The original line-up of the band was assembled in late 1976 by John Krivine and Steph Raynor, the owners of Acme Attractions , a fashion boutique shop in King’s Road in Chelsea, London , comprising vocalist Gene October , guitarist William Broad (later and better known as Billy Idol ),…
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The band played their first concert at the Hope and Anchor pub in Islington, London on 15 October 1976. Among the crowd were Mick Jones , Billy Idol , Tony James and Gene October . After a few concerts, The Boys signed to NEMS in January 1977, and at that…
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Wire began as a five-piece band in October 1976. In its early period, guitarist George Gill served as the group’s principal songwriter. Following a leg injury that left him unable to perform, Gill departed the band in February 1977. After his departure, the remaining members discontinued most of the material…
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The Vibrators recorded sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1 in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978. They were one of the pioneering punk bands that played at London’s Roxy Club . They headlined in January 1977, supported by the Drones , and in February they played twice…
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On 25 September 1976, the American drummer Stewart Copeland was on tour as a member of the British progressive rock band Curved Air . In Newcastle upon Tyne , via the music journalist Phil Sutcliffe, Copeland met the singer-bassist Gordon Sumner, a.k.a. Sting , who at the time was playing…
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On 21 September 1976, the Clash performed publicly for the first time without Levene at the 100 Club Punk Special , sharing the bill with the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect .
The Runaways were the subject of a writeup in People magazine in September 1976. A week later, Fowley severed his ties with the band and forfeited his rights, titles, claims, and merchandising ownership to Mercury Records. Mercury refused to accept Fowley’s stakehold in the band and turned it back to…
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In early September, Levene and the band parted ways.
Strummer performed lead vocals on the majority of songs but he and Jones sometimes shared the lead. Once the band began recording, Jones rarely had a solo lead on more than one song per album, though he was responsible for two of the group’s biggest hits. On 13 August 1976,…
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The Damned played their first show on 6 July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club . A lo-fi recording of the show was later released as Live at the 100 Club (2007). As part of London’s burgeoning punk scene, the Damned again played the club on 20…
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