Blitzkrieg Bop - History

Welcome to the History page. Below is the complete history of Blitzkrieg Bop. Written and edited by John Hodgson. The entire history, all thirty two chapters are on this page. Feel free to read it or you can read a particular chapter by clicking on any of the links below.

BLITZKRIEG BOP - A HARD ROAD TO NOWHERE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although the author of this book is me, John Hodgson, aka Blank Frank, I thought it best if it wasn’t littered with “I” and “me”, so I have written it as if a friend of the band has done it. I believe it makes the story more readable. I hope the readers will agree.
The reason for writing the book stems from the extended sleeve notes I wrote for ‘Top Of The Bops’. I felt that so much had been left out that a more complete version would be worthwhile. It has taken nine months of occasional hard work for this little “baby” to pop out, but in reality I have been writing it off and on for about fifteen years.
During research for the book I had the pleasure of once again speaking to ex-members of the band, some of whom I hadn’t seen or spoken to for 18 years. Most of them were happy to talk about the band, with Micky Dunn, Mick Hylton, Graham Moses and Ray Radford in particular raiding their memory banks to provide useful anecdotes.
Bop’s drummer, Alan Cornforth, is almost as obsessed with trivia as I, and I was delighted to be granted permission to trawl his tape and document archive, the latter of which proved invaluable, especially the set lists and lyrics.
The enthusiasm of John Esplen of Overground made sure that ‘Top Of The Bops’ became a reality, and I will be eternally grateful.
I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mick Todd and Alan Savage of Basczax, both of whom provided material for this book.
I would also like to thank our main ‘roadie’, John ‘D.P.’ Butterfield for use of his notes, which confirmed many events of which I wasn’t certain.
There are some annoying gaps, with a lack of reviews for the ‘UFO’ single being the most frustrating. I’ve also had to leave out a major part of the Index/Information section, due to time restrictions. The plan was to include a complete list of taped songs in the archive, but release of the book would have been delayed, probably for months. However, if anyone wants the ‘Complete Tape-ography’ as a supplement, please let me know.
I am always looking to add to the archive, so if anyone out there has bootleg tapes of gigs, or even photographs of the band in action, I would be glad to hear from them.
If anyone wishes to contact the band, here is a list of emails:
John Hodgson (aka Blank Frank) e-mail: blitzkrieg.bop@ntlworld.com
Micky Dunn (aka Bert Presley) e-mail: M.Dunn@derby.ac.uk

A HARD ROAD TO NOWHERE © 1998 - JOHN HODGSON

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INTRODUCTION

Punk Rock. What was all that about, then?
Looking back from a distance, the hacks and historians have sorted and sieved all the mayhem (dare I say anarchy?) into neat compartments, serving it up in byte-size chunks of trivia. There's nothing new about this, of course. The liberal, post-war, post-colonial liberation, coupled with pre-packed consumerism, positively encouraged the passion for the parcelling of micro-culture.
As the Millennium Joyride hurtles towards its predictable conclusion, the flotsam and Uncle-Sam of Western Ephemera becomes increasingly fragmented.
Punk occupied an infinitesimally small space in this universe, but if it was in your space, it was in your face. A full-on freak-out of fans and fanzines, a riot of ripped T-shirts and ripped-off bands.
Opinion is divided as to who started the party. Certainly the American strand, The Ramones/Patti Smith/Television/Talking Heads gang (via Iggy & The Dolls) had time on their side, but it's the UK crowd who offered the complete package. It was the political angle, the class & snobbery debate, that was the (not so) secret ingredients in the final mix.
Although the enduring image of UK punks, both groups and groupies alike (male and female) were of working class wastrels, many were middle class, adopting a pose of poverty. Students and Social Secretaries were in on the act too - the booking of The Doctors Of Madness one week and The Damned the next didn't faze them. It was just music after all, wasn't it?
The problem with history, of course, is that there's always a pre-history. A picture of Mick Jones in the early 70's with hair down his back speaks a thousand (swear) words. The barbers were working overtime in 1976 as thousands of likely lads lopped off their locks and re-vamped their record collections. Most punk bands cited the same bands at the forefront of the Influence Invasion; Roxy Music, Iggy, Sparks, Bowie, Alex Harvey, The Dolls, The Velvets, Bolan, Slade. The list almost writes itself.
But those who lived through the mid-70's know better. The local Record Vaults were suddenly filled to bursting with never-ending ELP LP's, gatefold Genesis, racks of Rod...this was the ultimate Vinyl Solution.
The saddest (but most predictable) thing about Punk was that it was so short lived. Although the Pistols first gig was in November 1975, the UK as a whole didn't really catch on until the Autumn of 1976, and by the end of 1978 it really was All Over. There were very few bands that succeeded in lasting the pace. The Clash were undoubtedly the jewel in the crown. Some suggest The Jam and The Stranglers, but many argue (rightly) that they would have shone in any era. My favourites were The Damned, once they had disposed of the witless Brian James and moved Captain “Guitar Hero” Sensible to the six strings. The Etiquette/Black Album/Strawberries LP’s were infinitely more interesting than the one-dimensional thrash of their first two albums.
The Pistols were the leaders, despite producing just one gem (Bollocks!) before imploding. But in the end, it didn't matter. It's what they said, what they looked like, their attitude, that mattered.
What Punk gave to hundreds of bands was a belief in their (in)ability, a hope that, against all odds, they would Make It. Behind all the Anti-Star bullshit was the usual dream of fame, a natural impulse to be the cream of the crop.
The Blitzkrieg Bop story could probably be written a thousand times over, by Inserting Your Band's Name Here. Just fill in the gaps and this could be your story. Your fifteen minutes. This is my fifteen minutes.
Why did I write it? Because it wasn't there!

JOHN HODGSON - 23rd July 1998.

CHAPTER ONE - ROOTS

The history of Blitzkrieg Bop should start with the founding members of a rock band called Adamanta Chubb, which began life in 1974.
The seeds of the band lie in the early months of that year. In their fifth year at a crummy Hartlepool Comprehensive School, four young lads were tired of being told what to think and where their careers should lie.
Alan Cornforth, Kevin McMaster, Stephen Sharratt and Mike ‘Duck’ Macdonald were four friends who were bored. Four teenagers who were looking for excitement. Not easy to find in the industrial wasteland that is Teesside.
Alan Cornforth was a studious, sandy-haired teenager with a slightly stocky build, that would suit him well for his role in the band. He had two major passions; music, where he was influenced in his tastes by his elder brother, David, and what might be called ‘toys for the boys’, namely tape recorders, mixers, and countless other more exotic gadgets. His bedroom was nick-named ‘Jodrell Bank’ due to the amount of gizmo’s and flashing lights. He always spoke his mind, and this led to many arguments that, through perseverance, he usually won.
Alan’s first musical passion was for The Who, at aged 14 he took guitar lessons to try and emulate his hero, Pete Townshend. The guitar proved difficult to master, so dreams of drumming like Keith Moon took over his thoughts.
In March of 1974 Alan decided to use his mother’s mail-order catalogue to send for some musical instruments with a view to forming a rock band. As soon as the delivery van had dropped off a drum kit, a bass guitar, and a microphone and amplifiers, Alan and his friends slowly began the process of learning how to use them.
One of the first problems was to choose a name for the band. Alan was keen on ‘Lord Of The Rings’, an epic fantasy adventure written by J.R.R. Tolkien featuring a mythical world inhabited by wizards, warriors and strange creatures with hairy feet called Hobbits. In the back of Tolkien’s book is an extensive family tree, and nestling amongst the branches is a character called Adamanta Chubb.
Alan decided to try the drums, with Mike on bass, Stephen on lead guitar and Kevin on vocals and rhythm guitar.
They had to settle for practising at Alan’s house, much to their neighbours chagrin. Alan was always thorough in everything he did, and he meticulously wrote down song parts for each song for each instrument.
They tackled songs like ‘I Can’t Explain’ by The Who and ‘Hold Your Head Up’ by Argent. Gigs were far from their minds, but eventually they managed to play crude versions of their favourite songs.
By May 1974 it was clear that Mike was never going to master the bass, so he and Alan swapped instruments. Mike, however, found the drums equally as difficult and soon lost interest in the band altogether. By the end of July Alan returned to the drum stool, Mike was thrown out and they started looking for a replacement.
Damien ‘Dimmer’ Blackwell was an old school friend who lived on a nearby farm. His major influences at the time were Rory Gallagher, Cat Stevens, Uriah Heep, Genesis and The Groundhogs. He had been playing guitar for several years, and had even performed solo whilst on holiday in Switzerland. However, the vacancy was for a bass player, so Dimmer had to switch (sic) to bass in order to get in the band.
Dimmer, like his great guitar hero, Rory Gallagher, had a Fender Stratocaster, and long flowing locks. Because Dimmer’s parents owned a farm, it seemed inevitable that he would end up working in the family business, like his brothers and sisters. While not exactly the black sheep of the family, he did resist enough to forge his own ‘career path’ away from the family business.
As soon as he joined their fortunes changed for the better. They re-located from Alan’s house to a barn at Dimmer’s farm. It meant that they could make as much noise as they liked without disturbing anyone. The barn (actually different barns at different times) soon became a nerve centre of musical activity. With the gleaming new instruments standing proudly amongst the hay bails, the pungent aromas, mainly cigarette smoke and cow shite, were overpowering. The band soon decorated the walls with posters of their favourite bands.
With the new line-up they commenced intense rehearsals and were rewarded in November 1974 with the bands first gig at St. Mary’s Youth Club in nearby Stockton. The gig, by all accounts, was an unmitigated disaster. Most of the band drank a little too much and the set was a shambles, at one point the band were actually playing two different songs at once. The band retreated to the barn, licking their wounds over the Christmas holidays.
Dimmer was invited to a party over the holiday period at a friends house. Also invited was a 19 year old Thornaby lad called John Hodgson. At the party they discussed their musical interests. Dimmer mentioned that he was in a band, but that they were having problems writing their own material. The two had common ground, especially about the idea that rock music should not be for ‘bread heads’. They agreed the priority should be the music, not making money playing Working Men’s Clubs, pandering to the tastes of the masses.
John Hodgson was born in Thornaby on 9th October 1955, ten years to the day after John Lennon, one of his heroes. He began his musical ‘career’ in 1966 when he started writing crude pop songs with his school chum Michael Charlton. They had many names, including The Elastic Band and The Citizens, but eventually settled on Purity, although the sound they made was far from pure. John bashing away on biscuit tins with two bits of kindling, and Michael strumming a Red Jet Electric Beatles guitar.
Several ancillary members passed through their ranks, one of whom was Robert Moss, who went on to publish the highly regarded ‘Book Of Football Lists’ in 1983. He later became a football agent, responsible for the transfer of numerous foreign players into the English game.
Between 1966 and 1974 John and Michael wrote and recorded hundreds of songs, many of which survive to this day. Towards the end Michael lost interest and by the end of 1974 John was a ‘solo’ songwriter, looking for a band that he could collaborate with.
John spent lunch breaks writing lyrics and dreaming of becoming a pop star at his day-job as a telephone sales clerk at Parson & Crosland, a steel stockholders based in Middlesbrough. He was skinny as a teenager, with dark, wavy hair. He had a wide range of musical influences, including Elton John, Roxy Music, The Beatles, David Bowie, Yes, Genesis, E.L.P., and even the jazz fusion of Al Di Miola.
Dimmer and John had met long before the party. On 3rd February 1973 they both met their future wives at the Stockton YMCA disco. John danced with a girl called Denise Liddell and her friend, Kay Walsh, teamed up with Dimmer. Their paths crossed regularly after that, and they even had a jam session in 1974 with John on piano and Dimmer on acoustic guitar.
So it was an ideal opportunity for John when Dimmer told him of Chubb’s problems with songwriting. They agreed to meet up in the new year with a view to working together.
In January 1975 John made several trips to the barn to meet the rest of the band. He brought with him some of his songs, and vocalist Kevin McMaster was particularly impressed with the lyrics. The rest of the band (especially Alan) were wary of any newcomers and gave John a frosty welcome.
Before long however, it was decided that the band would be improved if John joined as a proper member. John had to go into debt to a local music store, where he purchased a Galanti electric piano, a ‘combo’ amplifier, a mike stand and microphone. It soon became apparent that the cheap and nasty piano was not powerful enough for a ‘heavy’ rock band, and it was exchanged for an equally nasty electric organ.
The band rehearsed for a couple of weeks, learning not only cover versions, but some original material supplied by John, including ‘Landslide’, ‘Fly Away’ and ‘Carnage’.
Fast approaching were a couple of gigs at a local church hall, St. Joseph’s in Norton. John felt that he wasn’t ready to take the stage so he settled for being a roadie for the first gig on 13th April 1975. He recorded the gig on a stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder, and a listen to the performance reveals an out of tune band playing a selection of plodding heavy rock. Dimmer did a brief ‘acoustic’ set, playing two of John’s own songs, ‘Fly Away’ and ‘Landslide’.
Three days later John felt confident enough to join them on stage at the same venue. Word had got round the local area that a really bad band were playing, and the 70 or so kids who suffered the first gig stayed away in their droves for the second. Barely a dozen people watched, and most of them had gone well before the end. With John they were not much different, with his noisy organ just adding to the general cacophony.
Undeterred, the band carried on rehearsing, and eventually on June 13th 1975 they managed to secure another gig at a local youth club, St. Cuthbert’s. The band had agreed to play two sets, and they were also going to get paid. The club was packed and a nervous Adamanta Chubb tore through their rather predictable repertoire to the slack-jawed amazement of the assembled throng.
To be fair, there had been improvements in performance, but the manager of the club didn’t appreciate it. Towards the end of the first set he asked them to finish and not play the second half. As a leaving present Alan kicked his drums over in a Keith Moon style fit of pique.
After the gig guitarist Stephen Sharratt broke the news that he was leaving the band to concentrate on his education. It turned out a wise decision as Stephen went on to a career in television as a set designer. His name has cropped up regularly on the end credits of BBC programmes, most notably East Enders.
This change prompted a re-think in the band, and Dimmer moved from bass to lead guitar, a position he had coveted since joining. Kevin added to his vocal duties by strapping on the bass guitar, and the line-up was again settled.
Several months of hard practise eventually paid off. Tapes from this period show a band that had tightened up considerably. They had also started to play shorter, poppier material, including ‘Fox On The Run’ (The Sweet), ‘Virginia Plain’ (Roxy Music) and ‘Delilah’ (Tom Jones via Alex Harvey)
Sadly the wider public did not get to hear the improvement as no gigs were forthcoming.
Kevin grew increasingly disillusioned with his dual role, as attempts to recruit a new vocalist proved fruitless. By October 1975 Kevin had left and the band were down to a three-piece, with John handling the bass on his keyboards.
In November they were successful in their quest for a singer. Jackie Bradley was a local girl who had some experience with local club bands. She wasn’t over burdened with talent, so she fitted in quite well!
Initially rehearsals went smoothly, the band learnt new songs such as ‘Feel Like Making Love’ (Bad Company) but over Christmas John, Alan and Dimmer held a meeting at which it was decided to dispense with Jackie’s services. It was left up to John to break the news.
January 1976 saw the band enter their most artistically productive phase. With a pile of new recording gear acquired over Christmas, the band threw themselves into a frenzy of song-writing and recording.
John also added to his keyboards, buying a second-hand electric piano which sounded like a budget Fender Rhodes, and a monophonic synthesizer called the Yamaha SY1, which he bought on the never never, eventually paying over six-hundred quid for it.
With the new equipment they were able to lay down backing-tracks, and overdub several times with vocals and additional instruments. It was a crude set-up, but with patience they produced listenable versions of ‘The Knife’ (Genesis), ‘Fog On The Tyne’ (Lindisfarne), ‘Black Night’ (Deep Purple), ‘More Fool Me’ (Genesis), ‘Stealin’ and ‘Gypsy’ (both Uriah Heep), as well as self-penned songs such as ‘Landslide’, ‘The Old Man’, ‘Fly Away’, ‘Palooka’ and ‘Black Queen’.
During this period (January-April 1976) they also spent time trying to add to the line-up, with vocalist Brian Day and bassist Brian Robertson having brief spells in the band. Neither of these feature on any of the ‘studio’ recordings. John, Alan and Dimmer had moulded themselves into a tight little unit, and this period was certainly the most rewarding for Adamanta Chubb.
Things looked even better when they were booked to play for Alan’s brother at his engagement party. A night club in Stockton, The Electric Onion, was chosen for the bash. The group threw themselves into intense rehearsals and played a rambling two hour set featuring a number of new original songs that reflected their passion for bands such as Genesis and Yes. ‘Hatred Lost…Love Won’ and ‘Seven Sisters’ were prime examples of pomp rock, with tempo changes and lengthy soloing from Dimmer and John.
The night went well, but the tape of the gig was of poor quality because of a microphone placed underneath a carpet. Despite this, it revealed a performance that was out of tune. Further bad news came when they were thrown off the farm by Dimmer’s father for playing too loud.
May 1976 saw the band drift apart and when John was told of a vacancy in a band called Contrast by his old Purity partner Michael Charlton, he took the opportunity to leave Adamanta Chubb.

CHAPTER TWO - ERECTING A CAREER

Contrast were a soul/funk band, similar to bands like Earth Wind & Fire. John was very nervous at his audition, but he was delighted to learn at the end of the night that he was officially in the group.
At the next rehearsal the band changed their name to Erection, which was prone to double entendres, and the band knew it. They were a ‘multi-cultural’ set-up, bassist Eddie Hall, saxophone player Steve Brown, and vocalist Dee Dee Patterson were black. John, guitarist Ray Radford, and drummer Jed Duffy were white, and congo player Yusef Nimar was of mixed race.
Though soul wasn’t John’s favourite music, he was pleased to be involved in a band that aimed higher than the rehearsal room. He also had to re-think his policy on ‘bread-heads’ because Erection’s main source of gigs was the Northern Club circuit, where they were expected to play material to please the audience, rather than themselves.
A set list from an early gig includes ‘Sunshine Day’ (Osibisa), ‘Gimme Some’ (Brendon), ‘Living For The City’ (Stevie Wonder), ‘Low Rider’ (War) and ‘No Woman, No Cry’ (Bob Marley).
John had to get used to a different stage presentation pretty quickly. Out went the jeans and T-shirt and in came sky-blue satin suits, kaftans and maracas. On several occasions sax player Steve Brown finished the set with a fire-eating routine and a dance with a snake.
Within a week of joining, John was thrown in at the deep end with a gig at Whinney Banks Youth Club. Two days later they played at Bowes Wine Cellar, Darlington. This pattern of regular gigs continued, in stark contrast to his time with Adamanta Chubb. Highlights included several gigs at The Senate in Peterlee, with audiences of 500+, and a gig at The Locarno Ballroom, Sunderland complete with a revolving stage, an in-house Hammond organ, and a 1000+ crowd. They even found time to play 3 gigs at The Birdcage Disco, on the Isle Of Wight.
John got on well with all members of the band, but he was particularly friendly with guitarist Ray Radford, who shared John’s sick sense of humour and cynical outlook on life. Ray was also not keen on soul music, and he was more or less just marking time until something better turned up.
Towards the end of 1976 there was a big bust-up in the band. Steve Brown, the unofficial ‘leader’, was found to have been using the bands hard-earned gig money for personal use, buying anything from drugs to pairs of shoes. As a result both he and singer Dee Dee were thrown out. The band recruited a singer, Dave Hughes, who had actually been in the band before John had joined. They also added a proper brass section, with several sax and trumpet players coming and going.
While John was busy with Erection, (oo-err!) Dimmer and Alan were not so active. Alan more or less stopped playing, apart from almost getting an audition for White Spirit, a local heavy metal band who went on to some success in the early eighties.
Alan did find time to set up his recording equipment at Erection’s rehearsal room to produce two songs. One of them, a slow jazzy ballad written by John, was called ‘Weekend Lovers’. He also used his gear to tape a gig at Northallerton Community Centre.
Dimmer, after a couple of months inactivity, picked up the pieces by advertising in a local paper for musicians. He recruited a bass player called Mick Hylton and started rehearsing again at the farm, his father having relented on his decision to ban him. They went through several names, including Rat Killers, Concrete Bucket and Bierrites, before reverting back to Adamanta Chubb.
Mick started his musical career when he was bought a £9 guitar for his 14th birthday. He formed a band called Holocaust with friends Alan ‘Jack’ Medd and Steve ‘Austro’ Atkins which didn’t get beyond the rehearsal room. Mick was a quiet, fair-haired lad, who was a solid no-frills bass guitarist. He worked as an apprentice engineer at The Gas Board.
Numerous other members came and went, including a drummer called Laurence Crallan, who lived three doors away from John in Thornaby. Both were oblivious to each others involvement in Chubb. This line-up of the band was much more a vehicle for Dimmer’s musical tastes than anything else, with songs by Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Rory Gallagher included in the repertoire. This line-up actually played a gig at Prisswick Youth Club. It was not well organised. Mick turned up too early, got sick of waiting and went home. Dimmer and Lawrence then arrived and had to play the gig as a two piece with only guitar and drums.
It was a chance meeting on New Years Eve 1976, that sowed the seeds for Chubb’s reformation. Dimmer met John on a bus, and told John of an imminent gig at The Olympia Club in Norton. He wanted to borrow John’s synthesizer for the event. Dimmer even hinted that it would be fun if John joined him on stage.
Predictably, the gig didn’t happen, but to John it brought into sharp focus the fact that he didn’t enjoy playing soul music, and he was really itching to get back into a ‘rock’ band. John’s diary entry for January 1st 1977 included the following prophetic passage:-

…Musical influences at the moment are some great punk rock singles, ‘So It Goes’/’Heart Of The City’ (Nick Lowe), ‘I Could Live With You In Another World’/’Blank Generation’ (Richard Hell & The Voidoids), ‘Anarchy In The UK/’I Wanna Be Me’ (Sex Pistols), also getting into The Vibrators, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Slaughter & The Dogs, Eater & The Clash…On Monday January 3rd, John visited Alan Cornforth to pay an instalment on his synthesizer. John told him about Dimmer and the aborted gig, and Alan admitted that Dimmer had been in touch, asking him if he wanted to come back. It seemed as if, almost by accident, Adamanta Chubb were re-forming.
Throughout January John continued to play gigs with Erection. Many arguments ensued concerning the brass section. Ray Radford in particular was not keen on the idea, and he became increasingly disillusioned. A little clique developed, with John and Ray becoming detached from the rest of the band. It all came to a head on February 11th 1977, when Erection played a gig at the International 58 Club in Leeds.
All the usual things happened, with drummer Jed Duffy in particular raising the hackles of John and Ray. He had the habit of vanishing whenever there was any work to do, such as packing the gear away. On this night he chose not to return until four in the morning. The Chapeltown area of Leeds is not a place to hang around in the middle of the night, especially with a van full of musical equipment.
The following day John decided to leave, and Ray also handed in his notice. Bass player Eddie Hall tried to persuade John to re-join, but he was adamant.
John’s journal and diary entries from the time clearly express his motives:-

…The date was Sunday, February 13th 1977, and I was slowly getting used to not being in Erection. In some ways it was a great relief, a feeling of peace prevailed, knowing that the van would not be picking me up anymore, I wouldn’t be carrying gear up and down stairs, no more playing out-dated music to out-dated audiences. No more late nights. All these things I was glad to put behind me, but deep inside there was still that urge to ‘tread the boards’ again, preferably with Adamanta Chubb…During the ten months he was in Erection John never really gave up the idea that Adamanta Chubb would re-form some time in the future. He didn’t waste much time in starting the ball rolling. On the above date John paid a visit to the barn with an excuse that he wanted to tape Dimmer’s group for posterity:-FEB. 13th 1977 (Sunday)
Went to Dimmer’s at about 1 o’clock. When I arrived they were playing ‘A.C. (Rock And Roll Band)’. They played a few songs and I started to tape them. Then Dimmer brought the electric piano in from his house and we did stuff like ‘Seven Sisters’ and ‘Words’. Then I started singing. We did stuff like ‘My Generation’ and ‘The Tommy Medley’.
I wrote a number on the spot called ‘Hospital Blues’. I then got talking about punk rock. We tried ‘Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue’ by The Ramones. It was incredible, we got it off in about ten minutes. I wasn’t impressed with the drummer. He had a silver coloured ‘Pearl’ kit with Ludwig skins. He was very unsure and would hardly touch them, even when the song demanded it.
Dimmer and I decided to go to Alan’s. He was in a quiet mood. I told him I had left Erection, and he seemed surprised. I told Dimmer that I would join as a singer in Adamanta Chubb. He seemed pleased. I have always secretly wanted to sing in a group, and now was my chance…So John was set to become a vocalist and a frontman, which was something he had never considered before. He always liked the idea of hiding behind a bank of keyboards, and felt self-conscious about leaping around the front of the stage.
There was clearly no turning back now. The re-formed Adamanta Chubb still had no idea of what lay ahead, even though John was keen on punk rock, and felt that they should move in that direction.
Bass player Mick Hylton did not take kindly to John barging in on the band. He knew little of the history of the band, and didn’t appreciate the bond that John and Dimmer had forged in the original line-up. The scene was set now for a real change in their fortunes, but it wouldn’t be as simple as they had hoped.

CHAPTER THREE - BOP GOES THE WEASEL

The following Sunday, 20th February 1977, marked the real start of Adamanta Chubb Mk.2, with John Hodgson - vocals/keyboards, Dimmer Blackwell - guitar, Mick Hylton - bass guitar, and Alan Lawrence - drums.
Armed with a sheaf of half finished song ideas, John did his usual ‘tape everything’ routine and as a result we have versions of ‘I Wanna Change The World’ and ‘Destroy’ both making an appearance on ‘Top Of The Bops’, the bands debut CD that didn’t surface until 20 years later. At the time the sleeve notes for ‘Top Of The Bops’ were written, it was thought that the rehearsal take of ‘Bugger Off’ (track 25) was from this session, but it is in fact from the 15th March, after Alan Cornforth had re-joined.
Alan Lawrence was not the best drummer in the world. Listening to the tape now it’s clear that he had no sense of timing, a skill vital to a drummers prospects. He brings to mind the old rock’n’roll joke:- Q: How do you know a drummer is at the door? A: The knocking speeds up!
John decided that the only way to complete the line-up was to persuade Alan Cornforth to return. After a week or so of phone calls and pleading he finally returned on Sunday March 6th, as John recalls in his diary:-

MARCH 6th 1977 (Sunday)
…We practised today as a four piece with Alan back for the first time. The other drummer has left (before we had the chance to tell him he was out) he has gone to join a pop group. After 10 crazy months the true Adamanta Chubb are back together again. We played a few of the old numbers, most of them worked great. My amp kept blowing so eventually I had to go through the PA.
I have written a new song called ‘Knowing’ that I want us to do. I have written all the music down and it took me ages. I went to Alan’s after and we wrote a couple of lyrics…

The fact that the band took the trouble to try out a new song ‘Knowing’, which was closer to Barclay James Harvest than The Ramones, indicated that punk rock was not at the forefront of their thinking. The general plan was to continue writing original material in the style of Genesis etc., and couple that with an end-of-set blast of punk.
That week John splashed out £120 on a Vox Continental organ. He was excited by the purchase, as it was almost identical to the organ used by John Lennon at Shea Stadium in 1965. It was very distinctive with black keys where they should have been white, and vice versa. Sadly John had it stolen in 1979.
Dimmer and John went to see The Stranglers at the Middlesbrough Rock Garden, and John noted that there were no punk rockers present. John thought they were brilliant but Dimmer was not so keen.
After a couple more rehearsals (including one on 15th March, from which ‘Bugger Off’ was recorded, and released as track 25 on ‘Top Of The Bops’) the band decided that a lead singer was needed. Clearly at this stage the band were in utter confusion musically about which direction to take. John was certainly the most keen to take the punk route, but he also seemed in two minds about fronting the band. Despite two adverts no-one of any consequence expressed any interest, so the band started to look for some gigs.
Bass player Mick Hylton worked for the Gas Board, and most weeks he was working away in Manchester, which meant that he often missed the Wednesday night practise. The band usually spent the Sunday afternoon practice teaching Mick anything they had learnt during the week.
They put in an extra practise on Friday 1st April as they had two gigs, the first at The Grangefield Youth Club, Stockton, on the 2nd, and The Speedway Pub, Middlesbrough, the following night. Here are some excerpts from John’s diary concerning that weekend:-

APRIL 3rd 1977 (Saturday)
…It was a fairly large youth club, but the room we were in was small. When all the gear was set up it looked very good. Alan set the recording equipment up as well. We opened with ‘Do The Strand’ (Roxy Music). Dimmer was wearing the most bizarre white dungarees. The atmosphere was tense, yet we were very calm.
We got occasional ripples of applause, but we finished the first half to total silence. We did the punk rock spot and that was OK. We went off at the end to silence but there was at least a dozen people who liked us.
The stupid bloke who booked us was incensed at us for not playing disco shit. He was a stupid narrow minded idiot. You have to pity people like that who don’t know any better. He only gave us ten pounds instead of twenty. That wasn’t important as such, but the fact that we put a lot of hard work into getting our show over and he goes and slams the door in our face. This wasn’t a good gig to start the group off again, but it made us all determined to stick to our musical stance no matter what…

APRIL 4th 1977 (Sunday)
…We went to the pub at twelve o’clock on the afternoon and set the gear up. We were nervous (some of us wouldn’t admit it) about tonight. The attitude of the landlord was a contrast to the idiot from the youth club. He said we can play what we want, and if it goes down well, we would get return bookings. We had a bit of a rent-a-crowd because some of Dimmer’s mates were there from the Speedway. We played very well and we went down fairly well. The punk bit went down a storm…

So, with a couple of gigs under their belts, Adamanta Chubb were in a better position than ever before. Mick was a solid bass player who actually played in tune and in time, the break from playing had seemed to revitalise Alan’s drumming, John’s seventy gigs with Erection had vastly improved his keyboard playing, and Dimmer had made the guitar spot his own.
Despite this there was still conflict. Mick had resented Johns arrival, and was still unsure about the punk element of the stage act. Dimmer and Alan were constantly at each others throat, with rows and walk- outs a frequent occurrence.
The search for a vocalist continued. Here is an excerpt from John’s diary:-

APRIL 6th 1977 (Wednesday)
…Auditioned Colin Bilton. He is 27 years old and comes from Stockton. He has been in bands for twelve years now. He has played in Government (a former band of Erection drummer Jed Duffy) and Gippo. He also played in a group called Harvest who made an L.P. He has headlined Newcastle City Hall.
He is of slight build, with a beard. We did numbers like ‘Black Night’ and ‘Child In Time’ (both Deep Purple). He was a very good singer, but not as good as I expected. He has unofficially joined…

The term “unofficially joined” certainly shows that the band were not sure about Colin. He was considerably older, and his image and tastes seemed to jar with the bands emerging predilection for all things punk.
As the band had another gig at The Speedway pub on the following Sunday, they continued to rehearse without Colin. They learnt three new songs for that show, ‘Teenage Depression’ (Eddie & The Hot Rods), ‘The Kids Are Alright’ (The Who), and ‘1977’ (The Clash), significantly all ‘punk’ songs.
Here is John’s entry for the Sunday:-

APRIL 10th 1977 (Sunday)
GIG - SPEEDWAY PUB. Set the gear up as usual on the afternoon. We put the Union Jacks up and they looked great. We had been advertised all week (Yes! Even in the paper!) I was nervous when I went on. The first half was so-so. We were using the mixer for recording so everything was balanced. The last number of the first half was ‘Smoke On The Water’, it was a disaster. The second half was absolutely brilliant. The songs were being applauded and we were playing well. It was packed out and the ‘punk’ spot went down a treat. We used Colin’s P.A., it was a bit distorted.

During the gig John announced Colin to the audience, who stood and took a bow. Despite Adamanta Chubb’s improvement, it seemed strange that a singer of Colin’s pedigree would consider joining such a band. The Union Jacks were bought on a whim just before the gig. The Queen’s silver jubilee was imminent, and the country was gripped in patriotic fervour. The band took all this with a pinch of salt, and their display of flags was meant to be ironic rather than nationalistic.
Two days later the band decided that Colin was not going to fit in, as it was clear that the audiences were reacting positively to the punk songs. The enthusiasm for punk had started with John, but now Alan and Dimmer were slowly getting turned on to the fantastic energy and freshness that the music gave out. Mick was not so sure, and remained sceptical of punks musical validity.
The band, although no-one knew it at the time, were on the brink of something special. It happened so quickly that it would take everyone involved in the band completely by surprise. People would leave, people would join, and things that they had dreamt about for years would happen almost overnight. It was like a Big Bang.

CHAPTER FOUR - THE BIG BANG

As previously mentioned, Mick was a little wary of John, and things came to a head when he realised that the rest of the band were beginning, slowly but surely, to take punk rock seriously. John was excited, exhilarated and inspired by punk, thinking it the most significant development in rock music for a decade, whilst Mick was suspicious and only mildly interested.
With Mick away in Manchester, the rest of the band would meet and talk, eagerly discussing the merits of the latest punk singles, and swopping the latest stories about The Sex Pistols and The Clash, and any other bands that were making the news.
It seemed that when Mick was in Manchester he was influenced by his punk-hating mates at the Gas Board, and this is what John wrote in his diary for April 17th:-

APRIL 17th (Sunday)
Practised. Mick was getting sick of us playing punk. And this really got me angry. All last week Alan, Dim and I were radically changing our views and attitudes to the exclusion of boring old fart music. Learnt ‘Beat On The Brat’ (The Ramones) and ‘London Lady’ (The Stranglers). After this Mick said “Can’t we start learning something that isn’t punk?”, I said “Soon we’ll be playing all punk”. I told him if he didn’t like the idea it was tough shit…

Within a matter of five weeks, from Mick’s viewpoint, John had gone from a tentative newcomer to the leader of the band, and he didn’t like it. John was convinced that punk music was the only thing that mattered. Mick thought it a novelty to be tinkered with, but John was deadly serious. He realised that the band weren’t great musicians, and never likely to be, so punk rock was a real chance to make their mark.
The band decided that they needed a second guitarist, as punk rock required less keyboards, and John would be spending most of his time at the front of the stage.
To this end Dimmer brought along a friend of his called Ann Hodgson (no relation to John) to the next rehearsal on Tuesday, 19th April. She appeared nervous and shy, and was a competent rhythm guitarist, although she could not play any lead guitar. This didn’t seem to matter to the band, as punk music didn’t require guitar solos all over the place.
After a few songs Dimmer started behaving as if she was in the band, which she certainly wasn’t at that point, as John and Alan hadn’t been consulted. As it turned out, they didn’t object. Mick was away in Manchester and didn’t even know about her joining until the following weekend.
Another significant event took place that night. They decided to give themselves stage names to reflect their new punk image. Most other bands had done it, Johnny Rotten, Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible were all novelty monikers. John Hodgson became Blank Frank, taken from a Brian Eno lyric, (Blank Frank is the messenger of your doom and your destruction…) Alan Cornforth became Nicky Knoxx, Dimmer Blackwell became Fred Fret, and Ann Hodgson became Pat Pussy. The next day Pat Pussy changed to Gloria, Dimmer would stick with Fred Fret until the end of May, when he changed it to Telly Sett.
The band soon got used to the idea of having Ann in the band. A fan of The Beatles from an early age, she took music lessons as a child, and reached Grade 4 on the piano. She soon lost interest in the piano when, at eleven, she was given her first guitar. She made her stage debut with a school band playing songs by people like Leonard Cohen and James Taylor. They entered and won a Battle Of The Bands competition, and Ann even managed to come second in the same event as a solo performer, playing Dimmer’s beloved Fender Stratocaster guitar.
At Sixth Form College she joined another band, this time playing heavier music, including ‘Silver Machine’ by Hawkwind. Later still she had a brief stint with a showband called Last Chance before being invited to the barn for her ‘audition’ with Blitzkrieg Bop.
There was a scare the next day, Wednesday April 20th, when Alan declared he was leaving. The rest of the band were shocked, as it was over such a trivial matter. Dimmer had planned to go to London the following weekend, and Alan was annoyed because they could have practised. He was particularly vexed because the weekend was the only time that Mick was home from Manchester. They somehow persuaded him to stay.
At this time the band briefly considered changing their name, at least for the punk set. Frank Blank & The Planks was chosen, but it was never seriously adopted by the band for gigs.
After several rehearsals at the end of April Mick announced he was leaving as soon as we could find a replacement. The band responded by giving him the punk name Mick Sick and telling him not to be silly.
May 1st 1977 saw Adamanta Chubb’s last gig, and Ann Hodgson’s first. It was again at The Speedway, a venue the band had made their own. Each successive appearance attracted bigger crowds, with news spreading by word of mouth about a noisy rock band that was actually playing real live punk rock. In the North East of England this was certainly a novelty.
The first half they performed as a four piece, dressed normally. They played their usual standard rock fare, including original material such as ‘Sad Sadistic Sorrow’ and ‘The Old Man’ and cover versions such as ‘Virginia Plain’ (Roxy Music) and ‘Fog On The Tyne’ (Lindisfarne). For the final song of the first half they were joined on stage by Ann to play ‘Hanging Around’ (The Stranglers) as a taster for their punk dominated second set.
As punk songs were so short it took a lot of songs to fill 45 minutes. Amongst others they blasted through were ‘Gloria’ (Van Morrison via Eddie & The Hot Rods), ‘Heart Of The City’ (Nick Lowe) and ‘I Remember You’ (Yet another by The Ramones).
The only original punk song performed that night was ‘Bugger Off’. For some reason that cannot be explained in hindsight the band took the decision to play cover-versions of punk songs rather than concentrate on original material. They were to be the subject of a lot of criticism for this. The band felt as they were playing music audiences might react badly to, it would help if they at least played something people might have heard before.
The band realised that the name Adamanta Chubb was not in keeping with their new image. At the next practise on the 4th May 1977 they changed it to Blitzkrieg Bop, which was suggested by John. It was taken from the title of a Ramones song, and again the band was criticised for choosing such an unoriginal name. Again in hindsight they would probably have done it differently, but decisions like this were being taken without a lot of thought. Once they had changed it, it was silly to change it again, so in a sense they were stuck with it. Things could have been worse, some of the initial suggestions included The Shits and The Twats, both of which would have caused their own problems.
On the Friday Mick returned from Manchester and came to the practise with good news. He was seriously thinking of staying with the band. The hardest nut was finally cracking, realising at last the band were on a roll.
Alan arrived at the practise in a white boilersuit daubed in black paint. He had ‘Stranglers’ down one leg and ‘Damned’ down the other. There was an unofficial competition between group members to out do each other fashion wise. Each time they met they tried to shock each other with increasingly outlandish and gaudy attire.
The rehearsal was a frantic run through to bring Mick up to speed with the new material. They even found time to learn ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ (The Ramones) to fit in with their new name.
The band had another weekend brace of gigs on the 7th and 8th May, the first one at Ormesby Youth Club, Middlesbrough. This gig has the honour of being the first ever gig by the band. Blitzkrieg Bop were now on a crusade, spreading the word about punk rock to anyone who would listen. When they arrived at Ormesby Youth Club to set up the gear, there was another band practising on the stage. As they were a bunch of “boring old farts” the band adopted a superior attitude towards them.
Punk was often linked to obnoxious behaviour, and the band didn’t disappoint with their gig at the youth club. They got into an argument with the local residents about the parking of the van, then annoyed them again with excess noise, with a local councillor rushing off to get a decibel meter. They incurred the wrath of the organiser by drinking bottles of whisky on stage, and during the punk set the stage was invaded by schoolgirls. John wore white make-up, and Dimmer had an enormous Union Jack cape draped over his shoulders. All pretty tame stuff by the usual standards, but these were a bunch of law-abiding kids who all loved their mothers.
The next night they did their usual two set routine at The Speedway, with the audience dancing and leaping in the aisles. A storming second half of manic punk anthems brought the house down.
Playing punk meant that they could concentrate more on putting on a show rather than worrying if every note played was in tune and in time. To a band that had previously played (or attempted to play) intricate pomp rock this was a liberating experience.
It was an important weekend for the band. They were playing to people who actually enjoyed the music, who came to the gig deliberately to see Blitzkrieg Bop. This was an alien concept to them. John, in particular, had experienced both extremes, from the social club ‘prostitution’ of Erection, to the self indulgent pretensions of Adamanta Chubb.

CHAPTER FIVE - THE VINYL COUNTDOWN

As the band progressed, they gave presentation top priority. To this end, on Thursday May 12th Alan and Ann spent the whole night painting a bass drum skin with a new logo, white letters on a black background:- Blitzkrieg Bop.
The next night John, Dimmer, Ann and Alan retired to a local hostelry for a songwriting session. The titles were ‘Police State’ (later to become a staple of their live set), ‘No Sweat’ (never heard of again), and more importantly, ‘9 Till 5’ and ‘Disco’s & Friscos’, both of which would play a big part in the bands future.
At the following nights rehearsal the band polished off ‘9 Till 5’, learnt ‘Suzy Is A Headbanger’, (another Ramones cover version) and ‘Batman Theme’, popularised by The Jam. They premiered these three at their fifth Speedway engagement on Sunday, May 15th. They tried hard to generate the excitement from the previous gigs, but a scuffle at the bar spoilt the atmosphere and the performance was subdued.
Wednesday May 18th will go down as one of the defining moments for the Teesside punk scene. The Rock Garden, a 450+ capacity venue in Middlesbrough, previously known for putting on traditional rock bands, hosted The Clash. It was the first time that punks from all parts of the North East of England had the chance to get together. Scores of safety pin clad youths strutted like peacocks as the queues stretched round the block. Groups of three or four punks, until then oblivious of the existence of others, suddenly realised that other people were into the same music, fashion, and street politics that they were.
This is John’s diary entry for that night:-

MAY 18th 1977 (Wednesday)
Went to see The Clash. Went to The Acklam Pub over the road, it was full of punks. We were all posing. We went into the queue for the gig and all The Clash walked past. Mick Jones went into the pub and Dimmer went and had a chat with him. We eagerly awaited the support group, Subway Sect. They were a great disappointment, they were too loud and out of tune. People were booing. We were handing out tickets with the date of our next gig at The Speedway. Just before The Clash came on the DJ announced the gig over the PA - brilliant!

Not only was it an important event for the Teesside scene, it was the moment that Blitzkrieg Bop glimpsed the wider picture. Their imaginations raced ahead as they contemplated the possibilities that punk rock offered them. From this moment on things happened at such a pace that John’s diary entries became a collection of hastily scribbled notes as he spent all his leisure time immersed in ‘the scene’.
Below the entry for The Clash gig, for example, is a scrawled line:- “…notes on The Gun Rubber, Penetration, Generation X…”
The Gun Rubber was a ‘fanzine’ from Sheffield, and John spoke to their North East ‘reporter’ (called Ian Luck - more of him later) at the gig, in an effort to promote the band. Fanzines were crude magazines put together by fans of punk rock, photocopied and stapled then sold at gigs and record shops. The first one to make an impression nationally was Sniffin’ Glue, edited by Mark Perry, who went on to some success with his band, Alternative TV.
The band decided that night to start their own fanzine, of which more later.
Penetration, a fast rising punk band from nearby Ferryhill, had already attracted national attention. Several members of the band were at The Clash gig, and Pauline Murray had conversations with Bop about punk in general and the local scene in particular. There was also talk about Blitzkrieg Bop getting a support slot with Generation X.
Another aspect of the punk scene was the emergence of independent record labels, such as Chiswick and Stiff. Bands from all over the country were releasing singles in limited editions, selling them to their fans and families, and not caring too much about fame and fortune.
John, Alan and Dimmer had dreamt of releasing their own record, ever since the early days of Adamanta Chubb in 1975. Their recording sessions in early 1976 had been with the express intent, funds permitting, of releasing an L.P. Of course, this dream never materialised, but in the heady days of the punk explosion, anything seemed possible.
On Friday May 20th, the band got together at Dimmer’s farm for a recording session.
On the night, talk of an actual vinyl release was not at the forefront of conversation. The fact that the band taped a series of ‘cover versions’ reveals that it was more to test the recording equipment. They laid down versions of ‘White Riot’ (The Clash), ‘London Lady’ (The Stranglers), and ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ (The Ramones). They started, but didn’t finish ‘Heart Of The City’ (Nick Lowe).
They also found time to record two original songs, ‘9 Till 5’, and ‘Bugger Off’. The former is featured on the ‘Top Of The Bops’ CD, track 15, the latter survives only as a backing track.
The problem on listening back, was the balance of the instruments. The drums were almost inaudible, and Dimmer’s fuzzy guitar was too loud. The vocals sounded strained, and clearly needed some kind of effect to soften them. The equipment that was being used (operated almost exclusively by Alan Cornforth) was crude, with no compressors, limiters, or equalisers in the set up.
An argument developed after the session between John and Alan, with Alan wanting to record again the following day (Saturday), and John wanting to watch the FA Cup Final on television. John told Alan to fuck off, and Alan declared he was leaving. The following day Alan visited John and they settled their differences whilst watching the football.
On Sunday May 22nd the band set up their gear outside the barn, as it was a sunny day. The problem was no matter how loud they played (with all the amps turned up to eleven!) the sound drifted across the fields and vanished. They soon tired of this and decided to go and pose at Seaton Carew, a local seaside resort. They turned a lot of heads as many of the locals caught their first glimpse of real live punk rockers. Ann gave John her old school blazer, and John proceeded to wear it almost every day for the next year or so. It became his trademark, and can just be seen on the cover of the original ‘Let’s Go’ single.
And so to Wednesday, May 25th, 1977. Back again at the barn for another recording session, this time Alan would get it right. with characteristic thoroughness, he went back to the drawing board in order to squeeze the best sound from the basic equipment he had available to him.
John brought Michael Charlton to the session, his old friend from Purity. They worked hard and after many takes they had backing tracks for ‘9 Till 5’ and ‘Bugger Off’ on tape, both completely re-recorded versions. By this time the idea of releasing a single was uppermost in their minds, and they realised that ‘Bugger Off’ at just over a minute, would be poor value for money as a b-side.
Mick had a vague idea about nicking a line from an old sixties hit, ‘San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)’ by Scott McKenzie, sang over a brooding two note riff. This started John off on a frantic writing session, finishing the chords and the lyrics from ‘Disco’s & Friscos’ started on May 13th, within ten minutes. Dimmer chipped in with some ideas and soon the band were laying down a backing track.
John tried the vocals for ‘Let’s Go’ a couple of times without success. He then realised he was self conscious singing it in front of an audience, so he politely asked the other band members to go and have a cup of tea.
John really had to ‘get in character’ for the vocal, which he delivered in a sneering cod-American accent, to fit the lyrics. After that the vocals for ‘9 Till 5’ and ‘Bugger Off’ were rushed through, with the rest of the band (as well as Michael Charlton) contributing backing vocals to ‘Bugger Off’. So, three songs recorded in about four hours - not a bad nights work.

CHAPTER SIX - DIMMER SWITCHES

The following day John, Dimmer, Alan, Mick and Ann went to Newcastle to deliver the master tape to Mortonsound. On the way they took some photographs which show Alan in his white painted boilersuit, complete with chains. Dimmer had a T-shirt with the legend ‘BUGGER OFF’ on it, he completed his outfit with a dog collar and a razor blade attached to a necklace. Mick wore an ‘old mans’ overcoat, braces, black drainpipe trousers, and a chain around his neck. Ann wore a black school blazer, jeans, and a skinny tie, while John predictably paraded his red, black and white school blazer, a ripped Ramones T-shirt, navy blue drainpipe trousers, shades, and a school tie with added safety pins.
Although by that time Newcastle had seen its fair share of punks, they still made a scene walking through Eldon Square Shopping Centre. It was there that they took the ‘passport’ pictures that were used for the ‘Let’s Go’ single. They sat in a café and wrote down what they wanted on the sleeve. John insisted that ‘rhythm’ was spelt ‘rhythmn’ and this error ended up on the sleeve.
Mortonsound wasn’t really a proper record company. Most of its clients actually paid them for pressing records, and it was this method that Blitzkrieg Bop used to release their first single. They could have sent copies of the tape to record companies in the hope of getting a contract, but the atmosphere in mid-77 was hostile to large record companies, and the onus was on self promotion and independence.
John, with a steady job as a telephone sales clerk, took out a bank loan to pay for the 500 copies of the record and picture sleeve. Unsurprisingly, he never got all his money back.
A kindly old gentleman took receipt of the tape, and played ‘9 Till 5’ through an enormous pair of speakers. History doesn’t report what he thought of the noise, but the band were very excited. Now came the task of promoting the record in anticipation of its release.
On Friday May 27th Dimmer and John went to Middlesbrough and persuaded the manager of Hamilton’s Music Store to place posters advertising the single in the store. Another piece of good news was a proposed article by Tony Coupland in a programme for the Teesside Tigers Speedway team. After this John and Dimmer arrived at the barn in a good mood, but they were greeted by a glum faced Alan.
Dimmer’s dad had told Alan that the band had to leave the farm. It was a similar situation that had led to Adamanta Chubb splitting up in May 1976, so John in particular was worried. Alan managed to negotiate a payment of £1 a week for the use of the room and all was well.
The next day, Saturday May 28th, the band got together for another rehearsal. Since Ann had joined they had been short of an amplifier, and they decided on this day to try and sort it out for good. John rang Ray Radford, his colleague from Erection, in an effort to borrow his HH amplifier, but he was out. They visited former Adamanta Chubb guitarist Stephen Sharrat’s house but his sister wouldn’t allow them to take his amplifier. Eventually John persuaded an old friend, Goff Pragnell, to lend the band his Vox AC30.
This minor problem with an amplifier wouldn’t but so important but for the fact that it led in part to a member of the band leaving. Before that happened, there was the small matter of their sixth gig at The Speedway Hotel, Middlesbrough. This Sunday night residency had increasingly brought the Teesside punk contingent together, and about half the audience consisted of punk fans or members of local punk bands just starting out.
The Bop were still required to do two sets, and almost reluctantly had to pad the first half with traditional rock material. They started with ‘Virginia Plain’ (Roxy Music), and followed it with ‘Child In Time’ (Deep Purple). A disco tinged collaboration between Alan and John, ‘Sad Sadistic Sorrow’ was followed by another original, ‘Palooka’. They concluded the first half by introducing Ann onto the stage to play ‘Hanging Around’ (The Stranglers).
The punks in the audience were not too impressed, but soon forgot their misgivings when the band stormed through a second half of punk classics:- ‘The Kids Are Alright’ (The Who), ‘Suzy Is A Headbanger’ (The Ramones), ‘Teenage Depression’ (Eddie & The Hot Rods), ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue’ (The Ramones), ‘Heart Of The City’ (Nick Lowe), ‘1977’ (The Clash), ‘9 Till 5’ (original), ‘Roxette’ (Dr. Feelgood), ‘London Lady’ (The Stranglers), ‘Beat On The Brat’ (The Ramones), ‘Let’s Go’ (original), ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ (The Ramones), ‘One Chord Wonders’ (The Adverts), ‘Gloria’ (Van Morrison), ‘White Riot’ (The Clash), ‘Batman Theme’ (The Jam) and finally ‘Bugger Off’ (original). They went down so well they blasted through 3 encores, repeating ‘London Lady’, ‘Let’s Go’ and ‘White Riot’.
Even though they were now getting audiences who went wild, the band and the fans expressed disappointment at the lack of original material. This problem was eventually addressed, but the bands credibility certainly took a knock.
They had attracted a lot of interest from local bikers, mainly because many of them were friends of Dimmer’s, but also because of the proximity of the Speedway Pub to the Speedway track itself. The write-up in the Speedway programme appeared on Thursday June 2nd, editor Tony Coupland wrote:-

“…What does the word ‘Dimmer’ mean to you? One of the things you can fit to your light switch and use when you’re feeling fruity? (Must get one!) Could be, but to more enlightened Tigers’ supporters ‘Dimmer’ is a fixture on the terraces (or bars) at Cleveland Park and at many away tracks. Yes Folks, the Dimmer in question is a bloke. All mouth and safety pins. Lead guitarist, no less, with Blitzkrieg Bop, a group rapidly making a name for themselves in this area.
I grabbed a look at the act, which includes a punk rock spot, on the Sunday night following the Teesside Open Championship. Frequent mention was made of the Tigers and a special tribute was made to Alan Emerson for bringing the trophy back home. Throw in their mind-bending theme from Batman, which brought the house down and, if you like rock and Tigers, you simply can’t afford to miss ‘em when you next see them advertised in the area. Be warned though fellas, you’ve got to be prepared to dream about rhythm guitarists every night for the rest of your lives! The delightful Ann is really something else! That is three firsts for us already this season, first to beat Newcastle at home for two seasons, first to beat the Fen Tigers in a league match this season, and the first team to be immortalised in Punk Rock. Where will it all end?

The next Sunday their seventh appearance at The Speedway, was even more frenetic. Five encores and even more punks in the audience. They added ‘God Save The Queen’ (Sex Pistols) to the set, which brought the house down.
Ray Radford was there to look after his amplifier, which he hoped to sell to Ann for £120. Instead of having the embarrassment of playing ‘boring old fart’ music in the first half, the band paid a DJ to do a punk disco, which proved more popular.
John’s diary entry for the following Tuesday hinted at problems:-

June 7th 1977 (Tuesday)
General bad feeling in the band getting on my nerves. Dimmer keeps asking for petrol money. Gloria (Ann) said that if we got a gig tonight she couldn’t play because she was going out! That attitude will get us nowhere. Practised. Learnt ‘London’s Burning’ (The Clash), and ‘Sheena Is A Punk Rocker’ (The Ramones).

There seemed to be a split emerging, with Dimmer and Ann on one side, and John, Alan and Mick on the other. The next day Dimmer rang John and told him he was leaving the group. John was surprised by this, but tried to stay calm. They had an important gig coming up at the Bowes Wine Cellar, and John hoped that Dimmer would stay until they had found a replacement.
Ray Radford thought he had persuaded Ann to buy his amplifier, but Dimmer had again warned her against it. Dimmer and John had a blazing row on Saturday June 11th and so it was that the bands eighth Speedway appearance the next night was Dimmer’s last. It was also the last Speedway gig, the landlord deciding to ban the band for excessive swearing.
John’s diary entry for the gig reveals a lot:-

June 12th 1977 (Sunday)
Had a chat with Alan and Mick and they both agree that Dimmer is being very silly about Gloria’s amp problem. He is telling her that a 200 watt cab and a HH amp is not worth £120. He must be fucking stupid. Ann is just as bad. She has been taken in by Dimmer. She didn’t make any attempt to buy an amp last week and isn’t spending a penny on the band.
Spoke to Ian Luck from Gun Rubber fanzine from Sheffield. We will be featured soon. Played well. Added ‘Sheena Is A Punk Rocker’ (The Ramones) and ‘London’s Burning’ (The Clash) to the set. Argument at the end. Mick walked off because of the farcical amp situation. Dimmer abused Alan over the PA. The landlord berated us because of Dimmer’s swearing. Dim and Ann are taking things too far.

It had not been put in writing, but everyone knew that Dimmer had to leave. Memories of this period are hazy, but there was around this time, in a situation that would have graced ‘Bad News’ or ‘Spinal Tap’, a heated argument concerning the length of Dimmer’s hair. He was the only (male) member of the band who had refused to cut his hair, and this was part of the reason for him leaving. The only problem was that the rest of the band assumed Ann would go too. To their relief she decided to stay and the band made the decision not to replace Dimmer. Happily, other events soon took their minds away from line-up problems. The local paper, The Evening Gazette, had noted the bands progress. Reporter Peter Kent interviewed John, Mick and Alan on Tuesday June 14th.

CHAPTER SEVEN - AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR

The next defining moment for the Teesside punk scene was the visit of The Stranglers to Middlesbrough Town Hall on Thursday June 16th. Here is John’s diary entry for that day:-

June 16th 1977 (Thursday)
What a fantastic night this was. Not only because of the actual gig. Alan picked us up at seven and we stood outside posing. I saw a lot of familiar faces. That lad with ‘Sten Guns In Knightsbridge’ on his back came past. I said “Did you see the article in the Record Mirror about us”. He hadn’t. I told him to watch out for the Gazette article on Saturday. I asked him how his band was coming along, and where were they playing next. He said they weren’t actually playing gigs. I said “Let us know when you’re playing and we’ll come and see you”.
Eventually we got in and we were stood at the bar and a man came over and introduced us to the band. I spoke to Jean-Jacque Burnell and Hugh Cornwell. I told him about our single. Hugh was very interested in it and asked us how we recorded it and what label it was on. I told him it was a private label. He asked if I could send him a copy when it comes out. I also talked to him about The Stranglers. I told him we covered ‘London Lady’ and ‘Hanging Around’, he was honoured that we did them.
I asked Jean-Jacque what the line was that he sang eight times and he said “Plastic’s real when you’re real sick”, so Alan was right. They played OK, the thing that spoilt it was the spitting and the sound. Both were terrible. But they played on and in the end I really enjoyed myself.

This gig, even more than The Clash gig, brought home to John the differences between traditional rock and punk. The idea that you could go to say, a Rod Stewart concert and wander into the bar for a chat with the superstar was crazy. The band clearly didn’t take in the whole of the punk scene without protest. Spitting was something that disgusted them, along with mindless violence. It was the passion and aggression in the music that fired their imaginations.
The Record Mirror article mentioned in the entry was the result of a mail shot put out by the band, in the vain hope of getting some national publicity before the release of the single. They didn’t hold out much hope but were pleasantly surprised when this appeared in the Record Mirror that week:-

Bopping down t’mill
Railway lines, t’mills and t’pits, smokey chimneys and folk saying ‘Ayup’ - and now new wave groups hit the north east.
London hasn’t quite got the scene to itself, and there are encouraging reports of rock activity outside the metropolis.
From Stockton, Cleveland comes Blitzkrieg Bop, the name presumably inspired by the Ramones’ song of that title.
They line up as: Blank Frank on lead vocals, Telly Sett on lead guitar, Gloria on guitar, Mick Sick on bass and Nicky Knoxx on drums.
Their main claim to fame is the fact that they are the only Cleveland punk band actually playing gigs. Blitzkrieg Bop make their record debut with a three-track single comprising ‘Let’s Go’, ‘9 Till 5’ and ‘Bugger Off’, available for 80p from John Hodgson, 5 Roseberry View, Thornaby, Cleveland, from July.

They hardly had time to draw breath before the Evening Gazette article appeared on Saturday June 18th. The band were expecting a couple of paragraphs but they were pleased to see a full page devoted to the band.

Prepare to meet our Punk
Report by Peter Kent
Mick Hylton Nonchalantly draws on his cigarette, downs his lager and says he’s tired of his job and his parents are tired of him.
The epitome of rebellious youth - not an uncommon feature in society - Mick differs in that he has the opportunity to turn fantasy to fact. As a punk rocka.
The overalls he wears as a gas fitter by day give way to bizarre costume by night when Mick, like a delinquent Clark Kent, undergoes a remarkable transformation.
WEARING DOG LEADS
Out goes the workie’s clothes and with it the nine till five routine of an oh-so-sane lifestyle; gone is the placid persona of a reserved, outwardly shy, typically boy-next-door type.
Mick of Rownton Green, Berwick Hills, becomes a Superman in his alien planet - punk - a phenomenon that, in a matter of months, has made Mary Whitehouse’s ears prick up to pop and created generation gaps where they didn’t exist.
Mick, the bassist, was one of three members of Blitzkrieg Bop - one of only two Teesside punk bands known to exist - whom I interviewed this week, and is singled out here because the contrast between his Jekyll and Hyde existence is apparently more striking.
The effect punk has had is shattering. What else could make his normally innocent, innocuous face of youth snarl up in villainous pose; or make a stable lad start wearing dog leads and calling himself Mick Sick?
It’s also taken its toll, though I suspect to a lesser degree, on the two other lads I met.
John Hodgson (Blank Frank) and Alan Cornforth (Nicky Knoxx) both say “We would pack in our jobs if, if, if…” whereas Mick Hylton’s conviction is stronger: “I’m ready to quit it now. My parents have already said they’re going to disown me.”
But John, 21, a sales clerk and 19 year old Alan, an apprentice TV engineer - both with respected Middlesbrough firms - seem more articulate.
The reason they went for new wave has rather more in common with physical frustration as musicians, than psychological escapism.
Says John, the vocalist, of Roseberry View, Thornaby: “There’s been three major waves in rock, started by The Beatles, Bowie and Frank Zappa. Nothing happened for so long. It was just a heavy rock scene, lost for direction.”
John’s disillusionment climaxed with Erection, the Hartlepool soul band he was with before Bop. “I heard the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK and that was it.”
Alan’s destiny was not decided so suddenly. The drummer of Hartlepool Close, Stockton, gradually grew weary of the synthesised, sophisticated music of the Floyd’s genre and concluded it was “no go.” Punk was infinitely preferable to Pink.
Blitzkrieg Bop was formed from the remnants of Adamanta Chubb whose career as a showband stepped no further from ignominy. Little wonder, punctuated as it was by 28 personnel changes.
THANKFULLY UNPRETENTIOUS
The Bop have achieved one helluva lot more in a mere six weeks. With a record soon to be released and a residency - and core of fans - at The Speedway secured, the band are poised on a springboard from which they must not sink.
Yet already a cloud has appeared to darken the horizon. There’s talk of a split within the band and suddenly the two other members - a girl and a long-haired fella (both of which are unheard of in punk bands) - are conspicuous by their absence.
John Hodgson’s “We’re committed to the cause” doesn’t clear the uncertainty but, as if to illustrate the seriousness with which they - who, these three or all five? - view the project, he waxes enthusiastically about the record.
The band paid for it, of course, “Cost us £275 for 500 copies including five pence a record for the picture sleeve.” Says John.
They loaned the money from John’s bank, although he was £5 overdrawn at the time. The manager, apparently, was not at all perturbed at punk and consented to the arrangement in ten minutes.
A three track maxi-single, recorded at a small Newcastle studio, it consists of ‘Let’s Go’, 9 Till 5’ and another title which must remain anonymous, and it will be retailed in at least two Cleveland record shops until the band can gauge how sales are likely to go.
John Hodgson has no doubts. Thankfully unpretentious - “we’re not technically proficient” - he adds: “We can write songs. We have energy and a lot of ideas. And we are street level, the 15 year old kid round the corner can identify with us.
Punk started in London, slowly spread to Manchester and now there’s a mini-scene in Birmingham. We want to spread the gospel.”

CHAPTER EIGHT - WORK REST…AND MORE WORK

The band had to pinch themselves after this article. From being an unknown rock band that had hardly ventured from the rehearsal room, to a full page in the local paper had taken a matter of weeks.
One thing that comes across in the article is the way that Mick Sick is portrayed as the most committed punk in the band. In a matter of weeks Mick had gone from being a sceptic to a fully fledged ‘punk rocka’.
Other things happened to make Saturday June 18th even better. Throughout the previous week John and Alan had been hastily compiling material for a fanzine. As mentioned previously, the band had been in touch with a Sheffield based fanzine, Gun Rubber. They now had the confidence to produce their own.
The first issue was a very basic affair. It was hand-written and photocopied, and only 15 copies were produced. John decided to raid The Ramones locker once again for the title, Gabba Gabba Hey.
Included in the first issue was an ‘interview’ with The Stranglers, and several record reviews. All 15 copies were snapped up on the night at The Vibrators/Penetration gig. The band decided not to re-print the first issue, but to produce a second one as soon as possible. Coupled with the fanzine, they had the small matter of a debut single to look forward to. These factors combined to increase the workload of the band, particularly John and Alan. On Monday 20th June for example, John noted in his diary that he typed a Penetration review, rang the Melody Maker, visited Hamilton’s Music Store in his lunchbreak to give them more posters, rang Prontoprint about the fanzine, as well as ringing several potential advertisers for the fanzine.
John’s diary entry for June 23rd 1977 is a typical day:-

June 23rd 1977 (Thursday)
Today is the earliest time the records can be ready. Rang every booking agency in the directory and didn’t get any positive results. Sent letter to Peter Brent (Newcastle based agent/band manager) enclosing four copies of Gabba Gabba Hey, the Penetration article and a copy of our article in the Gazette. Dimmer rang and told me the reason that the posters weren’t done was because the lad who he gave the order to had got the sack and took the order (and £2 deposit) with him. Went round the George on the night with Alan. Asked the landlord if we could play upstairs on Sunday night, he told me it was a pool room and he would never have bands play there. Spoke to Mac (long haired Zappa freak) and he confirms that he has joined Dimmer’s group and that they’re thinking of calling themselves The Shits. The lad who sells the Gun Rubber fanzine called at our house and told me that we are in the Gun Rubber for July 1st. Also might get gig at Sheffield. Alan met Stuart Lecky (member of local punk band, Bladze) who was in Hamilton’s asking for our single, Stu said that he thought there was a support band at Darlington. Alan said no but asked him if Bladze could. He is ringing Alan back.

The band had not totally given up on securing a genuine recording contract, and contact was made with several record companies, including Raw Records and Stiff Records, neither of which proved fruitful.
On Saturday June 25th Bop got another mention in the local Evening Gazette, when Peter Kent reviewed the previous weeks Vibrators gig, under the heading “Power And Punk From Vibrators”, part of which read:-

“…The week previous, new wave members of Teesside’s own Blitzgrieg Bop (sic) had intimated that these Vibrators might fall on stoney ground at the Garden. Where The Clash and Wayne County had already been hailed with beer glasses. Empty ones at that.
The punk movements local representatives, while disclaiming responsibility for these incidents - and simultaneously accusing followers of Rock since the year 20 BP (before punk) - did point out, however, that they too might turn hostile at musicians of the "old order” suddenly purporting to be part of the new wave phenomenon…”

What Peter was saying in his unwieldy style was that Bop looked down on groups that jumped on the punk bandwagon. In retrospect this was a cheek, as in theory all punk bands had a musical history that was by definition not punk.
On that evening members of Blitzkrieg Bop, Bladze and Dangerbird got together and approached the manager of the Rock Garden with a proposal for a punk night featuring local talent. A date was set for July 25th. The Rock Garden, alongside the Town Hall, had become the premiere venues for visiting punk bands. Between them they had entertained The Jam, The Stranglers, The Clash and The Vibrators amongst others, so it was risky for the Rock Garden to try a local band night.
Until now Bop had played all their gigs at The Speedway, excepting one at Ormesby Youth Club, but this was to change with a gig at short notice at The Black Swan, Guisborough. On Sunday 26th June Bop supported local band Dangerbird, and here’s John’s diary entry for that day:-

June 26th 1977 (Sunday)
Got this gig at very short notice. Dangerbird had little equipment, what they had was falling to bits. We were worried about them being better than us, but we didn’t have to. We went on first. There were a few punks there, in fact it was quite full. We were just getting warmed up after about five numbers when (during ‘Gloria’) Alan’s bass drum skin went through. We had to stop for five minutes but after the re-start we got a good reception.
Dangerbird went on and they were a bit rough. They did a few of their own numbers which reminded me of early Pink Floyd. People kept asking me if we were going on again. Dimmer was there and he seemed to enjoy it. Dangerbird came off about 10 o’clock so we went on for another spell. We went down great.

For the bands first foray into the world outside the Speedway, the Black Swan gig was certainly a triumph. It reassured the band that it was possible to play punk rock to an initially hostile audience and win them over by the intensity of their performance. The band were also apprehensive because they hadn’t been able to rehearse since Dimmer had left, and as he was in the audience, they were keen to prove they could cut it without him. They did find time to add ‘X Offender’ (Blondie) to the set, which was a showcase for Ann, who took on lead vocals.
With Dimmer out of the picture and Ann unable to play any lead guitar, the onus was on John to provide any melody that was needed. On songs such as ‘X Offender’ he played organ throughout the song, creating melody lines when required. During ‘Roxette’ he played a couple of solo’s.
Gigs were becoming easier to get, as word of mouth reached the managers of pubs and clubs in the area. July 1st saw John use his Erection contacts to good use by persuading the Bowes Wine Cellar in Darlington to host a punk band. Before the gig some of the band went to Newcastle in the hope of collecting the single. Here is part of John’s diary entry for that day:-

July 1st 1977 (Friday)
Went to Newcastle with Alan and Mick. Saw a few punks. Went to Virgin and there was a video of the Sex Pistols, it was brilliant. We got talking to some punks and they said they were in a band called Speed. Went round to Listen Ear (Peter Brent’s record shop) with them and bought some fanzines. Found out that Penetration were playing the Polytechnic on the afternoon. Listen Ear had sold 3 copies of Gabba Gabba Hey, I was over the moon. They played a tape of the single and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We said goodbye to Speed who said they wanted to support us sometime. We only got the sleeve of the single which I was really pleased with. The records should be ready by next week. We got a parking ticket. Spent a lot of money at Virgin. Got my first copy of Sniffin’ Glue (No.8) at Listen Ear.
Came home and went to the Bowes Wine Cellar. In the meantime Speed had rang Alan and arranged to support us tonight. I was worried that they were going to be better than us. The Eaglescliffe contingent and some others I had never seen before arrived. Speed turned up eventually, they were pretty bad. The bass player and guitarist were out of tune, the drummer (a girl) was terrible. There were people walking out because they thought it was us. When we went on the atmosphere changed. Towards the end there were a lot of people pogo-ing. We got two or three encores. We played well, it’s the first time I have listened back to a tape and not winced. The manager was pleased. The only black mark was the fucking hippy group Jack Thigh’s wanted to go on after us. They must play there regularly and they wanted to spoil our night.

The ‘Eaglescliffe contingent’ was the bands take on the London scene’s ‘Bromley contingent’. They were based around a girl called Barbara Jaworski who soon started dating Alan. She was accompanied by several of her friends, as well as her younger brother who was soon to form a punk band of his own.
Sunday July 3rd saw Bop back at the Black Swan in Guisborough, this time hardly any punks turned up and as a result they failed to ignite the audience of ‘regulars’ who were more used to listening to Thin Lizzy. On the tape of the gig Dimmer can be heard in the audience cheering between songs. Bop played two original songs for the first time, ‘Dole Walla’ and ‘Get Out Of My Way’. The following night John took the stage again, this time as an emergency stand-in drummer for Dangerbird. The drumming sessions with Purity way back in 1972 stood him in good stead, as he bluffed his way through a shambolic set.
On Wednesday July 6th Bop and Bladze met for a drink and seriously discussed the possibility of recording a live album at the imminent Rock Garden gig. The following day John rang Mortonsound to check on the progress of the single, then went to BBC Radio Cleveland for the bands first ever Radio interview. The DJ was Larry Ottaway, a bespectacled ‘geeky’ looking young man who seemed genuinely interested in punk. He promised to buy 20 copies of the single and try and promote it in any way he could. John was elected to be the spokesman for the group, and here is some of the interview:-

LARRY: Today we’ll be looking at punk in the Cleveland area through the eyes of one of the biggest groups locally, Blitzkrieg Bop. Spokesman for the band is 21 year old sales clerk, John Hodgson, otherwise known as Blank Frank.
BLANK: Basically we’re average on the musicians side, and we keep to our limitations. We can’t do anything too fantastic and when punk came along it was something we could do with conviction.
LARRY: Are you dedicated followers of the punk movement, or are you following a trend of the moment?
BLANK: No, I’m totally immersed in it now. There’s nothing else I listen to now.
LARRY: What would you say were your main influences?
BLANK: Mainly The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. The first punk song I heard was ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by The Ramones, and ‘Anarchy In The UK’, which totally changed my outlook on music. I used to think that music was defined by the amount of technical ability you have, but now I know it’s energy that gives you credibility.
LARRY: How do you find the contrast between your day job and the sort of punk person you become on a night?
BLANK: It’s difficult. I get depressed at work because everyone there is against it, and instead of working I end up arguing with people, about politics, and other things. They think I’m an idiot.
(Larry then plays a tape of ‘Let’s Go’, bleeping the word ‘bugger’)
LARRY: How strong is punk in the Cleveland area?
BLANK: It’s growing. There are 3 or 4 bands that are coming up. We’ve got Bladze from Middlesbrough, Dangerbird from Guisborough, and Night Class from Stockton. There’s going to be a lot more people going to like it. I can see the signs now, day by day one day people say they hate punk, then they hear say the Stranglers LP and admit it’s not that bad after all. It’s just what they read in the daily papers which basically is a load of rubbish.
LARRY: So, there you go. That was John Hodgson of local band Blitzkrieg Bop, who will shortly be changing there name to Blitz.

The name change was decided on a coin toss, and it was Blitzkrieg Bop that won the toss.
After the interview the band went for a drink to celebrate, getting lots of strange looks from the ‘straights’. The night ended with John and Mick having a beer throwing contest.
Friday July 8th saw another big band hit town. The Jam played Middlesbrough Town Hall and John noted in his diary that it was the best gig of his life. Members of local bands were also much in evidence. John chatted to two future members of Basssax (more of them later), Dimmer was there with the Gun Rubber fanzine’s local reporter Ian Luck. They mentioned in passing that they were getting a band together, possibly called Punkture. Three members of Night Class were there, as well as three quarters of Bladze. The local scene was slowly developing, with regular contact between people, who all shared a passion for punk rock.
Saturday July 9th saw the band back at Bowes Wine Cellar, this time with Bladze supporting. Here are some notes from John’s diary:-

July 9th 1977 (Saturday)
Bladze only did five numbers. They were pretty shaky but they lack practise. They got some applause and had a great rapport with the audience. I had a feeling that the audience really wanted to enjoy themselves tonight.
We went on and from the start the applause and general reaction was great. As the set went on more and more people were jumping up and down, so by the time we played ‘God Save The Queen’ the room was full of leaping idiots. It was fabulous. Each gig I say we can’t go down any better but I keep being disproved. This is definitely the best reaction yet. Someone smashed a light on the back of the van after they were refused entrance. Stu (of Bladze) said that he had been with The Jam at The Bluebell Hotel last night and he had taken some pictures of Paul Weller in the nude. He said there were loads of groupies there.

There was always the problem of transport for gigs, and after Dimmer had left it became more of a hassle for the band to arrange transport. Sometimes Alan’s older brother David drove a hire van, sometimes Mick’s brother or Mick himself had a turn. John was quietly pleased that he hadn’t learnt to drive so could drink and enjoy himself at gigs.

CHAPTER NINE - LET’S GO

Thursday July 14th was the big day. The official release date for ‘Let’s Go’ on Mortonsound. The release of a record had been the dream of John, Alan, and Dimmer since they came together in Adamanta Chubb. Unfortunately Ann missed all the fun, going on holiday on the 11th.
John in particular was a vinyl junkie, and he savoured the moment, opening the box to inspect the records with care, taking delight in examining the vinyl in great detail. Almost not believing that his voice was encapsulated within those tiny grooves.
There has been some debate as to who released the first punk single, but most people agree that The Damned won the race with ‘New Rose’. The band were rather proud that they were relatively early with their first release. The only proper punk bands to have releases in 1976 apart from The Damned were The Vibrators, The Sex Pistols and Skrewdriver.
‘Let’s Go’ comes about 29th in the list, beating such bands as Penetration, Generation X, The Angelic Upstarts, The Boomtown Rats, The Lurkers, The Rezillos, Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers, Wire and X Ray Spex to their first single releases.
They wasted no time in distributing the records. First visit was Hamilton’s in Middlesbrough, who took about fifty copies, most of which were already accounted for by special orders. They went to The Rock Garden the following night and sold a few there. John gave one to Riff Regan, vocalist with headliners London. He also took time out to interview them for the 2nd issue of their fanzine Gabba Gabba Hey.
On Saturday they went to Newcastle. HMV weren’t interested but the independent Listen Ear Records bought 50 copies, and Virgin took 10. The manager at Virgin said he could probably get rid of more by sending copies to other Virgin stores throughout the country.
The following Monday Virgin confirmed this arrangement and took 200 copies. It was already apparent that 500 copies were not going to last very long.
Yet another article appeared in the local Evening Gazette on Thursday July 23rd, headed “Can Alvin Turn Back The Tide”:-

The new wave aims to shake an old hand in an intriguing pairing before Cleveland’s nightlife punters next week.
From the red corner, representing the militant punk movement, four bands will flex their muscles at Middlesbrough’s Rock Garden for Monday’s big duel - Blitzkrieg Bop, Night Class, Dangerbird and The Bladze.
And from the blue, the slightly more conservative Fiesta Club, Norton, comes Alvin Stardust - unscathed from recent chart blows (it’s the leathers that do it)
Don’t believe that the gap between age groups should preclude the clash - plenty of rock-cum-pop fans will be torn between the two. Though there will probably be enough punks and popsters to go round. Let battle commence.

On the Monday evening the band got together to work on the 2nd issue of the fanzine. They frantically typed and scribbled so they could get it to the printers in time to produce copies for the Rock Garden gig on July 25th. There was a marked improvement over the first issue. Firstly it was printed at a real printers, and they even managed to type a few articles instead of scribbling them down. The front cover featured a picture of Gary Chaplin and Pauline Murray of Penetration, pinched from a music magazine. There was a local punk news page, with a piece on Bladze, and a bit of back stabbing towards Dimmer by John:-

TELLY CHANGES CHANNEL
More news on the local front concerning BB (Blitzkrieg Bop not Brigitte Bardot you randy sods), and their now ex-guitarist Telly Sett. The said Mr. TV Sett was apparently ‘pissed-off’ with the group, but it also seems, however, that the group had become pissed-off with him some weeks previously (so there!) It is also believed that Sett is to form a new band and among his numbers is a song called ‘Bandwagon’, lovingly written about his ex-compatriots. Aren’t we fed up to the teeth reading about bands knocking other punk bands. Of course we are.

There was an interview with The Jam by Bladze bassist Stu X, followed by a spoof L.P. review written by Mick and John:-

BLITZKRIEG BOP - SHAGGED AND FAGGED
This elpee opens with a track called ‘Three Steps Down’ which includes a sizzling, vibrant, nay magnificent bass solo which lasts for six minutes and is in fact the whole of the song. Mick Sick, who did not write the song, plays two notes in the whole of the song. Next cut is called ‘What A Way To Go’ which features Blank Frank in a fourteen minute vocal solo in which he goes through the whole vocabulary of punk swearwords. This is a killer. The last song on side 1 actually includes the whole group. This is called ‘Dole Walla’ and it was written by non other than Mick Sick who doesn’t actually play on it. At the beginning of the song Blank Frank nuts Mick Sick in the face and pinches his bass telling him to piss off. The song lasts for another ten seconds after that when Mick gets his own back by turning the power off. This angers Blank who stots his head off the wall in an attempt to get some percussion effect.
Side 2 begins with a song called ‘Dole Walla’ which is a reprise of the one on side 1 and on which Blank Frank is heard to say “Oh my head”. This song takes up most of the side. In the two remaining grooves before the end the Bop go through fourteen of their most loved songs. These include renditions of ‘Bugger Off’, ‘Let’s Go’, ‘9 Till 5’, ‘Bugger Off’, ‘Dole Walla’, ‘Get Out Of My Way’, ‘Bugger Off’ and ‘Restrictive Descriptions’, and a new song called ‘Let’s Go’.
Altogether this L.P. lasts six hours. The run in groove manages to catapult the record arm back to the start again after every play. Nicky Knoxx left the recording studio two minutes before the L.P. was recorded, yet amazingly his playing (or non-playing) is the highlight of the album. Gloria managed to fit two chords in just before the end. This rounds of a most impressive first L.P. from Cleveland’s top punk band, worth six million pounds of anybody’s money.

There was a page of record reviews, followed by a page of Blitzkrieg Bop pics from their gig at Bowes Wine Cellar on 9th July. An article on punk violence by Mick is followed by some L.P. reviews and articles on Penetration and London. The rest of the issue is taken up with gossip, live reviews, letters (well, one letter actually) and adverts.
Altogether a more professional effort than the first, and it was proving an effective means of self-publicity for Blitzkrieg Bop.
They succeeded in finishing the fanzine, and prepared for their big night by getting drunk. Here is John’s diary entry for that day:-

July 25th 1977 (Monday)
Got the van and went to the Rock Garden to set up. Went to the pub, then went to Saltburn to pick up the magazine. Me and Alan were pissed. Went back to the Rock Garden. It was full when the first group came on. Night Class weren’t a punk band. They were a rock band. They got a fairly good reception. Next were Dangerbird. They played very well but didn’t go down too well. Next were Blazde. It was a shambles. They were stopping and starting and it wasn’t long before the crowd became hostile. So the scene was set for us to go on. We played poorly, as the tape of the gig shows. The reception we got was tremendous. We could hardly hear what we were playing. There were a lot of people pogo-ing to us. We got five encores and then Night Class tried to upstage us by playing another song after us but they bombed. It was a fairly disappointing day on the whole. We sold a few of the magazines.

One listen back to the tape confirmed the view that it would have been pointless to release an album. The Bladze set was unintentionally hilarious, the gaps between the songs were longer than the songs themselves. They frequently stopped in mid-song and resorted to bouts of swearing. They argued with themselves, and with the audience. In its way it was a classic performance.
A night with mixed fortunes - Peter Kent from The Gazette was there to witness it, and the next night an article appeared which bore out John’s comments:-

Parade of our punks
The dominoes set, and other early-evening drinkers in the Middlesbrough pub, stared in disbelief at the strangers in their midst.
“You must have missed the wet paint sign, son” jeered one of the regulars at the lad in the slogan-daubed jacket. Laughs all round.
Plenty more ammunition for their amusement soon followed as other punks slowly began to creep out from the night.
It was, presumably, for people in the pub in Newport Road, a novel experience.
Charged up on a few beers the punks marched haughtily outside the pub - knowing where all eyes were fixed - and New Wave night a few doors away at the Rock Garden had begun.
“Thank heavens”, muttered a regular, and the nervous atmosphere inside the pub tangibly lifted.
Inside the club though, a whole new world opened to which the aliens belonged. Even the lad with the pierced cheek and ear, and a nice line in grotesque jewellery - both parts of his anatomy were linked by a safety-pin supported chain - looked at home.
Thus the scene was set for the first of four local bands to appear, Night Class.
I was particularly interested in these five Stockton lads, whose letter proclaiming themselves first punks of Teesside arrived at the paper - unfortunately for them - days after one in similar style.
Imagine my disappointment, then, to discover that only the lead singer showed any remote punkoid resemblance, and their music - save for sporadic bursts - was more akin to conventional rock.
Promoter Les Allan, in an ominous warning before the gig started, admitted he was worried about one or two of the bands.
Dangerbird gave substance to his fears. Twice as pedestrian as their predecessors, this four-piece, looking fresh out of the school-group mould, totally lacked empathy and as such their music suffered in credibility with the audience.
Next came The Bladze, now they could neither sing nor play but boy, what actors! Delivering hackneyed punk verse as tediously as the four-letter word barrage that prefaced each song, these ace posers perfectly prepared a now hostile audience for the finale.
Blitzkrieg Bop emerged amid rapturous cheers to grab the gig by its neck and maintain a total hold on the audience in a punk performance of surprising authenticity.
The band ripped through an obviously well rehearsed repertoire of anthems in consummate harmony, starting with their own newly-recorded Let’s Go and including such standards as White Riot in a way that transcended mere plagiarism.
Their counterparts watched admiringly back-stage, though my good friend Mr. Stuart Leckie (Bladze) clad in clownish bovver boy gear, could contain himself no longer when the Pistol’s God Save The Queen was played and cut in on the act. Presumably to pay homage to superior talent.
PETER KENT

There were high hopes for the punk night, but it was clear that in the local scene there wasn’t strength in depth. Bop weren’t allowed to dwell on it because the following Wednesday they were pleasantly surprised to read in the music magazine Sounds:-

BLITZKRIEG BOP - LET’S GO (Mortonsound)
The flipside features a song called ‘Bugger Off’ which, at just over one minute long, has to be the ultimate in minimalism. It’s also one of the funniest things to come out of the new wave so far - intentionally or not, who cares. Otherwise Blank Frank, Mick Sick and friends seem a little uncomfortable in their new punk guise, sounding suspiciously psychedelic at times. Full marks for enterprise though: they paid £275 to have this recorded and pressed (500 copies) at a small Newcastle studio. Pretty awful, actually but fun.

The single was reviewed by Alan Lewis, and the cover of the single was reproduced at the top of the page, above sleeves by The Killjoys and The Boys. This was it! They’d made it! Superstars!!!
Well, not quite, but the band were cock-a-hoop at the fact that a national music paper had given them space.
The following day the now famous NME review appeared. The band floated from Cloud 9 to Cloud 90 when they saw it.
It appeared in a review section called ‘Status Singles’, complete with a picture of the sleeve, alongside other singles out that week, including ‘Packet Of Three’ from Squeeze and ‘Temptations Of A White Collar Worker’ by The Drones:-

BLITZKRIEG BOP - LET’S GO (Mortonsound)
“If you’re going to San Francisco be sure to wear some floweeeers in your hair” sneers Blank Frank of these Geordie New Wave luminaries over dark Velvets noize. “You’ll meet a lot of weird ‘uns there…” Sinister Hate-Hashbury soundtrack, probably the best song written about the subject. “If you’d gone to San Francisco you’d have seen those hippies on the floor, I GOT OUT of San Francisco before the buggers called The Law”. I wanna see this mob live because nobody - well almost nobody - has heard of them and they’re good enough for six-figure recording contracts at the current rate of inflation.

The band dined out on this review for years, and were eternally grateful to Tony Parsons for taking time out from his busy life to heap such praise on their humble piece of vinyl. John wrote in his diary:-

JULY 28th (Thursday) 1977
Got the NME, Melody Maker and Record Mirror. Only the NME had anything in. What a review. It really gave us a boost. Words fail me. Every week I seem to think this is the most important day of my life, but each week I am proved wrong by getting better and better news. Let’s hope it keeps on that way. Packed all the singles away and sent them off to Virgin (200), we now only have a handful of singles left. Peter Hawkins rang me from Urgent Records, Covent Garden. He was the bloke who was supposed to come to the gig, but he didn’t turn up. He apologised and said he was coming to Darlington Bowes Wine Cellar. He said the Company were connected with Arista Records. He said they were management, PR and record label all rolled into one. I will have to try and not get taken in by these people. I will have to be suspicious. On the night went to see Bladze.

John received several letters from readers of ‘Gabba Gabba Hey’, and one in particular made an impression. Speed’s singer Johnny Fusion wrote in, responding to a bit of gossip in the mag criticising their use of a cover version in the set, namely, ‘No Fun’:-

Dear Gabba Gabba Hey/Blitzkrieg Bop (such original names!)
You accuse The Speed of being a Pistols rip-off even to the extreme of saying that they used to do ‘No Fun’ in their set. Turds like you probably think that Johnny Rotten wrote the song. “Oh I am sorry, you weren’t around in those days, you were still into soul before punk became a fashion” Talkin’ about The Stooges, idiot!
Anyhow, The Vibrators do ‘No Fun’, do they sound like The Pistols? You do songs like ‘Pretty Vacant’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Hanging Around’, ‘White Riot’, etc. etc, who does that make you sound like? I can tell you the answer, unoriginal, uninspirational rip-offs. You gave us a tip: “Blitzkrieg Bop are gonna make it”. Well I’ll give you one: That remark has made you sound very very foolish. If you’re a real punk band you’ll print this (with a constructive argument please)
Johnny Fusion
PS: Cover versions in their right place please, everyone enjoys them so don’t knock other bands for doing them, especially when you’re the worst offenders.

John never got round to printing the letter. It probably went straight to the bottom of the pending tray! The letter did make some valid points though, and the band had already realised that cover versions should be phased out as soon as possible.
The band, and John in particular, were to have numerous dealings with Cherry Red over the years. Their first contact was a letter from Cherry Red’s Richard Jones:-

Dear John,
We’re interested in selling the Blitzkrieg Bop single. We sell new wave singles, albums, badges and posters at our gigs. Can you let us know the details please, also we could be interested in booking the band for support on one of our fourthcoming (sic) gigs, so if you have any info on that as well, we’d be interested. Look forward to hearing from you soon,
Regards, Richard Jones.

As far as can be ascertained this letter was never acted upon. One of John’s biggest regrets looking back on his period with Bop was the lack of urgency. The attitude seemed to be that everything that happened to the band was almost by accident, and didn’t realise that a lot of the bands who ‘made it’ did so by pestering record companies, promoters and music papers every day. It was hard, because all of the band had day jobs which got in the way. But this letter was simply filed away and forgotten about, who knows what would have happened if they had responded and nagged Cherry Red until they were given a support slot on a tour, we’ll never know.
On Friday July 29th John rang Les at the Rock Garden and arranged another gig for the band, he also got a solo engagement, DJ’ing at the Garden the following night. American band Snatch were supposed to support but they failed to show, so John had even more time to play his ever increasing collection of punk and new wave records before headliners The Only Ones took the stage.
On the afternoon the band had a session - both recording and drinking - at Mick’s house in Middlesbrough.
Little did they realise that over 20 years later, three songs from this day would appear on a CD. Track 16 (‘Get Out Of My Way’), track 17 (‘Let’s Go’), and track 19 (‘Dole Walla’) of ‘Top Of The Bops’ are from this session.
It started out as a songwriting session but most of the afternoon was taken up with irreverent attempts at the current punk hits. They recorded ‘Pretty Vacant’ (Sex Pistols), ‘Right To Work’ (Chelsea), as well as more original material, namely ‘9 Till 5’ and ‘Bugger Off’.
All the publicity regarding the single resulted in John getting no fewer than nine orders from various parts of the country on Tuesday August 2nd. Also in the post was a telegram from Keith Yershon of Lightning Records, saying simply: “Please phone as soon as possible regarding distribution”.
Another day, another exciting development. The band were slowly getting used to all the attention. John tried three times to phone Mr. Yershon but couldn’t get through.
The following day John tried again managed to speak to him. Initially he offered to distribute the Mortonsound recording, but after John told him that it was already sold out, Keith suggested they re-record it. John didn’t need any persuasion.
The original idea was to record ‘Dole Walla’ for the b-side, as a rough