I first got into the punk movement in '83, living in the wild west-country. Trowbridge, Wiltshire was named the capital of UK punk in a documentary made by Panorama about the glue sniffing, spikey haired, studs and leather punks prevalent in the town, with nearby Warminster being the home to the Subhumans and other independent label punk bands. If the name Subhumans escapes you then be assured of their place in modern punk as they had a front page in Sounds magazine in '85.

'80's punk was a more political affair, with the fear of nuclear war and unemployment. The 80's punk rocker was an active anarchist, heavily linked to the Animal Liberation Front and the British Union Against Vivisection. Songs were about the things in life that matter, including life problems. A more caring side; bearing in mind that my experiences were of the Wessex Anarchist Movement, always running alongside the more traditional pogo merchants, just up for fun. After all, all work and no play makes Sid a dull boy.

In Edinburgh, The Exploited pumped out your pure punk, with their links to the Oi! skinhead culture separating them only by style from more 'hippy' based scenes. Other bands in this cross-over punk/skin scene were The Gonads, The Business, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Blitz etc....

In 79' to the east of London a commune based punk outfit called Crass made their own style of art and music on their own label 'Crass Records'. Playing music and also punk movies on stage to the new 80's punk, dealing with every thing from war to sexual oppression, they were the thinking punks' band. Other bands such as Dirt, Flux of Pink Indians, The Mob, Icons of filth, Conflict, Anti-sect, Charged GBH, Poison Girls, Anti-pasti, Amebix etc...all had a similar approach to music and how it's distributed, many a single bore the moniker "pay no more than 50p" and as many albums had price restrainers on the sleeves with "pay no more than $3". This in a time when singles were £1.50 and albums were getting on for the £6 mark.

As I've said, I can only tell of my own experience of 80's punk, living the life-style, playing in a punk band, organising gigs etc. Tho, having had correspondence with punks all over the UK and abroad that were pretty much the same, it's just locale that makes the difference.

Only now, as I write this next paragraph, am I realising the length of time that's passed since my teen age years. At the age of 36 I look back with pride, see the nu-age Limp-Lincoln-Biscuit parked in a young punk's stereo and feel sad that all the feeling has gone....it's all gone a bit Kurt Cobain man!

On a positive note, the bass player that I was in the band with many years ago is still as punk as ever. Always brings the punk outa me when I visit him. I still get to have a bash on a guitar and am transported to my youth, a lesson to be learned I think.

To close, have to say that I'm not a facts and figures person, if you want dates and details then look it up for yourself....if you are of the Nu-Breed of punks then check out the few bands mentioned here. You'll have to search mind as most bands were so underground back then, tho most can be found on that new fangled CD thing so get looking.

One last thing, a list of my local heroes, playing at gigs, festivals and punk parties in the 80's while the rest of the world listened to Bros and Wham!:
Wessex Anarchists/Revenge Stone henge!... Sub/hum/ans... Hippy Slags... Smart Pils... Cult Maniacs... Amebix... The Mental.... A-Heads... Resurrected... The Chaos Brothers... Organised Chaos.... Lumps Of Merde.... Culture Shock

.....Cheers....punk rock man!