The day prison is less than a mile from the place that The Damned played 33 years ago today. I was thinking about that, and how my count with regard to time passed since the ‘zine began might be light because it doesn’t include leap the leap years. The band had made an appearance at Hot Licks in Edinburgh’s Cockburn street that afternoon. We’d made them spraypainted drumkit logo (like the back of the New Rose 45) t-shirts to celebrate their first headlining stint north after opening for T-Rex in 1976.

The Damned were easily my favourite UK punk band at the time and I wrote a letter to Punk magazine to back up that premise. Anyway, as I recall it was an eventful day. There were a lot of skirmishes at the show, just like the press reported happened at “punk rock” events during that time. The notion of there being something happening up and down the country was palpable. It was down to the bush telegraph and things took time to percolate. Not like now with things being over before they properly began.

Were things better back then? Don’t have time to get into that now but TV Smith is at The Citrus Club in Edinburgh tomorrow night (2nd). He’s one of the very few who’s still at it that’s worth seeing because he’s moving forward, not languishing in the kebab in a basket circuit. Even although this takes in some of the same venues.

I was hoping that the story about The L*bert*nes being back “together” is an April fool but I fear not. Another bunch of overrated tosspots out to soak up the cash and time of those that deserve to be taken. Please don’t even try to justify their existence to me because it won’t wash.

Still, I believe that next week’s rail strike has been averted so that’s a good sign. 5 more hours of relative purgatory then “school” is out. If I can shake this cold then I shall consider myself to have won the proverbial watch.

RIP - David Mills