Punk memories

[Lee Drury]

No one got a tape of the Tickets then?
In the early days the gigs were thin on the ground so we all went to everyone we could. Same with the singles as they were released. We bought em all. After about 6 months it was all happening so fast it was impossible to go to every gig or to buy every record. Trouble was a lot of crappy bands jumped on punks coat tails and came along for the ride but that always happens. We all went to see the Buzzcocks and the Banshees at the Camden Roundhouse and the Buzzcocks were one of the few bands that had released a record already. I bought Spiral Scratch and decided that the Buzzcocks were gonna be my band. The record sounded rough and edgy like a punk record should unlike Anarchy, that was good but a bit too polished. Standing in line outside the gig I mentioned that Howard Devoto was my favourite singer and the guy in front told me that Howard had left the band! I was gutted and didnt know what to expect. When they came on it was the campest performance I have ever seen. Shelly was like a big girls blouse and they are the only band I ever spat at thru sheer dissapointment.
The Banshees were not really my cup of tea apart from Make Up To Break Up. Unfortunately they left that song off of the 1st album for some reason. If you search for the live version of this song on youtube you will get a glimpse of Jeff, our (Corvettes) old drummer and one of the old Bridgehouse punk girls in the crowd. There are two girls that stand out amongst all the new wavers and the one with short blue hair and black eyes is Angie I think. On the way out there were some West Ham vs Millwall scuffles going off and a few people were bleeding. This shocked us as we didnt know anyone else there so wondered who it was doing the fighting. Then we saw a guy dressed from head to toe in bandages just like the mummy. He looked incredible and years later I found out it was Gina's (Flicknife Frenchies wife) brother who went to a lot of early gigs dressed this way. We were young and it all seemed so exciting. Shame it couldnt last but I guess its the same for us all. You gotta start somewhere!  Lee

[TERENCE]

Hi Lee,good to hear from you .hope the house move has happened,sometimes they take ages to complete,More history from yo on the punk time .keep em coming there great,Darren has been moved to Whitechapel London hospital,he is really ill and we are very worried but it is a great hospital,they have built a new one at the back with all modern teknics so we remain hope full,keep well and keep the stories coming,
28 thousand people have been reading them it seem you are our only punk expert regards Terry M

[Lee Drury]

Hello Terry, we have moved and we feel like we are on holiday! Dont miss the east end at all and now we cant wait to move the business out also. The old place just aint the same as you well know!
We are leaving for Paris at the weekend to attend the big interior design show 'Maison et Object'
When we get back I will visit Darren.
If you could message me the details I will be in touch.
Thinking of you all,
Lee

[TERENCE]

okay Lee hope you win the show with you new designs?
I will give you Darrens details next week they keep moving him in the hospital Regards Terry M

[Jeff]

Hi Lee,

You need to get in touch as I have an early Tickets gig at the Bridge with two support bands. One is Dead Flowers, the first gig I think. If you can identify the other band i'll do you a CD. They had a couple of female singers. I'm guessing it was december as there is a version of white christmas but was it 76 or 77?
I remember we used to go to the Crypt in Plaistow a lot to see the Tickets with UK subs.


bobby's girl
back with the boys again
nothin to say to you
white christmas

Dead Flowers
steppin stone

The Tickets
in love with myself
i want true love
you don't need me
get yourself killed
pinup
dreamin's all i've got
true love
guess i'll have to sit alone

[Lee Drury]

Hello Jeff, dont forget the Corvettes were always the opening act on those nights at the Crypt. I would love a copy of the Tickets gig and if I can work out who the girl band were it will solve another little mystery!
The Dead Flowers only played a few times in early 79 supporting the Tickets and the Corvettes and we were just about ready to call it a day so thats when that gig must have been. Wasted Youth was to be a melange of the three bands.

Way back in 77 we all went to the Vortex on a week night to see 999 and the Art Attacks. It was our 1st time at the Vortex and im not sure if there were two stages or something but both sets seemed to be very different? The Art Attacks came on and the singer was a short stout weird looking fella with bug eyes and an almost hunchback stance. He was very intense and it seemed like a joke to me but he was very serious! They had a few songs that had basically the same chorus, just different lyrics. Frankensteins Heartbeat, I Am A Robot etc. Didnt bother going to see them again.

999 came on and we all went down the front. They already had a good crowd even though they didnt have a record out yet. During the set the singer mentioned that they had a single coming out soon and it was to be released on Labritaine records which was funded by the drummers dad who was mentioned from the stage and he took a bow. This was the family name so made sense. Soon after this they played Nasty Nasty and the whole place went crazy. It was instantly catchy and the best song of any band up till that point in our eyes. They finished up with an encore of Nasty Nasty again and we all thought that this song would be the 1st single. When we got the record we were all dissapointed as Im Alive is good but not a patch on Nasty. We didnt have to wait too long till Nasty was released on green vinyl and I left the arm off of the record player and let it repeat over and over. I think Im Alive was already recorded before they wrote Nasty and even though Nasty became the crowd fave they had to release Im Alive first. It was the only record on their own label so I guess is quite rare now? Lee

[Lee Drury]

Was it the Dolly Mixtures Jeff? Most of the girl bands that played the bridge had at least one member that I knew but I cant think who was in them so maybe it was? Come on ladies, help us out.
We are going to and from the exhibition every day thru what must be Paris's equivalent of the east end. Someone died on the train yesterday and the stations were all closed off, today Beccy was going home early on her own and there were loads of young black boys running around, lots of shouting and police chasing them. The train stopped for ages and Beccy was worried that she was going to miss the channel tunnel train. They made loads of announcements in French and Beccy didnt want to draw attention to herself so she just sat there and kept schtum not knowing what was going on! She made it in the end with 5 mins to spare.
I love Ingatestone!
Lee

[Lee Drury]

Dont know if I told this one on here or not so if I did, sorry!
In 78 I was singing in the Corvettes, going up west every night to see other bands and having the time of my life. I would frequently have days off work because I didnt know where I was when I woke up in the morning!
I had a cushty job as a gas fitters apprentice and we would knock off at about 12 o clock every day. Trouble was that I was an apprentice and every now and again I would have to go on training courses and stay late at work.
I have the attention span of a stupid gnat and managed to blow up three avo meters in one day on an electrical course. The instructor didnt like me as I wore offensive (in his mind) T shirts to work, and decided that he would get rid of me. He goaded me into telling him to stick his job.
As soon as I said it he marched me into the bosses office and they took all my tools and overalls away! They sent me home and I told my mum n dad. They had seen it coming and told me I was stupid.
I went back next day and they told me to report to Bromley By Bow warehouse where I would start a new job in the stores. I didnt fancy that so turned up in full punk gear for the interview.
I was the worst interviewee the man has ever seen and consequently didnt get the job.
Back in Stratford they were scratching their heads as to what they would do with me.
I was told to help the fitters out and became a temporary mate. This was great as I finished early and didnt have to go to school!
One day I was dropped off early at Darren and Martins flat in Forest Gate. We decided to go down the Kings Rd so I went out and got some cider. I had a bad headache so I looked in the cupboards. All I could find were some Do Do travel sickness pills. I took about four of them.
After about half an hour Darren went outside as someone had been blowing their horn for ages, over and over. He came back and told me that there was a bloke in a gas van looking for me. It was my fitter. He had dropped me off, gone back to the yard and they asked where I was as I had another interview to go to!
He rushed back to find me so I had to go back with him. By now the Do Dos and cider were kicking in and nothing seemed normal!
I was taken to Ilford Hill head office to have an interview and to sit an exam to be an adult trainee. I sat with my boss in a warm waiting room and fell asleep! He kicked me and gave me a real dressing down. I was wearing an I am 2 years old badge and he made me take it off and talked some sense into me.
I had the interview and passed the exam and was taken back on as a trainee fitter. When I got my next weeks pay packet my money had doubled as I was no longer on boys wages, I was a man in a mans job!
Talk about getting lucky.
Lee.

[TerryMurphy]

Well Lee bad start good finish you are a fine upstanding man these days,you should be glad they were only sleeping pill?if they was?

[Lee Drury]

Hello Terry, Someone was smiling down on me when I was young and stupid!
When we were in N.Y.C a couple of years ago I got to have a beer with handsome Dick Manitoba from the old band the Dictators. He asked where we were from and I told him about the London side of things and he mentioned that when the Dictators first came over to London they met the boys from the Pistols and Dick swopped leather jackets with Sid Vicious. He had the jacket for a while but it was eventually stolen from the back of a bar stool and Dick said what pisses him off the most is that the guy who stole it doesnt know what he got!
As we have just moved house I am still finding all my old punk stuff and in one of the boxes I found 5 old newspapers dated 3rd Feb 1979 (Sid Vicious Dead) and a few old press photos that one of my mates stole for me from the newspaper that he worked for at the time. He got fired from his job as they soon worked out who had lifted the pictures! Thanks Kev. I just put it all on ebay and it ended last night with a grand total of over £1,000. Not bad for some old memories! Lee

[Lee Drury]

In 76 and early 77 we would all go to a disco on the edge of town called the Lacy Lady. There were a crowd of really weird people who would turn up on friday nights who I recently found out were the Johns. Rotten, Vicious, Wobble and friends. They stopped going when the Bill Grundy thing happened. We didnt know who they were at the time, or what they were about and thought that this lot were really out there. On this particular night I was wearing a white tux jacket as I wanted to be like Bryan Ferry! Darren and Martin were there but were not hanging out with my crowd at that time. There was Olsy, Simmo, Boyton and me along with a new friend, Ammo. Ammo got drunk and picked a fight with Olsy, Simmo tried to intervene and Ammo started on him! I tried to stop it and the next thing you know, he punches me. We had a good stand up fight and I hit him on the chin and his legs went, just like you see in some old boxing videos! I was holding his throat with my left and punching with my right and when I let go he fell to the floor. One of the Johns came over, congratulated me on the outcome and mentioned that I should lose the white jacket so I decided to wander away as the bouncers were coming. My right hand was bleeding badly from the knuckles and Darren came over to me and told me to take my jacket off and swap it with his big fluffy mohair jumper as they were looking for a big bloke in a white jacket. We did this and the sleeves were long enough to hide my bloody knuckles and I got away with it. Ammo was dragged off feet first by the bouncers and as he was pulled down the stairs his head banged on every one! From that night on we all began going out together and even though we had known each other for years, that was the start of a very close relationship. It wasnt until I read Rottens book that we realised that it was Johnny, Sid, Wobble etc that we had been in the company of, yet none of us knew it at the time! Ammo came round my house on the following monday evening and apologised for his poor behaviour.

[Lee Drury]

Next thursday, 26th April the Cockney Rejects are premiering their new film, at the old Music Machine opposite Mornington Crescent tube stn. The film starts at 6.30 I believe and when its over the band are doing a gig. A few of us were involved in the filming so lets hope it will be a good laugh. I think its £17.50 for a ticket and there is a coach going from Canning town on the day. Dont know if there are enough people left in the east end to fill a coach nowadays? Lets hope there is a good turn out.
See you there,
Lee

[TERENCE]

yes thank Lee glad you are going i am taking Darren son Ethan to see it ,i been told there a good shot of you and Darren standing at the bar in the B.H.2 ,i remember we were sitting at a table talking to Mick Geggus,wonder if that in the film there's only one way to find out?aye,were jumping on the coach,

[Lee Drury]

Hello Terry, Its not worth our while going to Canning Town now we have moved out, so we will try and make our own way there. Not sure how easy that will be as there is a tube strike next week but we will make it one way or the other.
Looking forward to it. Hope the editor has been kind!
Lee

[TERENCE]

oh yes i forgot you have moved hope you like the change xx