Rock On: London's Vintage Record Shops, 1976

This is an addendum to the post on Bizzarre and Rock On [HERE].

To help me pull together material and ideas for a forthcoming Ugly Things article on Eddie and the Hot Rods, I took a trawl through copies of Time Out, 1976. Hidden in the listings and reviews were a few gems and a three-page piece by Giovanni Dadomo (February) on London’s vintage record shops that adds a bit of gristle to the bones of my post.

Ted Carroll charts the beginnings of his Rock On shop and market stalls and the move into book publishing and record production. Dadamo describes Chiswick’s label’s first stars, the Count Bishops, as ‘punk R&B’ a term the magazine’s music editor, John Collis, was happy to echo in his description of Eddie and the Hot Rods when he reviewed their debut single, ‘Writing on the Wall’.

Dadomo doubles down on punk when he explains how the vintage shops have expanded their offering from golden oldies, rockabilly and Elvis discs to cover the beat boom era as well as catering to the ‘dole-financed punk fanatic’ – the great lost figure in received punk rock histories

One of Malcolm Harrison’s superlative illustrations for Time Out while working for NTA (Nicolas Thirkell Associates). I lead with it here as it better sets the tone for what follows than the dull cover used to plug Dadamo’s story.

The Rock On advert puts ‘punk’ into the mix between 60’s beat and surf . . .

The Rock n Roll Revival still had considerable traction throughout 76

I earlier ran Eve Dadomo’s photograph of Johnny Rotten that Time Out published in its listings (August 1976) and here’s a couple of the evergreen Crazy Cavan, while below are some of the punk pacesetters

Formed out of the ashes of Ducks Deluxe, the Snakes were led by Nick Garvey. Robert Gotobed was their vocalist, who later sat behind the kit in Wire. The Snakes had a top single on Dynamite/Dynamo out of Holland. The Flamin’ Groovies ‘Teenage Head’ and Jerry Byrne’s much covered ‘Light’s Out’ formed the disc’s top deck and its flip.

Ted Carroll is billed as the support act for a ‘Party with the Sex Pistols’. ‘Eddy [sic.] and the Hot Rods play three days later

God Bless Little Bob and all who sailed with him, the Marquee was no doubt set ablaze that night with the Bishops and the Rockets adding to a ‘punk R&B’ frenzy

The Stranglers described as ‘genuine acid-punk rockers’, I wish that label had stuck

101’ers . . . RIP

A gig where my world took a new turn

Chas de Whalley’s world stays on track . . .

Glitter and Glue – Dave Twist's Trove of Treasures

A tome, not a tomb, filled with relics, revenants, remnants first acquired in the hot fleeting minutes of teen fandom and then added to and curated in the cool age of later years. It’s an extraordinary assemblage that Dave Twist first amassed for himself and then shared on his ever wonderful Instagram page [HERE].

When the platform messed with his layout grids he went back to a print culture, which is how these images are best consumed. We should be thankful to Meta (and for not much else) that Dave turned away from the screen and back to paper and paste

Others might have a larger collection of third-generation rock n’ roll ephemera than Dave Twist, but I doubt they could pull it together to tell quite such an aesthetically compelling story. Tumbling out of the plan chest, portfolio, attic and basement, Dave Twist puts his heart and soul on open display in Glitter and Glue, a gallery of splendid delights.

The book acts like a tripwire that causes you to fall over memories of things owned, lost, gifted and stolen. Surprisingly, nostalgia doesn’t feel part of the equation. What pours out is rather a sense of awe at the sheer creative achievements of musicians, designers and everyone else involved in the glorious conspiracy to attract the eye of the ever fickle teenage consumer.

So much of the memorabilia of the prepunk era, Alice, Roxy, Slade, SAHB, I just let go, but as I moved out of my teens I held fast to records bought on the day of release, the Pistols, Damned and Clash and all the post-Dr. Feelgood bands I still love, the Count Bishops, 101’ers, Gorillas, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Lew Lewis. They are still with me and still played. Meanwhile, I’ve restocked the lost records from 1972–76 and added those I could not then afford or had no awareness of, the Streak, the Jook and all the rest. But when I flick through this book it is Alice Cooper that has me pause the longest. For a hot moment he really was what mattered the most in my fevered teen brain and when you see what Dave Twist has amassed you’ll know why he had that effect.

You got to ask how many unique pressings of the Heartbreakers LAMF do you need? Dave has six and I hope the answer he’d give is ‘one more’. A completed collection is a dead collection. What’s on display here is an archive, a map of times past, but one that still connects. Its vitality can’t be ignored or its impact go unrecognised.

This is not a horde to be locked away and guarded but a trove spilling out its treasure for all to admire. Dave Twist gets my vote for curator of the year, what an achievement, what a gift he has given to us.

It’s a beautifully produced book and has been printed in very limited numbers so grab one quick [HERE]