In early 1999, I (Professor Skank) decided - through the power of the internet - to get some
words on possibly the most vibrant musical scene to ever exist, the mixture of Punk and
Reggae in London over 20 years ago.
Through reggae internet connections, I’ve recently been introduced to James
Dutton of Motion Records. Through emails, Dutton also mentioned to me that he is
currently managing Vic Godard who, to us ageing “punks,” was well known as the man
who led Subway Sect, a group that was a part of that 1977 Punk scene. And so I thought,
why not pose a few questions...
(Obviously, PS is me, VG is Vic and JD is James)...
PS: Did Steel Pulse or other groups play with "punk" bands on the same bill ?
VG: Subway Sect supported Steel Pulse (plus Crazy Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers) at
Alexandra Palace in '78 or '79 (before the fire). I wasn't into that sort of reggae though. We
were into Clint Eastwood, Ranking Trevor, Trinity, Ranking Joe, Dillinger and all the djs.
We supported Tapper Zukie at the Rainbow theatre in '78 when Pattie Smith was
headlining. We were 3rd on the bill (ie bottom) and our bass guitar wouldn't work in the
soundcheck so we had to summon up the courage to ask this huge giant of a man
(Tapper's bass player) if we could borrow his guitar - to which he generously said yes and
we got a great review as a result of it.
PS: Did you see Marley in 77 ? Or before ?
VG: No
PS: Who brought reggae into the scene ? Was it The Clash ?
VG: Paul Simenon and Mickey Foote (Mickey was the soundman). I also remember Joe Strummer after the all nighter at the Palais and before he
wrote that horrendously embarrasing song about it...["White Man In Hammersmith Palais"]
PS: How about the Pistols ?
VG: John Rotten and John Gray.
JD: Vic was managed by Bernie Rhodes who also managed The Clash...they
rehearsed in the same place, hung out
PS: Ever see Marley walking around London in '78 when he lived there ?
VG: No, but not really into Marley
PS: Did you know he was in London???
VG: May have known because NME and Sounds magazines would have mentioned it and
had features on Marley. Marley was considered "pop"....not despised, just a little too commercial
for the punks.
PS: Was Reggae heard on the radio ?
VG: From my personal point of view I got to listen to most of the best 12"
singles in '76-'77 on the John Peel Show. He also loved dj music at that time
and I used to sometimes see him in the same record shops as us in the west
end looking for things to play on his show.
Oh how I'd love to have my old collection. Of course we all went on to be
junkies in the 80's and sold all our records. My flatmate at the time - Rob
Green - worked on a market stall outside a reggae shop in Shepherds Bush
market and he got lots of 12"s free every Saturday when the new ones came
in from JA. He would bring new ones home every week. The ones I'd like most
are "Hotter (?) Cup (?) Claps Dem" by Ranking Joe and "No 1 dj" by Rankin
Trevor - and "There's a hole in my bucket" by nigger kojak - who (I'm told
by Dennis Bovell ) is a farmer now....but I could go on and on trying to
remember records. I think that golden era for dj music only lasted maybe 4
or 5 years at that time - but the only similar stuff I listen to now is all
old U Roy stuff because it's easily available on Heartbeat from Canada.
PS: Anything else that you'd like to reminisce about reggae during those
days
VG: Best gig ever was Clint Eastwood at 100 club and Fulham Town Hall in '77.
.........
Now a few interesting stories from James...
JD: I played on the B-side of a Subway Sect single and
rehearsed with them for a time....prior to that I was in The Interrogators,
a 'punk' band that played some dub reggae live.....we had a dread called
Dread Lepke (Leroy Anderson, Rita Marley's brother) doing our live
mixing....he used a loop tape echo to add dub effects. This was '77. Leroy
started DBC (Dread Brodcasting Corporation, the first pirate reggae station
in London)
I went to see Steel Pulse at the 100 Club (where the punk festival of '76
took place) and Joe Strummer (who I didn't know, despite knowing Vic) used
the palm of my hand for rolling a big spliff. Quite a few punks were in the
audience.
And Dread Lepke took me to see Dillinger at the Music Machine, a large
venue in London. We arrived a little early and went into the game room. I
was very impressed when Dillinger, who was playing pinball, recognised
Leroy and got us to play pinball with him for half an hour or so ! He gave
us copies of "Cocaine In My Brain" his current hit single (that he was
promoting)
Also saw Tapper Zukie at the Music Machine - excellent.
I think most of the punk scene didn't like "Punky Reggae Party" (Marley),
not in an anti sort of a way - we thought it was a little too commercial
again.
Leroy "Dread Lepke" Anderson used to play me a 1/4"
tape of Bob and band jamming/rehearsing in a hotel room (while on tour?) -
acoustic and good quality. I wonder whatever happened to that tape !
From http://www.skankproductions.com/ internet zine. 1999.
"Spreading Positive Vibes Worldwide"
SKANK RECORDS
WHO IS PROFESSOR SKANK?
