Croydon was tricky as I had an unusual look at the time – my top half was pure Elvis slicked back hair with side burns and leather but my bottom half was bondage trousers and a bib. We would take speed, blues up to 4 or 5, sometimes more and pints of snakebite and we would walk all over London to gigs getting free entry at the Camden music machine and see a few bands on every night at the Marquee or the Nashville, and even Croydon Greyhound.

Punk taught us the future had only just begun.Īlex and me started going to lots of gigs. He left school a year before and had caught the first wave of punk, going to the Roxy and had even been photographed there and was in a Sunday Times supplement spread on it! Alex was my old school mate and moved in fresh from Croyden art school. I had been accepted to Wimbledon art school 2 years early due to a great letter from my art teacher and a great portfolio and A+ O ‘levels.However as soon as I returned to London I got a bedsit in Earls Court with my mate from France Billy Daley who soon moved out to be with his girlfriend and Alex Paterson (later on we formed The Orb). Prior to this I thought there was no point in doing music as a career choice as I thought it had all been done, how were you going to top the Stones and the Zep or the Beatles, Marley, Heatwave? It was futile trying, although I was writing songs by then I thought it was all over and my best bet was my other love, “Art” so, art school it was. I had caught a bit of the fever before I left and it tasted fresh. The Holiday job was an amazing adventure, only slightly eclipsed by the fact that punk rock was exploding in London and I was missing my chance and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. I heard a lot of people talk about the Roxy but I never went but although not well documented, soul boys in London were the precursor to punk. Just prior to this time I was what was known as a “Soul boy”, going to disco’s in London like Countdown and the Global village…listening to disco …the look was very proto punk- Bowie pegs or tight jeans, winkle pickers or jelly sandals- later it got more eccentric with army uniforms and soon black bin liners and safety pins.

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