MUSIC enthusiasts are being invited to travel back in time to discover the vibrant punk scene in Renfrewshire during the late 1970s and early 80s.
Portraits of bands and gig-goers who were intrinsic in creating and supporting the subculture are captured in a new photobook called Saints & Sinners: Punk & After.
It is the result of the hard work of compiler Chris Brickley, who was initially sent photographs of acts ranging from The Jam and Ian Dury to Scottish favourites Simple Minds and Skids by musician Graham Scott.
Delighted to see these freshly-unearthed pictures, Chris sourced additional snaps with the aim of creating a book solely focused on capturing the complementary scenes in Paisley and Glasgow.
Paisley became a key centre for live punk music in 1977 when ‘Disco Harry’ – a local butcher and part-time DJ – spotted a gap in the market after Glasgow City Council was spooked by trouble at a Stranglers concert and banned punk music concerts in the city.
Chris, 52, told The Gazette: “Disco Harry thought it would be good to put on a few gigs at the Silver Thread Hotel, which still stands in Paisley, from the summer through to the winter of 1977.
“Glasgow also had a by-law that decreed pubs could not charge entry for live music – but they could in Paisley, which is possibly one of the main reasons they got away with it and gathered some momentum.
“The punk bands Chelsea and Alternative TV played together one night and that is probably the single most significant gig at the Silver Thread, according to the people who were there.
“The frontman for Alternative TV had just started Sniffin’ Glue, which was the first major punk fanzine. It was very important in galvanising writers, journalists, photographers and designers, so the band’s attendance was a very important event and all sorts of people who would later form punk bands would have been there.”
Other well-known UK names that played at the Silver Thread include Buzzcocks and Generation X, as well as Australian early punk rock band The Saints.
Chris said 1977 saw “the first wave of punk” in Paisley but he believes the post-punk music scene was as important, if not more important.
“I think the Bungalow Bar had their first gig in 1978 but between 1980 and 1982 was when it was running gigs during the high point of the post-punk period,” he added.
“This was when you had bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, The Monochrome Set and The Skids performing at the pub.
“Paul Humphreys, who was the landlord of the Bungalow Bar, started off the live music scene there and has provided his photos for the book.
“There were other pub gigs in and around Paisley, as there was quite a strong contingent of punks in Renfrew, I believe, and there were also one or two infamous gigs at Paisley Tech early on.”
As well as paying tribute to key acts and less familiar names, Saints & Sinners also features many photos of gig-goers alongside venues, pubs and streetscapes.
Much of the vernacular photography published in the book was in danger of being lost to the public, particularly ‘crowd shots’ which convey the immediacy and energy of the live music experience in a unique manner.
Chris said: “One of my favourite photos in the book is Chelsea performing in the Silver Thread, which was taken by photographer ‘Jim The Click,’ as you just catch that moment of all the audience going bananas right up in the singer’s face.
“That was the thing about punk, there was no dividing line between the band and the fans. Everything was accessible and immediate.
“These photos are so easily lost and it’s important to gather them together for posterity, as I feel popular music is still a very underrated and uncelebrated branch of our culture.
“It was absolutely central to people’s social lives in those days, as the gigs were cheap and you just went along to your favourite venues.
“A great mix of people would go along and socialise with people they wouldn’t have met otherwise. The great thing about the live music scene was the sort of democratic nature of it.
“Also, punk had very much a DIY ethos in those early days. It was about the spirit of getting people to do things themselves, even if they didn’t have musical training or great equipment.”
Outside Renfrewshire, famous ‘lost’ venues in Glasgow such as the Apollo are revisited in Saints & Sinners, alongside college halls and less familiar sites such as Zhivagos, in St Enoch Square.
Also featured are Blondie, on their first overseas trip, who visited Strathclyde University to watch their friends Ramones and Talking Heads play their first UK gigs.
Other notable acts in the book include The Clash, Iggy Pop, Stranglers, X-Ray Spex, Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Specials.
Saints & Sinners: Punk & After costs £18 and is available to buy at today’s launch event at Street Level Photoworks, in Trongate, Glasgow, from 6pm to 8pm.
Malcolm Dickson, director of Street Level Photoworks, said: “Without these photographic records, these aides-mémoire, most of this would be resigned to oblivion.
“It’s an Aladdin’s Cave for all music fans, retro or modernist.”
For more information about the book, visit www.scotgigsrelived.com/saintsandsinners.
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