole and cashed my cheque. I then got a lift down to Margate train station from dad who was going to look at caravans with Mike, Mum and Auntie Marie. I caught the 12:23 p.m. train and got into London Victoria railway station at 2:10pm and I walked along to the Victoria Coach station 5 minutes away from there. I bought a ticket to Stoke (Hanley) - a single for £3.50p and it pulled out at 3pm. It stopped (...on its 150-mile northward journey) at Coventry and Birmingham (Digbeth) and then it pulled into Hanley in Stoke at 7:30pm. The Victoria Hall was only 100 yards away. I got the doorman to tell Cal I was here. So he came back with a ticket for me so I went in. I saw Cal's girlfriend Heather. I then bought a poster of the concert (...A2 sized one...which was with a black background with white print on it). Then I went backstage with Heather where the bands (Disharge and G.B.H) were sitting around drinking and writing on the walls.
...The VARUKERS were onstage
already by that time....and were playing to a fairly lively crowd too - they weren’t too bad (...with the future Discharge drummer on drums of course...Garry Maloney..!). There were only about 300 people in the crowd tonight. They went Ok toa small amount of that crowd.
Then G.B.H went on
....minus the Joe Cunningham lookalike bassplayer 'Ross' (...Joe Cunningham was a friend of mine while I was living in Ireland looked rather too much like the bass player of G.B.H...!). They played a good set getting the crowd going. I watched from an area leftside of them playing 'backstage'. The singer (Colin) had just a pair of black PVC's on - the bass player came on with one song left - then they went off. (...Not entirely sure what was going on with Ross there...?!?!?!).
....Tezz (...former Discharge drummer) was at the gig tonight - he is now playing in a heavy-metal band - he acted like a bouncer though at the Victoria Hall. Danny from Derby was there too.
Then over the sound-system came Discharges 'War-Fight' intro tape - it was time for them to go on.
DISCHARGE went on
...to a cheer or 300...and played a good set but the venue was vet echoey coz it was so big. A few punks got up onstage but they were thrown back into the crowd or carried out. Cal missed out on the vocals a couple of times and the intro of 'Massacre of Innocence' was messed up by Dave (Bambi). Rainy was onstage complete with his new £380 yellow flying V bass guitar. Later on upon the high-over-eye-level stage Cal puked up.
They returned for a four-song encore. I'll give them 6 out of 10 for the gig, the crowd 6 as well. I watched the gig from the area side-stage all the way through their set.
..We all went back to the dressing room where The Hatred singer (...the band that supported them last year at Discharges Nuneaton gig in November) Glenn had a fight with a Discharge roadie, he had an ear-ring pulled out and a nose-bleed - it only lasted about 20 seconds. Then loads of 8-year old kids came in wanting autographs - they got them and promptly left. Then after a while we all packed up their equipment in Discharges van and left and headed for a disco at Stoke Polytechnic near the railway station about a mile away. We all walked there which was not that far, Cal and (his girlfriend) Heather, Me Danny (from Derby) and his mates, Bones and (his girlfriend) Helen it was about a mile. When we got there it was packed. I got in for nothing - all 'smoothies' in there disco dancing. We all stayed in there til 12:30 a.m. Cal and the rest went home early. We walked up a couple of streets and just walked into a house that was having a party - the lady came up to us and said we must leave as it's "A private party". But after a while she apologised and said we could stay, I had a can of coke. We stayed there dancing to reggae songs for about an hour. Then we left and walked heading for Stoke City centre. Went through the centre area stopping at an all-night garage getting a can of fanta and some chocolate and then walked on a but further and turned up a street and into another party...! We went into the kitchen and grabbed a 2 and half litre bottle of coke and one of lemonade and went into the front room and sat down and listened to the Damned LP 'Machine Gun Etiquette' and The Vibrators 1st LP that me and Dave (Bambi) were singing to it. We listened to those two Lp's until a girl put on a Peter Gabriel LP then we all left at about 3 a.m. As we all walking back to Martins flat (the Discharge driver) the police stopped us. They just questioned us about where we had been and are going then we arrived at Martins place at about 4 a.m. Which was in a rather run-down part of Stoke (...that could be anywhere I gathered..!!). I ran upstairs and grabbed a dirty quilt and ran back downstairs and we fell asleep in the back room downstairs shortly after that at about 05:00hrs.
Saturday 13th
In the morning after waking up about 10 or 11 o'clock we played some of Martins record collection - Discharges 'Why' E.P. - Damneds 'Machine Gun Etiquette' the S.L.F (Stiff Little Fingers) 'Inflammable Material’ and an Anti-Pasti single. At 1pm Martin came back with the van with Cal and the rest of the Discharge were also in it. We all went out and jumped in - then we left for the Birmingham gig today at The Cedar Club. We stopped off at a service station, on the way southbound 50 miles or so...where I nicked a choc-ice then all piled back into Discharges van and we left and we pulled into Birmingham at around 2pm. The Cedar Club (...venue for the gig) was closed with no-one nside at all so we all went for a group walk around the Birmingham Bull-Ring Shopping Centre where I nicked a can of coke and we went into Virgin record shop then we got lost in the centre of Birmingham....and I had to show the lot of 'em the way to gig place at Cedar Club. We got there about 4pm or so. We all went in and then came out and got all the equipment in from the van. I played 'Destroying Tortoises' on a video game. We all went down the road into a pub on a corner where Bones bought me a pint of lemonade, it was quite packed in there too (..with normal working 'Brummie' (..thats 'Birmingham folk' to you...!!). I got the next gig/tour dates off of Rainy and got into the gig for nothing.
The gig place was a great place..small and dark but it had a great shape and housed an intimate atmosphere...a great venue for punk gigs indeed...
...later on G.B.H came on
...it must have been as late as 11 p.m. I reckon. It was their 'hometown' (...yes they were 'Brummies'..!!) They played a better set than last night in Stoke...with a set list of songs including...'Shell-Shocked', 'Big Women', 'The Executioner', (..that'll be 'State Executioner'..!) 'Britain Needs You' (...that'll be 'Generals'..!!)) and 'Lycanthropy'. They were really good and they went down well.
...it wasn't too long between the time G.B.H weft the stage and the main act came on...
At around midnight DISCHARGE came on
...they played a good set aswell. 7 out of 10 for the gig and 5 out of 10 for the crowd. They came back for an encore of four songs. Then returned one more final time for an encore of three more songs. They played 'Tomorrow Belongs To Us' three times. A girl jumped up on stage and was dancing crazily.
...The crowd left and later we left too at about 02:30 a.m. We drove through the centre of Birmingham and through the 'Spahetti-Junction' on the M6 motorway (...this is a tangle of roads, elevated and ground level that links the M6 motorway and the city of Birmingham..!) northbound to stoke 50 miles up the M6 motorway. The police stopped Discharges van on the M6 Motorway (...shortly after joining the M6 outside of Birmingham). Th Police opened up the back of the van complaining that "a van like ours was 'shedding its load' along the motorway" (...it may have had something to do with someone pulling up the back shutter while we were going along the M6 chucking bits of cardboard and paper out I reckon...!). The Police locked us in the back of the van for the rest of the journey to Stoke and we stopped for a break at the same services on the way back to Stoke. I bought two sausages and beans, warm this time with chips for £1.04p. Me and Dave (Bambi) tipped up a video-machine to get some money out of it as it was deserted - and 'beat it up' after that...when we realised that it just wouldn't work. We left the service station at Sandbach and pulled into Stoke at around 05:00 a.m. We dropped Rainy, Bones and Helen off. I got out with Dave and Lindy and another girl and went to his flat again and slept on Bambi's floor. He played me a live tape of when Discharge played Bradford and there were only 5 people in the crowd...! I got to sleep easily on the floor.
Sunday 14th
I left Bambi's flat in Stoke at 11 a.m. As I was coming up Dave’s street two punks walked across the top of the junction and shouted down and waved - it was Bones and Helen walking up towards Cals place, they walked on as I walked off to the Coach Station just up at Hanley. I bought a £3.50p ticket to London and Lindy and the other girl were on the same coach. I crossed London around 3pm and later I got back into Margate at 6.20 p.m. A bloke shot blanks at the Queen when she was riding a horse at the Trooping Of The Colour ceremony in Pall Mall (central London) today, it turned out to be a 17 year old kid from Folkestone, Kent (...about 20 miles from where I lived).
Tuesday 16th
I watched on television the Old Grey Whistle Test which had Stiff Little Fingers on it in concert. It live from Belfast - not bad.
Thursday 18th
I bought the Sounds music-paper...which wasn't bad. It had an Angelic Upstarts interview, an interview with Crass, a Killing Joke LP review, and a Siouxsie and the Banshees LP review and also an interview with them too. I sent off £3.75p for a live cassette of Discharge at the Lyceum. I also watched T.O.T.P and it had Siouxsie and the Banshees singing 'Spellbound' - good. I had a fight with Mike - I came out worst.
Friday 19th
I got up at the unearthly hour of 04:00 a.m. in the dark by alarm. I left the house at 04:25 a.m. and walked down the seafront to Margate Railway station. I caught the first train out at 05:30 a.m. to Victoria, London. I crossed London from south to north via an underground tube journey and then caught a train to Stoke from Euston railway station at 08:00 a.m. The train got me into Stoke at 10 a.m. I then walked up to Hanley coach station to meet Danny (from Derby) but he didn't turn up coz he was working. Then I walked back down to Bambi's flat. He was in and I went in. After a while Discharges van came round. So we walked up the road and got in. Cal and Martin were in there and Tezz's bike. Then we drove a short distance around to 15 Thorndyke Street where Bones lives. We picked him and Tezz up and his equipment then drove over to Mike Stones Record shop (Clay Records in Hope Street) where Bambi received £125 royalties from the cassette of the Lyceum gig. He spent around £50 on drums, cymbals and boxes for cymbals. Then we all got back in the van and drove off to Rainy's house. We picked him and Steve up and the drums and Rainy's equipment, Rainy's hair is black now. We then left Stoke and headed off towards Wales (...about 75 miles north-westwards on the coast) for the Rhyl gig in north Wales singing 'Uncle George is dead' songs in a deep-voiced Mississippi mode and that entertained us no end all the way. We pulled into into Rhyl at 5pm. We found the gig venue called 'The Gallery' after stopping and asking a few people on the seafront...and we then unloaded the equipment from the van and set it up on the stage, which was tiny - about 10 foot by 6 foot. The venue was right next to the seafront too. Rainy had to bend his head down to do the soundcheck it was so tight and cramped. Discharge did a soundcheck and then we all piled into the van and drove along the seafront and went into a cafe where I bought an 8-inch long sausage with beans and chips for a rip-off price of £1.23p. Cal had a food fight with Bambi while we were in there and after that we went into the local record shop - I bought a Discharge badge for 20p and got a gig poster (of tonight’s gig) from the window. We then went into various arcades along the sea-front where I had loads of games of Space Invaders - my best was 930 pts, three times. Then we went to Rhyl's seafront fun-fair where we all went on the bumper cars, (...'Dodgems' as some people call them) it was a great laugh. Then I bought a bag of chips and a hamburger, 55p. Then we all got back into Discharges van and drove back to the 'The Gallery' gig place. I went in for free with the pass Discharge had given me earlier. After a while there was a fight, the DJ got beaten up and his records scratched and the Police turned up and threw out all the kids under 18 (...I was 17 then..!!). Then I bought a pint of lemonade for 50p. I went into the dressing room and drunk it.
The support band THE V.O.T.S (The Victims Of This Society) came on.
They were a local band (possibly from Rhyl itself) who played 'Police Oppression' (The Angelic Upstarts cover) and also 'Where Have All The Bootboys Gone?' (...The Slaughter and the Dogs song) - they were terrible.
...The gig place was airy and had a lot of space inside but there were quite of few rough looking types in the crowd too...
Later on at around 11 o'clock
DISCHARGE went 'onstage'.
...They didn't play too good and the crowd were terrible. There was another fight and a glass was thrown onstage just missing Cal and Rainy. Bambi said through the microphone "Go outside and fight". I'll give Discharge 6 out of 10 for the concert and the crowd 2 out of 10.
...After Discharge went offstage I went back to the dressing room and stayed in there for about half an hour with the band. Then we all went out to the van and piled in. This kid with a carrot-haircut from near Rhyl said "I know a farmhouse we could stay the night", so we drove there with him directing us. We had to open up a field gate and drove in and mucked about in the straw bails for a time. Then stayed back inside the van a while. Then we had to drive off fast because someone said someone was coming. So then we drove and found a chip shop at 3 o'clock in the morning in Rhyl which was amazingly still open. I bought a hamburger and chips for 60p then we headed for a 'camping site' someone had seen or knew of. Here is where Calvin would 'Make Like Worms' in his sleeping bag in his tent to keep warm. Then Bones took it upon himself to drive the van around the field, we all got out and watched him at dawn jerkily speeding around a camp site with people in tents dotted here and there in his path. He was not by any means any good at driving at all and nearly ran over Martin in his tent aswell as many other campers. I crashed out in the van, after Bones had had his driving fix at around 4.a.m. Infact Bones had the van keys taken away from him for everyone’s safety in the immediate area and beyond.
Saturday 20th
In the morning we packed up all the tents and gathered everyone up into Discharges van and we drove back to 'The Gallery' (the gig place) to pick up the equipment. After loading the van up we set off for the gig in south Wales at Cardiff southbound some 130 miles. Dave (Bambi) bought two bootlegs, Sex Pistols - Live at San Francisco and David Bowie - Live at Wembley. It was really warm and sunny as we drove all across the Welsh mountains heading from the very tip of North Wales to the very south coast. We stopped at a place called Welshpool about a third of the way there where we all got out for a stretch. I bought three lovely cakes for 54p then we left Welshpool. We pulled into Cardiff at 5pm. Then searched for the gig venue called 'Grass Roots' and found it after stopping to ask a few people in a sort of university area that was not that pretty at all. Went into the gig venue and then lugged the equipment out of the van around the back door and in. (...the gig place was a long dark hall with little atmosphere...it was like a youth club..maybe it was) We set up the equipment and Discharge did a soundcheck. Bones had a lot of trouble with his guitar and its sound. Rainy played his harmonica through the microphone. I bought some chocolate and a chicken and mushroom pie with chips inside 'Grass Roots'. Then went back to the dressing room and sat down and ate my food. The doors opened and about a hundred (if that) Welsh punks and a lot of skinheads turned up for the gig. The gig venue was like a long thin cellar of concrete. The support band came on first at around 8ish or so. They were called
THE OPPRESSED
...and they were a skinhead/punk band and had a little bit of a following but they were rubbish and all their songs were the same. They were an Anti-Nazi band. They used a load of Discharges equipment their sound, and Discharges drums and bass guitar.
...Then after they went off I went over to Mark and Big-Bum (..I think it was a girl from Stafford with a 'big bum as it happens..!) from Stafford who were selling Discharge cuff-bands (...or 'armbands'..!) and neck-scarves (...Hanky's).
..t.hen at 10:30 p.m.
DISCHARGE came on
....and they played a brilliant set. The crowd were really good all piling on the stage, I was in there too. Rainy pushed Bambi's new cymbals onto his drums while he was playing them. I was singing through Rainys microphone onstage. Later on when I was in the crowd I could smell burning and it stank (...smelled really strong..!!) but no-one else was duly concerned until it became too much and as I turned to leave the crowd Then some punk kid pointed to my spikey hair looking quite concerned. Someone had lit something and plonked it into my hair in the crowd - I tipped my head down and the offending smouldering item fell out - it felt like it was done on purpose. Halfway through 'Decontrol' I was pulled offstage by my jacket - I landed on my back on the ground - then I got punched in the face...I scarpered into the crowd with my nose bleeding. I guess there was an anti-me or anti-English feeling going down tonight?. Even though I was hurt and burnt a bit the crowd seemed to be really enjoying the gig but there were also a lot of stares going on between the crowd and the circle of onlookers a sort of split statement in the crowd here tonight?
...Discharge finished their set and went off behind the stage into the dressing room at the back of the building (...where their van was parked outside). I went to the side of the stage and Cal said "Are you ok.? " I said "I'm a bit sore" and we were sitting there talking then some Skinhead threw a mug us lot down the side of the stage (...I think he was aiming at the bloke in front of me) and it smashed on the wall and a splinter of it hit the bloke in the ear and he was cut pretty bad. The atmosphere was full of anger and a standoff sort of appeared for a few minutes with stares and shouting etc and shortly after that the Police turned up. The Police tried to get Cal to make a statement, but Cal didn't as he 'wanted no trouble'. After it calmed down and a few people left we checked out the back (...which was very dingy, dark and industrial like business/shops loading bays out the back of their premises...etc) to see if any of the skinheads or punks were out there but they weren’t. So we quickly loaded the equipment into the van in record time and we all piled into the van and left Cardiff as fast as possible. The 'we' were-: Cal, Rainy, Bones, Bambi, Helen, Danny, Big-Bum from Stafford, Mark, Martin (Discharge van driver) his girlfriend, Lindy and her blonde friend and me - 13 people in a white van with all the equipment too...!). We then headed the 150 miles north-eastwards towards Stoke at around 02:00 a.m. or thereabouts. It took a few hours and we talked about the gig and the trouble etc and got some kip on the way too on the journey that took 2 and half hours or so. We dropped Danny, Mark, Windy Lindy and her blonde friend off at Birmingham at 5:40 a.m. in the morning. The rest of us in Discharges van drove to Stoke and got there at 07:00 a.m. We dropped Bones and Helen off, then I got out with Bambi and went with him to his flat again where Mork and his girlfriend were in bed. Bambi taped his David Bowie and Sex Pistols Bootleg LP's then we and I fell asleep about 9 a.m. or so.
Sunday 21st
I woke up at about 4pm in the afternoon and went to the toilet and no-one was in or up so I then left Bambi's flat in Stoke for home in the clear blue sunshine shortly after that. I walked up to Hanley Coach station about 10 minutes away and I caught the 4:30 p.m. coach to Victoria coach station in central London. There was a massive traffic jam due to an accident on the M1 motorway going south the 150 miles. I eventually got into London 5 hours later at 9:20 p.m. I walked up to Victoria train station five minutes way and jumped on the 9:34 p.m. train to Margate that would take me the 75 miles home to the sea-side eastbound and it arrived there at 11ish. There was also a tube crash in London and it caught fire, one person died and seventy were injured. My mum thought I got caught up in it and even rang the incident room for details of the fatality and injured people as she was getting worried about me. I must have missed it by an hour or so if that. There were riots in Peckham, South London tonight too (...my birthplace..!). At the fun fair (...a travelling Amusement park) on Peckham Rye (park), which turns up twice during the summer months - 500 black youths ran down Rye Lane smashing windows and looting shops (This was my playground area when I was growing up...!).
Monday 22nd
John McEnroe had an argument with an umpire at Wimbledon Tennis tournament calling him "an incompetent fool" and also the referee he labelled "Pits of the world". I painted my Discharge jacket coz some of the 'Fight Back' picture had come off after the recent gigs.
Wednesday 24th
I found a dead Robin (bird) in the front garden and chased Mum around the house with it, I also had a laugh with Tina (...our cat) with it. I tied a piece of cotton onto one of its legs and swung it around her head, she was going crazy - I've left it tied on the washing line out in the back garden.
Thursday 25th
My Discharge cassette came through the post this morning. It has the picture cover of the 'Decontrol' 7-Inch Discharge single cover also as its sleeve cover. It has 25 tracks on it, with a 6-song encore - it's not too good of a recording mind you it wasn't too good of a gig. I watched television and saw Top Of The Pops which was rubbish. I bought the Sounds music paper and it had a picture of Discharge and the dates of their soon-coming tour. I stuck up some of my Discharge posters and cuttings on my bedroom wall...that’s it..!
Friday 26th
I woke up then got up at 10:30 a.m. and I walked around to sign on the dole then went and cashed my giro-cheque. Then I got a lift with dad down to Margate Railway station, for the near 200-mile trip to the West Runton Pavilion gig in northern Norfolk to see Discharge. I then caught the 12:23 train to Victoria in London. It pulled into South London at about 2ish. I went down on the underground (..the 'Metro' or 'Subway'..!) then jumped on a tube train and caught the Circle Line eastbound and changed at Aldgate onto one going to Liverpool Street and got off there. Then ran up to the Railway station and bought a single-ticket to Norwich (£5.10p which was cheaper than the coach which was £5.50p). I caught the 2:45 p.m. train eastwards to Norwich (...80 miles north-east into Norfolk in the middle of eastern England). The train went through the east-end suburbs of London, Bethnal Green, Gidea Park, Ilford then out into Essex stopping at Chelmsford, Colchester (...which apparently has the longest railway platform in England..!), Ipswich, Stowmarket, Diss then it pulled into Norwich at 4:30 p.m. I had to wait for an hour for a train connection to West Runton (which is right up on the northern Norfolk coast another 30 miles or so). So I caught that train at 5:30 p.m. and I met Danny and Mark on it too. They had a look at my 'Love In A Void' Siouxsie and the Banshees Bootleg LP I brought with me to swap with Bambi for some Discharge posters and memorabilia and Live tapes he has). There were loads of Punks on the pay-train to West Runton (...it only had 2 carriages too..!) it cost me £1.20p for the ticvket. The train pulled into West Runton at around 7:20 p.m in the evening. We got off and walked down the high street til we came to a pub, we went in and Cal, Rainy, Bambi, Bones, Helen and Martin the driver were in there drinking lager, and loads of it too. I bought a bag of crisps and had a chat with Bambi and he took the Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Love In A Void' Bootleg even though he didn't have any of the Discharge memorabilia stuff with him but he bought me a boat-full of sausage, chips and beans - luvly. Then we left the pub and had a short walk up to the venue - The West Runton Pavillion. It is a smart place indeed. I hung around a while then went to the dressing room where Cal, Bones and Rainy were drinking lager again, loads of it..(...again..!) ! It was quite a strange place to hold a Punk gig as West Runton is tiny and way out in the sticks by the sea-side and nowhere near even a big town letalone a city - and it was full with travelling punks tonight. Then The Exploited and Chron Gen turned up.
...First up onstage tonight were a local support band - they were terrible.
.... the guitarists blue guitar sounded like a banjo, they went off (...no idea what they were called..!).
...I went off to the dressing room and hung about there.
...Then THE EXPLOITED came onstage
...I stood behind the drums in the wings and watched them from there. They played a really good set getting the crowd going. They encored with a couple of songs then went off.
...DISCHARGE were ready to go onstage but Bones' amp wouldn't work at all so he had to rig up and use someone else’s.
...They then went onstage after that and I stayed in the wings where I was and watched them with Helen, Danny and Mark too. It was Helens 42nd time to see Discharge (...she is Bones girlfriend though..!!!).
Discharge played OK. Rainy kept stepping on peoples fingers at the front of the stage. Cal puked up and they went down really well.
They came back on for a four-song encore then went off for good.
...I picked a can of coke up and drunk it offstage. Discharge packed up all the gear and got it into their van. They were staying in a bed and breakfast the night, all bar Rainy and Martin.
...So me Rainy, Martin (the Discharge Van Driver) and Mark and a girl from Norwich slept in Discharges van which was rather spacious tonight, at around 1 or 2 a.m. parked in the Bed and Breakfast car park.
Saturday 27th
In the morning after waking up slowly we all got together and piled into Discharges Van and then we drove to a tea-shop and had something to eat which was quite quaint and quiet in West Runton just off the sea-front. It was funny to see a typically-idyllic English-Tea-Part at a little place filled with Discharge and their punky entourage in their sitting eating and 'passing the tea-pot' just hours after a 'full-on' manic punk gig the night-before. I had a cup of tea and a chocolate eclair. Cal, Bones and Helen came along and we all got into the van and we drove out of West Runton for the Northampton gig across country around 75 miles or so eastwards. On the way we saw two punks who were hitchhiking (...after seeing Discharge last night) so Discharge picked them up in their van..! (...Imagine that...going to see your favourite band then hitching home the afternoon after the gig and the actual band you travelled to see are the ones that stop and pick you up..!). We went through Peterborough. In a small village, about halfway there we stopped off at a pub. It was a sunny day and we went in and I bought some crisps while Discharge and the rest drank a pint of beer. We sat outside in the sun and blue skies in the countryside near a roundabout. Then swinging around the roundabout came a bouncy Citroen 2CV car. As the car got closer we realised that the the people inside looked rather 'Punky'..! It was infact none other than the Leamington/Daventry mobs 2CV car...Antisect infact. Lots of talking and chatting and they joined up travelling with us from then on. We all went in and out of that pub a lot and sat in there chatting and eating for an hour or so in the sun. Before our 'Discharge Mob' van left we tied a dead hedgehog to Antisects 2CV car radio-aerial and capped it off with a 'Johnny Bag' (condom) while Antisect were inside the pub. (...I recall Cal and Rainy giggling wildly like school-kids frantically tying them on as quick as possible so not to get caught finalising this rather 'mature world changing punk' joke..!!). We rapidly filled our van up with everyone and as we just started to drive away Antisects mob came out and we (The Discharge Van mob...!) sped off beeping and laughing as they came out to see what we'd done...! . About 3 miles down the road they caught up with us (..Now 2CV's are quite slow but they still caught us..!). Antisect in their 2Cv were over taking us and swerving in front of us and tried to ram us off the road while beeping and waving at us. We got into Northampton at 4 p.m. We stopped off at a Joke Shop in the centre of Northampton where Bambi bought loads of stink-bombs, fart sweets and spray string. We then drove off to the gig venue which was called 'The Roadmenders Club' and was up a dead end cul-de-sac near a dual carriageway in the centre of Northampton. We met Wattie from The Exploited was there and Cal hit threw some eggs at him which he had bought. We took all the equipment and instruments out from the van and into the Roadmenders Club. Bones' later tried out his guitar amp but it turned out to be knackered after all (..Ka-Put..!!). I grabbed a few tables and organised them for Helen to sell the Discharge merchandise from tonight.
...First up onstage on the bill tonight were
CHRON GEN
...Who were from near that area a place called 'Hitchin' (...ironically) and were formerly called 'Chronic Generation' but shortened it. they were 'light-weight' melodic punk...but tonight they didn't play too good at all.
...Next up on the bill were
ANTI-PASTI
...who played for the first time on the tour (...This was a 'tour' called 'The Apocalypse Now Tour' - which was formed around Discharge and The Exploited...with Chron Gen and Anti-Pasti supporting more often that not on the other dates...Anti-Pasti were from Derby or Mansfield I think about 60 miles north east of Northampton). They played badly.
...Next up tonight onstage were
THE EXPLOITED
....and they played good. (The were from Scotland...Glasgow i think)
...I went right down to the front of the high-stage when
DISCHARGE came on
They were headlining the whole bunch. They played brilliantly and Danny and Mark were down amongst the crowd at the front too.
...After they finished I went back to the dressing room which was really large and had 'Ping-Pong' table-tennis tables in it. Bambi let off loads of stinkbombs so we vacated the area immediately. We took all the equipment out later on and packed the van around midnight or after that. We left the Roadmenders Club heading for the next venue on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour. It was a gig tomorrow in Leicester - the Discharge van was absolutely packed out with people and eqiupment. We still managed to give a lift to two punks and dropped them off, as we were going their direction to a place called Market Harbourough at a pub. When dropped them off at 02:00 a.m. in the dark. When we turned around to pull out across the road from the pub forecourt a white Mercedes nearly hit us and swerved and skidded and mounted the pavement. We sped away (..in the opposite direction - not easy with about 12 people and a whole gig-full of gear in a white VW van..!) but the car turned around and chased us down the deserted roads through Market Harborough at 02.00 am.. The car was travelling faster than us and kept coming up right behind Discharges van getting really close flashing its lights and swerving in and out like it was going to overtake us. Some people in Discharges van were saying to 'stop' while others said carry on going...but we couldn't out run it. They were behind us and Martin the van driver could not go any faster so we could not out-run them at all. It was dark, after 2.a.m and we didn't know the area at all. Shortly after that the white Mercedes car overtook us beeping his horn wildly and the driving was waving his fist and shouting at Martin. Most of us were piling forwards to look while the van was speeding side by side with this car at 50 or 60 mph. He over took us and got in front of us....so most of us said "there’s loads of us lets stop he can't take us all on". So we motioned to 'pull-over' slow down and stop and he did too. The driver of the white Mercedes got out quickly (..and I think there were 2 more men in the car that got out too..!) but we slid open the side doors and one front door before we stopped and about 15 people piled out. He (and his mates) ran back into his car and sped off much to our enjoyment. We were jeering at him as he disappeared into the Leicestershire night never to be seen again. Me, Danny, Mark and Bambi got dropped off at Highfields Station somewhere in Leicester. Bambi stayed at Mark’s flat. I stayed at Danny’s place which was nice (...like a half-a-house..the downstairs flat). He cooked chips and oxtail soup for me too which was lovely. We played some records and then I went to sleep on his sofa at about 4 a.m. in Leicester
Sunday 28th
In the morning Bambi, Mark, Rainy, Lindy and Diane came around to Danny’s where I stayed last night. Then we all went off to The De Montfort Hall where tonight’s gig was. It is a really imposing building and has rose gardens around it and walkways etc. We went inside and it was absolutely huge in there with a giant 200 foot by 150 foot dance floor space plus it had a seated balcony area upstairs. It also has a raised high-up huge stage at one end too. I watched The Exploited tune-up and soundcheck...and Wattie was drumming to 'Cop Cars' (The Exploited song) and Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Metal Postcard' too. Big John (The Guitarist for The Exploited) was playing 'The Wombles of Wimbledon' on his guitar. Later on they ran through a few songs to soundcheck which was o.k to watch. Bambi was mucking around playing the stage 'light-man' while they attempted to do their sound-check. Then I walked up to the foyer at the front and bought a couple of bars of chocolate and ate them. Then after a while I went down to the tearoom where I bought a cup of tea and cheese roll and a marathon.
...Then the first band on tonight came on it was
CHRON GEN
...they played good and their guitarist tripped up and fell over onstage.
.....After they went off I hung around the stage and dancefloor til...
ANTI-PASTI came on
...they got the 300 in tonight moving and they played a really lively set. The bass guitarist flew around the huge stage getting really into their music as they played a 40-minute set then they went off.
...I sat on the side of the stage after going backstage for a while then I waited til...
The EXPLOITED came on
...they played a really good set. Danny tried to get onstage while they were playing but he was shoved back off. They went off...
....and I sat back on the side of the stage then later on
DISCHARGE came on
...I went down the front right into the middle with John the old bald-headed bloke. (..this guy was small and 'old' by that I guess I mean he looked late thirties or early forties..quite unusual to see at gigs back then of course!) Cal was really lively running around the stage tonight and he nearly hit me with the microphone stand. Discharge played great. Even Danny and Mark got to join in on vocals for 'Decontrol', then Discharge went off.
...I went outside after the gig and around to the back door and got in with a mohican-girl. We went into the dressing rooms I had a chat with Chron Gens' singer. I wet my hair, Heather (...Cals girlfriend) came along and said "You look exhausted". We went back to Discharges van. Then outside we heard a lot of laughing getting nearer and nearer until Wattie of The Exploited turned up at Discharges van with a fire extinguisher! He set it off after opening the side doors and we all scarpered out the other side in amad rush. But he caught a few people by drenching them who couldn't escape. As Big John and Wattie and a few of the Exploited gang were laughing away Me, Cal and Bambi sneaked down to their van as they were 'away on business' we filled their van with stink-bombs in their absence and re-closed the doors and scarpered. Shortly after that Wattie left and it wasn't long before he came back again! He had another fire extinguisher and was chasing me across the rose gardens outside the De Montfort Hall with it and The Exploited mob sought revenge for their 'aromatic form of transport' - I grabbed some handfuls of earth and pressed them into 'earthballs' and lobbed some at him and Big John and anyone Scottish...! Watties ammunition ran out so he lobbed the whole fire extinguisher at me! Things calmed down after that, as there were no more fire extinguishers to be had. I went back inside the De Montfort Hall and bought a hamburger. Then shortly after that me, Helen, Bones and moany Nigel left, we stopped at a chip shop on the way, where I got a can of coke and a portion of chips. The rest of the Discharge crew went to Mark’s flat, while me and Nigel slept at Danny’s place again. We played some of his record collection...The Exploited album and the girl who liked G.B.H from Birmingham woz there too. I went to sleep on the sofa again while moany Nigel moaned to sleep on two chairs at around 04:00 a.m.
Monday 29th
In the morning sometime me, Danny and Nigel walked to Marks place where Helen, Bones, Bambi and Mark were. Shortly after that we took a trip to an Indian Restaurant where I bought a raspberry milkshake for 30p. After that we all went back up to Highfields Railway Station in Leicester where we sat down in the sun and waited for Discharges van to come along - we all got in but there wasn't much room and it was clear that a few people had to find another way to the gig in Gloucester later on tonight. No one, including me really wanted to get out but after much talking and discussions I got out and walked off to the Coach station to get there that way. I met Nigel there and we sorted out a way to get across the midlands from Leicester to the gig place. Nigel said it was in Gloucester, The Winter Gardens (...although - based on what he said - I had written down 'Malvern Winter Gardens' by mistake from Rainy or Heather’s scribbled notes at a gig or three ago). Which was a bit hard to try to travel to as both 'towns' are not that big and most travel routes go north or south not across in one go. So we caught the next available coach to Birmingham (although we bought a through-ticket to Gloucester) it cost £3.50p and the coach left at 2:50 p.m. Then after arriving at Birmingham we had to wait for a while for the Gloucester coach so we took a stroll up to Birmingham’s Bull-Ring shopping centre to kill some time. We returned to Birmingham Digbeth Coach Station and caught the Gloucester coach at 4:50 p.m. - it was really sunny and the coach flew along and we got into Gloucester at about 5:45 p.m. Got off and headed for a record shop to find out where the 'Winter Gardens' gig place was. Asked in there and the guy in there said "There are no Winter Gardens in Gloucester" but he added "There is a Winter Gardens in Malvern" (I knew it - it seemed like Nigel was wrong in making me come to Gloucester with him). I checked my tour dates on the bit of paper I carried with me and it said 'Malvern Winter Gardens - Monday 29th June'. I was not impressed with Nigel and he said nothing to me about it (...Like "oops sorry I fucked up big time"..!!). So we found a phone box and tried to call the Winter Gardens (...yes, in Malvern where we were not in...!) but there was no answer and time was ticking by. So we thought of catching a local bus from Gloucester to Malvern on a summers evening and we walked to a bus stop. But the last bus had already gone at 5:55 p.m....just 20 minutes ago. It was now 6:15 p.m. and we were in Gloucester with no bus service to get us to Malvern from here. So we had to go to the train station in Gloucester for an attempt to get there. But on the way to the station we met two punks and we asked them about the gig and they said that there is a special bus or coach that’s going at 7 p.m. And so we went with them and waited by this car park for what seemed like ages with nothing coming and even a few punks got bored and wandered off from the 'pick-up place' never to be seen again. I waited till 7:30 p.m. then had had enough and even though Nigel wanted to wait I said, "I'm going to get a train instead....this bus is not coming". He came with me and we headed for the railway station again in Gloucester, like we should have done over an hour ago. I rang Malvern Winter Gardens and they answered and asked them what time Discharge are coming on and they said 10 p.m. which was pretty early but that gave us about 2 hours and there was a train at 8:30 p.m. So we got tickets to Malvern from Gloucester for £2.64p and got on the train and it went through Cheltenham Spa and some lovely countryside. But it was seemingly so slow it was untrue and seemed to be going zing-zagging from town to town then stopped at Worcester (Shrub Hill). We had to change there for the train to Malvern and had to wait till 9:42 p.m. for it...! - Things were going from bad to worse in the middle of nowhere thanks to Nigel. Got on the train after 9.50pm and it stopped at Worcester Central, Malvern Link where I was thinking of jumping off in case it was near there, then onto Great Malvern. Got off the train running around as fast as we could, Nigel was quite chubby so he couldn't run that fast. I asked a girl where The Winter Gardens were in Malvern. She said right up the hill. It seemed like Malvern was on a small mountain...we ran up the hill as best we could, then turned left at the traffic lights like she said and went down the road and eventually came to The Winter Gardens, Malvern. This is where I would have headed had I not met Nigel at the coach station in Leicester, had there been enough room in the van also too...! As it was so bloody late we just walked in for nothing as no one was there on the door asking for money or tickets. We went backstage and the band were surprised to see us. They thought we'd never get here, they were very nearly right...! We missed the support bands but Discharge had not been on yet...yeah...!
We missed ALL the support bands which were....Demob, Surgical Fish and The Subhumans. (The Sub-Humans I would have loved to see.....thanks to Nigel I missed them all)
DISCHARGE came on
...and the hall was quite small and pokey really and a country feel to it. The stage was low too...The sound they got was pure chaos, microphones kept failing over...and Cal ended up singing his main vocals through a spare microphone they had wired up. The crowd were stupid, running and jumping over kids at the front and landing on the speakers or onstage...then getting thrown back into the crowd or fighting with the bouncers....?!?!? Discharge were finished in 40 minutes flat...and thus ended a hellish gig for me travelling to get to see it and for them to play it I felt.
We took the equipment out into the van - and I actually got the joy of a lift out of Malvern with Discharge...thank god...although the days 'fun' was not over by a long way for me...!. Discharge were off to stay at a girls house in Cheltenham with the rest of the people in the van...everyone infact bar me..! After a while of driving in the misty darkness at way after midnight. They stopped the van and the door opened and I was at the end of my lift. So I got out at a motorway junction exit somewhere on the M5 in the middle of nowhere in Gloucestershire at about 1 a.m. or so. I said "See ya later" and they all drove off to go stay at someone’s house (...I kind of thought that one extra person would not have 'broken the bank' for them, or the girl having the party at the time.....!!). Still I got on with getting to the next gig...just a whole lot earlier than anticipated that’s all....(...at 01:00 a.m. in the dark and mist in the middle of nowhere on my own. I had just a leather jacket and trousers and t-shirt on..that was it..not equipped for a night anyway...letalone here..!) The road they dropped me off at was also a junction with the M5 motorway. It was a bad one and it was not the best time to be there. There was about one vehicle every ten minutes...if that...mmm 5 an hour from which to hitch a lift by a punk at 01.30 a.m. in a deserted place deep in Gloucestershire. I tried to hitch an while but gave up after 3 or 4 cars ( 30-40 minutes). So I tried to find a place to sleep in the misty countryside but cover was not good unsurprisingly and everywhere seemed damp and wet from the mist. So I gave up on that crazy notion and ended up sitting on a M5 Motorway embankment under the bridge. After an hour I decided to go back up to stand and hitch-hike again. The few cars came and went seemingly surprised to see me but drove on...then out of the blue a lorry came up and I thought I stood a chance...and it stopped...!!!!! The guy was going to Birmingham - yesssssssssssssss (...the next gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour was in Manchester in 2 days time..!!). What a great piece of luck at about 02.00 a.m. for me (..but I still would have preferred that girls house in Cheltenham though). He took me up the deserted M5 right into the centre of Birmingham just five minutes from New Street station, which had cover and was warmer than the street. I thanked him and walked up through a handful of deserted Birmingham city centre streets with no-one on. I hung about there at New Street station with some homeless people and drifters all night and also walked about along the Bull-Ring shopping centre a while too when i could not sleep. I got some sleep behind a pillar on the New Street station floor which was a kind of waiting area. Not a comfy nights kip at all by any means at about 05:00 a.m..
Tuesday 30th
God knows what time I woke up, possibly about 6 or 7 a.m. (...so it meant I only got 1 or maybe just 2 hours sleep..!) and I just tried to waste time till I felt marginally better and a little more human. I decided to 'get up' (!) and go walking about Birmingham city centre as I had to waste a day between gigs. The next gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour was tomorrow, in Manchester and not tonight. At 10:30 a.m I left the New Street railway station in central Birmingham and took a walk down to Digbeth, which is a city suburb south of the centre. It was a mile to the Digbeth coach station. I asked them in there the time of the last coach to Stoke (Hanley Coach station) as I fancied taking the night coach to Stoke and therefore not crashing out in New Street again for the second night...and anyway there was an open waiting room and wooden bench awaiting me at Stoke-on-Trent railway station...that now seemed like luxury to me..! The last coach to Stoke was at 9:30 p.m. so I bought a ticket for that some 11 hours away. During my 'Birmingham day' I bought a couple of hamburgers to eat and basically walked my time away around Birmingham and New Street and the Bull-Ring shopping centre until around 8:30 p.m. Then I walked back down to Digbeth coach station for the last time that day for to catch the 9:30 p.m. coach out of there to Stoke (Hanley). It only took 45 minutes and got into Hanley coach station in Stoke at around 10:15 p.m. I then walked down to Stoke-on-Trent station which was about 1 and a half miles away. On the way I stopped at a chip shop and bought some hot food by the way of a mushroom pie, chips and a saveloy for 63p. Then I walked with those around the corner to the railway station at about 11 p.m. I sat in the foyer and ate my food and waited for the ticket office to shut. I then went to the toilet, which was by the waiting room. When I came out of the toilet I went into the waiting room which was empty and I slept on a wooden bench at about 12:30 a.m.
JULY
Wednesday 1st
I woke up at around 7 a.m. then I jumped on the first train to Manchester (...which is north of Stoke by about 50 miles). It went through Eturia (...nice named place for Stoke...!) Macclesfield, Stockport and pulled into Manchester Piccadilly railway station at 8:10 a.m. I did not get on with a ticket of course so I strolled up the guy checking tickets. When I was asked about a ticket I said I hadn't got one because the ticket office was shut (...it wasn't...!) so I told the ticket guy I'd come from Stockport to save a bit of money to last longer on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour. But he said that "you cannot get on at Stockport without a ticket". I argued with him a while but he had taken my railcard from me already and asked me to write my name and address on a piece of paper. When I did I wrote 86 Athelstan Road (...a road in Margate, Kent where I lived...but I did not live at that actual address..!). But they checked it out, which I didn't think they could..! Then took me on foot to the Railway Transport Police Station that was just around the corner (...bloody great isn't it...!! - I am trying to save cash I end up nabbed by the Police now at 8:15 a.m. in Manchester. So suddenly the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour is looked rather grim indeed. When they asked me about what station I got on I changed my story from 'Stockport' to 'Stoke' saying that the ticket guy had misheard me. They took me into a room and asked me to empty my pockets. They also took the laces from my Doctor Marten boots and also the safety pins from my trousers too..! (...they'll sell anything in Manchester...!). Then they took me to a Police Station holding cell where I stayed for about an hour. Then I got dressed...and I didn't make a statement. Then they let me go at about 11 o'clock for free saying that I would hear about a court date by letter soon (...what a bollocks start to the day....Manchester so much to answer for....! - if you think this is bad...read on what happens in just 90 minutes time to me....!!!). Then I walked around for an hour trying to find the Polytechnic (...where the gig later on was being held). I found it by midday and went in. I was playing loads of pool upstairs and bought some milk and chocolate. At 2pm I went out and bumped into Nigel down the road a bit and showed him the way back to the Polytechnic (...as you know from the journey from Derby to Malvern that he was not a 'lucky mascot' for me...!) It was not a residential area at all...just old buildings and old businesses. As we crossed a road two black kids come up behind us and grabbed me and Nigel and demanded cash as they were threatening us. I was pretty scared but I was not going to give them any cash. I said "I'm hitching around following a punk band on tour and sleeping rough so I haven’t got much a few pence". But Nigel blurted out unbelievably pointing to me "He's got loads of money he travels about by coaches" - I could not believe it - but had no time to think about that as both the guys roughed me up and helped themselves into my pockets and took all my money and even took my railcard (...thats twice in 4 hours - today is getting rather shittey and Nigel is rather pissing me off a fucking lot...!). I think I had over £20 (...enough money easily for the rest of the 'Apocalypse Now' tour...!). So now thanks to two muggers and a mouthy twat I was relieved of it all. Although one of the muggers said to his mate "Give him back his railcard man, you don't need that...its worthless" his mate said "Nah way - I'm chucking that away" but his mate then said "Give it him back c'mon give it to him" (...which under the current circumstances seemed weirdly generous indeed...!). So he did....! His mate also gave me a handful of change. Then they both walked off calmly chatting down a side street and with them disappeared my Discharge tour money. So this then was my last gig on the 'Apocalypse Now' Tour thanks to them and that mouthy slimy cunt called Nigel. He was such an arsehole and I don't think he gave them anything at all. I said to him so angrily "What did you say that fucking for?!?!?!?". He said..."we'll you had the money and they wanted it...its best to give them what they want and you don't get hurt" - I said to him "Yeah, my fucking money you told them I had - you never mentioned yours..."..! - He never even offered me any money out of sympathy. Like to give me half of his as we both escaped uninjured...No...nothing from him...He kept his money...while he told them to take all mine...he just did not give a fuck about anyone but himself. I walked with him to the gig and said very little to him after that if anything at all. I was seething, angry and livid. We'd have stood a chance...well I would have, to keep my cash and given them maybe a fiver or tenner (...5 or 10 UK pounds) and not lose way over £20 of MY money and not his. What a fucking disaster today has been...come to think of it since I travelled and met Nigel its been one fuck up after another....he was to blame for the Malvern fuck-up too with his 'Gloucester Winter Gardens'. What a tosser that guy is...at least the more caring of the two muggers gave me a few pounds back and my railcard. I think they could tell we were miles from home and needed something if a few pence or pound to help get me home. So I got my railcard and was in the gig place. I was 'nicked' (arrested) for bunking the train and then mugged by 2 black blokes in Manchester all within 5 hours. Oh deary me. I hung about at the Polytechnic and Discharge turned up at 5:30 p.m. I hung about inside of the Poly until they chucked everyone out at 6.30pm. Then they closed the doors and I waited outside on my own nowhere near Nigel twat. Although he came over as Diane and Lindy turned up after a while. Cal came out and luckily gave me a ticket to get in (...as I couldn't have afforded to go in tonight now...!) cheers Cal. I had just over a quid on me (1.25p in English money!) and I am 275 miles from home. I sold some 'Chron Gen Tickets' for 5p each (...or 4 for 20p to make some money...I am not sure how that worked but that is what it states in my diary...maybe you could go in and watch the first band or something...?). I went in with that free ticket from Cal at 8pm (I felt quite hollow and saddened by today...I was not at all mentally looking forwards to the gig and did not enjoy it at all).
Then first up onstage were
CHRON GEN
...and they played OK...and went down really good with the crowd...it had scaffolding (metal tubes) for a barrier at the front of the stage.
Next up tonight in Manchester were
ANTI-PASTI
...and the sound of their drums was terrible. But it was sorted out by the end of their set and they ended up playing OK in the end...and they went down good as well with the crowd.
Then next up were funnily enough
DISCHARGE
...and I climbed a scaffolding pole on the stages right to grab a great vantage point to watch them from. Discharge played good. Rainys' yellow flying V got broken when a fan climbed onstage and piled into him...the bouncers pulled him off but as they did his feet got caught around Rainys' bass guitar lead and it was yanked out but it worked a while later O.K. The crowd liked Discharge a lot.
...After a while the headliners...for tonight
THE EXPLOITED
...came on last. I went down the front and sat on the stage...they played really good. They got the crowd really going and a stage-invasion came during the encore of the set...but The Exploited kept on playing til the end.
...after they left the stage I left the Polytechnic and I went outside and who should be outside but Discharge-hater Garry Bushell (...he was a 'journalist' for the English Music paper called 'Sounds') and he was chatting to people outside about the gig. And he asked me who I came to see, I said "Discharge" and he said "I dunno what they are singing about - I can't understand them". I went back into the Polytechnic after a while and the singer from Anti-Pasti came over to me and we had a chat a while about their new LP and how long the band have been going etc. Then I went back out to Discharges van...I thought that I had better hang about there and mention I have just a quid left to get home and see if they can help me out with a lift possibly. Martin the driver was there and Rainy was wearing a bearskin hat (...like the type the guards at Buckingham Palace wear...!!!). Bones was there and Helen (...his girlfriend) with Cal and Bambi. Dave went back to Wigan with some friends of his. Then Cal and Rainy decided to let down The Exploiteds Vans tyres on their van for tour...!!!! Then me and everyone else got everyone into Discharges van and left the Polytechnic after midnight...thank god. I got a lift to Stoke with Discharge (...tonight of all nights I needed a lift from them and they gave me one..!). Now officially my 'Apocalypse Tour 1981' was over. I was gutted totally...and even though I had a lift to Stoke I was still worried as to how I'd get home the other 200 plus miles to Margate in Kent in south-east England. We headed out of horrible Manchester and travelled down the M6 and we pulled into Stoke at around 02:00 a.m. We dropped Rainy and Steve off, then we dropped off Bones and Helen. Then moany Nigel and Cal at his mums semi-detached house in Hanley. Then me, Martin, Lindy and Diane went to Martins new flat near the Polytechnic that we went to a while ago with Discharge after the Victoria Halls Stoke gig. I went with him through a side entrance and his flat-mate made us very welcome with a lovely cup of tea and even lovelier two pieces of toast. I then went to sleep in a room upstairs at 03:00 a.m. contemplating my journey back home tomorrow with just over one English Pound to get me 275 miles. If that wanker Nigel did not exist i would be going to another 6 Discharge gigs now...at Bracknell, Wakefield, Middlesborough, Bradford, Birmingham and Cardiff...instead I am going home like this....while the 'Apocalypse Tour 1981 goes on..it stops here for me tonight.
Thursday 2nd
I woke up just before 2 p.m. and said goodbye to Martins' flat mate and then left with just £1.20p to get me home so I had to hitchhike for sure. So I walked out in the sunshine of Stoke centre to just before the M6 junction on the west side of Stoke (...it was about 4 miles) then I got a lift for 800 yards to the M6 slip-road to hitch-hike. I tried to thumb a lift for about an hour til 4 p.m...it was very warm. Then a young office guy stopped and gave me a lift in his Escort and he gave me a can of Fanta (...'Orange' - coloured- drink..!). He liked The Specials (...they were a U.K. early eighties Ska band) and we stopped once for a little while then he dropped me at the north-Coventry exit of the M6 (...about 50 miles south from Stoke). It must have been about 5pm or later by then. So I hitch-hiked there til I got a lift from an Irish bloke driving a Triumph-estate and he was playing Irish 'Ceili' music. But he could only take me to the next exit...! It was south Coventry exit of the M6 and I waited there for another 45 minutes and then got a lift by a man in a mini metro (small car) but he was also just going one exit...! So he dropped me there and I spent another hour there waiting...while hitching for a lift southbound home...!!!! Just to seemingly it worse...another hitch-hiker turned up...on a Sunday early evening too...! He was wearing a boiler suit and had a clipboard thingy. He said "we'll get a lift within minutes" and we did..together. An estate car stopped and we got in. He was going to a place called Lutterworth and he dropped us both off at the Rugby turn off of the M1 (...about 90 miles from London now). The clipboard guy went on his way via another exit of the roundabout and I stood at the M1 slip-road for about about an hour or more which must have made it around 7pm by then and the thougts of 'not making it' to at least London was firmly in the air for me. And nothing was happening where I was standing on the slip-feeder road from the elevated roundabout. So I gave up and walked down the slip-road onto the actual M1 motorway in desperation...as the traffic was slow on a roasting Sunday and thumbed down by the M1 traffic....no luck though. A car pulled over - but it was a Police Car - they said "get back up on the roundabout" and drove off. So I did but on the walk back up I noticed a discarded hitch-hikers sign saying "Watford Please" (...Watford is about 60 miles south from where I am and just outside of London on the northern side.....but it is connected to London on the last-stop of the underground system...or metro/subway..!). So I put that up and started to hitch with that. I soon as I did I got a lift virtually straight away. I asked the guy "where are you going?". He said "Camberley"....excellent as he was going past Watford on his way to Slough and then Camberley and around London too...!!! Excellent bloody luck and a great sign-pick-up by me too...! He was Scottish and from Hamilton and supported their football team (...the 'accies' - the "Hamilton Academicals"). He gave me a lift off the M1 which took about 2 hours nearly. Then along a few green-tree-lined minor type roads around the outskirts of Watford. He dropped me off a few miles away from the town of Watford (...and the connection with the London Tube-Train network....!!). I walked from the outskirts hitch-hiking still. It was 6 miles and I had walked four miles or so and then I got a lift from a young bloke in a white Triumph Dolomite to Watford town. Then I asked at the bus station about a fare to Harrow (north London suburb) on a 286 bus...it was 24p so I caught that instead of the pricey tube, which I couldn't really afford. (...I knew that my money could not get me to Margate....without 'bunking' (not paying on) the train and the thought of doing that after Manchester again so soon was not that appealing of course..!). So on the 286 bus I went at 7.30 ish or so then got off that at Harrow and I looked for connecting buses in Harrow to somewhere in the centre or I knew better..! I noticed, then caught a 182 to Sudbury which was only 10p (..a cheap Sunday fare for a short hop...!). I caught that bus to Sudbury as I knew that an 18 bus went from Sudbury right into the centre of London. I was right and at Sudbury I waited at the 18 Bus stop then I caught an 18 bus from Sudbury to Baker Street, in central London. Then jumped on a 30 bus to Oxford Street from there...for 10p. So I was right in the centre of London now at about 10:20 p.m. on a Sunday evening and the London bus services are not that great after 10 p.m...especially on a Sunday. I knew I could not make it home by train with the 86 pence I had left and I am sure to make the last train anyway would be near enough impossible from where I was on a Sunday. So I had already decided if I could make it to my Aunties place (...her name was Marie and she lived in a suburb called Plumstead (...in south-east London about 10 miles out in that direction). She would definitely put me up for a night and lend me some money to go home tomorrow too. So that’s where I was trying to get to all day really as the later it got and the less money I had left..! So I ran to a phone box and rang her from Carnaby Street and she said yes...excellent. Although Carnaby was a haunt of Mods in the early 1980's and saw quite a few going up and down Regent/Oxford Street and around Carnaby Street too but steered clear of them before they noticed me down some side alleyways where I rang her in a phone box from. And I managed to make it back to the bus stop on Oxford Street to catch the last 53 bus to Plumstead at 11:04 p.m...! It took ages but at least I knew I was staying at Auntie Maries. It arrived at Plumstead Common at about 01.00 a.m...in the end...!!!! It was about 1 and half miles to her place from there and dead quiet too. I walked down the hill to her house from there...it took about 20 minutes to get there. They were all still up and awake when I got there...Aunty Marie, Uncle Tony (...my dads brother) cousin Gary (...who was once punk in 1980...!) and Denise my cousin too. Auntie Marie made me four cheese on toast sandwiches and a cup of tea or three...!!! I crashed out on her settee after that at about 02:30 a.m. I stayed up in Plumstead (...in London) on Friday then on Saturday I travelled down to Margate with my cousin Gary on the train (...no bunking this time...!).
Sunday 5th
Cousin Gary listened to some of Discharges records that I played him and he said they were " a load of noise". (..Well Gary Bushell said that to..now G-a-r-y my cousin too....maybe it is a 'Gary' thing..?!?!?)
Tuesday 7th
There was rioting on the streets in England again today. This time in Moss-side, Manchester and also in the Wood Green area of north london London too.
Thursday 9th
I went out and bought this week’s edition of the Sounds music paper. It had Wattie of The Exploited on the front cover in colour. It also had a centre-spread feature of the Manchester Polytechnic gig. With pictures of Discharge (Cal singing on stage), The Exploited (Wattie singing to the crowd) and Chron Gen (guitrist singer) and a gig review of the nights gig too. As usual Garry Bushell ground Discharge into the ground and praised The Exploited to the high heavens. I watched the TV and saw Top Of The Pops...The 900th edition of it with Jimmy Saville (...who I met at the R.D.S in Dublin in 1979 with dad when we was scaffolding there) Alan Freeman and Pete Murray (old UK DJ's). It had Motorhead on it playing 'Motorhead'. There was more rioting tonight in Moss-Side Manchester again with a supermarket attacked and buildings set ablaze. Also there was rioting in London too this time in Woolwich (..just a stones throw...literally....Woolwich is the next suburb city-direction from Plumstead..about a mile...!) from Gary and Aunty Marie’s place I stayed at t'uther night...!. There were 200 Youths, mostly black, and they threw stones etc at police and rioted along Powis Street for 30 minutes, which is where Auntie Marie works in a birthday card shop....! (maybe not anymore...!!)
Friday 10th
I paid my mum £4.00p 'keep' (...money for 'my food and board'...) and I owe her £70 now. There was more trouble last night on the rioting front with fresh rioting in Stoke Newington, Lewisham and Fulham (...all suburbs of London) plus new rioting in Brixton where cars were overturned and set alight. The police were attacked and stoned and petrol-bombed and shops were looted. On the news it showed footage of a group of black and white youths kicking in the windows a shoe shop (...if they needed new shoes...then this would have took longer than necessary I reckon). Tonight there was rioting in the north of Engand at Netherley, Liverpool, Moss-Side Manchester and Hull this time.
Saturday 11th
I watched the television and saw the 'World Of Sport' which had a caravan demolition derby on it which was great. There was more rioting in the West Midlands tonight in Wolverhampton, Handsworth (Birmingham) and also around the Bull-Ring Shopping Centre (...where I was the other day too...!).
Sunday 12th
Last night there was rioting in 20 English cities. Birkenhead (...Liverpool), Birmingham, Derby, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent (Hey...! Discharge...!), London, Portsmouth, Southampton and a few more. Here's a list of of all the places that riots have occurred and how many people were arrested after the place name (...from the front cover of the Daily Star newspaper) Cirencester (4), Gloucester (7), Corby (8), Halifax (11), Tunbridge Wells (11), Leeds (11), Maidstone (13), Wallasey (17), Sheffield (20), Huddersfield (20), Portsmouth (21), Kettering (21), Birkenhead (21), Derby (24), Preston (25), Fleetwood (25), Nottingham (29), Leicester (32), Manchester (38), Blackpool (40), Wirral (40), Blackburn (43), Stoke (50), Bradford (60), Hull (61), Luton (80), West Midlands (Birmingham etc...329) London 187.
A total of 2,554 people were arrested over a 12-day period during which the riots have occurred.
Tuesday 14th
I ran around the house chasing Mike threatening to stab him with a knife and a spoon over picking up Tina (...our cat) on a chair. There were riots in Aldershot last night. I watched the Tv and saw the Old Grey Whistle Test. It featured Joy Division and they were the best on there tonight. The police were tonight given new powers by the government to use plastic bullets and water cannons during the riotous disturbances.
Wednesday 15th
I helped dad do some scaffolding down the road for the guy that built our extension. He charged teh guy £60 (...I'll get £10 of that from him). I worked from 11:30 a.m. til 5:30 p.m. There were more riots in Brixton, south London tonight. It showed Railton Road, which is a no-go area for the police with houses set on fire.
Thursday 16th
I helped dad finish off that scaffolding job from 12 noon through until 5:30 p.m. When we got home I watched Tv and saw Top Of The Pops had Saxon (...a heavy metal band) singing 'Never Surrender' on it.
Friday 17th
Dad paid me £10 for scaffolding the back of the flats place with him recently. (...I worked 11 and a half-hours for £10 that is just 0.86p an hour....! - exactly what I had in my pocket when I finished my hitch-hike day from Stoke London with..!!). Me and my dad started work on the front of that flats place about 2 doors down Arthur Road (...our road). We worked from 12 till 4:45 p.m. The scaffolding fittings were really rusty. 108 people died at a dance hall in Kansas, U.S.A when two walkways collapsed at the same time (...one fell on another) then fell on the dancefloor below. I watched Tv and saw Pop Quiz which had Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers on it.
Saturday 19th
Watched 'Twentieth Century Box' which had John Lydon of Public Image Ltd on it. On my Football Pools betting (we now have Australian teams during the summer in England as there is no English Football as the season is over) I got 6 away teams out of 6...I won. I reckon I'll maybe get £40. I'll have to wait until Thursday to find out how rich I am.
Monday 20th
I mucked about playing on the electric organ dad bought in Southern Ireland when he was there recently. I've learnt to play almost all of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' and completely know 'God Save The Queen' (...which version though....The Sex Pistols or the 'National Anthem'..?).
Tuesday 21st
I learnt two new tunes on the organ today. First was called 'Fling Thing' (...A Scottish jig type tune that Angus Young out of AC/DC used to play...I think it was centred around 'You Take The High Rood And I'll Tek Tha' Loo Rood....an olde Scorteesh Traditional song....!) and 'Amazing Grace'. It was 12 years ago to the day that man first set foot on the moon.
Thursday 22nd
I went to work with dad again today. We went scaffolding down the flats for five hours and loads of rusty fittings again. Littlewoods (...the Football Pools company) paid out only £0.50p for 6 aways which I won. But I had £1 down s stake money so it meant that I got £5...not quite the £40 I was hoping for...absolutely terrible. They have got a grudge against me I reckon. Me and Mike were playing Table Tennis down in the kitchen on the dining table when dad came arguing about a light being on. The result...? A fight which left dad with a cut nose and Mike and he rolling around in the Living Room (...the next room) on the floor amongst the chairs. Dad then got a knife (...as you do...!) and Mike (...sensibly..!) scarpered out and upstairs. Dad then threw the table tennis bats out into the night-time garden...and I cannot find the net anywhere now. Sounds music paper was no good. Charlie Harper (...of the U.K. Subs) solo single 'Freaked' and Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Arabian Knights' vinyl release reviews. G.B.H have signed to Clay Records and will be releasing a 8-track 12" at the end of August. Anti-Pasti's cassette of the Lyceum gig is £3.75p...which is 50p dearer than Discharges and with 9 fewer tracks on it. (...but probably much more music in terms of time...!!)
Friday 24th
Me and Mike (...my brother) had a laugh in the kitchen listening to Tommy Vance (...Friday Night Rock Show on thr BBC radio) joining in with an 'oop-norf' (...'Up North') accent with him doing our own links to the tracks (...orl 'Bredge n Bucher' like...! - 'Bread and Butter' that will be then..!!!). "I wun T goo T Udderdfeeled" roughly translated is “I want to go to Huddersfield”) etc.
Sunday 26th
My mums sister (Jean) and her son John came down to Margate from Milton Keynes and she won £50 at bingo down on Cliftonville seafront (...area of Margate). She gave me and John £20 between us so we headed all night into Dreamland 'Theme Amusement Park'. Later on at 02:45 a.m. we decided to climb out of Mikes attic dormer-window onto the roof (...it had a gully along all the roofs in our road where the dormer-attic rooms could open a skylight window...so we clambered out of ours and ventured off in the wee small hours). So me, John and Mike decided to see how many houses up the road we could get past very quietly. We went 6 houses along up the road before it was impossible to go any further (...some people had lights on inside the windows when we went past...!). We then crept and shuffled back to Mikes window and decided to creep the other way down the road about 30 foot high above the street. We went past next doors and then there was a gap between our row of houses and the next much taller block of flats that are being converted....where me and dad are working on. We tried to reach the scaffolding but it was just too far from our outstretched hands...and too risky. But we did scale over the top ridge of the roof on our house to come into the back edition dormer...well I did...Mike and John chickened out in the pitch black at 03:45 a.m.
Wednesday 29th
It was the Royal Wedding Day of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. It was all over the televisioon forever. I watched a Documentary about drunk baboons in Africa...really funny.
Thursday 30th
I worked with dad along the flats place scaffolding from 12 noon until 6 p.m. I bought the Sounds music paper which was rubbish. It said that Vice Squad are playing at the Mayflower, Manchester on August 1st. Someone wrote into the Sounds letter-page about the Discharge review of the Manchester Polytechnic gig. He slagged off Gary Bushell (..who 'reviewed' it). The guy that qrote to letter named himself Nick Charge. I watched television and saw T.O.T.P but it was total crap. I listened to the John Peel Radio Show and I recorded 3 out of the 4 tracks he played off of the new Vice Squad E.P. (...I missed the first track...it was like 'Does The System Work'. (...by Discharge) ...I reckon the radio reception was playing up myself...!).
Friday 31st
I went to work with dad down the road again doing some scaffolding. We are up 3 lifts high (....levels which means about 40 foot above Arthur Road...!). We worked from 12 until 6 p.m. But we will be finished soon I reckon.
AUGUST
Saturday 1st
I measured myself today to see how tall I am. I am 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Sunday 2nd
I played the John Peel Vice Squad tape 5 times and the Discharge Live at the Lyceum gig tape too. Barry Sheene (..a UK Motorcycle racing champ) had a bad crash. I watched a programme about Hippey people called 'God Is In Poona'. In that place in India, they were dancing in the nude in this padded cell-type room...really funny.
Wednesday 5th
I woke up at 12 midday and then had breakfast and went down the beach with Jimmy (...our old Irish mate who came over to England for a week) and his mate and Mike. We went for a swim and took towels and an inflatable airbed, an inflatable boat, a radio and football. Met two sisters Sue (...good looking) and Jill (...not bad) they swam with us and came back to our spot with their giant tape-to-tape cassette music player (...excellent) and they played some UB40 (..a UK reggae pop band). We played a game of volleyball and then a dog came along and bit our ball and punctured it....bloody stupid mongrel. Later we went down to Dreamland amusement park and spent the night on rides. After that we went to a pub and later on back home. We decided to take Jimmy and his mate on the 'roof-tour' (like we did Cousin John) so the four of us giggling went up our road along the roof-top gully another 6 houses again and back. Then down to the gap near the scaffolding again. This time though I managed to scale the 30 foot drop across to my scaffolding and went along the planks. Then Mike and Mick did it too. Jimmy couldn't do it as his 'Belly Had Butterflies in it"...! We were able to climb into the flats being converted via the windows which were open. We went to the toilet and put the lights on then went out the flat door into the stairway and walked up the stairs to the top. We then got to the top of that and went up a ladder into their roof space. We went through a water tank door that led out onto their roof and went to the edge and looked down and said "Hello Jimmy" and he looked up to us about 30 feet from where he was on the edge (...30 foot himself off the ground...!). We then back-tracked all the same way we'd come and then got into Mike’s room after a bit of roof-sliding at 03:45 a.m.
Thursday 6th
I got the Sounds music paper when I was out earlier on and it has a Anti-Pasti LP review in it (..."'The Last Call'). Me Mike, Jimmy and Mick walked down to Dreamland and went Ice Skating. It was £1.00p to get on the ice. It was an artificial rink made of plastic and was terrible. The plastic was way too slow and my ankles were really hurting me after that like I had been kicked a lot on them. We spent 2 hours in there though shoving each other over etc. Mike, Mick and Jimmy went to a free disco down the seafront...there were only 4 people there...! I watched Television later on at home with Q9 with Spike Milligan...really funny and weird and mad and chaotic and silly.
Friday 7th
I went round and signed on the dole...Jimmy and Mick came around to see what it was like, and in there I saw Kay the punk-girl too. Lent Mike some more money...he owes me £13.90. I went to work with dad later on in the afternoon and did scaffolding down the road from 12.30 til 6.30 p.m.
Sunday 9th
I checked my Pools betting and I have won again. I got 6 away-wins out of 6. I'll probably win about £1 at the most for my 10p stake. Last time I had a £1 stake which multiplied the win payout amount by 10). Me, Jimmy, Mike and Mick sat up all night playing Derek & Clive LP's (...Dudley Moore and Peter Cook must-have LP's...!). Some bits are really funny.
Monday 10th
We all went up to Palm Bay beach (Me, Mike, Jimmy and Mick). It was really choppy out on the dinghy-airbed and rode a 5ft wave in about 60 feet to the sand. We bought a football for £1.69p (...a really tough one). I watched the television and a programme called Panorama about stupid cunts building 8 bombs on the scale of the Hiroshima scale...sick bastards.
Tuesday 11th
We all went to the beach again up at Palm Bay bundling each other in the lovely sea...met those two girls that were up there yesterday too.
Wednesday 12th
We spent another day up the beach with some girls. Then later on we went to a free music concert at the Winter Gardens in Margate. The best was a dancing midget with a sexy lady with him. On the TV they had a music concert of Stiff Little Fingers and U.2. Live from Belfast, Northern Ireland
Thursday 13th
Jimmy and Mick went back to Dublin today. I bought the Sounds music paper. It had a colour picture of Beki Bondage of Vice Squad on the front cover and an interview with the band inside. I went to work with dad down the flats place from 12:30 til 6:30 p.m. Later on I watched Top Of The Pops. The best was UB40 and Soft Cell. I got £1.50p for my pools win of 6 aways on the football bet win. In sounds it said that Anti-Pasti's LP 'The Last Call' jumped straight in at number 7 in the Independent charts.
Monday 17th
I put in my order in for 'Punks Not Dead' (...new magazine on Punk) in Beckleys (..a local newsagent).
Tuesday 18th
I listened to John Peel on the radio. He played G.B.H's track 'Dead On Arrival'. I taped it on my cassette recorder...but it came out crap. They play that track as good on record as they do when they play it live. It is an E.P./LP.
Thursday 20th
I got this weeks copy of Sounds music paper. It was no good except all four of Discharges E.P.s are in the independent chart (top 50) and Anti-Pasti's LP (The Last Call) is at Number 1 now. I watched the TV and Top Of The Pops it had UB40 on it singing 'One In Ten', U.2. 'Unforgettable Fire' and Siouxsie and the Banshees singing 'Arabian Nights'...no good.
Friday 21st
I walked around and signed on the dole. I then walked up to the Post Office and cashed my giro-cheque for £30.50p. I now have a total of £64.91p but 14 quid (pounds) is 'keep' for mum. I could buy the black guitar out of the music shop for £50...but I am going to go and see Vice Squad, Anti-Pasti and The Exploited instead...that'll leave a tenner (10 pounds) easily over for me. Mike made a 'Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution' banner for AC/DC concert at Castle Donnington.
Saturday 22nd
Mike woke up at 07:30 a.m. instead of 03:30 a.m. for the early trip to Castle Donnington AC/DC gig today, as the alarm didn't go off...he took his banner too.
Sunday 23rd
I woke up at 10:30 a.m. by alarm and then left after breakfast and went down to the railway station and got a 2-day return on the train to London for £5.50p...I still had £20 left after buying it. I caught the 12:23 p.m. train and pulled into London Victoria at 2:10 p.m. I then jumped on a 16 bus to Marble Arch where the Virgin Records shop was. That was closed so I caught a 73 bus down Oxford Street from one end to the other and went to the Virgin Megastore record shop...that was also closed...! Then walked from Tottenham Court Road back halfway up Oxford Street to Oxford Circus past the other Virgin Records shop which was closed-down and walked down Regent Street through Piccadilly Circus and then into Coventry Streets Our Price Record shop. I asked them if they had G.B.H's 12"...they said we'll have it tomorrow...so I bought Anti-Pasti's LP (...'The Last Call') and Vice Squads 'Last Rockers' 7-Inch E.P. The LP was £4.99p and the single was £1.20p. That left me with 13 quid still. I then met two punks and two nice punkettes from Holland who were also going to the Lyceum...so I showed them the way and we walked there together. Us five arrived there at 4 p.m. they said "Tenk yoo". I went around the back door stage area and met Johnjo the bald-headed old punk bloke from Leicester...he's on tour with Anti-Pasti. Wattie of The Exploited the came out and gave two tickets to Johnjo for him and a small Scottish punk. Kevin, Anti-Pasti's drummer came out for a while too. I then went around to the front entrance at 6 p.m. with my record bag to queue up. I had a bit of trouble queuing with that and struggled to get in but I did in the end. I paid £3.00p in and then went down the slope into the main hall and the dance-floor area. I went to the merchandise stall and I bought a fanzine called 'Ready To Ruck'. It had a great three-page interview with Discharge, Anti-Pasti, Vice Squad aswell. I also bought a Vice Squad poster too for 20p and an Anti-Pasti poster for 60p. While I was there the support band were onstage playing...they were called
ZOUNDS
were already on...they were shit.
Then I went upstairs and put what I'd just bought with my records in the cloakroom for 20p. By the way Dave (Bambi), who has my Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Love In A Voids' bootleg still) has been given 'the boot' by Discharge. They have got The Varukers drummer with white-really-spikey-haired guy in (Garry Maloney) as his replacement.
Then VICE SQUAD came on
...I walked down to the edge of the pogoing masses and watched from that gap. They went down really well with the crowd...but I wasn't that impressed by the music...just impressed by Beki Bondage. She was luvly in her short leather mini-skirt...Mmmmmmm...!
After a while after they had gone it was time up for the next band onstage tonight at the Lyceum in London and it was
ANTI-PASTI
...and I went right down the front. They played a really great lively set and encored with three songs then went off.
...I got a cup of milk for 30p...luvly and cold it was.
Then finally THE EXPLOITED came on.
I stood just where I had before when Anti-Pasti were on. They didn'y play bad really. Wattie again played bass on 'Warhead' and Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs came on for the vocals. I also saw Garry Bushell there too. After The Exploited finished I went upstairs
...to the cloakroom and got my records, fanzine and posters back. Then I left The Lyceum in the Strand...and jumped on an 11 bus to Victoria. I got there at 10:40 p.m. and I bought chicken soup, 25p for a cup. I just missed the last train to Margate. So then I got on the 3 a.m. Mail Train that is there all night till it pulls out. I met three punks on it....from Margate...!!! I had never seen them before, nor them me. We chatted a lot and had a laugh as it journeyed from London back to Margate at 3.a.m. One of the punks got out at Gillingham (...about 30 miles from Margate). I got one of the Punks phone number. One lived up on Millmead Estate, which I knew a little about (...quite a way from me though..!). We pulled into Margate at about 5 a.m. it was already light. As we walked back (...me and the Millmead Punk) we got stopped by the police and searched. I got in at 05:40 a.m.
Monday 24th
A guy called Paul from Athelstan Road came around and wanted to buy my Red Plastic trousers for £1. I gave them to him and he said he'd come around tomorrow with the money. I played Vice Squads' E.P. The track 'Living On Dreams' is the best song of those. Then I played the Anti-Pasti LP (The Last Call). It was not bad really. The best track on that is 'No Government'. I played the Anti-Pasti LP in Mikes room to him...he said it was o.k. I played Rubik’s Cube and I got 8 out of 9 colours on one side...it's really hard and confusing!
Tuesday 25th
I got a letter from the D.H.S.S (Department of health and Social Security) about my dole (financial state benefits) and I have an appointment in Ramsgate (4 miles away) tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. I played the Anti-Pasti 'Last Calls' Lp...just side two and the 'Living On Dreams' track by Vice Squad.
Wednesday 26th
Me and Mike caught a bus to Ramsgate (95p return) to go to that appointment with the benefits office. I had my interview with Mr Farrah and then came back then went down the beach with the boat and the football. The tide was far out and came back home at around 5 p.m.
Thursday 27th
I went out and I bought all four of the music papers, Sounds, Melody Maker, Record Mirror and the N.M.E. Mike has just spilt contact lens soaking solution all over my Wednesday diary (...I wondered what that blue smudge was..!). In Sounds it had a Discharge interview in it that was the same as the 'Ready To Ruck' Fanzine one...plus a picture of Cal I hadn't got. Melody Maker had a crap review of The Exploited, Anti-Pasti and Vice Squad Lyceum Gig on Sunday. On television I watched Top Of The Pops which was crap with more 'Clap every two-seconds re-recorded Medleys' on it than you can shake a medley-stick at. I later on watched the comedy series called 'Q9' with Spike Milligan...it was really weird.
Friday 28th
I dragged Mike down the stairs in a sleeping bag as he ripped one of my Discharge interviews that I put up on my bedroom wall.
Saturday 29th
I watched the TV and saw the last in the series of Pop Quiz. it had Toyah on it. She was luvly.
Monday 31st
MY 18TH BIRTHDAY
Mum woke me up at 2 p.m. with a cup of tea and an 18TH BIRTHDAY CARD for me with a £10 note for a present too. So I am 18 today...I'm a man, no I'm sorry....I am not...just a day older but not wiser...probably sillier. I had a (...birthday..?) bath and cut my hair a little bit. Will I be 19 tomorrow....???
SEPTEMBER
Tuesday 1st
My Auntie and her daughter (my cousins) Helen and son John (..he came back again...!) came down from Milton Keynes and visited us for short stay. Later on we took a trip down to Margate seafront and into Dreamland Amusement park. Then after that me, John and Mike went to the local Cliftonville arcades and amusements. We ended up going on the kiddie motorbikes (...with the sirens on of course...!). And we were trying to pull 'wheelies' on an electric bike and the kiddies bumper cars that went about 3 m.p.h. if that...! We just spent the whole time crashing into the wall and each other at 3 m.p.h. that was well stupid but fun. Also we were trying to ride up over the protection bumpers onto each others motorbikes. The manager came up to me and grabbed me...he was going mad and shoved me off the bike and off his amusement patch. We came home and played the two 'Derek & Clive' LP's to John...he thought they were great. I gave John two of my Metal Box albums, by Public Image Ltd (...as I had three...!) one was the Metal-Canister round container 'Metal One' and the other was the 'second edition' vinyl with cover copy. He is going to bring £15 (..£7.50p each) down next time with him to pay me for them (...he never did..just like Bambi of Discharge too). It was my first day of being 18 today.
Wednesday 2nd
At 04:30 a.m. I was woken up by mum in my room the dark talking to me. She said "QUICK PUT YOR CLOTHES ON AND COME DOWNSTAIRS". As my senses came round I could smell this immensely strong choking fume type smell everywhere (...No jokes please..!). It was like rotting fish but 100 times more concentrated...and I could hardly breathe. So I quickly got some clothes on and ran downstairs. Everybody was awake. The two Scootish blokes were there aswell. The smell came from their room (...jokes please...!). It smelled awful and it was the ammonia from their old fridge that had leaked. Mum rang the Police and Fire Brigade. After about 3 or 4 minutes the Police turned up. They went upstairs and tried to go into the Scots guys flat, but when they opened the door they were knocked back by the fumes from the fridge in that room. It was the centre of the smell and within another 2 minutes a Fire Brigade appliance turned up with sirens and flashing blue lights and the firemen piled out engine running and all came in with breathing apparatus and heavy boots and equipment. As they did another TWO Fire Engines turned up behind them..!!! They went into the Scots lads’ room with oxygen masks on and they carried the fridge out into the front garden. Everybody in all the houses and hotels in our street were now seemingly awake and were looking out of their windows...! After they 'stabilised' the fridge and made sure it was safe all the emergency services left our place at about 05:30 a.m. I gave the two Scots blokes a cup of tea at 05:45 a.m. The house still reeked of that smell even with all the windows open. The two Scotch lads slept downstairs after 06:00 a.m. in the 'Z-bed' (fold-away) and one of them had to get up for work at 7 a.m..! Before bedtime the smell dispersed as we opened the doors and the air flowed better in and out of the pooey property. There is a snooker table for sale for £40 (6ft X 4ft). I might buy it.
Thursday 3rd
I went out and bought the music paper Sounds.On the front cover had Anti-Pasti in colour and also a Chron Gen interview. I also bought 'Punks Not Dead' the new magazine. It was great and it featured a Discharge photo live at the Manchester Polytechnic and a one-page readers letters feature about Discharge. It also had an Anti-Pasti interview with two pictures of Martin the singer and colour pictures of The Exploited and a one and a half page interview. It featured also a Chron gen interview. Also colour pictures of Vice Squad and G.B.H and also Wendy O'Williams of The Plasmatics...great. I played Anti-Pasti's LP 'The Last Call' twice while I took all my Sex Pistols and Discharge posters down coz I am going to put all my Discharge stuff up properly on the big wall in my bedroom tomorrow.
Friday 4th
I went around and signed on then cashed my giro-cheque and walked up to Palm Bay beach and met Dad, Mum, Mike and Auntie Iris up there. Me and Mike went into the sea on the air-beds, which went down. We came home at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 6th
I watched the television and on it was Gary Numan Live in concert at Wembley, London...it was o.k. I stuck up some Discharge Fanzine interviews on my bedroom wall.
Monday 7th
I bought another copy of 'Punks Not Dead' magazine. I stuck up all my big Discharge cuttings on the wall. It looks real smart all stuck up with drawing pins the cuttings cover the big wall 75%.
Wednesday 9th
I watched a World-Cup Football qualifier with England playing in Norway live on television. They went into a 0-1 lead but that evaporated faster than pissing in the Sahara and they lost the game 2-1 in the end. England missed qualifying for the 1982 World Cup on that result...roll on qualifying for the 1986 World Cup then..! Watched Tv and a programme called 'Cosmos' with Carl Sagan. it was about how man has quickly invented Nuclear Weapons in his lifetime that will wipe out 16 million years of evolution.
Thursday 10th
I went out and bought Sounds the music paper...it was no good. They did have the G.B.H 12" single reviewed though. I watched a documentary on TV called 'In Defence Of The United States' (...sick joke eh..?). About how Reagan (...world renowned sub-human shit-head-cum slaughterer of innocent people) has 5,000 missiles and hopes to increase them to 12,000 spending 1.3 trillion dollars in just 5 years. The fireball would last 20 seconds and 100-mph winds would instantly blind you if you looked at the explosion. The fireball would rise to 80,000 feet high and you would suffer third degree burns even if you were as far away as 12 miles from the 'ground zero' exlposion location. No one can win, why can they not get it through to their thick dried-up brains..? The earth will lose...all because of power lust...Disarm Or Die...we don't get a second chance.
Friday 11th
After I got up at 10ish I went down the beach after calling around to Dave’s for the one quid he still owed me for the red plastic trousers he had off me...he was still at school. I walked to the outdoor swimming pool and while I was bending down to take of my shoes a gust of wind blew the inflated dinghy-boat off the promenade and into the sea. It started to drift out rather quickly around the rough rocks, so I ran back to the shore along the pool edge and then out on the slippery seaweed-covered rocks trying to give chase. The boat actually got caught on the last jutting-out rocks before it would have disappeared into open sea. I slowly and precariously made my way out to try and get to it before a gust took it off again. I managed to get it and went swimming in my long 'Anarchy In The U.K.' Sex Pistols T-shirt (...I got it from 'Seditionaries' in Kings Road, London in the 1970's...!!! - which I later sold on eBay for about 160 UK pounds..!!-) for a while. Then I came home at 5 p.m. I lent Mike more money...he now owes me £24 (...and he gets much more on the dole than me...!).
Saturday 12th
I stuck up my Anti-Pasti cuttings on my bedroom wall. I met the '293156' punk from Millmead Estate ...(Karl) and his punk-mate from Garlinge (...Lol-Lawrence) down at Drakes Bar.
Monday 14th
The kid that fired blanks at the queen (...or near her!) got five years in jail...a bit steep considering he didn't even hurt her...poor cunt...! Best Sellers on TV was yawny-moo's as was a profile on Dudley Moore (...of Derek & Clive fame..!)
Wednesday 16th
Mike got Kerrang issue number 4 and it has a great picture in the centre of it of AC/DC live at Castle Donnington. And who should be in it aswell...down the front in his blue denim jacket....? None other than Michael Lynch himself...really funny. Total Chaos ( a Newcastle Punk band) were featured on the 'Nationwide' TV programme on the BBC recording a demo...not bad.
Thursday 17th
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper which was no good...except it said that Ex-Discharge drummer Dave (Bambi) Ellesmere is now playing with the Flux Of Pink Indians. I Watched television and Top Of The Pops...Adam and the Ants are number one with 'Prince Charming'...they played the video of that song too. O.M.D (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) were on it too singing their song called 'Souvenir'.
Friday 18th
I got up at 10:30 a.m. and walked around to Capitol House and signed on the dole. I met Kay around there too. I went into the Careers Office like I always was made to do...but they said that now you are 18 you don't have to come in here anymore...brilliant. But instead I have to register at the Job Centre instead now..! I spiked my hair up with soap...it looks ok. I painted over the old cracked paint on the back of my Discharge 'Fight Back' leather jacket. It looks O.K. I have to touch it up with black gloss tomorrow.
Saturday 19th
I touched up the 'Fight Back' picture on the back on my Discharge leather jacket...it looks good. Me and Mike played table tennis and shortly after I beat him 5-4 he decided to sting-smash the balls into me and then smashed the ball up. (...I guess he was not a 'good loser' then..!)
Sunday 20th
I touched up the 'Fight Back' Discharge picture on the back of my jacket some more and gave it another coat of white-paint. Mum and Dad have nearly a full house letting 'holiday lets' and its late September. They are raking-in £150 per week at this rate..!
Monday 21st
Mike bleached his hair blonde again. Over 300 people killed in Brazil when a boat yipped over docking in Piranha infested waters. The Piranha's ate the people as they tried to swim to the shore 100 yards away.
Wednesday 23rd
I watched a programme on TV called 'Close-Up' about how Margaret Thatcher (...the Prime Minister of the U.K.) and her arsehole government spend 33 million pounds per day (...yes per day...!) on Nuclear Weapons. Not giving a shit about 3 million jobless and the housing problems...subhuman bastards.
Thursday 24th
I walked down to the Job Centre to register there then came back home. On the way back I saw a nice blue 'n' white spikey-haired punkette girl. I bought the Sounds music paper and in it it said Discharge (supported by G.B.H) will be playing at the Manchester Mayflower on September 26th...thats only this Saturday...! So I'll be going to see them play their first gig with their new drummer (Garry Maloney...ex-Varukers). I spiked up my hair with soap. I the television and watched Top Of The Pops...Adam and the Ants are still at No1 with 'Prince Charming'.
Friday 25th
A new TV series called 'Something Else' started on BBC 2 tonight. On it were The Angelic Upstarts singing '2 Million Voices' which was 'o.k'...and a second song called 'Different Strokes'...that was pretty bad. Also on there were The Tygers Of Pan Tang with their terrible heavy-metal singer. I go to see Discharge tomorrow up in Manchester..!
Saturday 26th
I got up at 9.a.m....mum called me. I caught a taxi down to the railway station for 90p...mum paid it..! I took £40 with me and I met Kay and her mum down at Margate station. I caught the 09:48 a.m. train to Victoria in London. It got there at 11:25 a.m. Then I walked along to the Victoria National Coach Station which is only 5 minutes away. I bought a £4.50p ticket to Manchester on the 12 noon coach which will get me into Manchester 200 miles north at 4:15 p.m. While I queued up for it at Bay 22 I met a blonde chubby, but nice, punkette-girl called Jan and her punk boyfriend Bill (...he turned out to be the guitarist in West London Punk band called 'Chaos' some years later...who I actually saw play live a few times). They came from Hayes, London and are also going up to see Discharge in Manchester..! (...although Jan likes G.B.H much more...!). We chatted on the journey by coach up to Manchester. It was their first time to see G.B.H. live too. We stopped at 'Watford Gap' Services on the M1 motorway (...about 30 miles north of central London) for about half an hour. We got out and I bought some crisps and a chocolate bar and a canned drink for 'eats' on the next part of the coach journey. The coach pulled into Manchester at 4:30 p.m. and it was pouring with rain (...as one would expect...!). Us three walked around the centre bus stands on the square til we found a bus going to Bellevue (217) in south Manchester. It cost 30p, and on the way there we passed the Manchester Apollo in Ardwick. It doesn't look too big actually. We got off the bus and we were trying to find an off-licence shop for some snack food, so we asked a vanload of punks...it was G.B.H 's van..! They asked us how we are getting home tonight...we said that we didn't know that far ahead...! So they offered us a lift back to Birmingham with them in their van later on after the gig..! We sat in their van a while...then we drove up to the Mayflower venue. We unloaded their equipment and instruments then went inside the Mayflower with G.B.H. I saw Cal (of Discharge) so went over and had a chat about when the new E.P. is coming out, he said "Next Friday", I said "Wots it called?" He said, "It's a 3-track e.p. called Never Again". That is what the A-side is called and the B-side has two-tracks on it 'Nuclear Stockpile' and 'World To Live In' or something like that. He said "We are playing the Cedar Club in Birmingham next Friday, the 2nd of October, Sheffield Marples Friday October the 9th, Bristol Granary 20th" (...I think..?) "And a London gig" (...which I didn't catch the venue of) and of all places "Gillingham Centre-Court Hotel on the 8th of November"...I can't wait for all of those..! He also astounded me by then saying "We are also going to be playing some European Dates...four shows in Holland and then following were three gigs out in Germany"...crikey I thought...Discharge are playing abroad...!!! And he astounded me some more after that by saying that "they are organising a van for their fans to go over to watch them in Europe" too. Cal asked me and said "are you up for coming"? ...for numerous amounts of dough (Money)....! I said "Yup" and he said "I'll give you my phone number later so we can sort it out in full later on mate.."! ...and off Cal went. After a while Discharge set up their music equipment. Rainy has got a new 6-foot high 8-speaker bass cab, plus a new amp head. Bones got a new 3 foot high 4-speaker guitar cab. They done their sound-check doing their new three tracks and 'Realities Of War'. They played 'Never Again' twice. They had a bit of feedback with the guitar but it was soon sorted out. They really sounded good and clear. Garry's (the new drummer) drums are camouflage green and brown. Rainy and Bones swapped instruments. Rainy played on Bones's guitar Jimi Hendrixs' 'Wild Thing' really well. Bones couldn't do the bass guitar as good as Rainy could play the guitar though..! I had a chat will Bill and Jan (the two West London Punks I travelled up with on the coach). Then G.B.H done their soundcheck, they sounded good although I got kicked out halfway through it. My name wasn't on the guest-list. I came back in though and told them we travelled over 200 miles to come here so let us in for a quid each...! G.B.H had finished soundchecking, so I chatted to Bill and Jan and we saw that blond mohican off of 'The Devils Advocate' TV programme aired last Sunday. He said he got £15 per show.
After a while it was the support band time and at 10 p.m...
G.B.H came onstage
We all went down the front and they played great. Colin, the singer, jumped onto Jocks guitar at the end. Jock broke his bottom string on a solo. They played for 45 minutes and the Manchester crowd liked them.
It wasn't too long after that when...
DISCHARGE came on
at around 11:30 p.m. I went right down the front. Discharge played good...but the crowd were crap for them (I think they were all G.B.H.'s crowd in Birmingham..!). Cal did sarcastic comments like "You can tap your feet to 'Fight Back'..! Garry Maloneys drumming was good. Discharge have shortened their set to 30 or 40 minutes only. They did a four-song encore and then went offstage.
Afterwards Cal came over and gave me his home phone number, which was Stoke 243**..! (..actually it was his mums house..!). I said Ta-ra to him and he said "Give me a ring on Thursday night" I will. I left with Jan and Bill and then jumped into G.B.H's van with them all for a lift back to Birmingham about 100 miles...! We stopped at the same sevices we did with Discharge on the M6 motorway southbound (Sandbach Services). G.B.H's roadies kept spitting at Jan and threw a lit box of matches at her. They dropped us off at 2:30 a.m. in Birmingham centre where the G.B.H bass player (Ross) got out with us and showed us where the coach station in Digbeth was (south of Birmingham centre a mile or two). Us three (Me, Jan and Bill) caught a night-coach going back to London that started out 'up-north' at 03:30 a.m. It went via Woburn (Zoo and Abbey) it cost £4.50p. And we got into London at 07:00 a.m. I said goodbye to Jan and Bill then I walked up to Victoria Railway Station and got the next train 75 miles back east to Margate’s sea-side at 9:45 a.m. Then walked home and arrived at home at around 10:30 a.m.
Sunday 27th
I watched the TV programme called ‘The Devils Advocate' which again had on that blond mohican Punk from up north on who I met at the Discharge Birmingham gig with G.B.H the other day...! Mikes heavy-metal mates came around (Rob & Kev, Laurence (Lols) the Punk guys older brothers) then we walked up to a Punks house up in Cliftonville area of Margate (Karl) together, it was miles away up the top end of the place. I stayed there chatting with them about Discharges European tour and Punk music. Lol and me walked back to my house and he went on home to Garlinge a mile or more away south of Margate’s railway station.
Monday 28th
Lol, Rob and Karl came around and I played them the Live Discharge Tape (..of the Lyceum London Gig). They played games with my handheld Space Invaders game and had a look through my record collection and later went home after an hour at 6pm. I watched a Tarzan and Jane film with Bo Derek in it. She was virtually in the nude...she had a great pair of tits.
Wednesday 30th
At 12 midday Rob, Kev (Heavy metalllers), Karl and Lol (Punks) came around and then me and Mike went with them down town to the Longplayer Record Shop down in Margate town centre a mile away. I played some records later at home Anti-Pasti (Last Call) LP and the Slaughter and the Dogs 'Do It Dog Style' LP. Then later went with Mike down to Cecil Square in Margate to meet Karl, Kev, Lol and Rob to go see a rock band called SPIDER live at the Ship Inn, in Margates Harbour area. We stopped off on the hill down to Margate’s seafront at a flat where Gary and Karen lived. They lived four or five floors up and had a great view of the seafront (...really smart flat). When we got to the Ship Inn we found out that Spider had cancelled (due to their van breaking down). We all had a drink in there (...I had a coke and a bag of crisps for 38p). We then walked up to Drakes Tavern and I got a coke in there and we listened to some Country ‘n’ western band with a girl singer and bumped into two Scottish blokes that were staying in our house too. Then we all went to Gary and Karen’s place getting chips (15p) on the way. We played their records there, AC/DC mostly - everybody headbanging like crazy. Then we left and walked home part of the way with Kev and Karl (who live further up Cliftonville).
OCTOBER
Thursday 1st
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper which was crap. The UK Subs supported by Anti-Pasti and Chron Gen are playing the Hammersmith Palais (London). G.B.H are going on tour and are playing the 100 Club in London. I watched television and saw Top Of The Pops and it had Siouxsie (of the Banshees) and Budgie on doing their new 45 which was really tribal...I think they were called 'The Creatures' or something. Adam and the Ants are still No1 with 'Prince Charming' while The Police are No2 with ‘Invisible Sun’. I phoned up Cal (singer for Discharge) the number is 0782 243***. Cal answered and I said “Hi its Tony from Margate” and Cal said “Ow alrite mate how you going, OK?” - I said “Yeah” and “have you got any more information on that van you’re hiring out for your fans?” - he said “No, except that their driver Tommy is too young to drive their van abroad”. I said “Are you gonna try and get another driver?” Cal said “If we can like”. Cal gave me their latest gig dates that Discharge have lined up which are as follows: - Tomorrow - The Cedar Club (Birmingham), Sheffield (Marples) on October 5th, Gillingham Centre Court Hotel on October 8th, Bristol (The Granary) October 23rd and the 100 Club in London on the 24th of November. I said “I’ll give you a ring next week after Sheffield” to which Cal replied “Righty-O and take care of yourself” I said “Right, see ya Cal…ta-ra.
Saturday 3rd
I won the Football Pools (gambling) getting four away wins from four games...all correct....only a 10p stake so hardly worth winning at all. Rob came around and he and Mike went to the Charles Drake pub to play pool. Lol called around later on and we played Realities of War E.P. by Discharge. Rob and Mike came back and sat in my room. Lol said he’d buy my giant Sex Pistols poster and also my Sid (Vicious) Sings poster for £1 each. He’ll bring around the money on Thursday. So we played my Sex Pistols Live at Winterland Bootleg ('Gun Control') and the 'Filth and The Fury' (Bootleg), then the Anti-Pasti (No Government) track, The Damned (...the 'White Rabbit' E.P.) the Penetration LP ('Moving Targets') Malcolm McLarens ‘You Need Hands’ 7-Inch and the Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ (Symphonic version) Slaughter and the Dogs tracks off of their 'Do It Dog Style' LP - ‘Where have all the Bootboys gone’ ‘Boston Babies’ and ‘You’re A Bore’. Lol and Karl are going to see the Dead Kennedy’s at the London Lyceum tomorrow.
Sunday 4th
I watched the television programme ‘The Devils Advocate’ with Stephen the Punk mohican from Manchester I met at Discharge. He said, “I’m the best dressed in here” on it. I made a giant 7 feet by 2 feet ‘Discharge’ logo cut out of sticky back plastic. It looks really smart...just like the real thing. I am going to stick it up on my bedroom ceiling tomorrow. Lol and Karl have now seen the Dead Kennedy’s and he is coming around tomorrow at 2pm to tell me about it.
Monday 5th
Rob and Kev came around and we played records in Mikes’ room. Derek and Clives ‘classics’, Alice Coopers ‘Cold Ethyl’ (great lyrics), Rose Tattoo’s ‘Remedy’, Stillwaters ‘Sam’s Jam’...they went at 6pm. I stuck up my huge ‘Discharge’ logo I made yesterday on my Discharge wall along the bottom...it looks great. I super-spiked up my hair with S.O.A.P...which means “Superspikes On A Punk”...!!!! A court letter came for me about jumping the trains in Manchester (...on July 1st while on the Discharge 'Apocalypse Now' Tour). I thought they’d forget about me after 3 months and 3 days.
Tuesday 6th
Rob, Kev and Lol came around. Lol paid me 50p towards the Sex Pistols and Sid Vicious Punk posters he is buying from me (for a £1). We played 'Derek and Clive' and Motorhead records. Lol liked my Discharge cut-out design-logo on my wall. He’s coming around on Thursday. I went with Mum and Dad out in a rainstorm by car to look at a 6 foot by 3-foot Pool Table. On the news it had pictures of President Sadat in the desert at a military parade then loads of gun-wielding guerrillas jumped off a lorry and started pumping lead into him and his officials...killing him and many more.
Wednesday 7th
We had our '6ft x 3ft' Pool table delivered today...and I led Mike 7-0 in games then he came back to lead me 10-9 but I won the tournament 11-10 on the black ball in the last game (incidentally my brother Mike went on to become one of the top ten UK Pool players in the UK in the 1990’s..!). I watched television 'Parkinson' (...chat show host) with comedienne Pamela Stephenson (Of ‘Not The Nine O’clock News’ - comedy show - fame) on it wearing a split thigh pink plastic skirt on it (lovely lady).
Thursday 8th
I beat Mike 6-5 in pool and dad came in the Irish bastard and said “stop playing and get it out of this (front) room”. So as Mike and me were carrying it down to the dining room one of the leg supports fell down and snapped the wood it was screwed into. It was split now aswell and all because face-ache wanted to annoy us, cunt. A letter for me came from the UK SUBS Fan Club. I received my Pools win money for my 'four aways'...that was £1.35p. I went out and bought the Sounds music paper was terrible except for a Discharge ‘Never Again’ advert (their new E.P.)...it was about 2 inches square. The cover is black with a white bird with a knife straight up through its body, weird eh?. At 7pm I phoned up Cal, the singer of Discharge (not to complain though...!) 0782 243*** - his mum answered (who I couldn’t understand...with her deep 'Stoke' accent..!) then Cal came on and I said “ Cal, it’s Tone from Margate”. He said “How you going?” - I said “OK”. I said “Any more information on the van you are hiring for the European Tour dates..?” - he said “No, I’m still looking for an older driver”. I said “how did the Birmingham and Sheffield gigs go?”. Cal replies “The Birmingham gig wasn’t too good but the Sheffield gig was really great”. I said “I suppose you are going to watch Jaws (the film on TV) now are you?” ...Cal laughed and said “Yeah”, so I said “I’ll ring you next Friday” and Cal said “O.K” and I said goodbye...then watched Jaws.
Friday 9th
I tried to fix the pool table with evo-stick but when we tried to stand it up the wood snapped again. I stuck up some of my Discharge-stencilled lyrics to their ‘Realities Of War’ E.P. on my wall, wardrobe and window (these were on the back of rolls of old wallpaper about 2 foot by 2 foot in size...I did all for tracks..!).
Saturday 10th
A Bomb explosion outside the Chelsea Army Barracks killed a 61 year-old widow (...an innocent passer-by) with explosives, including Bolts, Nuts and Nails. It was set off by remote control as a soldier’s coach went by. Later the I.R.A Irish bastards claimed responsibility (...my pool table hating dad...?). I listened to a Radio-Show called ‘Rock-On’ on Radio 1 at 4:30pm Tommy Vance started the show by playing the new 45 E.P. by Discharge and ‘Never Again’ sounded brilliant and is recorded great too and really long...great. After that he played the new E.P. by The Exploited ‘Dead Cities'...which was ok. Tommy Vance said that Discharges ‘Never Again’ was a great record. As the Pool tables legs are broken we played pool with it on the floor instead now.
Sunday 11th
Rob, Kev, Lol, Gary and Karen came around and all went up to Mikes’ room and played some of the 'Derek and Clive' LP tracks...they all went back home by around 6pm. On the television I watched a programme called '16 UP' It had Gary-wanker -Bushell on it and also The Ruts talking about heroin addiction and their singer Malcolm Owen who died from it.
Monday 12th
Kev came around, then five minutes later Rob and Lol turned up. We went up to Mikes’ room and played a few records then we all walked down to Gary’s new flat. On the way down there we stopped off at the Longplayer record shop in Margates town centre where I bought G.B.H.’s ‘Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne’ 12” for £2.10p. We painted four of Gary’s’ walls and also headbanged with Mike, Lol and Rob to some of Iron Maidens LP's using loads of brooms as guitars...great larf. Came home and played the G.B.H 12” twice.
Tuesday 13th
I played the G.B.H 12” in my room and also Mike listened to it too.
Wednesday 14th
Rob and Lol called around and Lol had just bought the new E.P. by Discharge - ‘Never Again’. We all went upstairs into my room and played it. ‘Never Again’ was great. ‘Death Dealers’ the B-side was ok, but ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ was better. After that us four walked up to Karl’s house, but he was out so we called around to Kev’s. He was in the bath and had to get out to answer the door. We went in and played Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ on his smart record player...it sounded better. He also played an Lp by 'Trust' (...a French Heavy-Metal band), Raven, Spider and The Damned. We all walked back to Karl’s’...he was in playing Discharge records and we sung him ‘Happy Birthday’ coz he was 18 today also he played Police Story/Killing Machine by The Partisans...which was pretty good. Also he played 4-Skins ‘One Law For Them’ = crap, Blitz = ok, Chron Gen ‘Reality/Subway Sadist’...both good. I played Karl’s acoustic guitar then we walked home.
Thursday 15th
I got up at 10 a.m. and went straight down town to the Longplayer record shop and I bought ‘Never Again’ by Discharge and came back home. Rob had called around while I was out and was in the front room when I came in. We went upstairs and played the Discharge new single and other records and then later went down into the front room and played pool. I went out and bought the Sounds music paper, which had a Discharge ‘Never Again’ single review, which wasn’t too good. I also got The Record Mirror music paper as it too had a review for Discharges ‘Never Again’ in which was much better. On television I watched Top Of The Pops and on it it had The Exploited on it singing ‘Dead Cities’ (...but I never saw them as 'grumpy scrooge' was watching his yank film ‘Hombre’...cunt. I played my Discharge 7-inch single ‘Never Again’ twice and the G.B.H 12”. I listened to John Peel on the radio and at the end of his show he said, “This is the last track tonight...it’s by Discharge and its called ‘Never Again’...goodnight”! It sounded good on the radio, and after it he said “That was ‘Never Again’ by Discharge on Clay records and that should keep you up all night counting your Mr Men (children’s book/cartoon type story characters) on your wall”.
Friday 16th
Rob and Lol came around and they played Pool with me in the front room. Lol is buying some of my records off of me. The UK Subs 'Live'...Dutch Import LP, the Public Image Ltd (P.I.L) ‘Memories’ and ‘Death Disco’ for 5 quid (U.K. pounds). I played my ‘Never Again’ (Discharge E.P.) and the ‘Death Dealers’ track has a jump on it. I also played the G.B.H 12” aswell.
Saturday 17th
I walked down to Margate town centre and went in the Longplayer to change my Discharge ‘Never Again’ E.P. as ‘Death Dealers’ had a jump on that track. He changed it easily enough for me. When I got home Rob, Kev and Lol were here and we spent a few hours in Mike’s room listening to records and the radio. There was a bomb explosion today in West Dulwich in some army bloke’s car. He had one of his legs blown off and later had the rest of his leg amputated. The I.R.A claimed responsibility for it later on.
Sunday 18th
One year ago today (Sunday, the 19th of October) I saw my first Discharge gig at the Lyceum in London supporting Slade.
...Since then I have seen them in
(1) London - The Music Machine...October 28th 1980
(2) Nuneaton - 77 Club...November 17th 1980
(3) London - The Lyceum ...supporting Killing Joke...November 30th 1980
(4) London - Music Machine...December 4th 1980
(5) Manchester - The Mayflower...March 6th 1981
(6) Birmingham - The Cedar Club...March 13th 1981
(7 & 8) Manchester - The Mayflower (...2 shows) May 9th 1981
(9) London -The Lyceum...May 24th 1981
(10) Retford - The Porterhouse...June 5th 1981
(11) Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley) - Victoria Halls...June 12th 1981
(12) Birmingham - The Cedar Club... June 13th 1981
(13) Rhyl, Wales - The Gallery... June 19th 1981
(14) Cardiff, Wales - Grass Roots...June 20th 1981
- The 'Apocalypse Now' Tour -
(15) West Runton - The Pavillion...June 26th 1981
(16) Northampton - The Roadmenders Club...June 27th 1981
(17) Leicester -De Montfort Hall...June 28th 1981
(18) Malvern -The Winter Gardens...June 29th 1981
(19) Manchester - The Polytechnic...July 1st 1981
.....
(20) Manchester - The Mayflower...September 26th
...thats a total of 20 Discharge gigs in all.
Monday 19th
I phoned up Cal (...the singer of Discharge). He said “We still haven’t found a driver to drive our van out in Europe for the tour out there” and he also said that “G.B.H. are supporting them at Gillingham” that’s great. I timed Discharges’ 'Never Again' E.P. The times are...'Never Again' (2:15), 'Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles' (1:12), and ‘Death Dealers’ (1:40). The 'Never Again' E.P. lasts a total of five minutes and seven seconds.
Tuesday 20th
Rob, Lol and Kev came around at 10 in the morning and we all went up to Mikes’ room and played records. Also done the Kerrang (Heavy Metal magazine) quiz, which had 75 questions in it. Rob scored 17 answers correct in it (...well he is 'Heavy-Metal').
Thursday 22nd
Karl, Lol, Rob, Ken and Andre (a heavy-metal bloke) came around my place in the late morning. I played them my G.B.H 'Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne' 12” and 'Never Again' (Discharge) seven-inch single. Me, Karl and Lol walked over to Lols house in Garlinge later on in the afternoon. It’s about a mile and a half away easily. When we got there we went into Lols room. It’s the same size as mine and he has mostly got Sex Pistols posters up on his wall. Then we went into Robs room (...Lols brother) and played Lols Vice Squads LP ‘No Cause for concern’ which is bad to say the least, 'Never Again' by Discharge and the Kidz Next Door 7-Inch single...which was shit. I walked back later with Karl, it was really cold and very windy and it took us 45 minutes to walk back to my road and said bye to Karl. I bought the Sounds music paper. Discharges ‘Never Again’ single went straight in at number 5 in the alternative chart...and in at number 95 in the British chart top 100 too. There is a ‘Woodstock 2’ punk gig on at the Rainbow, London soon featuring Anti-Pasti, Angelic Upstarts and Vice squad but I’m not going...!
Friday 23rd
I got up at 4:15 p.m...which was diabolically late (...even for me..!). I played Discharges ‘Why’ 12-Inch E.P. the G.B.H 12” and the UK Subs 'Live' Crash Course LP.
Saturday 24th
Lol came around and woke me up at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon..!! I played the Discharge ‘Never Again’ 7-Inch single and then the G.B.H. 12”. After that we both walked up to Karl’s. He was out so we walked down to Margate town centre and met him in Cecil Square with a skinhead. So we all walked back up to Karl’s house but the skinhead went home. Us three went up into his bedroom and played the Poison Girls clear vinyl LP which was utter shit. After that Lol put on the Partisans ‘Police Story’ 7-Inch and Discharges Never Again E.P.(..again..!). Then I walked home with Lol. He and Karl are going to see the U.K Subs at Gillingham centre court hotel (..The Central Hotel..!) tomorrow. Lol said he’s coming to see Discharge with me at the Bristol Granary on November 23rd...and he is telephoning me on Tuesday about it. 150,000 human people turned out for an 'Anti-bomb' march in London today. Mike was in London today...but he went to saw Saxon (..a heavy-metal band) at the Hammersmith Odeon instead with Rob and Kev.
Sunday 25th
I stencilled out the lyrics to ‘They Declare it’ (by Discharge) on a giant piece of paper...it took about four bloody hours to do….and made three mistakes, but it still looks really smart (...good). Rob called around and I played him all 25 of Discharges tracks so he could put them into an order of what tracks he likes. His favourite Discharge song was ‘Decontrol’.
Monday 26th
Gary and Karen came around at 12 midday...and at 1pm Lol and Rob came around too. I played them the ‘Never Again’ Discharge E.P. and side one of the ‘Fight Back’ Discharge E.P. and the G.B.H 12” (...side one only). Then we all went out at 2:30pm, Lol went around to the careers office. We walked up to Karls after Gary & Karen went home. Later me Mike and Rob walked home doing American accents really loudly...very funny. It was freezing cold and dark when we got to Robs & Lols, who was in when we got there. We went into Robs room and played loads of records The Plasmatics (‘Monkey Suit’ and ‘Squirm’ live...not too good) Human League, More, Trust, (...both 'Heavy-Metal'), Venom and Discharge ‘Never Again’ 7-Inch single. Left Robs with him and Mike doing more America rip-offs. We bumped into a 'fat bumper-car' girl who came back to ours with us and we looked at Porn mags.
Tuesday 27th
The Exploited’s ‘Dead Cities’ went up to number 31 in the BBC charts (...after their appearance on Top Of The Pops - the BBC music programme).
Wednesday 28th
Rob and Kev came around to mine. We played pool in the front room from 2 p.m. til 7 p.m.
Thursday 29th
I went out at 12 noon and I bought the music papers. Sounds had a free-7-Inch flexi-disc on the front cover featuring a track from The Professionals (...Steve Jones and Paul Cooks’ new band of the Ex-Sex Pistols duo) off of their new LP called ‘I Didn’t See It Coming. The song was called ‘The Boys In Blue’, which was ok. The other track was a Gillan one = crap (Heavy Rock). The Sounds music paper was crap. The Record Mirror had an Exploited interview plus Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ went up to number 64 from number 67 last weeks position...brilliant eh..? G.B.H are on the bill at the Leeds Punk Festival this Christmas along with The Exploited, Chron Gen, Vice Squad, U.K. Subs, The Damned and Anti-Pasti...I’m probably going. Lol and Rob called around at 12:30p.m. We later walked up to Kev’s who was in. We played heavy-metal records mostly, which was boring. We all walked back down to mine and played Bar-Football (...table-top-football). It was a match between the Punks versus the heavies...! (...Me and Lol vs Mike and Rob..!) Of course the Punks won 10-6..! It was game, set and match to me and Lol. Rob went home, so me Mike and Kev watched Top of The Pops which had ‘It’s My Party’ by Dave Stewart at number 1.
Friday 30th
I sent off a letter to a green-haired Punkette girl with a photo of myself aswell she lives near the Kings Road in London (it was an advert in 'Punk-Lives' the magazine..!). At 9pm I phoned up Cal (...the singer from Discharge) but he had gone to Birmingham his mum said. Rob and Lol came around and we all went down the pub with Mike. Rob and Lol who came back later with Mike decided to stay the night and we had tea and sandwiches in Mikes’ room and had a great larf trying to get asleep in one room.
Saturday 31st
I played all of the Discharges E.P.s except the ‘Why’12-Inch and the G.B.H 12” (...side one of it only) and The Professionals flexi-disc track 'Boys in Blue'. We then all walked down to Rob and Lols kicking the football all the way and then we walked to the Longplayer record shop down in Margate town centre. Then after that we went down to a playing area near the sea-front which had grass and played ‘one-goal-and-in’. Later on we came back to mine and me and Rob went out the dormer window onto the roof for a while. Toyah (Wilcox) was on a Television chat show (...called 'Parkinson'). She was dressed in black and had black and yellow hair...she was a great interviewee, really talked sense.
NOVEMBER
Monday 2nd
Me and Mike walked down to Margates town (...Cecil Square) kicking the football and met Lol, Rob and Kev. Lol had a can of paint-spray for cars. He sprayed a ‘Discharge’ logo and an 'Anarchy A-sign' on a brick wall on the way back and we also set some old grass on fire on a cliff along the seafront by the lido. Then we kicked the football up Warwick Road and back alleyways behind the hotels and guesthouses looking for beer in crates (...I didn’t drink alcohol...so this made little sense personally speaking..!). We also played 'kicking the ball into litter bins' and then chasing who got it in...great larf. I sewed up my punk trousers and also I phoned Cal, but he was out.
Tuesday 3rd
I cut out a 12” square piece of sticky-back plastic.Then I cut out of that piece a ‘Discharge’ logo and a ‘Why’ logo too. Then I got a 12” square piece of polystyrene and slipped both inside a plastic LP sleeve and also put in Penetrations ‘Moving Targets’ luminous vinyl album behind the cut out logo’s. So now I have a luminous ‘Why’ and ‘Discharge’ logo lighting up my room...real smart one that was. I helped my dad in flat 2 (...in our house) with tenant Gordon (the Scottish guy) nailing down carpet. I phoned up Cal and he said “ We have a driver that can drive us out in Europe on our tour dates there...but they’re not too sure about him”. I told him that ‘Never Again’ was 64 in the charts. I asked Cal if they were playing at that Leeds Punk Festival at Christmas. He said “They could play there if they wanted too, but they don’t wanna”. I said “I’ll see you at Gillingham on Sunday” and told him I’ll be going to the Bristol and London gigs too, so I said “See Ya”. Spiked up my hair properly with soap. I played the G.B.H 12”, all The Professionals tracks, and two of The Ruts and Cockney Rejects 7-Inch singles.
Wednesday 4th
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper...which was crap. But it did have a picture of the cover sleeve of the ‘Realities of War’ (Discharges) seven-inch single in it. The Record Mirror had Discharges’ ‘Never Again’ single at number 75 in the BBC national record charts. So the Discharge 7-inch single ‘Never Again’ went in at number 67 (...on October 21st) then it went up three places to number 64 (...on October 28th) then it dropped back down 11 places to number 75 this week (...on November 3rd) not bad. I watched television and saw Top of the Pops...Dave Stewart of 'The Eurythmics' is still at number one with “It’s My Party” (...and I’ll cry if I want to - cover song). I caught a taxi with Mike up to Kev’s house...he had a bonfire in his back garden for 'Bonfire Night' (...to celebrate Guy Fawkes entering the Houses of parliament way back in 1600’s). Lol, Rob and 'Spam' (...Kev called his son by that name) were there with Kev too. We listened some records aswell...Rush and Judas Priest then we all left Kevs house as he had to baby-sit for 'spam'. We all left then we met Karl and his mates on Dane Road and chatted for 30 minutes and nearly getting hit by a descending fire-work rocket outta the sky...! We walked home talking to two girls and got chips (..for 20p). Lady Diana Spencer is pregnant...Charles stuck it up in October...filthy burger. Futurama (...a TV programme) had Siouxsie and the Banshees singing ‘Paradise’ and ‘Eve White/Eve Black’ on it.
Friday 6th
I played the records of Discharges’ ‘Why’ 12 Inch E.P. and their ‘Never Again’ seven-inch single in the front room (...on the good record player) as my parents went away 100 miles to relatives today. Mike played the Judas Priest LP ‘Point Of Entry’ and ‘Persons Unknown’ by the Poison Girls. Lol and Rob stayed over the night in my room.
Saturday 7th
I spiked up my hair really smart with soap. Rob and Kev came round to play pool.
Sunday 8th
I awoke up at 10:30 even without the alarm going off...! I walked down to the Margate railway station and got there at 1pm. Lol came along at 1:10pm and we got our train tickets (...a £3.64p day return to Gillingham). We waited till 2pm until our train came in. We had to catch a replacement bus, due to engineering works on the railway line. That took us from Sittingbourne to Rainham...which took 20 minutes. We got back on a train and pulled into Gillingham (...halfway to London) at 3:15pm. We walked up this long hill right to the top and turned left and walked down a country main road with hedges each side. A load of Mods went past on their washing machines (Scooters...!) wearing tents (...parka’s) and shouting at us....wat a larf. The Central Hotel was closed but the gig place was around the back. It was like a prefab farm. Then we asked if Discharge were here yet ...they weren’t...so we waited out on the main road for Discharges van to turn-up...but they didn’t come. So at 4:10pm me and Lol walked down to The Star Pub to meet Jenny (...A London punk-girl who had a place/squat in Bayswater, London). On the way I saw Discharges’ van go down the road...I shouted out and it pulled over after slowing down and it turned around and came back up and pulled in by us. Cal stuck his head out...he asked me the way to the Central Hotel, so I gave him the directions to the gig venue and said I’ll see you there later on. So me and Lol walked on down towards the station to meet Jenny. We met Jenny, who is 24 and has light purple hair, but she was not good looking. So us three all walked up to the Central Hotel. When we got there Karl and Wayne (..two Margate Punks) were there. So we all went around the back and Discharges van was there. I saw Cal go by through a window-hole in the gig venue door...he saw me and came over to it...and he said my names on the guest list. Then a van pulled into the Car Park behind us...it was G.B.H. I told them that Discharge had parked their van around the other side, so they followed me around there and parked next to their van. All of us went into the venue with G.B.H. I saw Cal in there and went over and had a bit of chat with him, and he said “We have a bloke who will drive us to Holland so ring me up on Tuesday”. Cal was mucking about on a rocket-heater firing at people and burning them. After a while Karl, Wayne, Lol and Jenny got thrown out and Cal put me on the guest list. Soon after that Discharge did their soundcheck and they done ‘Never Again’ (...twice) and ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ and ‘Death Dealers’. They had a bit of trouble with Rainy’s bass sound. Lol and the others came in with the crowd soon after at 7:30 p.m. I asked the G.B.H singer Colin if they had a 45 (...single) coming out...? He said “A 3-track E.P. called ‘No Survivors’, with B-Side ‘Self-Destruct’ and ‘Big Women’ is out soon”.
....Then G.B.H came on
...but G.B.H didn’t play too good. I watched them from the side of the stage to the right...in the 'wings'. sat on some speaker cabinets. The crowd were a little quiet for them and Colin the singer said to them "Cum clooser we dont bite"..!
...G.B.H went off
...Lol and Jenny joined me at the side of the stage and pretty soon it was time for
....DISCHARGE
....when they came on they played fuckin' brilliant. They played every one of their songs except ‘Society’s Victims’, ‘Visions Of War’ and ‘Massacre Of Innocence’. I got a Discharge and G.B.H set-list nabbed from the bands after they exited the stage. And even Cal signed a poster from the gig for me and he wrote 'Wars No Fairytale - Cal'.
...after Discharge went they asked me if it was O.K. to drive and stay at my house (...In Margate) I said 'Not really' - as its my mum and dads place and its 35 miles east of here and you'll have to drive back past Gillingham anyway tomorrow on the way back to Stoke...!). So off we went after saying goodbye and I travelled back to Margate after the gig with Lol, Jenny, Karl and Wayne by the late train. Getting home at about 01:00 a.m. Lol and Jenny stayed at my place in my tiny room and I’m sure Lol 'gave-away' (...not lost) his virginity to Jenny that night too...while I dreamt of Discharge instead.
Monday 9th
I walked down to the Margate railway station with Lol and Jenny at around 2 p.m. On the way down there I stopped off at the Dole office to find out about if I can get my 2nd next dole money before I go to see Discharge in Holland. Jenny caught her train just about in time and us two went over to Lols in nearby Garlinge. We played some of his records when we got there. The Exploited ‘Onstage’ live LP and the G.B.H. 12” and me and Lol did impressions of the members of Discharge. Rob, me and Lol walked up to my house and on the way we bumped into the 'bumper-car-sized' girl. Lol patched up his pink UK Subs poster of the Central Hotel gig in Gillingham and I stuck up my, signed by Cal, Central Hotel (Gillingham) Discharge gig poster from last night, on my wall. Me and Lol played on my racing-car track (...much like Scalextric, but it is an Italian version...called Polistil).
Tuesday 10th
I got up at 12:30 p.m. and played pool till 6 p.m. with Mike and Lol. I phoned up Cal and he said “If you want to come to Holland on the tour with us it’ll cost you £30”. So I should be able to afford to go on that tour as it includes a ticket across on the boat and sleeping in the van and getting in free on the guest-list. So all I’ll have to do is feed myself and chip in for the petrol. He said “Discharge are playing Birmingham Cedar Club on the 20th of November”.
Wednesday 11th
I went down to Cecil Square in Margate town centre at 8 p.m. and met Lol (...in his raincoat) Rob and Kev and walked along the seafront to the harbour area and went into The Ship Inn pub. A band was playing tonight called 'The Sharpees'...they were pop so we left. Rob and Lol said I can stay at their house the night so we walked over to there in Garlinge. On the way we kicked a sweet machine and got a Mars bar and a packet of Polo’s for 10p which we shared. I slept in Lols room talking about punkettes and Kay (the Margate Punk-girl).
Thursday 12th
I missed my Job Centre appointment at 12 noon as we didn’t leave Lols til 12:30 p.m. We walked into Margate town centre. I bought the Melody Maker (...music paper). In it it featured an interview with The Exploited. We walked up to Longplayer record shop where Rob got the guy to play the new Black Sabbath 12” & 7”. Us 3 walked up to mine at about 2 .p.m and went into Mike’s room but he was not up so we went into my room and played some of my records. My 'Raw-Deal' (...a 1977 punk compilation of various small punks) LP, G.B.H 12”, The Damned’s ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ LP, The Clash’s 2nd Lp ('Give 'em Enough Rope') and Public Image Limited’s (P.I.L.) ‘Fodderstompf’ tracks and 999’s 1st LP. Then I done my hair like the ‘Statue of Liberty’...really smart it turned out. Rob, Mike, Kev, Gary, Karen and June (...I’m sure was the bumper-car girl..?) came up into Mikes room. Gary and Rob came into mine and had a laugh singing along to Discharge ‘Realities of War’, ‘They Declare It’ and ‘Never Again’ using my giant stencilled lyric sheets on my bedroom wall. They all went to see a band called Rage at the nearby Winter Gardens along the seafront towards Margate town at 8 p.m. I watched the Television and saw Top of the Pops and The Police are No 1 with ‘Every little thing she does is magic’. Miss World was on...it was ok...Miss Venezuela won it, she was very nice. The Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ took off again today and Rob stayed the night at ours.
Friday 13th
Today could be unlucky for some...and me. I went around and signed on (the dole) and they couldn’t find my girocheque so they said come back to collect it at 3 p.m. I came home and played records in my room...the G.B.H 12”, the U.K Subs ‘Another Kind Of Blues’ LP. I later walked down town at 3 p.m. with Mike and met Rob and Lol there and took some photo’s of us lot. Me and Mike walked up towards ours and when I got to Capitol House (The Dole) it was shut... unlucky. So I went to get my Passport done for the Discharge Dates soon but I had lost the Passport Form I had filled out hadn’t I...? - unlucky again...! And it was not at home so I ran up to the Post Office for another one. Then ran home and quickly filled it out and got some money to pay for it and then ran up and took all the relevant identity I needed and paid £6.50p for it (...for a one-year passport). So I shall be going to Holland with Discharge now if I get my dole money and mum lends me £20 I shall be very well off indeed. On television it had 'Saturday Morning/Friday Night' (A TV programme I guess...?) had Adam Ant on it....he looked well common and normal. The Columbia Space Shuttle is coming down tomorrow (...I guess even N.A.S.A then are superstitious...!).
Saturday 14th
Lol and Rob came around at 8 p.m. and then me and Rob went skateboarding down the Lido seafront and Winter gardens crashing into the cliffs on the paths etc.
Sunday 15th
I played my G.B.H 12” (twice) and the Discharge ‘Never Again’ seven-inch too. I stuck up loads of my old cuttings featuring Discharge on my bedroom wall (...the light switch wall is covered completely). My bedside wall is 80% covered now. I phoned Cal and I told him that I am coming to Holland. He said “great, but the ticket now might be over £30”. He also said “as you are not going to the Birmingham or Bristol gigs you’d better post on to me the £30 in postal orders”. So he gave me his address in Stoke to post it to and I said “I’ll see you at the 100 Club gig with my sleeping bag and pillow next Tuesday ready for the European tour, see you then Cal Ta-ra”.
Monday 16th
Lol, Rob and Kev (...all three brothers) came around to mine at 2 p.m and came with me walking down to Capitol House to ask about my dole giro. They didn’t have it and told me again to come back tomorrow at 3 p.m. I lent £10 off of mum and along with £20 of mine to send to Cal. I went up to the Post Office to post off the £30 to post to Cal for the Holland Tour ticket etc. I sent it in Postal Orders and a note saying ‘Cheers, here’s the £30 for the ticket and I’ll see you at the 100 Club gig, Tone, Margate”. Me and Lol walked back to mine and played our 'T.V. Football Video-Game' and also the Electric organ, I learnt to play ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple. We then mucked about with Rob doing impersonations of bands.
Tuesday 17th
I went around to Capitol House and got my Giro-cheque at last. I played the G.B.H 12” - 'Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne', ‘Never Again’ by Discharge and The Professionals flexi-disc track called ‘Boys In Blue’. We also played the racing car track which was boring.
Wednesday 18th
I went down to the Job Centre for an interview then came back at 12 noon. In the Football World Cup England beat Hungary 1-0 so England have qualified for the World Cup Football Finals next year in Spain 1982. Thanks to a 16th minute goal by Paul Mariner, England played good and Hungary played really crap. Rob and Lol came around and stayed the night at my place in my room on the floor.
Thursday 19th
Me, Rob and Lol didn’t get asleep till 03:00 a.m. in the morning coz Mike stayed awake listening to his radio loud in his room. Before Mike went out he put one of Robs training shoes out on my roof and it slid down, but Rob bent a coat hanger into a hook and pulled it back up. Mike also locked us in by tying a length of rope from my rooms door handle to the spare rooms door handle, which we cut in the morning. Me Lol and Rob walked over to their house and on the way there behind the Dreamland seafront arcades in an alley we found a stuffed-with-straw-tacky-seaside-present-donkey. We played donkey-football actually with it....until it burst and all the stuffing came out of it. We lost our flat-punctured football in Arlington flats along the seafront. Before that we popped into the shop that Gary worked in along the seafront and played football in there with a beach ball which burst and also had a game involving throwing Cowboy hats onto hat racks. We then walked back to Rob and Lols’. Lol bleached his hair with Nestles lite. We then played records in Rob’s room...The Ruts ‘Sophistication’ = great...! and loads of Kraftwerk and Throbbing Gristle. I came home and watched television and saw Top Of The Pops = crap - Queen and David Bowie are number one...shit song. Also watched Rick Wakeman (ex-Yes) live at the Hammersmith Odeon - crap.
Friday 20th
I went out to the shops and bought film for my camera for the Holland Discharge dates (..I bought three x 20 exposures of film and two x 12 flashes aswell). Kev, Rob and Lol came around and we all played a few games of Pool. Lol had bought the new Dead Kennedys 12” which is called ‘In God We Trust’.
Saturday 21st
I woke up at 09:45 a.m. as I had to wake Mike early to get up to go to the Judas Priest Gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, London later on tonight. My parents also went off for the weekend up to London. Mike left at midday and Gary, Kev, Lol and Rob turned up and we all played Pool down in the front room. Later on after playing records me and Lol went skateboarding down the Lido on the seafront. We also climbed over the fence and into the 18-hole Crazy-Golf course going along and up and down the golf--hole-slopes in there. We all walked up to Kev’s after that. He had a party at his house for a nice punkette-girl (...she was ok) but going out with an ugly skinhead. They played The Exploited’s ‘Blown To Bits’ track. We left after midnight and a girl called Donna also stayed the night at mine with Rob, Lol and Mike all in my room. I didn’t get to sleep til 5 a.m though. Mike bought Rob, Gary, Karen and Kev some Black Sabbath tickets for their London gig soon.
Monday 23rd
Rob and Lol came around to mine. Rob had bought SFX - a cassette magazine. We played it on my crap cassette player...it was crap. Lol rang and said he’s coming with me tomorrow to see Discharge and G.B.H at the 100 Club up in London. I said meet me at the railway station at 11 a.m. Then I got all my stuff ready for the Discharge London 100 Club Gig and Holland Tour Gigs. My Doctor Marten boots, Sleeping Bag, Camera, hand-held video (space-invaders type) game etc.
Tuesday 24th
I got up at 8 a.m by the alarm clock. I later went up to the Post office with Mum and she lent me £30 and I went and bought some more film for my camera then walked down to Margate Railway station at 10:45 a.m. I brought with me a black dustbin-liner full of all my stuff for the Discharge UK and Dutch gigs. I had a pillow, sleeping bag, camera, my passport, and Video-Game. I met Lol down the railway station at 11 a.m. and we then both caught the 11:23 a.m. train to Victoria station in London. We got there at 1:20 p.m. Then we walked past Buckingham Palace (where the Queen, sometimes, lives) and The (Pall) Mall and into Trafalgar Square. Then we went up to The Haymarket and into McDonalds where me and Lol both got a Hamburger and Chips for 61p each. We walked up a minute to Piccadilly Circus and sat down and ate them there by the statue of Eros. We fed loads of pigeons with some of our chips, they were on our arms and legs. We then walked up Regent Street and turned right into Carnaby Street and looked at Punk badges and T-shirts a while. We then popped into Hamleys (a giant toy shop on Regent Street) which was boring. Then we walked along Oxford Street to The 100 Club - but it wasn’t open yet so we sat down and waited for Discharges van for about two hours till 5 p.m. I then saw Cal (singer of Discharge) on the other side of Oxford Street, so we ran over and he told me the bad news. The van is no longer going over to Holland for their gigs but Danny and a few other punks are hitching over to see them. So I didn’t fancy that. Cal then had to go so me and Lol walked down Wardour Street to the Soho area and bought some cold chips at a chip bar run by Iranians but we did scrounge a cold sausage and a hot dog before we left there. On the way back we both bought a Discharge badge on the way up back to the 100 Club at 7 p.m. While we were waiting, in the queue, a Policeman searched us both. We went into the 100 club at 8 p.m. and I put my black bin liner-bag in the cloakroom. I talked with Rainy and G.B.H a bit and also Jan and Bill (...of Chaos, the Punk band who both travelled up to that gig in Manchester for Discharge a while ago..!) from Hayes in London.
....G.B.H then came onstage
... at around 8:30 p.m. and they played good.
..I talked with Danny (...from Derby a travelling Discharge fan) a while.
...Then Discharge came onstage
... at 9:50 p.m. They played great and the crowd went mad. They played only one encore of ‘Decontrol’. Playing 18 songs in 30 minutes or so. I took six photographs of Discharge onstage.
...After they came offstage Cal gave me the £30 I had sent him for the Holland, now cancelled, van and gig tour. Me and Lol left the 100 Club and we got back to Victoria train Station at 11:15. But the last train home to Margate (...75 miles east to the coast in Kent) left just 6 minutes ago at 11:09 p.m. So we had then to wait four hours for the ‘mail-train’. We mucked about in my sleeping bag and got onto the mail-train at 1 a.m. Then, nearly two hours later it pulled out from Victoria at around 03:00 a.m. We pulled into Margate at 5:30 a.m. I then left Lol at the station and we went our separate ways home...I got in at 05:57 a.m.
Wednesday 25th
I walked down to The Ship Inn pub along the harbour with Lol and Rob in the evening to see a band (they always had bands on a Wednesdays night there) but they were a ‘Bluesy’ band so we left. So we walked down into Margates’ old-town into a pub where we played Cockney Rejects ‘West Side Boys’ on their jukebox. On the way back home me and Lol pulled off of a bus shelter an Echo and the Bunnymen (UK Indie Band) poster and stuck it face-in on a Bank branches window.
Thursday 26th
Lol and Rob came around in the late morning. I bought the Sounds music paper which was crap. I painted ‘Holiday In Cambodia’ (..the Cover of the Dead Kennedys 7-inch single) on the back of Lols black leather jacket. We watched tv later on and Top Of The Pops which had Toyah (...Wilcox) on it with real spikey hair...really luvly. We had a real good laugh (me, Rob and Lol) when we were looking (...spying) at Mike in his room whilst all three of us were standing on one chair (...as our rooms had a glass section above the door, which were next to each other). Naturally we all fell off and made a helluva noise and my dad then came bounding up the stairs and Rob knocked over an electric fire in the hall, which was plugged in. This fused the whole electric’s in the house...plunging it into total darkness (...paying rent-tenants and all...!!!). Rob and Lol still wanted to stay the night even after all of that...!
Friday 27th
I got up at 11:30 a.m. and rushed around to the nearby capitol House to sign on before they closed at 12 noon. When I got there they said there is no girocheque payment for me and to come back at 3 p.m. Rob went home at 2 p.m. At 2.30 p.m. me and Lol walked around to Capitol House and got my dole giro which had gone up to £30.50p for two weeks (A massive £2.17p per day to live on for a man of 19 years of age...!).
Saturday 28th
I painted over my ‘Fight Back’ Discharge painting on the back of my black leather jacket (again..!). I also painted a Cal-face (from the b-side of the cover of ‘Realities Of War’ 7-inch single) on Lols leather jacket with the Discharge logo under it. It looks real smart (...great). Lol and Rob also stayed over the night at mine again.
Sunday 29th
I got up at 4 p.m. coz we were late getting to sleep after bundling each other all night. My bed seemed to be the most popular place for landing on each other and we also had the unfortunate sight of Rob showing us his hairey bum a lot too. We also done ‘Sexy Aborigines’ (...which involved pulling ones under garments up into ones anal crevice and poking ones bottom out and walking in a sexy aboriginal manner...!). During the bundling I banged my head on my sink really hard...they left at 5 p.m. I watched the television and the Royal Variety Performance (...BBC TV programme with the Queen in the audience). It had the once laughably 'Punk' Adam and his (P)Ants on it.
Monday 30th
Mum got the Goodmans receiver repaired finally after 1 year, 7 months and 26 days. So we can now play records using the high-quality system again. The last record it played before it blew was in Ireland and it was ‘Freeway Mad’ by Saxon (...I think they were from Sheffield...so how they had a freeway there I’m not quite sure..!). The first record to be played on it this time was ‘Realities Of War’ of course by Discharge, followed by the ‘Fight Back’, ‘Decontrol’ and ‘Never Again’ seven-inch e.p singles too.
DECEMBER
Tuesday 1st
A plane travelling from Yugoslavia to Corsica hit a mountain in thick fog at 300 feet killing all 178 passengers. The Russell Harty TV Chat-show had Adam Ant on it. I played records and the G.B.H 'Leather, Bristles, Studs & Acne 12”.
Wednesday 2nd
I phoned up Cal (of Discharge), he said, “we went down really well in Holland”. He also told me “Danny and the rest of them made it to three out of the four Dutch gigs they played” by hitch-hiking to the venues out there. He also said “we have cancelled the gig at Bradford tomorrow night”, so I said “I’ll see you at Scarborough’s Taboo Club on Friday” (...but it really isn’t worth it to travel 350 miles for one gig...) and anyway I’ll miss most of Mike’s birthday party.
Thursday 3rd
I sewed my Discharge patch (..the 'equality-face' on the rear cover of the ‘Realities Of War’ E.P.) up on my trousers.
Friday 4th
I went down to Cecil Square in Margates town centre and met Lol and Rob at noon. Lol had purple hair as he dyed his blonde hair with black. I went into Millets and I bought a pair of Doctor Martens, black leather, boots for £18.99p (size 7). I put them on in the Margate Courts, where Lol paid £14 of his £15 drunk and disorderly fine recently. Lol bought two cups of hot chocolate from a machine and we then mucked about on the lifts in there a while.
Saturday 5th
I got up at 11 a.m and then Lol came around and we hoovered my front room so there was enough room to dance at Mike’s 21st Birthday Party (my brother). Later on various people turned up with booze and a few of Kev’s mates and him went up to Mikes room to smoke dope. We danced to Soft Cell (...UK electronic pop music...!). After a while they started to play heavier music and me and Rob had a laugh pogoing frantically to the Heavy-Metal stuff. Lol fell asleep and found him all floppy and crashed out halfway up the stairs (...I think he was smoking dope then). I managed to take him up to my room and put him in there to sleep but he came straight back out after I left him and went back to his spot on the stairs, a girl called Helen looked after him. One of the tenants (...a coloured-girl..I think the colour was black) came down and lit the candles on the birthday cake for Mike. He then blasted out AC/DC’s new LP which blew them all away and he spilt champagne over his cake too, which we had just opened. Various people like Gary, Karen and Kev were involved in a Chicken fight at 1:30 a.m. (...It was already dead, and food not alive in the hall or something...!). Me, Mike and Gordon (...Scottish tenant from upstairs) banged heads to Rose Tattoo, Saxon and Van Halen and danced strangely to T-Rex until about 05:00 a.m. Then we put the lights out and listened to Derek & Clive and then fell asleep at 05:30 a.m.
Sunday 6th
I travelled to Dublin (...in Southern Ireland) by plane for a specialist to examine me concerning my near-fatal car crash I had there in the summer of 1979 with regards to a court-settlement. I met Karl travelling up to see The Damned, at the Lyceum, in London on the 3:23 p.m. train I caught from Margate Railway station. I jumped on a tube (undeground/metro) train out to Heathrow Airport which is just on the edge of West London. I caught a plane from Heathrow to Dublin Airport arriving in Southern Ireland at about 9:20 p.m. (...the sight of a lone 18-year-old punk in 1981 travelling by plane must’ve raised many eyebrows I’d dare say...!). I caught a few buses in the pouring rain from Dublins Airport, which was way north of the city and into Dublin’s city centre. Then I caught a bus out to the southerly suburbs that my dads sister (..Aunt Sally) lived in where I was to stay (..called 'Drimnagh') for 32p. My dad had already travelled out to Ireland a few days previously and came back from the pub at 11 p.m. I shared a bunk bed with Leo one of my, many Irish, cousins.
Monday 7th
I travelled into the centre of Dublin with my dad and we met our solicitor at The Four Courts on Dublin’s North-Quay. I wore my dads’ coat to go into the court...to cover up my Discharge Leather-Jacket and trousers..! The judge inspected my head injuries for just 10 seconds then that was it. I left my dad and travelled up to and spent some time back in the suburb in County Dublin we lived in from 1977-1979 called Tallaght. It was about 6 miles south west of my Aunts house. I called in on 'Wardner' (Patrick Warren) and 'Jimboe' (Jimmy Kelly) and spent some time playing snooker at Tallaght Snooker Club (...losing rather heavily to the Irish potters...!). I stayed the night at 'Wardners' Patrick Warrens house in 'Mael ruans' it was called.
Tuesday 8th
I travelled back to the U.K. and Margate via buses into the city (...the 77 Bus from Tallaght into the quays by the River Liffey in Dublin). Then off out to the Dublin Airport and I caught the 4:20 p.m. flight to Heathrow (...all spikey-haired and leather-jacketed and booted up of course...!). I spent the last of my Irish money in a photo-booth and had two colour photographs taken. I saw a girl that 'went out' with Mike (...my brother..his old girlfriend) from Tallaght at the airport while waiting for my plane called Marie McNamee. She was with her husband and had just got married and was off on her honeymoon. I caught my flight and we flew over Birmingham, which was a massive huge collection of lights. We also had to circle over London due to congestion at Heathrow and missed a small biplane by about 400 foot...!!! Looking the way I did perhaps it was no surprise that I was stopped by customs at Heathrow. I was searched by them...but come to think of it how 'thick' (...stupid) would I have to have been to smuggle whatever into the UK and stick out the way I did...erm 'very' I reckon...! I caught the 8:29 p.m. train from a snowy Victoria in London bound for Margate (...but there was no snow there in Kent when I got home at about 11 o'clock in the night).
Thursday 10th
Lol and Rob came round and we had a great laugh bundling on my bed. We kept getting into my sleeping bag headfirst. Then you were found to be getting beaten up when you don’t know where you are. One of my bed legs broke under the weight...I put an old wooden-drawer with a few pieces of cardboard under it to keep it up straight after that. I watched Top Of The Pops on the T.V. and the Human League are number one with ‘Don’t you want me baby’. The Police were onstage and Adam and his Ants video (Ant Rap). Heavy Snow fell over a lot of England during the night...it was the worst for 31 years. But none fell in Margate, Kent. But it made me think about the Discharge Gig tomorrow in Northampton tomorrow and how the snowy-weather will be and also the travel situation in getting up there...its about 60 miles North of London and about 140 from Margate..!!!
Saturday 12th
I got up at 9 a.m. by my alarm and had breakfast and walked down to Margate Railway station and got a single ticket to London for £ 4.00. It left at 11:23 a.m. and It pulled into Victoria Station in London at 1 p.m. I phoned my cousin John (...who lives in Milton Keynes, 30 miles north of London) from the station in London. He said he is going to see Discharge at Northampton ‘The Roadmenders Club’ also tonight like me. So we organised to meet up at Northampton railway station at 7:15 pm. I then caught an underground tube train northbound to Euston railway station, London to connect with a train to Northampton. I got there at 1.45 p.m. I bought a single ticket to Northampton for £6.20p...what a rip-off. I caught the 2:02 p.m train from Euston to Northampton. It stopped at the snow-covered stations of Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Bletchley and it arrived in Northampton at 3:30 p.m. I walked into the town centre and found 'The Roadmenders Club' easily enough. The lights weren’t on and there were football goals and basketball nets out on the main floor and I thought the gig was cancelled due to the weather as Northampton was covered with fairly heavy snow. But soon after that te P.A. and sound system van and crew turned up. They lugged it all in and they packed the stuff away and set up for the gig tonight....! I went down the high street and bought a hamburger and chips for 61p at McDonalds. Then went back to the Roadmenders. Then G.B.H turned up in their van at 6 p.m. I went back inside the Roadmenders Club with G.B.H and listened to Jock (...the guitarist in G.B.H) sound-check and tune-up. He played ‘You Take Part In Creating This System’ (...A Discharge song...!). After a short while Discharge turned up at 6:15 p.m. in their van. Cal was wearing a leather jacket. Helens hair (...Bones's Girlfriend) flopped down in the snow. Cal said to me “You alrite Tone?”. I said “Yeah, any chance of getting me on the guest-list?” Cal said “I’ll try mate”. So I left and I walked back down in the heavy snow to Northampton railway station at 6:45 p.m. It was absolutely freezing and I had a pain in my nose the air was so cold. I waited down there from 7:05 to 7:25 p.m. then John (...my cousin) got off of his train which came in. he was wearing Doc Martens, jeans and a donkey-jacket. We walked up to McDonalds and I bought a Hamburger (45p) Chips (25p) and a cup of coffee (26p) 96p in all and ate it in there. Then we walked along to the freezing 'Roadmenders Club'. I wasn’t on the guest-list. So I had to pay in £2.30p. I met Danny (...from Derby) and we chatted and I bought some crisps and sat on the high stage.
At about 9 p.m. G.B.H came on
.... They didn’t play too good. But they managed to get the crowd going which numbered around 150 or so. They did a one-song encore of ‘D.O.A’ (‘Dead On Arrival’). I ended up watching them from side-stage in the wings with John my cousin too.
.... Discharge came on at 10:30 pm
...and the sound they created was tight and fast. Cal was wearing his leather jacket for the gig at first as it was so cold but he ended up bare-chested as usual. Halfway through ‘Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles’ the vocals went and they tried to fix it for 20 minutes. Bones was playing little tunes on his guitar while they faffed around with leads and mikes etc. After a while they fixed it and Discharge went off around 11:30 p.m.
...Me and my cousin John and two punks from Milton Keynes ran (...as best we could in the heavy snow and punk Doctor Martens boots...!) to Northamptons railway station. We made the last train to a place called Wolverton and we waited 10 minutes for it and got on that at 11:23 p.m. It pulled into a place called Wolverton at 12 midnight. The last bus to Stony Stratford, where John lived with his parents, had already gone. It was freezing cold and the snow was 4 inches deep by now. It felt like minus 10 degrees out in the very windy night. So we had no choice but to walk to Stony Stratford from Wolverton railway station. We stopped at a Chinese take-away and bought chipped potatoes at 39p each. (...The sky was clear and moonlit and the desolate roads really bright and white like a false dawn...!). We trudged crunchily past a few roundabouts and flyovers later and we walked up the hill to Auntie Jeans (...Johns mum..!). She was in with her husband and also my cousin Helen. I took off my snowy Doctor Marten boots to defrost a little. I was pizza’d and tea’d up fairly soon and I slept in Johns room on a camp bed the night at about 03:00 a.m..
Sunday 13th
I walked down to the coach station with John at 3 in the afternoon to see if I could get a coach home. First to London...then down to Margate if possible. All the local connecting coach services were cancelled due to the heavy snow almost everywhere and there was no way to leave the Stony Stratford/, Wolverton and Milton Keynes today for me...! So stayed the night at Johns again.
Monday 14th
I got up at 8:20 a.m. and Auntie Jean drove me to the railway station at Wolverton with Cousin John too. I thanked them and said goodbye and jumped on a train to London as there was no ticket bloke was there (..he had probably frozen to death or something). I stood in the packed corridors with tons of commuters all the way to London (...what a horrific existence eh..?). There wasn’t a ticket bloke at Euston, London either...so I saved around a fiver. I caught a tube (metro/underground) train to Victoria railway station or 20p. I bought a Margate single ticket for £6.50p and I caught the 10:39 a.m. train out of London. It pulled into Margate, Kent at 12:30 p.m. I saw Kay (...'Yak' we called her...! - it is 'Kay' spelled backwards) the Margate Punkette-girl on the way home. It actually snowed too in Margate. I played all of the Discharge 7-Inch E.P’s on the big-record-player in the front room downstairs. I watched the television and saw UB40 live in concert on the it.
Tuesday 15th
Lol came over to my house and we later walked over to his place in Garlinge a mile or so away in the afternoon. Rob and Kev, his brothers were going to see Gillan (Rock Band) in concert in Folkestone. I played some of Lol’s records...The Varukers (Garry Maloney, of Discharge, played drums on that 7-inch E.P.) that '45' was good 'Protest and Survive'. I also played two Disorder 7-Inch E.P.’s...not too good. Me and Lol played most of the Discharge single E.P’s and mimed to them. Lol came back to mine and stayed the night.
Wednesday 16th
I went up to Kev’s with Lol and he was in with Rob. We played loads of records then walked back past mine to the seafront and Margate’s Winter Gardens. Bucks Fizz (..a right-out 'pop' band who won the Eurovision song contest recently) were playing there tonight. We amazingly just strolled through the foyer and in to the gig (...even looking as we did with leather jackets, spikey-hair etc..!). They were encoring with ‘Making Your Mind Up’...! We then walked around the back after they had left the stage. We wrote on the Bucks Fizz tour coach...‘Discharge Margate Punks’..! Then we walked further along the seafront towards Margate til we reached The Ship Inn pub. There was an electro-pop band on and we left. As we were walking back the Bucks Fizz Tour Coach passed us and I saw a blonde girl singer on board (...one of the singers...it had rather nice graffiti as it passed us though..!).
Thursday 17th
Rob and Lol stayed last night at my place in my bedroom and we all walked down the station at 9:10 a.m. for a trip to London. We got a £6.50p day-return, that left me with £32. We got a 20p tube ticket after getting into Victoria, London at 11 a.m. then we travelled over to west Londons 'Notting Hill Gate' area. We went into HMV (..big record Shop) along Oxford Street on the way there...and could have bought a cardboard (‘For Those About To Rock’) AC/DC cannon for Mike (my brother) for £5 from their display in the window (...but we didn’t..and he wouldn't have paid the money back anyway..!). Then popped into the famous cheapo-vinyl haunts of RTE (..the three or four shops called 'Record & Tape Exchange'). They have several shops in that area and in one basement of one of their shops they did 4 LP’s for 50p and we ended up chucking loads of records around in there (...pre CCTV of course..!). They had 17 copies of a gatefold ELO (...Electric Light Orchestra) LP...so those found their way airborne more than quite a lot...!. Rob and Lol nicked some stuff then we jumped on an 88 Bus to Oxford Street for 10p (..I think that was a child’s fare..! - you had to be under 16 for it..! - mind you the way we were acting that day..we'd easily qualify for it...!). We looked around at their records then left and jumped on a 159 bus for no pence to Hamleys Toy Shop in Regent Street. Then popped around the corner to the Carnaby Street area (famous 1960 psychedelic era place to hang out) and me and Lol bought ourselves a ‘Fight Back’ Discharge badge for 25p and two others for 25p and 30p. We walked past Piccadilly Circus then on to Leicester Square and into a McDonalds and I got a Hamburger and chips for 60p (...take-away price) but we ate them I there upstairs sitting down after ordering them. We left and walked up Wardour Street where I bought a cold Cornish Pasty for 25p and some Prawn Cocktail crisps for 10p. We stopped to buy a ‘Fight back’ (Discharge) patch at one shop, but they only sold them wholesale in bulk so we couldn't get it. We then walked up to Oxford Street and into Virgin Underground Record Shop and I bought a Punk Fanzine that had a picture of Cal and Rainy (of Discharge) in it..which was Live at one of the Apocalypse Now Tour Gigs and a review of one of the gigs on the 'Apocalypse Now' tour too. We then left and caught a 25 bus back down to Victoria Railway Station and stocked up on chocs (...a Mars, a Bounty and a can of coke for 56p totalled up). We caught the 7:09 p.m. train back to Margate in Kent the 75 miles home again. The train got into Margate at 9 pm. Then I walked along the seafront and home on my own. I watched the television and saw 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' which had Siouxsie and the Banshees on it and their video of their severn-inch single release called ‘Spellbound’.
Friday 18th
In Glasgow, Scotland tonight the temperature plummeted to minus 17 degrees. I worked out Discharges Holland Tour Dates which were :- Amsterdam (Thursday 26th of November), Apeldoorn (Friday 27th), Leiden (Saturday 28th) and Groningen (Sunday 28th).
Saturday 19th
I went out and bought the Christmas issue of N.M.E (...the New Musical Express) music paper It had a page pullout of ‘Never Again’ advert (...the Discharge 7-Inch single)...it cost 60p. I watched the television and saw The Police Live In Monserrat...it was good. Rob and Lol came over to my place and ended up staying the night too.
Sunday 20th
Up at 1 pm and outta bed. After getting-up me, Lol and Rob had a ‘Pant-Ripping-Off-Contest’. After which we were left with just tiny little pieces of our pants tied in knots to cover our ‘bared essentials’. We looked like 'Tarzan' in the end. After that we threw our 'Tarzan' jungle pants in the bin. We watched 'Ski Sunday' on TV...the Women’s Downhill was good...it had some great crashes. We later watched a film called ‘The Man That Fell To Earth’ with David Bowie. It was crap but a bit dirty (..rude...!) in parts and also very confusing too. It started snowing in Margate at 9pm and it’s still snowing now and its 1 a.m. and its settling and over 2 inches deep so far.
Monday 21st
Up at 1 pm in the afternoon. A UK Subs Fan-Club letter came for me today. It had a crap picture of the ‘sold-out’ Subs (...In flowy-new romantic type gear...!). It also had a load of useless information and the chords to their new single ‘Countdown’. I watched the TV and saw a 'Hammer House Of Horror' scary film with Prunella (...Sexy) Gee gets chased round the house in her knickers and bra by a 200 year-old witch (...as you do...almost nightly..!).
Wednesday 22nd
I went out and I bought the Sounds music paper which had Beki Bondage (of Vice Squad) and Mensi (of Angelic Upstarts) were on the front cover of it.
Thursday 24th
I watched the television and saw the Christmas Eve Top Of The Pops. This year for Christmas the Human League are number one with 'Don't You Want Me Baby'. Later on on tv there was Toyah live in concert from The Theatre Royal - Drury Lane in London. Toyah had thigh-length leather boots and she had 8" red spikey hair...she was lovely. I listened to the radio after that and caught the John Peels 'Festive Fifty' on his radio show at 10 p.m. SLF (Stiff Little Fingers) were at Number 32 with 'Suspect Device' and The Ruts were at Number 31 with 'In A Rut'.
Friday 25th
I got some Christmas presents today...Mum gave me a leather pair of gloves and a horrible brown jumper, but some good black socks (...2 pairs). Mike got me two 7 inch vinyl singles. The first was The Exploited's 'Dead Cities/Hitler’s In The Charts again/Class War' 3-song 7-inch E.P. and the second was Disorder's 'Distortion Til Deafness' three-track 7-inch E.P. The tracks on the Disorder E.p. are...'Must be More Than Fights' / 'Daily Life' / 'Gotta Be Someone'. An AC/DC interview was on the Tommy Vance (Rock Radio) show later on in the evening.
Monday 28th
Lol came over today and we played some of my records. The Exploited's 'Dead Cities' 7-inch E.P. and Side One of the Disorder E.P too...P.I.L (Public Image Limited's) 'Metal Box' LP, Slaughter and the Dogs ('Do It Dog Style') LP. Rob came over after that and him and Lol stayed the night at mine in my room with a triple bed with three mattresses high, Lots of chaos, shouting and pant-pulling etc.
Tuesday 29th
We woke up at 10 a.m. and had loads of bundles (jumping on each other). Listened to the radio later on to the John Peel 'Festive Fifty' countdown at 10 p.m until midnight. At Number 18 were The Clash with their track 'Complete Control'...at Number 17 was 'Holidays In The Sun' (by the Sex Pistols) at` Number 16 were SLF (Stiff Little Fingers) with 'Alternative Ulster'. At number 12 were The Damned with 'New Rose'.
Wednesday 30th
I listened to the Top Ten countdown of John Peel's 'Festive Fifty' on the radio at 10 p.m. until 12 midnight again. Number 10 were The Clash with 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais', Number 9 were The Dead Kennedy's with 'Holiday In Cambodia', Number 8 were The Cure with 'A Forest', Number 7 were Joy Division with 'Decades; Number 6 were The Undertones with 'Teenage Kicks', Number 5 were Joy Division with 'New Dawn Fades', Number 4 were New Order and 'Ceremony', Number 3 were Joy Division with 'Love Will Tear Us Apart, Number 2 were The Sex Pistols 'Anarchy In The U.K.' and Number One was a Joy Division song 'Don't Walk Away'. Oh yeah Siouxsie and the Banshees were Number 60 with 'Hong Kong Garden', The Sex Pistols were Number 59 with 'Pretty Vacant', and Anti-Pasti were Number 55 with 'No Government'.
Thursday 31st
I went out and bought the Sounds music paper. It had Angus (Young) of AC/DC on the front cover. I also bought the Melody Maker paper as it had a Christmas On Earth (Punk Festival) gig review. It had a picture of the G.B.H singer (Colin) - iit was real good. Mike went out to the pub with the two Scottish guys (Gordon and Colin) who lived in our house. Later on Kev, Lol and Rob (...the brothers) came around and we all went out searching for them three as they were supposed to be going to a party tonight. We walked to the Charles Drake Pub which was full of futurists and skinheads and after another five, fancy-dressed pubs they were not to be seen. So we commandeered a shopping trolley and used it as a go-kart on the walk up to Kevs house...we had loads of crashes. We went around to Karl’s house too...he got ready and joined us in to go looking for some parties to go gate-crash. We met a girl with black-hair in a leather jacket called Sarah and we bought loads of booze and crisps and joined her in going to a house near where Kev lived. She played some records (AC/DC and Led Zeppelin).
....Then at 12 midnight it was goodbye to 1981
.....and hello to......1982..!!!!!!
.....At five past midnight into 1982 we watched the tv and saw The Old Grey Whistle Test was on...and the best on there were the Stiff Little Fingers live with 'Barbed Wire Love and Jimi Hendrix's 'Wild Thing' from 1967 (...live in Blackpool) - it was great. At 01:40 a.m. we left and Rob and Lol decided to stay at mine, and so did Sarah for a laugh. We bumped into Wayne on the way to mine...his hairs really grown, long and black and spikey. Got back to my house at 02:05 a.m. But there was no key left out so I climbed through the window while they waited outside. Mike, Gordon and Colin were in the kitchen downstairs drinking tea. Everyone later went into Gordon and Colin’s room and blasted out some music, Mum came up and complained. So we drifted off upstairs to my bedroom and Mikes room next door to each other. By 04:00 a.m. Me, Lol, Rob were joined by Sarah in my tiny 8 ft by 8 ft room. There was not that much room so we all bundled Sarah (...trying to 'get her') and after a while of chaos, like Rob rubbing his bristley beard on my bum and pulling my pants down, we ended up in various positions touching and feeling her up. This resulted in a few hours of kissing fondling and separate session in a bed alone with Sarah which was great indeed to welcome 1982 in with...! Rob kept on saying "Muffin The Mule is an offence!". Lol got fed up after 'his go' and started playing my Space Invaders' game. I was in bed with Sarah at 07:00 a.m. and as we were canoodling Rob got his 'crane' out and rubbed it on my leg...it was horrid....I didn't like it all.