Time-traveling to 1978 London would be my preferred way of answering this
July 2, 2011 11:16 AM   Subscribe

Which punk bands did my father see in London in 1978? (Intriguingly fragmented details follow..)

This is a real long-shot, but I'm hoping someone might have a few ideas.

My father lived in London from January to May 1978 as part of a study abroad programme. Since there was so much great music in the UK around then, I've always wondered what sort of bands he saw or could have seen at the time. He doesn't remember going to any gigs himself, but he dug up his old diary from the time and found a few clues.

On 28 January 1978, he writes: 'A different view tonight - saw a band of punk rockers shouting "the queen is a moron" a la the Sex Pistols and they were quite, well, different...'

On 11 March 1978, he saw Renaissance, but he's not sure where. He says a punk group supported them, but he doesn't know who.

On 13 March 1978, he writes: 'Went to a place called the "Music Machine" tonight - it's an old converted theater-turned nightclub - and was a strange atmosphere for a punk rock group.'

He also wrote that the same band that supported Renaissance was the support act at the Music Machine, but that they were so bad people were shouting at them to get off the stage.

He says he thinks he went to a few more gigs that spring but he's lost that bit of his journal unfortunately.

From a bit of Googling, I see that Whitesnake, The Jam, and Adam and the Ants all played the Music Machine in March 1978. But I can't find anything for the 13th.

I realise the details are probably lost in time, and the bands he saw were probably completely unknown, but, living in London and loving music from that era, I am so curious about this. If you have any idea about any of these gigs, or any ideas about how to research this, please let me know.
posted by Put the kettle on to Media & Arts (9 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I see that Whitesnake, The Jam, and Adam and the Ants all played the Music Machine in March 1978. But I can't find anything for the 13th.

According to the gig history in the Jam box set, the Jam played Music Machine on March 2, 1978, so that rules them out.
posted by scody at 11:31 AM on July 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Oh right, I meant that those bands played there that month, but not that exact day. Thanks though!
posted by Put the kettle on at 11:34 AM on July 2, 2011


The "Queen is a moron": may be related to Jilted John . "Gordon is a Moron"
posted by stuartmm at 11:35 AM on July 2, 2011


Ah, got it.
posted by scody at 11:35 AM on July 2, 2011


Turns out Music Machine is now called Koko (after having become the Camden Palace for awhile), and they seem to have a fair bit of knowledge about the venue's history. Maybe contact them directly to see if someone there can tell you definitively who played on March 13, 1978?
posted by scody at 11:43 AM on July 2, 2011


Response by poster: I thought that too, stuartmm -- I'm not sure if he meant they sang a song with the words 'The Queen is a moron' or that with the Sex Pistols reference he meant they covered 'God Save the Queen'. Not sure either way.

I just found this web site, which has loads of gig listings, but as it's just gigs attended by one person, they are somewhat random. That site lists Sham 69 as playing in London on 28 January 1978, so maybe my dad went to that too. Hmmm..
posted by Put the kettle on at 11:44 AM on July 2, 2011


Response by poster: Hm, I think I will try and contact Koko, scody. Weirdly, I live just down the road from there now -- the first time I went there was exactly 30 years later, in 2008.

(Anyone interested in the history of Koko should check out the film. Probably not an entirely realistic depiction, however..)
posted by Put the kettle on at 11:52 AM on July 2, 2011


Songkick is great for this sort of thing. I tried Music Machine and Renaissance, but didn't get anything for those exact dates.

However, a search for 28 January 1978 shows that Sham 69 and Adam and the Ants played in London that day. So possibly one of them?
posted by Infinite Jest at 2:35 AM on July 3, 2011


Are there archives anywhere of the seminal fanzines of the time, like "Sniffin Glue"? That would probably be your best bet.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:17 PM on July 3, 2011


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