Looking Back to the Day The Clash Came to Town

Ash — July 2010

I don't have any nostalgic tales about the White Riot Tour coming to Chelmsford. Don't get me wrong, I was there and it was a blast, but my memory is of a collection of bands from all around the country being very angry about matters that meant F-all to me.

I remember The Prefects sang “Birmingham is a Shithole”, which I thought was funny but obvious — having now visited our town, the singer must have realised that anywhere north of Chelmsford would fall into that category! (Must be why they never recorded it!)

I completely forgot about Subway Sect and haven't a clue about their songs — must have been at the bar for their set?

The Slits were sluts because one of them touched Barry's arse on the way to the stage. We spent their set laughing about that and I wasn't thinking much of them musically. Good album cover, though — inspiring stuff for an adolescent!

Loved The Clash. That backdrop is a brilliant representation of the time, but we didn't have riots like that in our town, so it was a little difficult to sympathise. But the songs and the anger were groundbreaking for us.

Shame the best punk band to come to town was the first. In hindsight, all the bands that followed weren't quite so inspiring.

In recent times, I was one of the 50 or so that saw Carbon/Silicon at V a couple of years ago when everyone else was watching Muse. Old Mick is still out there, folks — sometimes with Gorillaz. Shame he only comes to town every 31 years!

Ash — July 2010

Duncan Egleton — June 2010

I remember the build-up to the evening, about how sleepy Chelmsford was going to be invaded by hordes of rabid punk rockers marauding our streets from London, and how drugs and alcohol were going to ruin the adolescent youth for years to come.

I was 18 at the time and thought it was great.

I can remember the Lion and Lamb, AKA “The Animals” — this was the pub in front of Dukes — having a lot of the local thuggery waiting for the punks. I think we actually drank in there and at the Fleece before the gig.

I do recall getting dressed up in an old school blazer with a skinny black tie. The blazers were ripped and had safety pins festooned all over them. Also, this was the time of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, so there were many little plastic Union Jack flags in abundance. A lot of these were safety-pinned to jackets and shirts.

We must have looked stupid, but we thought we were cool.

Inside the hall it seemed ever so dark and sweaty. Between the bands, heavy dub reggae seemed to shake the venue to its core.

I can't remember a lot about the bands apart from that. I thought that The Slits were excellent. I think that this was my reggae upbringing. They played what I thought at the time was the best song of the night, “New Town”. When they sang this, they rocked from foot to foot in unison.

I know Subway Sect also played, and I think The Prefects, but this part of the night was a blur.

The Clash were good, and I remember “White Riot” blaring out and everyone going mental. They also did a version of Junior Murvin's “Police and Thieves”.

The strange thing at that time was that I couldn't hear much difference between them and the Feelgoods. Fast, exciting music.

The night seemed to go really quickly, and I did realise at the time that I had been to something that had probably changed my life musically.

If it wasn't for that night, I would never have seen some of the great up-and-coming bands before they were famous. I wouldn't have enjoyed a lot of the bands that I saw at the Chancellor and, to a lesser degree, the Rock Club.

I would not have preferred my music to be rough and raw, rather than the practised, polished rubbish that everyone else enjoys — excluding 70s syrupy soul, because that is the best!

Summing up, I think I was lucky to have been a teenager when I was. It was an exciting time to be young. There was an air of innocence about it, which made the punk scene seem very dangerous.

You could see bands cheaply on a Sunday which were on Top of the Pops on a Thursday. The music felt as though it was breaking down barriers and not conforming to the norm.

I suppose, like the 60s, punk protested against something. The only other time I saw The Clash was with Maurice at Vicky Park in Bow, supporting the Rock Against Racism campaign.

Most surprising of all, though, was that The Clash would become megastars and The Slits were not as good as I thought.

Duncan Egleton — June 2010

Maurice Hyde

I was so excited when The Clash came to town. I had just bought the first single, “White Riot”, with “1977” on the B-side. I had played them over and over, and punk was all new to me.

Such raw, short and fast tracks that I just loved. Punk was well and truly here now.

I lived in Great Baddow with my parents then, a 17-year-old bored teenager fascinated by the emerging new wave bands.

Having already seen pub rockers Dr Feelgood, I was now certainly ready for the White Riot Tour at the Chancellor Hall.

I had read stories in the media about rioting in other towns, and the local paper reported that the council had restricted admittance numbers to 400, with a soft drinks bar only, following these reports.

Myself and Barry Magowan, who lived a few doors away, talked and planned how we would dress as punks for the night.

We had sprayed and spiked our hair and dressed as best we could as punks that Sunday evening.

The walk into town was memorable as the older generation looked on in shock. Here were some of those terrible punks they had read about in the press.

All we had to watch out for were local Teds who might want a punch-up, as there were still quite a few Teddy Boys in Chelmsford then, but they never appeared.

We started off at the “Lion and Lamb”, locally known as “The Animals”, now Dukes.

As we arrived, there were about 60 punks outside, some probably from the London area. We had a couple of drinks there.

I must admit I was a bit scared at the time, as this was the first time I had mixed with such characters, some of whom were frightening to look at.

Sounds crazy that I tried to dress to shock, but was instead terrified of other scary punks!

The Slits

Once inside the hall, we made our way to the bar, which was busy serving soft drinks.

Barry had managed to talk to some punk girls who we did not know until they appeared on stage — they were The Slits.

I don't remember a lot about The Prefects, who I think were the first band on, other than that they were fucking terrible.

When Subway Sect came on, rumours started in the crowd that Teds had gathered outside the venue armed with iron bars. This sent the crowd running over to the front windows to have a look, but I never saw any.

Having said that, where have all the Teds gone in Chelmsford? I always remember seeing Teds all the time around town, but now there's none to be seen.

The Slits sounded bad as well, as they could hardly play — just a screaming, horrible noise. But I remember this song where they danced from side to side like stiff dummies. It was called “New Town”, one of their better efforts of the evening.

The Prefects

We had moved close to the front when The Clash came on, and you soon knew that here was a band of the future. They were just superb.

The punks pogoed and danced to the sounds that came from the first Clash LP: “London's Burning”, “Janie Jones”, “Remote Control”, “Hate and War”, “What's My Name”, “Career Opportunities”, “I'm So Bored with the USA”, “Cheat”, “48 Hours” and “Garageland” — all of which could have been played, but definitely “1977” and “White Riot”, as I remember these.

We had witnessed the turning point in music live. It changed us forever.

All in all, local history had been made when The Clash came to town.

Maurice Hyde

Evidence and related material

Primary ticket evidence: Maurice Hyde / themaninthejar — The Clash Ticket May 27th 1977 Chelmsford Chancellor Hall.

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