Punk at the Universities

 Punk at the Universities

by Pete Clemons

We tend to look back at the punk rock years with a wry smile. Nowadays it seems to be so much more acceptable. But it is fair to say that when punk rock first took off in the UK it was not given a warm welcome. Far from it in fact. Local councils made it as difficult as possible for the venues to put the bands on. And where the bands did get to play band members and their fans were often ridiculed or physically attacked by opposing groups of individuals. It was not an easy time for them.

Universities, which eventually warmed to the genre and welcomed them in, initially gave punk rock a particularly hard time. Examples of this are detailed below.

During 1976 the Students Union at Warwick castigated the pop music newspaper 'Sounds' in an article in its arts publication. It was annoyed about the prominence given by 'Sounds' to a group called 'The Damned'. Sounds had included a headline 'DAMNED HEAD FOR THE CHARTS'. The article went on to say that:

'Sounds has yet again taken upon itself to ram punk rock down the throat of the unsuspecting public. Apparently the Damned's first single, for the obscure 'Stiff' label, sold 4,000 copies, when a sale of 25,000 is usually needed even to make the lower reaches of the Top Thirty. And they give us this kind of headline!'.

Toward the end of 1976 it was reported that 'Punk rock artists the Sex Pistols left their entertainments fixture at Lanchester Polytechnic without full payment after an impromptu meeting of union officers at the concert heard complaints about the group's stage act'. Of course it was reporting on the Sex Pistols / Clash gig during November of that year:

'Lanchester follows the National Union of Students policy which recommends colleges not to invite people with racist or fascist views onto campuses, and it was decided that the Sex Pistols act had included racist and fascist references'. The Sex Pistols and a supporting punk rock outfit, The Clash, who had been booked for £475, were paid just £50'.

An attendee of that concert, told the SU at Warwick that it was all 'fairly obscene'. The attendee continued: 'at one point the audience booed the Sex Pistols after their version of 'Substitute', which the group's lead singer countered with familiar Anglo-Saxon invective. It is widely accepted that they are fascist. It comes out of the experience of unemployment, bad housing, sleeping rough and being anti-establishment. They are not working class, more drop-outs. But their support is working class. They see themselves as mediums of these frustrations, they see their role as a political role, using the channel of popular music because other channels are being closed'.

The attendee continued: 'But the support band, The Clash, had started off the concert with a song the lyrics of which could be seen as inflammatory: 'All the power is in the hands of people rich enough to buy it. White riot, I wanna riot, white riot, a riot of my own'.

Yet incredibly, and less than a year later, both The Sex Pistols and The Clash could have played Warwick University.

Yes it could have been true! Ents were offered The Sex Pistols for the 1977 Xmas Party provided the gig was unannounced. And so, much to their credit, the Ents team booked them. A major scoop but then problems started. The tour dates were put forward a week, which scrapped arrangements at our end, and then they decided to switch to Mr. George in Coventry City Centre.

The arts pages mentioned: Ah, so near yet so far; but the Warwick Uni SU has it on good authority that if Ents are offered the band again they will accept them if conditions are acceptable. The most controversial rock band of recent years played at Mr. George's club on Saturday 17th December.

And finally, at around the same time, after originally being booked to play Warwick University, it seems The Clash were cancelled down by the University, due to insurance reasons. Punk rock, it seems, had won the hearts and minds in the end.