Friday, February 15, 2008

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's Bob Ogley

You can stick your Jon Savage up your arse. The only true account of punk is here, those times as seen by a true newpaperman, author, raconteur and Betty's favourite columnist, Bob Ogley. Bob not only lived through punk, he lived through the War, dodging doodlebugs, and through the Great Storm of 1987, dodging Sevenoaks's seven falling oaks. Here are some gems from the article...

" I imagine many people younger than me will disagree with my assessment of this noisy, heroin-addicted, sickeningly obnoxious band but I understand their desire to find an alternative sound to the poor music offered in the mid-1970s. I certainly accept their place in history as the group which launched this unforgettable new cult."

Dead right, Bob. What did we have in the mid-70s? Prog, Bob! All those dinosaurs in their mansions with their banks of keyboards. Long-haired layabouts. You couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl until you'd pinched its arse.

"A bit of a rebel himself, McLaren made them work in his shop selling such items as T-shirts and dodgy bondage wear."

McLaren's bondage wear was always dodgy. The zips were always breaking. And many a time was the blood completely cut off from a young man's pride and joy. Older, more experienced members of our society knew where to get more reliable bondage wear. And that certainly wasn't the King's Road.

"The Pistols rapidly picked up a following of arty weirdos and disenchanted speed freaks and achieved instant fame following a TV interview in December 1976 when several times they used a four-letter word - the first people ever to say f... on telly. Instantly, they were a household name."

For "arty weirdos" read "art-school students", weirdos every one, many of whom went on to form their own so-called "punk" bands. The speed freaks had been around for years and were just glad to have some fast paced music to accompany their drug taking. The instant fame of the Pistols was gained at the expense of the career of a good, honest journalist and tv presenter. What they did to poor Bill Grundy was unforgiveable.

10 comments:

  1. "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's Bob Ogley"

    Sounds like a song by Half Man Half Biscuit.

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  2. Your blog always reminds me why I was so bored in the early 70s.

    I loved curmudgeonly Bill who started up 'ere in Granadaland.

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  3. Istvanski - I suppose it's too late for me to do a Peel session.

    Kaz - Nobody messed with the Bromley Contingent and got away with it! But the Pistols couldn't have done it without Bill.

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  4. *Steve* Matlock?

    And what did happen to Simon Barker? He's in all the photos, with Jordan (not that one) and Nils and Helen the Dwarf. Probably works in a call centre now.

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  5. He's consultant to amateur dramatic productions of the Rocky Horror Show and The Producers.

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  6. I got a broken nose for wearing Seditionaries bondage trousers.
    Youngsters today, they don't appreciate the sacrifices old codgers like me made.

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  7. Didn't Simon Barker play for QPR?

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  8. Anthony - If it wasn't for the "arty weirdos" of the 70s...

    Istvanski - Robert Elms got him a trial.

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  9. Kenneth Tynan said 'fuck' on telly before the Pistols. I'm thinking of writing Bob a letter of correction. But then again...

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  10. But kiddies and pensioners and non-arty types were all safely tucked up in bed when Tynan said it.

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