The band had their first gig in May 1977, playing a mixture of their

The band had their first gig in May 1977, playing a mixture of their own songs and cover versions of songs by The Sex Pistols , The Clash , The Damned and The Ramones . After building a strong local following, they were picked up by the local It record label, which released the band’s debut single, “Frustration”, in May 1978. They were then signed to Terri Hooley ‘s Good Vibrations label. It released “Just Another Teenage Rebel” in November 1978, which saw the band receiving airplay on national radio from John Peel . A further single and the band’s debut album, Self Conscious Over You followed in 1979. Shortly before the album was released, Greg Cowan was involved in a serious car crash that left him in traction for fourteen weeks and unable to play bass, so Gordy Blair (of another Belfast band, Rudi ) joined, with Raymond Falls also joining on drums, because, according to Cowan, “Colin was such a bad drummer”.