Thursday 3rd February 1977 – The Jam and The Boys – Nag’s Head
The rise of the Punk Rock scene had provided the perfect vehicle for Woking’s mod revivalist band, The Jam. Leader singer and guitarist Paul Weller had formed the band in 1972 at the age of 14. By the time of their February 1977 appearance at The Nag’s Head, Weller was still only 18, with bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler – both 21 years old at the time – making up the three-piece.
The Jam came to High Wycombe on the back of several Ron Watts’ promoted gigs at The 100 Club and the trip to High Wycombe was a rare adventure outside of the capital at a time where they were on the verge of signing for Polydor.
A week after the Nag’s Head gig, The Jam recorded their first demos for Polydor – laying down four tracks: In The City, Time for Truth, Sounds From The Street and I’ve Changed My Address. They would put pen to paper on their Polydor deal on 15th February 1977 and it was announced in the press on 24th February 1977. The reported advance seemed a measly £6,000 compared to the £100,000 coughed up by CBS for The Clash in January 1977.
Their powerful, in your face, style proved popular with The Nag’s Head crowd and they returned to the same venue later in the year as a thank-you to Ron Watts.
Support for The Jam for the February gig were The Boys, a UK punk band formed in late 1976.
Thursday 27th January 1977 – Clayson & The Argonauts – Nag’s Head
Led by Alan Clayson, this weird looking bunch are reported to have made their debut at a Ron Watts’ 100 Club gig on 9 January 1977. However, they were listed to have supported The Clash at The Nag’s Head on 18 November 1976.
According to some notes from Alan Clayson via the link below, that night at The 100 Club his band were the warm-up act, along with The Jam, for a band called Stripjack.
You will also see they played The Nag’s Head some ten years later, in front of a crowd of twelve!
Thursday 20th January 1977 – Generation X – Nag’s Head
Generation X had been formed at the tail end of 1976, when 21 year old William Broad dropped his guitar playing role with early punk rockers Chelsea, to take on the pseudonym ‘Billy Idol’ and create his own band – taking with him/stealing, bass player Tony James (23), drummer John Towe – then adding 17 year old guitarist Bob Andrews. They played their first gigs in London during December 1976, with their second ever live outing taking place on the opening night of The Roxy in Neal Street, Covent Garden.
Their appearance at one of the regular Thursday Punk nights at The Nag’s Head appears to be their first live gig outside of London and only their 9th ever gig. Their style was more rock n’roll, rather than the chaos and political statements of The Sex Pistols and The Clash but the charismatic Idol was a crowd puller. Their set-list included Day by Day, Listen!, Youth Youth Youth and Your Generation.
Generation X at The Roxy in December 1976.
Support for Generation X at The Nag’s Head comes from The Bumpers.
It will be the first of four appearances for Gen X in Wycombe during 1977.
Thursday 13 January 1977 – Roogalator – Nag’s Head
Roogalator were a much talked up band at the time of their January 1977 at The Nag’s Head. Classified by many as ‘pub rock’ band, they had signed a one-off record deal with Stiff Records in 1976 but had moved to Virgin Records by 1977. They played alongside many of the up and coming punk bands of the time and were included on the Hope and Anchor – Front Row Festival album released in March 1978.
The advert below is from The Bucks Free Press and tucked just above an advert for dance lessons held at the Palace cinema in Frogmoor.
Thursday 23rd September 1976 – Vibrators and Damned – Nag’s Head
This ‘punk’ double header featuring The Damned and The Vibrators came just two days after the infamous 100 Club Punk Festival in London and was arranged by Ron Watts who was now back as the main promoter at The Nag’s Head in High Wycombe.
The Damned with The Vibrators at The Nag’s Head, High Wycombe 23rd September 1976 Advert from the Bucks Free Press – including other local events
The Vibrators had been formed earlier in 1976 by 31 year Ian ‘Knox’ Carnochan. They had converted to ‘punks’ (essentially cutting their hair) on the lead up to the 100 Club Punk Festival where they also backed guitarist and producer Chris Spedding. It’s unclear if Spedding also took the stage for their appearance at The Nag’s Head. Spedding had produced the first ever Sex Pistols demos (recorded in May 1976) and had a playing career that included playing with The Wombles. The Vibrators were signed to RCA records on Spedding’s recommendation and released their first ever single ‘We Vibrate’ in November 1976.
The Damned were playing what is believed to be their 8th ever gig. They had formally debuted at The 100 Club on 6 July 1976 as support to The Sex Pistols. There are also unconfirmed stories that they also played at The Nag’s Head a few days later but this either didn’t take place or could have been a practice session/gig arranged with the help of Ron Watts who had taken on the brave decision to manage the band during the summer heatwave of 1976 as a replacement for Andrew Czezowski.
The Damned signing with Stiff Records and with Ron Watts as Manager – photo credit unknown
The line-up of The Damned that took the stage at The Nag’s Head for their September 1976 appearance was Dave Vanian (19 years old, vocals), Brian James (26, guitar), Captain Sensible (Ray Burns) (22, bass) and Rat Scabies (Chris Miller) (21, drums). They ripped through a set that was likely to have included ‘1 of the 2, New Rose, Comfort, Help, Fan Club, I Feel Alright and So Messed Up.
The performance of The Damned that evening would help inspire a few in the audience to form their own ‘punk’ bands. The Damned themselves would return to the venue the following month for a chaotic evening that would lead to Ron Watts quitting as their Manager.
Just over six months since The Sex Pistols had made their infamous appearance at High Wycombe’s College, the punk pioneers were granted an appearance at the Town’s premier pub venue – The Nag’s Head on the London Road – by local promoter Ron Watts. In the interim period Watts had put the band on nine times at The 100 Club in Oxford Street, London, the most recent coming just two days before their return to Buckinghamshire. For Watts this gig also marked a formal return to promoting at a venue he had first adopted as the home of his ‘Blues Loft’ back in early 1968.
A flyer for the gig at The Nag’s Head on Thursday 2nd September 1976 had been well circulated on the internet at the time this article was first published. The press cuttings include the now famous ‘Don’t look over your shoulder, but the Sex Pistols are coming’ headline from a NME review of their support slot to Eddie & The Hot Rods at The Marquee just prior to their February 1976 appearance at High Wycombe College. The entrance cost of 70p would also include support act, The Suburban Studs, described as ‘The Legendary CBGB Band’ despite them being from Birmingham, England!
Sex Pistols flyer – Nag’s Head 2nd September 1976
The gig was also advertised in the Melody Maker and the local press as Watts attempted to generate some interest in a gig that appeared to pass under the radar of many of the locals.
Sex Pistols – Nag’s Head 2nd September 1976 Advert from Melody Maker
Worth remembering that this gig was pre-Bill Grundy (1st December 1976). Consequently, the return of the Sex Pistols to the town didn’t even warrant a mention or review in the local press. If the gig had been arranged post-Bill Grundy, it would have undoubtedly made front page news and most likely have been cancelled.
Sex Pistols – Nag’s Head 2nd September 1976 Advert from Bucks Midweek Free Press
Watt’s had taken the opportunity to promote at the Nag’s Head again after regular promoter John Curd had taken the summer off leaving landlord Mick Fitzgibbons with a blank calendar for the loft.
Watts recalled in his autobiography: “I want back in, I’ve got some acts who will pull in bigger crowds than anyone else could get you.”
Watts also recalls the Sex Pistols gig attracted a ‘good crowd’ but it was no means sold out, explaining: “As I expected, the audience was mainly ordinary music fans who were punk-curious, although there were a few punks there. For some reason High Wycombe and Princes Risborough had an element of youth that were into the new scene much earlier than elsewhere outside of London.”
Some of the ‘punk-curious’ music fans in attendance included those who would eventually form what is recognised as High Wycombe’s first ‘punk’ band – Deathwish. School friends Kris Jozajtis and Mark White were in the crowd for the Pistols and can be seen in some brief footage of the gig filmed by what is believed to be a French film crew making a punk documentary. The footage appeared to be lost until appearing on the ‘Filth & The Fury’ film released in 2000. Some slightly different footage also appeared on YouTube with a different edit to the ‘Filth & The Fury’ version.
