Punk memories

[Lee Drury]

Hello Terry, you have got me going now. Was it an In Camera or Wasted Youth gig at Oxford?
Lee.

[Lee Drury]

One of my early memories was going to see the slits in 77 with Martin and Darren. They were the loudest band I had ever seen. When Ari screamed it hurt your ears and made your guts tremble! I didnt like em musically as they were very untogether, but they were the first real all girl punk band and they wore their underwear on the outside. They had a jap sax player called Herbie Kamikaze. In 2001 we went to Tokyo to stay with an old Erazerhead fan who has done very well for himself and was introduced to a photographer who became good friends with my daughter Sophie, who is a snapper herself. After a few drunken evenings chewing the fat I mentioned punk, he mentioned the Slits and it turns out that he was the sax player. He has some of the best early shots of the clash and the slits that I have ever seen. He was doing a photography degree in London and was in the right place at the right time! Small world.
Lee.

[Lee Drury]

Lets have some ideas on the punk timeline. I think the Kinks got the ball rolling with You Really Got Me, and All Day, And All Of The Night. The Stooges took everything that came before and mashed it all up into something menacing, the Ramones swallowed all that lot and laid down the blueprint for the birth of punk as we know it. The Sex Pistols gave us the look that we still recognise as punk today. Any other theories?
Lee.

[TerryMurphy]

Hi Lee,my memory of the punk movement is when the Wasps started playing ,oh and Gloria Munday,this would have been in 1976,i have
the dates in the diary pages,they had the pins and razorblades in there ears noses and cloths,there cloths however were smart,not the ripped look, that a LOT of our customers had for that period,I remember telling Darren off for being so scruffy,you  always stood out because of your leathers,And one thing i hated and why i refused to give gigs to bands like the pistol.The Spitting,and pogo ing,
Although when i see a dvd these days it looks great,but then so does the head bangers,keep well, are you in this country at present.?
Terry M

[Dagenham Dave]

I remember seeing Gloria Mundi and being quite fascinated by them.It would have been about 76 as there were odd rumours going around of this new "punk rock" thing but nobody was quite sure what it was and as Gloria Mundi were so different we thought that must be it. My memory is a bit hazy now but as I recall they did have the safety pin/ razorblade thing but what would later be classed as Goth clothing and the singer sang in a Bryan Ferry style.
As for safety pins in leathers I had that in 75, I had an ancient leather jacket and the zip had ripped out from front and as my mum wouldn't let me near her sewing machine with it I just safety pinned it back together as a quick fix that ended up as a permanent fix 

[TerryMurphy]

Sunshine, lead vocalist Gloria Mundi, sorry Dave hardly goth?T,M
will post the picture after i have reduced the size

[TerryMurphy]

Sunshine Paterson ,Gloria  Mundi vocalist,a punk not goth T.M

[Dagenham Dave]

Gotta agree with you there Terry, that's definitely a punk look!!!
The reason I said about the goth look was that I remember someone in the band used to have long black hair and dress all in black including a long black overcoat type thing!! It is always possible that it was a style that they only wore for a while or even that I'm thinking of a different band altogether-after all it was a long time ago 

[TerryMurphy]

Hi Dave
,Sunshine do not look like a punk,if you click on the Pic, it makes it larger,and you can see the tell tell razor blade on her necklace,
i will have a look for more pictures,to deside what they were,Regards Terry M

[TerryMurphy]

Hi Dave here is Sunshine's co-vocalist Eddie Maelow in the  Gloria Mundi band,that played for us in 1978,Goth or Punk .or just a new wave band trying to be a bit different,i will let you decide,any other members remember this band ?T.M

[TerryMurphy]

sad to here Malcolm has passed away ,he came down to the Bridge house a few times.i remember he book a band in for a gig,
at short notice and i had a empty date ,he told me a name and said he was getting them over from America,after the gig,he told me the bands real name was the NEW YORK DOLLS, i was shocked how quiet they had kept it,,it was a good night but nothing sensational ,he had fetch a crowd with him from the media,and record companies,but you know, we never got any press  from the gig at all,He refused a fee so that was good,because we had not charged on the door,,other bands he watched were Joan Jett, Warm Jets ,and Misfits,Specters,R.I.P Malcolm,you were good for the music game oh,and punk cloths.T.M

[Lee Drury]

Hello there, I am stranded as the Saints once said. Yvonne, me and the dog are in Le Mans. The water pump on our car packed up on the motorway at the weekend and we are still here! Cost me 450 euros to get the car back today, and coz we have the dog we have to visit a vet tomorrow and then wait 24 hours before we can come home. I heard the news about Malcolm. I just finished reading Nick Kents book (apathy for the devil) about the 70s. If you are my age or a little older its a must. Thank god for the book as I read it in two days. Sitting in a hotel room aint my idea of fun. London is calling and I wanna go!
See ya soon,
Lee.

[Lee Drury]

When I first met Yvonne it was late 79 and we were all living the RNR lifestyle to the max! One of the american girls had given me a bag of magic mushrooms, and I had hidden them in my bedroom without even looking at them.
The first time I ever went round to pick Yvonne up still remains one of the craziest nights I have ever had. I got home after a day out down the Kings Rd and I was late for my tea. My mum had thrown my tea in the bin and I went upstairs feeling sorry for myself as I was a bit hungry. Due to the speeding I only ever ate anything at around 6 o clock, and as I was sitting in my room I remembered the shrooms in the wardrobe. I thought I could eat them instead.
I was dissapointed when I poured them into my hand as the little pile looked like the spanish tobacco we used to eat when we were kids. That aint gonna fill me up I thought as I tipped em down my throat. I put on some music and kneeled down on the floor and began to make a studded armband.
After a while I began to rush like nothing I had experienced before. I lost my balance and fell over, even though I was kneeling down! I laid on the floor laughing to myself when I heard my dad shouting up the stairs at me. I could not understand what he was saying but it was probably along the lines of, turn the music down. I tried to stand up and found it really weird, so I opened the door and shouted ok.
I shut the door and realised that I was on another planet and my parents shouldnt really see me like this so I waited for a while then crept down the stairs and bolted out the front door.
I began to find it hard to walk and my arms felt like they were coming out of my chest, not from my shoulders! I went into the corner shop as always and bought a can of beer. The people in the shop started talking to me and I didnt have a clue what was going on. I smiled and nodded like the village idiot and got out as soon as I could. I was feeling more weird all the time and thought that if I smoked a fag I might be ok.
As I lit up I was fascinated by the end of the fag. It was like a neon purple colour and I was waving it around entranced by the trail it was leaving. My arms were moving more into my chest and I began to see lights in the sky. The streetlights were giving off a golden glow that was rebounding off of the leaves on the floor and there were rays of light going up, down and all over the place. This was like a jesus type experience and I was enjoying myself.
Then I remembered Yvonne and realised that I was in no fit condition to knock at her door! As I stumbled up the road I saw her in the street. I was relieved but she came up to me and started to talk but I wasnt getting it. The sound was coming in waves like a mike that keeps cutting out. She was also in black and white! When she moved it was like someone had turned on a strobe light at a disco. I was telling her all this and she must have thought what have I got involved in.
I had to hold her bag as this seemed to keep my arms in place, as I still thought that they were growing out of my chest! We walked up the High St and all the shops had a different coloured glow emitting from them, depending on what colour the lights were. When we got to the station we met all the others and they were all laughing at me. I thought there was someone behind me doing silly things and kept turning round to catch them. This caused them to laugh more, and me to turn around more and so it went on.
I got up halfway thru the tube ride and walked into the doors on the train. I thought we had reached our stop but we were still in a big tunnel. I asked Yvonne to take her lime green socks off, as they were glowing too and the motion of the train was causing her socks to annoy me.
We eventually arrived at camden to go to the Music Machine as there was a special free entry night with about 8 bands playing including the Subs and Hazel O Conner. We had to que and Charlie Harper came over to me and said something about skinheads. I still couldnt understand what anyone was talking about and kept hold of Yvonne and the bag. Then a skinhead came over and asked if I was on the guest list. Yvonne had to send him away as I was freaking out about Charlie and skinheads. We got in and I was there all night and only had one pint. 9 less than usual.
The next day I woke and went to work. I felt like the guy who has been a werewolf all night and wakes up in the morning not knowing what happened but feeling really alive and full of energy. Maybe it was the lack of a hangover, as it was probably the first night in years that I wasnt hung over. I found out later that 15 of these mushrooms were all you needed for a good night. I had a bag of 50 and ate the lot! 
Luckily Yvonne wasnt put off by all this.
Lee.

[TerryMurphy]

Hi  Lee thanks for your honesty,most of us try to hide our misbehavings, specially when we were young,
I sure you learned by this error of Judgement, and made sure it was only 15 the next time Ha Ha,we laught these days,
but you had a bit of luck that night,and i am sure you learned by your mistake, i always admired you ,when others around you were falling .Terry M.

[Lee Drury]

Hello terry, I can remember going to the Portobello Rd with Ken or Andy on a saturday mid 79, meeting Lemmy in the local pub, getting very drunk, ending up on my own as I  always seemed to do, getting on the no 15 bus back to East Ham late afternoon, needing a piss badly at Aldgate, getting off the bus at the Bridge to have a piss, letting myself in up the back stairs at tea time, finding you lot having a meal together, Darren telling me to sit on the couch while you finished your meal, me falling asleep and Glen waking me up as I was snoring and had dribbled all down my chest! It was hot and I had no shirt on and Darren told me later that you had pulled him to one side and made a point of the fact that all his friends were all getting worse in the drinking and maybe other side of things. Darren assured you that we were not at all like that then I turned up that afternoon and threw the spanner in the works! He later told me that I had put the punk scene back in the bad books with you. I also remember Rita let me sleep on the living room floor one night and in the morning two of her capi diamontay??? figures were damaged. It must have been me but I dont remember anything and I was still welcomed back with open arms, after a little questioning by you and Darren. Glen found me asleep once on the living room floor, with a smouldering Kings Cross tube ticket stuck in the fire! I woke up once to find myself rolled up in the pool table covers on the long leather seats around the pool tables. Good times, although worrying times for you as a parent.
All the best,
Lee.